Chapter 106 Sir, are you from Qing? (Subscribe!)
Li An? Could it be Li An, the Grandmaster of Qing Kingdom?

Then the three people around him are his eldest disciple Hong Kaijia, Si Gu Jian's apprentice Wang Shisanlang, and the former commander of the imperial palace and sharpshooter Yan Xiaoyi?
Shen Zhong tried his best to make his smile seem genuine and harmless.

He gave up his guard. If the person in front of him wanted to kill him, he wouldn't need to do it himself. The three people around him would be enough to make it impossible for him to escape.

At first, he did associate the person in front of him with the Kingdom of Qing.

It’s just that the people deployed by Qing Kingdom had just received a message from a carrier pigeon, and these people arrived here. Could they outrun the carrier pigeon?
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Shen Zhong bowed and said with a smile: "Hello Mr. Sijue, hello everyone!"

"Oh?" Li An heard the word 'Four Wonders' and asked curiously, "What does Four Wonders mean? Why do you call me that?"

"It seems that the gentleman is still unaware."

Shen Zhong walked to the table, wiped a few stools clean with his sleeves, and motioned for everyone to sit down.

After everyone was seated, he explained: "Sir, no one can match you in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and martial arts. These are all well-known in Qi State. Everyone calls you Sir and respects you very much!"

"Even our country's literary master Zhuang Mohan praised you highly. He said that no one could compare to you in poetry, calligraphy and painting! This made the scholars in Northern Qi hate that they could not see your true face and secretly feel sad."

"Plus, the heroic deeds of the four of you outside the capital of Qing Nation a few days ago. I ask, who in this world can refuse to accept this title?"

This series of explanations, or it might be more appropriate to call it flattery, actually answered Ang Lee's questions.

Li An smiled slightly and said meaningfully: "The commander is well-informed! What happened a few days ago, thousands of miles away in Northern Qi, is known to him as if he was there in person. This is really impressive!"

"No, no, sir, thank you for your compliment!"

Li An changed his tone and said, "There is just one thing I don't understand. Poetry, calligraphy, and martial arts are fine, but how do you even begin to talk about painting?"

"Hahaha, sir, you are joking. Are you testing me?"

"The painting 'Strange Beasts' that you painted at Luming Academy has now been circulated throughout the court of Qing, and was finally collected by the Emperor of Qing and hung in his own study, showing how much he loves your paintings! I heard that the one who discovered this painting was the newly appointed chief priest of Luming Academy. According to the servants, the chief priest was initially frightened by the strange beast in the painting and had to go home to recuperate!"

"What a pity! I have no chance to see it. It is a pity, a pity!"

Shen Zhong's expression was so sincere that people would believe him immediately after listening to him, and there seemed to be magic in his words.

If Li An didn't know that Shen Zhong didn't care about these things at all and was only focused on his career, perhaps he would have regarded Shen Zhong as a friend.

"Now that I am in front of you, what kind of paintings can't I see in the future?"

Li An continued speaking along with his words.

Shen Zhong slapped his forehead and said, "Sir, you are absolutely right. I have given up the near and sought the far!"

Seeing his men coughing outside the hall, he thought they must have finished their work. Shen Zhong didn't want to delay and wanted to speed up the interrogation after returning to the capital to get the information he wanted before the Qing Kingdom delegation arrived to exchange prisoners.

He bowed again and asked about the matter: "I wonder if you will settle down in Qi State in the future?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I planned!"

Shen nodded and said, "This is a blessing for the State of Qi."

"But sir, you are from Qing, right?" He stared into Li An's eyes, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed as soon as he said this!
"presumptuous!"

Hong Kaijia shouted.

Wang Shisanlang next to him took direct action. In a flash, he grabbed Shenzhong's neck with one hand and pressed his head forcefully on the table!
The Jinyiwei outside the door heard the noise inside the house and rushed in with their swords drawn. Seeing their master being coerced, they stepped forward and surrounded Li An and others.

"Put away your swords, put away your swords! Put down your weapons! It's just a misunderstanding!"

The Jinyiwei looked at each other, hesitating whether they should obey the adults. "Why, you don't even listen to me?"

"But my Lord..."

"Put away your sword and get out!"

The men then sheathed their swords and slowly left the house.

"I'm not good at controlling my subordinates, I'm sorry to make you laugh!" Shen Zhong was still smiling and amiable even though he was so humiliated. "But could you please ask Brother Wang to let me go first? I didn't mean any harm in what I said just now. I just had an occupational disease and was just asking a routine question."

When Wang Shisanlang saw Li An nod, he loosened his hand and retreated behind Li An without sitting down.

"Brother Wang, you have a good way!" He glanced at Wang Shisanlang with an inexplicable look, then turned to Li An and asked, "Sir, can you answer my question just now?"

"You know, you usually have to pay to ask me questions!"

Li An's smile became a little dangerous: "I still want to settle down in Qi State and don't want to cause trouble. If you are not the commander of the Jinyiwei, you would be dead now for your questioning just now!"

He stood up. No matter if the other party did it unintentionally or intentionally, explaining it clearly now would also reassure him, and even more so the people behind him.

"All joking aside, I can answer your questions."

"I am not from Qing Country, and never have been. Are you satisfied with this answer?"

Shen Zhong touched his neck and laughed out loud: "It was my fault just now. If you have time, you may go with me. When we arrive in the capital, I will host a welcome party for you!"

Li An nodded and agreed to Shen Zhong's invitation. Yan Xiaoyi and the other person also stood up.

There was a gleam of light in Shen Zhong's eyes. He didn't expect that Li An would agree to go with him and didn't refuse his invitation to host a banquet. He was overjoyed!

You know, Li Ang went to Shangjing with me, and if someone was thinking about it, there was actually a lot of room for maneuver!

It’s no less than a great achievement!
He raised his arm and asked Li An and others to go first, and he quickly followed. Then everyone left the courtyard.

"I know your rules, sir. I just asked you a question. Once we enter Shangjing City, the reward will be delivered to you!"

"Please don't refuse, sir. After all, once you enter Shangjing, you will need to spend money everywhere."

Li An smiled, showing no intention of refusing.

Shen Zhong asked his men to pack up a carriage and pointed to the carriage road: "Sir, please take this carriage. This trip is in a hurry and there is no better one. Please don't blame me."

"The carriage is small, and it's troublesome for Brother Yan and Brother Wang to ride on horseback." After saying this, he bowed to the two of them in a formal manner.

The group then headed for Shangjing in a mighty procession.

The Jinyiwei and his men came quickly, but left slowly. However, after being told by their master, they knew who was in the carriage, so naturally no one dared to act rashly. The cavalry was very quiet along the way.

When Li An and others arrived in Shangjing City, it was more than ten days later.

There was no trace of Yan Bingyun along the way. I guess Shen Zhong had arranged for someone to send him back to Shangjing in advance.

Under the city, many common people and scholars were lined up in two rows.

When they saw Li Ang's carriage entering the city, the crowd burst into huge cheers!

(End of this chapter)