This was hardly good news for Xue Lingjun. She had to scrap the plan she had already devised. Her counterpart in these negotiations had changed from Qiqi to Hu Xiaotian, and she would rather face that precocious little imp than the ever-grinning Hu Xiaotian. In his presence, she actually felt unable to hold her head high.
However unpleasant it felt, she still had to face what must be faced. Xue Lingjun understood that she had come for Great Yong's future. Since she and Li Chenzhou had joined forces to seize power, Great Yong had not grown strong and prosperous as they had imagined. Their strength was not yet enough to sweep all opposition aside, either at court or beyond it.
Before she came to the Kang Capital, Li Chenzhou had specifically instructed her to visit Great Kang's Grand Tutor, Wen Chenghuan. In handling relations between Great Kang and Great Yong, Wen Chenghuan had always favored peace, and he had personally participated in numerous negotiations between the two countries. After arriving in the Kang Capital and weighing her options, Xue Lingjun decided to start with Hu Xiaotian instead. After all, this was someone else's territory. From the moment she entered Great Kang, her every move might have been under surveillance.
Hu Xiaotian had long expected Xue Lingjun to visit him first. He did not make things difficult for her, either, and had Liang Dazhuang invite her into the rear garden.
Given Xue Lingjun's status, even if Hu Xiaotian did not come out to the main gate to greet her, he should at least have waited at the inner gate. His conduct today was clearly somewhat discourteous. On the way in, Xue Lingjun privately pondered this. *Hu Xiaotian must have deliberately refused to come out and greet me. It seems the scoundrel