Chapter 316 Everyone gets what they need
"Dong Xiaoer likes to invite people to drink tea, but I like to invite people to drink wine. Dong Xiaoer's tea is snow tea that is passed down by word of mouth by young women. My wine is dew wine brewed with rootless water. Miss, Master Liu, please give me a taste."

In the room, accompanied by Tang Cong's intermittent snoring, Liu Xunyi and the other two sat around the table.

Ding Ao personally poured wine for Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen, and enthusiastically introduced his wine-making skills to them.

Liu Xunyi had no interest in this. At the moment he was full of confusion and his mind was in a mess.

"Xunzhen, what exactly is going on?"

Facing Liu Xunyi's anxiety, Xunzhen was calm and composed, with a pleasant look on his face, and said slowly and calmly: "In a nutshell, except for Master Ding San, no one in Yulong Palace can help us now."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xunyi asked in astonishment, "You once said that Prince Shao Qin and Palace Master Ren had a past, why..."

"It's true that Young Prince Qin has a history with Palace Master Ren, but don't forget that Jin Fuyu and Palace Master Ren also have a close relationship." Xunzhen said bluntly, "The palm of your hand is flesh, and the back of your hand is also flesh. Who do you want Palace Master Ren to favor?"

"This..." Being questioned aggressively by Xunzhen, Liu Xunyi was speechless.

Seeing this, Ding Ao chuckled and said jokingly, "Why? Could it be that Master Liu is still unwilling to join forces with me?"

"Join hands with you?" Liu Xunyi snorted and said self-deprecatingly, "You are the Jinling Banner Master of the Jade Dragon Palace, second only to one man and above ten thousand people. How could you join hands with us?"

"That's wrong." Ding Ao curled his lips and said, "Right now, the Palace Master has asked me to take charge of Jinlin and sit in the Central Palace. This is undoubtedly a great trust and respect for me. But for Dong Xiaoer and Huyan Ba, I am an obstacle to their progress. Although the three of us are all flag masters, in the Palace Master's heart, my status is somewhat higher than theirs. Therefore, as long as I am here, they will always be half a head shorter. Compared with me, one of them is young and successful, and the other is hot-blooded. If it were you, would you willingly submit to an old man like me?"

Liu Xunyi raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "You mean, Dong Xiaoer and Hu Yanba support Jin Jianwu to oppose you?"

"Being against me is only one of the reasons. Besides that, there is another reason." Ding Ao said, "Over the years, all dealings with Jinjianwu have been handled by the two of them. Therefore, if we can help the two families join forces and do great things together, their status in Yulong Palace and in the heart of the Palace Master will naturally rise and prosper."

"So you want to use us to consolidate your position?"

Ding Ao smiled helplessly and asked, "I have always been in charge of the exchanges between Yulong Palace and Shao Qin Wang. Isn't it human nature for me to follow Shao Qin Wang's wishes and get close to Xian Wang Mansion?"

"This is not exploitation, but coexistence." Xunzhen said quietly, "Master Ding San helped us to promote the alliance between the Xianwang Mansion and the Yulong Palace. This not only allowed us to complete our mission smoothly, but also helped him to stabilize his position. If we join forces, the two families will coexist. If we stop, both will suffer. Which is more important? You should know."

"You still believe him?" Liu Xunyi pointed at Ding Ao, turned to look at Xunzhen who remained calm, and reminded him, "Don't forget, the fake 'Wind and Rain Picture' was created by this person. He not only deceived me, but also deceived you!"

As soon as these words came out, Ding Ao's face suddenly changed. He looked at Xunzhen with surprise and said hesitantly, "Miss, what fake 'The Storm Turns into Rain'? What does he mean by this?"

Liu Xunyi saw every move and every subtle reaction of Ding Ao.

In fact, Liu Xunyi is not ignorant of the pros and cons and worldly affairs, but pretends to be confused and stubborn. His real purpose is to take this opportunity to find out whether the fake painting was caused by Ding Ao or Xun Zhen?
Faced with Ding Ao's panic, Xunzhen remained calm and unmoved. She continued to drink the wine calmly and replied calmly: "To be honest, the painting 'Wind and Rain' that Mr. Ding San gave to the young king of Qin was later found to be a fake."

"What?" Ding Ao's face was ashen, and his expression was filled with shock but also with a hint of thought.

"Mr. Ding San, shouldn't you give Miss Xunzhen an explanation for this matter?" Liu Xunyi took the opportunity to ask.

"I..." Ding Ao was so confused that he didn't know how to start. "How is this possible? The Jingfenghuayutu can't be fake..."

"How is it impossible?" Liu Xunyi did not give Ding Ao a chance to breathe and asked aggressively, "If the fake picture was not made by you, could it be that Miss Xunzhen was cheating in secret?"

"This……"

"Liu Xunyi!" Suddenly, Xunzhen's expression straightened up and he asked coldly, "Are you here to call me to task? Or are you here to do your job?"

"Of course I'm here to do my job." Liu Xunyi's eyes kept moving between Ding Ao and Xunzhen, and he said with a hint of meaning, "It's just that when you join forces with others, you must be trustworthy. Now, Master Ding San broke his promise first, how can I be calm and open with him?"

"What do you want?" Xunzhen's beautiful eyes turned and stared straight at Liu Xunyi.

"What do I want? You know better than me." Liu Xunyi looked back at Xunzhen without hesitation and said word by word, "Can Mr. Ding San be trusted? You also know better than me! Why don't you tell me, is Mr. Ding San an honest man?"

Facing Liu Xunyi's questioning, Xunzhen smiled vaguely and asked, "At this point, besides trusting him, do we have any other choice?"

"I have no choice. It's better than being cheated again." Liu Xunyi shook his head. "Being tripped by a stone once is 'carelessness', but being tripped by the same stone twice is 'stupidity'. And I don't want to be a stupid person."

"Liu Xunyi, be careful that your cleverness may lead to mistakes." Xunzhen said with a half-smile, "You Han people have a saying, 'Great wisdom appears foolish', and another saying, 'It's a rare blessing to be confused'. You really should learn these two."

"I really want to learn, why don't you teach me?" Liu Xunyi said with a smile.

"Okay!" Xunzhen smiled like a flower and said softly, "If there is a chance, I will definitely teach you how to be a smart person. But now, you must answer me, do you choose to continue to doubt? Or do you choose to believe him again?" "What do you choose?" Liu Xunyi asked back slowly with a sharp gaze and insight.

"I am not from the Xianwang Mansion, so I don't need to choose." Xunzhen shook his head and smiled, "If you don't trust him, let's leave here now."

"you……"

"Do you want me to wake up Tang Cong for you?"

"Wait a moment!"

Ding Ao was confused when he heard the verbal battle between the two people. He suddenly interrupted and said, "What are you talking about? The more I listen, the more confused I get. Could it be that you still have a grudge against me to this day?"

"Liu Xunyi, why don't you explain it to Master Ding San?" Xunzhen smiled. Beneath her beautiful face, there was a hint of weirdness that frightened Liu Xunyi.

"That's all."

Liu Xunyi sighed helplessly, then turned to look at Ding Ao, staring at him for a long time before slowly saying, "For the sake of the Xianwang Mansion, I will trust you once again."

"Oh?" Ding Ao's eyes moved and he asked, "Are you willing to join forces with me?"

"As you said before, if you want to achieve great things, the most important thing is not to be fussy about small details, rather than being penny-wise and pound-foolish." Liu Xunyi raised his wine glass and saluted Ding Ao slightly, then turned to Xun Zhen who was smiling, and said seriously: "No matter what it is for? I hope we can cooperate sincerely and promote good things for the Xianwang Mansion and Yulong Palace."

"That's great! Haha..."

Ding Ao and Liu Xunyi clinked their glasses lightly, then looked at Xunzhen meaningfully, and then drank the wine in the glass.

"Mr. Ding, what exactly is Palace Master Ren thinking? Please tell me frankly." Xunzhen changed the subject and asked in a serious tone, "He invited all three of our families to the mountain. What exactly is his intention?"

"To be honest, I can't guess what the Palace Master is thinking." Ding Ao said with a wry smile, "I only know that the Palace Master has not made up his mind so far. But I am sure that the Palace Master will not give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tianshan Yulong Palace will definitely take this God-given opportunity to rule the Central Plains."

“So Palace Master Ren invited everyone from the Xianwang Mansion, Jinjianwu, and Chifengling to Tianshan. Does he want us to confront each other face to face?” Liu Xunyi pondered.

"Maybe that's the intention." Ding Ao nodded mysteriously, "I want to reveal a piece of news to you."

"what news?"

"Tomorrow at sunset, the Palace Master will hold a five-flavor banquet in Piaomiao Pavilion. At that time, all three of your families will be invited to attend. If my guess is correct, the Palace Master will make the final decision at the banquet tomorrow night. Therefore, you must prepare early. Whether it succeeds or not, you must have a response plan to avoid losing your composure and getting into danger."

"Five-flavor banquet?" Liu Xunyi was stunned when he heard this, and asked in confusion, "What is 'Five-flavor banquet'?"

Ding Ao looked bitter and hesitated, "There are some things I shouldn't say, but... considering our friendship for many years, I will not lie to you anymore. Tomorrow's banquet will not be a good one."

"What do you mean?" Xunzhen asked, "Is tomorrow night going to be a Hongmen Banquet?"

"It's possible." Ding Ao smiled bitterly, "The Palace Master takes this very seriously, so he decides everything. Even the three of us are unaware of the situation. As for the Palace Master's real intention in hosting the banquet, no one knows. The Five Flavors Banquet is a codeword of our Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace, which is divided into sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, and salty. It's called 'five flavors', but in fact it's five difficult hurdles. As for what they are, I dare not say for sure."

Xunzhen murmured thoughtfully, "Five flavors, five flavors... Taking their deep meaning, I'm sure that at tomorrow's banquet, some will be miserable, while others will enjoy it."

"You mean... tomorrow's banquet will have both good and bad things, opportunities and dangers." Liu Xunyi pondered, "As for how many families will be happy and how many will be sad? It all depends on God's will."

"It's not all up to fate." Xunzhen replied inexplicably, "As the saying goes, one monk carries water to eat, two monks carry water to eat, and three monks have no water to eat. So sometimes, it's necessary... things depend on human efforts."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xunyi was secretly shocked, and suddenly felt a chill on his back. But he thought hard for a long time, but still could not understand the true meaning of Xunzhen's words.

Xunzhen ignored Liu Xunyi, and suddenly his expression changed. He hesitated and said, "I wonder if Mr. Ding San will attend the banquet tomorrow night..."

"Don't worry, Dong Xiao'er, Hu Yanba and I will be there to accompany you tomorrow night." Ding Ao said with a smile, "In addition, all twelve hall masters will be present. This shows that the hospitality of the palace master is far beyond our imagination. Hehe..."

"What hospitality? It's clearly Ren Wuya's ambition for the Central Plains martial arts world!" Liu Xunyi's mind was complicated, and he secretly sighed, "Right now, the Central Plains martial arts world is already full of tigers and wolves. Once the Jade Dragon Palace attacks with force, I'm afraid the situation in the martial arts world will become even more confusing. In order to compete for the throne of the leader of the martial arts world, King Beixian and Jin Fuyu actually invited wolves into the house and sought the skin of the tiger. Is it right or wrong for them to do this? What if they raise a tiger to cause trouble? Wouldn't it be endless trouble?"

……

(End of this chapter)