Why did she sit there?
"Since this is a friendly exchange between the two countries, it's natural that the two royal heirs should compete," Jiang Jinghui said with a gentle smile. "It's a pity that Prince Yan isn't here, but my fourth brother's martial arts are on par with his. Why not let my fourth brother have a duel with the Crown Prince of Chen to celebrate Father's birthday?"
As soon as the laughter stopped, the people around General Xie Wuwang and General Lian Xiangsheng exchanged glances quickly, and immediately started laughing again, echoing the applause.
The others paused, smiling, but said nothing.
If they continued to argue with the eldest prince and his men at this time, they would become a laughing stock and let the eldest prince and his men be the good guys.
But King Yan... Everyone paused for a moment before remembering that there was a person named King Yan, Jiang Jingjian.
"Come to think of it, does Prince Yan have a younger sister... the one who made an exception and set up her own residence outside the palace two months ago?" Everyone kept smiling, but their eyes were searching back and forth in the palace.
Um?
Everyone saw the figure sitting among the royal heirs. The girl was wearing a peach and lotus pink cloud-shoulder long dress with an indifferent expression on her face. She turned a deaf ear to Jiang Jingbai's words about the King of Yan, and seemed unaware of the inquiring glances cast at her by everyone in the hall. She just casually reached out and lifted the exquisite small cup to her lips, took a sip, and looked up at the center of the palace.
"Why is she sitting there?" This question subconsciously emerged in many people's minds.
Several people glanced calmly in the direction of Rong Yejin and saw that he was just looking at the young man in dark purple robe in the center of the palace with a smile on his face. He didn't even glance at the girl opposite him, as if he didn't realize what everyone was thinking at all.
In just a moment, the gazes of several people seemed to have touched something extremely terrifying. They quickly retracted their gazes and lowered their heads silently.
The Rong family wouldn't waste their time on such trivial matters. Besides, without the emperor and... those people's instructions, which palace servant would dare to act on their own?
Everyone calmly turned their gaze away from the girl. Even some people who had always been at odds with the Rong family lowered their eyes, picked up their wine glasses and took a sip.
Rules are sometimes just a means of criticizing people...but obviously, this doesn't apply to Princess Changsheng, at least not now.
All the court officials in the hall, except Rong Yejin—regardless of whether they were at odds with the Rong family or on good terms with them—all had the same thought in their minds:
"The Rong family is really lucky."
Only Rong Yejin kept smiling faintly, as if he didn't notice anything.
Soft music lingered slowly throughout the magnificent palace. Jiang Jingyuan caught a glimpse of a purple robe fluttering to the side. She heard Jiang Jingzong snort coldly at Jiang Jingbai, then rise and leave the table. He bowed to the old emperor at the head of the table, smiling broadly, and said, "Father, I wish to challenge the crown prince of Chen State to a duel, to entertain you and the others."
The old emperor at the top of the table slowly moved his cloudy eyes. He nodded slowly and said in an old voice, "Yes, that's enough."
Jiang Jingzong's smile suddenly became even more charming. He bowed again and said loudly, "Thank you, father! I will definitely live up to the expectations of tens of millions of people in Yuan Kingdom!"
His biological mother, Le Gexiao, didn't have a strong foundation in Yuan Country. She couldn't compare to the Rong family behind Jiang Jingjian or the Xie family behind Jiang Jingsui. Many people didn't talk about it, but many people thought that his future was already determined. They either assisted Jiang Jingjian or bet on Jiang Jingsui, but...
But my mother and... said, why not give it a try?
The winner takes all, or you can cut your losses in time. Only by fighting for it while you are young and reckless can you know what you really want.
No matter how many people in the hall were related to Jiang Jingzong, at least when he said this, everyone in the hall would smile and applaud, either sincerely or falsely.
Jiang Jingzong, dressed in a smoky purple robe, walked slowly towards the center of the palace and stood opposite the dark purple figure that had been standing there for a long time. He smiled and took the long sword offered by the palace servant. He looked at Xiao Zhi across from him and said with a smile, "Prince Xiao, please give me some advice."
Xiao Zhi, who was standing opposite him, also gripped his sword tightly, turned to look at him, and nodded calmly: "Fourth Prince, please give me your guidance."
“Zheng——!”
The sword is flashing and the shadow is about to break out.
One deep and one shallow, two purple-clothed figures fluttered freely in the golden splendor, sometimes far, sometimes near, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing. The clash of swords and knives lost some of the solemnity, but instead appeared to be a beautiful visual feast.
Jiang Jingyuan, who was sitting at the table, looked at the scene in front of her with a calm expression, but in her heart she was recalling the letters that Rong Yejin had passed on to her when she was away before - those about Jiang Jingbai and Jiang Jingzong.
The letter said that after Rong Hou passed away, Jiang Jingsui and Jiang Jingzong emerged one after another, and there were many competitions and conflicts between the two.
Jiang Jingyuan thought of Jiang Jingzong's cold "humph" just now, and thought to himself that it was true.
But Jiang Jingyuan knew that these two people, including Xie Chuwan and Le Gexiao behind them, were merely competing and competing with each other, and it was far from the level of a blood feud for the throne.
She was in Yu Country at the time, and almost the moment she saw the contents of the letter, a thought popped into her mind: "So what if it's just a competition and a contest now? If the open opposition lasts too long, just a small spark will turn it into a real life-and-death struggle between them in an instant."
But she didn't reply with these words at the time. What she could think of, Rong Yejin could certainly think of as well, and what the Rong family would choose to do was their business. But Jiang Jingyuan at least remembered their past friendship. Jiang Jingjian hadn't yet reached a point of life and death with them, so Jiang Jingyuan wouldn't spend too much time in the palace.
Above the hall, smoky purple and dark purple, almost black, collided and circled. You advance and I retreat, I advance and you retreat, or we advance and retreat together. The crisp sound of swords is sometimes strong and sometimes weak, sometimes hidden and sometimes visible in the melodious and soft fairy music.
“Zheng——!”
The dark purple, almost black, figure staggered backward, and a silver-white long sword with a cold glow came close to Xiao Zhi's pale neck in the blink of an eye. The long sword stopped in front of his neck with a hum, and the trembling cold light was reflected in his eyes.
Xiao Zhi raised his eyes and saw the young man in front of him with his head slightly tilted and the corner of his mouth curled up.
The long sword in front of him was neatly retracted, and Xiao Zhi also put down his sword and saluted the young man in front of him: "Thank you for your guidance."
Jiang Jingzong casually tossed the long sword to the palace attendant who stepped forward and said with a smile, "Prince Xiao is still injured. When he recovers another day, we'll have another fight!"
Xiao Zhi replied calmly, "Definitely."
There were bursts of laughter in the hall, and everyone applauded and praised.
Celestial music filled the air, and the drunken crowd in the hall passed the cups and clapped their hands. As the night deepened, the palace banquet gradually entered its second half. Civil officials and military officers drank and sang praises of the grandeur of the Yuan Kingdom. As cup after cup of warm wine sipped, many, unable to bear the alcohol, covered their faces with their hands, laughing silently.
The aroma of wine filled the entire magnificent palace. Jiang Jingyuan, who had remained silent throughout, lowered his head to drink sweet tea, his five fingers slightly curled up to clench the wine glass in his hand.
——Are you all drunk?
Then let's begin the second half of tonight's palace banquet...
"Ha ha……"
A burly, red-faced general staggered to his feet, holding a wine glass in his hand. He laughed gruffly and raised his glass to the surroundings. Finally, he turned and toasted the old emperor at the top. With a silly grin, he said incoherently, "Your Majesty... Fortunately, you have Your Majesty... Those ignorant fellows from Chen and Lin countries dared to provoke us... Little did they know that Your Majesty of the Great Abyss could destroy them with just one... one blood seal!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty...destroyed them..." He swayed his body, grinned, and laughed.
The music continued, but the laughter in the hall stopped. The person next to him hurriedly pulled his sleeve to pull him to sit down, and shouted incoherently with a big tongue: "You are drunk, you are drunk, no, no, sit down quickly."
"Your Majesty..." The standing general shook his head foolishly, his wine glass swaying as someone beside him tugged at it, causing some of the cool liquor to spill. He remained standing and said to the old emperor at the top, "These guys from the barbaric land don't know what's good for them. They can't be beaten enough... Let them—see! The power of our Yuan Nation!"
The hall was suddenly silent for a moment. Many people were sobered up from their drunken state and began to shout in panic, "How dare you! How dare you! How dare you lose your manners in front of the hall! Back off immediately!"
"No, no!" The general shook his head and waved his hands wildly, spilling most of the wine in his glass. He shook his head and said, "Don't dare them to come again! Don't dare to come again! Let, let the soldiers at the border go back, go home!"
The drunk people in the hall looked at him in shock.
Several generals' eyes immediately turned red, their hands trembling as they held their wine glasses. "Lord Wu...Lord Wu, you..."
"Shut up, shut up!" The gray-haired man slammed his wine glass onto the table and shouted, "The Blood Seal is the national treasure of Dayuan. How can you talk about it so casually like that?!"
General Guo was furious and said, "You are doing this! You are causing confusion among the soldiers at the border!"
After saying this, he couldn't catch his breath, covered his chest and fell straight back.
Panic shouts suddenly erupted in the hall. The people around General Guo hurriedly supported him, anxiously yet patiently trying to comfort him: "Don't worry, don't worry, that fool is drunk and talking nonsense, General Guo, don't bother with him!"
The remaining people also accused and scolded the staggering general: "What nonsense are you talking about! You can't just look at the blood seal if you want to?! The border guards the safety of tens of millions of people in my Great Abyss, and the blood seal is the last line of defense of my country for hundreds of years. Neither can be lost! Don't make trouble here, retreat immediately!"
General Guo, who had recovered his breath, had tears in his eyes and shouted in great sorrow, "Don't mention it again! Don't mention it again!"
There was a burst of scolding in the hall.
Several generals, their eyes reddened, held back their tears as they pulled the drunken general aside, saying, "Stop talking, Lord Wu! The soldiers at the border all understand your feelings. Stop talking! Confess your crimes to His Majesty! Quickly!"
The civil officials all said, "The matter of the blood seal cannot be lost. You have lost your manners in front of the palace and played with our Dayuan national treasure. Your crime is unforgivable!"
Suddenly, all the generals' eyes turned red, and many of them turned their backs silently and wiped their tears with their sleeves.
The staggering general was instantly awakened by the rebukes. He stood there with his mouth open, bewildered for a long while. Then, with a plop, he knelt down in front of the figure above him, knocking his head and mumbling with a slurred tongue, "It's me, it's... Your Majesty, please forgive me, please forgive me..."
"bite!"
"clang……"
The cool wine spilled onto the ground in large amounts. The wine glass with ancient and mysterious patterns on its surface rolled three or two times on the ground and finally stopped in front of someone's knees.
Everyone in the hall was stunned, raised their fingers and pointed at them, forgetting the words of accusation.
"Your Majesty! General Wu is guilty of speaking without thinking while drunk, but General Wu also cares about the soldiers at the border! I beg Your Majesty to spare General Wu this time for the sake of his loyalty!" A military general knelt beside General Wu, kowtowed repeatedly, and said in pain.
"How outrageous! How outrageous!" General Guo, who was being supported by the crowd, was shaking with anger when he saw this. "He is wasting the blood and tears shed by the soldiers on the border!!!"
The music stopped at some point, and the magnificent hall was filled with silence, with only the sound of the two people in front kowtow loudly.
The old emperor at the top slowly raised his hand towards the ministers below.
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