Yan Lingji had just knelt on the ground and performed a single bow to Gongzi Ying An when he immediately stopped her.
"Wait!" Gongzi Ying An looked at Yan Lingji meaningfully and said, "I need you to open your heart and worship me, not just go through the motions. Understand?"
Yan Lingji, kneeling on the ground, looked at Gongzi Ying An with a wronged expression and said, "I've already tried my best. When I worshipped the ancestral deities before, it was like this too!"
"Is that so?" Gongzi Ying An said with a half-smile, "Then worship me as you would your master, Tian Ze! Open your heart! Offer your faith!"
The Black and White Sisters, who had witnessed everything, now looked at Yan Lingji with a sense of shared misfortune.
No one knew better than them what the consequences of opening one's heart and bowing to Gongzi Ying An would be. It was no exaggeration to say that their entire being was now completely in Gongzi Ying An's hands.
And this enchanting, charming, tender, and passionate young woman in front of them would soon follow in their footsteps.
"Alright! Alright!" Yan Lingji took a deep breath, constantly calming her emotions internally, and then once again bowed to Gongzi Ying An.
This time, the moment Yan Lingji bowed, Gongzi Ying An clearly felt a unique thought emanating from Yan Lingji's body.
Having had the same experience before, Gongzi Ying An now appeared even more at ease.
The Past Amitabha Sutra sat deep within his divine soul, suppressing his consciousness. Yan Lingji's meager incense and faith were completely absorbed by Gongzi Ying An in an instant.
The moment the incense and faith were offered to Gongzi Ying An, Yan Lingji's expression changed dramatically.
She clearly felt that, in the unseen, her entire being was now completely in the hands of this Gongzi of Great Qin. Every thought, every idea, if he wished, he could know perfectly well.
It could be said that from this moment on, in front of Gongzi Ying An, this Gongzi of Great Qin, Yan Lingji had no more secrets to speak of.
Even her past experiences were laid bare, as if completely defenseless, for Gongzi Ying An to peruse.
"What exactly did you do?" Yan Lingji's face instantly became incredibly ugly. At this moment, she finally realized that she had been tricked!
Gongzi Ying An, however, showed a peculiar smile and said, "Very good! From now on, you are my maidservant! I truly look forward to seeing your reaction when you meet Tian Ze again!"
"Gongzi!" Not understanding what had just happened, Li Si hesitated for a moment and said, "The Hundred Yue demoness is cunning and treacherous. We must be on guard!"
Gongzi Ying An waved his hand and said, "Master Li Si can rest assured! From now on, this Yan Lingji will be more loyal to me than she is to her own master!"
Li Si wouldn't believe that a mere ritualistic worship, like some sort of charade, could make a cunning Hundred Yue sorceress completely loyal. Don't forget, just moments ago, this Hundred Yue sorceress had even tried to assassinate them!
Just as Li Si was about to say more and persuade Gongzi Ying An to change his mind, a chaotic sound of hooves rapidly approached from a distance.
Looking in the direction of the sound, a large troop of cavalry, kicking up a sky full of dust, was galloping towards the envoy's group.
Leading them was a burly man in close-fitting armor, with a rough complexion and an ugly face.
A large red cloak flapped wildly behind the burly man in the wind. In a short time, the Korean cavalry, led by the burly man, had already rushed to the perimeter of the envoy's group.
From afar, the burly man dismounted and cupped his fists in salute towards Gongzi Ying An and Li Si, saying, "Great General of Korea, Ji Wuye, greets the Great Qin envoy group! Greetings, Gongzi Ying An!"
"Ji Wuye?" Li Si raised an eyebrow, no longer bothering to persuade Gongzi Ying An.
Stepping quickly towards Ji Wuye, Li Si angrily said, "We, Great Qin, have witnessed Korea's hospitality! Great General Ji Wuye, have you come to see if our Great Qin envoy group has been assassinated, and are you preparing to collect our corpses?"
Li Si's questioning immediately confused Ji Wuye. He looked around in astonishment.
Although Ji Wuye's title as the strongest general in Korea for a hundred years held a lot of exaggeration, one thing was undeniable: Ji Wuye was not as reckless and brainless as his appearance suggested.
If he truly were, he would not have held a stable position in the Korean court for decades, even reaching a level of power where King An of Han had to show him deference.
In just an instant, by observing the traces around him, Ji Wuye had already determined that the Qin envoy group had been ambushed before their arrival.
The thought of such a possibility made Ji Wuye break out in a cold sweat.
Heaven knew what a commotion it would cause if this envoy group, with a Qin Gongzi as its chief envoy, were to be assassinated just before entering New Zheng, the capital of Korea.
The very existence of Korea would be in jeopardy. If Qin used the assassination of the Gongzi as an excuse to launch a war against Korea, the Shandong Six Kingdoms, who had just experienced a coalition against Qin, would definitely not have the strength to continue supporting Korea.
"You must be Master Li Si!" Ji Wuye hurried forward to salute and said, "Please forgive me. Regarding the recent events, I will definitely give you and Gongzi Ying An a satisfactory answer!"
"Let's hope so!" Li Si waved his large sleeve and said coldly, "I just hope that this time, Korea will not disappoint. Otherwise, our Great Qin's hundred thousand iron cavalry will not hesitate to personally reclaim Great Qin's dignity!"
Assassinating an envoy mission from another country is tantamount to challenging that country's bottom line.
Even though Confucius of the Medicalists had declared the collapse of rites and music since the Spring and Autumn period, it is undeniable that even after countless wars among the Seven Kingdoms, they still maintained a considerable degree of importance and respect for each other!
After Li Si was finally appeased by Ji Wuye, Ji Wuye at last had the opportunity to formally meet Ying An, the head of the mission!
When led by Li Si to Ying An, Ji Wuye immediately saw Yan Lingji, and Wu Shuang Gui, who was wrapped up like a zongzi, struggling with all his might but still unable to break free from the seemingly delicate yet incredibly tough branches.
Countless thoughts flashed through Ji Wuye's mind in an instant, but he showed no emotion on the surface, appearing like a mindless brute, bowing to Ying An and saying, "General Ji Wuye of South Korea, greets Young Master Ying An!"
"Dispense with the formalities!" Ying An glanced at Ji Wuye and said casually, "If I recall correctly, when our Great Qin mission traveled to South Korea, Xinzheng, it was your South Korea's responsibility to provide escort.
So, can you tell me how these assassins so precisely seized the critical window during the handover between the border army and the New Zheng Imperial Guards to launch an assassination attempt on my Great Qin mission? Who exactly leaked the whereabouts of my Great Qin mission?"