Chapter 520: The prince actually spoke up for him!
That night, the emperor held a banquet in the palace to celebrate the new top scholar and the newly promoted Jinshi.
At the banquet, those officials from aristocratic families could not help but ridicule the prince in some way or another; some even wanted to get him drunk on purpose to embarrass him in public.
Luo Qinghan had a cold expression on his face the whole time, and he didn't even bother to give any extra glances to those who deliberately forced him to drink.
He is the prince, and no one dares to force him to drink if he doesn't want to.
Those people were infuriated by his noble and cold appearance, but they could do nothing about him, so they could only walk away angrily.
Although some people disliked the prince, there were also many people who admired him.
Especially those pragmatic officials in the court and those upright and famous scholars who did not care much about their background, all favored the prince.
But due to some objective reasons, they did not dare to get too close to the prince for fear of arousing the emperor's suspicion.
On such occasions, they just politely offered the prince a glass of wine and didn't say anything extra.
This behavior does have some meaning of gentlemanly friendship.
As the new number one scholar, Li Qingyan was the focus of the banquet. Many people wanted to win him over. He was polite to everyone but did not show any inclination.
For a moment, no one was sure what was going on in his mind.
The sound of stringed instruments began, and the dancers came in gracefully.
Li Qingyan raised his glass towards the prince from a long distance.
The prince glanced at him without responding, his entire body exuding an inhuman and cold aura.
When other people saw this scene, they all thought that the number one scholar wanted to show his goodwill to the prince. Unfortunately, the prince ignored him at all, so the number one scholar was just trying to please someone else and got himself into trouble.
Some people even speculated privately, wondering if the top scholar had offended His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?
Otherwise, the prince would not have been so unwilling to give the top scholar any face.
When the song ended, the dancers retreated.
The newly-appointed scholars wrote poems and essays under the influence of alcohol, trying their best to show their talents.
The atmosphere at the banquet became more and more lively.
The table was filled with delicious food and the air was filled with the aroma of wine.
Luo Qinghan didn't want to touch it at all.
Compared to these delicacies carefully prepared by the imperial chef, he preferred the candied fruits given by Xiao Xixi.
There are all kinds of tastes in this world, but he only wants the sweetness that she can give him.
The banquet lasted until very late.
When the prince returned to Qingge Palace, Xiao Xixi was already lying on the bed and sleeping soundly.
Luo Qinghan didn't want the smell of alcohol on his body to bother Xiao Xixi.
He took a shower first, making sure there was no trace of alcohol on his body, and then lay down next to Xiao Xixi.
Xiao Xixi, who had already fallen asleep, felt someone beside her. She opened her eyes slightly, and when she saw it was the prince, she felt relieved and consciously snuggled into his arms.
Luo Qinghan hugged her and felt extremely at ease.
Tonight the emperor rested in Yaohua Palace where Concubine Hui lived.
After serving the emperor, Concubine Hui saw that the emperor was in a good mood, so she took the opportunity to mention the marriage of her beloved son.
"Your Majesty, in two months, Yechen will be 22 years old. People his age already have several children, but he doesn't even have a princess. Do you think we should choose a good marriage for him?"
The emperor said helplessly: "I have found several marriages for him before, but he himself doesn't like the people. What can I do? Am I going to force him to marry someone?"
Concubine Hui said hurriedly, "Before, he was still young and was not in a hurry to get married. Now that he is older, if he doesn't get married, it will really be delayed. Yechen is your eldest son after all, you must pay more attention to his marriage!"
"Okay, I understand."
Concubine Hui continued, "I don't have high requirements for my daughter-in-law. As long as she treats Yechen well, is healthy, and can help Yechen take care of the backyard, that's enough. Of course, my daughter-in-law's appearance and personality can't be too bad, and her family background must be acceptable. I can't let Yechen down, don't you agree?"
The emperor felt a headache from her nagging, so he closed his eyes and responded vaguely.
"Yes, I'm sleepy. Let's go to sleep. We can talk about it tomorrow."
…
The next day.
As usual, Luo Qinghan got up before dawn.
He had a simple breakfast and took a carriage to the council hall.
There have been many memorials impeaching him in the court recently. He knew the reasons and had expected this, so he didn't care much.
Since Qin Lie's death, there are only five ministers left in the cabinet, and the emperor has no plans to promote anyone else to the cabinet for the time being.
When the five ministers saw the prince coming, they all bowed to him.
Luo Yechen was very unhappy, but he could only follow the others and pay his respects to the prince.
This is the convenience brought by the identity of the crown prince. Even though he is the eldest brother, just because the other party is the crown prince, he can only bow his head when he sees the other party.
Soon the emperor arrived.
After some greetings, they began to discuss business.
Today, there are still people who submit memorials to impeach the prince, but the ministers know that the emperor does not like to hear about this, so they tacitly ignore those memorials.
The ministers selected some of the more important and urgent matters from the numerous memorials and discussed them with the emperor, the crown prince and the king of England.
After finishing his business, the emperor deliberately kept the prince and the king of England.
Knowing that they had family matters to discuss, the ministers tactfully withdrew.
The emperor took out a memorial and asked Gan Fu to deliver it to the King of England, indicating that the King of England should take a look at it himself.
Luo Yechen picked up the memorial, unfolded it, and his expression suddenly changed after reading it.
This is a memorial submitted by the Censor specifically impeaching the King of England.
Yesterday, the King of England had an argument with a woman in a restaurant and they even came to blows. Many people witnessed it.
When an imperial censor learned about this, he felt that it had a very bad impact on the reputation of the royal family, so he wrote this memorial to impeach the King of England for being too arrogant and overbearing, which was a disgrace to his status as a prince.
Luo Yechen defended himself, "It was Bu Shengyan who provoked me first. I was so angry that I argued with her for a few words. It was not as serious as the memorial said!"
The emperor asked leisurely, "But I heard that you have a bad relationship with the daughter of Marquis Dingyuan, and you have had conflicts before. Wasn't it because of the long-standing grudge that you fought yesterday?"
Luo Yechen was anxious to clear himself of the charges, so he could only make up stories.
"Father, please understand. Although my relationship with Bu Shengyan is not particularly good, it is definitely not bad. There is no grudge between me and her. Those people outside must be making up rumors. Please don't believe them!"
The emperor turned his head and looked at the prince standing next to him.
"I heard that you were also there yesterday. Can you tell me about the relationship between the King of Ying and the daughter of Marquis Dingyuan? Do they really have a deep grudge against each other?"
Luo Yechen knew that he and the prince had a bad relationship. When he heard his father asking the prince this, Luo Yechen's heart immediately sank.
The prince will definitely take the opportunity to discredit him!
Luo Qinghan said calmly, "I am not very clear about the relationship between my eldest brother and Miss Bu, but judging from how they interacted yesterday, their relationship should be pretty good, and not as bad as the outside world has said."
Luo Yechen was stunned.
He never expected that the prince would actually speak up for him!
(End of this chapter)
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