Chapter 16 The Banquet
"Someone's here, host."
Xie Yushu staggered back a step after being shocked by Xiao Zhen. Ignoring his disheveled appearance, he reached out and pulled Xiao Dao to hide in a side path, whispering to him, "Leave the Duke of Ying's mansion first and go back to wait for me."
Xiao Dao wanted to stay and follow her. "I can secretly protect you and keep those lecherous men away from you." The people here were despicable. Just now, he had secretly seen two young masters-looking men block her way and get close to her.
Xie Yushu realized: "Were you the one who chased away Meng Tingchun and the young master of the Duke of Yingguo with pebbles just now?"
Xiao Dao was afraid she would blame him, so he nodded, intending to explain that they deserved to be beaten, but then he heard her laugh.
"Good job, little knife. I'll reward you when we get back." She grasped his wrist, her peach-like face before him: "Now, behave and go outside."
A reward? Does that mean a reward for him? Doesn't she blame him for secretly following her?
Xiao Dao's face also flushed. It was hard for him not to obey her orders. He nodded, obediently turned around, leaped onto the wall, and left the West Garden.
Xie Yushu watched as his figure disappeared in a few leaps. Even someone who didn't understand martial arts could tell that Xiao Dao was skilled enough to take down even the male protagonist, Xiao Zhen. How could he possibly be tied up and sold by a skinny old man? Was he faking it? Pretending to be a little beggar to be sold?
Who exactly is he?
"Madam, you're here!" Jin Ye and Yin Ya ran up to her on the path and called out, "The banquet is about to begin, and Young Master Pei has been looking for you everywhere."
When Xie Yushu turned back, Xiao Zhen, who was disheveled under the tree, was gone.
Yes, he is the fourth prince, so he must be even more afraid of being seen like that.
Xie Yushu shook the jade hairpin in his hand, and the image of Xiao Zhen being stripped of his clothes just now floated into his mind. His back, as beautiful as jade, was tense and taut, and his neck and ears were pink. His humiliated appearance was quite a sight to behold.
She smiled and tucked the hairpin into her waist pouch.
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Inside the warm pavilion, the mirror was shattered on the floor.
The servant knelt behind Xiao Zhen, not daring to utter a sound. His master was always one to keep his emotions in check, and he had never seen his master so angry, much less so disheveled. He dared not ask what had happened, but only heard his master grit his teeth and repeat that name again.
"Xie, Yu, Shu".
He wanted to kill Xie Yushu.
Xiao Zhen pulled open the loose collar of his clothes and saw a patch of red rash on his chest, which was itchy and hot like it was on fire and had spread to his Adam's apple.
He has always been unable to touch certain pollens; any contact with them will inevitably cause him to develop a rash.
"Should Your Majesty summon the imperial physician?" the attendant asked, bowing his head.
Xiao Zhen was furious. He summoned the imperial physician. What was he to say? That he had been stripped naked and forced into a thicket of flowers, and that it was caused by a woman?
He had never been so humiliated. Even Song Jie, who treated him as a puppet, had never stripped him naked in broad daylight. Xie Yushu not only stripped him naked, but also commented, "He's got a lot of tender flesh."
Utter disgrace!
Xiao Zhen scratched the unbearably itchy red rash on his chest until it bled, his anger burning even more intensely. Xie Yushu was deliberately humiliating him.
Even if Xie Yushu didn't see his face or know who he was, he should have been able to tell that his clothes couldn't possibly belong to a thief.
Why did she deliberately humiliate him?
Xiao Zhen's mind was filled with the image of her foot stepping on his hair, and he couldn't shake it off even with his eyes closed.
He was determined to make Xie Yushu kneel down and beg for mercy today.
"Tie your hair up." Xiao Zhen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and suppressed his anger: "I'm going to the banquet to celebrate the Duke of Ying's birthday."
The attendant looked up in surprise, "Isn't His Majesty supposed to be returning to the palace?"
He originally didn't plan to show up at the banquet; he was just here to deliver a congratulatory gift and visit Xie Yushu. But now he's changed his mind.
"Since the banquet has begun, let's have a drink before we leave." Xiao Zhen opened his eyes, straightened his clothes, and tried his best to cover his chest, which was covered with red rashes. He turned to the servant and said, "I heard that the young master of the Duke of Yingguo and Meng Tingchun were ambushed and injured?"
"Yes," the servant replied. "When they were blocking Madam Pei's way, someone hit their face and hands with stones."
Is it that guy named Xiaodao?
Xiao Zhen remembered Xie Yushu calling the thief by name, "Find someone to secretly tell the two young masters that the one who injured them was Madam Pei's attendant, named Xiao Dao."
He opened the window and heard a melodious pipa tune carried on the wind.
The banquet began.
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Why haven't the meat dishes arrived yet?
Xie Yushu sat next to Pei Shilin and his mother Li Huixian, looking at the light and elegant cold dishes, but he had little interest in them and only wanted to eat some meat.
The banquet was held in the large waterside pavilion in the East Garden. Ice was placed in the four corners, and the cool breeze made people feel refreshed. Xie Yushu turned to look at the center of the lake, where a famous geisha on a lotus boat was playing the pipa in the wind. Her red skirt was blown by the wind like a lotus flower blooming.
She was so engrossed in admiring the sight that a sudden commotion broke out in the front row, where everyone stood up and got up.
Pei Shilin reached out and pulled her aside, whispering, "The Fourth Prince has arrived. Rise and pay your respects."
Xie Yushu lazily got up and looked towards the front row, where he saw Xiao Zhen, who had changed his clothes, appear at the banquet with his attendants.
British Prince Zhang Yunkai rose to greet him, surprised, "Didn't the Fourth Prince return to the palace first because he wasn't feeling well? Is he feeling better?"
“I’m much better now, so I’ve come to wish the Duke of Ying a happy birthday.” Xiao Zhen’s tone and smile were impeccably gentle. He then said to Song Jie, the only one who hadn’t stood up, “Prime Minister Song’s old illness hasn’t fully healed, so there’s no need for him to get up. Please take your seats as well.”
Song Jie remained seated firmly in the folding chair, showing no intention of getting up. He simply raised his eyes to look at Xiao Zhen: "Fourth Prince, what brings you to this banquet all of a sudden?"
The people standing there were also surprised. The Fourth Prince had been frail since childhood and was very careful about his diet. It was said that even at the Emperor's palace banquets, the Fourth Prince received special treatment and had dishes prepared for him.
Judging from the seating arrangement, it seems that the Duke of England was unaware that the Fourth Prince would be staying for the banquet and had not reserved a seat for him.
"Hearing the sound of the pipa, I was so captivated by its beauty that I decided to join in the fun." Xiao Zhen was not arrogant at all. He had his attendants bring over a folding chair and sat down next to Song Jie. He neither drank nor ate any food, only ordering a plate of ice cream. He glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the back of the table and easily spotted Xie Yushu, as she was the only one who wasn't looking in their direction.
She neither touched her chopsticks nor spoke to anyone else, but simply leaned to the side, resting her arm on the back of the chair and propping her chin up as she leisurely watched the geisha playing the pipa on the lake.
It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Xiao Zhen felt an itch on his chest under his inner clothes again. How could he pretend nothing had happened after she had humiliated him like that?
"What is Your Highness looking at?" Song Jie leaned closer to the back of the chair and coughed softly.
Xiao Zhen's gaze shifted slightly as he realized that Song Jie had been watching him. Was he watching him? Or was he watching Xie Yushu?
"I was just admiring the scenery on the lake. What did you think I was looking at, Prime Minister Song?" He turned his gaze away and smiled at Song Jie.
Song Jie gave a cold, curt smile without speaking. The wind in the waterside pavilion made him uncomfortable, so he lowered his head and covered his mouth before coughing.
Two people rushed in from outside the pavilion, shouting something about "Pei" and "Xie," and "How dare you!"
The noisy Song Jie frowned and looked up to see Zhang Ling, the youngest son of the Duke of Yingguo's second wife, and Meng Tingchun, Jia Ning's cousin, both notorious playboys in Bianjing.
"Don't you know the rules!" Duke Zhang Yun of England immediately scolded his son, "Have you not greeted the Fourth Prince yet!"
Neither of them expected the Fourth Prince to be there, and upon seeing Xiao Zhen, they quickly stopped and bowed.
The Duke of England was dismayed to see his son's right cheek swollen so badly: "Didn't I tell you to stay in your room and apply the medicine? What are you doing here again?"
"Go find Xie Yushu and ask him clearly." Zhang Ling was only fourteen years old and was so spoiled that she spoke without thinking, calling a woman by her name without any restraint.
Song Jie's brows furrowed even more.
Meng Tingchun tugged at Zhang Ling, then, appearing more composed, bowed to the Duke of Yingguo and said, "Uncle, my brother Ling and I were injured by stones in the garden. The person was an attendant of Madam Pei from the Yongyi Earl's Mansion. We have come to ask about it."
Their voices could be heard throughout the entire waterside pavilion, and everyone looked towards the Yongyi Earl's Mansion. Some wondered who Madam Pei was, while others waited to see a good show.
Xiao Zhen smiled slowly and looked at Xie Yushu. Only then did she turn her face to look in his direction.
"What nonsense are you spouting now?" Zhang Youwei got up and came over, scolding her good-for-nothing younger brother in a low voice: "It's Father's birthday banquet. Can't you wait until the banquet is over before you talk about it?" She had heard that Zhang Ling and Meng Tingchun were making fun of Xie Yushu when they were injured. Aren't they ashamed?
Zhang Ling replied, "What if the person who hit me runs away after the banquet ends?"
Without saying much, he and Meng Tingchun bypassed the crowd and quickly walked up to Xie Yushu. "Madam Pei, were the people who injured me and Brother Tingchun your attendants?"
Two grown men angrily questioned a married woman.
Even if Pei Shilin disliked Xie Yushu, he couldn't lose face, so he stood up and said, "Have you two misunderstood something? My wife did not bring any attendants into the mansion."
“That follower attacked us in secret. Someone saw it with their own eyes and even knows that the follower’s name is Xiao Dao.” Zhang Ling didn’t take Pei Shilin seriously at all.
Meng Tingchun looked only at Xie Yushu and said, "Madam Pei, do you have a servant named Xiaodao?"
But Xie Yushu was still sitting in the folding chair. He looked up at him, raised an eyebrow and smiled lazily, saying, "Someone saw it with their own eyes..."
The wind blowing in from outside the pavilion made her black hair and earrings sway and sparkle. She looked at Meng Tingchun with a smile and called out to him, "Cousin, I also saw a thief who broke into the Duke's mansion. Could he be the one who injured you?"
Her tone was undeniably coquettish, as if she were deliberately calling him "cousin" to tease him.
Meng Tingchun felt his ears burning and his throat going dry.
Xie Yushu's gaze turned to the front row, watching someone lean back in their chair and say with a smile, "I also found a jade hairpin that the thief stole. If you and your cousin want to find that thief, I can help you."
Xiao Zhen's heart skipped a beat when he met her gaze. Damn it, he had forgotten that she had taken his jade hairpin.
Song Jie, standing to the side, looked at Xiao Zhen, then at Xie Yushu. Xie Yushu was looking at Xiao Zhen. Why was she looking at Xiao Zhen? Her gaze clearly indicated that she recognized him…
"Host, you have gained 1 point of 'green hat' value, from Song Jie." The system announced in a pleasant voice.
A note from the author:
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I changed the title to "Bound to a Charismatic System During Divorce," isn't that a more positive term? I also modified the previous chapters; those who have already read them don't need to go back. I just changed the "femme fatale value" to the "charismatic system value."
What do you all think?
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