My Sexy CEO Wife

Chapter 584 - 581: Was There Really a Sneak Attack?

Dugu Jingtian sat aloft, surveying the expressions of all the guests, and said without changing his tone, "During this campaign against the bandits, one person made a great contribution, and that person is Wan Fuchang Gao Fei! He alone eliminated tens of thousands of bandits, truly invincible and brave." He paused for a moment, and then continued, "Gao Fei is both courageous and strategic, I appreciate him a lot, and I will focus on nurturing and promoting him in the future... A few days ago, a group of assassins sneaked into the army camp to assassinate Gao Fei." At this point, Dugu Jingtian's voice became stern, "Some say that these assassins were sent by the various Sects and noble families."

"Slander! Absolute slander!"

"Framing! Absolute framing!"

"That's not true! We have nothing to do with assassins!"

Many guests stood up, shouting loudly.

"Actually, I don't believe it either," Dugu Jingtian said indifferently: "Over the years, I have lived in peace with the various sects and noble families, hardly ever clashing. I don't believe the sects and noble families would send assassins to kill Gao Fei." This was the brilliance of Dugu Jingtian, who, despite knowing the truth, chose not to expose it, thus saving face for the sects and noble families.

"Thank You, Emperor, for Your trust."

"With the Emperor's words, we feel at ease."

"Emperor, please rest assured, we will assist the officials in capturing the assassins, and then our suspicions will be cleared."

...

"Good," Dugu Jingtian nodded with a smile, "With your help, I believe the assassins will be caught very soon! I would like to make a statement now, no matter the identity of the assassins, I will punish them severely, one by one, a hundred by a hundred, showing no mercy."

Those seated were no fools; they all understood the underlying meaning in Dugu Jingtian's words.

Putting it plainly, Dugu Jingtian was warning the sects and noble families to stay in line and not to commit any oversteps.

Would the warning be effective?

It would definitely have an effect, but as to how significant... that would need to be verified over time.

After issuing a few warnings, Dugu Jingtian switched the subject, chatting and drinking with the guests, and the atmosphere, once cooled, began to warm up again.

As the banquet was coming to an end, Dongfang Jian walked over with a cup of wine, pulled out the chair next to Gao Fei and sat down, then looked at Gao Fei with a smile, "Come, to the hero, I toast to you, wishing you smooth sailing in your career and rapid promotion."

"You are not welcome here, please leave," Gao Fei said icily.

"Just one cup, give me some face."

"I can give face to anyone, except you."

"Since I have come over, you must drink with me, or I will not leave," Dongfang Jian acted shamelessly.

"If you like sitting here so much, then I'll let you have it," Gao Fei said, pushing back his chair to stand up, lifting his foot to leave.

"Where do you think you're going..." Dongfang Jian reached out and grabbed Gao Fei's sleeve, "Finish what you were saying before you go..."

"Get lost," Gao Fei shook him off forcefully.

"Ouch!" Dongfang Jian fell off the chair and lay on the ground, yelling loudly, "Ouch, it hurts to death... Gao Fei, you despicable coward... to attack me stealthily..." Dongfang Jian's shouting was loud, startling everyone, even Emperor Dugu Jingtian turned his head to look over.

Gao Fei looked at Dongfang Jian with a grim expression, "You're really shameless!" Gao Fei had only flicked his sleeve, didn't touch Dongfang Jian's body at all. Dongfang Jian's fall was completely staged.

"Dongfang Jian, what happened to you!" Bai Mudan ran over from afar, helping Dongfang Jian up, her face full of anxiety asked, "What happened to you?"

"Cough cough cough..." Dongfang Jian clutched his chest, coughed violently a few times, "It was Gao Fei... he took advantage when I was not paying attention... and launched a stealth attack on me... cough cough cough..."

"Swoosh!"

Bai Mudan abruptly turned her head, glaring at Gao Fei, "Why did you ambush Dongfang Jian? Why!!!"

"I didn't ambush him," Gao Fei said indifferently, "He was pretending."

"Nonsense!" Bai Mudan scolded, "Dongfang Jian isn't a fool, why would he pretend to be injured? To lose face in front of so many guests? It must have been you who ambushed Dongfang Jian!"

Gao Fei's expression darkened, "I said I didn't ambush him, believe it or not."

"Cough cough cough..." Dongfang Jian's face turned pale as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his breath instantly became weak, leaning on Bai Mudan, he gasped and said, "Gao Fei... I didn't expect you to be so despicable and shameless... to ambush me... and not even admit it... I... I... cough cough cough..."

Facial muscles twitching, Gao Fei sneered, "Dongfang Jian, you're quite the actor, if you were to become an actor, you would certainly win the Best Actor award."

"What has happened?" Emperor Dugu Jingtian asked, feeling somewhat puzzled, "What's the matter with this Gao Fei? Why is he always getting into disputes with people?"

"Your Majesty..." Dongfang Jian said with a face full of grievance, "Gao Fei and I are old acquaintances. I was very happy to see his great achievements and specifically came over to toast him, but what I didn't expect was... that Gao Fei would suddenly attack me. If I hadn't reacted quickly and dodged the critical strike... I might be dead by now... Your Majesty, you must help me get justice." As he said this, Dongfang Jian's eyes began to redden, and a tear fell.

"It's not like that." Gao Fei hurriedly explained, "I didn't ambush Dongfang Jian! All of this... was staged by Dongfang Jian himself, he was pretending! The purpose was to frame me!"

"Pretending?" Dongfang Jian let out a bitter laugh, "Even if I wanted to pretend, I couldn't fake it this well, right?"

"Dongfang Jian! Can you have some shame!" Gao Fei cursed through gritted teeth, "To use such low tricks? I really take my hat off to you!"

"You're the one without shame. You ambushed me first, and denied it after, truly the utmost shameless one," Dongfang Jian retorted.

"You're despicable!"

"You're shameless!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"You're spouting rubbish!"

As the two argued, they would have come to blows had they not been held back by others.

"Silence, all of you!" Emperor Dugu Jingtian chided, "Gao Fei, what exactly is going on? Did you or did you not ambush him?"

"I swear to the heavens, I absolutely did not ambush him, and if there's a half-lie in my words, may lightning strike me down and grant me a terrible death," Gao Fei raised his right hand, taking a vehement oath.

Dongfang Jian also hurriedly raised his hand, taking a vicious oath, "If I am lying, may I also not die a good death." To provoke Gao Fei, Dongfang Jian was willing to go all out, not even caring about making such a poisonous oath.

"You knew each other before?" Dugu Jingtian inquired.

"Yes," Gao Fei nodded.

"Do you have a conflict between you?" Dugu Jingtian continued to ask.

"...Yes," Gao Fei hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"What is the conflict?" Dugu Jingtian persisted, "Speak up, let me hear it."

"Actually..." Gao Fei was just about to speak when Dongfang Jian interrupted him.

Dongfang Jian took a step forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Gao Fei, he looked up at Emperor Dugu Jingtian, his voice bitter, "Because I took away the woman Gao Fei loved..."

"Don't talk nonsense here!" Gao Fei became anxious as soon as he heard it.