The fourth day of July.

Early in the morning, Du Ning put on his court clothes and came to the palace.

At this time, many civil and military officials had gathered outside the Jinluan Hall, waiting for the time to come before going to court.

It was the first time for Du Ning to come to the palace. He was not familiar with the place and was also very unfamiliar with many officials.

Everyone gathered together to discuss the most important things about the barbarians, Xiongnu, grassland tribes, and the court.

"This gentleman is very familiar. Which department is he an official from?"

A middle-aged man suddenly spoke, looking at Du Ning with contempt.

"I don't have an official position yet," Du Ning replied.

"You don't even have an official position, but you are worthy of the Golden Palace?"

The middle-aged man sneered: "Go, go, there's no place to stay where it's cool."

"Master Qian, I advise you not to embarrass him. If you offend someone you shouldn't offend, you will not suffer the consequences."

Another young official glared at the other person and said to Du Ning: "This Lord Qian Chi is the Minister of Justice. He usually has a higher eye than his head. Don't be surprised."

Du Ning was immediately disgusted because the Ministry of Punishment was the department managed by the Eight Wise Kings.

Even a minister is so arrogant, which shows what most officials of the Ministry of Justice are like.

Du Ning waved his hand to the young official and said he wouldn't take it to heart.

Qian Chi said disdainfully: "Who is this kid? I don't dare to mess with him, Qian Chi? That's ridiculous! Get out of my way quickly, don't block my way."

"What if I don't let you?" Du Ning asked with a smile.

"Presumptuous!"

Qian Chi shouted angrily, pointed at Du Ning's nose and said loudly: "Which department official are you from? You dare to talk to me like this, how brave you are!"

"I've always been very courageous," Du Ning said with a smile.

"Okay! How dare you, a new official, talk back!"

Qian Chi was very angry. In front of so many officials, he was so scorned by a newcomer. How could that be okay?

But Du Ning is confident. Could it be that the other party dared to hit someone in front of the Jinluan Palace?

He entered the palace under the emperor's imperial decree. If the other party dared to take action, even the Eight Wise Kings would not be able to protect him.

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded: "Where is Suzhou Duning?"

Everyone followed the sound and saw that it was all the kings coming together.

The person who just asked the question was none other than King Yan.

"Suzhou Du Ning is here." Du Ning responded loudly.

At this moment, all the officials' eyes were focused on Du Ning.

Some officials immediately pointed at the money pool, and some showed expressions of watching a good show.

"What! He is Du Ning from Suzhou!"

Qian Chi's face turned pale in an instant. Du Ning's literary reputation was now at its peak. To show off his authority in front of Du Ning, wouldn't that be just a trick?

"So you are here." King Yan came quickly.

"I've met King Yan." Du Ning held his hand.

"Haha... I am deeply honored that even the famous Mr. Du can recognize me."

The last time King Yan paid a private visit was incognito, so most people didn’t know that this wasn’t the first time the two met.

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An official said: "They are all famous people. Mr. Du recognizes King Yan, but there are some people who look down on others and do not recognize Mr. Du. This has to be said to be a kind of sadness."

After finishing his words, Qian Chi's face turned even paler.

The wise king glanced at Qian Chi with a displeased look on his face.

"What happened?" King Yan asked.

The official immediately told what he had just seen.

Before King Yan could say anything, King Xian scolded him: "You don't know what's wrong with you. Mr. Du is an earl conferred by the late emperor. How can you, a little servant, humiliate him? Why don't you apologize to Mr. Du!"

Qian Chi was delighted when he heard this. This was the wise king's intention to help him out, so he saluted and apologized to Du Ning.

"Qian is blind and neglects the earl. Please forgive me, the earl."

The wise king smiled at Du Ning and said, "Mr. Du, I am not strict with my subordinates, which makes you laugh."

King Yan reminded: "This is the Eight Wise Kings."

"It turns out to be the wise king, whom I have admired for a long time."

Du Ning said: "The Eighth Prince just said something serious. It is said that adults do not care about the faults of small people. I will not take it to heart just a trivial matter."

Qian Chi was furious that Du Ning actually called him a "villain" in public. He would definitely become a laughing stock among civil and military officials in the future.

King Yan agreed: "Master Du is right. You really don't need to be as knowledgeable as some villains, so as not to make you a little unhappy."

Qian Chi's face became even more livid, and even King Yan scolded him rudely. This was simply a great shame and humiliation.

King Xian cast a stern look at Qian Chi, expressing his dissatisfaction with Qian Chi's performance.

"Du Ning, let me introduce you to the other princes."

King Yan gave a brief introduction to Du Ning about the other princes and their departments.

Du Ning greeted everyone with thoughtful etiquette.

All the kings had a good impression of Du Ning, and they started chatting immediately.

Many officials were envious of Du Ning for being able to mingle with the kings all by himself. He was simply an anomaly.

This is the benefit of having a literary reputation. As long as everyone recognizes your literary name, anyone with status will be happy to associate with you.

If it were anyone else, the kings might not say another word to you.

On the surface, Du Ning was in harmony with the wise king, but in fact, he was just showing off in front of the officials.

After secretly fighting several times, the two met for the first time, but they acted extremely chatty, which made many officials of the Xian King Party feel wary.

This shows that Du Ning is also a very dignified person, and he is definitely not a soft persimmon who can be manipulated casually.

"Winter! Winter! Winter!"

The morning bell rings.

Headed by the kings of the six tribes, hundreds of civil and military officials entered the Jinluan Hall in order of official rank.

Du Ning is an earl, and he stands behind the fourth-rank official as a fifth-rank official.

The Jinluan Palace is magnificent and has a majestic air.

All the officials stood under the dragon chair.

"The Emperor has arrived."

As Eunuch Feng's voice sounded, Emperor Hongxuan came to the Jinluan Hall, climbed the nine steps and sat on the dragon chair.

"I see you, Your Majesty. Long live my Emperor."

"My dear friends, no courtesy."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Hongxuan glanced at the ministers, and everyone also looked at Emperor Hongxuan.

After a while, King Yan came out and said: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"Fourth brother, please tell me." Emperor Hongxuan said with a smile.

"I have good news and bad news. I will tell you the good news first. After the human nations learned that the grassland tribe had launched an army to attack our country's western region, they sent envoys to present war horses, chariots, grain, weapons and many other military supplies.

There are six countries, large and small, that have donated money to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Liao Kingdom is not among them. This is a memorial from the minister, which has been handed over to the Ministry of War, and the emperor is invited to view it."

King Yan handed the memorial to Eunuch Feng, who presented it to Emperor Hongxuan.

Du Ning noticed that King Yan deliberately mentioned the word "Liao Kingdom".

Emperor Hongxuan opened the memorial, which recorded in detail the various materials sent by various countries.

"It's rare for all countries to be so considerate and send so many supplies, it's really a timely help!"

"Yes! This is what we call a friend in need, a friend indeed. Although there are national boundaries, they are still of human blood after all."

"Hmph! The Liao Kingdom and our Yun Kingdom are friendly countries. Other countries have expressed their sympathy, but the Liao Kingdom is stingy at this time. It is clear that it is still worried about the dragon boat battle with Suzhou."

"We, the Yun State, do not owe them the Liao State. If they, the Liao State, are interested, we, the Yun State, will definitely be grateful. Since they do nothing, we will not count on them."

"That's right, even without the help of the Liao Kingdom, we can get through the difficulties."

Civil and military officials were whispering to each other.
To be continued...