Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Li Chong's resounding laughter was particularly piercing in the snowstorm. He patted Xiao Hongde's shoulder hard, so hard that Xiao Hongde's body swayed slightly.

"Good! Lord Xiao is indeed tough! To deal with someone like Chu Ning, we should let him know that our eight great families are not to be trifled with!"

Xiao Hongde forced a smile, his shoulder hurt from being slapped.

He took the opportunity to adjust his cloak and quietly took a half step back to avoid Li Chong's big hand like a palm-leaf fan.

The snowflakes hit his face, freezing cold, but far less than the chill he felt inside.

Cui Gaoyi stood aside, his eyes as sharp as an eagle, scanning Xiao Hongde's face back and forth.

He suddenly spoke, his voice as low as ice: "Rejected directly? The Emperor of Chu didn't even get angry?"

He always remained skeptical about Xiao Hongde's words.

Because he knew the character of the Chu Emperor Chu Ning too well, he was a man who was unwilling to suffer any loss.

If Xiao Hongde rejected him in person, he would definitely be angry.

Xiao Hongde's heart tightened, and the fingers in his sleeves curled up unconsciously.

He feigned composure and snorted coldly, "Of course he's angry!"

Then, he deliberately raised his voice a few degrees: "He tried to use his status as the Emperor of Chu to pressure me, but I told him..."

Having said this, he looked around at everyone and said word by word, "This is the Zhou Dynasty palace. Even if he were the emperor of Chu, he wouldn't dare kill anyone here!"

The wind and snow seemed to become more violent at this moment.

The six family heads had different expressions. Li Chong's face was full of admiration, Zheng Huan seemed to be thinking about something, and Cui Gaoyi - those eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.

Xiao Hongde continued, deliberately expressing indignation: "In the end, Chu Ning asked me to leave with a gloomy face."

He imitated Chu Ning's expression at that time, with his brows furrowed and the corners of his mouth turned down, looking completely defeated.

Cui Gaoyi narrowed his eyes slightly, like two sharp daggers.

He nodded slowly: "Okay, it's getting late, let's go back and rest first."

The voice was eerily calm.

Everyone bowed and said goodbye.

When Xiao Hongde turned around, he felt a pair of gazes following him like a shadow, which made his back cold.

He knew that it was Cui Gaoyi's gaze.

Just as the seven families were leaving, two pairs of eyes were watching them through the wind and snow.

The charcoal fire in the Linde Hall made a slight crackling sound. Wu Zhao and Chu Ning stood side by side in front of the window, looking at the backs of the eight great families leaving.

The wind and snow were raging outside the window, but it was warm as spring inside the palace.

Wu Zhao's delicate brows knitted tightly together, and her red lips parted slightly: "According to your plan, they should have become suspicious of each other."

She turned to look at Chu Ning, with doubt in her eyes: "But from what I saw in their performance just now, there didn't seem to be any signs of this."

If they were suspicious of each other, they would have turned against each other just now. Even if they didn't fight directly, they would have shown anger.

But she saw with her own eyes that these seven family heads showed no signs of quarreling or fighting.

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning suddenly burst into laughter, and his laughter echoed in the empty hall.

He put his arm around Wu Zhao's slender waist and said, "That's because you don't understand men, especially these old foxes!"

He leaned close to Wu Zhao's ear, his warm breath brushing her earlobe: "Just wait, there will be something interesting to watch soon."

Wu Zhao was startled by his sudden approach, and a faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks:

"What are you doing?"

Chu Ning smiled evilly, and gently stroked her waist with his fingers: "It's freezing cold, I want to find a warm place."

His eyes swept towards the inner hall meaningfully.

Wu Zhao immediately understood what he meant and spat lightly: "What a scoundrel!"

Although it was a rebuke, the tone was a bit coquettish.

In the end, Chu Ning half-dragged and half-carried her into the inner hall.

outside the palace.

Half an hour later, the eight great families returned to their respective residences in Luo City.

As soon as Xiao Hongde entered the mansion, he ordered the housekeeper: "Prepare tea, and use the best dragon ball and snow tea."

After saying that, he went straight to the study instead of the bedroom.

The butler understood what the master meant and knew that he was waiting for guests.

Sure enough, in less than two quarters of an hour, a small sedan covered with green cloth stopped quietly at the side door of the Xiao Mansion.

The curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, revealing Cui Gaoyi's angular face.

"Cui Gongli, please come in~" The Xiao Mansion's doorman, who had been waiting outside the door, bowed and said, "My master is waiting for you in the study."

Cui Gaoyi's eyes flashed, and he cursed in his heart: This old fox, he knew I would come!

In the study, the charcoal brazier was burning brightly, and the painting "Snow on the River" hanging on the wall was swaying slightly in the heat.

Xiao Hongde was making tea. Seeing Cui Gaoyi come in, he smiled and raised his hand: "Mr. Cui, please sit down. The tea is just right."

Cui Gaoyi stared at the priceless Ding kiln tea set and suddenly changed his original words:

"Lord Xiao, let's be frank. What did the Emperor of Chu tell you?"

They are all old foxes. Seeing that Xiao Hongde was well prepared, Cui Gaoyi could only speak frankly.

I thought that with our friendship, I might be able to get some information out of him.

The water in the teapot gurgled as Xiao Hongde poured the tea calmly. "Why didn't Mr. Cui ask Wang Yan? He was the first person to be summoned."

"Humph!"

Cui Gaoyi sneered: "My relationship with the Wang family is superficial. Even if I ask, he won't tell the truth."

He looked directly into Xiao Hongde's eyes: "We have known each other for decades, you wouldn't hide this from me, right?"

Xiao Hongde laughed loudly, but the laughter did not reach his eyes: "Of course!"

He picked up the teacup and took a sip. "To be honest, Chu Ning promised us a huge profit in an attempt to divide us, but I rejected him on the spot."

After a pause, he added, "I was reluctant to speak openly in the palace just now because I was afraid others wouldn't believe me and might even become suspicious."

These words were half true and half false, and Cui Gaoyi could not tell the difference for a moment.

He stared at Xiao Hongde's face, trying to find a flaw in it.

The study was eerily quiet, with only the occasional crackling sound of the charcoal fire.

After a long while, Cui Gaoyi slowly stood up and said, "If that's the case, then I'm being overly suspicious."

He straightened his robe and said, "It's getting late. I won't disturb Mr. Xiao's rest."

Xiao Hongde quickly stood up to see him off: "Goodbye, Mr. Cui."

He had a perfectly apologetic look on his face, as if he was genuinely just hurt by being doubted.

When Cui Gaoyi's figure disappeared in the wind and snow, the smile on Xiao Hongde's face disappeared instantly.

He turned back to the study and took out a piece of letter from the secret compartment. It was the secret letter from Chu Ning to him.

The new canal plan mentioned in the letter is enough to make the Xiao family rich enough to rival a country.

"I'm afraid that old fox Cui Gaoyi won't believe it easily!" Xiao Hongde muttered to himself, holding the letter close to the candlelight.

The flames quickly engulfed the paper and turned into a wisp of green smoke, rising in front of "River Snow Picture" like an invisible conspiracy.

At this moment, Cui Gaoyi, who had left the Xiao family mansion, stood at the door and pondered, letting the snow fall on his shoulders.

The sedan bearer behind him quickly put on his cloak and said, "Master, are we going back to the mansion first?"

Cui Gaoyi narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "No, let's go to Wang's house. I want to find Wang Yan!"