bayedsolid Chapter 401 A Shocking Change at Pingqing Palace, the Poison Sword Immortal Returns to Tianqi City!
Chapter 401 A Shocking Change at Pingqing Palace, the Poison Sword Immortal Returns to Tianqi City!
Five days later.
The southern suburbs of Tianqi City.
As dawn broke, a cavalry unit came from the south, led by a middle-aged man who looked like a general, followed by more than a dozen cavalrymen.
The group urged their horses forward, startling many birds in the woods on both sides into fluttering flight.
As the leader drew closer, his face beneath the helmet was finally revealed to be Lu Ting'en, the governor of Yunzhou who had suffered a defeat in Snow Moon City a few days earlier.
As Lu Ting'en drew closer to Tianqi City, he saw a small town called Shangyuan less than half a mile ahead.
He pulled on the reins, and the horse neighed. His attendants behind him also quickly stopped their horses when they saw their commander reining in.
“These past few days, traveling day and night, have been arduous for the brothers. Tianqi City is just around the corner. Why don’t we dismount and rest for a while in the town ahead, and find an inn to fill our stomachs?” Lu Ting’en said to his attendants as he turned around.
The dozen or so riders following behind him rarely had a chance to catch their breath, so they all dismounted and followed Lu Ting'en into the town.
Shangyuan Town is not large, only two or three miles in length. The people coming and going are mostly traveling merchants passing through the northern capital. Although the town is small, it has all kinds of taverns and inns.
When Lu Ting'en and his party entered the town, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and the town was sparsely populated, so it did not attract much attention.
He walked a few steps and saw a well-maintained inn in the distance, named Wangdu Inn.
"This is the place. Lieutenant Pang, tell the shopkeeper to take good care of our warhorses. Brothers, don't behave yourselves after we enter the shop. We still need to go into the city to meet the Emperor after we've eaten and drunk our fill!"
After speaking, Lu Ting'en handed the reins to his deputy and headed towards the main entrance of the inn.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, the waiter put down his rag and hurried out to greet him. Upon opening the door, he saw a man in gleaming armor, his face radiating an air of extraordinary heroism. The waiter was momentarily taken aback, but quickly put on a smile and greeted him:
"Oh! It's a military officer who has come from afar, please come in!"
Lu Ting'en glanced at the waiter, then strode into the inn's lobby without a word.
They arrived early; there wasn't a single guest at the inn's lobby yet.
Seeing that Lu Ting'en was followed by more than a dozen fully armored attendants, each leading a horse, the waiter led Lu Ting'en to a seat and then shouted towards the inner hall:
"Wang Xiaosi! Come out quickly and tell the groom in the back room to come out and feed the general's warhorse!"
Seeing that the shop assistant was somewhat clever, Lu Ting'en took out a silver ingot from inside his breastplate and threw it on the table:
"Tell the grooms to take good care of our horses and feed them the finest fodder. This is a reward for you, so don't be careless!"
The shopkeeper, seeing the considerable amount of silver, reached out to take it, but after sizing up Lu Ting'en, recognizing his extraordinary bearing and knowing he was no ordinary general, deliberately declined:
"General, you must be tired from your journey. It is our honor to serve you. We dare not accept any reward from you!"
Unexpectedly, Vice General Pang, who had tied up the horse behind him, entered just then. Seeing the waiter feigning refusal, he was displeased and shouted:
"This is a reward from our Grand Commander, just take it!"
The waiter trembled in fright, glanced furtively at the lieutenant behind him, and cautiously apologized:
"You're right, sir. I'll take it. Thank you, general, thank you so much..."
As he spoke, the waiter pulled out tables and chairs, arranging for the dozen or so people accompanying him to sit at two full tables.
Deputy General Pang pulled over the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea, and offered it to Lu Ting'en:
"General, please have some tea first, I'll go arrange the food and drink!"
Lu Ting'en took the teacup, nodded, and remained silent. Just then, a young man in a smoky blue robe walked in.
The young man was tall and slender, with a handsome and refined face, and his hair was tied up high with a green bamboo hairpin.
As he passed by, Lu Ting'en clearly smelled a faint fragrance, like orchids and musk, in the breeze stirred up by the boy.
Seeing that more customers had arrived, a series of footsteps sounded upstairs, and another waiter quickly called out:
"This humble servant greets you, sir. May I ask if you are here for a meal or to stay at the inn?"
The young man, with his back to Lu Ting'en and his group, pointed to another table directly opposite Lu Ting'en's seat and said:
"Pick a few of your restaurant's signature dishes, and also order a pot of Zhuyeqing tea and a bowl of vegetarian noodles."
The waiter led the young man to a seat and nodded hurriedly, "Please sit down, young master. I'll go and make the arrangements right away!"
The young man sat down, glanced at Lu Ting'en and the others, and then poured himself a cup of tea and slowly sipped it without saying a word.
When Lu Ting'en was swept by his gaze, a chill ran down her spine, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Even though he had fought on the battlefield for decades and experienced countless bloody battles, he was instinctively afraid of this young man at first glance.
Even though the young man seemed harmless, he frowned and whispered to his adjutant beside him:
"This man is quite strange. He doesn't seem like a noble young master; he has the air of a martial arts practitioner. Be careful, and after you've had your meal, set off immediately. Don't cause any trouble!"
Upon hearing this, the lieutenant glanced furtively at the young man and replied in a low voice, "He's from a provincial commandery, so please rest assured, Commander!"
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the food and wine for Lu Ting'en and the others had been arranged. The waiter put down his chopsticks, poured Lu Ting'en a cup of wine, and bowed, saying:
"Please enjoy your meal, General. If you need anything, just let me know."
Lu Ting'en waved his hand and turned to his entourage at another table, saying, "No need for formalities, hurry up and eat. We have important business to attend to and cannot linger too long!"
Upon receiving the order, the attendants began to use their chopsticks. Having rushed all the way, their stomachs were already growling with hunger. With Lu Ting'en's words, they no longer cared about appearances and scrambled for the dishes and vegetables on the table until they were almost empty.
As Lu Ting'en ate, he glanced at the strange young man at the opposite table out of the corner of his eye. His wine glass was filled three times, and the waiter brought over the food and drinks the young man had ordered.
Seeing that the food and wine were ready, the young man did not rush to pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he opened the celadon wine pot, and with a slight flick of his wrist, a small, three-inch-long, emerald-green snake crawled out from his sleeve.
The boy stroked the snake's head affectionately, then gently pinched it against the mouth of the wine pot. The little snake wriggled its emerald tail and spat out a few mouthfuls of venom into the wine pot.
Seeing the wine in the pot change color rapidly after being mixed with snake venom, the boy put the strange little snake back into his sleeve, picked up the wine pot, sniffed it, and whispered:
"Hmm~ Only the authentic Lingnan-style bamboo leaf green tea has the right flavor!"
This action made Lu Ting'en's heart pound wildly!
Back when he was stationed in Yunzhou, he had heard from the common people that a "Poison Sword Immortal" with a penchant for poison and superb martial arts skills had appeared in the martial arts world in the past year or two. Now it seems that the strange young man in front of him is probably this person!
Seeing Lu Ting'en's horrified expression, Deputy General Pang, who was wolfing down his food, swallowed the remaining food in his mouth and asked in a low voice, "Commander... what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Lu Ting'en was taken aback, shook his head, and pretended not to see the boy opposite him, saying in a low voice, "It's nothing, hurry up and eat, we need to leave here quickly!"
Deputy General Pang was a little confused, but he quickly realized that it might be related to the boy opposite him. When he turned his head, he saw the boy slowly pouring the wine from the pot into a cup.
The originally clear, watery liquid had inexplicably turned an unusually vibrant green, the same color as the small snake that had been in his sleeve!
"Hey sir, what are you looking at? Want a drink?"
When the young man saw that Deputy General Pang was looking at him, he smiled and revealed a row of neat white teeth.
Lu Ting'en's face darkened, and he nudged Deputy General Pang with his elbow, whispering, "Don't cause trouble, eat quickly!"
Lieutenant Pang jolted awake and quickly buried his head in his rice bowl, eating voraciously. Seeing this, the young man smiled calmly, tilted his head back, and drank the poisoned wine in his cup in one gulp!
This young man was none other than Wen Yanzhao, who had come all the way from Snowmoon City in search of Lu Ting'en!
……