I really didn't want to burn it.

“Li Ang! You should know who you should dance with for the first song, right?” Chloris came over and put her arm around Li Ang’s arm.

The next second, Skadi grabbed Li Ang's other arm.

“He certainly knows, otherwise he wouldn’t be standing here.”

After saying that, Skadi smiled at Chloris and Ryougi Shiki.

For a moment, the three of them were locked in a fierce standoff, the air thick with the tension of their glares.

Wuzō Kirie suggested softly, "Arno, I think we should draw lots... Is nobody listening to me?"

Li Ang's face was full of worry. They were the main characters of this banquet today, the focus of everyone's attention.

"Yet these three women were arguing endlessly over his first dance, completely ignoring the powerful and wealthy of Luoyang. To outsiders, it looked like a live broadcast of a melodramatic soap opera!"

[What's wrong with that? Doesn't it prove you're popular? It's a pity that Britain and Rome aren't around, otherwise you could just take this opportunity to establish your primary consort.]

"..."

Li Ang took a small piece of pastry from the plate in the hand of the waiter next to him and took a big bite.

Click.

The poor pastry crumbled in Li Ang's mouth.

If possible, Li Ang would much rather participate in banquets and social occasions to learn as much as possible about the current situation in Luoyang, rather than standing there foolishly watching his women argue about the order of their dances.

Although Li Ang knew Luoyang of the Tang Dynasty like the back of his hand, that was Luoyang nearly 100 years ago. He had no idea what the situation was like in Luoyang now.

But Li Ang didn't dare to abandon these people and run away. If he dared to do so, what awaited him afterward would not be as simple as kneeling on a washboard.

"Never mind, I'll just consider it keeping them company."

The search for DD has already been assigned to Qin's spies. Even if Li Ang wanted to inquire at the banquet, he would probably only be able to obtain some publicly available basic information.

Since that's the case, Li Ang felt that being with Chloris and the others was a good choice.

From Uruk to Northern Europe, he hadn't returned to Qin after two consecutive singularities, and Chloris and the others hadn't been with him for a long time.

Li Ang smiled indulgently at the girls who were arguing incessantly.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

"I never expected the people of Afghanistan to be so interesting."

"It's a pity I couldn't get in, otherwise I would really like to know more about that popular man."

"Do you think this group of Afghan bandits might fall into internal strife because of this man?"

"That would be best, as it would make it much easier for the imperial court to subdue Afghanistan."

……

The behavior of Leon and his companions was naturally observed by the others at the banquet, and the news spread within their respective circles. People commented on these strange Afghan fellows, their words full of sarcasm.

"Oh ho, they look like they're having a lot of fun."

On the high platform of the palace, a woman in elegant palace attire with long black hair muttered to herself with a gloomy expression after hearing the discussions of the people below.

Even though half of her face is hidden by her folding fan, you can feel her annoyance and displeasure just by standing next to her, without even looking at her.

Standing behind the woman, Peipei from Group A clenched her fists and whispered something to her captain beside her.

"Hey, Captain Wodym, what are you going to do? How can this banquet continue like this?"

Kirshtalia Wodim smiled slightly: "What happens to her is her business. Pepe, if you want to play, just go down yourself. And take Kadoc down with you."

At this point, Wodim glanced at the uneasy Kadoc out of the corner of his eye.

"He has wanted to invite his servants to dance for a long time."

"Oh my, really?"

Peipei clapped her hands and said happily, "Looks like we're going to have red bean rice tonight!"

"You...you guys, don't talk nonsense!"

Kroc's face immediately turned as red as a ripe persimmon.

Pepe hooked her arm around Kadoc's shoulder and said with a grin, "What's there to be embarrassed about? Isn't it perfectly normal to like cute girls?"

Hey!

The crisp sound interrupted the conversation of several people in Group A.

The group looked up and realized it was the sound of a woman closing her folding fan.

"Oh dear, the female lead is angry. Kadoc, let's get out of here."

Pepe, grinning, pulled Kadoc away from the platform, leaving her captain all alone to deal with that old hag.

"Wodym".

The woman's eyes turned to the man behind her.

"What is it, Your Majesty?"

"You should go to the banquet too."

After speaking, the woman ignored the other person's reaction and walked straight down the platform to the banquet center—the location of the Afghan delegation.

"Your Majesty is here!"

The announcer's voice drew most of the people in the banquet hall away from the negotiating team and towards the woman who was pacing gracefully in the hall.

But the woman ignored everyone in the banquet hall and walked directly up to Li Ang.

"Hello, representative."

The woman greeted Li Ang with a smile.

"You are……"

Li Ang looked at the woman in front of him with some surprise, his expression hesitant.

"Her card art looks quite different from hers in FGO."

[Of course! In FGO, your Meijin is still a loli!]

The woman responded to Li Ang with a smile.

"Yes, I am the potato ring you mentioned."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang's eyelids twitched.

The woman, however, paid no attention to the change in Li Ang's expression, and instead raised her fair, delicate arm.

Empress Yang Yuhuan said gently to Li Ang, "Would this camel-driving young man from Afghanistan be interested in dancing with me?"

M78 Nebula 756365104

P.S.: There are really very few pictures of Group A together. In the end, I could only find one official CD cover image. →_→

Chapter 295 Everyone has their own agenda

"A camel...?"

Li Ang's expression was somewhat unnatural.

Although his face is now made up, he still has the appearance of a normal East Asian, and doesn't look like those bearded people from the Middle East at all.

"Yes, they say that people in Afghanistan are like camels. Looking at your adorable appearance, I now understand why they describe you that way."

Her Majesty the Queen's smile was so radiant that it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as dazzling.

This is precisely why Li Ang is even more wary of Empress Yang.

The experiences of Yang Yuhuan in this timeline are completely different from those of the Yang Guifei that Li Ang knew. Apart from the most basic information being similar, they are two completely different life trajectories.

The empress in front of me started as a lady-in-waiting and, after being appreciated by the previous empress Wu Zetian, climbed the ranks step by step and eventually became the designated successor of the second emperor.

Li Ang had no doubts about the empress's resume. He had long since altered history beyond recognition, so it was perfectly normal for Yang Yuhuan to have a completely different upbringing.

However, Li Ang was quite surprised that his beloved concubine would choose an outsider to inherit the throne.

It's important to understand that in this era of the Tang Dynasty, there was no concept of the Li Tang imperial family as the legitimate successor. Li Ang was truly alone, and Wu Zetian could have easily passed the throne to her own family.

Yang Yuhuan must have had some extraordinary qualities to stand out among so many candidates and convince Wu Zetian to entrust the country to her.

"This representative, keeping a woman waiting for an answer isn't exactly gentlemanly behavior."

Seeing that Li Ang did not reply for a long time, Her Majesty the Empress gently reminded him.

"Ah, my apologies."

Li Ang secretly gave Chloris and the others an apologetic look, then took the Queen's delicate hand in his.

The musicians in the corner of the banquet hall seized the opportunity and began their performance the moment Li Ang and Her Majesty the Queen walked to the center of the dance floor.

Perhaps fearing that Li Ang, this country bumpkin from the remote mountains of Afghanistan, would make a fool of himself, and that the Queen would also be embarrassed along with him, the band chose a relatively soothing piece of music.

Although Li Ang himself is tone-deaf, he has a good sense of rhythm thanks to the skills he learned from the mourning system.

Furthermore, Li Ang himself designed this bizarre banquet in the Tang Dynasty, and he knew exactly what dances to perform.

Li Ang skillfully guided the beautiful empress as she twirled on the dance floor, while secretly enjoying the soft touch of her chest.

"Tch, I strongly suspect that this scoundrel designed this banquet just to make it easier for him to take advantage of others."

In a corner of the banquet hall, Chloris muttered to herself.

Ryougi Shiki nodded: "Great minds think alike, shall we have a drink?"

"Go one."

Chloris picked up her glass and clinked it with Ryougi Shiki's. The two of them acted like best friends and intimately drank the wine in their glasses.

"Is this what they mean by 'internal harmony requires external enemies'?" Wuzhao Kirie whispered from behind the two of them.

On the dance floor, Li Ang, who was dancing enthusiastically with Her Majesty the Empress, suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, dancing with you always reminds me of someone."

"Is that so? Who do you think I resemble?" the Empress asked with a half-smile.

“Your Majesty the former Empress,” Li Ang blinked and replied, “Although your dance steps are completely different from hers, you give me that same feeling.”

Her Majesty the Empress felt a pang of anxiety. Had the other party noticed something?

Her Majesty the Empress was not surprised that Li Ang would sense something was amiss. Back when she was using Wu Zetian's pseudonym, she and Li Ang had already danced countless times in this banquet hall.

"That was definitely a bit too radical; I shouldn't have danced with him."

Her Majesty the Empress regretted it somewhat, but since the dance had already begun, she couldn't just abandon them and leave; that would only tell everyone that the Tang Dynasty had no sincerity in negotiating.

"This might be because my dance steps were taught by the previous empress, which is why you have this misconception."

Her Majesty the Empress narrowed her eyes as she looked at Li Ang.

Li Ang raised his eyebrows. The other person's current expression reminded him of a certain vixen who claimed to be a merchant.

The Queen smiled slightly and took the initiative, asking, "Shouldn't you introduce yourself instead of me? You call yourself the representative of Afghanistan Province from the Great Ancestor."

"Perhaps I just share the same name as that emperor."

The Empress snorted coldly: "Let's skip these word games."

As the name suggests, Li Ang's answer was not a good excuse.

"Well, I don't know if Her Majesty the Empress has ever seen that cunning woman with a fox tail on her butt... What's wrong with you?"

Feeling the Empress tighten her grip on his hand, Li Ang tilted his head.

"It's nothing, I just feel that it's not gentlemanly for a representative to speak ill of a lady behind her back."

"Really? I thought Her Majesty the Empress was jealous," Li Ang teased.

"I'm not that kind of frivolous woman," Her Majesty the Empress said, rolling her eyes at Li Ang. "Let's skip this kind of probing and get straight to the point, shall we?"

Li Ang did not answer directly, but stared at Her Majesty the Empress's face.

After a few seconds of silence, Li Ang continued speaking.

“I’m a little surprised that those people would agree to you negotiating with us about land in Afghanistan. Territory is not negotiable, that’s an ironclad rule of the Tang Dynasty.”