Wang Qinian glanced at Fan Xian, seemingly trying to discern some abnormality from his face. After all, once Si Lili departed, she would be forever confined to the deep palace, and the two might never have the chance to meet again.

However, Fan Xian's face remained calm, his eyes as still as a clear pool, devoid of any waves or thoughts. He smiled and stepped forward, cupping his hands in a respectful greeting to Si Lili across the group of women. He was about to say something when a pair of extremely disdainful eyes stared at him from the side.

Feeling slightly displeased, Fan Xian turned his head and saw an old nanny, whose dress and manner clearly indicated her high status.

Before he could speak, the old nanny said with extreme coldness and disdain, "This Southern Qi official, Miss Si has already set foot on the soil of our dynasty. She no longer needs to listen to your reprimands, does she?"

Fan Xian frowned slightly, wondering what this was all about. He then heard the old nanny whispering to herself with contempt, "These Southern Chao officials dare to stare directly at young ladies. They truly lack any sense of propriety."

This old nanny was a veteran of the imperial palace and had always held a high position. When Si Lili was a child, she lived in the Northern Qi capital and was once served by her. This time, the Northern Qi emperor, feeling sorry for Si Lili's suffering in Southern Qing and fearing that she would be subjected to too much mistreatment by Southern Qing officials along the way, ordered this nanny to come to the border to receive her, hoping that Si Lili could recuperate properly.

Fan Xian frowned again and suddenly stepped towards the carriage where Si Lili was standing. His body was filled with domineering Zhenqi. He only needed to release a trace of it to cause the women around him to cry out in feigned pain and fall to both sides, clearing a path for him. At the end of the path, Si Lili stood somewhat uneasily beside the carriage.

"What a rude fellow!" the old nanny exclaimed angrily. "What do you Southern barbarian want to do? Someone, drive this person out!"

Hearing this, the Jinyi Guards and officials from the Northern Qi side quickly came forward. Some ignorant fellows even prepared to draw their scimitars from their waists. However, the officials from the Northern Qi reception delegation knew the background of Fan Xian. He was the son-in-law of the Prime Minister, the eldest son of the Minister, the Prince Consort of Southern Qing Emperor's sister, and the poet who made Zhuang Mo Han vomit blood! He was no ordinary official!

Last year, Northern Qi had suffered repeated defeats in battle. This time, the signing of the agreement was already an act of guilt. How could they dare to be rude to such an important figure? The official quickly reprimanded the Jinyi Guards.

The old nanny became even angrier and pointed at the official, scolding, "How can our dynasty's territory allow these Southern barbarians to be so presumptuous!" This old fish-eyed woman, relying on her time in the imperial palace, only knew the depths of the rear sea and had no idea of the vastness of the world. She clenched her old, worm-eaten teeth, puffed up her old cheeks, and waved her old, withered tree palm, actually slapping towards Fan Xian's face!

With a "smack!" Fan Xian smiled and grabbed the old nanny's wrist, glancing at her.

The old nanny felt a little unnerved by these two glances, but she still stubbornly said, "Let go! See if I don't give you a real slap!"

"Smack!" This time, it was the old nanny who was slapped miserably, her legs giving way beneath her. She fell into the yellow earth of the official road. The old woman covered her sore face, looking at Fan Xian in shock. Perhaps it had been many years since she had been hit, so she was too shocked after being slapped and forgot to cry out in pain for a moment.

Fan Xian withdrew his palm, feeling disgusted by the touch of the old bark on his palm. He casually wiped it on his clothes and said quietly, "Since you say I am a Southern barbarian, then I will be a barbarian for you to see."

This slap stunned everyone. No one expected the poetic genius Fan Xian, the Director of the Supervising Department, to actually hit such an old woman. The official quickly wiped his sweat and came forward to explain again, saying, "This is an old woman from the palace. Even ordinary officials have to give her some face."

Fan Xian looked at the old woman who was covering her mouth and crying out in horror while sitting on the ground. He shook his head slightly and replied with a smile, "I am not an official of your Northern Qi, so naturally, I don't need to give her face. Not to mention an old woman from the palace, in my heart, she is just a shameless old woman from the palace."

These words were too arrogant, not even putting the face of the Northern Qi Imperial Palace in his heart. The official gritted his teeth and lowered his head, knowing that the situation was stronger than him. Even if Fan Xian had hit someone, he could not say much.

Fan Xian walked directly along the cleared path to the carriage. At this time, no one dared to stop him. He smiled at Si Lili and said softly, "Take care in the palace."

Si Lili gave a shallow blessing. The slight panic in her eyes had been well concealed at this time. She pursed her lips and replied faintly, "Sir has taken care of me a lot along the way. This humble woman has no way to repay Sir's kindness and feels at a loss."

Fan Xian said with a smile, "Limbs... are naturally good, don't worry." With just a few simple words, he settled the future of Si Lili's brother who remained in the capital. Fan Xian retreated in silence, standing far away in the middle of his delegation's carriages, watching the old man and woman, who had traveled a long journey with him, board the Northern Qi's carriage.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a bit strange. It seemed that Northern Qi was not treating this matter as a secret agreement. Sean, logically speaking, should have been secretly sent to the capital. Today, so many Jinyi Guards had come, and with so many people talking, it was impossible to keep it a secret. If Shang Shan Hu asked the Northern Qi imperial family for Sean, how would the young emperor respond? Haitang was a contrary force. It seemed the Northern Qi imperial family would have a headache.

Fan Xian was also very curious about the treatment Si Lili received. It was obvious that the emperor really liked her, otherwise, he would not have put so much effort into receiving her. However, even if Si Lili was the granddaughter of the Southern Qing Prince, so many years had passed and she had long lost any value... Could it be that the young emperor really believed in love? But with such solemnity, wouldn't the Empress Dowager be angry? How could Si Lili enter the palace?

The old man with broken legs silently boarded the carriage. Fan Xian couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Sean was getting off the prison cart, only to get into another prison cart. How could a single carriage bear the weight of twenty years of separation and so much lack of freedom?

———————————————————————

After entering Northern Qi's territory, the Black Knights naturally returned silently to their station near the capital. The safety of the delegation was entirely entrusted to the Northern Qi Jinyi Guards and the troops along the way. Fan Xian rarely stole half a day of leisure and enjoyed himself. Anyway, on foreign soil, he thought that even if he gave them eight hundred guts, they wouldn't dare to do anything to the delegation.

The spring scenery along the way was excellent. Most of the people in the delegation were veterans who had been to Northern Qi before. Even Wang Qinian had done some costless business between the two countries in those years. The only ones who seemed to be excited about going abroad were Fan Xian and the seven Tiger Guards.

Although Gao Da and the other Tiger Guards still maintained the cold and stern air that masters seemed to possess, the fiery look in their eyes as they constantly looked out the window revealed that they were very interested in the foreign scenery.

Fan Xian said with a smile, "We can be considered to be broadening our horizons, but the scenery of Northern Qi is similar to that of our Qing Kingdom, except that the types of trees are different. Even the temperature doesn't feel cold. It's much warmer than the wilderness southwest of Da Hu."

Wang Qinian explained, "Although Northern Qi is located in the northeast, the climate is actually very good."

Gao Da suddenly said something in a booming voice. Because he rarely spoke, Fan Xian was very interested. He heard him say, "The scenery of the North is indeed good. This subordinate's greatest wish in this life is to follow His Majesty on the fourth Northern Expedition, incorporate this land into Qing Kingdom's jurisdiction, and help His Majesty unify the world."

The carriage sped along the official road, with the deciduous trees outside the window hanging large and small green leaves, swaying gently with the wind stirred up by the carriage, seemingly shaking their heads and sighing softly.

Fan Xian sighed, "With such beautiful spring scenery, let's talk less about fighting and killing."

Although he said so, he still quietly explained all the things to pay attention to when going to the capital. This time, there was no need to negotiate again. The difficulty of implementing last year's agreement should not be too great, but some things to pay attention to still needed to be taken care of. In addition to Fan Xian, Wang Qinian, and Gao Da, there was also the deputy envoy of the delegation, Lord Lin Jing, who came from the Honglu Temple, so the four of them spoke without any taboos, as long as they were not heard by the Northern Qi people outside.

There was still a long distance from Wudu River to the capital. As the carriage moved eastward day by day, Fan Xian's brows gradually furrowed. He no longer had the heart to look at the repetitive and monotonous scenery outside the carriage. Instead, he was thinking, where should Sean be at this time? What about Si Lili? What kind of identity would the young emperor arrange for her before she entered the palace? Chen Pingping's "White Sleeve Trick" had been secretly broken by Fan Xian. Would Fan Xian's "Red Sleeve Trick" plan really be realized one day?

Noticing that Director Fan's mood seemed a bit low, the deputy envoy Lin Jing said respectfully, "Sir, although the delegation is safe, the journey is long and somewhat tiring. Sir, please be patient."

He was very clear about Fan Xian's identity. When he slapped the old nanny at the Wudu River, Lin Jing didn't think it was a big deal. With Fan Xian's status and temperament, even the Guo family and the only daughter of Ye Shoubei in the Qing Kingdom capital dared to use dark fists, let alone a mere servant woman. He also knew very well that this delegation was acting entirely on Director Fan's instructions. He was just a small character handling miscellaneous affairs, so he was afraid that Fan Xian's mood would be bad and delay important matters. He quickly smiled and said, "The capital is also one of the most prosperous places in the world. The women there have a different style than the red makeup on the Liujing River in the capital. Sir can go and take a look when the time comes."