Though his words were of reproach, they carried no reproachful meaning whatsoever. Everyone present was perceptive and could clearly see what was happening, saying one after another: “So this is a Great Qin princess. Being able to witness the princess’s dance with our own eyes is truly our honor.”

Princess Fu smiled proudly, walked to the center with her head held high. In her sea-blue palace attire, with sapphire-blue eight-treasure tassels hanging from her forehead and matching earrings and necklaces, she appeared even more radiant with bright eyebrows and white teeth, stunningly beautiful beyond comparison. She held a fiery red horse-training whip in her hand, suddenly cracked it in the air with a sharp snap. Intense rhythmic drumbeats immediately thundered forth. The young woman smiled charmingly, then spun like a top in place, swift as autumn leaves in the wind, graceful as a flowing cloud. Her toes touched the ground, the sound of jewelry clashing crisp and clear, her jet-black long hair dancing with her movements, ethereally beautiful and magnificent.

Admiring exclamations with a hint of flattery immediately arose. Everyone loudly cheered their approval. Princess Fu’s dance was masterful, lacking the soft and lingering quality of the previous women, instead possessing the boldness of the Northern Di and the sharpness of sword dancing. Combined with her snow-white neck and bright eyes, she was like an iris in first bloom, carrying the proud, snow-defying fragrance of an empty valley.

Qing Xia slightly narrowed her eyes, looking at the young woman’s beautiful face, slowly furrowing her brow. Due to the Second Emperor of Qin’s fondness for the Empress, Great Qin respected women’s status more than the other three kingdoms. Just seeing that Lu Huayang could command the three armies showed this. But even so, unmarried women of the royal family were still precious – they didn’t show their teeth when smiling, covered their faces when going out, and were subject to numerous restrictions within the inner palace. Royal princesses were especially strictly controlled. Even at Qin family banquets, unmarried princesses rarely attended. Now at such a large banquet, this princess openly attended and said those words – the reasons were obvious.

She had heard that Empress Chunyu had a daughter named Qin Wanfu. This must be Princess Wanfu.

As Qing Xia was thinking, she suddenly saw Princess Wanfu leap into the air, her posture immediately like a startled swan, proudly soaring upward with a light and graceful form. With a smile at the corners of her mouth, a flash of steel appeared from her sleeves, and a cold gleam suddenly shot forth, aimed directly at Chu Li’s chest!

In an instant, countless cries of alarm rang out simultaneously. Le Song and others standing behind Chu Li shouted and drew their swords from their waists to rush forward, but being positioned behind, it was already too late.

Just as the dagger was about to pierce Chu Li’s chest, the man who had been still as a mountain suddenly moved like a springing leopard, instantly bouncing up from his position. His tall form was full of explosive power, his eyes sharp as lightning. One hand fiercely grasped Princess Wanfu’s wrist while the other grabbed the fabric on her back. With tremendous force instantly applied, he slammed the woman hard to the ground.

With a dull thud, all the wine and food on the long table spilled over, creating a mess of grease that splashed onto Princess Wanfu’s blue palace dress. Though pressed to the ground by Chu Li, she showed no trace of worry or fear, instead challenging him with a frown: “Let go! You’re hurting me!”

Chu Li’s expression remained unchanged as he slowly raised his head to look at the stunned King of Qin, saying word by word in a deep voice: “Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?”

Attendants outside suddenly rushed into the great hall, all the guests immediately panicked and retreated, the hall becoming a complete mess. The various princes of the Qin royal family looked at each other in confusion, clearly no one had anticipated such a situation today. Only the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince showed expressions of delight, looking as if they feared the world wasn’t chaotic enough.

The King of Qin frowned deeply and was about to speak when Le Song suddenly declared loudly: “Even when two armies fight, envoys are not killed, let alone we who came to celebrate His Majesty’s birthday. Acting like this, aren’t you afraid of chilling the hearts of people throughout the world?”

Xu Quan and a group of black-clad guards protected Chu Li, their voices ringing clearly as they said word by word: “Great Qin’s actions are chilling to the bone. Southern Chu’s hundred thousand troops wait outside Xianyang City, with eight hundred thousand naval forces stationed at Baicang Pass, sworn to protect our Great Emperor of Southern Chu to the death.”

The King of Qin looked anxious, shaking his head repeatedly, angrily shouting at Princess Wanfu: “Fu’er! What are you doing?”

“Let me go!” Princess Wanfu turned back in fury: “You’re a seven-foot tall man bullying a weak woman like me – aren’t you ashamed?”

Chu Li glanced at her with indifferent eyes, saying in a deep voice: “Do you consider yourself a weak woman? Attempting assassination in broad daylight before everyone – if you were me, how do you think I should treat you?”

“Did I assassinate you? Ridiculous!” Princess Wanfu sneered, pouting her small mouth with a defiant expression.

The King of Qin clearly hadn’t expected his daughter to act so unreasonably, angrily saying: “Fu’er, quickly apologize to Emperor Chu!”

“I did nothing wrong! Why should I apologize?” Princess Wanfu shouted loudly, turning back to glare viciously at Chu Li, shrilly saying: “You say I tried to assassinate you – then what did I use to assassinate you?”

Chu Li glanced at her but said nothing, his eyes ice-cold without a trace of warmth.

Princess Wanfu showed no concern, sneering coldly, then suddenly bit down hard on Chu Li’s hand. Chu Li winced slightly in pain. He hadn’t expected this little princess to be so unruly, still daring to escape in such circumstances. She grabbed the dagger from the ground, causing the Southern Chu soldiers to cry out in alarm, their bright swords all turning toward her. The Northern Qin people all exclaimed in unison. Just as Princess Wanfu, beautiful as a flower, seemed about to die under the blades, she grabbed the dagger and stuffed it into her mouth!

Everyone was immediately shocked, staring dumbfounded as Princess Wanfu bit by bit ate the entire dagger clean, leaving only the handle which she threw to the ground with a thud. Challengingly raising her eyebrows, she looked at Chu Li and said: “Could this thing assassinate you? Are you made of paper? All fierce and intimidating – no fun at all!”

The King of Qin’s face turned black as he finally darkened his expression, angrily shouting: “Fu’er, what nonsense are you up to now?”

Princess Wanfu stubbornly craned her neck, loudly saying: “I was just testing his mettle. If he can’t even protect himself, how could he protect me in the future? I can’t be like my sisters, casually married off to just anyone by you.”

The King of Qin’s expression became as ugly as possible, but before he could speak, the little princess got up from the ground, patted the dust off her body, and seeing that some stains really couldn’t be wiped clean, stopped bothering. Standing opposite Chu Li with her chest out and head high, she said: “Even if you barely pass, I’ll come find you tomorrow morning. Remember to wait for me at the guest quarters.”

After speaking, she lifted her skirt and ran out with quick steps. Reaching the hall entrance, she didn’t forget to turn back and shout loudly at Chu Li: “Remember to wait for me!”

Then, ignoring everyone’s various expressions, she gracefully departed. Everyone stood dumbfounded, unable to recover for a long time. Yan Hui sat at his seat, shaking his head and sighing: “Qin women are indeed willful and unruly. What a lucky man Emperor Chu is to have such a beauty’s favor! Alas, it seems that meeting you has greatly diminished my charm – how disappointing.”

The King of Qin helplessly sighed, cupping his hands to Chu Li: “I’ve been too indulgent and spoiled her. Children don’t understand – please forgive her, Emperor Chu.”

Chu Li smiled magnanimously: “It was a misunderstanding. No harm done.”

After Princess Wanfu’s disturbance, the atmosphere actually became more lively. Qing Xia sat beside Qin Zhiyan, her palms full of sweat. Feeling Qin Zhiyan’s gaze, she quickly turned to him with a casual smile: “Are you tired? Would you like something to eat?”

Qin Zhiyan gently shook his head, saying softly: “I’m fine. You should eat more – you haven’t eaten much all day.”

“Just seeing these makes me full.” Qing Xia shook her head: “The cook at home makes better food. I want to go back and eat.”

“Alright.” Qin Zhiyan nodded with a gentle smile, warm as water.

“Emperor Chu’s charm is indeed boundless. No wonder he can make women throughout the world sacrifice their lives and throw themselves at him recklessly.” A low voice suddenly spoke slowly, sounding particularly jarring amid the chorus of praise and mutual flattery.

As soon as the words fell, all eyes immediately focused on the speaker. The man wore a black-gold long robe, had handsome features, and exuded an undisguisable aura of evil throughout his body. His eyes were wickedly alluring as he sat in the back row, lazily saying: “Emperor Chu achieved success at a young age with romantic appeal – no wonder women lose their hearts to him. I heard that at White Deer Plains, even the current Princess Xuan nearly lost her life for Emperor Chu. How truly lamentable.”

These words immediately successfully shifted everyone’s attention to Qing Xia. She remained calm, not even lifting her head, picking up her jade cup to lightly sip some fruit wine without showing the slightest reaction.

Chu Li slowly turned to look at the man in the black-gold robe, his eyebrows slightly furrowing. After a long moment, he said thoughtfully: “The Wang clan of Nangong?”

“The Great Emperor has a good memory,” the man smiled slightly, saying: “Two years ago at the Battle of Guilin, I dare not forget. Originally, seeing the Great Emperor, I should perform the courtesy of subject to ruler. Unfortunately, Southern Chu has long since swept the Wang clan out the door. Even if I were to grovel and bow, it couldn’t bring back the eight hundred brave warriors of Nangong.”

“A defeated general, a traitor to the country, still dares to bare his fangs here – simply beyond comprehension. How can such a shameless wretch be allowed to attend the Qin Emperor’s birthday celebration, defiling this magnificent Taihe Hall?”

A clear, crisp voice suddenly rang out. A woman in leopard print with a clear voice sat among the Nanjiang vassal envoys. With gold-outlined eyebrows, bright red lips, and silk ribbons, she stood out prominently among the burly men. Now with murderous intent in her eyes and brows, she angrily shouted.

The man in the black-gold robe slightly curled his lips in a cold smile, mockingly saying: “Ousi Lanya and Wusi Mei’er both died at Southern Chu’s hands, and even my Wang clan was completely uprooted. Hongshi Wuxian, learning from past events to guide future ones – you might be next.”