Yan Liqiang’s eyes glossed over Sushali’s face for a moment, then he extended his arm without a change in facial expression. “Have a seat!”
Both of them sat down in the huge drawing room at the Protectorate General’s Office. Yu Qing served some tea, then left the room.
When she was serving tea, Sushali cast a glance at her. Yu Qing met her gaze, but neither of them spoke.
“There are so many people in the Shatu Seven Tribes. Why have they sent you here? Which tribe are you from? Who are you exactly to be representing the Shatu Seven Tribes?” Yan Liqiang asked bluntly.
“I hail from the Dark Razor Tribe. Chief Sultan is my father. I have come on my father’s behalf this time, so you have no need to doubt me, Protectorate General. I may be a woman but my words count!”
“Oh, so you are from the Dark Razor Tribe!”
Sushali threw a glance at Yan Liqiang, then at the men guarding outside the drawing room. She smiled at Yan Liqiang. “I heard that you are a very powerful martial practitioner with exceptional archery skills, Protectorate General. Why have you arranged so many guards here? Are you worried that a frail woman like me would harm you?”
“It’s just etiquette!” Yan Liqiang smiled, then waved his hand to dismiss all the men guarding outside the drawing rooms. With only him and Sushali left in the room, Yan Liqiang directed his gaze back to her. “Among all the people that I have met from the Shatu Seven Tribes, you are the most fluent Chinese speaker. Without looking at you, no one can probably tell that you are a Shatu woman!”
“The Shatu Seven Tribes are indebted to the Great Han Empire’s protection. We have long been a subject of the Great Han Empire by guarding the Gulang Plains and fending off the Dark Ram Tribe’s invasion. All the important figures from the Shatu Seven Tribes can speak Chinese, and this is to avoid any miscommunications between us. Don’t you agree, Protectorate General?”
So it seemed like she was really here to butter Yan Liqiang up. She spoke humbly and even tried to put the Shatu Seven Tribes in a good light. People who didn’t know any better would have probably been deceived by this woman’s words. Yan Liqiang sneered, then picked up his cup to take a sip.
Instead of answering the woman’s question, he impolitely questioned her. “Since the Shatu Seven Tribes see themselves as a subject of the Great Han Empire, why do they repeatedly assault the borders and kill our people? Weren’t they also the ones responsible for attacking my Wind Border Stockade? Not only that, but your people have also attempted to assassinate our officials from the northwestern region and our ministers from the imperial court a few times. There were assassination attempts on our Gan Provincial Governor Lei Sitong and Pingxi Prefectural Governor Wang Jianbei previously. How do you justify these actions as a subject of the Great Han Empire? Even an enemy wouldn’t repeatedly perform malicious actions like these.”
When Sushali heard Yan Liqiang’s questions, a pitiful expression immediately appeared on her face. “Please understand that there are also rebels and scum among the Shatu Seven Tribes, Protectorate General. The assassination attempts that you speak of were definitely the doings of the Dark Wood Tribe. They were the first to betray the Great Han Empire by colluding with the Dark Ram Tribe. Their wild ambitions are abundantly clear, and our other tribes are not aware of their actions. The Tuli Tribe that assaulted the Wind Border Stockade was also clouded by greed. They would do anything for the profit from wool. Fortunately, you have exterminated them and they deserved that. Even if you didn’t take action against them, our Shatu Seven Tribes would definitely condemn the Tuli Tribe’s actions!”
Sushali was quite an articulate woman. She was able to push every responsibility with just her words. However, Yan Liqiang wasn’t planning on straightening out the facts with a Shatu woman here so he didn’t even argue with her. In this world, affairs between races especially were settled through weapons.
“Well, it is pointless to discuss these things!” Yan Liqiang continued sipping his tea, unbothered. “What business do you have here as the representative of the Shatu Seven Tribes?”
“Nothing much really. Don’t get nervous, Protectorate General. On behalf of the Shatu Seven Tribes, I am only here to congratulate you on your promotion by the imperial court and the grand opening of the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office. With the Qiyun Protectorate established again, the Shatu Seven Tribes will be rest assured. We no longer need to worry about being bullied by the Dark Ram Tribe. This is a little something from us — we hope you like it!” Sushali stood up and went up to Yan Liqiang. She retrieved a gift list from her sleeve and bent down to place it on the table in front of Yan Liqiang.
The moment she went toward Yan Liqiang, a nice fragrance wafted into Yan Liqiang’s nose. When she bent down to put the gift list on the table, her graceful movement exposed her irresistible gorgeous figure to Yan Liqiang’s eyes. Yan Liqiang couldn’t help but be swayed and his eyes were drawn to her ample chest.
Sushali gave him a seductive smile, then returned to her seat.
Impressive!
Yan Liqiang was secretly surprised. He always thought that he wasn’t an easy guy but he was swayed when he saw Sushali coming over to him. Upon careful consideration, the woman’s every move and even the fragrance on her body was a trap. He was instantly reminded of a rumor he had heard before — many Shatu women were trained in seduction art since young to seduce and please men. The women who were trained in this usually dedicated themselves exclusively to the Shatu aristocats and Sacred Flame priests. Could it be that Sushali was using the Shatu women’s seduction art on him just now?
He wouldn’t get any answer from his guesses but the Psychic Serpent in his brain had been transmitting Sushali’s thoughts into his mind. Hence, Yan Liqiang would know every thought and plan in her heart in just the blink of an eye.
—This Qiyun Protectorate General may seem young but he’s really something. The beautiful maid who poured tea for him was looking at him tenderly, but she is still a virgin. The fact that this man doesn’t accept her proves that he isn’t a perverted man. When I used my seduction art earlier, any ordinary man would have pulled me into his embrace or tried to touch me. Yet, he only moved his eyes and not his hands. It seems like he’s going to be quite a handful…
A hundred pairs of rhino horns, a hundred pairs of antlers, ten tiger leathers, twenty thousand taels of gold, ten boxes of various gems and jadeites…
How generous of the Shatu Seven Tribes. Yan Liqiang lowered his head to read through the gift list from them, but the Psychic Serpent in his head had already transmitted Sushali’s thoughts to him.
Of course, Yan Liqiang’s expression looked slightly better now after receiving the gifts, regardless of whether it was sincere or not. At least he was smiling a little now.
“Cough cough… the Shatu Seven Tribes are too courteous. I will accept your goodwill!”
“I’m glad you like them, Protectorate General. Actually, I have another favor to ask of you if you would allow me.”
“What is it?”
“There are many people among the Shatu Seven Tribes, so it’s inevitable that there’d be a mixture of good and bad people. To avoid incidents between the Tuli Tribe and the Wind Border Stockade from happening again, I wish to seek your approval in allowing the Shatu Seven Tribes to set up a point of contact in Pingxi City for communication purposes so that we can always station someone there. If you have any problems, you may get in touch with my father and other people through this point of contact. With this, surely we can avoid future misunderstandings so that we don’t make a fool out of ourselves in front of the Dark Ram Tribe…”
“Oh. A point of contact that allows direct communication with your father and the rest… Interesting…” Yan Liqiang rubbed his chin, acting as though he was giving it a good consideration.
“There’s no need to be suspicious, my lord. If you allow it, I can stay in Pingxi City as Shatu Seven Tribes’ representative. I only have about a dozen guards while the rest are all my maids and messengers. There are only less than fifty of us. I’ll make sure to exercise strict control over them so that they won’t cause any trouble here. If they dare to violate the city’s laws, you may punish them according to the Great Han Empire’s laws…!” Sushali put on a pitiful face as she tried to convince Yan Liqiang.
“What if I don’t want to approve this?”
“Pingxi City is such a huge city. As the Qiyun Protectorate General, are you going to shut yourself off from the Shatu Seven Tribes? Do you truly want to antagonize the Shatu Seven Tribes?”
“Hahaha, I’ll have someone clean up a manor in the city. You may stay there for now. We still have many properties being built in the southern part of the city. The Shatu Seven Tribes may purchase some land there and build their own manor. That shall become a residence for the envoys and messengers from the Shatu Seven Tribes!”
“Thank you, my lord!” Sushali respectfully bowed to Yan Liqiang.
—I’ve achieved my objective! As long as I can stay in the city, you definitely won’t escape my grasp if you’re a man!
—This woman is quite interesting. She may become a useful pawn if she stays in the city. She knows every bit of information from the Shatu Seven Tribes. If I invite her over to have fun, I’ll get my hands on all the information too. Not bad, not bad at all…
Sushali lifted her head. Both of them exchanged looks smiles appeared on their faces…
