The Fourth Prince's words were far more scathing than Mikhailovich's earlier statement. He implied that Kangxi would personally lead them fishing on the Lenali River in Russia. Clearly, without an invitation from the Russian Tsar, Kangxi could only go fishing there by force.

The meaning of this statement is self-evident: if Kangxi so desired, he could always march to your country's Lenali River to fish.

Lanqin looked at the Fourth Master's back. Not only Lanqin, but all the women present wished they could look at the Fourth Master with admiration. Only the Fourth Master, who was known for his cold-bloodedness, could say such harsh words.

The Crown Prince gave the Fourth Prince a few sinister glances. In fact, he himself had just been regretting that he hadn't said those words!

Emperor Kangxi glanced at the Fourth Prince with great satisfaction and smiled, saying, "I wonder if Grand Duke Ivan welcomes me?"

Haha, Kangxi is quite the actor! He's working in tandem with the Fourth Prince! Let's see what Grand Duke Ivan has to say!

Lanqin watched the scene unfold with great excitement. The expressions on the faces of the various delegations changed several times, creating a truly vivid picture. Lanqin secretly admired Kangxi's cunning and wisdom, as well as the Fourth Prince's iron-fisted and domineering nature.

Mikhailovich hesitated immediately. Faced with the questioning from Kangxi and the Fourth Prince, he had no confidence to answer. The Tsar's authority was unquestionable, and he, as the son of a duke, dared not speak on behalf of the Tsar.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing, whether you are invited to go fishing or not, I must return and report to the Empress before I can reply to you," Mikhailovich said. However, when he said this, the arrogance on his face was clearly gone, unlike when he had asked such an inappropriate question earlier.

Kangxi seemed to have anticipated his response and smiled slightly, saying, "Very well, then please go back and inquire of your country's Tsar."

When the Fourth Prince saw that Emperor Kangxi nodded to him, indicating that he should sit down, he said to Mikhailovich, "Grand Duke Ivan, please, this glass of wine is to congratulate His Majesty the Tsar of your country on his good health."

Mikhailovich quickly picked up the glass of wine in front of him and downed it in one gulp.

After listening to the charade between Emperor Kangxi and his son, the Fourth Prince, the delegations from various countries couldn't help but start thinking about how to discuss their demands with Emperor Kangxi.

Just when Lanqin thought that no one would dare to speak up again, the Ryukyu man and woman who had been paying close attention to her stood up at the same time. After the prince's introduction, it turned out that the two were indeed husband and wife. The man was named Tokugawa Takubo, a rising star of the famous Tokugawa family; the woman was named Kawabata Yasuie Nami, the eldest daughter of the Kawabata Yasuie family.

Lanqin knew that the Tokugawa family was currently ruling the shogunate of Japan, and although the Kawabata Yasushi family had lost in the struggle against the Tokugawa family, they had only submitted to the Tokugawa family. A marriage alliance between the two families was inevitable.

"Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor has entrusted me to convey your greetings. In addition, I have come here hoping to obtain some Buddhist scriptures from your country. I humbly request Your Majesty's guidance," said Tokugawa Okubo.

Before Kangxi could respond, the Crown Prince immediately said to him, "This is a trivial matter. Father Emperor has always been lenient towards foreign powers. After the palace banquet, please ask Prince Tokugawa to go to Kokaku-ji Temple. I will inform their abbot."

"Thank you, Your Highness," said Tokugawa Takubo.

Although Lanqin found the Japanese couple quite attractive, she couldn't bring herself to like them after thinking about their later acts of aggression against China.

"Furthermore, I have long heard that the women of your country are skilled in embroidery, and I would like to learn a thing or two from the most skilled embroidery woman in your country. Would you be so kind as to make an introduction?" said Tokugawa Okubo.

Kawabata Kannami smiled shyly beside her, like a cherry blossom tree, pleasing to the eye and with a faint fragrance lingering around.

“This is not difficult. If Miss Nami wants to learn embroidery, I can teach her a thing or two,” the Crown Princess said immediately.

Lanqin felt that the Crown Prince and his wife had hit a brick wall this time. Kangxi's expression was ambiguous, and she didn't know whether he agreed or disagreed.

However, Lanqin knew that Kangxi disliked the Japanese, and naturally he would not like to see the Crown Prince and his wife being too friendly with the Japanese.

As expected, Kangxi remained silent, leaving the Crown Prince in an awkward position, before finally saying indifferently, "Buddhist scriptures are everywhere, and embroidery is ubiquitous. It would be a simple matter for your country to desire these two items."

As expected, Emperor Kangxi disliked the Japanese. This can be seen from the daily records he compiled starting in his thirtieth year of reign. He repeatedly commented on the Japanese, saying they were short, fickle, despicable, and utterly devoid of friendship, yet fearful of force. He believed that if one could defeat them, they would submit, therefore, one should not be kind to the Japanese. He described them as a bunch of pirates and scoundrels, refusing to listen to reason and only willing to suffer punishment.

Tokugawa Okubo was taken aback by Kangxi's response and felt somewhat embarrassed. Nami, who was standing next to him, also seemed a little uneasy and finally had no choice but to sit down awkwardly.

As the palace banquet reached this point, Kangxi seemed somewhat tired and gestured for the Crown Prince to continue entertaining the guests, while he himself left his seat first. From Kangxi's actions, Lanqin understood that this was also a form of respect.

"Judging from Father Emperor's attitude towards these two Japanese people, it seems he doesn't like them very much," Consort Ma said to Lanqin.

"Well, they probably don't like the Ryukyu Kingdom constantly harassing our Fujian region," Lanqin said.

“The people of Ryukyu are fickle and unpredictable; naturally, Father Emperor doesn’t like them,” said Lady Nian.

The palace banquet lasted for an hour and a half before finally ending. Lanqin felt aches and pains in her back; sitting there as a backdrop was no easy task. In such occasions, these concubines could only sit behind their respective men as background figures.

"Consort Niu, will you also go to the hunt the day after tomorrow?" Consort Tian suddenly asked.

"Yes, I'll go. Does Consort Tian know how to ride a horse?" Lanqin replied casually.

"Well, I'm not very good at riding horses. How about you?" Tian asked.

“Then we might have to keep each other company,” Lanqin said. Fourth Master had already told her that he might not have time to take care of Lanqin on the day of the hunt, and those who might not be able to ride horses should stay where they were to rest and wait.

“Great! I’ve been wanting to talk to Consort Niu more for a long time. Now we have the chance,” said Consort Tian.

"Then you'll be disappointed. This is such a rare opportunity to hunt with Father Emperor," Nian said disdainfully.

"Then we'll see if Consort Nian can catch any prey," said Madam Tian.