In the early morning, as the sun rose, the palace gates swung open.
The full ceremonial retinue of the Dou Ling Imperial family poured out in orderly formation. They were surrounded by the citizens of Ling Dou City, whose cheers, roaring like mountains and seas, enveloped the snowy peaks. The representatives of the major powers, along with the envoys from the Tian Hun and Star Luo Empires, had already taken their designated places.
At this moment, Xue Feng was in high spirits. A smile hung on the corner of his lips as he continuously gestured to the crowd in response.
However, his peripheral vision kept glancing toward the spot next to the Star Luo Empire's envoy—the place reserved for the Sun Moon Empire's envoys, where two people should have been standing. But now, it was empty.
A flicker of displeasure instantly flashed through Xue Feng's heart.
He didn't care who had arrived, but who hadn't… of that, he was perfectly clear!
It seemed the Sun Moon Empire had no intention of showing him respect. Fine by him. This would just provide another genuine pretext for military action.
Xue Feng thought to himself.
Just then, a voice, condensed into a thread of sound, entered his ear, causing his entire face to freeze.
"Someone," Xue Feng said, his smile unchanged as he whispered to a nearby aide, "Find Mr. Wu. Have him take men to the Ling Dou Grand Hotel, to the rooms prepared for the Sun Moon Empire envoys. Also, tell Ge Hong to guard the other Sun Moon Empire members. Not a single one is to leave!"
Xue Feng deliberately suppressed his voice, so except for those with profound cultivation and those beside him, no one could hear what he said.
At this moment, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's position.
Chen Junting's ears twitched slightly, and he clearly heard Xue Feng's whisper. After learning that something had happened to the Sun Moon Empire envoys, he almost subconsciously glanced at their empty position, and his gaze met with that of others.
Obviously, everyone thought the Sun Moon Empire was deliberately creating some trouble, intending to ruin this day.
However, most people couldn't care less.
After all, their purpose this time was only to form an alliance and attack the Sun Moon Empire. As for other matters… it had nothing to do with them.
Little did they know, they would soon think differently.
Half an hour later, in the Imperial Study of the Dou Ling Palace.
"You're telling Me that the two envoys from the Sun Moon Empire actually died on our soil? And from poisoned wine, no less."
After the ceremony, Xue Feng had returned to the Imperial Study to await reports. The result, however, was this piece of news: the two Sun Moon Empire envoys had died in their imperial hotel because their wine jug had been poisoned.
At this moment, Xue Feng's tone was flat, his expression normal.
And yet, because of this, his ministers didn't dare to even breathe.
Just at that moment, "Your Majesty."
A eunuch suddenly announced from outside the door.
"The soldiers accompanying the Sun Moon Empire are making a fuss. They say they believe that on a day like this, the Dou Ling Empire would never harm their envoys. It must have been someone else who murdered them, and they demand that the Dou Ling Empire find the culprit. No matter what, they want Your Majesty to give them an explanation."
Seemingly feeling the heavy atmosphere, the eunuch lowered his head with every word he spoke.
"Very good, very good—"
The corners of Xue Feng's mouth turned up. Instead of getting angry, he laughed, and his three successive "goods" made the already silent Imperial Study even more frigid. Everyone present seemed to be holding their breath.
"They want ME to give them an explanation?"
With those words, Xue Feng shot to his feet!
"Prepare the imperial carriage for the Ling Dou Grand Hotel. At the same time, invite the representatives of all major powers and the Tian Hun and Star Luo Empires. We will let them see for themselves what kind of trick the Sun Moon Empire is playing!"
...
"The two envoys sent by the Sun Moon Empire are dead?"
In the room, Chen Junting heard the news. He had been packing his luggage but paused, looking at Ning Tian in surprise.
"That's right."
Ning Tian sat prettily on the edge of the bed, casually picking up Chen Junting's clothes to fold on her lap. "According to the news, those two envoys were poisoned last night. And the accompanying Sun Moon Empire personnel have been placed under house arrest under the pretext of 'preventing further tragedies,' but in reality, it's to stop the situation from escalating. Their protests are completely useless; they're being completely ignored."
Xue Feng certainly has audacity.
But last night's poisoning...
Chen Junting didn't show much reaction. "When?"
"While we were in the meeting."
Ning Tian placed the folded clothes on the bed. "I'm certain those two envoys were not poisoned by any of the allied forces."
"Even..."
At this, Ning Tian hesitated slightly.
Because she thought her own guess was a bit outrageous.
"You're thinking they committed suicide. Right?"
Chen Junting's tone was as calm as ever, stating Ning Tian's guess. Clearly, he wasn't surprised by this answer.
But just because he wasn't surprised didn't mean Ning Tian wasn't.
"Brother Junting, aren't you surprised at all?"
"Anything is possible in this vast world."
Chen Junting casually brushed it off at first. After all, he couldn't exactly say he'd heard of such things in his past life's history. But he still offered an "explanation" later. "To be blunt, it doesn't matter who killed these two envoys now. In fact, for us allied powers, it would be counterproductive."
"Therefore, the only ones who could have done it are the Sun Moon Empire themselves."
Hearing this, Ning Tian nodded first, then frowned slightly.
"But what's their goal? To frame the Dou Ling Empire?"
She tilted her head. "What do you think, Brother Junting?"
"Nothing more than to have a just cause for war."
Chen Junting patted the neatly folded clothes and slowly stood up. But at this moment, his brow furrowed slightly, and he fell into deep thought.
"But the Sun Moon Empire's objective..."
Although he said "a just cause," the Dou Ling and Sun Moon Empires are really too far apart. Could the Sun Moon Empire send troops to Dou Ling, crossing the Tian Hun and Star Luo Empires? And how would they even deploy? Either by sea, bypassing the southern waters of Star Luo or the northern waters of Tian Hun, or by crossing the Extreme North.
The difficulty of either option would be akin to ascending to the heavens.
The costs would far outweigh the benefits.
But if it's not about attacking the Dou Ling Empire… then there's probably only one other goal: to force the Dou Ling Empire, in its attempt to prove its innocence, not to openly participate in this war.
But would it really happen that way?
Just then, "knock, knock, knock—"
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Tian, the new Dou Ling Emperor requests your presence."
Hearing this, Chen Junting and Ning Tian immediately exchanged a look.
At the same time, in the Tian Hun Empire's representative's room.
Wu Dao, representing Xue Feng, had already informed the Tian Hun Empire's representative and the Tian Hun Emperor, who had not yet departed. After learning the details, the Tian Hun Emperor immediately saw the ploy and flew into a rage!
"Wine produced in the Tian Hun Empire!? Very good, very good! We haven't even made our official move against them, and yet they're already coming after me!"
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