Chapter 16 The Royal Banquet
Using the lesson of “Lü Bu who killed his adoptive father,” Yin Xiu had secured Herdanba. The next target was naturally his adoptive father, the Hechi King.
We had planned to return together to ask for a marriage decree, but Herdanba suddenly received urgent orders.
He sent four personal guards to escort us back to Dongxia and promised to come propose once his business was finished.
On the road I used my strengths. I fed the soldiers every good thing we carried until all four became muddled and dropped their guard around me.
In a quiet spot I guided them slowly.
“Brothers, our young lady is very anxious. She is only a princess of a weak country. What if the Great King changes his mind later?”
One answered that no man could love such beauty enough and that I worried too much.
I opened the osmanthus wine I had brewed myself with top Fen liquor.
Before long one soldier suggested that in a few days it would be His Majesty’s fiftieth birthday. The princess should attend as a member of the Great King’s family and present a gift to win favor early.
That was exactly the sentence I had been waiting for.
With their guarantee we entered the Hechi King’s birthday banquet as a Dongxia princess.
Coincidentally the Wannu King, Yin Xiu’s father, had also come to congratulate. He knew nothing of Herdanba and assumed Yin Xiu and the Hechi King were in love.
He quickly weighed the benefits and helped his daughter begin the second round of seduction.