Lord Gu also became nervous. He himself did not understand what was going on, and only hoped that Mu Xinghe would not cause a major disaster for Honglu City.
Mu Xinghe knelt down and truthfully reported: "Your Majesty, I went to the Court of State Ceremonial to take over my post and was responsible for supervising the making of all the welcoming decorations. The Court of State Ceremonial gave me a booklet about the cultures of various countries. While comparing the contents with the booklet, I found that the totem of Xiufeng Kingdom seemed to be different from the truth. I had heard of Xiufeng Kingdom before. They worship Xuanhuo (mysterious fire), but the illustration in the booklet is of black fire."
"I don't know if the beliefs of Xiufeng Kingdom have changed, or if the person who compiled or reviewed the booklet made a mistake. There was no indication of any changes on the page. I dared not be careless, so I tore off the page about the flag. I had many things to do and was unable to do it all at once, so I had to ask Princess Feiluan for advice. The princess took the contents of this page and searched all over the capital. She finally found the people of Xiufeng Kingdom and learned that Xiufeng Kingdom still worships Xuanhuo."
This matter was Qiao Lian'er's doing, and he wanted to attribute it to Qiao Lian'er.
In this family, it is wise to make the strong even stronger.
“And Blackfire—” He paused, as if he had something difficult to say.
"Go on," the emperor said, his expression stern.
"Black Fire is a totem used by those who oppose the Xiufeng Kingdom's court or incite unrest. It signifies the extinguishing of hope and the descent into endless darkness."
The emperor took a deep breath. If the welcoming flags or all the decorations today had displayed black fire, he wondered what the Xiufeng Kingdom would have thought. They would probably have reacted on the spot, pointing at him and cursing him, making him lose face completely.
It's important to understand that these countries have an equal relationship with Daze Kingdom, not a subordinate one. Xiufeng Kingdom, in particular, is powerful and not so easy to offend.
He looked at Lord Gu with a deep gaze: "Lord Gu, Mu Xinghe was originally from the Ministry of Personnel, but he was temporarily assigned to the Court of State Ceremonial. There were many things he was unfamiliar with. You gave him this booklet, and such a big mistake was made. If he hadn't been more cautious and accepted everything, my Great Ze Kingdom would have offended a powerful country whose strength should not be underestimated. I'm afraid that once the foreign guests from Xiufeng Kingdom returned, they would persuade their emperor to send troops. If war broke out, the border would be in chaos, and the people would suffer. Who would bear this responsibility?"
"What kind of mentality and thinking is it to want to make my Great Ze Kingdom's nemesis?"
Lord Gu was covered in sweat, and his aged voice trembled: "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no disrespect for Xiufeng Kingdom, and I would never dare to have any other thoughts. I would rather lose my life than deliberately make such a mistake."
"Then what's the deal with this booklet?"
Lord Gu looked at Li Zanran with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. He said sternly, "Lord Li, you have been re-editing and reviewing this booklet every year. You should be familiar with it by now. It is normal that you can't remember other small countries, but you should have some impression of a large country like Xiufeng. How could such a basic mistake as turning Xuanhuo into Heihuo occur?"
He had always trusted Li Zanran, and since there had been no mistakes in previous years, he would only glance at the booklets that Li Zanran handed over before handing them over to others. At this time of year, others were busy with many things, and he was even busier than that, so it was impossible for him to check each page.
I never imagined that such a huge mess would happen this year.
Li Zanran was drenched in cold sweat. Every year when foreign guests came to the capital, his main task was to prepare this booklet.
His original plan was to transform the Xuanhuo into black fire and present it directly to everyone's eyes, which would be equivalent to Mu Xinghe's practical demonstration. When things were exposed, he would blame everything on Mu Xinghe, saying that he was unfamiliar with the business and misread the booklet, and then spread the fire to the Qiao family.
But now, they're directly checking for flaws in the booklet.
He lay prostrate on the ground, stammering, "Although I was in charge of re-editing and reviewing, two of my subordinates were handling this task, and I'm afraid they made a mistake."
"Lord Li, regardless of whether it was a mistake by the subordinate, didn't you conduct a thorough review during your audit?" Mu Xinghe delivered the fatal blow with his question.
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