The candlelight flickered.
Lying shirtless on the bed, Yang Zaixian from Guizhou, with one arm embracing a beauty sound asleep, hazily turned over and muttered with eyes closed, "Someone, bring tea!"
"General Yang is in good spirits..."
Suddenly, a lukewarm laugh echoed in the room.
Upon hearing this laugh, Yang Zaixian’s slow thoughts took several moments to process it, then he suddenly jerked up and instinctively reached for the saber by his bed, but grabbed nothing but air.
His face drastically changed as he grabbed the brocade quilt in front of him, spread his arms to protect the two beauties behind him, and shouted in alarm and anger, "Someone, come!"
The moment he called out, several sounds of heavy objects hitting the floor came from outside the room, and several figures in tight clothes barged into the room, blades in hand.
"Clang..."
The clear sound of a long saber being drawn rang out, and a gleaming blade flew towards the doorway like lightning, easily embedding itself in the bluestone floor, its blade trembling as it blocked the way of the tight-clothed samurai.
The group of samurai stared in shock and saw a vigorous figure dressed in night clothes and wearing an iron half-mask sitting at the central square table, pouring himself a drink.
You can tell an expert by their first move, and none of the many tight-clothed samurai present had the confidence to catch his move.
The man in black continued drinking without turning his head, speaking indifferently, "Don’t be nervous, I came to have a talk with your general, didn’t intend to kill anyone."
Yang Zaixian, his face ashen, glanced at the saber still quivering in the floor, then at the black-clothed man sitting confidently at the square table and asked in a heavy southwestern accent, "May I know who you are?"
"Gladly."
The man in black chuckled, "Jinshi from Louwailou."
Louwailou?
Yang Zaixian looked bewilderedly towards the door where his personal guards, whom he had exerted great effort to recruit from various clans in the southwest, stood, and sharply noticed a trace of fear on their faces.
His heart sank slightly, but he still put on a bold front, set down the quilt that covered his shame, and salute with cupped fists, "So, it is Jinshi in person, I have long admired your great reputation, and I am overjoyed to meet you today... may I ask why Jinshi comes looking for Yang at this late hour, is there anything Yang can serve you?"
He also realized if the visitor had come to take his life, he would have been killed in his sleep, and wouldn’t have waited until now.
The man in black lifted his head, his eyes oddly looking at him, "Perhaps General Yang should get dressed, then we can talk in detail?"
"Hahaha..."
Yang Zaixian laughed heartily, covering the two beauties with a brocade quilt behind him, and stood up confidently, "Then please excuse my rudeness!"
The man in black glanced at the beauties who had been protected behind Yang Zaixian all along, shook his head with a chuckle, and turned to the group of samurai at the door, "Which one of you is Deng Wuxie from Bashan Sword Manor? Feel free to step forward and have a chat!"
Hearing this, the group of samurai at the door instinctively turned their heads to look at a young swordsman in a green robe standing conspicuously at the forefront.
Yang Zaixian paused as he dressed, then casually continued... This Deng Wuxie was his top expert!
The young swordsman’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he resolutely sheathed his long sword, stepped forward, and bowed with his sword cupped in his hands, "Deng Wuxie has been impolite!"
The man in black gestured with his hand toward the seat opposite him, making a "please" gesture.
Deng Wuxie stiffly took his seat.
Now dressed haphazardly, Yang Zaixian turned back to the samurai at the doorway and waved, "Brothers, go about your business, order the kitchen to prepare some hearty dishes, and have a couple of drinks to ward off the cold, just don’t drink too much..."
The samurai, looking slightly ashamed, bowed with cupped fists and backed out of the room, their hands firmly on their swords, eyes never straying from the man in black.
Seeing this, the man in black internally noted, ’Well played!’
Yang Zaixian, now properly belted, walked confidently to the square table, picked up the wine pot with one hand, and with the other began pouring wine into the tea bowl saying, "Come, come, come, it’s often said in plays ’an invitation isn’t as good as a chance encounter,’ tonight I am honored to meet Jinshi... This bowl is to honor Jinshi!"
He held up the wine bowl, ready to drink it all in one go.
"Wait."
The man in black held down his wine bowl and smiled, "I am neither a relative nor a friend of General Yang, so, please, no drink for me... I only have a few words to say, then I’ll be on my way!"
Yang Zaixian smiled as he pulled back the wine bowl, "We weren’t friends before, but after this bowl, we will be... It’s up to Jinshi, but I will finish this!"
He once again tipped his head back and drained the bowl.
The man in black watched him impassively, making no move to touch the wine bowl in front of him.
Seeing this, Yang Zaixian wasn’t embarrassed; he simply put down his wine bowl and picked up the pot again.
Just then, the man in black said, "Let it be known to General Yang that I have come here on behalf of Yang Erlang to bring a message to General Yang."
Yang Zaixian paused his hand on the pot, pondering over which "Yang Erlang" it could be; suddenly, Deng Wuxie, who was sitting beside him, cried out in shock, "’Divine Monarch’ Yang Erlang?"
The man in black and Yang Zaixian both glanced at Deng Wuxie.
Deng Wuxie, panic in his heart, involuntarily released his grip on his sword, lowered his eyelids, and positioned his hands on the table, sitting up straight.
Yang Zaixian noted his reaction and returned his gaze with a smiling face, saluting, "Please enlighten me, Jinshi!"
This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.
The man in black shifted his gaze away and said slowly, punctuating each word, "Yang Erlang instructed me to tell General Yang: remember why you turned against him. If you are to rebel, then rebel with the majesty of a king and not like some unruly bandit causing chaos everywhere..."