The enormous silk cloth fell away, revealing a massive wine jar!
Seeing this, Yelu Chenyi’s guarded tension finally eased somewhat, though everyone else remained thoroughly puzzled. A gift of wine, of all things—what could that possibly mean, and what exactly made this particular wine so special?
Judging by the sheer size of the jar alone, there was clearly no small quantity within.
If it were truly fine wine, one wouldn’t normally brew it in a vessel this enormous, surely!
The Xijing Emperor was equally baffled, yet his face lit up with delight as he laughed. “Prince Yao, could this possibly be Da Zhou’s own famous Daughter’s Drunk?”
“Since Crown Prince Yelu has already come this far down, why not take a moment to smell what exactly this wine is?” Jun Beiyue said flatly.
Yelu Chenyi said nothing, leaning in to take a light sniff—only for the scent to hit him so hard he nearly stumbled backward in shock!
This smell—he knew it far, far too intimately!
This was nothing else—it was the very same putrid stench of corpse-poison!
Nearly identical to the scent from that massive water vat Yanzi had once used to soak Han Ziqing—if anything, even more revolting.
It had clearly been specially treated to conceal the odor from any distance—standing beside it, one would notice nothing at all—but leaning in close for a proper sniff made the stench instantly overwhelming.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Yelu Chenyi maintained his composure remarkably well, though the icy sharpness in his eyes proved impossible to fully conceal. He shot Jun Beiyue a cold glance, only to find Jun Beiyue meeting his gaze with the same defiant, provocative look as always.
That kneeling gesture outside the palace gates had merely been a courtesy upon arrival. This—this was the true warning.
Jun Beiyue lifted his wine cup with lazy indifference, an unmistakable chill radiating beneath his elegant, noble bearing as he met Yelu Chenyi’s gaze head-on. “Can you smell it now, Crown Prince of Xijing?”
“A wine gifted by Prince Yao himself—surely it isn’t something one can simply identify by smell alone.” Yelu Chenyi replied with practiced calm.
“If you can’t smell it, then open it up and taste it instead.” Jun Beiyue said, raising an eyebrow, entirely serious.
At these words, Yelu Chenyi, already nauseated by the overwhelming stench, felt a fresh wave of revulsion surge through him. He hadn’t imagined Jun Beiyue would dare provoke him so blatantly, right here in front of everyone.
If this jar were actually opened before the entire assembly, how would Jun Beiyue possibly explain himself?
The civil and military officials of Xijing were all present, the Xiliang envoy was present—if something disastrous were to happen to the Xijing royal family right now, it would surely delay Qianqian’s wedding as well!
And that, surely, was precisely Jun Beiyue’s true objective!
He’d come here to sabotage this marriage—he’d come specifically for the Xiliang envoy!
What a devious, cunning man!
Before Yelu Chenyi could even answer, the Xijing Emperor spoke up first. “Someone, open the seal—let the Xiliang envoy sample Prince Yao’s treasured collection as well!”
Yelu Chenyi, given no time to think it through, immediately intervened. “Wait a moment!”
At these words, the Xiliang envoy’s brow clearly furrowed, though he remained outwardly composed, saying nothing. Aside from Yelu Qianqian’s dance having stirred something in him earlier, this envoy—whether on his mission to Nanzhao or here in Xijing—had consistently maintained a low profile, keeping to himself throughout.
If bringing wine as a gift, requiring Jun Beiyue to personally deliver it all this way, could still be reasonably explained—that much was understandable enough.
But Yelu Chenyi stopping the seal from being broken—that made no sense whatsoever!
No one present was a fool. Quite a few had already sensed something was amiss. A complicated expression flickered through the Xijing Emperor’s eyes, and he too fell silent, saying nothing further.
“Father, fine wine requires the proper timing and weather conditions to be opened correctly—tonight is simply not the right occasion. Prince Yao’s thoughtfulness deserves better than being wasted carelessly. Why not wait until tomorrow to open it, and have Qianqian personally deliver it to the honored envoy then?”
This Crown Prince rarely spoke so many words at once! Yet one had to admit, he’d found himself a rather convincing excuse—one that would instantly win the Xiliang envoy over to his side!
“Quite right, quite right! It’s not just Da Zhou and Xijing that observe such customs—in Xiliang, opening a fine bottle of grape wine absolutely requires selecting the proper day and hour as well!”
Having heard that Yelu Qianqian herself would be the one delivering the wine, the envoy would likely agree with whatever Yelu Chenyi said at this point regardless.
The Xijing Emperor, already regretting his earlier slip of the tongue, seized upon the envoy’s agreement at once. “Excellent, excellent! We’ll open it tomorrow, and have Qianqian deliver it personally!”
He turned to Jun Beiyue with a smile. “Prince Yao is far too generous—this humble one gladly accepts such a magnificent gift!”
Jun Beiyue returned a faint smile of his own, pressing the matter no further. Yet it was precisely this composed reaction of his that left everyone all the more bewildered, and left the Xijing Emperor all the more anxious.
What exactly was hidden inside that wine jar? What game was Jun Beiyue truly playing?
With the performances concluded and the grand gift delivered, none of these men present had ever cared much for idle pleasantries and small talk—the banquet dispersed not long after!
The Xijing Emperor withdrew first, while Yelu Chenyi, in his role as Crown Prince, personally escorted Jun Beiyue and the Xiliang envoy out to the palace gates before hurrying back inside himself.
Yet the moment he returned to the rear hall, an overpowering, nauseating stench hit him immediately—so revolting that even he, long accustomed to the smell of blood, found himself forced to cover his mouth and nose.
Sensing something was terribly wrong, he rushed inside, only to find his father the emperor’s face ashen and drained of color, the wine jar not far off already completely broken open, the foul stench pouring out from within!
Several eunuchs nearby had collapsed to the floor in terror, trembling violently.
Seeing Yelu Chenyi burst in, the Xijing Emperor’s already pale complexion drained several shades whiter still.
Yelu Chenyi said nothing, moving to approach—only for the Xijing Emperor to suddenly explode with fury, kicking the wine jar over with tremendous force. The jar shattered instantly, sending the corpse-poison bloody liquid gushing out entirely, revealing what had been hidden within!
It was a corpse, submerged in the bloody corpse-poison liquid—there was no telling how long it had been soaking, the body entirely decayed, crawling with insects. Only the head had been specially preserved, remaining intact even now, long hair spilling loose, faintly recognizable as belonging to a woman, though her features remained impossible to make out clearly.
“What have you done! Tell me, exactly what were you doing out there for an entire month, right during the New Year!” The Xijing Emperor roared furiously, his palm slamming down hard on the table with a sharp crack. Even when this son of his had shown him disrespect in the past, he’d never been this enraged before!
Yet Yelu Chenyi said nothing, a flicker of unease passing through his eyes. He stepped forward and kicked the corpse’s head over toward himself, and the moment he saw that face, he drew in a sharp breath of cold air, taking an involuntary step backward despite his usual composure.
The Xijing Emperor, too, upon seeing that face, stood utterly frozen, all his fury instantly replaced by shock, and within that shock, an uncontrollable fear began to take hold.
That face—that face was unmistakably the face of the Dongqin princess, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi!
This corpse was Xuanyuan Zhaoxi herself!
The Dongqin Empress’s declaration to the world hadn’t been false after all—Jun Beiyue really had captured Xuanyuan Zhaoxi as a prisoner of war!
And Jun Beiyue had executed a prisoner of war before any negotiations had even taken place—and worse still, this prisoner had been the enemy’s own princess, the heir apparent to the Dongqin throne!
“Heav… heavens above…”
The Xijing Emperor finally recovered, stumbling backward step by step, utterly unable to find words!
What exactly was Jun Beiyue trying to accomplish?
He’d actually executed a prisoner of war. Throughout the entire history of the Longyuan continent, not even the most powerful nations, not even the most brutal tyrants, had ever done such a thing!
To execute a prisoner of war—to execute an enemy nation’s own princess—before any negotiations had even taken place!
With the Dongqin Empress having already stirred up such an uproar across the world, dragging even Nanzhao into the matter, with the entire realm waiting anxiously to see how Jun Beiyue and the Dongqin Empress would negotiate—Jun Beiyue had chosen this method to flatly refuse negotiation altogether!
Was Jun Beiyue deliberately trying to escalate this into a full-blown crisis? Was this the prelude to devouring Dongqin whole?
But then why had he sent this “grand gift” all the way here, to Xijing, of all places?
The Xijing Emperor couldn’t help but shudder violently, slowly turning to look at Yelu Chenyi…