In the Western Garden Palace, the banquet was laid out.
Princess Qianyou and Gu Lin sat at the two main seats. Mr. Shuijing, Zhongshan, Ada, and A'er sat to the right, while King Julu took the foremost seat on the left, accompanied by his subordinates—n and won alike—seated behind him.
"Sir, those following King Julu are his most loyal death soldiers. They've assassinated nurous high-ranking officials of the Great Luo Dynasty. Their hands are stained with the blood of our leadership," Ada quietly inford Zhongshan.
Gazing at the expressionless subordinates of King Julu, Zhongshan narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.
"Princess, what is the occasion for today's sudden invitation?" King Julu asked with a smile, though his heart was filled with suspicion. When Ada had co earlier, he was in a great hurry, asking King Julu to co to the banquet imdiately. It was all too rushed.
"King Julu, the peace agreent between the Great Luo and Great Yu Dynasties has not co easily. However, recently, soone has sought to disrupt this hard-earned peace," Princess Qianyou said, shaking her head.
Upon hearing this, King Julu's pupils contracted. He imdiately thought of Yi Yan, who had recently proposed war in front of the Emperor. How did the news leak?
"Who? Who dares to be so bold?" King Julu feigned anger.
"Prince Han Jue," Princess Qianyou replied bluntly.
"Uh? Prince Han Jue?" King Julu paused, taken aback. This was unexpected; it wasn't Yi Yan, but Prince Han Jue?
Realizing this, King Julu was suddenly alard. Prince Han Jue, representing the Great Guang Dynasty, wanting to ally with the Great Luo Dynasty against the Great Yu Dynasty?
"Indeed, this is a letter of invitation from Prince Han Jue," Princess Qianyou said, producing an invitation and handing it to King Julu.
With a puzzled look, King Julu opened the letter. Although its contents were written cryptically, it was not difficult to discern the intention of forming an alliance with the Great Luo Dynasty.
Seeing this, King Julu took a deep breath, his eyes filled with anger, while he also glanced at Princess Qianyou in surprise.
"Why are you giving this to ?" King Julu asked. In his mind, Princess Qianyou should be attending the eting instead.
"The Great Luo and Great Yu Dynasties are like siblings. How can we be swayed by other empires' temptations? Although I was initially tempted, under the persistent advice of Mr. Zhongshan, I decided to co clean with you, King Julu. This letter is for your perusal," Princess Qianyou explained.
"Mr. Zhongshan?" King Julu looked at Zhongshan in surprise, noting the others' gazes as well.
Seeing Gu Lin glaring coldly at Zhongshan, King Julu's initial doubts were largely dispelled. What an excellent opportunity for negotiation, and it had been spoiled by Zhongshan. If he were the crown prince, how could he not be furious?
"King Julu, my princess understands the bigger picture. Our two dynasties have just reconciled; how can we allow other empires to sow discord?" Zhongshan imdiately said.
Zhongshan's words only made Gu Lin angrier. Already simring down, his rage flared up again at hearing "my princess" from Zhongshan. It felt too possessive.
What Zhongshan ant was simply a formal way of speaking, as he had always said it before. But at this mont, with Gu Lin's heightened sensitivity, he perceived it as overly familiar. Gu Lin put down his wine cup and stord into the inner chamber.
Gu Lin's unreasonable action did not go unnoticed by King Julu. Seeing Gu Lin leave in a huff, King Julu thought it was because Gu Lin lanted the missed opportunity due to Zhongshan's interference. His trust in the situation deepened.
Princess Qianyou frowned slightly as she watched Gu Lin leave.
"King Julu, I apologize for his behavior," Princess Qianyou said, apologizing on Gu Lin's behalf.
"Think nothing of it, Princess. You've shown great wisdom and virtue. I should be thanking you instead of casting bla. But are you certain this invitation was from Prince Han Jue?" King Julu asked, fixing his gaze on Princess Qianyou.
"King Julu can send soone to investigate. Prince Han Jue is no longer in the city. You can also have soone impersonate us and go to Misty Lake to see what is happening," Princess Qianyou said confidently.
"Impersonate? That doesn't seem quite proper!" King Julu showed a hint of interest but seed reluctant due to formalities.
"It's no problem. You can have your subordinates disguise themselves as us and head to Misty Lake. Otherwise, if we delay, Prince Han Jue might leave," Princess Qianyou said with certainty.
"Very well!" King Julu agreed imdiately. Since Princess Qianyou had already suggested it, there was no reason to be coy.
"All of you, after leaving the city, disguise yourselves as Princess Qianyou and her party and head to Misty Lake. The thick fog there will obscure your faces. Check if Prince Han Jue is waiting there," King Julu ordered his death warriors.
"Yes," they responded in unison.
"The princess has prepared appropriate attire for you," Zhongshan said, presenting a set of clothes.
"Uh?" King Julu was slightly taken aback. The preparations were quite thorough.
"Take them," King Julu instructed.
"Yes," the death warriors replied.
"Change once you're outside the city to avoid unnecessary trouble," Zhongshan suggested with a smile.
"Do as he says," King Julu commanded.
"Yes," the death warriors replied and quickly left the Western Garden Palace.
Now it was a matter of waiting, waiting for the final outco—
Three hours later, the banquet in the Western Garden Palace had been cleared.
King Julu, Princess Qianyou, Gu Lin, Mr. Shuijing, Ada, and A'er stood on the floating island, waiting for the death warriors to return. But so far, none had co back.
Frowning and growing impatient, King Julu suddenly pointed to another subordinate, "You, go to Misty Lake imdiately and find out what's going on."
"Yes," the subordinate responded promptly—
At the Great Guang Dynasty's embassy floating island, Prince Han Jue, covered in blood and severely injured, his left arm dangling, flew back with Left and Right Sirs, who were also badly hurt. They looked utterly disheveled, their faces full of resentnt.
"Prince, Prince, what happened?" A Great Guang Dynasty official hurried over, full of concern.
"Princess Qianyou, you venomous woman! You wanted dead in the Great Yu Dynasty to stir conflict between Great Yu and Great Guang so that the Great Luo Dynasty could profit. Hmph!" Prince Han Jue spat out coldly.
"Prince, did Princess Qianyou set up an ambush? Where is she now?" the official asked anxiously.
"At the entrance to the Peach Blossom Forest, she tried to corner , wanting dead. I led them to the volcano and wiped them all out. They're dead, all of them!" Prince Han Jue snarled.
"What should we do now?" the official asked worriedly.
"Quick, fetch King Julu and the Grand Marshal. Tell them the Prince is severely injured and needs them imdiately," Left Sir ordered.
"Yes," the official responded—
At the Grand Marshal's residence, Yi Yan was feeding the pond fish, but his eyes were not on the pond. He was restless, waiting for news from General Iron Blood.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
A series of hurried footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards. Yiyan, who was feeding the fish, scattered the remaining fish food into the pond and imdiately turned around, spotting Tie Xue General approaching rapidly.
"Grand Marshal, Grand Marshal," Tie Xue called out urgently.
"How did it go?" Although Yiyan's health was failing, he anxiously moved toward Tie Xue General.
Seeing Yiyan approaching, Tie Xue quickly stepped forward to support him.
"Grand Marshal, it's done. Prince Hanjue was severely injured and was shouting 'Qianyou, you villain!' as he left," Tie Xue General reported with excitent.
"And the mountain?" Yiyan asked imdiately.
"It exploded. The underground fire energy surged up, causing a volcanic eruption. The fog lake is gone; it's now just a volcano. There's only one place left now," Tie Xue General responded enthusiastically.
"Good. Both locations were handled well. What about Qianyou Princess and her group? What happened to them?" Yiyan continued to inquire.
"Qianyou Princess and her entourage entered the fog lake. Under the cover of thick fog, our troops set up the Yiqi battle formation and, after a fierce battle, killed them all. Not a single one was left alive. Qianyou Princess and her group were completely annihilated," Tie Xue General replied with excitent.
"Good, good, good. Besides Qianyou Princess, who else was there? Did Mr. Shuijing also die in there?" Yiyan, showing signs of feverish excitent, asked further.
"Mr. Shuijing? He should be in there as well. It must be the sa six people I escorted from Bahuang City last ti," Tie Xue General thought for a mont and said.
Hearing this, Yiyan frowned. "What do you an 'should be'? This can't have any uncertainties; it must be confird. Were they or weren't they?"
"Grand Marshal, we stayed far away to avoid being detected. From a distance, the six of them looked exactly like the ones I escorted last ti. Their outfits were identical; it can't be wrong," Tie Xue General responded promptly.
"The sa outfits?" Yiyan suddenly paused, his expression growing tense.
"Yes, exactly the sa. Last ti in Bahuang City, they wore those exact outfits. It can't be wrong," Tie Xue General said.
"You're saying that those six people, none of whom changed their outfits, coincidentally wore the exact sa clothes as in Bahuang City?" Yiyan's face showed a hint of tension.
"Yes," Tie Xue General, sensing sothing might be amiss but still uncertain, nodded.
"The sa clothes? That's too coincidental. They changed clothes several tis in Sky City. Even if they rotated their outfits, it's too convenient that they happened to wear the sa set as that day?"
Indeed, it was too convenient. Back when Zhongshan requested each person to hand over a set of clothes, everyone provided an already-worn outfit. It was the sa set they wore while traveling, which they assud they would never wear again. They handed over that set of clothes, not realizing that Yiyan would identify a major flaw from this seemingly minor detail.
"Cough... cough... cough..." Yiyan began coughing violently, driven by his worry.
"Grand Marshal," Tie Xue General quickly stepped forward, concerned.
"I've done everything I could. Let's just do our best and leave the rest to fate," Yiyan said, calming his cough and offering himself so solace.
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