We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The Crown Prince entered the palace early, and the King of Qin was the eldest of all the kings, so he was the first to enter.

Then came the King of Jin, the King of Yan, the King of Chu... and then the other vassal kings.

Li Che walked slowly, holding Prince Tan's hand and following behind the other princes.

When Emperor Qing saw that it was Old Seven, not Li Che, following behind the King of Chu, he frowned slightly.

But then he saw Li Che take the initiative to walk to the back, holding his younger brother's hand, with a hint of warmth in his eyes.

However, the looks that the other people in the hall gave Li Che were not friendly.

Led by the Tubo envoy, a group of envoys who were humiliated by Li Che immediately glared at him fiercely when they saw Li Che walk in.

On the contrary, the Japanese envoy who was beaten up by Li Che began to tremble uncontrollably the moment he saw Li Che.

Li Che glanced at the angry faces of the envoys, and his eyes finally fell on the face of the Japanese envoy, and he grinned.

The Japanese envoy suddenly felt cold all over, as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

Fortunately, Li Che quickly withdrew his gaze and stood in the hall with the other princes.

The Japanese envoy breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt uncomfortable.

He didn't know why, but he could always sense a sense of malice from Li Che, pure malice.

It doesn't seem to be directed at him as a person, but rather at...his species?

It's like a person who hates bugs so much, seeing a bug, reveals that kind of disgust from the bottom of his heart.

"Greetings, Father." The princes said in unison.

"Okay." A smile appeared on Emperor Qing's dignified face. "Please take a seat."

"Thank you, Father."

After the princes took their seats, all the civil and military officials in the court took their seats in order, with the civil officials headed by Prime Ministers Huo Tao and Du Fuchen on the left, and the military officials headed by Zhu Chun on the right.

Everyone took their seats and the banquet began.

The melodious sound of stringed instruments rose as palace maids filed in, placing delicacies on the table.

Emperor Qing sat upright on the dragon throne and raised the golden cup: "My dear ministers, I celebrate today's grand ceremony with you all!"

All the ministers shouted "Long live the emperor", toasted each other, and the hall was filled with joy.

There was a noise outside the door. The gifts from the princes had been transported outside the palace, waiting for the offering ceremony to begin.

Today marks the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the time when the old year turns to the new year.

The ministers also wanted to relax on this day and happily welcome the new year.

Therefore, a rare harmonious scene appeared at the banquet, and even political enemies who were fighting each other to the death would not attack each other at this time.

However, this seemingly peaceful scene was suddenly broken by a loud shout: "Your Majesty! I have something to say that I cannot help but express!"

The person who spoke was the Tubo envoy Lu Dongzan.

He was a tall and strong man, and his voice was like a huge bell, echoing in the hall and making the wine glasses in everyone's hands tremble slightly.

The Minister of Rites suddenly looked unhappy.

He had already agreed with the envoys that the ceremony was the top priority and all other matters should be put aside for now and discussed after the ceremony today.

If Your Majesty still avoids talking about it, the worst that can happen is that the Ministry of Rites will spend some money to compensate them.

But I never thought that Lu Dongzan was so disrespectful that he had to come out and make trouble at this time.

Emperor Qing put down the wine bottle, frowning slightly: "What do you want to say now?"

Lu Dongzan stepped forward, pointed at Li Che, who was sitting in the prince's seat with a stern face, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I have nothing but grievances to express... May I ask why Prince Feng is here?"

"A few days ago, he broke into our Sifang Pavilion at night, acted recklessly, and insulted our Tibetan envoys!"

"Your Majesty has not punished him severely for such behavior, and has only ordered him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors. Yet, he appears here openly today. Your Majesty, please give us an explanation!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Che.

Li Che's expression remained unchanged, but a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if he was not involved.

Behind Lu Dongzan, envoys from several other countries also came out and echoed:

"We can all testify! Your Highness's actions are truly disrespectful!"

"We have come all the way to Daqing to attend the ceremony in the interest of promoting friendly relations between our two countries, yet we have been insulted like this. Your Majesty should give us an explanation!"

"That's right! This matter must come to a conclusion!"

Emperor Qing's face was gloomy, and he suppressed his anger: "I have a plan in mind for this matter. We will discuss it in a few days."

"Let's finish today's work today." Lu Dongzan refused to give in.

As soon as these words were spoken, the anger on Emperor Qing's face disappeared immediately and he looked calm.

Officials who knew him well knew that this was a sign that His Majesty was about to become angry.

This Lu Dongzan is too tactless. Does he really think that Your Majesty has no temper?!

But they didn't know the real reason why Lu Dongzan was so persistent.

Lu Dongzan had been on diplomatic missions to Daqing many times. He was familiar with Daqing's books and was well aware of the power of the Central Plains dynasty.

He had long discovered the value of those books, which could save Tubo from taking dozens or even hundreds of years of detours!

It was also for this reason that he was willing to risk offending Emperor Qing and bring up the matter of Sifang Pavilion again in order to gain more benefits.

Emperor Qing's eyes became calmer, and the coldness hidden in the calmness could be seen even by the most obtuse envoy.

The surrounding imperial guards silently reached for their sword handles, and the generals also looked coldly at the envoy.

The envoys also noticed that the atmosphere was not right, and the shouting gradually stopped.

The Crown Prince stood under the dragon throne with his head lowered, and all the princes just watched from the sidelines.

Although they all disliked Li Che, they would not kick him when he was down at this time.

Of course, the main reason is that I don’t dare.

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was about to reach freezing point, a voice broke the silence:

"Father, I have something to say!"

Emperor Qing looked at Li Che, his expression slightly relaxed, and he said in a low voice: "Speak."

Li Che slowly stood up, walked to the center of the hall, and looked directly at the envoys.

Several envoys felt a chill in their faces and subconsciously shrank their necks.

"This matter was caused by this king. Don't you all want an explanation?"

A sneer flashed across Li Che's face: "Okay! I'll explain it to you!"

"It's just that... today is the grand ceremony of Daqing. Isn't it rather rude for you all to preach at this time?"

Lu Dongzan pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "May I ask when His Royal Highness Prince Feng can give me an answer?"

Li Che said calmly: "After the ceremony."

Lu Dongzan took a deep breath.

He also knew the principle of knowing when to quit. Li Che's attitude now showed that the patience of the king and his ministers in Daqing had reached its limit.

If he continued to push the issue and angered the Emperor, the crazy code of Feng Wang would be of no benefit to either himself or Tubo.

"Okay, I'll wait for your reply."

The matter was over, but the atmosphere had been broken, and there was no longer any harmonious atmosphere of toasting and drinking in the hall.

Li Che smiled slightly, looked at Emperor Qing sitting on the dragon throne, and bowed slightly:

"Father, on this auspicious occasion, please allow me and my brothers to present congratulatory gifts."

Emperor Qing's expression relaxed slightly, and he nodded slightly: "Approved."