(An extra update in thanks for .Shanbian de Pipiha.'s tip, 1/2)
At dusk the next day, the nobles shuffled reluctantly into Li Qinwu's banquet hall.
Before entering the banquet hall, some nobles even stopped by the neighboring rooms to check for hidden Power Axemen. Only after finding those rooms empty did they feel slightly reassured.
Once five or six hundred nobles had entered the banquet hall, the soldiers shut its doors.
The enormous steel doors closed with a boom that seemed to strike every noble straight in the heart.
"My esteemed pillars of the God-Emperor, why are you just standing there? Come, take your seats and eat!"
At the head of the banquet hall, Li Qinwu sat beside a spread of delicacies, his hands folded over his stomach as he smiled at the five or six hundred nobles before him.
Feeling an inexplicable pressure, the nobles swallowed and went to the seats prepared for them.
Even after sitting down, they remained rigidly upright.
Just yesterday, they had used a banquet to kill more than half the nobles in the Hive City. Attending another banquet today inevitably gave them plenty to worry about.
Duke Yote had initially believed Li Qinwu would not act against him. After all, there was no conflict of interest between them.
But now that he was inside Li Qinwu's banquet hall, every cell in his body told him the atmosphere was wrong. He felt thoroughly uneasy.
He said cautiously to Li Qinwu:
"My lord, you promised to hand the position of Planetary Governor over to me today. Perhaps we could do that now..."
Li Qinwu shook his head.
"Look at you, getting impatient again. We haven't even eaten yet. How can we talk business?
Come on, let's eat first, eat first!"
With that, Li Qinwu took up