Chapter 149: A Small Banquet Gathering

At this time, anyone who came to Baiya Prefecture held nothing but the utmost respect for the Wei Wang, and even someone of such high status as Grand Eunuch Lao Zhou came out in person to welcome him.

Qingzhou is in the far east of the Longyan Dynasty, nearly three thousand li away from Liangzhou; it is the true heartland of the Central Plains, and having managed it for many years, the Wei Wang possesses formidable strength—who would dare not show him respect?

On that horse carriage, which rivaled the majesty of the imperial family, the curtain was also pulled aside.

A middle-aged man with a heroic and imposing stature slowly stepped out.

"Greetings to the Wei Wang!"

"The Wei Wang is peerless under heaven!"

This person appeared to be around fifty years old, with a beard covering half his face and an air of authority on the other; his two piercing eyes, wherever they looked, naturally exerted a pressure that made people afraid to meet his gaze directly.

The Wei Wang, Wei Shumou!

A Feudatory King of Longyan without a doubt, looking down upon the world with an overbearing aura.

"Hahahaha, good, good, you have all arrived, have you?"

Wei Shumou walked over, accompanied by another person. Liu Zheng looked toward that man; he was also a burly fellow, and if taken alone and placed in a crowd, he would also be an eye-catching presence, but walking beside the powerful Wei Wang, he seemed somewhat overshadowed.

"Young Master Liu, that is the elder brother, Wei Shao!"

Yang Ke whispered.

Liu Zheng nodded.

This Wei Shao had a square face with prominently protruding temples; at a glance, he was clearly a martial arts expert with astonishing skills, and his tiger-like stride truly carried the prestige of the leader of the Baiya Army.

Wei Shao cleared the path, and the Wei Wang followed behind.

At this, those welcoming the Wei Wang began to greet him with great enthusiasm; the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were both extremely warm, and in front of Wei Shumou, they dared not act arrogant in the slightest.

The Lu Wang, Zheng Yuxing, was the same, not to mention those lesser kings; the Runan Wang, Huinan Wang, and Jiangnan Wang, upon seeing the Wei Wang, were as obedient as grandsons seeing their grandfather.

The Wei Wang also smiled and greeted them one by one, before arriving in front of Grand Eunuch Lao Zhou, stopping to smile.

Grand Eunuch Lao Zhou was just about to cup his hands in salute.

The Wei Wang laughed heartily and gave him a bear hug: "Lao Zhou, seeing that you are still alive and well, I can finally rest easy!"

These words were spoken with heroic spirit, without a shred of hypocrisy.

Grand Eunuch Lao Zhou said with a feminine tone: "With the Wei Wang thinking of me, I must ensure I see all our old friends off to their graves before I go."

The Wei Wang was taken aback, then laughed: "Good, good, good! You know, looking across this entire Longyan, there are so many filthy wretches and worthless upstarts in power! Only you, Lao Zhou, dare to say such things in front of me. Good, how refreshing!"

With this single sentence, he insulted quite a few people present.

The ridiculous thing was that these people still had to accompany him with forced smiles.

The Wei Wang and Grand Eunuch Lao Zhou walked arm in arm, entering Baiya City together.

Liu Zheng could not be bothered to watch this hypocritical performance; ever since the Wei Wang's procession appeared, his eyes had been fixed on those three thousand elite soldiers.

Powerful!

Domineering!

Was this the personal guard of the number one Feudatory King in the world?

Before, he had been wondering how the Wei Wang, far away in Qingzhou, could possibly have come to Baiya from over three thousand li away. And with only three thousand personal guards, was he really not afraid of what the old Emperor might do to him?

At this moment, Liu Zheng finally understood the difference between himself and these true big shots; he feared that every one of these three thousand armored soldiers could trade blows with Qin Zhangfeng!

Suddenly, a sense of martial power surged in his heart.

Following at the very tail end of this large procession, Liu Zheng realized his own insignificance; at this moment, he was like a small boat in this era, liable to be capsized by the wind and waves at any time, with no chance of ever rising again.

But at the same time, his heart was filled with grand aspirations.

With big shots gathered here, though he was small, if he could steer even a fraction of the direction in this chaotic situation, it would not be in vain that he risked his life to venture into this Baiya Prefecture!

The Wei Wang already had white hair on his head, but he, he was still in his prime!

In an instant, the depression in his heart dissipated, and Liu Zheng's heart was once again filled with fighting spirit.

The banquet to welcome the Wei Wang was also extremely grand.

Both host and guests were delighted.

Liu Zheng had originally huddled in a corner with Du Biao and Yang Ke, watching the various big shots present... under Yang Ke's introduction, Liu Zheng secretly committed them to memory.

Other Feudatory Kings would be discussed later.

Liu Zheng paid special attention to the Yong Wang from Hanzhong. Because according to the development plan established by Qingyang Shuo, once the matters here in Baiya were finished, they could plot against Hanzhong.

This Yong Wang was a very fat man, covered in rolls of fat, with a fawning smile for everyone.

This made Liu Zheng feel somewhat vigilant; everyone said the Yong Wang was dim-witted, but in reality, this kind of slippery character who told people what they wanted to hear was the most difficult to deal with.

Since the banquet began, this Yong Wang had toasted everyone with a very humble attitude, and in the end, he did not even spare Yang Ke and Liu Zheng's side.

During the banquet, those people all looked at this Yong Wang with mocking and contemptuous eyes, and some even ridiculed him.

Only Liu Zheng clinked glasses with him in all seriousness.

When the Yong Wang left, he stumbled and looked back at Liu Zheng.

Amidst the drinking and merriment.

Suddenly, the Wei Wang, sitting in the center, laughed loudly: "I hear the Governor Liu, who achieved the greatest merit in resisting the Xiongnu, is also at the banquet?"

Liu Zheng gave a bitter smile.

As expected.

The gazes, like a rustling sound, were cast upon him once again.

Liu Zheng was already tired of this so-called "hero" title; it always made him feel uncomfortable wherever he went. Sure enough, people fear fame just as pigs fear getting fat...

He could only stand up with his wine cup: "Liu Zheng pays his respects to the Wei Wang!"

The Wei Wang's falcon-like gaze landed on Liu Zheng, instantly making him feel as if he had been targeted by a predator; Liu Zheng felt a sense of dread in his heart and could only bury his head in his chest, not daring to speak.

The Wei Wang suddenly smiled: "Governor Liu, I am not a venomous snake, what is there to fear? Raise your head!"

Raise his head again?

Liu Zheng could not help but smile bitterly, and could only obediently raise his head.

"Good, good, good, what a fine Prefect Liu!"

The Prince of Wei watched for a moment, then raised his cup and laughed heartily, draining the wine in one gulp; Liu Zheng hurriedly followed suit, and the fiery sip of White Jade Capital nearly made him drunk.

Crown Prince Xie Fang teased from the side: "I truly did not know Prefect Liu's capacity for alcohol was so astonishing; when we were at the front lines, we never had the leisure to get drunk together, what a regret in life!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the others also began to clamor, picking up their wine goblets one after another and looking at Liu Zheng with ill intent.

Liu Zheng immediately felt a headache, cursing inwardly; this White Jade Capital was sixty or seventy-degree alcohol, if he drank it goblet by goblet, wouldn't it cost him his life?

This Crown Prince was truly petty and vengeful, even in an occasion like this he had to trip him up, and he would only be satisfied if he made him lose face.

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly and said: "Crown Prince, Liu Zheng cannot hold his liquor, I am already feeling a bit dizzy..."

The Crown Prince let out an 'oh' and said deliberately: "Prefect Liu is the number one meritorious official, whose rewards make people green with envy; if you even try to shirk a few goblets of wine, could it be that you look down upon the heroes of the world gathered here today?"

The others also roared with laughter and chimed in.

"That's right, that's right, you must at least have one goblet with each person!"

"Prefect Liu, even the Prince of Runan has spoken, you cannot defy this favor!"

The Prince of Wei also looked on with interest, making no move to stop them.

Liu Zheng did not know whether to laugh or cry.

One goblet with each person?

If he went through this whole circle, he would surely die!

He wanted to see how this world-renowned number one talent would break such a small trap.