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"Audacious!" However, just as the dancers began their performance, Zhao Ji's expression suddenly changed, and he slammed his palm onto the t
"Audacious!" However, just as the dancers began their performance, Zhao Ji's expression suddenly changed, and he slammed his palm onto the table in front of him! The dishes on his table were scattered, making a mess. The dancers, not knowing what had happened, immediately knelt on the ground, their legs trembling, while the Wu State officials also rose and knelt, begging Zhao Ji for forgiveness. Old Man Yang was almost scared into a heart attack by his slap and shout, and his face turned very pale. Even Yang Xian was unlucky; he had just been drinking, and this sudden commotion made him choke, coughing violently on the side!
Wei Tingyu's brows, on the other hand, furrowed tightly. This Zhao Ji was simply too arrogant! This was the Yang Residence, not your Wu State! How dare you act so wildly here? These people were accustomed to acting tyrannically in Wu State; besides the Wu State emperor, everyone else had to give them some face. It seemed that now that they were in the capital of this dynasty, they hadn't changed their bad habits in a short while?! Logically speaking, if you had problems, that was your business, and it had nothing to do with Wei Tingyu, and he couldn't be bothered with you. But this fellow had just scared his brother-in-law and father-in-law badly. If he didn't make this fellow pay, how could he stand tall in front of Yang Yue Niang in the future?
"General, what is the meaning of this?" Sun Shiyi blinked, then looked at Zhao Ji in a panicked manner and asked!
"The very next line of that song is 'The general died after a hundred battles'!" Zhao Ji coldly glanced at Sun Shiyi and said, "His Majesty is personally leading the army to conquer An State as a great general. How dare you harbor malicious intentions and curse His Majesty! You deserve ten thousand deaths!" Especially when he spoke the last sentence, Zhao Ji's tone even rose several octaves.
Wei Tingyu sneered inwardly at this sight. Indeed, these imperial hounds are all the same! Aside from anything else, their ability to frame others is top-notch! They could easily seize someone's minor mistake, elaborate on it, and then thoroughly punish them! Of course, unlike Wei Tingyu's silent complaints, the Wu State officials were terrified at this moment, especially Sun Shiyi. He knew that the dance performed by these dancers had been approved by him beforehand. If he truly had to bear this blame now, his own fate would be imaginable.
"Your Excellency, calm your anger, calm your anger!" Thinking this, Sun Shiyi quickly bowed repeatedly to Zhao Ji and said, "This humble official would never have such intentions! We absolutely do not have such intentions!" The other Wu State officials also knelt on the ground, trembling, as no one among them could bear this accusation. If the Six Gates Bureau truly reported this to the imperial court, those present who managed to escape with their heads intact would be considered lucky; it was entirely possible their entire families would be implicated. However, Zhao Ji ignored them, merely fiddling with a wine cup in his hand.
"Officer Zhao seems to intend..." At this moment, Sun Shiyi's attendant quickly took a few steps closer and whispered into his ear, then signaled with his eyes towards a large table nearby. On this table were piled various gifts brought by the diplomatic mission from Wu State. As a diplomatic mission, they naturally had a valuable national gift to present to the imperial court of the host country, but they also brought a large number of other gifts to curry favor with local nobles and officials. This kind of thing was very common in this era, one might even say blatant. After all, Wu State was not at war with this dynasty, so it couldn't be considered an enemy nation. Even if officials accepted gifts from Wu State envoys, there would be no problem.
Sun Shiyi only realized after his attendant's reminder. He glanced at the mountain of gifts, hesitated briefly, then bowed again to Zhao Ji and said, "This humble official was foolish! A moment of oversight, I fear spies from An State may have infiltrated the mission!" After saying this, he stepped forward two more steps and continued with a fawning smile, "Your Excellency! This humble official is also concerned that these gifts might contain incriminating items!"
"I humbly request Your Excellency to take them all back for investigation!"
Upon hearing Sun Shiyi's words, a smile finally appeared on Zhao Ji's face. And not only him, but the Six Gates Bureau warriors who had accompanied him also showed triumphant expressions. Going for a stroll with His Excellency indeed yields good returns! So many gifts, even if the superiors take the lion's share, the little bit of profit we get is still a lot!
The Yang family members, however, now had displeased expressions. Because Sun Shiyi had brought so many gifts to their banquet, it was clear that these were all intended for their family after the banquet. Now, they were actually being intercepted by this head of the Six Gates Bureau from Wu State? How could the money-loving Yang family members tolerate such a slight?! However, these people had always been timid. Seeing that Wei Tingyu was merely watching the scene with interest and had no intention of sticking up for them, the Yang family members could only purse their lips and endure it. But having the fat meat snatched from their mouths made them restless and irritable.
On the other hand, Yang Xian seemed to have risen above such base desires at this moment, showing no sign of anxiety over the loss of these gifts. Of course, Sun Shiyi was also very good at dealing with people! He still had many gifts he had brought with him, so he immediately signaled the Yang family patriarch with his eyes not to worry, and that he would make it up to him later. Old Man Yang calmed down after seeing this, no longer as agitated and anxious as before.
"All of you, sit down!" Zhao Ji didn't care about any future dealings between Sun Shiyi and the Yang family. His purpose for this trip was to make a fortune! Now that he had succeeded, he naturally smiled and spoke to the Wu State officials present.
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" The Wu State officials then all thanked Zhao Ji and then rose and took their seats. This scene naturally left the Yang family members dumbfounded. Compared to their own dynasty, which had long enjoyed peace, they truly witnessed how high the status of military generals was in a country embroiled in war. For instance, these civil officials of Wu State didn't even dare to breathe heavily in front of Zhao Ji, a military official; they were completely humiliated.
"Your Excellency, has the suspicion on this humble official been cleared?" At this moment, Sun Shiyi again leaned close to Zhao Ji and asked with a smile. However, Zhao Ji merely picked up his wine cup and slowly took a sip, his eyes darting around, clearly plotting something else.
"Only the bribes sent by the spies... no spies?" And then his next words stunned everyone present simultaneously. Everyone knew that the talk of catching enemy spies was merely an excuse Zhao Ji used to accumulate wealth. And now that he had already obtained the money, he was still unwilling to let go. This clearly meant he wanted to find someone to be a scapegoat! To provide an excuse for the Six Gates Bureau's extortion today, and at the same time, to use the lives of these pitiful scapegoats to intimidate the Wu State officials, telling them not to speak carelessly when they returned! As soon as his words fell, the faces of the Wu State crowd instantly changed. They all lowered their heads in fear, dreading being singled out. After all, once such an accusation was leveled, they were finished; there was no way for them to prove they weren't spies!
However, Sun Shiyi's expression also froze. After a few seconds, he finally reacted. He blinked his eyes, then showed a thoughtful expression, but soon smiled again and said to Zhao Ji, "Your Excellency is right!" Then Sun Shiyi pointed a finger at the kneeling dancers below and said, "They are all spies!" After all, Sun Shiyi couldn't take the blame himself, nor could he push other Wu State officials forward, so he could only sacrifice these dancers. He didn't even know that with this casual finger-pointing, he had actually guessed correctly about two of them: at least Ren Ruyi and Linglong were indeed assassins sent by An State. Neither of them had expected that their flawless disguise would be exposed by such a farce.
Wei Tingyu couldn't help but almost laugh when he saw the bewildered expressions of the two women. Indeed, the plot hasn't changed at all!
"Then drag them out and execute them immediately! To remove a burden from Shiyi's mind!" Zhao Ji naturally didn't care whether these dancers were wronged or not. He simply wanted to use a few heads to intimidate the Wu State officials, so he immediately nodded and said.
"As Your Excellency commands!" Sun Shiyi was in no mood to care about the lives of others at this point; as long as he could clear himself, that was all that mattered. As soon as he heard Zhao Ji's words, he immediately bowed and accepted the order. Immediately, Zhao Ji waved his hand in an extremely arrogant manner, and then six Six Gates Bureau warriors who had been standing at the door rushed in directly.
"Your Excellency, spare our lives!" At this, the dancers genuinely panicked. Besides Ren Ruyi and Linglong, the rest were indeed just pitiful young girls. They were just dancing, but they hadn't expected to incur a deadly disaster! They all trembled with fear, desperately begging for mercy! Just looking at them was enough to evoke pity; even Yang Xian, a second-generation profligate who usually enjoyed bullying others, couldn't bear to watch and closed his eyes! Old Man Yang naturally didn't want to see blood splattered in his own banquet hall and immediately wanted to open his mouth to stop it. Logically, as the host here and not a person from Wu State, it would be no big deal if he spoke out to stop Zhao Ji's actions. Even if Zhao Ji, this imperial hound of the Wu State emperor, was arrogant, he wouldn't dare to forcefully commit mass murder in a noble's residence in another country. However, Old Man Yang was inherently timid and merely opened his mouth. But as soon as he saw Zhao Ji's fierce eyes and expression, he immediately chickened out!
"Your Excellency! Spare us!" Ren Ruyi, mixed among the dancers, also put on a helpless and pitiful expression, desperately begging for mercy. At the same time, she kept glancing at Prince Han, hoping he would speak up and save her. Because if he did, she could use the opportunity to stay by Prince Han's side and enter his residence! This was an excellent opportunity for Ren Ruyi! "Prince, save me!" She even cried out pitifully to him herself.
However, she was disappointed! Prince Han indeed seemed reluctant to let go of a beauty like Ren Ruyi at this moment and was tempted to speak up to protect her. But his gaze involuntarily turned towards Zhao Ji, and he merely opened his mouth without uttering any sound. Clearly, Prince Han simply didn't dare to obstruct what Zhao Ji intended to do! Because of this, he guiltily averted his eyes, no longer daring to meet Ren Ruyi's gaze! One might say this Prince Han was a high-level bootlicker! He had clearly been stood up by Ren Ruyi earlier, yet now he was heartbroken and wanted to save her? He just lacked the courage, so even if he wanted to bootlick, he couldn't!
Wei Tingyu directly laughed upon seeing the exchange of glances between the two. It had to be said, watching this scene from a god's-eye view was truly quite interesting.
"Brother-in-law, how can you still smile?" Yang Xian was worried and regretful for these beautiful women who were about to die. Seeing Wei Tingyu next to him actually smile, he immediately frowned and asked.
"You want to save them?" Wei Tingyu didn't answer but directly looked at Yang Xian and asked!
"Of course, I do!" Yang Xian immediately nodded and said, "I see that these beauties are all good people; how could they be spies? It's truly pitiful..."
"All good people?" Wei Tingyu rolled his eyes inwardly. Your taste, young man, is just so-so. He couldn't say for sure about others, but Ren Ruyi and Linglong were definitely not what you'd call "good people"! To complete their mission, they could disregard human lives! And such a naive Yang Xian might even be fooled to death by women in the future!
"What's the use of just pitying them?" Thinking this, Wei Tingyu nodded to Yang Xian and said, "If you want to save them, then save them!"
"Me?" Yang Xian was startled, then looked bewildered and horrified. Although he pitied the fate of these beauties, he truly didn't have the guts to stand up.
"This is your Yang Residence; how can these foreign warriors kill people as they please?" Wei Tingyu chuckled, then nodded and said, "As the young master here, it's only right for you to speak up and stop them!"
"Brother-in-law..." Yang Xian nodded after hearing this, but then repeatedly shook his head and said, "I know what brother-in-law says is right, but I... I really don't dare!"
"Look at your lack of ambition!" Wei Tingyu was even more helpless. If they weren't still in the banquet hall, he would have kicked this brat in the butt. To be fair, Wei Tingyu himself was a bit surprised; he truly felt like Yang Xian's brother-in-law now! At least for this good-for-nothing brother-in-law, he genuinely wanted to educate him properly for his sister's sake.
"Hehehe!" Yang Xian scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly after being stared at by Wei Tingyu, then said, "If I had ambition and could handle things, my sister wouldn't need to ask you, brother-in-law, to look after the Yang family, would she...?"
"..." Wei Tingyu was speechless upon hearing this, because what Yang Xian said was indeed true, and he couldn't refute it! Alright, for the sake of Yang Yue Niang's affection and Ren Ruyi being his future wife, he still had to personally intervene! Thinking this, Wei Tingyu gently flicked his hand, and the wine cup on his table clattered onto the center of the banquet hall. This sudden noise startled everyone in the hall. Even the warriors who had their swords at the dancers' throats, intending to drag them to the backyard to kill them, froze in place. This smashing of the cup was clearly an expression of displeasure!
The dancers who had thought they were about to die were all crying tears like falling pear blossoms. At this moment, they all looked at Wei Tingyu with hopeful expressions; the hope of life was once again ignited in their chests! Ren Ruyi and Linglong, the two assassins, exchanged glances, both confused! Especially Ren Ruyi; she hadn't expected Wei Tingyu to actually intervene!
"Marquis Wei... you are..." Sun Shiyi was also stunned at this moment, then looked at Wei Tingyu and asked directly.
"Senior Sun, are you Wu State people really so ignorant of etiquette?" Wei Tingyu, however, directly elevated the matter to a national level, asking, "You dare to publicly kill people in the residence of a noble of our dynasty?"
"Could it be that your esteemed nation doesn't even hold our dynasty in its eyes?"
"Your diplomatic mission came to the capital, not for diplomacy, but specifically to provoke, perhaps?"
Wei Tingyu's words were forceful and resonated, and everyone present was stunned by them.
"Yes! This is absolutely outrageous!" Although Yang Xian was timid, he reacted quickly. Especially after Wei Tingyu had already stepped forward, he was no longer afraid and quickly interjected, "Our Yang family is also a noble family of the current dynasty. Whose face are you slapping by doing this?"
"Yes, yes! It's too much! They don't even respect our Yang family!"
"We must report this to His Majesty and tell him what happened today! We must ask your Wu State diplomatic mission what exactly is going on?!"
"They even stole our family's gifts; this is truly..."
"Shhh... speak softly about that; just say it in your heart..."
Hearing Yang Xian speak, the Yang family members also began to complain amongst themselves! They had, of course, long been dissatisfied with this Zhao Ji, who had suddenly appeared. Not only did he steal the gifts that were supposed to be given to their family, but he also disrupted the banquet! The emperor might even think that the Yang family hadn't hosted well! Before, they hadn't dared to speak out, but now that Wei Tingyu was standing at the forefront, they no longer held back.