Chapter 497: Grand Banquet at the Prime Minister's Residence

Night.

As winter deepens, the prosperity of Di'an City gradually adds a touch of dragon-like fiery red. Although there is still some time before the end of the year, the inscription lamps on both sides of the street have been covered with a layer of red lanterns by the clerks of the Silijian early on. The temple fairs and night markets in various parts of the city are also decorated with lights and colors, and people work hard all night. In addition to the prosperity of the market, some high-ranking scholars in Di'an City will also hold some elegant poetry gatherings to celebrate the New Year, attracting many young men from aristocratic families and talented scholars who travel to visit. Occasionally, one or two elegant famous sentences can cause some waves in Di'an City at the end of the year, leaving a good story.

However, in the past half month, these poetry gatherings and banquets held by great scholars have gradually died down. The reason is also very simple. Half a month ago, the Xiangguo Mansion had already sent out invitations to prepare for the Xiangguo Mansion banquet.

Great scholars are noble and have character, but they also need to eat.

Moreover,

If their own poetry gatherings and banquets coincide with the Xiangguo Mansion, no one will come, and it will be embarrassing to have few people.

On the day of the grand banquet, the huge Xiangguo Mansion was rarely crowded, and even the gate of the magnificent mansion was a little more lively.

In order to prepare for this banquet, a grand event held once every three years in the Xiangguo Mansion, the housekeepers and managers of all levels were basically busy for twelve hours.

After all, all those who could enter the house in these days were distinguished guests.

There were bureaucrats from six ministries, three dukes and nine ministers, and border military officers. In addition to the court, there were also some guests with unknown cultivation. During the walk, they either exchanged their knowledge in groups of three or two, or held swords against the wall and drank cold wine alone.

Of course, such a grand event is naturally inseparable from the shadow of the sect.

Although the situation is still tense now, it has not been completely torn apart. The Zongmeng also sent some elders and talented disciples to pay homage.

Every guest in the banquet is a noble who can control the life and death of thousands of ordinary people in the outside world.

Therefore, the Xiangfu Banquet is also called the Little New Year Banquet.

According to the ancestral system of the Great Yan Dynasty, on New Year's Eve, the six ministries, the nine ministers, and the officials of the prefectures and departments of various places were not allowed to go home on New Year's Eve, and they had to stay in the government office to watch the night for the imperial court.

After New Year's Eve, there will be a New Year's banquet.

At that time, the Great Yan emperor will host a banquet for all the ministers in Taiqing Palace to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

However, with the gradual tension in the situation of the Great Yan Dynasty in the past two years, undercurrents have been surging in various places. Before officially receiving the invitation from the Prime Minister's Mansion, some concerns have also spread among the invited guests.

For example,

What if the prime minister sets the date of the Prime Minister's Mansion Banquet on the first day of the new year?

Fortunately, this did not happen.

Although the date of the Prime Minister's Mansion Banquet is a little closer to the first day of the new year, it is still some time away. What will happen next year will be seen next year. At least this year can have a stable year.

Flowers bloom on both sides, each showing its own beauty.

In addition to these dignitaries, the banquet will also invite some young talents who have emerged, and set some policy essays and poetry topics for postgraduate examinations. Those who win the first prize can be received by the prime minister alone. Therefore, compared with those worried bigwigs, they seem much more free and easy, wearing bright clothes and riding horses, with heroic spirit, and showing their edge at the banquet without hesitation.

In short,

No matter what, the banquet is carried out in an orderly manner in a festive atmosphere

Waking up from a coma again, with a splitting headache and a feeling of dry mouth and tongue suddenly surged into my heart.

The golden eyelids were half-closed and trembling, and Orenli struggled to open her eyes and tried to see the surrounding environment clearly, but there was only darkness and death around.

Decay and a faint fishy smell filled the air.

The tip of the tongue gently licked the dry and cracked lips, and Orenli subconsciously wanted to move. With a sound of iron chains clattering, a tearing pain immediately came from her shoulders.

The pain was piercing, and it also made Orenli's perception of her body revive like water flowing into a canal.

She was standing now, or half-kneeling, but her knees could not touch the ground.

Two iron chains hung down from the darkness, and the hooks at the end pulled her upside down, while the other two hanging iron hooks pierced her shoulders. These four iron chains directly fixed her body in this uncomfortable posture.

She didn't know where she was, but she shouldn't have been killed, because the pain from her body was still so clear.

The look on the face of the Great Yan man before he fainted flashed through her mind, and a sigh flashed in Orenli's beautiful eyes.

She was still caught.

After realizing her situation, Orenli adapted to the pain in her body and began to try to connect the magic ring.

Although she didn't know how dangerous she was, her temperament would never allow her to sit there and wait for death.

In terms of the information obtained, the practice system of the Great Yan Dynasty was completely different from that of Sean. Although they had a method to ban magic, it might not be very effective for her.

When her consciousness was immersed in the magic ring, a mouthful of bright red blood instantly gushed out of her mouth.

"Cough cough cough wow."

Opening her eyes again, a faint light flashed in Orenli's eyes, and she subconsciously lowered her eyes to look at her chest.

Under the effect of the magic eye ring, she barely saw the surrounding environment clearly.

This was a room that looked like a dungeon. The cramped space had nothing except the iron chain extending from the roof, and only a closed iron door blocked the room.

She was still wearing the purple Gothic dress she wore before, but her heart was already bleeding.

During her coma, four black iron rods were nailed into her skin, penetrated her clothes and thick fat, and fixed around her heart.

The once elaborate dress was now stained with blood. The four black sticks emitted a strange wave that delayed her induction of the magic ring. However, the only thing to be thankful for was that the blood that spilled there had already scabbed, otherwise she would have died of blood loss at this moment.

Biting the cracked pale corner of her lips gently, Orenli's lips and teeth moved slightly, and she uttered a syllable with difficulty:

"Asshole."

The only person in the Great Yan Dynasty who knew the law of the magic ring was Xu Changtian, but she didn't expect that this method would be used to restrict her.

As she thought, the Great Yan did not have any magic-banning methods against the world magicians. Although the four black sticks could affect her induction of the magic ring, they could not block it.

But the problem was that the four black sticks were too close to her heart.

If she contacted the magic ring, the heartbeat amplitude would increase slightly and she would touch the four black sticks.

As long as it touched, the special magic-banning material of the black sticks could instantly and physically block the magic ring circuit around her heart.

After being annoyed, Orenli's habitual calm thinking made the corners of her pale lips curl up.

This simple and crude design without any skills, but extremely ingenious, gradually made her feel a little satisfied.

She could cast some small magic rings, but she couldn't cast spells to break through the shackles.

A momentary contact would not kill her, but it could make her weak.

This was the man's teasing of her, and also the man's provocation to her.

Orenli's thoughts turned quickly, her dark blue eyes flashed with a hint of excitement, and her pale lips were stained with bright red blood with a seductive smile.

She hated things that were beyond her control, but the excitement of going against the trend and the powerful and treacherous opponents could also excite her.

Xu Changtian was very smart, but unfortunately he knew too little about the magic ring, or too little about her.

"Guzhi."

As Orenli's palm, which was pierced by the iron hook, gently clenched, a tooth-grinding sound of blood and flesh mixed sounded indifferently.

"."

Instantly,

the light in Orenli's eyes stopped, and her consciousness began to quickly dissipate along with the blood flowing from the corners of her lips.

Her heart shrank as a whole under the restraint of the magic ring, and the beating stopped.

The weakness of the world magician's body is almost the same as that of an ordinary person. This kind of magic that forcibly shrinks the heart is completely fatal.

"Bang!"

As if sensing something, a muffled sound suddenly came from the iron door, and a middle-aged man in tight clothes broke into the door in a panic.

The door opened, and the firelight from the dungeon corridor poured into the room, reflecting the beautiful eyebrows of Orenli, who was filled with lifeless air. There was no sound in the cramped dungeon.

Looking at the foreign woman whose heart stopped beating and whose vitality was rapidly fading, the middle-aged man came to Orenli like a teleport and leaned over. He took out a jade bottle containing secret medicine from his arms and cursed:

"Damn it! If you want to die, don't die when I'm on duty."

"Dongdong."

Before he finished speaking,

the middle-aged man's movements froze.

He seemed to hear someone else's heartbeat in this room.

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