C100

"Your grace is still the same as it was before. Today, Your Highness will personally call for troops. In the future, you will lead troops to war, and you will be able to destroy the Fengyuan Finger …"

The hall was filled with the sounds of flattery, and Shang Qiuyuan stopped in his tracks and looked towards the hall. There were a few people, some of whom he knew, some of whom he was not familiar with.

A middle-aged man sat on the chair in the middle of the room. It was covered with a white tiger skin. He had a head full of black hair without a single strand of white hair. On his handsome face, there was a trace of a smile, and his sinister eyes were intimidating.

"Reporting to Your Highness, I, Ji Bei Hou, and Shang Qiuyuan have come to seek an audience."

The gazes of the nine heavens of the palace stared outside of the great hall. There was a man clad in white standing in the middle of the great hall, his head full of silver hair floating in the wind.

"Send it to him."

Shang Qiuyuan slowly walked into the hall, lowering his head slightly. He came before the King's table and knelt on the ground. "This general pays his respects to Your Highness."

Gong Jiu smiled and walked out of the golden chair. He supported Shang Qiuyuan with both hands, sizing him up from head to toe with a look of admiration.

"There's no need to be so courteous, Duo Bei. Someone come and give a seat to Duo Bei."

Shang Qiuyuan gave a slight bow and said humbly, "Your Highness, how can there be a seat for this lowly general? This lowly general does not dare to go overboard."

"It's fine. I've called you here today. This King has something to discuss with you. Please sit down and listen to this king."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I am afraid."

Gong Jiu returned to his seat and stared at Shang Qiuyuan for a long time without saying a word. Shang Qiuyuan sat sideways at the bottom, bowing his head slightly to show his respect.

"Ai, it's a pity that This King didn't notice a descendant like Bei Hou. Otherwise, I would have died in peace."

"Your Highness, Your Majesty has heard that he intends to invite Your Highness to select a young talent as his successor, so that he can perform filial piety under Your Highness and inherit Your Highness' heritage in the service of the Southern Champion. "Since that's the case, why don't you accept me as your son, your highness? This subject congratulates you first."

"Your words are true. Your highness has worked for the country for no one, so you should accept the Marquis as your son."

For a moment, all the people in the hall started talking. The eyes of the palace's Nine Heavens set on Shang Qiuyuan, waiting to see what his original expression would be. What he was most worried about was that Shang Qiuyuan would refuse him and would not give him face. If so …

A sinister light flashed in his unfathomable eyes. His will could not be disobeyed.

The main hall was quite lively today. Everyone already knew that the Prince Shoulder had the intention of taking in Shang Qiu Yuan as his son and getting his approval. Therefore, when the Emperor Palace's voice sounded out, everyone urged the Prince Shoulder to take in Shang Qiu as his son. Although in their hearts, they did not agree with what he was doing nor did they think that he would agree, but no one dared to disobey him.

In the imperial court, the Sovereign King of the Southern Champion still had to address Gong Jiu as "Royal Father." In the throne room, there had always been a throne that was placed side by side.

Even if he didn't ascend to the throne, his position would still remain firmly in the throne room, showing his nobility and indispensability.

Amidst the disturbance, Shang Qiuyuan was like a white lotus in the silt, indifferently sitting below. He tilted his head slightly, his face was abnormally calm as he lowered his eyelids. Nine days ago, he had been unable to see the expression in Shang Qiuyuan's eyes.

He slightly raised his hand to stop the crowd from speaking any further and signaled with his eyes.

He Mo laughed, "Everyone, there's no need to speak further. I don't know the meaning behind sweeping such a beautiful affair. Master Hou, the Prince intended to take the Marquis as his son to inherit the family's foundation. Now, the Marquis was staying in the Southern Champion City and had no family to accompany him. If the Marquis kowtowed to the Prince, he would also have a family business in the Southern Champion City. "Your Majesty is willing to give the princess a marriage gift to her descendant. Your Lordship definitely won't refuse such a favor, right?"

The gazes of jealousy, envy, sarcasm, disdain, and so on fell on Shang Qiuyuan in an instant. Regardless of whether he agreed or not, it caused these people to feel endless jealousy and hatred.

Yesterday in the palace, the Emperor bestowed him with a bath, which already caused many discontent. An imperial edict had ordered him to command the three armies into battle, and he had even bestowed three battalions of the imperial guards to Shang Qiuyuan. All of the officials' eyes had reddened.

The imperial edict bestowed upon Shang Qiuyuan the convenience to act. Such a favor, the Southern Champion officials had never had such a chance. All the court officials were filled with jealousy and indignation. What right did a vassal have to receive such favors from His Majesty? However, Huo Ni Shou couldn't get sick, so he didn't want to see the court officials, thus making it impossible for the court officials to release their anger.

Today, the Shoulder Emperor had conveyed his intention of taking in Shang Qiuyuan as his son, shocking all the officials present. There were even many ministers who wanted King Shun to change his mind and take in their son as his son.

Everyone looked coldly at Shang Qiuyuan. If he refused, then the future of this Marquis, who was going to sweep the north, would be bleak. Whether he could return from Fengyuan would be a problem. The situation on the battlefield changed, so it was normal for people to die in battle. No one could say anything about it.

The Shoulder King himself led the troops. Shang Qiuyuan was also under his control, so it was easy for him to kill a person on the battlefield.

If Shang Qiuyuan agreed, he would become the laughingstock of the five kingdoms. He was once the prince consort of Fengyuan, a great general of the State of Zhao, yet he surrendered to the Southern Champion Kingdom. His reputation had already spread; if he were to kowtow to the King as his father again, he would definitely laugh for the rest of his life.

All eyes fell on Shang Qiuyuan, looking at this white-robed, silver-haired man. Even if they were jealous, they had no choice but to admit that Shang Qiuyuan's elegance far surpassed their own or their children's.

There was a smile on He Mo's face as he gazed at the silent Shang Qiuyuan. He had already received the emperor's order for him to follow Shang Qiuyuan's lead and dispatch troops to Fengyuan. However, he had no right to decide what to do and how to do it.

This morning, news had spread that the emperor had handed over the sole prince to the empress for nurturing, and the emperor was bedridden with illness. The court officials had rushed to him like a flock of birds, flocking to the side of the king.

Gong Jiu stared darkly at Shang Qiuyuan. He could not see what Shang Qiuyuan's intentions were, so he sat silently at the bottom with neither surprise nor panic. Calmly hanging his head, he seemed to be thinking of something. The surrounding voices surged past Shang Qiuyuan like an undercurrent.

"Your Highness, what do you mean? But if you say so, Your Highness will not accept any punishment."

He slowly raised his head, his silver hair fluttering as he swept the crowd with his warm and indifferent gaze. It was just a group of clowns, and upon receiving news that the emperor was gravely ill, they all gathered at the Mansion of the Prince when the prince was handed over to the empress for nurturing. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart. If they knew that the Emperor was pretending to be sick, what expression would they have?

Sweeping his eyes across the nine heavens of the palace, he noticed that the King who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Emperor had wrinkles on his face. Although he didn't have a single strand of white hair and his body was perfectly straight, he was old.

A warm and humble smile appeared on his face. He had already made his decision last night, so how could he be in a difficult position? However, the scene was still going to play out. He only wanted to see the pale expressions of the crowd after a while.

"Sir He, I'm just a vassal. How would I dare to have such delusions? Your highness is such a noble person, your Southern Champion Kingdom is as talented as a carp that has crossed the river. If Your highness wanted to choose his son, there would definitely be many talented people coming for you, all afraid that I won't be able to enter your eyes. "

"Your Lordship's words are wrong. The person Your Lordship admires the most is Your Lordship. Right now, Your Lordship wants to take Your Lordship in as his son. I presume Your Lordship will not disappoint Your Lordship."

Shang Qiuyuan smiled slightly, raising his head to look at Gong Jiu. "Your Highness really has this intention?"

A tinge of cold arrogance could be seen on Gong Jiu's face as he looked at Shang Qiuyuan. Was this person trying to reject him? The news that the Emperor wanted to take in Shang Qiu as his son was just a signal. Since the Emperor wanted to place this person in his hands and pamper him, he had to take this person into his own hands.

This was because Shang Qiu was originally Fengyuan's prince consort, the great general. If this person was to be used by him, it would save a lot of effort to flatten Fengyuan.

If Shang Qiuyuan rejected, he had countless ways to make this person die for the country, drinking his hatred for Fengyuan. If Shang Qiuyuan accepted it, he would just have one more chess piece that he could use. The credit would still be his, and the emperor would inevitably be suspicious in his heart and would no longer be so pampered by Shang Qiuyuan.

No matter what, the one who profited was always him, and the one who suffered would always be others.

He intended to take in Shang Qiuyuan as his son, because Huo Ni Lin had given him a bath and issued an imperial edict yesterday, ordering Shang Qiuyuan to command the three armies to march on Fengyuan. The first person that came to mind when Gong Huanfeng told him that Huo Tienglin wanted him to choose a talented youth as his heir was Shang Qiuyuan.

"Shang Qiuyuan, could it be that you're not willing?"

"I am afraid that I will not be able to enter the eyes of the prince. I am unworthy of the prince's favor."

Gong Jiu gave a meaningful smile. Was this considered a tactful rejection?

"Shang Qiuyuan, this king intends to take you in as his son, but he doesn't force you. If you are willing to serve under this king, you will be his successor in the future. His Majesty also has an edict bestowing the princess as his wife. Now, what do you think? "

On his handsome face, there was an indeterminate smile on his face, and his eyes were filled with dark clouds. No one had ever dared to go against his intentions, at least not in the land of the Southern Champion. Those who dared to disobey his will had already become dead people.

"This son greets royal father, and is willing to perform filial piety under your royal father to help share his worries."

Shang Qiuyuan lifted his clothes and knelt on the ground, kowtowing and heavily kowtowing.

Everyone was shocked. No one had expected that Shang Qiuyuan would actually have no hesitation whatsoever to kneel before the palace so easily, addressing the palace as "royal father" and bowing to the palace.

Gong Jiu lowered his head to look at Shang Qiuyuan kneeling in front of him. His eyes slightly narrowed as he was also extremely shocked in his heart. If Shang Qiuyuan rejected him, tactfully declined or was in a difficult position, he would not be surprised. But, for Shang Qiuyuan to be willing to be his son without the slightest hesitation was beyond his expectations.

The great hall immediately became silent. Some people revealed expressions of disdain in their eyes.

Shang Qiu was originally the prince consort of Fengyuan, a great general of his country. He was so humble that he had forgotten everything, even trying to degrade himself. He was willing to be the son of the palace for nine days. This caused their hearts to be filled with contempt.

However, these thoughts could only be concealed in his heart. He didn't dare reveal them. Presently, Shang Qiuyuan was the son of the Prince Jian, and the identity of the young prince was sufficient to cause them to be slightly fearful.

No one knew whether the King of Shoulder and Shoulder's heart would really treat Shang Qiuyuan as if he were his own, passing down his vast family fortune, along with the hereditary throne of Shoulder and Shoulder King, to Shang Qiuyuan. However, they all knew that the palace had no children for nine days, so their suspicions were extremely serious. Although they had a lot of trusted aides, there were probably only a few who could truly obtain his trust.