The style of the national banquet in Taixia Country was a combination of east and west. In the first half of the national banquet, it was in eastern style. The crown prince would present a banquet to all the guests. They would sit in front of tables in the banquet hall and enjoy the top delicacies and beauties' songs and dances. In the second half of the national banquet, it was in western style. After the main banquet, they would take a short rest and communicate with each other. After that, they would enter the rear palace from the front palace of Anyan Palace and enjoy the cocktail party and free social time.
Zhang Tie didn't know who fixed the style of the national banquet. However, it was indeed interesting. At least, such a banquet would not be boring. Additionally, in the second half of the national banquet, all the major ministers and the crown prince in the imperial court of Taixia Country, all the ambassadors and royal households could have a lot of private communication, secret trade, even mating in the latter half of the national banquet …
Such a national banquet was not only a stage to display Taixia Country's leading position among humans, but also a hunting ground for human desires and an abyss of fame and fortune. Behind the curtain of such a national banquet, a decision and a trade between the moguls and the crown prince would determine the proxy wars on subcontinents and the rise and fall of the royal households of those small countries. A glance and a hint from someone could determine whose bed many women would roll on tonight.
There were many VIPs' lounges in the front palace of Anyan Palace, which could be used for male and female guests to touch up their make-up or look after the main banquet. After the main banquet, Bai Suxian, Linda, Beverly and Fiona went to touch up their make-up in the VIP lounge. Zhang Tie also tidied up his appearance in the lounge. The moment he came out of the lounge, when he was waiting for Bai Suxian, Beverly and Fiona to go to the rear palace together, a waiter on the side of the crown prince had already walked over and invited Zhang Tie into the room of the crown prince.
The moment Zhang Tie came to that room, he had found there were already some people in the room, including Crown Prince Changying, Meng Shidao, Yu Lianqing and a Class 1 official uniform of Taixia Country with a dark face and heavy eyebrows. He was one of the 9 chancellors of Taixia Country, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Taixia Country.
The crown prince looked very bad. Not until he saw Zhang Tie entering the room under the guidance of a waiter did the crown prince force a smile.
At the sight of Fang Keyan, Zhang Tie had known what was going on. Because of Fang Keyan, the crown prince didn't lose his temper in the banquet just now; however, he was going to lose his temper now.
"I'm sorry for making General Mushen feel aggrieved just now. This servant is asking the other lords about what happened just now. We have to give General Mushen an explanation!" The crown prince said as he took in a deep breath.
Servant was how the Crown Prince addressed himself in formal situations. It was similar to how the Emperor addressed himself as Guaren and Zhen.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" On such an occasion, in front of two of the top three chancellors in Taixia Country, Zhang Tie maintained enough respect for the crown prince; therefore, he didn't call the crown prince "Brother Changying" anymore, "It doesn't matter if I suffer some grievances; however, it's really not the fortune of Taixia Country to have such a treacherous but loyal person like Fang Keyan in the imperial court of Taixia Country!"
The moment Zhang Tie opened his mouth, he had described Fang Keyan as a treacherous but loyal person. Meng Shidao, Yu Lianqing and the chief justice exchanged a glance with each other silently.
"Fang Keyan is indeed abominable. As Zuo Pushe, the minister of imperial financial affairs, he has been in Xuanyuan Hill for many years. He's not Lord Meng's disciple. He's really malicious by making trouble for you in Anyan Palace today. Pah …" Crown prince Changying said as he forcefully patted the table. He had already told Zhang Tie a message — — this event has nothing to do with the Gobbling Party.
"The dispute between the forefathers of Huaiyuan Palace and Lord Meng is a dispute of political opinions. Both parties have different ideologies. I believe that Lord Meng would never use such a petty trick!" Zhang Tie said calmly as he threw a glance at Meng Shidao.
"Lord Huaiyuan has a successor!" Meng Shidao watched Zhang Tie seriously as he let out a deep sigh.
The scramble between the Gobbling Party and Huaiyuan Palace is a scramble in the imperial court and an internal scramble in Taixia Country. Now that Taixia Country is facing a national crisis, we could put aside the past right and wrong. To be honest, I don't really care about the path that Lord Meng pursues and the ideology of the Gobbling Party. The world is vast, so is Taixia Country. There are tens of thousands of sects in Taixia Country, each of which has its own path. Humans also have hundreds of religious sects and more than one idol. No matter how many voices and ideologies there are, it doesn't mean that there are too many ideologies. In my eyes, the Gobbling Party is just like those sects and religious sects. Of course, the Gobbling Party has nothing to do with me. I believe in the ideologies that if people don't offend me, I will not offend them; if people offend me, I will definitely offend them! " Zhang Tie's words were powerful and straightforward, which moved even Crown Prince Changying. He didn't expect Zhang Tie to be so generous and not put him in an awkward position.
"In front of His Royal Highness and the two sirs, from today on, the Gobbling Party will never set foot in the territory of Northeast Military Region. All the disciples of the Gobbling Party in the territory of Northeast Military Region will leave 3 months later!" Meng Shidao said in a muffled voice as his eyes flickered.
After exchanging a glance with each other, Zhang Tie and Meng Shidao stretched out their hands and high-fived in the public.
"Alright!" Watching Zhang Tie and Meng Shidao high-fived each other, Crown Prince instantly sprung up out of excitement as he said, "Today, Lord Meng and General Mushen could put aside the former animosities for Taixia Country and not influence the national affairs with political disputes and personal animosities. You're so righteous and could be the model of all the other officials in the imperial court.
Previously, the crown prince was in a bad mood; however, when he saw Zhang Tie and Meng Shidao making a vow of "non-aggression" in the public, the crown prince felt pretty good at once. Emperor Xuanyuan failed to invite Lord Fairysea to Xuanyuan Hill; neither did Emperor Xuanyuan solve the dispute between Huaiyuan Palace and the Gobbling Party. However, the two things were both realized in his hands today. Therefore, the crown prince couldn't help but feel high-spirited.
Without Fang Keyan, today's state banquet would be perfect for the crown prince. However, the more it was so, the worse the crown prince felt about Fang Keyan. Fang Keyan was like a thorn in the crown prince's heart.
In Zhang Tie's opinion, this thorn was targeted at Crown Prince Changying; however, in Crown Prince Changying's opinion, everything that Fang Keyan did today was Xiang Zhuangwu's sword intent. That trivial servant was just a sword in someone's hand. Of course, Fang Keyan's ultimate target was Crown Prince Changying. If Zhang Tie lost his temper in Anyan Palace or left in a huff or conflicted with Meng Shidao, Crown Prince Changying's national banquet would immediately become a joke in Xuanyuan Hill. In the eyes of someone, Crown Prince Changying would be the protagonist of this joke. Crown Prince Changying couldn't tolerate that at all.
"Fang Keyan's case will be combined with that of Han Zhengfang and the remnants of Heavens Reaching Church …" Crown Prince Changying told the chief justice. This simple sentence had already determined Fang Keyan's fate.
"Yes, Crown Prince!" The chief justice accepted the order as he took a bow. After that, he threw a glance at Zhang Tie as he couldn't help but ask, "Where did General Mushen get the secret memo of Heavens Reaching Empire?"
The secret memo was the resolution of the prime minister and the monarch of Heavens Reaching Empire to acquire the production method of Fiery Oil from Zhang Tie and Taixia Country at all costs. It was marked with the seal of Heavens Reaching Empire and the comments of those people. It couldn't be more authentic. Most importantly, there was such a sentence on the secret memo, "Although our power in Xuanyuan Hill suffered a great loss after the riot on April 15th, it's still vigorous. At this moment, our sect should contact those who stayed in Xuanyuan Hill and have them try to acquire the production method of Fiery Oil in Xuanyuan Hill."
Zhang Tie didn't know and was not sure about the relationship between Fang Keyan and Heavens Reaching Church. It probably had nothing to do with Fang Keyan at all. However, now that Fang Keyan launched an attack just now, Zhang Tie could kill Fang Keyan with this secret memo no matter whether Fang Keyan was a member of Heavens Reaching Church or not.
Without this secret memo, Fang Keyan was at most rude and had a quarrel with Zhang Tie. Additionally, as Fang Keyan was "righteous", His Majesty couldn't punish him heavily no matter how displeased he was. Even the minister of public works at that moment just reprimanded him verbally. However, with this secret memo, everything would be different.
Fang Keyan had to blame for his bad luck. He was too smart and didn't know that Zhang Tie had such a secret memo. As a result, Zhang Tie had to face Fang Keyan's muzzle.
In the Western Theater of Operations, hundreds of millions of commoners were killed or wounded in the frontline. In the holy war, so many commoners were killed. Why couldn't an official of Xuanyuan Hill who wanted to climb up by stepping on him die? 'F * ck …'
That was Zhang Tie's real thought.
"I met a knight of Heavens Reaching Church in the wilderness of Western Theater of Operations last year. After killing that knight, I found this item in his portable space-teleportation equipment …" Zhang Tie said calmly, making the chief justice of one of the 9 ministers speechless.
Actually, that secret memo came from Yinzhou City. It was one of Zhang Tie's unexpected achievements when he raided Yinzhou City that night. Of course, Zhang Tie's words were the truth.
After a short meeting in the room for less than 10 minutes, the fate of Zuo Pushe the Minister of Imperial Financial Affairs had been determined. Meanwhile, the relationship between Huaiyuan Palace and the Gobbling Party entered a new period.
Zhang Tie then left the room satisfactorily.
…
After everybody else left that room, only the crown prince was left in the room of Anyan Palace.
Raising his head, the crown prince was watching a famous mural which depicted tens of thousands of galloping horses with flickering eyes. At the same time, his mouth corners gradually turned sharp.
A middle-aged literati in cyan robe with a jade-bone feather fan in hand had been standing behind the crown prince, hands down.
"Mr. Fang, do you think it was Third Brother or Ninth Brother who made a move this time …?" The crown prince didn't turn around. His eyes were still fixed on the mural on the wall as he calmly asked.
"It's impossible to find out. Fang Keyan is not a knight. However, even if the Supreme Court used a soul-searching method, the opponent would never leave any trace for us to catch. In response to the soul-searching method, there are also secret medicines and corresponding secret methods that could erase a specific part of one's memory. It's not the first time for such a thing to happen in the imperial court of Xuanyuan Hill. Now that Fang Keyan dared show up at this moment at the risk of offending Your Majesty, he must have made a thorough preparation. He's trying to catch a big fish with a small fish. However, they've not imagined that Zhang Tie could have the secret memo of the remnants of Heavens Reaching Church …"
"Alas, could we really not find out who he is?" Crown Prince Changying let out a sigh as he continued, "As long as this servant doesn't ascend to that throne, someone would always be thinking about something!"
"Actually, it doesn't matter who's behind this. What's important is that Your Majesty could chop off that guy's hand in Xuanyuan Hill aboveboard. After that, fewer people would dare play tricks in front of Your Majesty in Xuanyuan Hill. Even if some of them dared do that, they would have to think about the outcome of Fang Keyan. Man's plan never surpasses God's plan. Zhang Tie is indeed Your Majesty's lucky star!" The middle-aged literati in cyan said calmly.
The crown prince finally turned around as he watched the literati in cyan with gleaming eyes, "Mr. Fang, do you think Zhang Tie could be loyal to me?"
"I've told Your Majesty that based on what Zhang Tie did in the past, the only thing that could tie him down is friendship!" The literati in cyan watched the crown prince with sparkling eyes like a mirror in the water, saying, "This person values friendship most. Your Majesty, as long as you could win him over with friendship, even if he couldn't be loyal to Your Majesty, as long as he could be used by Your Majesty and stand on Your Majesty's side at the critical moment, he would be a great help for Your Majesty to rule the world, which is much greater than that of a sage-level knight …"
"Couldn't he be loyal to me?" The crown prince asked unwillingly.
"Your Highness, in the future, you will rule the world and rule the world. You will be rich and stand on the top of the human clan. Why do you care about one person's gain and loss? This is the magnanimity that a powerful Hua emperor should have. Your Highness, do you really think that Great Emperor Xuanyuan couldn't do anything to Sea Immortal King and couldn't even see Fairy Sea King? It's not that he couldn't, but he didn't want to … "The literati in cyan said calmly. Watching the crown prince's contemplative look, the literati in cyan continued.
"Additionally, Your Majesty wants Zhang Tie to be loyal to you. What could Your Majesty give Zhang Tie in exchange for his loyalty? Speaking of wealth, given Zhang family's fiery oil and all-purpose medicament, Zhang Tie is already the richest man in the world. It will only take him a few years to be the richest man in the world. As for cultivation secret methods, Zhang Tie is already a divine dominator. I think his power as a divine dominator is even greater than that of Fairysea King. His secret methods and abilities are well-known across the world. Even if Your Majesty gives him the Xuanyuan Deity Sutra, he could not become more powerful. Speaking of status, Zhang Tie gave up the throne of Ice and Snow Wilderness and returned to Taixia Country. He only wanted to be a husband of some foreign women and a father of some kids. After being redressed, he gave up the position of the clan head of Huaiyuan Palace and only became a clan elder. He rarely cared about the affairs of Huaiyuan Palace. After making meritorious deeds in the theater of operations, he gave up the position of the commander of air cavalries in Taixia Country recommended by Lord Zuoqiu and only became a guerrilla general. He retired after making meritorious deeds; however, at the critical moment, he could stand up for others regardless of his own life or death. Any ambitious person would not give up such a chance to make further progress. However, Zhang Tie gave it up for so many times. It shows that Zhang Tie is not ambitious at all. Power and status are not attractive to him at all. He's a real gentleman. What Zhang Tie cares about most is the feelings of those on his side and his own conscience. It's the blessing of Hua people and Your Majesty that there's such a gentleman as a divine dominator in Taixia Country.
"Thank you, sir, I see!" Crown Prince Changying slowly let out a sigh. After being silent for a short while, he continued, "I've thought about one thing for a long time; however, I couldn't make a decision. As Zhang Tie has not fully recovered these days, it's inconvenient for me to negotiate with him in case that he feels that I'm eager for quick success and profits. Take this national banquet as an instance, many people are eyeing Fiery Oil. Fiery Oil is far more important than all-purpose medicament. If it's in the hand of one clan, I'm afraid …"
"Your Majesty, do you really think that Fiery Oil is completely in the hand of Zhang clan?" The literati in cyan smiled casually, "Your Majesty, if you go to ask Lord Guangnan or the head of Heavens Fortune Sect, you could have as much Fiery Oil as you want. In the next couple of years, there would be more major clans that could produce Fiery Oil. How could it be in the hand of one clan? Even if Zhang clan wants to hold such an eye-catching item, I'm afraid that Zhang Tie would not allow it. This is the power of Zhang Mushen. He's the real great wisdom. If he doesn't fight for it, nobody in the world could compete with him!"
"In the future …"
The literati in cyan slightly waved his feather fan as he said, "Zhang Tie's family members have brought all of Zhang Tie's kids to Xuanyuan Hill. Zhang Tie has 17 kids. 3 of his sons are in Heavens Fortune Sect. They're born with leakless bodies. It will only take them a few years to grow up and promote to knights at 20 years old. The other 14 kids are all in Xuanyuan Hill. They're all 6-7 years old, 12 of them are sons, 2 of them are daughters. I remember that Your Majesty also has a lot of sons and daughters, many of whom are as old as Zhang Tie's kids. There are more suitable ones in the imperial households. Your Majesty doesn't need to worry about it in the future. The benefit of Fiery Oil might only be the business of Your Majesty's kids and grandchildren in the future …"
Crown Prince Changying became slightly stunned. Closely after that, he became enlightened as he burst out into laughter at once, saying, "Mister's words really enlighten this servant …"
"Your Majesty could use Fiery Oil in Taixia Country to stabilize the foundation of Taixia Country and strengthen the overall strength of Taixia Country so as to resist demons. Outside Taixia Country, it could become a sharp tool for Your Majesty to manage continents and subcontinents. With the ability to manage continents and subcontinents, Your Majesty would be able to ascend to the throne of Hua emperor in the future …"
"How to manage?"
"Zhang Yang, Zhang Tie's elder brother, runs Jinwu Business Group. He's always talented and energetic. After the event of Han Zhengfang, Gold and Power Law was rejected by the other major sects in Taixia Country. Now, the dominant power of Gold and Power Law has already been transferred to Your Majesty from the Finance Minister's Mansion. Your Majesty could entrust Zhang Yang, Zhang Tie's elder brother, with important tasks in Gold and Power Law and the imperial court. By then, given the relationship between Zhang Yang and Zhang Tie, Your Majesty could use Zhang Yang to manage continents and subcontinents with the help of Fiery Oil. Even if Your Majesty doesn't master Fiery Oil, you could also gain the benefit of Fiery Oil …" The literati in cyan explained.
Crown Prince Changying let out a deep sigh as he said, "It's really Changying's honor to have Mr. Fang's help!"
The literati in cyan slightly bowed towards the crown prince, saying, "As the bird flies in the vast sky, the fish jumps in the vast sea. It's also Qingming's honor to display my talent on the side of Your Majesty!"
Crown Prince Changying burst out into laughter with full ambition …
…
After leaving the room of Crown Prince, Zhang Tie wanted to wait for Bai Suxian, Beverly and Fiona; however, Bai Suxian, Beverly and Fiona had already left the lounge and arrived at the banquet in the rear palace of Anyan Palace. Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he shook his head. Closely after that, he entered the rear palace from the front palace.
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem Before entering the rear palace of Anyan Palace, Zhang Tie had heard the melodious sound of violin from the rear palace. After passing through the corridor, Zhang Tie felt bright in front of him at once.
Compared to the grand front palace, the rear palace of Anyan Palace was utterly different. The fountain was spraying water droplets, the beautiful Hua imperial courtyard, the pagoda-like crystal lamps, the snow-white tablecloths, the pastries and food on the dining table, the shuttling attendants, beauties of various clans and those men who were talking in twos and threes entered Zhang Tie's eyes at once …
When Zhang Tie arrived at the venue and was looking around for Bai Suxian, Beverly and Fiona, a slightly fat figure in swallowtail instantly passed by a attendant and two groups of people and occupied the leading position elegantly and rapidly like a boxer in the ring. After passing by some people who wanted to approach Zhang Tie, he stood in front of Zhang Tie with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Your Excellency Zhang Tie. Firstly, please allow me to express my sincere respect for your brilliant military exploits at the bank of Weishui River!" This man in swallowtail bowed towards Zhang Tie elegantly. After straightening up his body, he introduced himself, "Secondly, please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mayers, the plenipotentiary diplomatic ambassador of Rhesa Republic in Xuanyuan Zhangqiu …"
After throwing a glance at this guy who looked like a fat guinea pig, Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he reached out his hand to greet Mayers in the western etiquette, "It's my pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mayers. My teacher Zerom and Captain Kerlin have already mentioned your name to me!"
(To be continued.)
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