Qi Palace, court feast.

I don't know when it began, after each martial arts championship, King Qi would hold a banquet in the palace to reward outstanding young talents. This time is no exception.

Regarding the unpleasantness that happened in the ring at noon, it seemed that it had all turned into clouds and dissipated, and no one mentioned it at this moment, not even Qin Wuyue's name.

And Shen Qing'er, as the leader of this year, is naturally the most eye-catching.

At this time, King Qi, who was already in his twilight years, sat on the main seat, the prince accompanied him, and the princes and princes who appeared on the rostrum today were also sitting on both sides, followed by the heads of the major martial arts academies and martial arts halls, and finally the participants headed by Shen Qing'er.

Wu Dinghou naturally sat down very close to King Qi, but after the banquet began, he kept a gloomy face and didn't even say a word.

In the whole banquet, it seemed that he was the only one, and he was still haunted by the incident that happened at the end of the martial arts championship.

Of course, he has to be angry, because his plan not only failed, but also let the family hurt his son.

Lin Hu, because he was seriously injured, was still lying at home to recuperate at this time.

But King Qi seemed to have learned about what had happened before, and when he had passed the three rounds of wine and most of the banquet, he suddenly asked, "Wu Dinghou, how is your son's injury?" Do you want me to arrange for the imperial doctor to go and see?"

Wu Dinghou still has a gloomy face, in the entire Qi country, and even the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, there are not many people who dare to face the king of Qi with this expression.

But his tone remained respectful, "Thank you for your concern, the dog's injury has stabilized, but he still needs to rest more." ”

I don't know why, this topic was suddenly mentioned, and the atmosphere of the whole banquet was stagnant, and those young people didn't think it was strange, but many princes and princes stopped their movements for the first time, closed their mouths, and only listened, only watched.

King Qi nodded, "Then cultivate for a while, Lin Hu's kid went to the military camp with you when he was a teenager, and he has only often run back to Lindu in recent years, this time, even if he is at home to accompany his mother." ”

Lin Hu's mother, Wu Dinghou's wife, was a niece of King Qi, and she was also favored by King Qi when she was young.

Prince Qi on the side suddenly smiled slightly, and said: "Father, a few days ago, the Taifu gave me ten Xuanxue pills, and I asked people to send them to Wuding Houfu when I turned around, so that Lin Hu could recover as much as possible, and it was naturally good to accompany my cousin more at home, but to be able to restore my vitality and make my cousin worry less." ”

King Qi was expressionless and nodded.

Wu Dinghou's face was even more gloomy, and he even gritted his teeth.

There is no other reason, he was ready to pick a suitable time at this banquet, go to Liu San'er, and inform King Qi that his son was injured by Liu San'er's nephew, and let King Qi set the tone for this matter, how to punish it, and it was decided, and when the time came, no matter how Liu San'er protected his shortcomings, he could not disobey King Qi's face.

Of course, he also believed that King Qi knew the whole story, but he had to bring it up by himself.

Just when this time came, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly interrupted and emphasized that the elixir was given by the Taifu, so if he wanted to stumble Liu San'er, it would be difficult to open his mouth.

The other ministers who tasted it were also silent, and although you have always been valued by Your Majesty, you still lose to the prince in terms of means and thoughts.

The most important thing is that now that the king of Qi is dying, he will definitely pave the way for the prince's future succession, since the prince has now announced the decision to punish in the ring, and now he has taken the initiative to send a panacea, and the posture has been done. You Wu Dinghou can only be helpless, dumb to eat Coptis once.

Just when everyone thought that this secret contest was finally won by the crown prince, King Qi suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of Shen Qing'er, but his mouth was talking to Wu Dinghou, and said: "I heard that your son has taken a fancy to the leader of this year, and he still wants to marry someone else, but is there such a thing?"

Wu Dinghou was stunned for a moment, then showed surprise on his face, and hurriedly said: "This is indeed the case, this is ...... Hey, the dog has a temperament with me, and he loves to talk big, but it makes others laugh. ”

"Eh, there's nothing to laugh at. Didn't you just say that you wanted to marry the county lord of Qinghe when you were still a little lieutenant back then, and in the end, I didn't let you marry home!" King Qi's cloudy eyes showed a slight smile, and then said: "That kid Lin Hu is still good, worthy of this leader." ”

As soon as these words came out, Shen Qing'er, who was originally sitting quietly in the back, turned pale in an instant.

Then I heard the king of Naqi call her name.

Shen ...... Your father is the daughter of the Marquis of Ivan Chun, right?"

Shen Qing'er hurriedly got up, her face tightened, and she replied respectfully: "Exactly." ”

"It's so good, I'm a great Qi Guowu waiting, and I'm the Marquis of Ivan Patriot, and I can be regarded as a good person. King Qi was amused, and then asked with a kind face, "Then do you have a marriage contract?"

Faced with King Qi's questioning, Shen Qing'er really didn't dare to lie, so she had to bite the bullet and say: "There was a marriage contract, but it has been dissolved. ”

"Very good! Very good!" King Qi immediately laughed, and immediately said: "Then I will personally advise you to marry Lin Hu, the son of Wu Dinghou, how about it?"

Speaking of which, the ministers and ministers in the audience were all full of shock, and said in their hearts, could it be that the King of Qi was dissatisfied with the prince's indulgence of Liu Taifu, and was ready to use this matter to knock him? After all, they could all see that Shen Qing'er had a great relationship with Qin Wuyue and Ye Chong.

Or is it just a simple attempt to appease Wu Dinghou?

Whether it is the former or the latter, Shen Qing'er has unfortunately become a tool.

At this time, Wu Dinghou's gloom on his face had long since disappeared, leaving only surprise and pride.

Shen Qing'er's face was very bleak, and even her eyelashes trembled.

I saw her holding her dress with both hands, tightened it, and said: "Your Majesty, the little woman is a disciple of the Qinglan Academy of the Patriotic Empire, and she has taken it as her responsibility to protect the family and the country since she was a child. ”

In words, it means rejection.

King Qi gives marriage, and dare to refuse? You are just a Houmen woman who defends the country, and you are not the princess of the Great Zhou!

Some adults who were good friends with Wu Dinghou showed a fierce look on their faces at this time.

But the king of Qi said indifferently: "Why not? I heard that Wu Dinghou is still boasting at the championship today, saying that he wants to personally ask me for his life and send troops to help. Now, as long as I agree to this matter, won't your difficulty in defending the country be solved? This marriage is a good thing for you, for Chang Chunhou, and for defending the country!"

The tone seemed to be discussing, but with the perennial aura of the superior on the throne, there was a faint smell of persecution.

Shen Qing'er's hands clutched her clothes, and her finger bones were white and protruding because she was too hard, and her originally cold and moving face looked even more cold at the moment.

Under the gaze of a pair of eyes with different meanings, she raised her head suddenly, clenched her fists, and said resolutely: "Qing'er...... I don't want to!"

"Huh?"

King Qi's old brows, at this moment, finally raised slightly.

Shen Qing'er's words had come out, and she couldn't care about anything else, so she had to continue: "Qing'er only focuses on the way of the sword, only cares about her hometown, and only thinks about today, so she will immediately go to the battlefield of defending Chu, kill the Chu thieves, protect the family and defend the country, and contribute to your own strength." Qi has always taken care of the country, and your majesty is famous for your benevolence and virtue, at this time, send troops to help the defense and alleviate the crisis of the country, and the country will naturally be grateful. However, Qing'er is reluctant to join forces to help because of her own reasons, so it is inevitable...... It seems that this matter is too hasty, and it has affected the prestige of King Qi. ”

Although there was no lack of compliments to King Qi in these words, between the words, there were still those two words - unwilling.

Thinking of the refreshment when she agreed to the gambling contract in the ring before, many people would not expect that she would really refuse so unsparingly, and she was not even afraid of disobeying King Qi's face.

Including Wu Dinghou was a little puzzled, could it be that this little girl saw her original intentions?

No way.

He sent troops to help the guards at this time, and he could get a lot of benefits, and he could even ask for a price, some of the ministers present may be able to guess it, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can guess it, and King Qi must also be able to guess it.

But Shen Qing'er doesn't seem to have enough of such a big picture.

Of course they didn't know, Shen Qing'er was also struggling in her heart at this time, although she also had some doubts about Wu Dinghou's previous statement of sending troops, but she had not yet understood the other party's purpose, let alone judged how good or bad it was for the defense of the country. Even, she still had some hopes that Qi Guo could come to the rescue.

But at this time, she is no longer willing to sacrifice herself.

Because of the series of events in the ring at noon, because of the reappearance of that person, it was difficult for her to have the same resolute mentality as before.

At this moment, her eyes were already red, and two lines of hot tears slowly fell from her smooth cheeks, and she swore in her heart that even if she died on the battlefield to repay the country, she would never belittle herself.

Never ...... Let the man despise himself.

At least she knew that no matter what difficulties that person faced, he never asked for help, and only relied on himself to turn the situation around, to achieve goals, and to do what he wanted to do.

This thought, and it was only at this moment that she suddenly realized, was stronger than ever.

The others were a little stunned when they saw this scene, and they didn't think about it, but they actually made a girl cry...... Even the king of Naqi felt embarrassed and said, "Okay, okay, I'll just ask casually, no need to force it." ”

Only Na Wu Dinghou, once again, his face became gloomy.

Because of Shen Qing'er's attitude at this time, it also poked his face in Wuding Houfu.

This time, Prince Qi didn't interject, he smiled the whole time, and seemed to care nothing about the outcome.

......

At this time, a banquet was also prepared in the prince's courtyard on the bank of the Jinshui River.

The table is full of dishes, all of which are cooked by Lu Shan himself and carefully stir-fried.

Not long after Ye Chong left, Jian Ying turned around and told everyone about his plan, and none of them had any objection to this, because they all knew that Ye Chong had to return to the Patriotic Battlefield to help their uncle fight against the Chu army, and they also knew that the elixir needed for Shui Zhu'er's injury must be found as much as possible.

Therefore, this is the only time before they part, there are only a few days to eat together.

Lu Shan was the most devoted, and spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen, consulting with the chef in the other courtyard, learning a lot of dishes, and also going through many experiments.

There was a lack of spices in the sword mound to make such an exquisite dish, but it only took him one afternoon to make a table of dishes that he had never touched before.

It is said that the chefs of the prince's courtyard were quite shocked, and privately praised Lu Shan, and even wanted to take him as an apprentice, preparing to teach him the family recipes.

Of course, in the end, Lu Shan resolutely rejected the other party's kindness, and shamelessly borrowed other people's family recipes to read, for him, the so-called borrowing is actually secretly remembering the content of the recipes.

After it was getting late, Ye Chong also came here with Qin Wuyue.

Qin Wuyue was still a little shocked, originally she planned to go to the inn where Ye Chong was staying, but unexpectedly, they were arranged here by the crown prince. For the third uncle that Ye Chong said in his mouth, she couldn't help but feel even more curious and shocked, he could make the prince so admired that even his juniors cared for him so much.

After a group of people personally served the last soup in Lushan, they sat down one after another, tasting this delicious dish while talking about it, and pressing the parting feelings in their hearts.

Qin Wuyue sat next to Ye Chong, and seemed to have a good chat with Shui Xi'er on the other side, and during the banquet, he couldn't help but talk about what happened in the martial arts championship competition.

"Sister Wuyue, why did you preemptively sword that little marquis at that time?"

Shui Zhu'er was also helped to sit aside, and she was full of questions about what happened today.

The corners of Qin Wuyue's lips twitched helplessly, "I just don't want Qing'er to do something she will regret in the future, and besides, I vaguely feel that they have bad intentions, and it is too childish to make such a promise to help the guards, it is not that the Wei Guo did not ask for help from the Qi State before, but I didn't see them send a single soldier." At that time, I just thought that I couldn't let Qing'er bury my life, but it was too late to stop it, so I had to take the risk of taking the sword, even if it was to test Lin Hu's cultivation or consume his combat power. ”

As soon as her words came out, Lu Shan said with a greasy mouth: "You and Ye Chong are really a natural pair, haha, Ye Chong just beat him yesterday, and today you fought with him again, it seems that it is really providential! That surnamed Lin is indeed not a good thing, if Ye Chong was ruthless yesterday, he would not be standing in the ring today." ”

As for what happened to Ye Chong and Lu Shan yesterday, the few people who came out of the sword mound also heard a little, but Qin Wuyue didn't know anything about it, so she asked curiously: "You had a conflict with him yesterday?" No wonder, in the ring, your conversation is strange, as if hatred has been planted for a long time. ”

Ye Chong smiled slightly, and before he could speak, Na Lushan rushed to say: "Hatred? He also deserves it, you don't know, yesterday in Yixiang Building, Ye Chong and I were listening to the music, and that guy rushed in, and did not take our brothers in the slightest. I kicked over his two entourages at that time, and then Ye Chong jumped up directly, without even giving Lin Hu a chance to make a knife, he directly pushed him out, rolling from the stairs to the bottom, not to mention how wolf bèi was!"

In the words, it was full of showing off.

Qin Wuyue's eyes flashed with a strange light, staring at Ye Chong, "Yixianglou?"