At the Chu Palace in Kuaiji, Xiong Xin looked at the empty palace in the darkness, feeling cold both physically and mentally.
A month ago, Xiong Xin almost fell from the sky into the quagmire. Song Yi, who was loyal to him, had just gained some military power and was about to change his destiny, but Xiang Yu found an excuse to kill him.
A series of generals who followed Song Yi and took refuge with him were all killed. From then on, he, the King of Chu, became a real loner.
In the huge Chu Palace, and even in the Chu Kingdom that stretched thousands of miles away, Xiong Xin couldn't find anyone loyal to him.
What makes Xiong Xin breathe a sigh of relief is that a few days ago, Xiang Ji publicly announced that he would attack Qin and took away most of the Chu State's party members. Now, those people left behind in Chu State, although they may not be loyal to Xiong Xin, are mostly not Xiang Ji's party members.
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However, Xiong Xin only breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis has not been resolved. The Chu State is still in the hands of Xiang Ji. According to Song Yi, he, the King of Chu, may fall into the quagmire at any time and be unable to stand up for the rest of his life.
Xiong Xin suddenly felt that he had to do something while Xiang Ji left Chu.
Even if you can't completely escape Xiang Ji's control, you still need to add some self-protection power to live up to such a good opportunity.
Xiong Xin, who had made up his mind, forced himself to sleep, regained his energy, and prepared to start his own plan.
…
Early the next morning, Xiong Xin woke up from his dream and immediately summoned the palace's internal affairs manager and ordered: "The lonely king wants to invite the three heads of the three families, Jing and Zhao, to attend the banquet. Please arrange for the internal affairs office to make preparations, and then send someone to take care of the banquet."
The invitations were sent to the three heads of the family."
The Chief of Internal Affairs was an old man from the old Chu palace. He was very loyal to the Chu State and respected the new Chu King Xiong Xin very much.
After the king of Chu gave the order, the head of the internal affairs immediately responded: "I obey the order. Please rest assured, your Majesty, I will handle this matter properly."
Xiong Xin just nodded slightly, pretending to be calm and calm. He was already smart, but during the time he became the King of Chu, he had developed a lot of skills.
…
Jing Tian, the contemporary head of the Jing family in East Jing Mansion in Kuaiji City, immediately showed confusion after receiving the invitation. Why did King Chu suddenly want to entertain him?
After thinking for a long time, Jingtian couldn't come up with a clear result, so he planned to go to the banquet in the evening to see what happened.
The same doubts and reactions appeared in Zhaofu and Qufu in Kuaiji City.
The heads of the two families also wanted to see what happened first.
…
In the evening, Xiong Xin, wearing a brand-new royal robe and a flat-topped crown, walked into the hall specially used for the King of Chu's banquet and the ministers.
The three heads of Qu Jingzhao's family, who had received the invitation in advance, arrived at the main hall early. When they saw Xiong Xin coming in, they immediately stood up and saluted: "I will pay my respects to the king."
Xiong Xin waved his sleeves and said, "No need to be polite, please take a seat." After saying that, he walked up the steps and sat down in front of the large table.
Seeing Xiong Xin sitting down, and the three of them from Zhaoyang Jingtian and Quhe, they sat down again.
The housekeeper, who had been prepared long ago, led the people in and placed fine wines, delicacies, fresh fruits, and sweet pastries on the table in front of the four of them.
Xiong Xin raised the wine bottle high and said loudly: "The lonely king is here today thanks to your strong support. I would like to toast you all here."
The three people stood up quickly and said in unison: "I don't dare to be greedy for merit. The reason why the king is where he is today is because of the deep blessings of the king."
Xiong Xin just smiled and swallowed the wine in one gulp, letting the spicy feeling flow from his throat straight to his stomach.
"You don't have to be restrained. You can feel free in front of the lonely king. Strictly speaking, you and the lonely king are both descendants of the King of Chu. Your ancestors are from the same family, but they are just different generations."
Xiong Xin tried his best to keep an easy-going look.
Jingtian and the other three looked at each other. All three of them were experienced veterans who had been around for who knows how long. There was no sign of Xiong Xin's intention to win over them.
It's just that this level of wooing didn't arouse the least interest among the three of them.
Although Xiong Xin is a powerless King of Chu, after all his status is there, his attitude should be more sincere.
So Jingtian opened his mouth and replied: "The king and his ministers are different. Please forgive me, your Majesty, for not overstepping your bounds."
Zhaoyang echoed: "The king is able to treat the virtuous and virtuous subordinates. This is the asset of the overlord, but the ministers dare not lose their courtesy and cause everyone to impeach him."
After failing to win over her for the first time, the bright smile on Xiong Xin's face immediately became a little forced.
Xiong Xin took a deep breath and said with a laugh: "Feel free to do it as you like. You can strictly observe the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers. I am very pleased. Come on, you guys can taste the delicious food in the palace."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," the three of them bowed and used chopsticks to add some food to the food in front of them. After taking two or three bites, they put it down and tasted it briefly.
Seeing this, Xiong Xin immediately asked: "Isn't this delicacy not to your taste? King Gu thinks it's pretty good."
The three of them looked at each other, with a hint of contempt in their eyes. They were the ones who selected the palace's chef. Don't they know how good they are?
The chefs in the three houses are all better than the palace chefs, so Xiong Xin's words are a joke to them.
However, the King of Chu had to give him face. Zhaoyang opened his eyes and lied: "It's just because it's so delicious. I don't want to eat too much at one time for fear that we will miss out on such delicious food in the future."
Xiong thought suddenly and said: "In this case, you can come to the palace for banquets often and eat more."
Zhaoyang's face was dull, but he didn't expect Xiong Xin to use the topic and didn't know how to answer for a while.
The atmosphere of the following banquet was a bit dull, and the three of them were obviously taciturn. Unless Xiong Xin asked a question urgently, they would only answer one sentence.
Xiong Xin, who was originally looking forward to this banquet, couldn't help but feel disappointed, but he drank a little faster.
By the end of the banquet, Xiong Xin had already drank three bottles of fine wine, and he was quite tipsy.
Suddenly, Xiong Xin ordered the housekeeper to leave the hall with the serving eunuchs and maids. For a time, there were only four people left in the hall.
"Hiccup", Xiong Xin let out a wine burp, a flash of light appeared in his eyes, and then disappeared again, using the strength of the wine to say: "The three of you think that the Chu Kingdom that stretches thousands of miles away now has the surname Xiong or the surname Xiong. The others?"
"In another hundred years, will the three families of Chu and the Xiong surname still be able to dominate the land of the fire god?"
As if he was really drunk, Xiong Xin fell down after asking these two questions and fell unconscious.
Zhaoyang Jingtian Qu He and the others' expressions changed drastically when they heard this. When they saw Xiong Xin was drunk, their expressions softened slightly.
The three of them exchanged glances, and Zhaoyang immediately shouted: "Come here, the king is drunk, please help the king go back to rest."
The housekeeper who was waiting outside the palace immediately hurried over with someone, gently picked up Xiong Xin who was lying on the table, and took him back to the palace.
The three people from Zhaoyang also got up and left.
The three of them walked on the slightly empty road, full of doubts in their hearts. Is the young King of Chu really drunk or was he just making excuses.
As one of the old nobles of Chu State, should I get involved in this matter, or should I just sit back and watch?
After a while, the three of them said almost simultaneously: "Let's have a party later."
"Sit down with us if you have time?"
"I think we should have a chat."
After the words were spoken, the three of them looked at each other and smiled, and the heaviness in their hearts was suddenly relieved.
In the Chu palace, Xiong Xin, who was carried to the bed by the housekeeper, suddenly opened his eyes, sighed slightly and said: "The lonely king has already hinted to the extreme. If the three families are still loyal to Chu and the Xiong family, they will have a chance of survival.
"
"If even the three families are not willing to support me, then I can only resign myself to fate. Alas!"