Li San Shan smiled - seemingly to everyone, but maybe it was just to himself - and<em>accidentally</em>let his hand resting on Wei's knee.<br/>"Explicit is still better than lying, brother Wu, wouldn't you agree? Just look at the bureaucrats in this kingdom! They tell the peasants it's all for their good, and they take almost everything they've got, so the state would be paid in advance for protecting them. But when they are in trouble, they often have to turn to xia for help. Didn't they pay enough already, or what?"<br/>Wei had probably felt him getting tense while speaking, then he got relaxed again when smiling and reaching for his cup with his other hand.<br/>"Sorry, I was just thinking about this before you started this tale. Probably has something to do with our friends that we helped reaching a solution to their own dispute earlier".