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  Other inns at this time have mostly closed half of their doors. Inns cannot be closed because some lodging travelers need to come and stay at any time. However, as long as the hour of striking incense has passed, the door is closed halfway, telling outside travelers that they can stay, but there is no food.

  The door of "the first house" is always wide open, which means to tell the travelers passing by that no matter when they come, there is food for meals and rooms for lodging.

  Chen Yuan looked at it with great appreciation, this was the style that a large-scale inn should have. He and Hu Jing had just walked in when the young servant came up to greet them: "Sir, you're back? I'll get a big basin of water for you to wash your face?"

  Its service attitude is no different from that of a hotel in Bianjing.

  Chen Yuan nodded and smiled: "Thanks for your trouble, Second Brother. If there's still someone in the kitchen, would you mind asking them to bring another bowl of noodles?"

  The little servant brought a basin of water and handed over a towel: "Don't worry, there's always someone here at this hour!"

  Chen Yuan washed his hands and sat down in the main hall, waiting for noodles. Hu Jing sat beside him, looking at him: "Didn't eat well earlier? I didn't see a lot of dishes left on the table?"

  "So I said you can't be an official! I just focused on listening to what they were saying, afraid that if I ate and drank too much, I would make a mistake. My stomach is still empty until now."

  "Haha, that's what they get for being nosy. If I were to go eat, I'd eat my fill first and then worry about what others say!"

  Chen Yuan nodded: "This is well said, this is what you get for yourself. So I just asked once, if I became an official, I would have to listen every day to see if there was any news that was unfavorable to me, if anyone wanted to make a move on me, of course, I wouldn't be able to eat well every meal."

  After finishing speaking, Chen Yuan looked up at the room upstairs and said to Hu Jing: "Go and see if Amu Dai and Pang Xi are back, I have something to discuss with them."

  Hu Jing immediately shook her head: "No way, isn't it just doing a deal? First finish eating the noodles, then discuss the real business."

  Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Listen, go quickly, I'll eat and talk at the same time, no problem. Hurry up and finish things, it's more important for me to rest early."

  Hu Jing's face turned red, and she fiercely twisted Chen Yuan's arm before going upstairs with a hint of shyness.

  Before long, Amu Dai and Pang Xi came down from upstairs.

  "Boss, Wang Lun has been found, and he's not far from us. This kid is all right, our goods are all here, one bag hasn't been missing, they've all been brought by him."

  Chen Yuan nodded: "What did you say to others?"

  "Ah, I've been running around the jianghu for so many years, can't you understand this much? Wang Lun wants to deliver the goods, I said wait and we'll go pick them up later. Also, let's invite them out for a drink, how about that?"

  Chen Yuanshao said: "Not bad, Brother Pang, how is it over there?"

  Pang Xi also nodded: "There's nothing wrong here, and Xiao Su Li has dealt with us before. He's a businessman too, although he holds an official position, but rarely goes to the government office, most of his time is spent running his shop."

  Chen Yuan wanted to ask Pang Xi if he had obtained any useful clues through Xiao Suli, but thinking twice, with Amu standing right beside him, some words were better left unsaid, so he temporarily gave up.

  Noodles have arrived, Chen Yuan looked at them two: "Have you eaten?"

  Pang Xi nodded: "I've eaten."

  A Mu Da shook his head: "No."

  Chen Yuan immediately said to his partner: "Little brother, bring another bowl."

  The young servant's face showed no signs of impatience from being ordered around twice, and with a humble smile, he said: "Ah, sir, please wait for a moment."

  "Look, this is what a good partner looks like. When I get back and open up my wine shop, I want all of my partners to be just like this little waiter! And I'll even give them uniforms, so that when they go out, people will know right away that they're from our wine shop."

  Pang Xi looked at Chen Yuan: "Give clothes to partners? Never heard of it."

  Chen Yuan did not want to argue with him, because Chen Yuan knew that even if he gave his partner gold bars, Pang Xi would not come to be his partner, so there was no need to explain to him.

  At this time, however, two groups of people suddenly stopped their carriages at the gate. The little servant hurried out: "Ah, several masters have returned?"

  Chen Yuan looked up and saw that the leader of one group was Song Qi, who had been sent by the Song Dynasty to negotiate with Liao, while the other group had a significantly larger number of people.

  Two groups of people met at the door. Song Qi was originally going to enter first, but when he saw Chen Yuan sitting inside, he suddenly hesitated for a moment.

  The two men behind came up, one of whom squeezed in from beside Song Qi and happened to push Song Qi with his shoulder, almost toppling him over.

  The two guards following Song Qi suddenly became furious: "What are you doing?!"

  The two of them walked in from outside with a scornful smile, followed by a large number of guards who immediately surged to the door and squeezed Song Qi and the others from the Song Dynasty into disarray.

  A thin man immediately said to the one who had just squeezed in: "Brother Zhang, why did you bump into Mr. Song?"

  That man immediately put on an innocent look: "Where did I bump into him? It's probably because Lord Song ate too much closed-door wine today and bumped into the door himself?"

  The two of them burst out laughing together.

  Chen Yuan quietly beckoned the little servant with a wave of his hand, and the little servant came over. Chen Yuan asked: "Little servant brother, who are these people?"

  The little servant glanced at Chen Yuan and said in a low voice, "Sir, you do your business, and these two groups will pretend they didn't see anything. The one with fewer people is the Song Dynasty's delegation, led by Song Qi, who is also a high-ranking official in the Song Dynasty! The one opposite him is called Zhang Yuan, and the thin one is Wu Huan, they are Li Yuanhao's men from Western Xia."

  Chen Yuan nodded and let the little servant go busy.

  Song Qi finally rushed to the front of Zhang Yuan and Wu Huan under the protection of the guards, his face very sternly said: "Two, this is a place in Liao State, you doing so, I'm afraid it's not quite right? If we alert the people of Liao State, I don't know if you two can bear the consequences?"

  Wu Heng smiled slightly: "What Lord Song said is extremely correct. However, didn't Lord Song go to pay respects to Ye Lu Hanba today? It seems like he didn't see him?"

  "That's something for later."

  Zhang Yuan followed up by saying: "Actually, Lord Song also has his own timing. When he went there, Yelü Huabu was drinking with us, where did he have the time to meet? Haha!"

  Song Qi was speechless.

  Wu Hao patted Song Qi's shoulder: "Song, as the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree to rest in. If such foolish loyalty dies under the tree of Great Song, should I say it's stupid or silly?"

  Zhang Yuan retorted, "It's not quite right to say that you're foolish. We've both read the same poetry and literature, and I don't think we can surpass each other in that regard. But if you're not foolish, then why do something that you know is wrong?"

  Song Qi was very depressed in his heart. He arrived seven days later than these two people, and during these seven days, he lost many opportunities that could have been counted as chances.

  The subordinate stepped forward and said: "The Master said that when serving a lord, one must be loyal to the end. Eating the lord's salary and sharing the lord's worries. Although I am not talented, betraying my ancestors and forgetting my clan is something I would never do!"

  The two men, Zhang Yuan and Wu Huang, suddenly changed their expressions. They were originally unsuccessful scholars of the Song Dynasty who had gone to Western Xia to rely on Li Yuanhao for trust after seeking refuge. Although they are now quite respected, what they most dread is discussing their ancestors with others.

  They brought more attendants this time, probably over sixty people, while Song Qi had only over thirty people.

  There are over a dozen people around them now, but Song Qi only has eight. The two exchanged a glance and decided to take drastic measures against Song Qi!

  Zhang Yuan grabbed Song Qi's clothes: "Say it again!"

  Those Dangxiang people saw him take action and also picked up their benches. When they entered the city, their weapons had already been taken away, which was a rule in Yanjing, because the Liao people were not as rough as the Song people, who liked to fight at every turn. Therefore, after Yanjing was built for a short time, in order to ensure public safety, it was stipulated that entering the city must surrender weapons.

  Song Qi had never seen such a formation before, and his face immediately turned white: "The Master said, 'A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands!'"

  Chen Yuan suddenly said, "The Master said that when serving a lord, one must be loyal to the end. Eating the lord's salary and sharing the lord's worries. Although I am not talented, betraying my ancestors and forgetting my clan is something I would never do!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately stood up and smiled at Song Qi: "Mr. Song just said these two sentences, right? Since the two of you want to hear it, I'll recite it again."

  Hu Jing's mouth was wide open, and Ah Mu and Pang Xi beside her were also looking at Chen Yuan with surprised eyes. In their imagination, taking someone else's trouble on oneself like this didn't seem like something Chen Yuan would do.

  Ah Mu was taken aback for a moment, muttering under his breath: "Damn it, the noodles haven't even been eaten yet and we're already fighting!"

  Hu Jing changed her expression to a supportive one and stood in front of Chen Yuan.

  Wu Heng looked at someone standing up and measured Chen Yuan with a glance: "Who are you?"

  Chen Yuan ignored him and looked at Song Qi: "Lord Song, they say that being foolish is indeed not wrong! They have even forgotten their own ancestors, what's the point of talking about 'zi yue' with them? What 'zi yue' do they remember?"

  As soon as Na Yuan saw Chen Yuan, the four of them immediately gained courage. With Chen Yuan's words, it was clear that he was scolding him. Letting go of Song Qi, he rushed towards Chen Yuan: "You little brat! Are you looking for death?"

  Chen Yuan didn't move and continued to say to Song Qi: "See, in the end don't we still have to fight?"

  Just as Zhang Yuan walked in, Hu Jing grabbed his arm and spun him around half a circle with a twist of her hand, then gave him a push: "Thud!"

  Zhang Yuan fell to the ground!

  Those Tangut people didn't say a word and immediately rushed over. Amu Da and Hu Jing dodged to the left and right, while Pang Xi stood behind them but didn't move.

  Pang Xi didn't move, which wasn't surprising. Some of the Song Dynasty guards wanted to rush over and help, but Song Qi hastily stopped them: "Don't take action! We are the great Song Dynasty's envoy team. If we were to fight these barbarians, it would be bad for our reputation!"

  One sentence almost killed Chen Yuan.

  He just didn't understand that if he hadn't replaced Song Qi earlier, letting him get beaten up would have been better for the Song Dynasty's reputation? Lv Yi Jian was right, Song Qi was fundamentally unable to complete this task.

  Yang Wenguang from upstairs heard the noise and came out laughing: "Fighting? I'm here!"

  Yang Wenguang joined in, and those more than a dozen party guards selected by Li Yuanying were good hands, but they couldn't gain any advantage.

  Chen Yuan retreated back to Pang Xi's side: "Not planning on helping?"

  Pang Xi looked at him: "I just don't understand why help Song Qi? If he gets beaten up, it would be beneficial to us and harmless."

  Chen Yuan nodded: "Right, this time you're right. But I'll tell you why I'm helping him - he's the representative of the Song Dynasty's delegation. You can go kill him now if you want, but absolutely cannot let the Tanguts humiliate him!"

  Pang Xi thought for a moment: "I always can't talk back."

  He shook his arm and shouted: "I'm here too!" Joining the group fight.

  （）

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