On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, Wu Guoqing's banquet was held in the main hall of Wu Palace. That great hall is the Great Hall of the Hereafter, the place where the state meets for business. In the middle and back was a desk, where King Wu was located, and the ministers who attended the meeting were all standing and talking.

Today is different from the past, there are desks on both sides of the room, which are the seats of the ministers, and today is mainly to drink and eat, so everyone has seats.

This is a state banquet, and only officials above the level of doctor are eligible to attend. But there are two special guests, which are Yue Wang and Fan Li.

King Yue is the king of a country, but that was once, and it won't work. Now although he receives the salary of a doctor, he is only a petty official who manages the cemetery. And Fan Li has no official position at all.

The person in charge of organizing the banquet was Dazai Boyao, who reported to King Wu: "King, there is a special person, whether to invite him to participate in the celebration banquet, the minister does not dare to make the decision, please make a decision." ”

King Wu was in a good mood and said with a smile: "Is there anything else that can stump Dazai?" Say, who is this special person? ”

Bo Yao said: "Yue Wang Goujian. ”

King Wu let out an "oh", this is indeed a special person. King Wu said, "Tell me why you invited him." ”

"Although he is the king, that was in the past, and now he is nothing." But he is still influential, and if he is completely obedient, the affairs of the Yue country will be much easier. Inviting him to a banquet shows the king's kindness on the one hand, and on the other hand, let him see that my Great Wu Kingdom is powerful. ”

King Wu said, "It makes sense, but what about the reason for not inviting him?" ”

Bo Yao said: "Although he received the doctor's salary, the official was too small. If you invite him to participate, some people will say that I am not worried about the rules, especially Wu Xiangguo, he has a deep prejudice against King Yue, and he is always afraid that King Yue will rebel. But there will still be gossip. This is the reason not to invite him. ”

King Wu said: "Xiangguo is old and small-minded, so he doesn't consider his opinion. ”

Bo Yao looked at King Wu and said cautiously, "Do you want to ask for the opinion of Lady Yayu?" ”

King Wu patted his head and thought, I'm ashamed, I forgot about this layer. Does this need to be asked? Yayu must want to participate in the king!

King Yue said: "No one needs to ask, just say that it means that the widow means, King Yue and Fan Li are invited to participate." ”

Bo Yao said, "The minister will do it." ”

Of course, King Wu would not have thought that Fan Li had already greeted Bo Yao before, and no matter what, he and King Yue would also attend this banquet.

This is a trivial matter, Bo Yao accepted so many valuable gifts from Fan Li, can't this little thing be done? But Bo Yao was very cunning, kicked the ball to King Wu, and changed his meaning into the meaning of King Wu. Who can have any gossip?

This thing is done, and it is called dripping water.

Of course, Bo Yao would not have thought that this banquet was instigated by Fan Li through Yayu. He wants to use this banquet to do something important.

In this way, King Yue and Fan Li were both invited to participate in the celebration banquet. The arrival of his monarchs and ministers inevitably attracted the attention of some people, and the meaning was obvious: "Why are they here?" ”

Someone told him right away. No need to make a fuss, that's what the king meant. And all the talk was settled.

Yayu was behind the curtain and saw King Yue, his mood was agitated, and he felt ashamed.

King Yue's table was at the bottom of the line, and Fan Li also had a table, but Fan Li did not sit and kept standing beside King Yue. All the people who attended the banquet sit, but he stood.

King Wu said, "Young uncle, why are you standing?" Didn't I assign you a seat? Why not sit down? ”

Fan Li bowed and replied, "The minister doesn't dare to sit." ”

King Wu said, "Why don't you dare? How can you drink and eat food without sitting down? ”

Fan Li lowered his eyebrows and replied: "I heard that the bees all offer honey to the queen bee, and the wolves will wait for the first wolf to eat before they dare to share the prey. Although the king of Yue was defeated and destroyed, he was still the king of his ministers. Now that the king is here, how dare Fan Li sit on an equal footing with the king. Although the country of Yue is destroyed, the great gift cannot be abolished! ”

King Wu praised: "Virtuous Fan Li! ”

Bo Yao came out of the class and said: "Celebrants, about also! Fan Li is still courteous under the destruction of the country, and our teachers are also. ”

King Wu said: "The young man behaves according to the courtesy, which is admirable. If you want to stand, it's better to stand here and let the widow see the demeanor of the young man. ”

Fan Li said: "King Xie! With that, he walked over and stood at the end of King Wu's desk.

Then, Bo Yao announced the beginning of the banquet, and he listed the great achievements of King Wu's martial arts and cultural governance. Advocate that King Wu is the sage monarch of the past and the present.

Then the king of Wu spoke, he said, Wu conquered the state of Chu, eliminated the state of Yue, expanded its power, expanded its territory, and its territory was close to the edge of the Bohai Sea, and the monarchs and ministers worked together. Make great efforts to make the country prosperous, and the hegemony can be achieved.

The ministers shouted long live.

Then many ministers raised their glasses to the king of Wu and said some words of praise and virtue. The atmosphere is warm and hot, and then it is time to eat, toast each other, and eat large pieces of meat.

Eating and drinking is almost a theatrical performance, the musicians are playing music, the palace ladies are dancing, the singing is beautiful, and the dancing is graceful. The ministers applauded. King Wu also saw that he was very happy.

Suddenly, seeing Fan Li's unbearable look, he turned his face to the side and didn't look at the song and dance.

King Wu was curious: "Young uncle, isn't this song and dance good-looking?" ”

Fan Li said in a panic: "It's good-looking." ”

King Wu said: "Since it is good-looking, why do you turn your face away and don't look at it." Still showing a look of disgust? ”

Fan Li said: "The king forgives the sin, and the minister is rude." ”

King Wu became more and more uninterested in watching the song and dance, and said, "Young uncle, you always speak unexpectedly. The widow did not say anything about your rudeness. In the widow's coming, drinking wine and adding beautiful singers and dances are really happy. But you showed a look of disgust, isn't this song and dance really worth a look? ”

Fan Li bowed his body, and he didn't dare to raise his head and said, "King, can the minister tell the truth?" ”

King Wu said, "But it doesn't hurt to say it, the widow is about to hear the truth." ”

Fan Li said: "The minister said straightforwardly, the king should not be angry. Wu Guo is the largest country today, the national strength is strong, the prestige is far and wide, but no one can sing and dance, is it possible that a huge Wu country, can't find a few beautiful girls? ”

King Wu said, "Are you saying that these girls are not beautiful? ”

Fan Li said: "It's not just not beautiful, it's just ugly." ”

King Wu said, "Hi! Young uncle, I don't like to hear what you say, the widow thinks these girls are all very beautiful. ”

Fan Li said: "That's the king, you haven't seen a beautiful girl, so you said that." As a generation of overlords, you should enjoy the most fragrant wine and the most beautiful woman in the world. But...... Hi! Don't say it, the strange minister is too talkative. ”

"Wait!" Wu Wang was very interested, "Young uncle, let's not talk half-talked, do you say that there are more beautiful women in the world than these girls?" ”

Fan Li said: "Yes, those girls are a hundred times more beautiful than your palace maids. ”

King Wu said, "How beautiful is that?" ”

Fan Li said: "Let's put it this way, when the flowers saw this girl coming, they were ashamed and didn't dare to open, and the swimming fish in the river forgot to swim when they saw this girl." ”

"Is it really that pretty?"

"It's that pretty!"

King Wu opened his mouth wide: "Where is such a beauty?" ”

Fan Li said: "Ramie Mountain." Where the mountains and rivers are beautiful, the scenery is charming. Good mountains and good waters nourish a generation of stunning beauties. ”

King Wu sighed: "The few people yearn for it. ”

Fan Li said: "What's so difficult about this, the king can send his ministers to visit, find a beauty, and bring it back to the palace." ”

King Wu shouted: "Young uncle, I will send you to find a beauty for the widow!" ”