This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Upon hearing this, Gao Huanquan's expression changed.

Cheng Jun walked up to him, stared at him, and said, "You just kept saying that the suzerain state's orders were wrong and unacceptable. Now you turn around and order Silla, which is also a vassal state, to cede half of its territory to you. On what basis does Silla accept such an order?"

"The Silla envoy refused your orders, so you claim the responsibility lies entirely with Silla?"

Cheng Jun sneered, "You Goguryeo and Baekje refused the orders of my Great Tang. My mediation failed. Is the responsibility entirely yours?"

Well said... Zhu Zishe secretly applauded.

Crown Prince Buyeo Uija of Baekje couldn't help but glance at Cheng Jun a few more times.

"..."

Gao Huanquan tried to argue, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a word.

He had just used this logic against Cheng Jun, but he hadn't expected that Cheng Jun would use the same logic against him.

If you say Cheng Jun is wrong, you're contradicting yourself!

Gao Huanquan immediately fell silent.

Fuyu Yici suddenly said, "Special Envoy Cheng, we have come to Chang'an to accept mediation, naturally hoping for a happy ending for all."

"But after all, the people have their own opinions, and the country has its own circumstances. The attack on Silla was forced by the national circumstances and the will of the people, and it was a last resort."

"This is a very important matter. I think we need to talk about it slowly so that we can both give a satisfactory explanation to our superiors and subordinates."

Cheng Jun turned to look at him, and seeing him step in to smooth things over, nodded slightly and said:

“Your Highness the Crown Prince of Baekje is right. We should indeed talk slowly. Since we are talking slowly, let’s not stand. Let’s sit down and talk.”

Buyeo Uija walked up to Go Hwan-kwon, tugged at his sleeve, and gestured for him to prioritize the greater good.

Although Gao Huanquan was unhappy about being refuted by Cheng Jun, he understood the bigger picture. He took a deep breath, stopped thinking about what had just happened, walked to the stool in front of him, and sat down.

boom!

Suddenly, the stool beneath him cracked open. Gao Huanquan couldn't dodge in time and fell heavily to the ground with a thud. His head was buzzing and he saw stars. He couldn't stand up for a long time.

Fu Yu Yi Ci was taken aback and turned to look at Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun, however, flew into a rage, turned and glared at Zhu Zishe, clapping his hands and shouting indignantly:

"Zhu Shaoqing, what have you done!"

"Does our Great Tang have any money now? The money we raised by selling brooms and cushions has all gone to aid Silla. I, a special envoy appointed by His Majesty, argued with reason for the sake of the reputation of the Court of State Ceremonies. You know that I had a big argument with all the officials, but what did I get out of it?"

"Isn't it all about fighting over this stool!"

Cheng Jun pointed to the broken stool that was still under Gao Huanquan's buttocks and said.

Zhu Zishe immediately realized that Cheng Jun was making a veiled attack, and he pursed his lips, trying to suppress his laughter as he listened.

Cheng Jun held up two fingers and continued indignantly, "Yesterday, someone from the Ministry of Revenue came to my house and offered me twenty strings of cash for this folding stool. I said I would give it to them, but they refused, saying they wanted to keep it to receive envoys."

"Look at the way His Highness has sat down now!"

"This is only twenty strings of cash! Nobody would even want it for twenty coins!"

Cheng Jun said with great distress.

"..."

Gao Huanquan's face darkened. He valued his self-esteem above all else; otherwise, he wouldn't have imitated the "King of Qin striking the earthen jar" when he entered, all for the sake of his reputation.

Hearing Cheng Jun's words, Gao Huanquan could hardly contain himself and angrily shouted:

Are you talking about him, or me?

Cheng Jun solemnly replied, "Of course I'm talking about him."

But every sentence mentions me... Gao Huanquan swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. If he took it personally now, Gao Huanquan would only be outmaneuvered by Gao Huanquan, who asked, "Is this stool worth twenty strings of cash?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "This is because it is rare. You won't find another stool like this in the entire palace."

Gao Huanquan waved his hand and said, "I'll have someone bring you twenty strings of cash later, and then we'll call it even!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun turned his head and said, "Zhu Shaoqing, why don't you hurry up and pack up this stool so that His Highness can carry it later?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zishe looked at Gao Huanquan.

Gao Huanquan glared at Cheng Jun and said, "I don't want it! Get me a new one!"

Cheng Jun hesitated for two seconds, then looked at Buyeo Uija, "Then... Your Highness the Crown Prince of Baekje, would you please step aside?"

Before Fuyu Yici had even sat down, upon hearing this, he immediately walked to the side and offered the stool to Gao Huanquan.

Gao Huanquan walked to Hu Deng with a stern face and sat down.

boom!

The stool was shoved off again. Gao Huanquan's buttocks hurt, but his heart ached even more. Losing face once wasn't enough; he had to lose it a second time. Why? Was this stool made of paper...?

Just then, Cheng Jun's indignant voice rang out again:

"Zhu Shaoqing, come and see!"

"Our Great Tang Dynasty's only two, and now only one, Hu Deng is gone just like that!"

Cheng Jun grabbed Zhu Zishe, pointed to the half-eaten stool under Gao Huanquan's buttocks, and said, "You be my witness!"

As he spoke, he shouted loudly to the door, "Someone, bring me the pen and notebook!"

Soon, an official from the Court of State Ceremonial entered, carrying a pen and paper.

Cheng Jun spoke quickly and rapidly: "Write it according to my words. On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Cheng Jun, the special envoy appointed by His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, was ordered to receive the crown princes of Goguryeo and Baekje. In the Honglu Guest House, the crown prince of Goguryeo sat on a folding stool."

Upon hearing this, Gao Huanquan, who was still sitting on the ground and hadn't turned around, changed his expression drastically. He stood up abruptly and shouted at the official of the Court of State Ceremonial who was holding a pen and paper:

"Don't write!"

The official from the Court of State Ceremonial looked at Cheng Jun.

Gao Huanquan also glared angrily at Cheng Jun, demanding an explanation.

Cheng Jun explained helplessly, "Your Highness, you don't know, but I have no choice but to write it down. Because of these two stools, our Minister of Revenue has been chatting with me every day. I'm so annoyed. If you lose one, I can say it was an accident. But if you lose two, and I still say it was an accident, our Minister of Revenue will definitely not believe it. He'll think I secretly hid them."

"Therefore, I had someone write down what happened, so that when our Minister of Revenue comes to ask for Hu Deng again, I can distance myself from the matter."

But once that gets out, I, Gao Huanquan, will become a man who has sat on two stools that have collapsed...

The thought of becoming a laughingstock among the Tang people made Gao Huanquan's hair stand on end, and he immediately said, "I'll give you another twenty strings of cash, and this matter will be dropped."

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "We don't have enough money this time."

Gao Huanquan frowned and said, "Wasn't that Hu Deng worth twenty strings of cash before?"

Cheng Jun patiently explained, "The reason that Hu stool cost twenty strings of cash was because it was a pair."

"If one of the two stools is missing, the other stool becomes a rare item, and its price will naturally increase."

Gao Huanquan pursed his lips and asked, "How much do you want?"

Cheng Jun made a gesture, "Eighty strings of cash."

Gao Huanquan said, "One hundred strings of cash in total, I'll give it to you!"

Cheng Jun turned to look at Zhu Zishe, "Zhu Shaoqing, don't just stand there, quickly pack these two up."

Zhu Zishe hurriedly led people to tidy up the two stools.

Gao Huanquan stood to the side with a gloomy face, watching them pack up their things. He felt an indescribable pain in his heart. They hadn't done anything, yet they had already lost a hundred strings of cash. Losing money was bad enough, but he had also swallowed a bellyful of anger...

Just then, Fuyu Yici came over and whispered, "Brother Huanquan, he's trying to extort you."

Gao Huanquan turned and glared at him. "Is he talking nonsense? Is he trying to extort money from me? I'm not blind, do you think I can't see it?"

However, he had to spend this hundred strings of cash.

He didn't buy a Hu stool.

It's a register!

Seeing Gao Huanquan staring at the ledger with a gloomy expression, Fu Yu Yizi immediately understood that he did not want Cheng Jun to have today's events recorded in the ledger.

Sure enough, Cheng Jun waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate holding the ledger, and looked around, saying, "There are no stools or cushions available now, so how about... we sit on the ground?"

The two of them sat down without hesitation.

After Cheng Jun and Zhu Zishe sat down together, Gao Huanquan asked in a cold voice:

"Special Envoy Cheng, shouldn't you summon the Silla envoy?"

Cheng Jun thought for a moment and then suggested, "As the saying goes, enemies are especially hostile when they meet. Aren't you afraid that if the Silla envoy comes, he might come and draw his sword to kill you?"

Gao Huanquan sneered, "I heard that the envoy from Silla is Princess Kim Deokman of Silla. So what if she's a woman carrying a knife? Do you think I'm afraid of her?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms, and asked seriously, "Aren't you afraid of her? Aren't you afraid of me?"

"If you two really start fighting, I'll try to break it up."

…………

I went to the hospital today for a blood test and a throat swab, and I tested positive... Four months ago, I had the flu, and this time, I have COVID-19...