The Prime Minister's Mansion Grand Banquet

night.

As winter deepens, a touch of fiery red, reminiscent of dragons, gradually graces the bustling Di'an City. Although the year-end is still some time away, the Inscription Lamp lining the streets have already been covered with red lanterns by the officials of the Directorate of Ceremonial of Ceremonial. Temple fairs and night markets throughout the city are also brightly decorated and bustling day and night. In addition to the bustling marketplace, some prominent scholars in Di'an City also hold elegant poetry gatherings to celebrate the New Year, attracting many Aristocratic Clan masters from noble families and talented scholars from afar. Occasionally, a few elegant verses will be uttered, creating ripples in the year-end Di'an City and leaving behind a small but memorable anecdote.

However, in the past half month, these poetry gatherings and banquets hosted by Confucian scholars have gradually stopped. The reason is simple: half a month ago, the Prime Minister's Estate had already sent out invitations to prepare for a Prime Minister's Mansion banquet at the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Great Confucian scholars are noble and principled, but they still need to eat.

and,

If one's own poetry gathering and banquet coincide with the Prime Minister's Mansion, and no one comes, the empty house will inevitably be embarrassing.

On the day of the grand banquet, the vast Prime Minister's Estate was unusually crowded, and even the imposing gates seemed to have a touch of everyday life.

To prepare for this banquet, a major event held every three years at the Prime Minister's Mansion, stewards at all levels and various managers were basically working around the clock.

After all, those who have been allowed to enter these past few days have all been distinguished guests.

There were officials from the six ministries, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and border military officers. In addition to the court officials, there were also some guest advisors whose cultivation levels were unfathomable. They would either exchange their experiences in twos and threes or lean against the wall with their swords and drink cold wine alone.

Of course, such a grand event would also inevitably involve the presence of sects.

Although tensions remain high, they haven't completely broken off relations yet, and the Sect Alliance has sent some elders and talented disciples to pay their respects.

Every guest at the grand banquet was a powerful figure who could control the lives and deaths of countless ordinary people.

Therefore, the Prime Minister's Mansion banquet at the Prime Minister's residence is also known as the Little New Year's Banquet.

According to the ancestral system of the Great Yan Dynasty, on New Year's Eve, no matter who they were, the six ministries, the nine ministers, or any officials of various prefectures and offices were allowed to go home. They had to stay in their offices to keep watch for the imperial court.

The New Year's Eve banquet follows.

At that time, the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty will host a banquet for his officials at the Supreme Purity Palace to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.

However, with the escalating tensions in the Great Yan Dynasty over the past two years and undercurrents brewing in various regions, some concerns began to circulate among the invited guests even before they officially received the Prime Minister's Mansion's residence.

for example,

What if the Prime Minister decides to hold a grand Prime Minister's Mansion at his residence on the first day of the Lunar New Year this year?

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

Although the Prime Minister's Mansion banquet at the Prime Minister's residence is getting closer to the first day of the Lunar New Year, it's still some time away. We'll see what happens next year; at least we can have a peaceful year this year.

Flowers bloom on both sides, each representing a different branch.

Besides these high-ranking officials and nobles, the grand banquet also invited some promising young talents, setting some essay and poetry topics for them to study. The top scorer would even be granted a private audience with the Prime Minister. Therefore, compared to those worried big shots, they appeared much more carefree, dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, displaying their brilliance without reservation at the banquet.

In short,

Regardless, the banquet proceeded smoothly in a festive atmosphere.

I woke up from my coma again, my head throbbing and my mouth parched.

Her golden eyelids trembled as Aurenli struggled to open them, trying to see her surroundings, but all she found was darkness and deathly silence.

A stench of decay and a faint fishy smell permeated the air.

As she gently licked her dry, cracked lips, Aurenli instinctively tried to move, but with a clanking sound of iron chains, a tearing pain shot through her shoulders.

The excruciating pain also brought back Aurenli's sense of her body, like water flowing into a channel.

She is standing, or rather, half-kneeling, but her knees cannot touch the ground.

Two iron chains hung down from the darkness, their barbs at the ends piercing and suspending her upside down, while two other hanging hooks pierced her shoulders. These four chains fixed her body in this uncomfortable position.

She didn't know where she was, but she probably hadn't been killed, because the pain in her body was still so clear.

The image of the Great Yan man's face before she lost consciousness flashed through her mind, and a sigh flickered in Aurenli's beautiful eyes.

He was caught anyway.

After realizing her predicament and getting used to the physical pain, Aurenli began trying to link the magic ring.

Although she didn't know what kind of dangerous place she was in, her temperament would never allow her to sit idly by and wait for death.

Based on the intelligence gathered, the cultivation system of the Great Yan Dynasty is completely different from that of Xien. Although they have methods to suppress magic, these methods may not be very effective against her.

The moment consciousness entered the magic ring, a mouthful of bright red blood gushed from his mouth.

"Cough cough cough."

Opening her eyes again, a dark glint appeared in Aurenli's eyes, and she subconsciously looked down at her chest.

Under the influence of the Magic Eye Ring, she could barely make out her surroundings.

This is a room that resembles a dungeon. The cramped space has nothing but iron chains extending from the roof, and only a sealed iron door locks the room in place.

She was still wearing that same elaborate purple Gothic gown, but her heart was now bleeding profusely.

During her coma, four black iron rods were driven into her skin, piercing through her clothes and thick layers of fat, and fixed around her heart.

Her once elaborate gown was now stained with blood. The four black rods emitted an eerie fluctuation that slowed her connection to the magic ring. However, the only saving grace was that the blood that had seeped out had already scabbed over; otherwise, she would most likely have died from blood loss by now.

Gently biting her dry, pale lips, Aurenli's lips moved slightly, and she managed to utter a single syllable:

"Asshole."

In the Great Yan Dynasty, only Xu Changtian knew the rules of the Magic Ring, but she never expected that such a method would be used to restrict her.

As she expected, the Great Yan did not have any magic-suppressing methods against the World Demon Masters. Although the four black rods could affect her perception of the magic ring, they could not block it.

The problem is that the four black rods are too close to the heart.

If she contacts the magic ring, her heart rate will increase slightly, causing her to come into contact with the four black rods.

Once it comes into contact with her, the black rod's special anti-magic material can instantly and physically block the magic ring circuit around her heart.

After her initial anger subsided, Aurenli's habitual calm demeanor caused a slight smile to appear on her pale lips.

This simple, crude, and utterly skillless yet ingenious anti-magic design gradually gave her a sense of satisfaction.

They can cast some small magic rings, but cannot cast Law Technique that break through the limitations.

A momentary contact wouldn't kill her, but it would weaken her.

This was his flirting with her, and also his provocation.

Aurenli's thoughts raced, a hint of excitement flickering in her azure eyes, and a bewitching smile played on her pale lips stained with crimson blood.

She hates things going beyond her control, but the thrill of going against the tide and powerful, unpredictable opponents can excite her just as much.

Xu Changtian is very smart, but unfortunately he knows too little about the Magic Ring, or rather, he knows too little about it.

"Squeak."

As Aurenli's hand, pierced by the iron hook, clenched slightly, a sickeningly loud sound of blood and flesh mingling rang out.

"."

In an instant,

The light in Aurenli's eyes froze, and her consciousness began to fade rapidly along with the blood spilling from the corner of her lips.

Her heart shrank considerably under the influence of the magic ring, and stopped beating.

The physical frailty of a World Demon Master is almost no different from that of an ordinary person; this technique of forcibly shrinking the heart is already capable of causing death.

"Bang!"

As if sensing something, a muffled thud suddenly came from the iron gate, and a middle-aged man dressed in a tight-fitting outfit rushed in in a slightly flustered manner.

The door opened, and the firelight from the dungeon corridor streamed into the room. The flickering flames reflected on Aurenli's beautiful, deathly brow. The cramped dungeon was completely silent.

Seeing the foreign woman's heart stop beating and her life rapidly fading, the middle-aged man teleported to Aurenli's side and bent down, pulling out a jade bottle containing a secret medicine from his robes while muttering curses under his breath:

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

"Knock knock."

Before the words were finished,

The middle-aged man's movements faltered.

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