If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

Zhou Wu was already annoyed with these people, and now that he heard Li Xixue say that these blond-haired guys were polite, he felt even more uncomfortable.

"Hmph, you've only seen the surface of them. Once you truly understand them, you won't say that."

Zhou Wu scoffed at Li Xixue's views, saying that in terms of disgust, Huang Mao and Xiao Zi were equally disgusting.

"You've been there, and you know so much about it? Then tell me about it."

Li Xixue started arguing again.

"Not showering is the norm. At night, people dump the filth from the toilet directly on the street, and some unlucky ones even get soaked in it."

Actually, there are even more shocking things, such as recent incestuous relationships, but these are not things that can be discussed in front of Li Xixue. However, these are enough for Li Xixue to change her previous opinion.

The look of intimacy in her eyes vanished, replaced by disgust. She didn't even realize that she hadn't doubted Zhou Wu's words at all.

The emperor had not yet arrived, and the banquet had not yet officially begun, so the envoys from various countries surrounded Li Junren. As for Zhou Wu, he was automatically ignored because he was just a minor eunuch.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

As soon as the eunuch's shrill voice rang out, everyone immediately returned to their positions and stood respectfully to welcome the Emperor and Empress.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress."

"My dear ministers, please dispense with the formalities."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Thank you all for waiting. Please take your seats."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhou Wu looked around and saw that there were quite a few people there today. Besides foreign envoys, there were also many of the emperor's ministers. Judging from Li Junren's words, it seemed that this was a warm-up or rehearsal before the official birthday celebration.

Although Zhou Wu was the Grand Commander of the South China Sea, he was only a minor figure in this hall, so he was placed at the very end, and the thick dragon-shaped pillars perfectly blocked his view.

"Damn, this is a great spot."

Zhou Wu really liked this position because he was completely hidden from the leadership and wouldn't attract their attention, allowing him to slack off without any worries.

Sure enough, the crowd sang praises to Li Tiancheng, completely fooling him. Then came the friendly exchanges between the ministers and envoys, while Zhou Wu, of course, buried himself in his food.

The banquet still adopted the individual serving system, but the dishes were much better than before, perhaps because of Zhou Wu's presence. In the past, it was almost always just a whole cooked chicken served with a few side dishes, which were salty but tasteless.

Whole chickens are still available, I don't know if there's any particular reason or custom for this, but there are also many other dishes, all of which are currently very popular in the capital.

Needless to say, the wine was also amazing. Zhou Wu only had to smell it to know that it was his own Niu Lan Shan wine. This wine was already being sold at exorbitant prices on the market. Even in the palace, there wasn't much of it. If it weren't for the Empress's birthday celebration, Li Tiancheng probably wouldn't have been willing to take it out.

"Your Majesty the Great Dragon Emperor, I am Gil, the envoy from the Kingdom of John. It is an honor to attend tonight's banquet. I have heard that the Great Dragon Empire is vast and rich in resources, and full of talented people. I have a little game to play and hope to exchange skills with the talented people of your country, which will also add to the festivities of Her Majesty the Empress's birthday banquet."

With a gentlemanly smile on his face and speaking broken Dalong dialect, everyone thought it was just a simple game.

"Okay, then tell me what kind of mini-games you want to play."

"Okay, it's actually very simple. Please look, everyone. This is a small mechanism made up of six wooden sticks, which I call the John Lock. Whoever can solve it wins. Of course, the winner will also receive a prize. This is a bag of gems as a reward."

"What if it can't be opened?"

There are still calm people; where there are rewards, there are also punishments.

"There's nothing wrong with being a loser; you just need to admit that you're stupid."

Those present were not ordinary citizens; they immediately understood the blond man's treacherous scheme. Those who could fight were naturally powerful figures from various countries. If they failed and admitted their stupidity, wouldn't that also represent their country? No one could afford to lose face like that. At this moment, everyone realized that this Gil was truly a bastard.

After Jill finished speaking, no one stood up for a long time, which showed that everyone was under a lot of pressure.

"Don't we all even have the courage to give it a try?"

The provocation worked; immediately a man from a Southeast Asian country stepped forward, took the John Lock from Jill's hand, and began to fiddle with it.

"Hmph, how difficult could such a small thing be?"

After the man finished speaking, he kept fiddling with the object, which was probably only about the size of a fist. However, no matter how he fiddled with it, he couldn't open it. Slowly, beads of sweat began to slide down his forehead, and his palms also started to sweat.

"what!!!!"

The man shouted and then stopped what he was doing.

"I surrender."

"It's good to admit defeat. Then admit that you're as stupid as a pig."

Su Ri'an was seething with hatred, but dared not make any move, since the rules had been agreed upon from the beginning.

"I come."

At this moment, another burly man stepped forward. He was clearly a trained fighter, with muscles all over his body that looked quite intimidating. Everyone perked up at this moment. As the saying goes, brute force can overcome any technique. If skill doesn't work, then brute force will. How sturdy can these few wooden sticks be?

The burly man snatched the John lock and immediately began to exert force. He thought he would be able to easily control it, but to his surprise, the wooden lock was too small. The man's hands could not grip it properly, so he could not exert force at all. The man was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks.

The man had a good relationship with the strong man, and the man came to help him vent his anger. However, he didn't expect that neither skill nor brute force would work. In the end, the man punched the ground hard and had no choice but to admit defeat.

"Haha, who would want to try again?"

Jill's arrogance was on full display, but no one could do anything about it. In the end, Jill's eyes even glanced at Da Long's side, intentionally or unintentionally. Li Tiancheng had never been treated like this before, and he immediately gave a wink to the ministers sitting down.

The old minister had seen all sorts of storms. Even with the emperor's signal, he remained calm and collected, keeping his eyes down and his mind at ease.

However, some of the younger ministers couldn't sit still. The emperor wanted his ministers to die, so they all expressed their willingness to fight for the country. But it wasn't a matter of just anyone wanting to go. After a brief exchange of glances, the older ministers pushed forward a middle-aged man.

"I come."

This person was a top scholar in the imperial examination, so his ability is beyond doubt. He has been tempering himself in the officialdom for many years and has a lot of experience. Overall, his strength is quite strong.

Jill seemed completely unconcerned about John's lock being opened, and cheerfully handed the item to him.

This time, instead of rushing to get started like the previous two, he kept observing the object in his hand, trying to find a breakthrough.