Only now had the Prince of Zhou recovered from the terror of the previous night. He left his carriage and chose to ride instead. Despite the heat, he insisted on wearing heavy armor. Last night's attack had left his fragile nerves acutely sensitive, and his sense of danger had suddenly grown much stronger.
Hu Xiaotian rode up beside the Prince of Zhou, then slowed his horse. Looking at the prince in his gleaming armor, he could not help finding it amusing. If you're so afraid of dying, why take on this miserable assignment? Hu Xiaotian glanced back toward the Shajia Delegation and said, "Your Highness, those Shajia people have wolves' hearts and dogs' lungs. We've worked ourselves to the bone escorting them-why else would we have come under attack? Now that we're in trouble, they pretend they haven't seen a thing. They have no humanity at all!"
The Prince of Zhou was equally displeased with the Shajia Delegation's behavior; he simply had not voiced it. He sighed. "How could a land of barbarians compare with our mighty Great Kang, a nation of courtesy and propriety?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "Your Highness, there was really no need for you to come welcome them in person. The leader of the Shajia Delegation is only an ordinary official. Coming yourself was beneath your dignity."
The Prince of Zhou sighed again. "At first, they said their twelfth prince, Huo Ge, would accompany the delegation and personally visit the Kang Capital to seek a marriage alliance. I never imagined the Shajia people would change their minds at the last moment. That so-called twelfth prince never came at all."
"Those barbarians don't even know what respect means," Hu Xiaotian said, fanning the flames from the sidelines.
The more the Prince of Zhou spoke, the angrier he became.