42. Banquet
Qin Duan was very cold.
He can still dream of that snowy day when he was very young and had to look up to see the woman's face.
He raised his head, his hair sliding down, revealing his moon-like hazy face that had been there since he was young.
Xiao Qinduan reached out and carefully grabbed the woman's luxurious hem, whispering.
"Mother, Queen Mother."
The woman then lowered her eyes to look at him, reached out and touched his hair, with a complicated look in her eyes.
The snow was so heavy that it almost submerged the entire palace. Qin Duan's face turned red from the cold. He pursed his lips and huddled carefully next to the woman.
He was a little scared. Snow was flying on the corridor. Qin Duan's neck was tucked into the soft rabbit fur, and he looked at the closed room in front of him with trembling.
“Uaaaaaaaaa——”
He heard the man's painful roar and screams that gradually grew louder.
The eunuchs inside were crying and shouting, "Push harder, my dear, push harder..."
Qin Duan was startled and shrank behind the woman again, carefully placing his head close to her lower back.
This is her mother.
His father was having a baby in there, and this was the only person he could rely on.
But my father still screamed like that, as if he was suffocating in pain.
He was a little scared and asked softly in a hoarse voice.
"When will Father come out?"
…
At first, a eunuch answered him, "It will be soon. Don't worry, young prince. You will definitely get a daughter in one go."
But he was still panicked and ignored his father-in-law's words. He looked up and asked his mother stubbornly over and over again.
"Father seems... to be in a lot of pain. Can you please let him out...?"
The pale little face was trembling and the brows were furrowed.
…No one responded.
The woman expressionlessly brushed away Qin Duan's small hand that was tightly clutching her clothes.
Qin Duan's hands turned red from being slapped.
The emperor was now in a very low mood, with a frown on his face, staring at the delivery room. No one would answer and offend the emperor.
Perhaps because his voice sounded a bit pitiful with tears in it, Hou Jun, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but speak.
"My dear little prince, please don't ask. All men go through this. Even when you grow up, you will have to give birth to a child."
Qin Duan was a little confused, with tears still in the corners of his eyes, crystal clear, and asked with a red nose.
“…Will it hurt that much?”
The king paused, frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
“…It doesn’t hurt.”
Suddenly, the emperor, who had been silent all this time, glared at him, his eyes sharp and gloomy.
"Your Majesty, forgive me!"
The handsome man knelt down hurriedly to apologize, crying bitterly.
Qin Duan was also startled. He took a few steps back in fear, tears streaming down his face.
The man trembled and stopped talking, and his mother stared at the door of the delivery room in a daze again.
Accompanied by the man's hoarse voice gradually lowering.
“Ah ...
Qin Duan remembered that day for a long time, so long that his feet were numb from the cold and his whole body was cold.
He was woken up by the loud sound of a door opening and his father-in-law's sharp voice.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something's wrong. Your Majesty's fetus is in an abnormal position..."
Qin Duan was startled and asked dazedly, "Has father come out yet?"
His father promised to make cakes for him in a few days.
His father always told him stories in a gentle manner, and this was the 23rd chapter of the storybook.
He wanted to know whether Li Jiao in the book, who was captured by bandits and thrown into a corpse pit, would wait until his beloved came on the moon and carried him out of the bloody and muddy corpse pit?
Li Jiao is a gentle and elegant young man in the storybook, who is free from the dust of the world. So when he was thrown into the corpse pit, did he sink into the blood and pain, or did he wait for his lover and go to the mountains, seas and bright moon with her?
Xiao Qinduan felt that he knew the ending of the story.
He must have washed away all the filth and become the handsome and elegant young man again.
Then he heard his father-in-law's voice tremble.
Qin Duan can still recall it to this day.
"Your Majesty...save the elder or the younger?"
He vaguely remembered that the snow was flying all over the sky, just like the fallen leaves from the dead trees in front of him, falling down and blinding his eyes.
The voice was merciless, cold and calm.
"...Protect the little one."
It was the nightmare of his life.
Qin Duan was wearing a loose, thin white lining. He was leaning against the window, his back against the eaves, and reaching out to catch the fallen leaves.
The bright moon is bright, lonely and quiet.
He raised his head, the lines of his neck were smooth and beautiful, and the moonlight sprinkled on his handsome face.
A smile appeared on the corner of his lips, helpless yet gentle, as he quietly bathed in the moonlight.
Qin Duan crushed the dead leaves on his fingertips again, closed his eyes, and felt the leaves breaking into pieces as his fingertips lost moisture.
Dry and ridiculous, it turned into a gust of sand and was blown away by the wind.
He was young at that time, but he knew the meaning of protecting the young.
He grabbed the woman's clothes and cried for help over and over again, but was ruthlessly pushed away. His knees hit the cold ground and his face was burned by tears.
He looked at Xuanyuan Ying, the queen.
My father said that he was second only to the emperor in the palace and that if I asked him for help, I would definitely be able to do it.
His voice was hoarse as he cried out over and over again, "Daddy Queen, please save my father, please save my father..."
He saw Xuanyuan Ying looking down at him for a long time, pursed his lips, and then slowly shook his head.
Qin Duan could still remember the crisp sound of the hairpins on the queen's jade crown on Xuanyuan Ying's head colliding with each other.
As the sound of the hairpins colliding died down, the man's voice in the room also died down.
Then he heard shouting and someone started laughing.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! It's a little princess—!"
They laughed loudly and happily, vying to catch a glimpse of the little princess. The woman, who had been cold and hard just now, suddenly softened her expression and laughed happily.
"Good, good, good! There will be a huge reward! Our Ling Kingdom will finally have successors!"
She carefully picked up the small and soft child and teased him with her mouth.
"Hahahaha...you look like me, so much like me...good boy..."
They were all laughing, except Qin Duan, who was crying silently.
The falling snow seemed to know his sorrow, and it created another gust of wind, blowing against the window.
His father's life was exchanged for a little sister.
That was his little sister, petite and fragile. Qin Duan always liked to watch her from afar, watching her spit, watching her clear eyes, watching her babbling and wanting him to hold her.
Qin Duan was very resistant. He couldn't help crying when he saw her. He pursed his lips stubbornly, his eyes were red, and he couldn't make a sound.
Everyone was rejoicing at her arrival, but no one was mourning the death of their father.
Like a fallen leaf, it was crushed and then blown away by the wind.
He was deliberately distant, never hugging, never approaching, just watching from afar.
Watch her babbling, watch her stumbling and falling, watch her carefully walk to him step by step, and then say her first words.
"Brother...Brother, brother...Brother..."
Young Qin Duan was stunned. He lowered his head for a long time, then bent down to hug her and burst into tears.
This is his sister.
It's his sister... not a little monster, not a demon... just his sister.
Then what?
Qin Duan seemed a little confused. He looked up at the bright and lonely moon, which was shining silently.
And then...my sister was gone too.
She also died on a snowy day. It was a very common thing for a one-year-old child to die young.
It was still a snowy day, with a strong snowstorm, accompanied by crying and sad white clothes.
Just like the day my father passed away.
From that day on, he had nothing.
I lost my father, my sister, and myself.
Qin Duan finally knew the story in the book that his father had not finished telling. Li Jiao had never climbed out of the bloody pit of corpses. The jade-like young man was stained with filth, and there was no longer the beauty of a white lotus under the moonlight.
He didn't wait for his lover to ride his horse and take him away, just as Qin Duan was struggling at the bottom of the pit.
...let the filth spread from the hem of the clothes onto the white clothes.
Qin Duan closed his eyes and hummed an inexplicable melody in his throat. The bright moon was noble and had never shone on someone like him.
He can only rob.
Can only imprison the moonlight.
Be a mean wolf.
…
The barbarians are coming to pay homage, so preparations for the banquet have begun early. In recent days, there have been many more foreigners in the capital.
This Hajj is special. It used to be performed in spring, but now it is autumn. Why is it necessary to perform the Hajj?
He just wanted to see the great epidemic in Longcheng and the damage to the fertile fields, and to test the foundation of the Ling Dynasty.
The old officials in the court also knew what these barbarians were thinking. They all looked disdainful and full of hatred. They did not smile even at the banquet with music and dancing.
Especially facing the man opposite.
Most of them expressed contempt and disgust, and at the end they did not forget to curse, "You are a rude barbarian who does not observe male ethics."
Yun Zhihe took a look and then stopped looking, lowering his eyes to drink.
But the eyes on the opposite side were so hot that she had to look up.
The man was dressed in cool clothes, with gauze, gold chains and soft cloth outlining his beautiful and smooth figure. His honey-colored skin was as soft and shiny as if it could drown you. He had a smile on his face, deep blue eyes, and thick black curly hair tied up casually.
The corners of her eyes are raised, showing a strong passion, which is a standard cat's eye and is particularly charming.
This is the prince of the barbarian tribe, named Mobei Se, who accompanied the envoys to the capital to pay homage.
His overall demeanor was similar to that of the Second Prince, but only now did the court officials who had always disliked the Second Prince begin to think well of him.
At least the second prince was just a little arrogant and willful, not as good as the barbarian man in front of him who dressed coolly, did not observe male ethics, and flirted casually.
It's a pity that he is a prince, but he is worse than the prostitutes in the brothel. It's really unlucky.
He is worthy of being a prince taught by barbarians.
The court officials were all blushing with shame.
Mo Beise still didn't care. He lay lazily on the banquet table without any rules, supporting his head and looking at Yun Zhihe. His eyes looked at her with an alluring charm.
Revealing beautiful collarbones and skin.
He watched her with interest.
The courtiers attending the banquet were mostly old women, with only a beautiful young lady like her left. She had an extraordinary demeanor and was noticed at first sight.
nice.
He narrowed his eyes nonchalantly, licked the corner of his lips with the tip of his tongue, stroked the almost overflowing wine with his fingertips, and then deliberately reached in to stir it, splashing water.
Then he saw the pretty girl opposite him looking at him in surprise, then her face turned red and she suddenly lowered her head.
Yun Zhihe paused and lowered his head to sip the wine.
I also sighed that this barbarian man... is really bold and daring.
The men nearby were unhappy.
Xuanyuan Ying's face darkened on the spot, and he pursed his lips and stared at Mo Beise who was lazily lying on the table.
Qin Duan picked up the wine glass with a smile, then lowered his eyes to hide his coldness.
The second prince, who had been missing for a long time, paused and took a sip of tea with a complicated expression.
He looked a lot whiter, his waist was slimmer, and he was extremely thin. He seemed to be deliberately controlling his expression and movements, and there was a hint of the elegance of a sick beauty between his eyebrows.
Qin Zhi has been wondering, what does the woman like?
It seemed that no woman would love his unrestrained appearance, so he restrained his wildness and stayed indoors, practicing etiquette and husbandly manners every day to whiten his skin. The honey-colored skin that he had gained from training at the racecourse and hunting ground also disappeared.
He thought about it for a long time after that conversation with Yun Zhihe. She said, listen to your heart.
Qin Zhi wanted to marry her, so he listened to his heart and became a man worthy of her marriage.
Gentle, virtuous, humble and polite.
He had been avoiding Yun Zhihe every day since she returned to Beijing, because he felt that he was not pretty enough, not decent enough, and his reputation was not good enough. If he were better, he would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
Be more outstanding... have a thinner waist... have fairer skin... have a better temper...
so.
At this moment, he suddenly saw that Mo Beise was somewhat similar to his former self, and he felt some inexplicable emotions.
Qin Zhi pursed his lips and concealed his expression.
Mo Beise walked towards the stage, twisting her waist. The gauze caressed her skin, causing all the ministers to cover their faces in dismay.
He smiled, his cat eyes curved, and he bowed slowly. Perhaps because he was not yet fluent in the Central Plains language, the ending tone of his voice rose and trembled.
"Your Majesty, I have long heard that despite being a man, Your Majesty is proficient in both civil and military tactics. This is truly admirable."
"I just wonder, are all the men in this Ling Dynasty like Your Majesty? Or are they..." He blinked innocently and deliberately stretched out his voice, "Or are they as the rumors say, weak and frail, only able to weep softly?"
There was nothing wrong with what he said, but his tone was full of sarcasm, and his eyes were curved with provocation.
The noble gentlemen in the audience could no longer sit still.
They are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so why would it be useless for an uneducated barbarian to mock them?
What a great sense of superiority.
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