Lu Mingfei Development Program

Chapter 513 State Banquet
Although it was a small country, the royal palace of Zhongshan was not much inferior to the imperial city of Luoyi. Except for its smaller scale, it had everything it should have.

It was already dark, but the Weiyang Palace was still brightly lit. Weiyang was the name of the ancient capital of the Xia Kingdom. Eastern countries liked to use the ancient capital of the Xia Kingdom to name their royal palaces and were proud of it. Naturally, the Xia Kingdom did not pursue it, thus demonstrating its magnanimity.

Electrical appliances that can only be seen in the West can actually be seen in the Weiyang Palace. Court musicians played welcoming music from the Xia Kingdom court, and dancers fluttered their long sleeves on the dance floor.

As the West spread eastward, even the ruler of Zhongshan State wore Western clothes, so the dancers naturally could not wear the elegant but conservative dance costumes of Xia State. They boldly exposed their slender waists, with only a thin tube top on their upper body, and the gauze-like gauze skirt on their lower body could not hide the sexy thighs underneath.

The dancers twisted their waists more vigorously than usual, and the charm on their faces made the ministers who attended the banquet stare at them in amazement.

As expected of a businessman who became a monarch, Yuan Cheng knew what his subjects needed, which was nothing more than money and sex. Zhongshan State had no shortage of gold, but as for women, his sons were born to different women, but he himself never had a formal wife, and the position of queen was still vacant until now, which shows how rich his emotional life was.

If the monarch himself is like this, one can imagine the character of his ministers.

This dance troupe was one of Yuan Cheng's prides, especially for the envoys from the East. The envoys, who had been educated by saints since childhood and even considered women's feet as a violation of their chastity, had never seen such a scene before? Between the charming dances of the dancers and the toasts, what could not be accomplished?
However, Zhongshan State was only a dance troupe that made great achievements in diplomacy, but it miscalculated this time.

The dancers had received orders from the king long ago. Anyone who could make the distinguished guest smile would be rewarded with ten taels of gold. Anyone who could make the distinguished guest ask him to accompany them for drinking would be rewarded with thirty taels of gold. Anyone who could be taken back by the distinguished guest to serve him would be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold.
The ruler of Zhongshan had a bad reputation and was shameless and dishonest, but he would not break his promise to reward his subjects. One hundred taels of gold was a large sum of money even in the gold-rich Zhongshan Kingdom, but it was obvious that this money was not so easy to earn.

The dancers twisted their waists vigorously, and their slender arms and thighs reflected an alluring luster under the lights. The ministers at the banquet were drooling at the sight, but the distinguished guests who were personally entertained by the king did not even glance at them.

"Mr. Lu has really good taste." Yuan Cheng looked at Lu Mingfei's clothes in amazement.

He thought that he might not be the most capable ruler, but among all the Eastern countries, he was definitely the ruler with the best taste. In terms of enjoyment, he thought that Emperor Xia in Tongtian Palace was not as good as him.

The suits of Yuan Cheng are from Florence, which is not only the center of the Western world, but also the capital of fashion, charm and emerging technology. Once there is a breakthrough in mechanical technology, Florence will be the first to use it.

Likewise, any new fashion would definitely be popular in Florence first.

Wearing such a flashy white suit, Yuan Cheng thought he had some knowledge of fashion. However, although the clothes worn by this suspected celestial being were also western-style formal clothes, the texture, workmanship and details were not comparable to the current level of Florence.

Orientals often use the phrase "perfect clothing" to describe the exquisiteness of things, but the word was originally used to describe the exquisite clothing of celestial beings, with almost no gaps. Just looking at the clothes of Mr. Lu, even if he is not a real celestial being, he is probably not much different.

"It's just an external thing." Lu Mingfei took a sip of the delicious grape wine that was popular on the border between the East and the West, and then tasted the imperial dish that was said to be prepared by the retired imperial chef of the Xia Kingdom.

He put down his chopsticks and stopped tasting, and his curiosity about Xia Guo also decreased a lot.

The world behind the door is wonderful. When he was in Marston, he couldn't even notice the gap between the two worlds. The development of mechanical technology made the two worlds so close.

However, due to the existence of classes, not many people actually enjoyed the benefits of mechanical technology. More civilian families still used ancient lighting methods such as kerosene and candles at night.

Although Marston's position is delicate and not a truly neutral country, it is still one of the best cities in the Western world. The coexistence of electric lights and candles is not obvious there, but when he arrived at the capital of Zhongshan, the scene of only a faint candlelight outside the palace was enough for him to understand the gap between the East and the West.

Luoyi was the center of the Eastern world, and its construction over the past thousand years had already made it the largest city in the East. However, Florence only took a hundred years to close the gap of a thousand years, and even surpassed it.

Lu Mingfei didn't even need to go to Luoyi to understand what it was like there. Although there was still a class gap in his world, the living standards of the common people in both worlds were very different.

"What is Mr. Lu thinking about?" Yuan Cheng asked him curiously, "The envoys from Xia Country were all stunned by my dance troupe. Some of them cursed that etiquette and music were broken, while others blushed and turned their heads away, and then stole a glance from the corner of their eyes."

He said proudly: "I am not arrogant. Even if my dance troupe is placed in Florence, it will be ranked first. Western monarchs are used to ballet and waltz, but have never seen this."

Lu Mingfei glanced at the court dancers who were performing hard and smiling at him in a flattering way, then turned around and said calmly: "It's pretty good."

The scantily clad dancers were a strong cultural shock to the relatively conservative Eastern countries, and even for the Papal States, which prided itself on being advanced and open, it was considered an art worthy of admiration. But for him, who was used to seeing many hot dances by girl groups from another world, it was really a bit ordinary.

Yuan Cheng saw that although he said it was good, he looked dull, so he realized that his method that had always worked was probably useless.

After clapping their hands and letting the exhausted dance troupe leave, the ministers, who were almost drooping their eyes, finally responded and realized that they were still at the dinner to entertain the king and his distinguished guests, so they all looked towards the main seat.

Yuan Cheng asked curiously: "Looking at Mr. Lu's clothes, I think you must have traveled to the Western world. Why don't you tell us, which is stronger, my Zhongshan Kingdom or the West?"

Among the Eastern countries, there was a small country called Yelang. Once, an envoy from Daxia went to Yelang, and the ruler of Yelang curiously asked him, "Who is bigger, Yelang or Daxia?" As soon as this matter spread, Yelang immediately became a laughing stock among the Eastern countries, and Yelang's arrogance became a synonym for not knowing the immensity of the world.

Yuan Cheng knew exactly how powerful Zhongshan was. Marston, a small country that claimed to be neutral, was much stronger than Zhongshan. As for how strong the Western countries were, he spent a lot of money every year to send Ye Suli to the West, not just for fun.

He was sure that among the Eastern countries, the only one who understood the power of the West was Chu Shunhua, besides him. As for Emperor Xia... it was so funny. If Emperor Xia was really capable, his daughter wouldn't look down on him. It was rumored that whenever the West made a big move, Emperor Xia would always be furious, but he was really just angry for a moment.

Asking such a question that seemed stupid to anyone with a discerning eye, Hara Makoto didn't blush at all. His strategy for governing the country was to be shameless, and the same was true when entertaining guests. What's wrong with showing weakness? Anyway, he would definitely not be the one who suffered in the end.

"Then the king really asked the wrong person." Lu Mingfei looked at Yuan Cheng and answered silently, "I haven't even been to the West, how can I know how powerful the Western countries are?"

This is the truth. He only spent a short time in Marston in this world. He even relied on César to tell him how many powerful countries there were in the West. How could he know their national strength?
Besides, there was no need for him to know this.

Yuan Cheng was stunned for a moment. He knew that except for a shameless person like him, everyone with status would care about their reputation. Even if they didn't know, they wouldn't say it directly, but would hint in various ways that they didn't know.

The ministers at the banquet were also stunned for a moment. The king was so anxious to summon them that they had to wait outside the capital at night. The king did not say much about the identity of this distinguished guest, only saying that the distinguished guest came from afar and had a heavenly appearance!
Now it seems that this distinguished guest is indeed a very handsome man, but it is hard to say about his other features.

Suddenly a laugh was heard in the quiet banquet. Although it was rude, it was charming and moving, far more alluring than the charming dance of the dancers just now.

However, no one at the table dared to have any romantic thoughts about the owner of that laughter. There was no other reason for this. In the entire Zhongshan country, except for Princess Chun, there was no one else who dared to be so disrespectful to the king.

The princess was wearing a red dress that looked like a maple leaf, and her long hair was decorated with heavy hair accessories like the princesses of the Eastern countries. She was only a teenager, but she was already very beautiful.

Judging from her appearance, the princess is noble and smart, totally different from the wild and barbaric nature rumored by the outside world. She is definitely a person worthy of being proposed to by many Eastern countries... But judging from the silence of the ministers at the banquet, the rumor that this princess is difficult to deal with is probably true.

Yuan Chunzheng raised her long sleeves to cover her face. It was obvious that she had not intended to be the focus of the party. But when she saw her father, the king, stunned by his miscalculation, she could not help herself.

Hara Makoto glared at his daughter who was lost in his hands. Letting her participate in the previous welcome and dinner was just the expectation that she would play a role that the dancers in the troupe failed to play... But forget about serving wine or anything like that. After all, she was a princess of a country. Even if Hara Makoto had no bottom line, he would not let his own daughter do these things.

But these can be avoided. Is it difficult to say a few words of praise to make people happy? A hero is hard to resist the temptation of beauty. What if this warrior who fell from the sky is coaxed into being happy and willing to talk to him more?

Look at what this unfortunate girl did? She sat quietly in the corner of the banquet the whole time, not saying a word, not smiling. Why weren't you so quiet when you were arguing with me?
Yuan Cheng sighed, not only for his unlucky daughter, but also for this guest who came from afar. He could see that this "celestial being" was a frank person. He was really not interested in things that he was not interested in. Even if gold was given to him and he was begged to be interested, he would not be interested.

In fact, when Yuan Cheng saw the letter sent by Ye Suli at full speed, he knew that this would be an opportunity. It was hard to say what kind of opportunity it was, but if the other party was really a celestial being, this elaborate hospitality would not be in vain.

Maybe in the historical records of future generations, there will be a record that on a certain night of a certain year, a fairy descended to the east of the Caucasus Mountains, and the ruler of Zhongshan knew about it and led his ministers to welcome him... Thinking about it this way, it seems pretty good.

In fact, Lu Mingfei had noticed this pure princess in red, expressionless face, who looked like she had "I'm not easy to mess with" written all over her face, when he was outside the city earlier.

Even from his current perspective, he had to admit that this pure princess was a rare beauty. But what attracted his attention was not her beauty. After all, in terms of beauty, Chu Yuzhen, Lucrecia and the others were no worse than this princess.

One of the reasons why the princess had drawn her attention was that the broken plan had not reacted to her appearance. You know, the little witch who was extremely jealous and keen on setting traps for him was the one who wanted nothing but chaos in the world, but this time she was so quiet.

...Combined with the fact that the first person he saw when he opened his eyes in the spiritual world was Izanami, Lu Mingfei thought that his sister must have been tripped up by something.

Another reason is that the princess's fate was somewhat strange.

Fate is very mysterious, even Lu Mingfei cannot figure it out now, but this does not prevent him from seeing someone's fate when he occasionally gets a flash of inspiration. He saw Xizel leading the armored army twice because of this ability.

Of course, judging from César’s current situation, what he sees may not be the real future, but it can be used as a reference.

Now, Lu Mingfei also saw part of the fate of this pure princess. It seemed that she was destined to be entangled with a boy for her whole life. Coincidentally, Lu Mingfei also knew that boy - Xi Zeer.

The world is such a small place. The boys and girls from countries on both sides of the Caucasus Mountains seem destined to meet and have some stories happen.

Originally, Lu Mingfei did not intend to interfere in their affairs. Xizel's fate had been stirred up by him and was rushing towards an unknown direction. Lu Mingfei himself did not know whether this was good or bad, but his subconscious told him that he would have to pay a price for wantonly changing the fate of others.

However, after meeting this pure princess, he changed his mind.

Xizel, who has a stern face but is difficult to deal with, and Princess Chun, who has a blank face but is equally difficult to deal with. This combination is not only a perfect match, but it may even be difficult for them to meet because of the differences in regions and camps.

But why did Lu Mingfei want them to get together so much? Thinking of the two of them staring at each other expressionlessly, but helplessly... he felt that they were inexplicably a perfect match, as if they were meant to be a couple.

As for the price of fate, when has he ever cared about it?

(End of this chapter)