The First Marquis of Leisure

"Breaking news! Breaking news! His Majesty has decreed that in two days, our Great Zhao will hold a poetry competition with the Yan Kingdom in the capital!"

"If the Great Zhao loses, it will have to submit to the State of Yan and sign a treaty. Your Majesty is willing to relinquish your imperial title."

"The State of Yan has lost; it shall never again wage war against our Great Zhao!"

As the news spread, the capital was shaken, and the entire Great Zhao was in an uproar.

This is a contest of the century, a gamble of epic proportions!

The gamble was on the future of both countries, but everyone knew that among the seven kingdoms, Yan was renowned for its literary culture and produced many scholars and poets.

Although the State of Zhao is not bad, it is far inferior to the State of Yan!

There was nothing they could do, so the Yan envoy publicly raised the issue, relentlessly pressuring and humiliating them.

This put Zhao Tianhe in a difficult position, leaving him no choice but to agree!

The outcome was uncertain, but with the great Confucian scholar Zhang Chunqiu in charge, the Zhao state undoubtedly gave countless people confidence.

This also increased the pressure on Zhang Chunqiu, as the fate of the entire Zhao state and its future seemed to rest on his shoulders overnight!

In the Prime Minister's residence

Li Taibei was beaming; he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Zhao Xing had already secretly arrived, and the two of them hid in a secret room, laughing heartily.

Zhang Chunqiu was certain that if he lost, he would become a sinner against the entire Zhao state!

He could only atone for his sins with his death, so that he could fulfill one of the conditions set by the Yan Kingdom!

Zhang Chunqiu lost, and Zhao Tianhe will have to relinquish his imperial title and submit to the Yan state.

He will inevitably lose all prestige and the hearts of the people.

At that time, Crown Prince Zhao Xing will usurp the throne with the support of his cronies!

The true purpose of the Great Yan was never to submit to the Zhao, but to seize the sixteen cities of Nanjun, which were of vital importance to the Great Zhao!

Zhao Tianhe would never cede the sixteen cities of Nanjun, but Zhao Xing would agree to it after ascending the throne.

"This old minister pays his respects to Your Majesty and wishes you a swift ascension to the throne!"

Li Taibei knelt down and began to address Zhao Xing as His Majesty.

Zhao Xing, extremely pleased with himself, stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Lord Li has made a great contribution to this matter. After I ascend the throne, I promise the Li family unparalleled wealth and glory!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Taibei said happily.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

Meanwhile, news of the high-stakes bet between the two countries also reached the Marquis's residence.

Bai Xinghe was very surprised, although he had long known that the visit of the Yan Kingdom's luxurious delegation would lead to an unseen great battle.

But no one expected it to come so fiercely, even jeopardizing the fate of the nation!

Previously, he hadn't taken it seriously, thinking that he could easily outmaneuver the people of Yan in the realm of poetry and literature.

But now we have to be careful. If we lose, we will be despised by the people and become a sinner of the Zhao state!

At the Eighth Prince's residence, the Eighth Prince and Princess Zhao Sisi were also extremely surprised.

Knowing the gravity of the matter, the Eighth Prince disregarded everything else and immediately sent people to invite Tang Wannian and other talented scholars from Jiangnan.

Meanwhile, at the Zhang residence, Zhang Chunqiu trembled all over upon learning the news.

The pressure of the entire nation rests on his shoulders. Even though he is extremely learned and knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times, he is now unable to eat or sleep properly.

"Elder Zhang, I never imagined this competition would be so important. If we are careless, even death for our Zhang family will not be enough to quell the anger of the people!"

Zhang Zhi's face turned pale; he was under too much pressure.

Zhang Chunqiu sighed, and a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"Indeed, if Bai Xinghe hadn't appeared, perhaps the Zhao Kingdom would have been finished. But now that Young Master Bai has emerged out of nowhere, I think Great Zhao won't lose; we will definitely win!"

Although Zhang Zhi had been humiliated by Bai Xinghe before, he absolutely admired Bai Xinghe's talent.

"Zhang Zhi, go immediately to the Eighth Prince's residence, the Third Prince's residence, and the Marquis's residence. Tell them I have important matters to discuss with them!"

.......

Jufulou in the capital

After handling the aftermath of Bai Xinghe's death, Bai Xinghe's injuries had basically recovered.

For safety reasons, he now takes several of the Marquis's personal guards with him when he goes out.

Arriving on the bustling streets of the capital, Bai Xinghe was filled with emotion.

Throughout the capital, the people were talking about nothing but the poetry competition between the states of Yan and Zhao.

Some people thought that the State of Zhao was doomed, after all, the State of Yan had produced many great scholars and writers.

Some people believe that with Zhang Chunqiu in charge, the Zhao state will surely be able to defeat the Yan state.

Bai Xinghe shook his head. Hearing the refugees' discussions, he led a few followers to sit down by the window.

Jufulou was the most luxurious restaurant in the capital, frequented by wealthy merchants and high-ranking officials.

He had been here quite often before, so the staff at Jufulou recognized him as soon as he entered.

However, the previous smiling face was gone, replaced by a mocking expression.

Bai Xinghe naturally knew the reason, after all, everyone knew that his father had passed away and the Marquis's mansion had fallen into ruin.

It's only a matter of time before they face retaliation and their entire family is wiped out. Who would dare to get close to him at this critical juncture?

Bai Xinghe despised these sycophantic people the most. He used to be a notorious spendthrift who would spend lavishly on tips for waiters.

"Waiter, come here and make some tea. Can't you see I'm here?"

Bai Xinghe shouted at the guy who was ignoring him.

A sneer flashed across the boy's lips as he reluctantly carried the teapot over.

"Oh, isn't this Young Master Bai from the Marquis's residence? Young Master Bai, instead of observing mourning at the Marquis's residence, you've run off out to fool around again!"

These words thoroughly enraged Bai Xinghe.

He stood up and slapped him across the face instantly.

"You dog of a servant, who gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

The waiter was stunned for a moment. Although it was only a matter of time before the Marquis's family fell out of power and was retaliated against, it was certainly not something a teahouse waiter like him could afford to offend.

The waiter covered his face and walked away. Not long after, Chen Nian, the owner of Jufulou, came over in person.

"Oh, Young Master Bai, you have quite the temper, daring to beat up my people at Jufu Restaurant."

Chen Nian was a relative of Chen Feng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Chen Feng was a confidant of Li Taibei.

Therefore, Chen Nian already knew about the Marquis's affairs.

In the past, he wouldn't have dared to go too far; at most, he would have just taken advantage of Bai Xinghe.

Now he doesn't take Bai Xinghe seriously at all.

"I'll beat this dog-mouthed lackey who can't utter a single decent word. What do you think?"

"Hmph!" Chen Nian said coldly, "Bai Xinghe, do you still think this is the same as before? If you know what's good for you, apologize to my man right now and pay him five hundred taels in compensation. That'll be it."

"Otherwise, Chen Mouding will make you regret it!"

"Hahaha!" Bai Xinghe burst into laughter.

I never imagined that a restaurant owner would dare to act so arrogantly and domineeringly.

"Listen up, you surnamed Chen. Whether it was in the past, now, or in the future, dealing with you will be as easy for me as crushing an ant on the roadside!"

Chen Nian, however, was unconvinced and retorted angrily, "Is that so? Bai Xinghe, your father is dead, and all his cronies have been purged. Do you still think you're the heir of the Marquis of Zhenguo's mansion?"

"Pah! You're nothing but a good-for-nothing!"

At Chen Nian's command, several shop assistants rushed out of the store.

But when these guys saw that it was Bai Xinghe, they still hesitated a bit, after all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

"What am I keeping you around for? Attack! I'm telling you, everyone in the Zhenguo Marquis's mansion is going to die. Don't be afraid of him, charge!"

Under Chen Nian's threat, the group of men gritted their teeth and charged forward.

Bai Xinghe didn't take it to heart. The few attendants he brought were all personal guards of the Marquis's mansion, veterans of countless battles, so dealing with a few employees was naturally a piece of cake for them.

Soon, several waiters from Jufulou were knocked to the ground.

Seeing this, Bai Xinghe immediately ordered, "Smash it! Smash this Jufulou restaurant for me!"