Although Prince Fu, Yang Longyue, saw that he had not drunk the wine offered in his toast, he could hardly point it out as the host. He simply closed one eye and kept the other open, pretending he had seen nothing.
Yang Longyue wanted to keep the peace, but someone else was unwilling to let it pass. Wanyan Tianyue, the eighth prince of Black Hu, happened to be sitting at the same table as Hong Yingtai. Seeing Hong Yingtai merely touch the gold goblet to his lips for show before setting it down, he flew into a rage. He had always looked down on this prince of the Southern Yue Kingdom. In his eyes, Hong Yingtai was not even fit to sit at the same table as him. He snorted coldly and glared at Hong Yingtai. "Why aren't you drinking?"
Wanyan Tianyue spoke in the Hu language, which Hong Yingtai naturally could not understand. But Wanyan Tianyue always traveled with an interpreter, and his attendant immediately translated his master's words, using a tone even harsher and more overbearing than Wanyan Tianyue's.
Realizing he had been caught, Hong Yingtai gave an awkward smile. "I... I'm feeling unwell, so..." Before he could finish, Wanyan Tianyue slammed the table and snapped, "You won't even drink a toast from His Highness Prince Fu? Aren't you slighting your host?"
Yang Longyue had not expected the Black Hu prince to leap out and demand an accounting. Although Hong Yingtai's behavior had been inappropriate, Wanyan Tianyue's harsh public rebuke of the Southern Yue prince showed no consideration whatsoever for the other man's dignity. He was just about to speak up and mediate.
Someone to his right drawled, "He already said he wasn't feeling well, yet you still insist on forcing him to drink. You really do come