A rebellious minister forced me to be a foolish king

Chapter 616: 616 people deceived
As he spoke, the prince Ande of Northern Qi, who was wearing a red robe and golden armor and had a brilliant appearance, suddenly looked up at the host in a white robe and silver armor who was sitting behind the main table on the steps:
"I wonder who the princess is waiting for? Zhou Guo..." Gao Yanzong glanced at the two princes-in-law of Zhou Guo sitting opposite him, and his upturned peach blossom eyes could not hide the contempt.

"Did the Zhou Kingdom send you two to negotiate?"

Before the two eloquent princes-in-law of Zhou State could reply, Xiao Tongyan, who was sitting on the throne, spoke first:
"Of course there are more." As she spoke, she suddenly took out a scroll from her big sleeves and said with a smile, "This is the list of invitations specially compiled for the Zhou Kingdom. All the attendees are listed on it."

As expected of a descendant of the royal family who migrated south, and a descendant of the talented Lanling Xiao family, Xiao Tongyan had become a military general after training in the Northern Dynasty over the years, but his talent still leaked out whenever he opened his mouth.

Hearing this, Prince Fengling, who was sitting on the second seat on the steps below the main seat, suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Prince Ande, who was sitting diagonally below him.

Yuan Wuyou admired her word choice, which was obscure but accurate. "Attending the meeting" is completely different from "participating in the meeting". "Attending the meeting" is the core person in the meeting. Without this person, the meeting may not be held. But Yuan Wuyou is a pure participant, and she can come or not. But if she comes, she can watch the participants show everyone the excitement.

Xiao Tongyan's words were very frank, and it was clear that she wanted to use someone from the Zhou Kingdom as the main dish. It must be related to the "King of Hell's Call" roster. Yuan Wuyou and the Qi Kingdom's supporting cast would probably be pulled into the friendly camp by her in a short while, except for watching the show.

Not long after, the next person to enter the hall was Li Mingjian. He was alone and walked briskly. He had braided his jet-black hair into a pigtail, and the knee-length thick black pigtail hung in front of his lapel.

His young body was covered in a pure black gauze robe. The thin and transparent fabric revealed the white bandages on his waist and arms. Although he was covered in injuries, he had a kind of charm of endurance and pain, which made his tall figure look heroic.

Li Ming attracted everyone's attention when he stood in the hall with his androgynous face that looked a bit like King Fengling.

Xiao Tongyan looked down from the upper seat, comparing the two faces, and nodded secretly. He even felt that the queen's brother looked more feminine and beautiful than her.

She raised her hand and pointed to the empty table between the queen and her two consorts, "Please come in, Mr. Yuan..."

"——Is that the Imperial Seal?"

Seeing that she interrupted Xiao Tongyan's words in her own way, Li Ming walked straight up the stairs and ran to the main seat where she was.

As a result, he stopped at a step below her seat, his eyes fixed on the white jade and gold-inlaid seal on her desk, which was placed on a mahogany tray and a seal box.

He saw the four-inch square five-dragon figure made of white jade at a glance. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned his head in surprise, asking King Fengling, who was sitting on the steps beside him and wearing orange robes.

"The imperial seal is placed in front of everyone. Is this the Hongmen Banquet?"

Yuan Wuyou's sharp eyebrows and phoenix eyes were slightly curved, with a warm smile on his face.

"Yes, in order to lure you to help solve her family's case, Princess Jiangxia did not hesitate to use the imperial seal as bait. This case is related to the battle of Jiangling that year, and it is more or less related to your life experience."

Xiao Tongyan, who was sitting at the table, was the most perceptive. When he saw King Fengling say this, he immediately stood up from behind the table and bowed to everyone below him: "As the king said, Xiao Tongyan invites you to attend the meeting today to watch the fun, so I beg you to sit on the benches."

When hearing the "Battle of Jiangling", everyone present knew that it was aimed at the Northern Zhou Dynasty. That was the battle that destroyed the Southern Liang Dynasty!
In an instant, everyone's faces were filled with the desire to watch the fun, except for the two princes-in-law of the Zhou Kingdom and Master Li who was standing on the steps with a dignified and solemn posture.

Gao Yanzong, wearing a helmet and armor, said with a smile: "You are used to repaying kindness with enmity, and I am used to it. I am Xu Shu who entered Cao's camp without saying a word, just wanting to take my sister-in-law home."

The word "sister-in-law" by King Ande instantly silenced all the spectators. Li Ming, who was the one who didn't buy Xiao Tongyan's account, immediately lowered his eyes to look at Princess Jiangxia who was sitting on the throne, and said sarcastically:

"The Xiao family of Southern Liang is already a slave of a conquered nation and a defeated general. Don't you just want to gather your enemies together? So what if everyone is gathered? Do you want to hold a Hongmen Banquet to capture them all, or take them hostages and declare war on Northern Zhou? Is it enough to just ask them to apologize to you?"

He pointed out the Xiao family's intentions and the problems without giving the host any face.

Seeing Xiao Tongyan's calm face suddenly darken, Li Ming still insisted, "But I'm not interested in helping you cheat people. After all, killing someone means paying with one's life. A tyrant like you can't keep the land of Houliang and Jingzhou even if you get it. I don't think you will give me the jade seal easily. Do you really think I'm easy to trick? Goodbye."

After saying that, he turned around and walked down the stairs.

Yuan Wuyou was afraid of losing this handy weapon when Li Ming saw it, so he stood up quickly, and when Li Ming passed by, he grabbed his wrist, then turned to Xiao Tongyan who was sitting in the upper seat and smiled apologetically:

"Don't worry about them. They are mean-spirited and I am mean. Anyway, I tricked them into coming to you. If you want to ask for advice, just ask now."

After hearing this, Li Ming finally realized what was going on. He turned around and looked disdainfully at his sister who was wearing men's robes beside him.

Li Ming first glanced down at her hand that was gripping his wrist, then raised his eyes and glared at her with his reddish brown eyes, pursed his lips, and snorted, "Yuan Jixiao! You are such a bastard!"

Yuan Wuyou loosened his grip on his thin wrist, folded his arms, bowed first to Li Mingjian, then to Gao Yanzong at the bottom of the stairs: "Thank you both for your compliments and affirmation."

King Ande, who was sitting next to him, could not hide his admiration and smiled, "Tsk, you are amazing."

Seeing that the brother and sister just stared at each other and did not leave, Xiao Tongyan hurriedly tried to smooth things over and raised his hand to invite: "I have reserved a seat for Master Yuan. Please sit next to King Fengling."

Li Ming said in a deep voice: "No need."

Then she pointed to Yuan Wuyou's side and said, "Bring me an embroidered stool. I'll sit with her."

Yuan Wuyou: "..."

Xiao Tongyan hurriedly ordered the white-robed soldiers waiting in the hall, "Go and move the embroidered stool behind the empty table for Master Li to the table of King Fengling."

Since both the host and the guest agreed to this seating arrangement, Yuan Wuyou didn't say anything. She just glanced nervously at Gao Yanzong who was sitting below. Seeing that he didn't look over here, but just lowered his head to drink tea and eat cakes, she breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt inexplicably lost.

Fortunately, the table was large enough, about six or seven feet long, so it was quite easy to place two people there. After Li Ming sat down beside her, he also sat in a dignified and polite manner.

He neither drank tea nor ate cakes. He just looked around and examined everyone one by one. Especially when his eyes fell on King Ande, the two of them looked at each other. His charming face, which was smiling to everyone, suddenly showed a fierce look to him.

Li Ming saw the murderous intent flash across his eyes, but he suppressed it with all his strength. Finally, he glanced at his sister beside him with a gloomy look.