268, Palace Banquet
268, Palace Banquet
Just as the eldest prince and the second prince were arguing with each other, a voice rang out: "Your Majesty has arrived—"
"The Queen has arrived—"
Seeing the emperor, the empress, and many concubines arrive, everyone present turned to face the direction of the emperor and the empress, bowed, and saluted, saying: "Your son/your humble servant greets the emperor, long live the emperor--"
"Long live the Queen, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years—"
The emperor, along with the empress and concubines from the harem, walked to the seat of honor.
The empress sat on the emperor's right, Concubine Wan sat on the emperor's left, and the other concubines sat below.
After sitting down, the emperor looked at the ministers below and said, "Everyone, please stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After everyone expressed their gratitude, they stood up, found their respective seats and sat down.
After everyone was seated, the emperor looked at his sons and asked, "When I came here just now, I saw you brothers gathered together, very lively. What are you talking about?"
As soon as the emperor said this, the princes below fell silent and no one spoke.
Even the arrogant eldest prince didn't dare to say that he was deliberately making things difficult for others.
The emperor's gaze swept across his sons and finally fell on the eldest son.
Meeting his father's gaze, the eldest prince hesitated for a moment, but finally stood up and said with a dry laugh, "Reporting to your father, I was just joking with everyone."
"Jokes are jokes, but there has to be a limit, understand?" The emperor looked at his eldest son with a warning in his eyes. He knew what had happened in the imperial garden.
"Yes, father, I understand." The eldest prince replied nervously.
Lu Mingfei, sitting in the back, lowered his voice several notches when he saw the eldest prince acting so arrogantly in front of him. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart: "That's all. If you have the guts, talk to your father the same way you talked to me just now!"
A bully who only fears the strong and bullies the weak!
No wonder the eldest prince, despite being the eldest son, the son of the late queen, and a legitimate heir, still couldn't become the crown prince. Given the eldest prince's foolishness and narrow-mindedness, such a person is unfit to be crowned prince and later become emperor.
It seems that the emperor understands his son well, otherwise he would not have not appointed a crown prince for so many years.
Of course, there may be many complex reasons.
Looking at the two women sitting next to the emperor, he guessed that one of them was the queen, and the other should be the favored Concubine Wan, the mother of the second prince.
"Sit down." The emperor looked at his eldest son with a look of disappointment on his face.
"Thank you, father." The eldest prince bowed and sat down in the back seat.
But the eldest prince who was sitting in his seat at this moment was very angry in his heart. He was angry at the two culprits who had caused him such a disaster. He couldn't do anything to his brothers, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything to a small sixth-rank official!
"A-choo——" Lu Mingfei sneezed violently.
[The eldest prince must have been scolding me in his heart!] Lu Mingfei rubbed his nose with his hand. He was very sure that the eldest prince was scolding him in his heart. It seemed that he had to be careful at the palace banquet today. He must not let anything happen in this palace, otherwise, not only would his official uniform be lost, but he might also be thrown into prison.
Thinking of this, he did not forget to remind his good friend: "Be careful tonight."
"I know. But you, having offended the eldest prince, will probably be in trouble in the future." Zhang Lingxuan said with some concern.
"I've already offended him, so I don't mind if it happens again." Lu Mingfei looked in the direction of the eldest prince and saw him talking to the eunuch beside him with his head down. After the eunuch retreated, he saw the eldest prince looking at him and quickly looked away.
Without thinking, he knew that what the eldest prince had just said to the young eunuch was most likely related to him.
"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's a beautiful day, so I'd like to have a drink with everyone."
"I wish Your Majesty good health and a long and prosperous life."
"I wish your majesty good health and a long life."
After the emperor on the throne said a few words, the emperor and his ministers raised their glasses and drank together.
Lu Mingfei also raised his wine glass and looked towards Zhao Lang through the cover of his sleeve, just in time to meet Zhao Lang's gaze. The two exchanged glances, and his heart suddenly calmed down.
When the enemy comes, we will fight back; when the water comes, we will block it with earth. They are not pushovers either, not to mention that Zhao Lang is here.
The eldest prince wasn't the most powerful person in the imperial city. The emperor was still there, so if the eldest prince wanted to do anything to him, he would have to consider whether he could explain it to his father. Moreover, the emperor had so many sons, and the second and third princes were no pushovers either.
He saw that the Second Prince had helped him out of trouble several times, so he wanted to win him over in a way that was not too obvious. It was not that the other princes did not want to win him over.
He had met the Third Prince at the restaurant last time, and just now he had seen the Third and Fourth Princes standing beside the Second Prince. These two princes didn't seem to be free from ambition either. Even brothers from ordinary families would fight over the family property and become enemies, let alone the Emperor's son. Who wouldn't want to sit on that throne?
Lu Mingfei believed that as long as he was useful, the other princes would not watch the eldest prince kill him.
If the weight of a top scholar isn't enough, what about the weight of a scholar and a student at the Imperial Academy? He has so many teachers and fellow students at the Imperial Academy behind him, and now he represents all the scholars and students of the world. Just imagine, if a prince can kill a top scholar at will, does that mean he can also kill any other scholar he wants?
Of course, the premise is that he cannot let others catch his mistakes or handles.
***
The sound of piano rang out, and beautiful dancers came one after another and danced in the center of the venue.
It was a rare opportunity to witness such a grand spectacle, so Lu Mingfei sat in his seat and watched the dancers dance attentively. He glanced at the ministers around him, and they were all like him, drinking and watching the beauties dance.
[Being constantly in trouble isn't a good idea. How about trying to cause some trouble for the Crown Prince?] However, as a minor official of the sixth rank, he didn't have much of a chance to cause trouble for the Crown Prince.
Just as he was thinking about how to cause trouble for the eldest prince, a palace maid suddenly approached him and wanted to pour him some wine.
"No, I can do it myself." Lu Mingfei subconsciously blocked it with his hand to prevent the palace maid from pouring him wine.
"Yes, sir." Upon hearing this, the little palace maid took two steps back.
No, that fragrance just now! Lu Mingfei immediately realized that something was wrong, but when he turned around and looked back, the palace maid who had approached him just now was gone.
Soon, he felt his body starting to heat up.
[This bastard actually let someone give him that kind of drug!] Lu Mingfei cursed in his heart.
Zhang Lingxuan noticed his friend lowering his head, and he felt a little strange and came over to ask, "What's wrong with you?"
"I, I was drugged." I don't know what kind of medicine the eldest prince had someone give him, the drug is so powerful!
In just a moment, Lu Mingfei began to feel dizzy and his whole body was extremely hot. At this time, his mind was still somewhat clear, and he knew very well that if he made any inappropriate behavior in such an occasion, his official career would be over.
Hearing this, Zhang Lingxuan suddenly panicked, "Then, what should we do?"
"Don't panic, we can't let anyone see that something is wrong here. You, you better be careful." Lu Mingfei clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms, and he tried hard to stay awake.
No, he couldn't ask Zhao Lang for help now! If people knew about his relationship with Zhao Lang, they would both be in trouble.
Yes, you can ask the Second Prince for help!
Lu Mingfei grabbed Zhang Lingxuan's hand and said to his friend, "I want to leave here. Find a way to find the Second Prince and tell him that I'm not feeling well. Ask him to find a doctor to see me."
Knowing that if he stayed any longer he would make a fool of himself, he forced himself to stand up and backed away.
Zhang Lingxuan watched his friend stand up and leave, then looked in the direction of the Second Prince. However, they were still some distance away from the Second Prince's location, and if he walked over like that, he would definitely attract the attention of the First Prince.
He looked at his friend's staggering back and didn't care anymore!
He gritted his teeth, stood up, and walked forward from the back.
However, just as he was about to approach the Second Prince's position, two eunuchs came over and blocked his way. One of the eunuchs said to him, "The First Prince has sent a servant to tell you to stop interfering, otherwise you will be punished as well."
"Don't let that happen, in which case you will not only lose your official hat, but also your life!" the young eunuch next to him said.
This is a naked warning and a threat!
Zhang Lingxuan looked at the two young eunuchs who were blocking his way, and for the first time he clearly realized the humbleness of his status. Even though these children from poor families had worked hard for more than ten years and finally passed the imperial examination and became officials in the court, but today in front of the eldest prince, these seventh-rank officials were still no different from a mantis trying to stop an arm, overestimating their own abilities.
However, he couldn't bear to watch his friend fall into danger with no one to help him. Even if it meant offending the eldest prince and losing his official uniform, he didn't care!
"Get out of the way!" Zhang Lingxuan reached out to push the two eunuchs. However, instead of pushing them away, they grabbed his hands, one on the left and one behind, and pulled him aside.
Just as he was about to struggle, a eunuch warned him, "Sir, I advise you not to move too much, otherwise it will affect the joy of His Majesty and the officials, and I'm afraid His Majesty will be unhappy."
"You guys!" Zhang Lingxuan was so angry. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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