Chapter 288 The Draft (2)
Upon hearing this, Fang Yan's face instantly turned ashen.
Although the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was not a prime minister or a high-ranking official, he was still a fourth-rank official in charge of rites, music and sacrifices. To be spoken of in such a disgraceful manner was an utter disgrace.
Before the palace servants could explain, Fang Yan could no longer contain his anger and raised his voice, "The Court of Imperial Sacrifices is one of the Nine Courts, in charge of rites and music, suburban temples, and matters of the state. It has always been headed by the great Confucian scholars of the time. You, Imperial Noble Attendant, have been in the Great Qi for so long, yet you don't even know such a basic official rank?"
Jue La Yun Dan countered, "Why should I know?"
This casual remark only made Fang Yan angrier.
He suppressed his anger and said sarcastically, "Your Highness, as a noble servant in the harem, has no one taught you the proper etiquette and rules?"
Several young men who were on good terms with him chimed in, "Brother Fang is absolutely right. Now that we have entered the Great Qi court, how could we not understand the Great Qi's etiquette?"
"In my opinion, they probably didn't focus on learning the rules, but rather on mastering the art of seduction and how to please the Emperor."
Even though Jue La Yun Dan didn't understand Mandarin, he could now understand the sarcastic tone in these people's words.
Since entering the palace, he had been pampered by Li Yuanzhao and had never suffered such humiliation.
Moreover, he has never been one to swallow his anger.
He stood up abruptly and smashed the teacup in his hand directly at Fang Yan's head.
Fang Yan never expected him to do this. Unable to dodge, he instantly cut his forehead, and bright red blood gushed down his cheek.
"You! How dare you hit me!" Fang Yan clutched his wound, both shocked and furious.
Jue La Yun Dan sneered, "I'll hit you whenever I want, do I have to pick a day?"
Fang Yan was in the prime of his life and usually acted arrogantly in the capital. He had never suffered such humiliation before.
No longer caring about etiquette and rules, he roared and pounced on Jue La Yun Dan, wrestling with him.
The people around gasped and tried to stop them, but it was too late.
Chaos erupted in the Imperial Garden.
The table was overturned, teacups and fruit plates were shattered all over the floor, and even the flowers and trees beside the two people were damaged.
The others tried to pull the two people apart or mediate the fight, but they couldn't budge them at all.
In the midst of this chaos, a servant suddenly announced from outside the garden:
"The Empress has arrived!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Empress, dressed in a crimson-purple robe embroidered with gold phoenixes, slowly entering through the white jade archway of the Imperial Garden.
A line of palace maids, each carrying a palace fan and an incense burner, followed closely behind.
Upon seeing this, the others immediately knelt down and bowed.
Jue La Yun Dan and Fang Yan, who had been fighting just moments before, had no choice but to stop and straighten their disheveled robes.
Neither of them came out on top. Jue La Yun Dan's hair ornament was askew, her bright red palace dress was covered in dust, and there was a red mark at the corner of her eye.
Fang Yan was even more seriously injured. The wound on his forehead was still bleeding, and several new cuts appeared on his face. His sapphire blue brocade robe was also torn.
Pei Huaijin's gaze swept across the entire room, lingering briefly on the two disheveled figures before he calmly took his seat in the main seat.
Seeing the Empress's serious expression, Fang Yan immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness and also impeached the young man.
Before he could even kneel down and speak, Jue La Yun Dan rushed up to Pei Huai Jin and complained, "Your Majesty, someone is bullying me!"
He pointed to the bruise on the corner of his mouth, "Look how badly I hit you, it hurt so much."
Fang Yan could hardly believe his ears.
This Tibetan hostage is, after all, a prince of a country. How could he be so shameless as to make the false accusation first?
He immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please understand! I am innocent! I was just trying to explain the functions of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to Consort Chen, but he suddenly threw a teacup at me."
He pointed to his blood-soaked forehead, "Look what you've done to me, I'm completely disfigured..."
"You deserve to be disfigured!" Jue La Yun Dan sneered. "Even if you weren't disfigured, the Emperor wouldn't have taken a liking to you."
"You—!" Fang Yan's vision blurred, and he was so angry that he almost spat out blood.
"What do you mean, 'you'?" Juela Yundan raised her chin. "I think you just need a lesson! It's bad enough that you're ugly, but you also speak so rudely. You should be grateful that you met me today, and that I'm only giving you a small lesson! If it were His Majesty, you'd be in big trouble!"
Fang Yan's face turned pale with anger, and his hand trembled as he pointed at Jue La Yun Dan, completely forgetting all restraint: "You vile woman! This is the Great Qi Imperial Palace, not your barbaric Tubo land. How dare you spout such nonsense and distort the truth!"
“Young Master Fang,” Pei Huaijin finally spoke up, “The Imperial Attendant Chen is a first-rank Imperial Attendant personally appointed by His Majesty. How can you, a commoner with no official position, be so presumptuous as to call someone a ‘lowly person’? Is this how your Fang family, which has been officials for generations, taught you the meaning of ‘respect for superiors and inferiors’?”
Fang Yan was startled, realizing his slip of the tongue. He quickly kowtowed and begged for forgiveness, "I know I was wrong! I was confused for a moment and spoke without thinking. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"
“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me,” Pei Huaijin said calmly. “You should be apologizing to the Imperial Attendant Chen and begging for his forgiveness.”
Fang Yan froze. To make him bow down and beg for forgiveness to a “prisoner of war” was more humiliating than death!
But he dared not disobey the Empress's orders.
He turned to Jue La Yun Dan, gritting his teeth, and said, "This humble servant... knows his mistake, and begs Your Highness... for forgiveness."
Jue La Yun Dan had already returned to her seat, leisurely crossing one leg.
"I will not forgive you! Guards, get this eyesore out of here!"
Fang Yan suddenly looked up, staring at Jue La Yun Dan in disbelief.
Being expelled today not only completely ruins his path to the palace, but also creates a scandal of being "disrespectful and expelled," which will affect his future marriage and career!
Only now did he truly become afraid, no longer caring about the dignity of a young master from a prestigious family, and he repeatedly kowtowed and begged.
"Your Highness, have mercy! I know I was wrong! I was out of my mind just now. I beg Your Highness to be magnanimous and give me another chance..."
The palace servants glanced at the Empress, and seeing Pei Huaijin nod slightly, they immediately stepped forward and supported Fang Yan from both sides.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Fang Yan struggled as he was dragged away, his shrill cries fading into the distance.
The garden has returned to silence.
The young masters who had been whispering just moments before all changed their expressions; some were frightened, while others were shocked.
No one expected that the Empress would defend this noble servant so fiercely.
Pei Huaijin turned to Jue La Yundan, his tone softening slightly: "Is the injury serious? Should we summon the imperial physician to take a look?"
"No need, no need!" Jue La Yun Dan waved his hand, saying smugly, "His strength is no match for mine!"
The red mark at the corner of his eye wasn't from the fight at all; it was something he had secretly rubbed off before he complained.
Pei Huaijin saw through it but didn't point it out, only smiling faintly: "Besides him, was there anyone else who bullied you today?"
Jue La Yun Dan got excited and immediately started to call out names of those who had just been discussing him with Fang Yan.
The people who were called out instantly turned ashen-faced.
Pei Huaijin's gaze swept over them, his tone leaving no room for argument: "You have shown no respect for our esteemed servants and have no manners, so you shall all be expelled. You shall also be barred from participating in the imperial concubine selection in the future."
These words caused an uproar throughout the garden.
The people whose names were called knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Your Highness, please have mercy!"
"We know we were wrong!"
"Please forgive me, Your Excellency!"
However, Pei Huaijin simply waved his hand, and the palace servants immediately stepped forward and carried all of them away.
Watching their disheveled figures, the other young masters all fell silent, no longer daring to show the slightest disrespect.
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