Xiang Qiang's palace is built on the mountain, and the buildings overlap, although it is not as good as the palace of Dachu, but it also has its unique national characteristics. Because its appearance is a gold-topped white wall, and gold, is the color advocated by Xiang Qiang, symbolizing the red black god. Therefore, the Xiangqiang people all called the palace the golden palace.

Today, the Golden Palace is full of people and lively. Khan and Khatun sat at the top, and below were the two princes and Golha. Then came the generals and the patriarchs of the Tuoba clan.

Mozang Kedun looked around and asked his entourage, "Why didn't the second prince come?" ”

"The second prince said that he wanted to study the game, but he didn't come."

The second prince, Tuoba Ling, is the least present of the three princes. He is neither as competitive as the eldest nor as strong as the third brother. His mother Wei Mushi is just Tuoba Hao's side concubine, and she has been indisputable all her life. And he also inherited his mother's docile character, and was obsessed with the chess and tea ceremony culture of the Central Plains all day long, and had no interest in fighting and killing.

"What kind of occasion is this, he won't come if he can't come?" Mozang Kedun was slightly angry, "What is there to study in the things of the Chu people, send someone to invite, he must come." ”

"The things of the Chu people are also good." Tuoba Yan listened to it for a long time, and couldn't help but interject, "The last time I drank their tea, it tasted very good." ”

"Playthings are demoralized." Mozang Kodun shrugged off this, and only spat out a four-word evaluation.

Khan Tuoba Hao heard the dispute here, and said with a hearty smile: "My son is right, the things of the Chu people are not all useless. ”

"It's just some poetry and songs, calligraphy, painting, piano and chess. What's the use of learning this? Mozang Kedun's impression of the people of the Central Plains was only the word "cowardly". She believes in the hegemony of Xiang Qiang's strong king.

Tuoba Hao didn't pay attention to his wife's words, and continued to say to his son: "But you can't be like your second brother, who has opted for their skin and not learned their bones. ”

Father Khan's words made Tuoba Yan puzzled, and he said calmly: "My son doesn't understand. ”

"You learn the culture of the Central Plains, not to play, but to rule them." The Khan touched his son's head and taught, "It is easy to capture a city and a pond, but it is difficult to rule." Only by learning the culture of the Chu people can we truly defeat the Chu State. ”

"My son understood." Tuoba Yan nodded as if he didn't understand, "However, the tea of the Chu people is really delicious." ”

"Hahahaha." Tuoba Hao laughed and patted his son on the shoulder, and said to the left and right, "Go, give the third prince tea over there in the Central Plains." ”

Xiang Qiang's soldiers came to the cell again to arrest someone, and the man scolded Zhao Shilang and pushed him out.

"Dry ...... Do? Where are you taking me? Zhao Shilang was so frightened that he clung to the cell door and didn't let go.

"The third prince said that your tea is delicious, let you make tea." The soldier picked up the whip and whipped his hand, swearing, "Hurry up." ”

It's a pity that Zhao Shilang couldn't understand Xiang Qiang's words, looked at Qin Luo in horror, and asked, "...... them What do they say? ”

The last time Xiang Qiang arrested someone, it was Qin Luo who helped Zhao Shilang translate, and Zhao Shilang knew that he was asked to make tea, not to kill his head. But this time, Qin Luo didn't want to help him translate.

I saw Qin Luo stand up directly from the corner and say to the soldier in Xiang Qiang: "He is unwell today, why don't I go and make tea for the prince." ”

"You?" The soldier looked at him in amazement, "Do you speak Xiang Qiang?" Can you make tea? ”

"Yes." Qin Luo nodded, he has been acting in a low-key manner since he was arrested, and he can't avoid it, and he is low-key and ignored, so he didn't attract everyone's attention.

However, when life and death were at stake, he had to take the initiative.

Qin Luo was taken to clean up before being escorted to the Golden Palace.

This was his second visit to the Golden Palace. Last time, as an envoy, I was a guest of honor. But this time, it's a prisoner.

Before Qin Luo entered, he heard the noise of giggling and laughing from the Golden Palace. When the wine was half-drunk, a few drunken strong men grabbed the singers around them and began to flirt. The rest of the people began to gather together to fight wine. Although the scene was chaotic, as long as it was not too excessive, the Khan would not bother. After all, the battle has been fought for a long time, and everyone wants to vent well.

Qin Luo, under the leadership of his attendants, avoided the chaotic crowd and finally came to the seat of the third prince. Tuoba Yan didn't mess around with the group, just sat in his position and drank wine and ate meat. Seeing Qin Luo coming, he looked this slave up and down. Although his face was pale, his eyebrows were clear, and in his eyes, there were some things hidden that Tuoba couldn't understand.

"It didn't seem to be this person last time?" Tuoba tilted his head and asked Guo Erhe, who was sitting next to him.

Where did Guo Erhe remember which captive made the tea last time, so he had to say haha, "It seems to be ...... Possibly. ”

Qin Luo explained: "The person last time was sick, so he could only make tea for the prince below. ”

Who will make the tea is just a harmless trifle. And Tuoba Yan saw that he was a slave, and he thought it was like the last time, but he didn't expect him to answer his question without being humble or arrogant, the point is, or in Xiang Qiang.

"Do you know Xiang Qiang?"

"Yes." Qin Luo nodded.

"Why did you learn Xiang Qiang?" Tuoba was curious. I didn't expect that there would really be people from the Central Plains to learn the language of "Rongdi" in their mouths?

How can it be possible to say that you worship Xiangqiang culture? Qin Luo thought for a while and said, "We have an old saying there, 'Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles.'" ’”

"What do you mean?" Tuoba Yan frowned.

Qin Luo explained specifically: "That is to say, you must not only know yourself, but also understand the other party, in order to win all battles." ”

Qin Luo's words are actually similar to the words of his father Khan. Tuoba was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Let's make tea." ”

The tea set was already prepared. Qin Luo looked down and saw the entire set of tea sets on the table, which were made of blue and white porcelain. Qin Luo knew in his heart that this must have been snatched from the palace. Not only the tea set, but also the palace treasures are innumerable, I don't know how many good things Xiang Qiang will grab, but he doesn't know how to appreciate it, and he spends the heavens. However, at this point, he could only endure his grief and carefully boil water to make tea.

Tuoba Yan watched him boil water, wash tea, brew, and seal the pot, his movements were calm and soothing, and he didn't seem to be afraid or restrained. After the tea was almost brewed, Qin Luo poured the tea soup into a fair cup and showed it to Tuobayan.

"Ready?" Tuoba Yan didn't understand the tea ceremony or anything at all.

"Yes." Qin Luo nodded, and then poured the tea soup into the slender smelling cup.

Tuoba Yan picked up the smelling cup and was about to drink it, but Qin Luo stopped with a smile, "Prince, you can't drink it, it's smelling incense." ”

"Uh......" Tuoba put it down embarrassedly, "I didn't pay so much attention to it last time. ”

Qin Luo knew that Zhao Shilang didn't understand the language with them, so he must have cut corners, just boiling water to make tea.

At this time, Qin Luo poured the tea into the tea cup, and then served the tea with both hands, "Please enjoy it." ”

"Can you drink this?" Tuoba was fooled once, and this time he had a heart.

"Yes." Qin Luo looked at Tuoba Yan, although he was a proud and conceited prince, he was still a child.

Rong Di in the northwest is naturally not like the Chu people who taste tea and sip silently. Tuoba Yan blew a few times, and drank it all in one gulp. He smacked his lips and savored for a moment, "Although it looks troublesome, it seems to taste better than the first one." ”

"Third Prince Xie compliments."

"Pour another glass." Tuoba Yan put down the empty teacup, and Qin Luo continued to add tea to him.

At this time, the second prince Tuoba Ling finally came. He first greeted Khan Khan. However, Mozang Kodorn snorted coldly and ignored it. Tuoba Ling didn't feel embarrassed at all, and sat next to Tuoba Yan by himself.

"Second brother." Tuoba Yan is different from his mother, and he still likes this second brother very much.

"Tea." The second prince glanced at Qin Luo, saw that he was skillful, and said with a smile, "This slave is good, why have I never seen it?" ”

"Newly captured captives." Tuoba Yan said, "Second brother also come to taste it and see if he is good at soaking?" ”

Tuoba Ling likes the culture of the Central Plains, loves to deal with the Chu people the most, and has a slight understanding of the tea ceremony. He took the tea from Qin Luofeng, learned the way the Chu people tasted tea, pretended to take a small sip, and said after a long time: "En...... Not bad. ”

"The second prince praises falsely." Qin Luo said.

"Hey, and you're going to say our words." The second prince looked at Qin Luo and said, "You are good, you will make me tea in the future." ”

Qin Luo was slightly surprised, he wanted to be close to the third prince, but he didn't expect to provoke the second prince. Fortunately, Tuoba Yan reacted quickly and refused directly: "Second brother, I found this person first, and he has to belong to me." ”

"Stingy!" Tuoba Ling criticized, "Those who achieve great things are not informal." Why can't you even give up a slave? Otherwise, you can always call him when you want to have tea. ”

"Okay, let it be given to the second brother." Tuoba Yan is not enough, for the sake of slaves to destroy the brotherly relationship.

Qin Luo was not happy, everyone knew that the second prince was not treated by the khan at all. Even if he is the eldest prince, although his biological mother is humble, he himself has made military achievements and is reused by the Khan. And the second prince, who is idle all day long, plays chess and listens to music, has no threat to the position of the khan, and is not helpful. Therefore, everyone ignored him and let him go.

"Second Prince!" Qin Luo politely refused, "I'm just a captive, and I only know a little about the tea ceremony, so I'm afraid I won't live up to the prince's love." ”

"You don't want to come to me?" The second prince keenly saw the essence.

The third prince also said: "How good it is to stay under the second brother's account, do you still want to go back to the prison cell?" ”

Qin Luo naturally didn't want to live in a prison cell, but he was more worried about the safety of the six princes. In a few days, if the ransom is not paid, the sword hanging over everyone's heads may fall at any time, and he will not have time to make tea slowly for the second prince.

Seeing that Qin Luo was slow to answer, the second prince guessed: "Do you want to go to the third brother's account?" ”

"The second brother knows more about the tea ceremony than me, why does he want to come to me?"

"This ......" Qin Luo didn't expect the second prince to be so sharp, where is the rumored cowardice and incompetence? Didn't the Xiang Qiang people realize that this was a powerful master?

"Why spurt?" Tuoba said, "I don't like to talk secretly, you have something to say." ”

Qin Luo was stunned for a moment when he heard this, in the past in Da Chu, what he said in the officialdom was all hypocrisy, sparing a few bends, how could it be so direct. But looking at Xiang Qiang, it seems that he has always been straightforward.

"Yes, I really want to go to the third prince's tent." Qin Luo no longer concealed his true intentions, "I have a reluctant request, and I also ask the third prince for help." ”

"Why should I help you?" Tuoba asked bluntly.