Comparing Northern Qi and Southern Qing?
The topic had to be treated with care, as he could not downplay his own country's strength, and as an envoy, he could not criticize Northern Qi too harshly. But Fan Xian answered freely, as if he had known the answer to this question since birth. He spoke with courage in his convictions, his words resounding and powerful, and delivered rapidly. He made Haitang's seemingly always-calm face change, and left the Emperor jaw-dropped, showing his well-kept white teeth.
Fan Xian smiled gently and cupped his hands in salute.
"But as a foreign official, I do not know for sure."
Such modesty. The Emperor was stunned, then burst into laughter. He couldn't punish this rascal: after all, he was a "foreign official", even if he did know plenty about the Kingdom of Qing, he knew little of Qi, so how he could he compare them?
