In the throne hall, the lively voices of the guests filled the throne hall. The guests ate and drank, watching the dancers dancing in the center of the throne hall and toasting each other. Sitting next to the throne were the two princes of Tanggolia and the two Xin brothers.
Xin Jianping glanced around the room, watching the princesses and their envoys chatting happily to the accompaniment of dancers. He knew in his heart that Emperor Xin would probably let his two sons secure their boarders through marriage. He knew that the three most likely countries in Emperor Xin's mind were Hmagol, Ofleisia, and Skouji kingdom. He knew his sons would not have a chance with the Hmagol princesses as he had been waging war against Hmagol south for years. Therefore, he wanted his sons to capture the hearts of the princesses and princes of Oflesia and Skouji. When his eyes landed on the people sitting all the way back at the end of a corner, his heart faltering with happiness. When he heard that Emperor Xin was going to celebrate his birthday in his territory, he had already thought of many ways to embarrass the Magoli, and his first step was to treat the Magoli people as peasant and let them sit in the last seat away from the throne.
Misheel looked at the old wooden table and the wooden plates and bowls on the table, and he shook his head. He knew coming to Tanggolia, especially in Haishi City, he would definitely receive some kind of mistreatment, but he didn't know that Jianping would actually make sure that the tableware on the table was that of peasant.
"Princess Ankhtsetseg, please bear with it for the time being. We will only stay here for fifteen days," Misheel turned to Ankhtsetseg and whispered.
Ankhtsetseg said, "Minister Misheel, don't worry about me. I'm ready for the humiliation Tanggolia will bring us. I know that they treat us like this as their way of revenge on the third brother. I promise father that I won't let him down."
"Try this," Chinua said, handing Hye a chicken drumstick. "This is called beggar's chicken." She took a bit of the chicken drumstick in her right hand.
Hearing Chinua's voice, Ankhtsetseg turned to Chinua, and when she saw the grease at the corners of Chinua's mouth, she shook her head. She put her hand into her sleeve, took out her handkerchief and handed it to Chinua.
"Wipe your mouth," Ankhtsetseg said impatiently. "You need to learn how to eat properly. Do you understand why they serve us beggar's chicken?"
Chinua understands the principle of beggar's chicken, but she personally likes to eat beggar's chicken. "Ah, I understand, but this chicken is particularly delicious. If you don't believe me, just eat some of your beggar's chicken," Chinua said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"You..." Ankhtsetseg sighed angrily, took the handkerchief back and stuffed it into her sleeve.
Seeing that her behavior made Ankhtsetseg angry, Chinua decided to turn away from Ankhtsetseg. Maybe if Ankhtsetseg didn't see Chinua's face, it would be better for Ankhtsetseg.
"Hye, do you think the ants will crawl fast enough to eat the food they collected in the queen's nest before the queen comes back?" Chinua asked.
Hye looked down at the vegetarian dishes on the table and said, "If you ask me, if the ants crawl faster, they might be able to reach the queen's nest by midnight and steal some of the queen's food." He picked up a steamed chrysanthemum leaf and put it on the table. "Look, if the queen ant's nest is here." He pushed one side of the chrysanthemum leaf with the tip of a chopstick. "Those ants can crawl here and here." He picked up the chopsticks and pressed around the line prints on the chrysanthemum leaf. "They'll escape before the queen comes back, and they'll even have time to grab the queen's leftover food." He smiled at Chinua.
Hearing Hye's ridicules children tale, Ankhtsetseg turned to look at Hye and said, "As a friend of the princess, you should teach her how to behave more like a princess. You cannot teach Chinua ridiculous children's stories."
Hye picked up the chrysanthemum leaf on the table and put it into his mouth. He did not look at Ankhtsetseg and said, "I don't think my story is ridiculous. Only the true blood of an Alpha Wolf can understand my ridiculous tale."
"You are a peasant. How dare you used that tone of voice to Her Highness," Yagaan said through gritted teeth.
Ankhtsetseg knew that if they continued to argue, sooner or later others would draw attention, and the good image of her kingdom would be damaged even more. "Yagaan, not here. We are still in a banquet," she said.
"Yes, Your Highness," Yagaan said, lowering her head and turned to look in the other direction.
Zhiyuan stood up, walked to Misheel and said, "I heard that the people of Hmagol are all great archers." He looked at Chinua and Ankhtsetseg. "I wonder if the princesses are also good archers." A soldier stepped forward quickly, holding a bow and two arrows. Zhiyuan quickly grabbed the bow and two arrows with his right hand, grabbed an apple on the table with his left hand, threw the apple forward, closed his eyes, and released an arrow, which hit the middle of the apple, and the apple and the arrow hit the pillar on the left side of Jianping. He gave the bow and the last arrow to Ankhtsetseg. "Princess, please show us your bow and arrow skills."
Ankhtsetseg looked at Zhiyuan and said, "My lord, women of Hmagol only practice needlework. We do not use bows and arrows, nor swords and spear."
Zhiyuan frowned, "I originally hoped that your nation would send a prince, because I really want to take him out for hunting. There are many wild beasts running in Haishi City."
Ankhtsetseg smiled and said politely, "I sincerely apologize, perhaps maybe next time."
Zhiyuan said, "A thousand words of praising do not match the true picture."
Chinua took the bow and arrow from Zhiyuan. "I just started learning bow and arrow, do you want me to try it?" Chinua said. "But I am a novice, and my level is not high. My arrow could land anywhere in this banquet hall." She looked at Zhiyuan. "Do you still want me to shoot this arrow?"
Zhiyuan said, "Go ahead. If your arrow hits the same apple on that pillar, I will give you ten chests of gold coins and three thousand horses."
Chinua said, "What if I didn't hit the same apple and accidentally caused someone to die or be injured?"
Zhiyuan said, "I will take full responsibility." He knew that no matter how brave Chinua was, she would not dare to hurt anyone at the banquet, because the banquet was filled with members of the royal family.
Chinua said, "You over there!" She pointed at Geming. "Sorry, I forgot your name. You are our witness."
Geming nodded to Chinua.
Chinua fixed the arrow on the bowstring and aimed at the apple on the pillar. She said, "Oh, I forgot, you closed your eyes when you released the bowstring." She closed her eyes, and the arrow flew over Jianping's head, passed through the golden tiger head on Jianping's throne, and hit the back wall.
The people in the hall gasped.
Zhiyuan shouted, "How dare you attempt to assassinate my father!"
Chinua said innocently, "My lord, I have told you that I am a novice, but you insist to see my poor skills. You can't blame me."
Hye stood up and said, "This cannot be considered an assassination. Everyone sitting here, including lord Xin, heard the conversation between the two of you." He looked at Geming. "Even the prince of Tanggolia is a witness." He turned his back to Zhiyuan, then turned around and looked into Zhiyuan's eyes. "Oh, by the way, you said it yourself, if something happens, you will bear all the consequences. So, if you call this arrow an attempt to assassinate, does that mean you are trying to assassinate your own father?"
Jianping stood up and said, "Zhiyuan, you should choose an experienced person next time, so that such an accident will never happen again." He walked down the steps, walked to the bottom of the steps. "Everyone, please forget about this. Come on... come on... don't ruin this happy occasion."
Zhiyuan stared at Chinua and Hye and then walked to his seat.
After the banquet, Jianping, Xiyan, and Zhiyuan came to Jianping's study. Xiyan looked at Zhiyuan who was sitting opposite. Jianping looked through the gifts brought to celebrate Emperor Xin's birthday, and he found that Ofleisia Kingdom had brought more gifts than anyone else. The kingdom also brought gifts for Jianping.
Jianping looked at his two sons sitting opposite and said, "If Geming or Zhiming choose Princess Pua, you must choose Prince Gao." He looked at Zhiyuan. "Do you understand?"
Zhiyuan said, "Father, why me? I know Geming or Zhiming will probably choose Pua. How can I marry the prince?"
Jianping said, "Is there any problem with Prince Koa? Or do you want to choose one of the two princesses of Hmagol?"
Zhiyuan said indifferently, "I would rather become a monk than marry a Magoli."
Xiyan put down the book in his hand and looked at the arrogant Ziyuan. "Next time, do not pick fight with the Magoli," Xiyan said, picked up the teacup and started drinking.
Zhiyuan sneered and said, "If I had known she has such poor skill, I would have made a bet with her."
Jianping and Xiyan looked at Zhiyuan and shook their heads. Xiyan asked, "Don't you understand her intention?"
Zhiyuan turned to look at Xiyan and asked, "What is the intention of the ugly princess?"
Xiyan said, "Never judge this book by its cover. Today's incident is the best example of this sentence."
Zhiyuan said, "I don't see any similarity."
Xiyan said, "You really don't understand?"
Ziyuan picked up a piece of biscuit and threw it into his mouth, shaking his head.
Xiyan said, "Speaking of the ugly princess holding the bow in her hand, it is impossible for her to miss the apple on the pillar, but her arrow sent a clear message."
Zhiyuan chewed the biscuit in his mouth and asked, "What kind of message?"
Xiyan sighed and said, "That they are not afraid of invading Haishi City. They are not afraid to assassinate father if he dares to reach Lao-Da Pass."
Zhiyuan choked on the biscuit and coughed enough. He said, "Can you see all this from the arrow?"
Xiyan said, "Her arrow went straight to father's head, but instead the arrow hit the tiger's head. She warned us." He stared at Zhiyuan. "This ugly princess is quite interesting, therefore, do not mess with the bloodline of the Alpha wolf of Hmagol during their stay."
Sitting in the dusty old house behind the guest room. Hye poured himself a cup of tea and drank it slowly while watching Chinua eat pumpkin seeds. Just before midnight, more guards swarmed into the guest room area.
Chinua stood up and walked to the window to see more guards guarding their small courtyard. She closed the window's door and turned to look at Hye, who was still sitting at the table. "Looks like the queen took the bait," she said with a smile.
Hye raised his head and said, "You really know how to attract others' attention. Moreover, your message is so clear, how could the queen ant not fall for it."