Chapter 203
Book 18 Chapter 09 – Appetizers
After a teasing performance by the song courtesans of Premier Mentor Residence, Meng Ao, w.a.n.g Wan and Cai Ze led the entire hall in toasting Lu Buwei for his birthday, adding to the lively atmosphere.
Following that, Guan Zhongxie, Lu Niang Rong and the other clansmen led Lu Buwei to the other two halls to toast the other guests.
As Xiao Pan and Zhu Ji are still around, the thousand strong banquet is still quite noisy and were chatting about the imminent duel between Xiang Shaolong and Guan Zhongxie, speculating who the winner will be.
Opposite him, Lao Ai faced Xiang Shaolong and raised his cup, wis.h.i.+ng him success in his fight. Xiang Shaolong smiled back knowingly and put his own cup to his lips. He did not drink at all but is just putting on a show. Out of a sudden, Wu Tingfang gestured to him to come over. Puzzled, Xiang Shaolong s.h.i.+fted nearer to them and asked in a low voice: "What is it?"
Ji Yanran inched closer to him and replied in a deep voice: "Lu Buwei is really despicable. Earlier, Meng Tian walked past us and secretly whispered: Qi ambush in front of Wu Residence. Lu Buwei is going all out to kill you tonight. If Guan Zhongxie failed to kill you, others will. But even I cannot understand why the a.s.sa.s.sins from Qi?"
It is not unusual for people to ambush him but given Lu Buwei’s risk-taking style, even Xiang Shaolong is baffled over Lu Buwei’s choice to use Qi a.s.sa.s.sins.
He had wanted to tease Qin Qing who is sitting on the other side but noticed Zhu Ji staring at them. Frightened out of his senses, Xiang Shaolong swallowed all his words and returned to his seat, taking the chance to update Teng Yi and Jing Jun about the ambush.
Teng Yi coldly snorted and turned around to speak to Jing Shan sitting behind him. Within a few minutes, Wu Yan Zhu left to make the necessary arrangements.
The sound of music was being played once again. Before Lu Buwei can be seen, his delightful laughter can already be heard. With Guan Zhongxie and his family escorting him, he entered the main hall a second time in his best ever mood. Everyone stood up and gave him a standing ovation.
Extremely flattered, Lu Buwei strode right to the centre of the hall. When his cup is filled again, he raised his cup towards Zhu Ji and Xiao Pan, bellowing: "Let’s toast Empress and Crown Prince first."
Besides Xiang Shaolong, Wu Yingyuan coldly cursed: "I want to see how long this heartless man can continue like this."
Looking at Xiao Pan, Zhu Ji and Lu Buwei toasting each other, Xiang Shaolong cannot help but feel emotional.
This can be considered the peak of Lu Buwei’s glory. Later, he will fail to kill himself and shortly after, the Black Dragon will be sighted. Significant changes will be made to the Qin Court and his authority will be vastly limited. Another reason for his decline in influence is the rise of Lao Ai.
By now, Lu Buwei’s toasting party has arrived in front of their table. Holding a full cup of wine, Guan Zhongxie walked closer and facing Xiang Shaolong, he toasted: "No matter who wins tonight, I am full of admiration for Official Xiang."
Glancing at his formidable opponent, Xiang Shaolong returned the courtesies with a smile.
Both men only made a show of drinking the wine.
When everyone has returned to their seats, Lu Buwei stood up again and announced: "The Chancellor of Qi, Tian Dan, has sent me a troupe of circus performers. Every person in the circus has an amazing talent to perform and I guarantee everyone will be blown away."
The guests were expecting him to announce the duel between Xiang Shaolong and Guan Zhongxie instead. Slightly disappointed, their thoughts were interrupted by a circus of over a hundred performers. The performers are elaborately dressed and agile, earning loud praises and applause from the crowd.
Xiang Shaolong and his men were alarmed.
The Qi a.s.sa.s.sins must be referring to these circus performers.
Everyone is captivated by their first impression of the circus. On the outer circle, there were ten odd strongmen somersaulting on the spot. In the centre, there is a cheerleader stacking formation of thirty over people. Under the leaders.h.i.+p of a midget dressed as a clown, it was a highly entertaining show. The most enthralling part is the formation. Except for the eight hunks forming the base, the next three layers are all 5exy women. The Qi lady at the top of the pyramid is as beautiful as a G.o.ddess from heaven. She may not be as pretty as Ji Yanran and the others but can be considered the top of her league.
The other performers are gathered around the formation and are performing different kinds of difficult stunts.
With the accompanying music and cheering of the crowd, the formation spread open like a flower blossoming. Four of the hunks rolled out in four different directions while the ladies slide down like cascading water. Some of them are seated on the floor and some are lying down, performing ‘soft bone’ twisting of their bodies. Most of their poses are highly seductive and teasing.
The prettiest Qi lady somersaulted down and continued to somersault till the front of Lu Buwei, presenting him with a longevity peach made of solid gold.
In charge of Xiao Pan and Zhu Ji’s safety, Lord Changwen and his Palace Guards are very anxious, eyeing the performers with utmost suspicion. They cannot allow anyone with ulterior motives to come too close to the rulers.
Xiang Shaolong, Teng Yi and his men watched the performance with rapt attention. Witnessing the abilities of these men and women, they know they mustn’t take them lightly during the ambush later.
If not for Meng Tian’s warning, they may be caught with their pants down and suffer a severe setback.
The beauties continued to perform their ‘soft bone’ techniques and dance, attracting thunderous applause.
After the circus group has left, the various guests are still talking among themselves and could not seem to forget the lasting impression of the ‘soft bone’ beauties.
Lu Buwei stood up again and everyone quietened down in antic.i.p.ation of a good show.
Nearly a thousand pairs of eyes are staring at this huge risk-taker.
Lu Buwei dryly cough and was about to speak when Lao Ai stood up with a grin. Paying his respects to Lu Buwei, Lao Ai smiled at the bewildered guests: "If I did not guess incorrectly, Premier Mentor is going to announce the duel between Official Xiang and Official Guan."
Lu Buwei chuckled: "Official Lao truly know me well. You are absolutely correct. May I know if you have anything important to say?"
Lu Buwei’s tone is very sarcastic, secretly warning Lao Ai that he is what he is because of Zhu Ji’s support. If not, he’ll be a dead man by now.
Even if Lao Ai is unhappy, it did not show on his face. He plainly suggested: "Good things come in pairs. We should have some appetizers before the main dish. Why don’t we have a duel between your family warriors and mine? It can add to the excitement of the main duel. What does Premier Mentor think?"
None of the guests expected Lao Ai to abruptly stand out and challenge Lu Buwei. The people of Qin love fights and duelling is common during banquets. Most of them began to cheer loudly in support.
Xiao Pan saw that Lao Ai spoke up without consulting his opinion first. He knows that with Zhu Ji’s support, Lao Ai does not hold himself in high regard and is even more arrogant than Lu Buwei. His mind began to detest this man even more.
Wu Yingyuan whispered to Xiang Shaolong: "Lao Ai wants a piece of the action."
Xiang Shaolong smiled knowingly.
He naturally understood what Wu Yingyuan meant.
Since the rise of the warlords in the Zhou Dynasty, it became popular to recruit and house family warriors as a show of might. Besides having talented men to a.s.sist oneself, it is also a status symbol.
It is also common for the family warriors of different warlords to engage each other in friendly compet.i.tions.
With Zhu Ji’s support, Lao Ai’s influence has been growing exponentially. He wanted to use this platform as an opportunity for himself to showcase his might and gain recognition and fame. If his own warrior can defeat Lu Buwei’s warrior, the value of the warrior will go up and it will also look good on him, killing two birds with one stone.
To a certain extent, Lao Ai believes that Guan Zhongxie has a higher chance of winning the duel. If he can clock his own victory, even if Guan Zhongxie really defeated Xiang Shaolong, Guan Zhongxie is not the