Everyone at the banquet became nervous. Who wouldn't be afraid of thunder bombs?
Thinking back to the Battle of Beiguan seven years ago, it was so brutal that even the mere mention of it was terrifying. It was a disgrace to the Jing Dynasty, and no one would forget it. To mention it now would undoubtedly trample on the self-esteem of everyone in the Jing Dynasty.
The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi quickly stood up to explain, "Emperor Jingchao, everyone, please forgive the general. He is also anxious. After all, Jingchao's tribute has been overdue for more than a month. We don't know what Jingchao's attitude is. Could it be that they have other ideas?"
Qiluhar immediately pounded his chest like a gorilla and said, "If you want to fight, this general will fight to the end."
Everyone saw that they were playing the good cop and the bad cop, just to embarrass Jing Chao. In Jing Chao's palace, they mercilessly mocked their incompetence.
The emperor's expression remained unchanged. "War is a waste of resources and manpower. How could I possibly have such thoughts? Don't worry, Seventh Prince and the General. The tribute has been prepared and will be sent to Northern Qi with you and your entourage."
"This isn't the first time Jing Chao has dealt with the general. He's just straightforward. How could we be angry? We can't wait to welcome you." The emperor shouted, "Come on, serve wine, sing and dance. We must satisfy our distinguished guests."
Su Nanting and Xiao Zhensheng felt that the emperor's words were meant to relieve the depression in his heart, otherwise it would hurt his liver, spleen and stomach.
The Fourth Prince immediately ordered people to perform Jiangnan songs and dances, and was busy appeasing the people from the Northern Qi delegation. He played drinking games with the Seventh Prince and others, and was forced to drink a lot of wine. The officials who presented the gifts were drunk to the point of being staggering.
Xiao Zhensheng drank a glass of wine and didn't pick up his chopsticks again. He just watched the palace banquet in front of him which was like a farce.
Originally, the envoys' Taoist temple was where they presented birthday gifts to the emperor, but it was disrupted by the Northern Qi delegation and has been left until now.
The atmosphere in the banquet hall was not very harmonious, and the officials from the Ministry of Rites hoped to make the emperor happy through this activity.
The first to present the emperor with a birthday gift was the crown prince, a painting of a thousand miles of rivers and mountains, with the inscription, "Your Highness, I wish you great blessings and a long life."
The emperor looked at the prince's gift and a sincere smile appeared on his face. "Your Highness is thoughtful. Good."
Next, the second prince, the third prince, the fourth prince and others presented birthday gifts, all of which were carefully prepared and auspicious in meaning, which made the emperor very happy.
If it were any other palace banquet, the young ladies and gentlemen from each family would have performed their talents. But now that the envoys from Northern Qi were here, the ministers only brought their wives and sons, leaving all their daughters at home to avoid attracting the attention of Northern Qi.
The envoys from other countries had already presented gifts to the palace when they entered the capital, so today's banquet only required a few auspicious words. Northern Qi offered no gifts. The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi simply said, "Happy birthday to the Emperor Jingchao." That was all.
Next, the ministers presented their birthday gifts, which were of course inferior to those given by the prince, depending on their own wishes.
Just as Sunanting stepped forward to present the gift, Qiluhar stood up and looked over jokingly, "Hey, isn't this the general I defeated back then? Your emperor is so kind that he still lets you be a general in the court."
"What kind of gift are you sending? Could it be a few more cities?" Qiluhar laughed heartily. "So your Jing Dynasty is no match for you. You even keep a defeated general like you. You really have no successors. If you were in Northern Qi, you would definitely chop off your head and commemorate the soldiers who died on the battlefield."
If it were any other upright general, he would have wanted to hit his head against a pillar and die after being humiliated like this, but unfortunately the opponent was Su Nanting.
After Su Nanting presented the gift, he knelt down and asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, do you think I deserve to die?"
"My dear minister, why do you say that? You and the old Duke have guarded the border for decades. Even if you haven't made any contributions, you have worked hard." The emperor raised his hand. "My dear minister, please stand up quickly. You and the Duke have made great contributions to the country. I understand this."
"Oh, my emperor, have mercy on me, Your Majesty! Long live the emperor!"
Su Nanting shouted and stood up, turning to face Qiluhar directly. "I am also familiar with the name of General Qilu. I remember seven years ago, when your country did not have those magical weapons, General Qilu was defeated by us many times."
Su Nanting sarcastically said, "I never thought I would see General Qilu again. I thought you were no longer in this world."
Qiluhar was choked. Everyone knew that he was a defeated general in the past. If it weren't for the Northern Qi's thunder bomb, he would have been killed by the Su family army on the battlefield. Now, he dared to show off his power here, relying on the confidence given by the thunder bomb.
Su Nanting stood there majestically, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. If one can only accept success and not failure, and if one fails, one will die, then who would be willing to serve this country?"
"Your Highness the Seventh Prince of Northern Qi, do you think what I said is right or wrong?"
The Seventh Prince nodded thoughtfully and raised his hand, saying, "It was General Qi Lu who was not considerate in his words. Lord Su, please forgive me."
Su Nanting clasped his fists towards the Seventh Prince and returned the greeting. "Today is my emperor's birthday, so I won't say anything more about taking over the throne. It's my emperor's generosity and kindness that I've been asked to speak so much. I hope all the envoys enjoy their meals, have fun, and feel at home."
When he reached his seat, Su Nanting confessed his crime to the emperor and drank three cups as punishment.
Xiao Zhensheng raised his eyebrows, glanced at Su Nanting, and drank a glass of wine.
Su Nanting's words made the emperor feel very relieved, and the officials of the Jing Dynasty present also raised their heads. The old lady was so proud, because that was her son.
The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi stopped talking. Qiluhar felt humiliated and fell silent.
The emperor laughed heartily and raised his wine glass, "I welcome you all."
Everyone raised their glasses, but Qiluhar sat there motionless. The emperor smiled and said, "The wine must not be strong enough. Come, send the best wine of Jing Dynasty to General Qilu."
The emperor had heard from the palace masters that Linlang was an amazing brewer, so he asked the palace masters to secretly bring back a jar to taste. Unexpectedly, it ended up being sold to Qiluhar.
When the emperor saw Qiluhar pick up the jar of wine and drink it, spilling a lot of wine outside, he felt distressed and stole that jar. As a result, the Linlang family was gone.
As a result, Qiluhar finished drinking a jar of wine, threw the jar to the ground with a bang, and then fell on the table with a Duang.
This frightened the people around him. The envoy from Miao went forward to investigate and found that "General Qilu is drunk."
As soon as the Miao envoy finished speaking, Qiluhar started snoring like a saw and farting, which was really embarrassing. The Seventh Prince of Northern Qi quickly had Qiluhar sent back. He was sitting on the top and was disgusted by the stench.
The image of the Northern Qi people as being rude and impolite is hard to shake off. The officials of the Jing Dynasty looked down on the Northern Qi people in their hearts, but on the surface they had to be respectful and endure the humiliation.
Without people like Qiluhar at the banquet, the party went smoothly and ended successfully, with everyone leaving the palace.
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