"May the Supreme Dragon God bless this land under our feet... It will be prosperous forever!"
As the ruler of the empire spoke out the faith that had been passed down for thousands of years and spoke it lightly at the end of his speech, all the princes and officials of the Longtuo Empire naturally repeated this declaration aloud.
Then this banquet, which was specially made to welcome the arrival of the mission, really began here.
Several chefs with sharp knives have already cut through the crispy skin of the roasted five animals with sharp hands and feet, completely releasing the aroma of the barbecue.
And countless court waiters holding trays wrapped the thin slices of meat cut with sharp blades in lotus leaves collected in midsummer, and presented them to the cases in front of everyone.
Some waiters who specialize in holding hip flasks with long handles also stood far away from the perspective of not affecting the conversation of the guests, and skillfully added fine wine to the guests at the banquet.
A feast full of imperial charm will begin.
However, seeing this situation, when Emperor Long Tuo announced the opening of the banquet, he fell into condescending silence again, just silently drinking the syrup in the golden wine glass.
As the welcomers of the empire, the two princes, who are now in the same situation, also started their respective performances.
Although from the current attitude of Emperor Long Tuo, he didn't seem to want anyone to inherit his rule.
But in fact, all princes understand that as long as the empire has not left, any affirmation or last words of his will intuitively determine which prince will sit on the "righteousness" of the empire.
Therefore, the performance in front of the imperial ruler has also become an important part of the controversy.
Therefore, in this situation, the first person besides the emperor to speak was also the emperor's eldest son Su Zheng, who was the most likely to inherit the throne from the patriarchal clan system.
Moreover, as soon as Su Zheng spoke, he skipped the federal mission that was on the surface, and directly talked about what the imperial monarch cares most about... about the marriage of the imperial princess Su Tong.
"Tong'er, I heard that you and your partner have returned home for thousands of miles, so I rushed back from the camp. Presumably you have returned to the embrace of the empire this time. You must have already thought about your marriage."
"Although this is mentioned by my brother, it seems to be inappropriate. But you know that the emperor brother, I am a rough man in the army, my brother hopes that you can get married soon, you must be able to understand Tonger!"
…
As soon as the eldest son of the emperor Su Zheng spoke, he already brought the topic to the marriage between Su and Mu.
Obviously, from the perspective of Su Zheng, he has the support of the imperial military, although he is not slightly weaker than Su Tan in terms of strength. But when it comes to how to obtain orthodox status, it is always not as convenient as Su Tan, who is admired by civil officials.
Therefore, Su Zheng now had to seize every opportunity to please the emperor, and even tried to drag Su Tong, who was trying to avoid, into the quagmire.
It seems that only this can make Su Tan's situation more difficult.
Sure enough, when Su Zheng was so in line with the emperor's wishes, he directly put the request of Emperor Long Tuo that it was inconvenient for him to speak so straightforwardly on the table.
The imperial monarch's slightly cloudy eyes finally flashed a little satisfaction.
But just after the eldest son's words fell, the second prince Su Tan had already raised the wine glass in fear and drank three glasses in the direction of the mission, before hurriedly explaining:
"My lords of the mission, the emperor, he just missed our only sister so much that he neglected you. Su Tan is here to apologize to you on behalf of the emperor."
"But what the imperial brother said is naturally what I think. If you don't mind, I'm afraid you can join the imperial sister's wedding together. This is a bit of comfort for everyone to travel far."
The second prince, Su Tan, is worthy of his mother's family as a famous civil servant in the empire.
In terms of the details and methods of the words and sentences, I don't know where he is higher than the emperor's eldest son Su Zheng.
Moreover, the second prince Su Tan's greatest advantage was actually that he had already understood Su Mu and Su Tong's determination. So in such a public occasion, he would never express his thoughts so stupidly.
Su Tan's previous two sentences not only vaguely accused Su Zheng of recklessness, but also flattered the will of the imperial monarch without fail.
Suddenly, what the two princes could see only from their words, they had already reached a verdict!
…
However, the eldest son of the emperor Su Zheng, after all, is also a top-notch player who has been fighting for many years. Although he can't gain an advantage in terms of words, he constantly changes tactics is what he does most.
So at the moment when Su Tan's posture was exhausted, Su Zheng got up and took a bottle of fine wine, then slapped open the mud and drank it directly.
Then he took a standard posture and gave an apology to everyone in the mission.
Then he said more recklessly to the people of the mission:
"I am reckless, I can only consider my own likes and dislikes, but I haven't thought about everything carefully. I hereby apologize to you again, please don't make fun of my pure mind."
The eldest son of the emperor Su Zheng's counterattack, although not so subtle.
But the most important thing is that what he is trying to express is that he needs to use his own "recklessness."
Although Su Zheng said both inside and outside, he mentioned his own likes and dislikes. But now that anyone with a discerning eye can see, what he is really expressing is the likes and dislikes of the imperial monarchs.
And what makes Su Zheng more sinister is that he not only advertised his purity, but also pointed out Su Tan's "delicate mind".
You know, as the highest ruler of the empire:
The things that the imperial emperor needed most were obviously absolute obedience and loyalty. He certainly didn't want anyone to think about his will before he could make a judgment.
Two rounds of simple but hidden battles, in a short moment during the banquet, have already rushed into the Yingbin Hall.
However, Su Tong, who is clearly the protagonist of the incident, has not expressed any views on all this.
Now he was sitting quietly next to Su Mu. Not only did he not intend to participate in the dialogue between the two emperor brothers, but he didn't even notice other people's enviable eyes.
Because at this moment, imperial princess Su Tong, like a virtuous wife, is gently teaching Su Mu how to eat imperial cuisine.
From time to time, he cast a relieved look at Su Mu.
It seems that the surging wind and clouds in the Welcome Hall have nothing to do with her. The only thing she cares about... is Su Mu beside her!
Since the empire instead used the name of Su Mu to force Su Tong to return in advance, Su Tong simply used this mask to the extreme, laying the groundwork for the final goal in advance.
Sure enough, for Su Tong's attitude of a little girl today, not only the two princes who have seen Su Tong's political skills for a long time, but also saw the deliberateness at a glance.
Even Deng Bilai and Lu Xi in the federal mission also understood the purpose of this interpretation.
But what is really absurd is that, in the face of the excuse that the empire first mentioned, even if Su Mu and Su Tong acted too much and falsely at this time, no one dared to puncture them at will.
Because this is not only about the face of the empire, but also about the true purpose of the imperial monarch.
Once that thin veil was torn apart, the game could no longer continue.
Until this moment, the general imperial monarch who seemed to have fallen asleep finally finally spoke the second sentence of today's dinner after the two princes finished their performances.
And as soon as he spoke in his second sentence, it directly put a lot of pressure on Su Mumo:
"Su Mu... You took my daughter's heart away, what should you do?" ()