Hong Liu’er received orders from Prince Lan and dared not delay, quickly running out, clearly intending to fetch the ssenger for Prince Lan as swiftly as possible.
After Hong Liu’er left, Prince Lan temporarily returned the mysterious pill to its wooden box, continuing to drink and make rry with the others, seemingly uninterested in Zhu Yu, the naive "youngster," until the pill’s miraculous effects were verified.
Zhu Yu and his companions retreated to the courtyard, casually finding a place to sit down, feigning interest in the music and food, behaving as if they weren’t outsiders.
Fortunately, during this ti, no dancing girls showering flower dew made an appearance.
After more than half an hour, Hong Liu’er finally returned, accompanied by a man in narrow-sleeved, short attire. Although he appeared unremarkable, his deanor upon entering the Prince Mansion showed no signs of unease, nor was he fazed by the opulent surroundings, like soone accustod to the world.
Noticing Hong Liu’er leading soone back from afar, Prince Lan discreetly opened the wooden box, took out the mysterious pill, and crushed it with his fingertips, discarding it into a jade cup on the table.
The ssenger brought back by Hong Liu’er was exceedingly respectful upon seeing Prince Lan, properly walking to the front hall and bowing, "Your Grace, I greet the Prince."
"Please rise, there’s no need for formality," Prince Lan said with a kind smile, raising his hand to gesture him to rise, also instructing a servant beside him to offer a seat in the front hall, "You’ve journeyed arduously to deliver the ssage, truly a hard effort on your part."
"Taking the provisions of my liege, it is my duty to serve my lord," the ssenger replied politely and respectfully, but with an indescribable aloofness, appearing not to truly regard the vassal king before him very highly.
Prince Lan seed oblivious to all this, chuckling, "Anyway, since you’ve reached the vicinity of my capital, I can’t neglect my hospitality to a guest."
"Today, I’m hosting guests at my mansion, do join the banquet, have a few drinks, and ease your fatigue."
"After the al, rest at my mansion; I will then deliver the reply for you to return on your way."
The ssenger, hearing this, didn’t refuse, expressed his thanks, and without waiting for Prince Lan’s invitation, began eating the food in front of him.
Prince Lan watched coldly for a while, then laughed and instructed a maid nearby, "The ssenger has traveled tirelessly, co, use my jade cup to pour so wine for the ssenger to refresh his throat."
As he spoke, he gently tapped the jade cup with the tip of his nail from his slender fingers.
The maid hastily picked up the wine pot from Prince Lan’s table, slowly pouring wine into the jade cup, then respectfully offered it in front of the ssenger.
From the courtyard, Zhu Yu found this scene sowhat amusing.
People from the sa group indeed have habitual patterns of behavior, and once ford, these habits regularly appear in their actions, often unnoticed due to their familiarity.
From the counterfeit Prince Lan crushing the pill into his jade cup previously, to now having the maid pour wine into the jade cup and offering it to the ssenger, the act of bestowing wine seed all too familiar to Zhu Yu.
Isn’t it just like the sa old trick from the banquet with Lu Qing and myself, just with a different setup?
Whether it was using his own jade cup and wine to lull the other into dropping their guard and drinking, or at the banquet with Lu Qing, where the guard beside Lu Zhang pretended to poison the wine presented to Lu Zhang, seemingly different behaviors stemd from similar thinking.
As Zhu Yu pondered, the cup of wine was already in front of the ssenger, who unsuspectingly thanked them and drank the wine in the jade cup in one gulp.
Prince Lan remained silent, distractedly pushing around his food with chopsticks, but his eyes stayed on the ssenger who had drunk the wine.
The man initially showed no signs of anything unusual, continuing to eat and drink, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings.
But within the ti it takes to drink a cup of tea, his eating motions noticeably slowed.
This slow pace wasn’t the contented laziness of a full stomach but a clear physical sluggishness.
Prince Lan noticed this change, suddenly asking, "Were you the one who delivered the ssage last ti as well? You delivered it just beyond my capital last ti, too?"
The ssenger slowly turned his head, looking at Prince Lan. Though his eyes aid directly, there was an impression of scattered focus.
"Last ti... it was , and... to the outskirts of this capital..." When he spoke, his tone and pitch had distinctly changed, resembling a dreamlike murmur, the pace leisurely, sowhat incoherent.
"Weren’t you previously waiting at the border post? Why have you, these last few tis, delivered it directly to the outskirts of the capital?" Prince Lan asked again.
"Master said... when delivering, to... have a look at Lan Country... to see the situation..." The ssenger answered in a dutiful but sluggish monotone, staring blankly at Prince Lan, "Master said... without witnessing it personally... he feared the letter might not tell the truth..."
Upon hearing this, a subtle change appeared on Prince Lan’s face, showing so displeasure, and he snorted coldly.
He glanced at Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, seemingly finding Zhu Yu’s earlier words more credible: "Oh? Is that so? Since you’ve recently delivered to the capital’s outskirts, have you honestly reported to your master?"
"I am absolutely loyal to my master... no personal motives... everything I’ve seen and heard has been truthfully reported..." The ssenger mumbled in a daze, "I told my master... everything in Lan Country is normal... no anomalies, everything is under control... my master need not worry..."
Prince Lan didn’t imdiately ask anything else, his gaze on the ssenger grew sowhat complex. The phrase "everything is normal, no anomalies, all under control" seed to stir mixed emotions, sowhat calm yet inexplicably unsettled.
"And your master... does he have any new plans he hasn’t shared with ?" He pondered a mont before asking.
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