Zhou Nuo asked suspiciously, "What do they want?"

"Anyway, they don't want me," Zhao Cheng muttered.

"Do you even need to tell me that!"

"I need to keep a low profile at the state banquet and try not to let him notice me, so as not to get me involved."

"Yeah, your provocative attitude was really despicable; I bet he remembered it all."

"I regret it! I was so focused on bringing glory to the country..."

"Bullshit, are you thinking about bringing glory to the country? You're just too busy scheming against Wang Yuluan, aren't you?"

...

The tenth year of the reign of Emperor Dajing.

The largest state banquet ever held by Yuan Xiu's regime has begun.

The state banquet was to be held outside Yongshou Palace. It wasn't that Yongshou Palace couldn't accommodate so many people; it was just that Yuan Xiu, seeing that the weather had been good these past few days, thought that having the banquet outside during the day and inside at night would create a more sophisticated atmosphere. He also declared that the state banquet would last for three days and three nights without interruption. People could drink all night long if they wanted, and those who couldn't drink could go home at night or sleep in Yongshou Palace.

Anyway, we just let loose and had fun. We, the ruler and his subjects, were of one mind and enjoyed ourselves together. There weren't so many rules!

The seats are arranged in a fan shape on both sides with Yongshou Palace as the central axis. Each side is divided into five areas, and each area has nine rows of seats, which is a subtle reference to the supreme status of the emperor.

The emperor naturally sat with his back to Yongshou Palace on the central axis, with imperial relatives and officials in the capital sitting on his left and foreign delegations and local officials sitting on his right.

The fan-shaped structures on both sides form a virtual circle in the middle, which is the activity area and stage for the state banquet.

There are nearly 5,000 seats alone. If you include the singers, dancers, actors, and service staff, as well as the civilians who are specially granted permission to attend the banquet, the number of people at peak times is estimated to be over 20,000.

This is an unprecedented feast in the entire history of the Great Jing Dynasty that continues to this day!

Although Yuan Xiu had not yet entered the venue and taken his seat, he was already standing on the top floor of Yongshou Palace, looking out into the distance.

“Your Majesty, the envoys from various countries arrived first, and it seems that everyone has arrived. Would you like to move your carriage?” Lü Lu stood behind Yuan Xiu and reminded him.

No rush.

Yuan Xiu gazed at the magnificent scene not far away, put his left hand behind his back, raised his right hand and gestured, saying, "Take another look, take another look at this glorious era that I have personally created, how majestic it is!"

"It is a blessing for the country and a boon for the people that the empire has such a wise ruler as His Majesty."

Lu Lu responded with a word, then stepped back a few paces and said nothing more.

As the guests were still taking their seats, performances began on the stage, including dancing, opera singing, and folk acrobatics. This format of the state banquet surprised many people. The most surprised were not the local officials, but the foreign envoys who had come from afar. They never expected that the atmosphere of the grand Jing, a powerful northern nation, would be so lively, so different from the solemnity they had imagined.

At this time, the area for foreign delegations on the right was the most lively and the first to be filled. The palace maids even had to add more chairs because there weren't enough.

"Oh my, isn't this Prince He of Southern Zhou? You've come in person?" An envoy from a Western Regions country greeted Zhou Jinghuan.

Upon seeing this person, Zhou Jinghuan smiled and returned the greeting, saying, "So it's Prince Dayue! Look at you, still making fun of me. I'm just a carefree prince in Southern Zhou, it doesn't matter whether the court has me or not. You're different. I heard that the King of Dayue's health is deteriorating day by day, and all the affairs of Dayue are on your shoulders, yet you still have time to come."

“Who am I? Look at them!” Prince Dayue pointed behind him.

Zhou Jinghuan looked over and saw two people talking in the crowd. He was stunned and exclaimed, "King Terentu? King Abiri? The two kings have come in person?!"

Prince Dayue shrugged and said, "See? They are the rulers of a country personally serving as envoys. What am I? Utterly weak!"

Zhou Jinghuan exclaimed, "Looks like you guys have been fighting really hard lately..."

"A bunch of shameless bastards," Prince Dayue said disdainfully. "They can't win, so they just cling to someone else's coattails!"

Zhou Jinghuan laughed and said, "If you think Jingguo is too big a leg for you, you can try hugging Nanzhou instead."

"Southern Zhou is too far away to help, what's the use of holding on to them?"

"Who knows, maybe one day Southern Zhou will become Great Zhou?"

Prince Dayue was taken aback for a moment, then gave Zhou Jinghuan a thumbs up and said, "To say you want to destroy someone else on their own territory, Prince He is truly a hero!"

A true hero?

Zhou Jinghuan pursed his lips, thinking to himself, "You actually want to say that I'm a real idiot, don't you?"

Prince Dayue narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself, "You actually know what I really want to say is that you're a real fool, don't you?"

"Hahahaha..." The two laughed heartily, as if they knew each other well.

Such conversations and fake smiles occur in many areas at this time, with shabby pleasantries and mutual flattery. This is usually the atmosphere when people from all over the country gather together.

Zhao Cheng had actually arrived quite some time ago. He wanted to keep a low profile, so he didn't want to be late and have others watching him enter. He just hadn't expected his seat to be so close to Zhou Jinghuan's!

To showcase the grandeur of a great power, the area closest to the emperor's right was reserved for foreign missions, followed by an area for local officials from several important cities.

Among these important cities, Dongdu Yanchuan naturally ranks first.

Therefore, the Yanchuan formation and the delegation formation were placed next to each other...

Even if Zhao Cheng just wanted to listen carefully, he could clearly hear what Zhou Jinghuan and Prince Dayue were talking about...

Zhao Cheng sat with his back to Zhou Jinghuan, trying his best not to talk to anyone. But just because he didn't talk to others didn't mean that others wouldn't approach him.

"Young Prime Minister, you are truly a handsome and talented man. How has the Right Prime Minister been lately?"

"All is well, all is well!"

"Young Prime Minister, you've traveled a long way from Yanchuan, you must be tired."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!