In the camp of the Ming army, the big tent of the Chinese army got the news that the queen of Zhenla Kingdom had come here.

This matter must be responsible for the Ming envoy Liu Ming, who is responsible for diplomatic relations. Liu Ming felt that things were unbelievable, and he had been working hard lately; But the eunuch Meng Ji persuaded him to ask in person. Liu Ming agreed with the eunuch's opinion, and the two walked out of the Chinese army's tent.

Accompanied by the captain of the Jinyi Guard, two officers and soldiers of the guard on duty, and a general officer, Liu Ming and Meng Ji went to the humble shack outside the line to receive foreign guests.

The barracks, originally a remote location on the northwestern tip of the small peninsula of Sai Kung Bay, has changed dramatically. The polygonal stone-based rammed earth fortress not far away has begun to see scale; The "West Mountain" was dusty, and there were piles of tools and materials everywhere. There are also a lot of people, and many black strong men are working there, all of them are captured Zhenla slaves, officials and soldiers called Kunlun slaves.

On the eastern coast, there were already a few rudimentary docks, near which warships and ships of all sizes were moored. This wilderness has never been so prosperous before.

The Ming officers and soldiers of the Saigon Bay camp were actually less than 1,000 people, and the guard was Lin Zixuan. Of course, Liu Ming prefers to see that his acquaintance Tang Jing stays; However, Tang Jing's temperament belongs to the ocean, and it is the right arrangement for him to follow the handsome Chen Xuan to continue to go to sea.

At this time, the camp has become the center of diplomatic relations. The Zhenla people, the Siamese people, and the Manchurian people all sent envoys over, and the relationship was complicated, and Liu Ming and the others still haven't straightened things out.

If the arrival of Queen Chenla is true, then things will be even more complicated. However, Liu Ming felt that most of them were just a few liars, and there had been incidents in Beijing where they disguised their envoys from foreign vassals and wanted to deceive the imperial court's rewards, and it was not impossible for a place like Saigon.

The fortress-like city has not yet been repaired, and the places where everyone lives are very simple. Liu Ming and two other people walked into the shack, while the captain of the Jinyi Guard observed the "sitting notes" outside the door according to the rules.

Two visitors had arrived earlier, a man and a woman, dressed simply and a little embarrassed, and there was no guard of honor. But the amazing thing is that when Liu Ming saw that woman at a glance, he immediately believed that she was a noblewoman.

Liu Ming had seen a variety of Zhenla people in the local area, most of whom had darker skin; But the woman in front of her has light brown skin. Most of the village women here have cloudy eyes and are ignorant; Ordinary people don't have the deep eyes of this woman and the rich look they reveal.

The woman looks completely different from the Ming woman, and she is not as white and delicate as the Han beauties Liu Ming has seen, but he has to think that this woman is very beautiful, with a bumpy and plump figure, just like her face is more three-dimensional. Her posture and temperament don't look like a lowly person.

All three of them were looking at the woman, and the woman was also observing them, paying special attention to Liu Ming, who was standing in the middle wearing a red official robe.

"They probably don't speak Chinese." Liu Ming turned his head to the general officer.

Sure enough, neither the woman nor the dark man next to her reacted. And the woman just observed Liu Ming's demeanor when he spoke.

The general began to speak to them in Zhenla, and was quickly answered. The woman said something coldly, and then the black man "grunted" and said a lot.

Liu Ming waited for a while. The general secretary turned his head and said: "Envoy Liu, the general situation is that this man has taken the queen hostage, but there is no token

The identity of the queen can be confirmed. ”

Liu Ming frowned and said, "According to the envoys of the Zhenla Kingdom, the queen has been deposed. ”

The eunuch Meng Ji immediately opened his mouth and said to Tongshi: "You test them." ”

The general said: "Liu Yuanjun Meng Gonggong forgive me, but the official didn't say it." The man had just mentioned that the woman was the deposed queen. He said that the Chenla people would send an envoy to confirm the queen's identity. ”

After a while, the general talked to the black man for a while. The woman's expression was annoyed.

The general turned around and said, "There is a small hole in the woman's left nose, which was originally decorated with precious stones. The man also said that the woman's profane clothes might be good material for the royal family to wear. ”

The matter was said clearly, and Liu Ming suddenly felt that such a bizarre situation might be true.

Meng Ji also said: "It seems that it may indeed be true. Didn't we also capture a few high-status Zhenla generals, we can choose two of them later to confirm her identity. ”

Liu Ming noticed that Meng Ji did not propose to let the Zhenla envoy recognize people. The envoy of Zhenla is in the camp of the Ming army, and the black man in front of him may not know that the envoy has come.

Then the general inquired in detail, and asked the situation in general terms, at least a kind of explanation of the real black man.

According to the black man's confession, because of the internal fighting in Zhenla, he was deceived outside the city after the abolition, and he would have been killed. However, the black man thought that he was worried about his life, so he temporarily rebelled, killed the other two people, and then hijacked Saigon Bay, hoping to get the reward of the Ming people; He got the money and fled.

The Jinla Black Han decided that the Ming people would reward him because he believed that he had made great contributions to the Ming army. He heard that the culprit of the massacre of the Ming delegation was none other than the descendants of the Hou clan and the queen's younger brother An En.

Liu Ming and Meng Ji glanced at each other, and Liu Ming turned his head and said, "Come on, separate these two Zhenla people." After that, he made another gesture and said to Meng Ji please.

So the three of them left the hut. There is no decent etiquette, after all, the identity of the abolished queen has not been officially confirmed.

On the way back to the Chinese army, the eunuch Meng Ji happened to be beside him, and Liu Ming asked quietly: "The envoys of the Zhenla Kingdom and the Siam Kingdom, who does Gonggong Meng support more?" ”

Meng Ji had a stunned expression and hurriedly said, "Liu Yuanjun, don't ask our family." Our fathers-in-law who came out of the ceremonial supervisor, only the prince has the power given by the emperor and has received the holy decree; Others can't take care of things, they just run errands and do some hands-on work. ”

Liu Ming was noncommittal.

Meng Ji was silent for a while, and said quietly: "Liu Envoy Jun is the envoy of diplomatic relations appointed by the emperor, what you mean is what the emperor means." This matter is really Liu Yuanjun's idea. ”

Liu Ming said: "The stakes are very high, and we have to think about it in the long run. ”

Meng Ji nodded and said, "It should be." But the authenticity of Ayn's head can also make the queen take a look, isn't she Ahn's sister? Let her see Ann's head, and maybe she can see a lot of clues. ”

"Makes sense." Liu Ming said.

When the envoys of Zhenla first arrived, Liu Ming heard the words between the envoys of Zhenla. The Zhenla people didn't know where to find out that Liu Ming, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and a relative were in the previous mission and suffered from the Zhenla people

|Kill. Therefore, the people of Zhenla are also worried that Liu Ming will be affected by personal enmity.

And the eunuch Meng Ji may also know these things, but he didn't have any opinions just now. It stands to reason that Meng Ji is a person close to the saint, even if he can't decide everything and make some suggestions, it's still okay.

Liu Ming returned to the fence of the Chinese army, and immediately a sergeant came to report that the envoy of Zhenla wanted to see Liu Envoy.

However, Liu Ming found an excuse and shirked the matter. He went back to the tent and sat down for a while, then got up again and prepared to meet the eunuch Meng Ji.

Meng Ji, a man with colored eyes, showed an expression of surprise on his face, hurriedly welcomed Liu Ming into the account, and then asked, "Liu Yuanjun came to the door, what else do you have to say?" ”

Liu Ming pondered for a moment and said with a forced smile: "There is no fire in my tent, so I came to beg for tea." ”

Meng Ji said with a smile: "Liu Yuanjun sits on the stool, and our family will serve tea." So he put an iron kettle on the stone stove, and laid out a military iron cup and two cups.

Liu Ming sat on the wooden bench and said, "In the past few days, I have thought of my dead cousin, Chen Zhang. ”

Meng Ji's hand squatted slightly, turned his head and said, "Our family has heard a little." ”

Liu Ming said with emotion: "Chen Zhang's tragedy, if you want to say how much I feel, I really can't talk about it. When people grow up to a certain age, they are really a little numb to things that have no vital interests. Chen Zhang has very little influence on my life, he is a member of the Chen family, and the old and young are taken care of by the Chen family, and they are not under my control. He is not a Shilin person, and he has no effect on my career. ”

Meng Ji nodded and agreed: "That's the case." But everyone generally doesn't say it, and if they do, it's not good for relatives and friends to hear it. ”

Liu Ming said: "I am usually busy with other things, and I haven't even thought of him for a few days. It's just that in the dead of night, when I occasionally stop weighing the pros and cons, and no longer think about the reality in front of me, I will have a less intense but lingering state of mind inside. ”

Meng Ji didn't say a word, and listened silently.

Liu Ming was also silent for a while, and then spoke: "I bullied Chen Zhang when I was a child, and I am two or three years older than him. ”

He said this thoughtlessly, then suddenly came back to his senses, shook his head and smiled: "But then it was gone, when he grew up, he was very strong, and I couldn't do it if a literati wanted to bully him." ”

Meng Ji also showed a smile on his face, but he didn't speak.

When Liu Ming talked about this topic, he couldn't help but say a few more words, "I remember one time, I don't know why, I had a quarrel with Chen Zhang. That day, my mother gave us a boiled egg and told us to go to a private school. As soon as we went out, I snatched his eggs. Later, when I got angry and came home from private school, I returned the egg to Chen Zhang and didn't eat it. ”

When he said this, he hurriedly said: "I don't think I should say these inconsequential things, which makes Gonggong Meng laugh." ”

"No, no." Meng Ji laughed together.

But Liu Ming knew that Meng Ji understood his words. Because Meng Ji quickly said: "It's inconvenient for our family to say much about your business." But we think it's just human nature. ”

The water on the stone stove was already rattling, and both of them were sitting on stools. They all seemed to know in their hearts that today's conversation was not over.