Chapter 1145: Conning

Little An chose two lovely plum blossoms and cut them off. One was sent to the Rain Sound Pavilion, and the other was placed on their table.

Little An and Little Lion ate hotpot while admiring the plum blossoms, and they were joined by Little Bear. Only Tiger Head valued the delicacies on the table the most and buried his head in his food.

Fan Zijin stood in front of the window and looked down at Tiger Head. Then, he turned to look at Qi Haoran, who was also engrossed in his food. He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Mu Yangling looked up at him curiously and Qi Haoran also looked over blankly. Fan Zijin covered his mouth and coughed lightly. “Does it taste good?”

Qi Haoran nodded and smiled with narrowed eyes. “This mutton was transported from the north. It’s yummy, as is the venison. Come and try it.”

As Qi Haoran spoke, he took the initiative to cook a few chopsticks of mutton for Fan Zijin.

Fan Zijin was exasperated. “I can’t eat so much…”

Qi Haoran thought about it and agreed. Since Fan Zijin loved to eat vegetables, he immediately scooped up the mutton and placed it in his bowl before cooking some vegetables in the pot for him.

Fan Zijin: “…”

Mu Yangling also looked at Qi Haoran speechlessly.

Seeing that Ah Ling was looking at him and had misunderstood, Qi Haoran immediately gave her half of the mutton in his bowl and asked with concern, “Do you want some venison? This is yummy too. If you like to eat hotpot, I’ll get them to buy some beef tomorrow.”

Mu Yangling looked at the mutton in the bowl and then at her husband. She nodded slightly. “I want fatty meat.”

Fan Zijin looked at the couple who had already started discussing food and took a deep breath. He told herself seriously not to be angry and scooped up the vegetables in the pot.

Fan Zijin was grumpy as he ate the overcooked vegetables. If he had known earlier, he would have brought Little Madam Xia along. This way, they wouldn’t act all lovey-dovey in front of him.

After the group ate and drank their fill, in Proud Plum Garden, Tiger Head could be seen running around the garden with Little Lion and Little An. Little Bear was nowhere to be seen.

Mu Yangling coaxed Little Fu and the boy-girl twins to sleep. After making sure the three children were tightly covered with a blanket, she handed them to the nanny to carry back for a nap.

Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin were a little drowsy after eating and drinking their fill. Just as they were about to return to their rooms to rest, someone came to report. “Your Highness, two Westerners came to visit with an invitation. They claim to be Your Highness’s friends. The Prince is already entertaining them in front and sent me to report their arrival.”

Stunned, Qi Haoran sobered up a little. He asked, “Westerners? Andre?”

Mu Yangling frowned. “On the first day of the Lunar New Year?”

Equally displeased, Fan Zijin waved his hand and said, “Just tell them that the King’s estate doesn’t entertain guests on the first day of the new year.”

The servant looked at King Rong and Queen Consort Rong. With a yawn, Qi Haoran said, “Do as he says and let the Prince come back.”

Little Bear was already declining their request to visit. What a joke. Who had ever opened their doors to welcome guests on the first day of the Lunar New Year?

The smile on Andre’s face froze. While aware of this custom, he didn’t know that the people of Great Qi valued this custom so much.

He glanced at Antonio, whose eyes had turned cold despite maintaining his smile. He knew that the noble duke was furious.

Andre quickly expressed that they didn’t know about this custom and asked the other party not to take offense. He also enquired when was an appropriate time for them to visit again.

Andre expressed that they had something very important to discuss with King Rong and hoped that they could do it as soon as possible.

Little Bear raised his eyebrows and told him that the Ministry of Rites was in charge of the matters involving the Western countries and that his father had no right to interfere.

Andre had interacted with the Han people for a long time and knew that in the noble class, anything could be done with favors. He had seeked many officials of Great Qi, and they all said that King Rong was the key to all their problems.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have visited with such an important gift.

Therefore, Andre subtly expressed his concern about the efficiency of the Ministry of Rites. He hoped that Little Bear could let them meet King Rong since there were some things that were better discussed with King Rong.

Little Bear glanced at the smiling Antonio and nodded after some thought. “I really can’t let guests in today. If you’re in a hurry, you may come back tomorrow. I’ll ask Father King to give you an hour.”

Although Antonio was still smiling, he was displeased. His status in the country was second only to the king. When had he ever suffered such grievances?

He was actually turned away when he showed up to visit.

Therefore, before Antonio left, he asked Little Bear with a faint smile, “I heard that Prince An is very capable. I wonder if I’ll be able to meet him.”

Little Bear looked at him in surprise. After sizing him up carefully, he turned to Andre and said, “Mr. An, if the emissary isn’t feeling well, he can stay at the posthouse to rest.”

Before Andre and Antonio could figure out what he meant, Little Bear looked at him sympathetically and said, “I just said that Great Qi has the custom of not welcoming guests on the first day of the lunar new year, and that also applies to Prince An’s Residence. So if you wish to visit my Uncle Fan, I’m afraid you’ll have to come another day.”

Antonio’s expression darkened. In the end, he couldn’t help but ask, “But I heard that Prince An came to your residence early in the morning.”

Little Bear seemed to be stunned for a moment before realizing what they meant. With a laugh, he said, “You must have misunderstood something. Uncle Fan is a member of our family and is not considered a guest. Besides, Uncle Fan has Grandpa Fan above him. As long as he’s at home, his fortune and fortune will not be lost…”

Of course, not opening the door to welcome guests on the first day of the lunar new year was just an excuse. While Great Qi did have this custom, it depended on the person and the specific situation.

For example, it was fine for someone to visit close acquaintances when they were in the mood. But were these two Westerners close acquaintances?

Although they had interacted with Andre for several years, they were indeed not familiar with each other.

Little Bear made up nonsense with a smile. In short, he portrayed this custom as a rule that they had to abide by. This rule also differentiated between those who were close relatives and those who were not. Family was not considered guests and could just visit if they wished.

Antonio’s Mandarin wasn’t good, so he had to rely on half listening and half guessing to communicate with Little Bear. If he didn’t understand, he had to rely on Andre to be the interpreter, so he was confused.

Seeing how serious Little Bear was, he really thought that this was the custom.

Although Andre was proficient in Mandarin, he didn’t know much about the customs of the Han people. Therefore, although he was skeptical, he chose to believe Little Bear’s solemn words.

After tricking them away, Little Bear turned around and went back.

Little An and the other two, who had rushed over after hearing the news, could only see their backs as they were departing.

Tiger Head shouted, “Wenqian and the others want to see these westerners. Big Brother, why did you chase them away?”

Little Bear smacked his head and said, “Who said I chased them away? I merely asked them to come again tomorrow. Didn’t Wenqian want to see foreigners up close? Tomorrow, ask them to come to our residence. They can look at them for as long as they wish.”

Little Lion cheered and shouted, “So we’ll get to keep our promise to them. I’ll get someone to inform them now.”

Little An quickly held him back. “There’s no need to go through so much trouble. Just send the messenger pigeon, just like how we communicated in the morning. It’ll reach them in 15 minutes.”

Little Lion felt that this was a good idea and sighed. “It’s so convenient to have messenger pigeons. Why don’t we raise more to facilitate communication?”

“I know how to raise pigeons, but I don’t know how to train pigeons. We still have to find someone who knows how to do it,” Tiger Head said with a serious expression.

Little Lion and Little An looked at him and attacked him at the same time. “I think you only know how to raise pigeons for food.”

Little Bear, who was left behind by the three of them: “…” Do you think messenger pigeons are like cabbages on the streets, easily raising a bunch?

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