Shi Yan only pretended to be sad on the first day, and then began to openly win over his own forces and suppress Cheng Yue.
Soon, an envoy from the Wu Kingdom arrived, and a banquet was naturally held. All the ministers were present at the banquet, and Shi Zhouyang was also asked to attend.
The Wu envoy looked around, seemingly puzzled: "I have long heard that Prime Minister Pan Yang is learned and knowledgeable, but I don't know who the Prime Minister is?"
Upon hearing this, Shi Yan's face turned bitter: "To be honest, Pan Yang has passed away, and the new prime minister is named Cheng Yue."
“Oh, I’ve heard of Lord Cheng before.” The envoy looked at Cheng Yue. “However, when I came to the capital, I heard the people discussing that it seemed Lord Cheng and Emperor Huan Yang were at odds. After Emperor Huan Yang’s death, Lord Cheng naturally became the prime minister. This…”
Cheng Yue looked at the envoy. This person was obviously there to sow discord. The emperor himself wanted to suppress him. If he were to be falsely accused, he would be in trouble.
"Your Excellency is too kind. Although I did not get along with Pan Yang, I admired his abilities, and I deeply regret his death." Cheng Yue's tone was somewhat displeased: "But does Your Excellency truly intend to seek peace with our country by saying this?"
"Just a casual remark out of curiosity, just a casual remark." The envoy chuckled dryly. "Wu Kingdom is genuinely seeking peace, after all, neither side wants to fight. Our country is willing to send a hostage, but Your Majesty?"
Shi Yan looked at the envoy and then his gaze shifted to Shi Zhouyang. The envoy immediately understood, followed Shi Yan's gaze, carefully examined Shi Zhouyang, and a smile instantly appeared on his face.
Shi Zhouyang frowned, his hands clenched tightly under his sleeves. He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I already have someone I love. I humbly request Your Majesty to grant me this marriage."
Shi Yan was somewhat surprised. His younger sister had always been quiet and reserved, and even had a very low profile. He never expected that she would dare to stand up and ask for a marriage decree today.
Cheng Yue was somewhat surprised to hear him speak and looked at Shi Zhouyang.
"Tell me who you like. How can a princess of a country marry so hastily?"
"I humbly request Your Majesty to bestow upon me my marriage to Pan Yang." Shi Zhouyang's voice was very slow as he calmly looked at Shi Yan: "I will not marry anyone else, only Pan Yang."
If he were discovered abroad, it would be a very troublesome matter. Staying in the palace indefinitely is also impossible, and since he is not powerful enough to rebel, he can only temporarily beg for a marriage decree to protect himself and then find an opportunity to slip away.
And Pan Yang... he also admitted that he might have had some selfish motives. Even though the person had passed away, he held his wrist with one hand, which just covered the bracelet.
"Absurd! You, a princess of a nation, want to marry a dead man!?" Shi Yan slammed her hand on the table, her expression displeased.
"I humbly request Your Majesty to grant me this marriage," Shi Zhouyang said stubbornly.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yue immediately stood up: "Your Majesty, please calm down, the princess..." He looked at Shi Zhouyang and found that the man was not joking at all. Finally, he gritted his teeth and continued to speak.
"Your Majesty, I remember that when Pan Yang was eliminating the bandits, he mentioned that if the bandits were successfully eliminated and the princess was willing to marry him, Your Majesty would grant the marriage. Although Pan Yang has passed away, the bandits have indeed been eliminated, and it seems that the princess is willing! Therefore, I humbly request Your Majesty to grant the marriage!" As he spoke, he performed a courtly salute to Shi Yan without rising.
Shi Yan looked at him and felt it was absurd, but these were indeed his words: "This matter is of great importance, and there are also envoys from Wu. We will discuss it later."
Upon hearing this, Shi Zhouyang seemed oblivious to Shi Yan's emotions and spoke again: "I humbly request Your Majesty to grant us this marriage."
"You!" Shi Yan was now furious: "Pan Yang is already dead, what's the use of a marriage decree! How can you, a princess, behave like this for your own personal feelings? What kind of behavior is this!"
Shi Zhouyang remained silent for a moment before finally sitting down. He couldn't bring it up anymore; he had completely angered Shi Yan.
Seeing this, Cheng Yue sighed inwardly and then sat down, thus quickly bringing the matter to a close.
Then came the song and dance performance, with about a dozen dancers performing inside the hall. Cheng Yue, however, had no interest in watching. He had acted rashly in today's events, and it seemed that his death was imminent.
Suddenly the music stopped, and the dozen or so dancers produced daggers and attacked the people around them, plunging the entire banquet into chaos.
"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!" Shi Yan cried out in a panic, but the dancers moved swiftly and with unpredictable movements, and for a time the Imperial Guards were unable to subdue them.
Shi Zhouyang couldn't reveal that he knew martial arts, so he could only pretend to be embarrassed and dodge. It all happened too suddenly, and this person's purpose was obviously to make the two countries go to war. He deliberately chose this time. However, he could also deliberately be stabbed now. The marriage alliance would definitely be postponed. If the two countries went to war, it would be better for him. Taking advantage of the chaos to rise to power was not impossible.
Thinking of this, he simply stopped dodging. The dagger stabbed straight at him, but he didn't feel any pain. The dagger was actually deflected by a white sword.
Shi Zhouyang followed the white sword's gaze, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes: "You?"
"Don't move." Pan Yang said calmly. He just wanted to see how things would develop. Who knew why an assassin would suddenly appear? Now he was forced to go to work.
Cheng Yue was shocked to see Pan Yang suddenly appear. Was Pan Yang a human or a ghost? How did he suddenly appear in the palace?
However, with Pan Yang there, the assassins were subdued in less than a minute and then taken away by the Imperial Guards. Pan Yang stood beside Shi Zhouyang with a white sword in his hand. When he saw the bracelet on Shi Zhouyang's wrist, his previous frustration vanished.
Shi Yan was even more surprised to see Fan Yang. Fan Yang wasn't dead?
"Pan Yang! Aren't you going to explain yourself?" Shi Yan raised his voice and questioned.
However, Pan Yang seemed indifferent, looking at Shi Yan with little emotion in his voice: "What's there to explain? I'm not dead, that's all."
"This is treason! You're clearly not dead, so why haven't you shown up yet, and why did you suddenly appear at the palace banquet? What exactly are you trying to do, Pan Yang?" Shi Yan slammed his fist on the table. "Or are you plotting a rebellion with ill intentions?"
This was a much bigger crime, but Huan Yang wasn't worried at all. He just shrugged and said, "Then just consider me a zombie."
"Pan Yang!" Shi Yan was truly enraged this time, and stood up, pointing at Pan Yang.
Cheng Yue didn't understand what was going on, but things had already escalated to this point. He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, are you being too angry? It seems that no one knows that Pan Yang is alive. Perhaps Pan Yang was injured and just appeared in the capital when he discovered that there were assassins trying to kill Your Majesty, so he rushed to the palace immediately."
"But Your Majesty, you slandered Pan Yang without distinguishing right from wrong. It is truly disheartening."
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