After finishing writing, Si Jinwei raised her eyes, held up the paper and pointed it at the Empress: "If this poem was really written by you, explain what it means."
Solution...Explanation...
The Empress never expected that reciting a poem would end up in front of the Emperor. Her mind was already in turmoil, and now she was completely speechless.
Everyone present was a renowned literary figure. If she were to spout nonsense based on her own abilities, she would surely be exposed, and she would only lose face even more!
She knew that the emperor didn't love her that much, and that Zhu Yan was only using her. She had to find a way to get out of there as soon as possible!
Having made up her mind, the empress bit her lips so hard they turned whiter, and a moment later, she closed her eyes and fainted on the spot, unresponsive to anyone.
The only option was to order the imperial physician to carry it away.
The banquet hall returned to silence, and Si Jin became the subject of everyone's questions, which pleased the old emperor even more.
He has excellent taste; the fox spirit is still as beautiful as any of the countless poets and writers, and she can bring him honor, making her worthy of being his concubine.
However… the way Shao Linyuan looked at Si Jin always made the old emperor feel uncomfortable.
Why did he feel that this young man from the Shao family was looking at his beloved concubine with excessive doting eyes? Did he really think the fox was his own just because he was asked to help train it for a few days?
The old emperor lowered his eyes, silently grumbling about Shao Linyuan in his heart, determined to find a chance to embarrass him later.
… …
After the banquet at Jiuhua Palace was nearly over, the old emperor invited the scholars to move to the Imperial Garden to hold a poetry competition on a winding stream.
Eunuch Xu, who was accompanying the emperor, cautiously inquired, "Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has prepared songs and dances for the 'Floating Wine Cups' banquet. Would you like the dancers to come out now?"
"Singing and dancing?" The old emperor's eyes flickered, and the wine cup in his hand spun back and forth twice as he pondered the matter. Finally, he said, "No need. I will find someone to perform later."
After speaking, his gaze fell on Shao Linyuan, who was leading the Changning Division and maintaining order at the banquet, not far away: "Minister Shao."
He put down his wine cup and said with a smile, "Everyone is a bit tired from composing poems. I've heard that Minister Shao is an expert in martial arts. How about he perform a sword dance to liven things up for everyone?"
Making a high-ranking official of the imperial court perform sword dancing is tantamount to placing him in the position of a dancer, whose status is even lower than that of a merchant.
For this official, being reduced to a dancer was an immense humiliation.
But that's exactly what the old emperor wanted to do.
Who told this brat to be so reckless and covet his precious girl? He deserves to be humiliated!
On one side, Shao Linyuan's hand on the sword hilt slowly tightened, wishing he could immediately bring over the army he had raised for more than ten years and cut off the old emperor's head.
But troop deployment takes time, and he needs to be patient for the last few days.
Si Jin lowered her eyes and subconsciously glanced at Xiao A Yuan. Just as she was about to say something to defuse the situation, she saw the old man with a white beard stand up and suggest, "Good, good! Commander Shao is the best demon hunter in the world, maintaining the peace and stability of our people. Being able to see Commander Shao dance with his sword is simply a great blessing in life. If word gets out, this old man can brag about it for years!"
“In that case, I will play the zither for Commander Shao. Do we have any other musicians who are good at playing drums? Let’s make music together with Commander Shao.”
Upon hearing this, Si Jin raised an eyebrow slightly, and a smile gradually spread across her eyes.
This was a clever way of putting it, as it neither offended the emperor nor diminished Shao Linyuan's performance, elevating it to the level of refined pleasure sought by literati.
It's a good way to save the day.
But this little old man... looks familiar.
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