It doesn't matter what the lord is.

He had a cruel smile on his face, and the scar on his face was clearly visible. He walked towards me step by step, sneering and saying:

"You dare to scold me?!"

I gave Alayya a veiled look, and Alayya clenched the sword at her waist.

Even the aliens who were performing on the stage stopped playing and looked at each other in panic.

The guy sitting in the first seat was still eating the fish in front of him slowly.

Noren walked over to my desk, slapped his hands on it, stared into my eyes, lowered his voice, and said with a smile:

"It would be easy for Qiming Territory to kill you."

I also looked into his eyes and said in a low voice:

"If you have the ability, bring the army over here first."

Norn laughed, and as he laughed, the corners of his mouth suddenly dropped, and he said coldly:

"Shut your mouth, you piece of shit."

I was too lazy to say anything more to him.

Outside the hall, a steady voice came from afar:

"What's going on? What a mess. Is my king's party the place for you to cause trouble? Huh?!"

After this, the guards announced in unison:

"His Majesty the King has arrived——"

32. Royal pomp

Your Majesty, I don’t know your last name, and I don’t know your first name.

It had only been half a year since the last meeting, so his appearance would not have changed much. However, this time they met in the capital, in his own territory, so there was no shortage of ceremonial guards. He was surrounded by masters who were all above the middle level of the ninth level, and everyone was wearing luxurious purple clothes. I just don't know if they practiced swordsmanship like the Sword Manual of Exorcism, which required self-castration. Just looking at this configuration, it was indeed the top configuration. Even if all the guards of the thirty-six city lords present were added together, they could not hurt the king at all.

In addition to the first time, the guards behind were also very impressive. Compared with the masters surrounding the king, the level of the guards was lower, but not much lower. The worst realm was above the eighth level. Compared with the dozen or so personal guards around the king, the guards played a greater role in supporting the scene. As soon as hundreds of people appeared, they controlled the various exits of the palace. Everyone had a solemn expression and no emotion.

Amid such a grand ceremony, the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

Imagine that even if there were hundreds of ordinary people standing there, it would be enough to intimidate people. What's more, there were hundreds of masters of masters, and the invisible pressure instantly pressed on the shoulders of everyone present.

This is why the lords are unwilling to come to the royal capital. No matter how many personal guards they bring, it is not safe. Once they arrive at someone else's territory, they will be at the mercy of others and will not even have the strength to struggle.

The king, wearing a bright red cape, calmly walked past Norn and me, heading for his throne in the front. Very close behind him, followed a woman in a phoenix crown and bridal robe, who was about 30 to 35 years old. She didn't look old at all, and had a dignified demeanor and elegant manners. She must be the queen.

Then, there were two princes walking side by side, dressed similarly, with similar expressions. Neither of them looked at each other, but at the city lords sitting on both sides. One of the princes looked calmer, just looking at us secretly, while the other looked like a housewife picking vegetables in the market, looking at us with a scrutinizing gaze.

Behind them were several princesses, including the little figure I knew.

Little Princess Lana.

She was not wearing casual clothes today, but a white dress that didn't match her. The reason why I said it didn't match her was not because she looked bad in it, on the contrary, this evening dress really complemented her and made her look gorgeous. But I couldn't see any happiness in her eyes. She followed her parents and brother like a puppet, with no expression or words. There were many people around her, but she seemed to be alone, which made me feel sad.

It is worth mentioning that she just walked past without even looking at me.

Behind the royal family came the ministers.

Walking in front was Wu Mi, dressed in white.

The white-robed minister is second only to the emperor and above all others. It is indeed so.

As he passed by, he gave me a friendly smile. Behind him were ten civil officials and ten military generals, a total of twenty people. But none of these people left a deep impression on me. Although each of them had an extraordinary demeanor, compared to the innate nobility of the royal family or the calm self-confidence of Wu Mi, they all seemed too ordinary, as ordinary as the mediocre people.

Behind the minister there are three people, one is a warrior wearing helmet and armor, a general in black armor and red robe, and a middle-aged man in embroidered clothes with a high level of cultivation. According to the information Bai Huang told me before, it is not difficult to guess that these three are the leaders of the "one mansion and two guards". The man in black armor and red robe should be the general of Tiance Mansion, and the warriors and white-clothed masters on both sides should be the commanders of the Imperial Guard and Jinyiwei. Judging from the clothes, the top masters who are close to the king and protect him are probably also Jinyiwei.

Everyone sat down, and the king on the throne looked at Norn and me and said:

"The end of the year is approaching, and the New Year is coming. Didn't your parents teach you not to cause trouble at this time?"

He looked at Norn and said:

"Aren't you going back yet?"

"Yes."

Norn bowed deeply and retreated. Naturally, the guards helped him straighten the table, and someone came to clean up the broken plates and soup on the ground. The king turned his eyes to me and said:

"You are in front of this king, with your head broken and your clothes in disarray. Is this your etiquette? Nonsense."

I thought to myself, your heart is so biased that it's almost as if you're on the moon. It's obvious that I was beaten, and in the end you still have to charge me with a crime of indecent behavior in front of the emperor, right? Giving each of us fifty lashes is not fair, it's fake fairness. Only two kinds of people like to do this kind of thing: one is a useless person, and the other is a person who takes advantage of fairness to take sides.

The king is obviously not a fool. I tried to use him to get rid of my father's control, but he tricked me. He is quite smart, at least he is smart enough to keep his position. But I am not surprised that he would take sides. The real trouble for me in the capital is this king. Kaia, Norn and Li Yi have to step back.

The king continued:

"However, I am also very merciful. I will not pursue these matters with you because you are guests, and there is no reason in the world for a host to despise a guest. But I cannot sit back and watch your conflict escalate. How about this, after today's banquet, I will arrange a place for you to have a good fight. The loser will admit his fault, and everything will be over."

I was stunned for a moment, and I endured the word "cnm" again and again, but finally I didn't say it out loud in public.

It was still the familiar recipe, the familiar taste, you who were still cunning and treacherous, and me who was still weak, pitiful and helpless. Everything was exactly the same as what happened in Lingyun City. I was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, so I bowed and said:

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Even though he said that, his eyes were still looking at Lana who was standing behind the king.

She still didn't say a word, nor did she look in my direction, as if we were just strangers.

I felt annoyed and ate the last meatball left on the plate.

Alayya was still sitting next to me, but the situation was temporarily stabilized and her hand moved back from the sword at her waist.

The king breathed a sigh of relief and ordered:

"play music."

The foreigners hurriedly began to play music, and the melody they played was very magical, festive and brainwashing, comparable to the song "Good Luck Comes" that was sung in the streets and alleys. But I don't know when my good luck will come. I saw the king smiled at me with a sarcastic look and said:

"The banquet continues."

33. No one can stay out of it

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

This word comes to my mind.

After this, the king's momentum suddenly rose, and even overwhelmed the city lords present. On the one hand, there was the tension of the gathering of masters, and on the other hand, there was the king's lofty spirit. It was not something that ordinary people could do to step on the two city lords without making a sound.

Most of the city lords didn't dare to move at all. Only the guy sitting at the head of the thirty-six city lords was still eating his fish. There was only the bone of the fish left, but he was still holding the fish bone like a cat, licking the remaining fish meat, looking quite cute. A row of city lords, including Bai Huang, were looking at the king. Only he was eating the fish, and he was eating it with his whole heart.

The banquet was reopened, and naturally, the ministers and the city lords exchanged a few polite words. Everyone introduced themselves, ten civil officials and ten military generals, just like announcing the names of dishes. After they finished, my mind was full of words like "Ni", "S", "Ge", "Luo". There was no way, these people's names were similar. Except for Tamros, who redeemed Yayu, Bai Huang and I paid a little attention to him, I didn't pay too much attention to the rest.

Tamros looks quite old this year, at least in his 50s or 60s, but he still has black hair, which is obviously dyed deliberately. But the wrinkles on his face can't be dyed, and you can't iron them out with an iron. Although he wants to look younger, he can't change his old look. He has triangular eyes, high cheekbones, and a shrewd look in his eyes. His face is ruddy and his smile is bright. It can be seen that he takes a lot of various supplements on a daily basis.

Let me think about it. Assuming this person is 55 years old this year, he must have been over 40 eleven years ago. He went to a brothel to redeem a girl and brought her home as a concubine when he was over 40. His physical condition is really good. In the original world, my father only had one mistress. After he turned 40, he couldn't handle it. This Tamros seems to have at least several concubines. He seems to be very vigorous. He is really something.

While thinking about how to learn from him, he looked at the ministers present.

However, it seemed that because the atmosphere was still quite tense, the ministers did not take the initiative to talk to any of the city lords, and there was no fox tail to catch. Wu Mi did not deliberately show her friendliness to Bai Huang and me, and only nodded to us occasionally when our eyes met.

After all the ministers introduced themselves, it was our turn as the thirty-six city lords to introduce themselves.

I was only a little interested in the guy who was eating fish. He introduced himself with just one word: Bai.

The guy at the second seat is a sunny and cheerful boy with brown skin and white teeth. He smiled and said that you can call him Brother Hei or Xiao Hei. If you look closely, you will find that although the skin color is different, the two people do look alike. Xiao Bai is a European nobleman, and Xiao Hei is an African chief. But these two people are obviously from two different territories. How can they be brothers?

It's really confusing.

But in fact, in the eyes of others, my presence here is also puzzling.

"Yuxi City, Lide."

As this voice fell, there was a small discussion among the ministers and the city lord.

One of the ministers said loudly:

"The thirty-six territories of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom were granted by His Majesty when the country was founded. Although there have been some adjustments along the way, they are all justified. You, Lide, are here in what capacity and on whose behalf. Please make it clear first. Otherwise, there is no place for you in this palace!"

I really want to know too!

Didn’t you send the letter asking me to come to the capital?

I narrowed my eyes at the minister and replied:

"It doesn't matter what identity I come with. The list of people who will be traveling to the capital has been announced. If you are unhappy with it, you should have said so earlier. Or you can ask His Majesty the King why he stamped the invitation letter to me in the first place."

The man was choked and stopped talking.

Wumi smiled and said:

"I drew up the list. There are three main reasons why I asked Li De to come to the capital. On the one hand, it is impossible for Lingwu to come. Thirty-six is ​​an auspicious number, but thirty-five always feels like something is missing. It's the New Year, so we have to look like the New Year, and it's better to have more. Second, Yuxi City is next to the demons. In recent years, we have been fighting the giants in the north, and we have also frequently marched east and south, but we seem to rarely care about the demons in the west. This time, I asked Li De to ask him if the war on the western front is tight and what the demons are like. Third, I also use Li De as an example to discuss this situation that has never happened before. If a city lord is expelled from the family by the lord, then will the city he owns still be considered the property of the original territory? If he defected to another territory, it would be fine, and we only need to merge the city into that territory. But if he sets up his own business, should we add a new territory or take other measures? All these need to be discussed. Everything is prepared, and we can't wait until the fire is burning to solve it."

As soon as the words fell, my elder brother Li Yi said disdainfully:

"Setting up his own business? Is he worthy of that? It would be easy for me, Yunyang, to deal with him!"

One of the ministers feared that the world would not be in turmoil and said:

"But I heard that Yunyang Territory not only failed to clean up the mess in time, but also gave him four cities. I think you want to raise a new lord!"

Li Yi was ridiculed and said angrily:

"You know nothing. It's just a matter of a few days. My third brother has already led the troops there and will be able to..."

At this point, no matter how dumb he was, he realized something and immediately shut his mouth tightly, covering up:

"In short, this kind of scum of our family does not deserve to live. We in Yunyang will definitely clean up the mess."

I drank the sake in the cup in one gulp, still remaining calm.

There is He Yue in domestic affairs, Fang Shisan in foreign wars, and now there is also the Anbu organization managed by Shuang and Xiluo. If this lineup can't automatically fight and win when I'm idle, it can only mean that I've entrusted the wrong person. But in order to cover up, I still slammed the table in frustration and cursed:

"You shameless scumbag!"

The acting was so realistic that even Bai Huang looked at me with some concern.

I pretended to be crazy and stupid, but I was looking at the people present. Princess Lana's eyes showed a trace of pity, while His Majesty the King looked more relaxed. When I was about to leave the table angrily and return to Yuxi City, the king suddenly spoke and said:

"Since you are here, you may as well make yourself at home! Sit down, Lid, this is the king's banquet."

really.

Although the three reasons Wumi said were reasonable, they were not the reasons why His Majesty the King approved me to come to the capital. This dog king and my father may have reached some kind of consensus, or they have been in collusion for many years and have some kind of tacit understanding. He planned to take this opportunity to transfer me away from Yuxi City and let his son take the opportunity to come here for revenge. He would use both methods to push me, a person he disliked, directly into the abyss of no return.

You really can do anything.

Sure, let's try it. Three hundred thousand disaster victims in Tianyue Mountain, the two princes fighting closely, the city lord and the ministers forming gangs... This situation can't be covered up anymore, it's already a storm. I want to see who will die and who will survive in this storm.

34. Reaching the Heavenly Audience

I sat back in my original seat, the ministers and city lords introduced themselves, and the banquet finally got on track.

Li Yi looked like a victorious general, and Kaiya squinted his eyes, stroking his folding fan and laughing happily. Norn looked at me provocatively, pointed his thumb downward, and scratched the front of my neck. I lowered my head, looking annoyed, eating and drinking alone.

It was impossible for all the focus to be on me at such a big banquet. When the music started again, everyone's topics became more diverse. Some people said that the elf lady who played the sanxian was really elegant, some people said that the four-happiness meatballs on the plate tasted really good, and some people had already started discussing how to cooperate more in the new year. For a while, everyone was having fun and the whole banquet seemed lively.

When the banquet was getting more lively, there was a session where the princesses poured wine for the city lords, and then the king stood up to toast, and the city lords also stood up to wish the king a long life. The first step of this session was that the three princesses poured wine for the city lords. There were 36 people present, and each princess was responsible for 12 people. Little Princess Lana was the youngest, so she was responsible for our last 12 city lords.

In fact, when I saw the little princess Lana walking towards us, I was still a little happy. But when I saw her expression as she poured the wine, the last wave of my heart calmed down. The smile on her face was very polite, but also very strange. If she told me now that she was Lana's twin sister and grew up with court etiquette, I would probably believe it.

When she poured wine for me, she didn't look at me. She just held the handle of the kettle with one hand, stretched out two fingers with the other hand to press the lid, leaned forward, and poured the wine in the kettle into my cup. During the whole process, her expression didn't change at all. The cute little face didn't have the innocence and cuteness that I saw last time, but was tense instead.

The clear wine gradually filled the jade glass. Lana stood up and withdrew her hand. Suddenly, a handkerchief fell from her sleeve and landed on my table.

"Your Highness, your handkerchief fell off."

I picked up the handkerchief and pretended to return it to her, while my eyes quickly glanced over it.

A bloody word "go" clearly came into view.

Even though I concealed it well, my hands trembled unnaturally.

The handwriting was crooked and the blood was not yet dry. It was obvious that she didn't have time to write anything in a hurry, so she could only use this simple hint to convey some information to me. I guessed that Lana obviously knew something, but looking at her current appearance, she probably couldn't tell me directly.

There is only one word: "go".

——Leave the royal capital!

There was no other way, no other choice. The only way she could think of was to leave the capital.

In an instant, I felt as if a poisonous snake was crawling up along my feet, and its cold skin rubbed against my body, slowly wrapping around it, slowly tightening, turning into a rope that bound me, and falling into the abyss with me.