Volume 1 Chapter 25 Banquet Storm (Below)

  In the vast imperial garden, countless bright palace lanterns were lit up, illuminating this beautiful garden with a dazzling light, as if it were daytime.

  In the garden, countless flowers are in bloom. On such a night, the laurel and jasmine emit a faint fragrance that wafts around the garden, diluting the smell of wine and meat inside.

  Shangguan Qing'er sat on the Third Prince's lap with a pleased expression, looking at Xia Jincheng with an air of triumph, her attitude making Xia Jincheng feel extremely helpless.

  He understood why she did it, but seeing her leave his arms so casually and sit on another man's lap made him feel uncomfortable. It was as if something that originally belonged to him had been snatched away.

  It was almost instinctive that Xia Jinhan used force to pull up Guan Qing'er's hand, which was holding onto his, and pulled the smaller person back into his own arms. His large hands wrapped around her, proclaiming his possession. With a serious face, he said, "Qing'er must not be reckless, can you just sit on the Third Prince's lap?"

  Xia Jinhan's voice was not loud, but in this quiet imperial garden, it still sounded very clear and loud.

  Upper official light child's eyes rolled, and immediately a face full of grievance lowered her head, softly responding, "Light child was wrong, Jin brother is tired from a whole day, Light child feared sitting on your leg would tire you out, in that case Light child and the third prince would both feel uneasy..."

  Shangguan Qing'er's soft and delicate voice was filled with a sense of grievance, sounding extremely sincere and naive. Even though her words carried obvious sarcasm or blame towards the Third Prince, they were dismissed as mere childish babble, and instead, it seemed like she was showing concern for Xia Jinghan.

  But on the other hand, everyone could hear from Shangguan Qing'er's unintentional words that the Third Prince was not considerate of the Crown Prince, and even less than a child.

  Xia Jin's eyes flashed with a hint of cleverness, thinking to herself, this little girl is quite clever, but I don't know if she said that on purpose or not.

  But no matter what, those who try to bully him will have to pay the price.

  Xia Jin's long, slender fingers fell on Shangguan Qing'er's face, her pale cheeks soft and smooth to the touch. He savored the sensation while murmuring, "This palace knows you pity me, but can't we also consider Third Brother?"

  As soon as Xia Jinhans words came out, the surroundings immediately fell silent, and the face of Emperor Zhaojin on the upper seat also turned ugly. His sharp eyes fell on the third prince Xia Jinyu, and then he scolded the eunuch behind him, "What's going on? I clearly instructed you to prepare an extra chair next to the crown prince for todays banquet, how did you do things?"

  The eunuch Liu beside the emperor was an old man who had been by the emperor's side for a long time, and with just one glance from the emperor, he knew what was going on. The struggle between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince was not something that happened overnight, and the uncle of the Third Prince was the current Taifu, who had hundreds of thousands of descendants, so it was impossible to offend him. Moreover, the Crown Prince had just returned from a successful campaign, making it even more impossible to offend him. Therefore, the emperor could only use these slaves as scapegoats to vent his anger.

  Scolded by the emperor, Liu Gonggong immediately knelt on the ground and trembled with fear, saying, "Your Majesty, I have already arranged for it according to your orders, but I don't know how those people do things. I will definitely punish them severely."

  Liu Gonggong turned around and shouted to the eunuchs below, "Xiao Jinzhi, go and see who has the audacity to defy the emperor's will. Once found out, they will be flogged with fifty heavy blows."

  This eunuch Liu was not only a close eunuch by Emperor Taizong of Jin's side, but also the head eunuch in charge of the palace. What he said, naturally no one dared to disobey.

  In just two minutes, the two eunuchs in charge of arranging the venue were kneeling below the stage, bowing their heads and loudly begging for mercy, with one of them casting a pleading glance at Xia Jin Yu.

  Xia Jin sat calmly in his seat, watching everything with a detached air, but not saying a word. His hand gently pinched the face of Shangguan Qing'er, as if it were some kind of amusing thing, making his mood very good.

  The third prince saw the eunuch kneeling on the ground, his face immediately turned red with anger, and he glared at Shangguan Linger with gritted teeth. His tightly clenched fist slowly relaxed, pretending to be nonchalant.

  At such an important banquet, someone actually dared to cause trouble under his nose. Moreover, the prince and crown prince of Fei Xue were present at this time. Where would Emperor Zhaojin put his face?

  The emperor's face turned red with rage, and he waved his hand loudly, saying, "You don't understand the rules, take him out and behead him."

  He then said to Liu Gonggong, who was still kneeling on the ground, "Little Liu, don't you hurry up and bring another chair for the young lady to sit?"

  Liu Gonggong was also a personal favorite, he had secretly ordered someone to prepare in advance. As soon as the emperor spoke up, he immediately waved his hand with the feather duster and ordered those eunuchs to move the chair over, squeezing it between Xia Jincheng and Xia Jinwu's seats. Xia Jinwu was so angry that his face turned black like a pot bottom, looking extremely ugly.

  Upper official light child then is a face smiling intent from Xia Jinhan's thigh to come down, afterwards, lifts water Wugang's double eyes looked at Xia Jinhan one eye, after getting Xia Jinhan's permission, treads small step son, a white tender face on brings sweet smile, just butt's butt's walked to the middle, faces upper seat's Zhao Jin emperor knelt goes.

  Then, her sweet voice, like a clear stream flowing out, "Qing'er thanks the emperor for granting a seat, long live the emperor, long live, long live..."

  The pleasant sound was like a refreshing breeze with a sweet fragrance on this summer night, and the emperor's mood immediately improved.

  He looked at the little girl, only three years old, wearing a light green skirt and still unsteady on her feet, with satisfaction and laughed loudly, "Haha, as expected of a maid raised by the prince, you're indeed sensible, get up quickly."

  Shangguan Qing'er said a word of thanks, "Thank you, Your Majesty," and then stood up.

  At this time, the Emperor said, "You are called Shangguan Qing'er, right? The Crown Prince has already told me about your affairs. Although your parents sacrificed themselves to save the Crown Prince, they have made great contributions in protecting the emperor. From now on, you should follow the Crown Prince closely and listen to him obediently. As long as you behave well, neither the Crown Prince nor I will treat you unfairly."

  Saying which, Emperor Zhao of Jin waved his hand and said, "Xiao Liu Zi?"

  "The slave is here." Liu Gonggong immediately stood up, took out a decree from his sleeve, and began to read it in his sharp voice.

  Digression

  Aaaaoooowww... (~>_<)