Banquet at night

  Banquet (2)

  The emperor so easily agreed to the request of the King of Beijun, and the officials present were all puzzled. After all, the current emperor's love for face and closeness to powerful ministers who understood his character would not have expected him to do something that could be said to be self-degrading, which was not in line with the emperor's usual behavior. As for others, Yelü Ye was extremely pleased with the Emperor of Great Chu

  The emperor smiled and turned around to face the opposite side, bowing slightly and laughing loudly: "From now on, I'll have to ask Empress Ding for more guidance."

  Ye Li raised her head and smiled calmly: "I dare not accept your instruction. Yelü Wangzi is also a noble, I'm sure he won't do anything rash to offend the ladies of our great Chu."

  Yelü Yuzhi smiled but did not speak, and directly sat down to drink wine.

  The queen sat beside Mo Jingqi, turned her face to look at the emperor and the person next to him, Liu Guifei, who was wearing a snow-white dress as cold as a pear flower. She slightly frowned and said in a soft voice: "Liu Guifei usually doesn't like to interfere with things, but today she suddenly brought up the matter of the princess's marriage." Liu Guifei lowered her eyes to look at the wine cup in front of her and replied indifferently: "I have overstepped my bounds, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

  Mo Jing Qi glanced at his wife and concubine, then smiled at the Empress: "The Noble Consort is also concerned about the diplomatic relations between our two countries, so Your Majesty shouldn't blame her." The Empress's eyebrows flashed with a hint of anger, but quickly calmed down, saying indifferently: "Very well. I heard that this time, there is also a young lady from the Liu family among the candidates. The Noble Consort is devoted to the country, and I am not unaware of it either."

  "It's not a big deal. It's just the Emperor... Tianxiang, that little girl has been keeping me company in the palace these days, so I won't participate anymore. If the Emperor has decided on her as his concubine, just one imperial decree is enough, and neither the Huas nor our palace will have any complaints."

  Mo Jingqi was taken aback, he and the empress had been married for nearly ten years, and the empress had never spoken to him in such a tone with obvious anger. After thinking about it, he understood that the empress was angry for the sake of her only niece's reputation. He also remembered that although they didn't have a passionate love, his official wife was still different from others after all these years.

  Can't help but have some doubts about whether the idea of letting Huatian Xiang and Qinge get married is too much. The Empress Dowager only has this one niece, and Chang Le only has this one older female cousin. In fact, Mo Jingqi also knew in his heart that letting Huatian Xiang marry Beijun would not have any great use for the Hua family, and it wouldn't even be able to cause trouble between the Hua family and the Ding Wangfu. Just now,

  Liu Guifei slapped the Empress's face, and it was nothing to compensate for. Looking at the Empress's elegant appearance with suppressed anger, Mo Jingqi's expression softened slightly, and he patted the Empress's hand, saying: "Don't worry, I'll have someone remove Tian Xiang's name later."

  The queen lowered her eyes and revealed a faint smile, saying: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

  Your Highness, Ye Lianwan carelessly withdrew her gaze from above and turned to Mo Xiuyao with a low smile: "It seems that we don't need to worry about Tianxiang anymore." Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow, and Ye Lianwan smiled: "The Empress Dowager seems to have already helped persuade the Emperor on behalf of Tianxiang." The Empress had no imperial favors and no children, yet she was able to sit stably in the position of Empress for many years, even with powerful enemies surrounding the palace.

  As for Liu Guifei, she didn't dare to offend easily, it can be seen that she is absolutely not an easy-going person. Just then, Liu Guifei had just crossed the Empress and suddenly spoke out, on this side, as long as the Empress showed a little dissatisfaction, the Emperor would let go. However, Liu Guifei... Ye Lixuan's clear eyes swept across the snow-clothed woman in the hall, furrowing her brow with a thoughtful expression.

  "The Queen's wisdom was never inferior to anyone, she just didn't care. But Ah Lian seems to have some unusual abilities." Mo Xiuyao said with a soft smile. Although they were sitting in the front row, there was still a considerable distance from the dragon chair on the platform. They could see the expressions and eyes of the people above, but it would be difficult to hear what they were saying.

  Whispering, in this crowded and noisy great hall, Mo Xiuyao himself admitted that he couldn't do it either. Ye Li rolled her eyes and glanced at him, saying straightforwardly: "That's right, I can lip-read, can't I? Do you want to learn?"

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said, "No need, it will be settled once the daughter is married."

  Ye Li glanced at him and lowered her head to examine the wine in front of her. She knew that she had revealed too many flaws in front of Mo Xiu Yao all along, starting with occasional unintentional ones, which she could still attribute to herself having relaxed her guard after more than a decade of dull days. Later on, it was gradually becoming less willing to conceal herself in front of him, and sometimes even deliberately

  Showed a side of herself that was different from ordinary people. In fact, this is also a probe, but Mo Xiuyao has never shown any abnormality about her differences, as if she is like this is the norm. This made Ye Li feel both unexpected and secretly delighted, after all, not everyone likes to wear a mask to hide themselves for life.

  Because it was a banquet to entertain the Northern Rong prince, the night feast did not end after the dinner in the grand hall. Instead, the emperor led all the palace concubines, princes, and ministers to ascend to the highest pavilion in the palace, the Star-Picking Pavilion, to watch the specially arranged fireworks and large-scale song and dance performances. Sitting high up in the pavilion, Ye Li looked at the emperor in front of her with a somewhat disapproving expression, raising an eyebrow. This deliberately grand welcoming banquet was simply a foolish dream if it wanted to intimidate the ambitious Northern Rong prince. It would only fuel his ambition to conquer Central Plains instead. After all, the Northern Rong could be said to be the poorest of the four countries, and they would never have any reverence for the Great Chu, which occupied the most fertile land of the four countries. The harsh environment and fierce temperament had made them want to plunder without hesitation.

  "The Empress...the King's uncle..." The Star-Picking Pavilion was more free and easy-going than the Grand Temple, and after sitting for a while, Princess Chang Le had already quietly made her way to Ye Li's side. Many people's gazes were fixed on the fireworks in the sky and the music and dance below, so not many noticed her. Ye Li lowered his head and smiled lightly: "Why did the princess come here?" Princess Chang Le blinked her eyes, leaned against Ye Li's ear and whispered: "The Empress asked me to tell you, be careful of Consort Liu." Ye Li was taken aback, looked up at the Empress not far away, the Empress's lips curled into a faint smile, and she nodded slightly. Ye Li nodded in thanks, patted Princess Chang Le's little head and smiled: "So it was to pass on a message from the Empress, thank you, princess." Princess Chang Le waved her small hand, saying magnanimously: "No need to thank me. This princess doesn't like Consort Liu either."

  "Why?" Ye Li asked curiously, Liu Guifei was cold and aloof in nature, but it shouldn't be to the point of offending even a little girl. Previously, Liu Guifei had also helped her twice, and didn't have any ill intentions towards herself, but this time... Ye Li clearly felt that Liu Guifei's attitude towards her seemed different after their last encounter in the palace. This was a very subtle change, completely invisible on the surface, it could only be described as intuition. And Ye Li had always believed in her intuition, because it had saved her life countless times on the battlefield.

  Changle Princess pouted and said, "She always looks at everyone with an unpleasant expression, but Father Emperor listens to her about everything. She's not good at all, she didn't even comfort Zhenning when she cried, Mother Empress would never treat me like that. Mother Empress loves Changle the most." The last sentence was definitely a boast.

  "Zhen Ning?" Ye Li looked at Mo Xiuyao in confusion. Mo Xiuyao replied calmly, "The Emperor's second princess, Princess Zhen Ning, the daughter of Consort Liu."

  Ye Li looked ahead and only then realized that something seemed to be missing beside the white-clad, snow-like Liu Guifei. The emperor's kindness allowed all the palace concubines, princes, and princesses to attend the lantern festival, so most of the palace consorts with titles and children brought their princes and princesses along. If it was not possible to bring children to the previous banquet due to etiquette, now even two one-year-old little princesses and princes were being held in the arms of their wet nurses. Liu Guifei's two sons and daughter, however, were nowhere to be seen, which was a bit strange. Especially since the Second Princess should also be around seven or eight years old this year and was not an ignorant child. Was it really as Princess Chang Le said that Liu Guifei did not like her own children?

  "Does the princess often play with Princess Zhenning?" Ye Li asked with a smile.

  Princess Changle shook her head, somewhat depressed, saying: "Zhenning doesn't like to play with me either. She only likes to play with the younger brothers, but she also doesn't allow me to go see the younger brothers. The Empress Dowager says it's because I'm still young and can't take care of the younger brothers. But... Zhenning is even younger than me."

  Ye Li pinched Chang Le Gong Zhu's small face, and sighed slightly in her heart. The Empress really protected Chang Le Gong Zhu very well.

  "Assassins!" A shrill cry suddenly rang out, and several black figures darted out of the dark night, rushing straight towards the building. Ye Li was somewhat speechless, rolling her eyes and pulling Princess Chang Le to her side. The Xian Xing Lou was instantly thrown into chaos, with a large number of guards surging forward to protect the Emperor, Empress, and princes and princesses. The officials and ladies below were in disarray, each finding their own place to hide. With just one glance at Ye Li, it was clear that these black-clad men were not comparable to those useless people seen that night. Each one was a top-notch expert, and the guards on the building suffered greatly as soon as they faced them. The bloody scene frightened the ladies into screaming loudly, and the entire building was in chaos.

  Princess Chang Le hid behind Ye Li, only revealing a small head to sneak a peek. Ye Li patted her forehead and said, "Don't look, be careful not to get scared."

  Princess Chang Le hastily retreated and asked with some concern: "Empress Ding, will anything happen to the empress dowager and the emperor?"

  Ye Li smiled and said, "Don't worry, even if everyone here has something to do, they won't." With so many guards surrounding them, the people on this floor should have been killed by the assassins. The ministers who had martial arts skills also stood up to welcome the black-clad assassins, not only for their own safety and that of others, but also as an opportunity to show off in front of the emperor. Mo Xiuyao sat calmly beside Ye Li, with dark guards appearing out of nowhere to guard the surrounding area, even if one or two occasionally broke through the defense, they were resolved by Qing Luan and An Er and An San standing on the side. Amidst the chaos on the floor, their side showed a strange calmness.

  "I say, should the king go forward to protect the emperor?" Ye Li asked with a hint of teasing, looking at Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and smiled: "If I go now, the emperor won't think I'm trying to protect him, but rather that I want to assassinate him."

  Ye Li turned her head, raised her eyes and looked in the direction of Mo Jing Qi. She shook her head uninterestingly. It's said that the emperor back then was a man of both literary and military prowess, how fearful of death must he be to have all the guards on the entire floor surrounding him? On one hand, staring at the assassin, while on the other hand, distractedly staring at them, it's likely that not only Mo Xiu Yao, but anyone related to the Ding Wang Fu would be treated as an assassin now.

  "Hey, in such a chaotic place, the prince and princess are so leisurely, isn't that not good?" Not far away, Yelü Ye was easily dealing with the assassin, and at the same time, he had spare time to smile at Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said: "A few assassins can't even be dealt with, what's the use of having palace guards?"

  Yelü Wulang laughed loudly and said: "The king is right. A few small bandits are not worth the king's personal attention."

  "Yelü Wangzi, please move to the side a bit. You've attracted all the assassins." An Sān said expressionlessly as he casually took down an assassin in front of Ye Lǐ. Yelü Yě raised an eyebrow and smiled as his gaze fell on the assassin who had fallen at An Sān's feet: "Sorry, I don't know why these assassins always like to cling to me either." The guards of the Ding Wang Fu are indeed extraordinary." The assassin on the ground didn't have a single wound, only a very fine cut on his neck, and not even much blood had flowed out. Yet he hadn't struggled at all before falling to the ground, dead. Such skill was something that even professional killers might not be able to surpass. The man in front of him wore ordinary guard clothes, but amidst the chaotic crowd, he displayed complete leisureliness and composure.

  Looking at the chaotic scene in front of her, Ye Li raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice, "Are these assassins after Yelü Ye?" A large number of these assassins were indeed targeting Yelü Ye. This was likely because Yelü Ye seemed to be the strongest, but it was impossible for them not to recognize him given his distinct attire that was vastly different from Da Chu's.

  Mo Xiuyao stared at the handsome man who was always approaching them, and said: "It's possible that he has something to do with it, but... assassins are all from Zhongyuan. Whether it's Ye Luyu himself or Ye Luhuo, neither of them would send a Beirong person to cause trouble in the palace. Ye Luyu deliberately lured the assassin here, probably wanting to test your strength." Mo Xiuyao's strength was known throughout the world, and there was no need to rely on a few assassins to prove it. Of course, Ye Luyu couldn't possibly hope that a few assassins could kill him, so it must be for Yue Li sitting next to him.

  "Does this situation require me to take action?" Ye Li said with a smile.

  "Of course not, it would be beneath me to personally deal with a few mere assassins," An San replied in a low voice from the front. Ye Li raised an eyebrow and smiled at An San, "You're now my right-hand man, not a dark guard. Please don't rush into battle just yet." Upon hearing this, An San's face immediately fell. He still preferred his days as a dark guard, when he could charge forward and beat up the enemy with ease. Now, he had to wait for the dark guards to deal with most of the threats before it was their turn. Unfortunately, the dark guards in the Dingguo King's palace were extremely competent, leaving little room for error or oversight.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said: "I think he's not trying to test A Lian's skills, but rather her courage."