I started as an exile, and I relied on space to support my family of loyal heroes.

Shi Qiang stood up and gave a dry laugh.

"It's because General Cong hasn't arrived yet, so the meat and dishes haven't been served."

"It's freezing cold, meat and vegetables won't taste good if they're cold."

As he said this, Shi Qiang shouted to the deputy general,

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and serve the meat and vegetables. Don't delay General Cong from drinking."

“.....Yes.” The deputy general rolled his eyes silently and turned to serve the unprepared meat dishes.

Anyway, he won't have to come back once he goes out, so just pretend.

After Shi Qiang watched the deputy general leave, he walked from his seat to Cong Chongqiu and said with a smile,

"Oh my, look at what has happened. I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. Please forgive me."

"Come, I'll drink a glass of wine to make amends to you."

Having said that, Shi Qiang turned around and walked to the table, picked up the wine jug, poured himself a glass, and drank it down with his head tilted back.

Then he showed the empty wine glass to Cong Chongqiu and grinned.

“I did it…”

Cong Chongqiu watched Shi Qiang's performance with a faint smile, and said quietly,

"General Shi is quite good at entertaining himself. He prepared meat and vegetables to go with the wine in advance."

"This wine tastes like meat."

Shi Qiang paused, pursed his lips awkwardly, and swept his tongue across his teeth.

When he saw the piece of meat stuck in his throat, he looked even more embarrassed.

He had been thinking all afternoon about how to coax Cong Chongqiu into drinking the poisoned wine. He was nervous and scared, so he didn't notice that there was such a large piece of meat stuck in his teeth.

Shi Qiang used his flexible tongue to hook the piece of meat off with some effort, and smiled at Cong Chongqiu.

"Where is the meat? I haven't seen meat in days. Life is so hard."

When Shi Qiang smiled, half of the meat stuck in his teeth disappeared, and the remaining half hung there.

The old patriarch looked at Shi Qiang with disdain.

Originally, he didn't need to come. He could just wait for Shi Qiang to give Cong Chongqiu the poisoned wine. If the empress pursued the matter later, he would be able to get away with it cleanly.

But Shi Qiang sent someone to invite him, saying that if he didn't come, Cong Chongqiu would not come.

This useless thing can't even invite people to dinner.

He was afraid that if he refused too much, Shi Qiang's people would keep running back and forth to him, which would arouse Cong Chongqiu's suspicion, so he had no choice but to come to the banquet.

Looking at this embarrassing scene now, he felt very regretful.

Cong Chongqiu raised his eyebrows and stared at Shi Qiang's mouth.

"Really!?"

Cong Chongqiu looked around and said, "Why do I smell meat?"

"Old Patriarch, do you smell it?"

Cong Chongqiu smiled faintly and looked at the old patriarch.

The old patriarch's mouth twitched twice, and he stood up with a smile and walked towards Cong Chongqiu.

"Oh, I think General Cong wants to eat meat too much."

"Don't worry, I've asked someone to prepare the meat. General Cong can't be without meat for his wine."

As he spoke, the old patriarch stopped when he was two steps away from Cong Chongqiu.

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, so it is better for him not to get too close to Cong Chongqiu.

The old patriarch glanced at the four assassins following closely behind him and felt a little relieved.

These are the tribe's top warriors. Even with four of them fighting against Cong Chongqiu, he still had time to run away.

There were a hundred secret guards lying in ambush outside the tent. As long as he ran out of the tent, Cong Chongqiu would not be able to catch him.

By then, Cong Chongqiu will be trapped in a jar.

Cong Chongqiu saw that the old patriarch was about to walk up to him. Just as he was ready to make a move, the old man stopped vigilantly.

Shi Qiang saw the old patriarch come to his rescue and quickly followed suit.

"Yes, yes, you must want to eat meat."

"As for me, I admire General Cong the most. Life on the border is so hard. You can't eat meat for ten days or half a month. It's not a life for human beings."

"General Cong has been guarding this place for more than ten years. It's really admirable!"

"I didn't realize that General Shi admired me so much."

Cong Chongqiu pulled his lips into a smile and cast an indifferent gaze on Shi Qiang, without any politeness at all.

They have never gotten along well, and if he suddenly became polite like Shi Qiang, it would arouse suspicion.

If Shi Qiang didn't want to harm him and really wanted to treat him to a meal to apologize, he might not give Shi Qiang this face.

In his eyes, Shi Qiang's reputation is not even as important as a hair of his soldiers.

So many soldiers were killed by Shi Qiang, how could a meal of apology turn the hostility into friendship?

Only if Shi Qiang apologizes with his own death can the souls of the soldiers in heaven be comforted.

Shi Qiang's fake smile froze on his face, and the anger in his heart had already rushed to the back of his head.

You are shameless if I give you the chance. You will beg for mercy later.

Shi Qiangyan pulled the corner of his lips, holding the wine glass and wine pot and walked to Cong Chongqiu.

"General Cong is very generous. I have offended you in the past. I hope you will forgive me for the fact that we both serve the Xiliang Kingdom!"

"We are facing a powerful enemy. We should unite as one and fight against it together."

"General Cong has more experience than me. From now on, I will listen to General Cong on matters of warfare."

The old patriarch thought Shi Qiang's words seemed quite sincere and looked at him with a slightly higher opinion of him.

At least it is still useful at critical moments.

"Two generals," the old patriarch said with a smile.

"Our top priority now is to unite and jointly resist foreign enemies. Personal grudges should be put aside for the moment. For the safety of Xiliang and the well-being of the people, we must work together."

"Come on, let's have a drink together, and all the past grudges will be wiped out."

As he spoke, the old patriarch raised his chin towards Shi Qiang.

"Why don't you toast to General Cong?"

"Yes, yes, yes~" Shi Qiang nodded repeatedly, picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the glass. At the moment of pouring the wine, his thumb moved slightly to the right.

"It's all my fault. Let's drink and forget all the grudges."

Shi Qiang nervously filled a glass of wine as he spoke, his hand holding the glass trembling slightly with excitement.

Cong Chongqiu looked at Shi Qiang's subtle thumb movements, and a dark current flashed in his eyes.

Two Heart Pot...

It's hard for these two to go to the trouble to collect this filthy stuff.

This thing obviously belongs to the Wu Ma family.

The old patriarch nervously watched Shi Qiang pouring the wine, while secretly observing Cong Chongqiu's expression, fearing that he might notice something.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the tent seemed to become tense.

The old man couldn't help but move half a step forward and said with a smile,

"Your Majesty will certainly be relieved to know that you have put aside your past grievances."

"Let's work together to plan strategies in the future, and we will be invincible..."

When people are nervous, they either become fidgety or talk a lot of nonsense.

The old patriarch couldn't help but talk more nonsense, trying to divert Cong Chongqiu's attention, fearing that he would discover something strange about the wine jug.