Yuwen Wuji irritably touched his forehead. "Who saw it? Let that person come in and answer."
Soon a young eunuch entered, bowing low, and timidly replied, "This servant only wanted to go in and ask the two envoys what they needed, but I didn't expect to witness that scene. This servant is terrified and worried that the snake might harm people, so I informed the prince about this matter."
Yuwen Wuji admired this sensible servant and said, "As you all heard, this servant bumped into it unintentionally, not intentionally spying. If it weren't for his unintentional act, we wouldn't know why the two envoys from Beiqing released that highly venomous snake."
The question was then posed to the people of Beiqing. Tuoba Yunwu said with a sullen face, "You people of Dachen say that we people of Beiqing deliberately released the snake. Don't you find that ridiculous? Since we know that this snake is highly venomous, why would we release it to harm people? We are currently on your Dachen territory!"
Seeing that the people from Beiqing were completely unfazed, everyone present was somewhat helpless, and for a time, the situation seemed to have reached a stalemate.
Suddenly, a royal physician stepped forward and said, "Commander Cheng, please allow me to examine this handkerchief."
Chengcheng looked in the direction of the sound, paused for a moment, and handed over the handkerchief in his hand. The imperial physician sniffed it and said, "This snake-attracting medicine is not produced by our Imperial Hospital. This medicine contains a snake-fragrant herb, which is unique to Beiqing and has a strange attraction to snakes. However, because it can cause snakes to go mad, our Great Chen snake-attracting medicine does not include this herb."
"Hmph! In the end, you're just trying to smear Beiqing! This snake grass is produced in Beiqing, but it's not like you can't buy it in Dachen! Stop pretending!"
“Prince Tuoba is right. The fact that this thing can be bought in Da Chen does not prove that Da Chen is innocent.”
"Uh..." The imperial physician pondered for a moment, then continued, "This snake-scented herb has no known medicinal value other than its ability to attract snakes. Therefore, it is likely that it will be unavailable in all the shops in the capital."
"We can't buy it? How do you know so clearly? Is it you who concocted this to frame us!" Tuoba Yunwu then shrieked.
Yuwen Wuji frowned, clearly displeased.
"Is Prince Tuoba just throwing a tantrum out of embarrassment and anger, accusing whoever he can get his hands on?" Xie Liwei sneered. "First it was this princess, and now it's our Great Chen's imperial physician. You people from Beiqing dare to do it but don't dare to admit it, constantly making our Great Chen take the blame for you?"
The imperial physician was also deeply distressed and said, "When I was young, I was fortunate enough to be sent as an envoy to Beiqing and exchange ideas with the medical officials of Beiqing. I really did not do anything to damage the diplomatic relations between the two countries!"
Now that things have come to this, Beiqing can no longer refute them, but since they refuse to admit it, Dachen and Donglin have no way to do anything about it.
In the end, it was Yuwen Wuji who spoke up and acted as a peacemaker.
"In the end, this matter was caused by the failure of the Northern Qing envoy to properly guard the venomous snake. The Northern Qing side still needs to give the Regent of Eastern Lin an explanation."
The implication is that you two can argue amongst yourselves; Da Chen doesn't want to get involved!
Bei Qing's attempt to steal a chicken ended up losing its rice instead. Before leaving Dong Lin, they even took Tuoba Hongyun with them, saying that they did so so that both sides could sit down and talk peacefully.
How could Beiqing swallow such humiliation? But they were now standing on Dachen soil, and a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle; they couldn't afford to be defeated in Dachen. Once they returned to Beiqing, they could say whatever they wanted!
The palace banquet ended unhappily, and the most frustrated person was Consort Shu. She had originally wanted to make the banquet a grand affair and then spread some rumors to put Yuwen Wuji in a difficult position.
Unexpectedly, all my hard work and effort came to nothing!
After the commotion in the main hall ended, Yuwen Wuji returned to his bedchamber and asked with dissatisfaction, "Where did the Crown Prince and Fifth Prince go?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince did not return after leaving the banquet, and it seems that His Highness the Fifth Prince went out for some fresh air."
"Nonsense! How can these two princes be absent from such a state banquet!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down! I imagine the two princes were also planning to return, but I didn't expect the Imperial Guards to seal the gates."
"If the gate was sealed, how did that girl Yongle get in!" Yuwen Wuji sneered. There were some things he just didn't want to investigate, but that didn't mean he was stupid.
Just then, a young eunuch came to report.
"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince has heard about what happened in the hall just now and has come to pay his respects."
Yuwen Wuji scoffed lightly, "I'm tired of seeing you."
Li Wei observed Yuwen Wuji's expression and knew that Yuwen Wuji was annoyed with the Fifth Prince, so he went out himself.
The Fifth Prince changed his clothes and stood at the entrance of the Qiankun Palace, looking solemnly at the gate.
His expression softened somewhat when he saw that it was Li Wei who came out.
"Has Father Emperor gone to sleep?"
Li Wei nodded, "His Majesty was already exhausted by this point, not to mention all the things that happened afterward."
"How is Father Emperor now? I just heard about what happened in front of the palace."
"How could His Majesty be pleased that the people of Beiqing have made such a mess of His Majesty's birthday celebration? What His Majesty resents is that the Fifth Prince was not present for such an important event."
Upon hearing Li Wei's words, the Fifth Prince knew that he was intentionally giving him a hint; otherwise, he could have simply said nothing.
"I went out to relieve myself and accidentally got splashed with wine. I was thinking of going back to change my clothes, but I missed the chance." He sounded annoyed, making it impossible to tell whether he was telling the truth or not.
"Fifth Prince, please come again tomorrow. His Majesty is resting now."
The Fifth Prince nodded, bowed to the gate of the Qiankun Palace, and then left.
After Li Wei entered the hall, he told Yuwen Wuji about the conversation. Yuwen Wuji didn't say anything, but only asked Li Wei to bring over the medicine prescribed by Master Qingxu.
He secretly hoped to have another son. He wished he could have two more sons. He could raise them until they were teenagers and then he wouldn't have to worry about anything.
He disliked neither the Crown Prince nor the Fifth Prince. In his eyes, both were enemies who threatened his power.
He is in his prime, and although he has suffered some injuries, it is not yet time for him to give up his rights.
After leaving Qiankun Palace, the Fifth Prince wanted to go to Consort Shu's place, but it was getting late and the palace gates had already been closed. He decided to visit his mother tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Song Yaozhu left the palace, where an envoy from Donglin was waiting for them outside. He watched as Xie Liwei relayed Dongfang Shi's words.
"Our prince said, 'We'll see.'"
Song Yaozhu scoffed. He was barely alive, yet he still dared to spout nonsense in front of her. How ridiculous.
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