Chapter 38 The Banquet
About an hour later, a eunuch came to report that the Crown Prince invited Prince Jin and his wife to go to the Crown Prince's palace together. Although Ye Wanning felt a little uneasy, she still quickly tidied up and went with Su Wenzhen.
Upon entering the hall, Ye Wanning noticed Su Wenzhen chatting amiably with someone not far away. The man bore a slight resemblance to Su Wenzhen; though handsome, he lacked Su Wenzhen's scholarly air, displaying a free-spirited air. His ethnic minority attire further accentuated his wild and untamed nature. Ye Wanning's eyes flickered; this must be the Third Prince. She took Su Wenzhen's hand and discreetly walked to Su Wenzhen's side, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."
Upon seeing Ye Wanning approach, Su Wenliang immediately stopped his conversation with the people around him. "No need for formalities." He looked at Ye Wanning, smiled, and pointed to the people beside him, saying, "Come, sister-in-law, you probably haven't met my third brother yet. This is my third brother, Su Wenliang." As he spoke, he looked at Su Wenliang, "Wenliang, this is your second sister-in-law, Ye Wanning, the third daughter of Prime Minister Ye."
Su Wenliang glanced at Ye Wanning, raised an eyebrow, and remained silent. He had never been interested in his foolish second brother, let alone his wife. Su Wenliang turned to Su Wenyi, completely disregarding Ye Wanning and the others, "Brother, when will the banquet begin? I rushed here and haven't eaten anything along the way; I'm a little hungry."
"Insolence!" Su Wenliang frowned as he looked at Su Wenliang. "How did you become so disrespectful after spending a few days in the Qiang Kingdom..."
Su Wenlan wanted to say a few more words of reprimand, but Ye Wanning interrupted from the side, saying, "It's alright." Ye Wanning smiled and said, "After all, I am his newly appointed sister-in-law, so it's inevitable that we will be a little distant. But we'll get to know each other better over time."
As she spoke, Ye Wanning subtly observed Su Wenliang, his emotions clearly visible. Unlike the people in the palace, his eyes held no trace of calculation. Ye Wanning raised an eyebrow. If it wasn't an act, perhaps the Third Prince's return this time was for some people's ulterior motives...
Seeing that Ye Wanning had spoken, Su Wenzhen didn't say anything more. He looked at Ye Wanning with a smile in his eyes, "I've always said that Wenzhen married a good wife. Now it seems that Wenzhen is truly blessed." As he spoke, he tapped the table, "Please wait a moment, sister-in-law. We can start the meal once Wenyan arrives. This was originally a gathering of the four of us brothers, but I've troubled you to come and keep Wenzhen company. I hope you won't blame me in the future."
Ye Wanning slowly bowed and said, "That's not true." Then, she and Su Wenzhen sat quietly to the side and stopped talking.
After waiting for a while, Su Wenyan finally arrived. He looked at Ye Wanning sitting to the side with some surprise, "Second sister-in-law, what brings you here?"
Ye Wanning couldn't help but roll her eyes. After not seeing him for a few days, the Fourth Prince's IQ still hadn't improved. Was it any of her business whether he came or not?
"I was afraid Wenzhen wouldn't want to come with us later, so I called my sister-in-law over," Su Wenxuan said. "What's wrong, Fourth Brother? Is there something amiss?"
Hearing that Su Wenyan's tone was not good, Su Wenyan quickly explained, "No, no, that's not true!"
Ye Wanning watched the interaction between the two with suspicion. A few days ago, the two were pretending to be on good terms with each other, so why did they seem to be at each other's throats today? Ye Wanning looked around suspiciously, but she inadvertently met Su Wenliang's probing gaze. Ye Wanning thought to herself that something was wrong, and lowered her head to pretend to eat her food as if nothing was wrong.
Seeing Ye Wanning's evasiveness, Su Wenliang couldn't help but smile with amusement. This second sister-in-law... is quite interesting! He secretly glanced at the two people beside him who were exchanging meaningful words, then pretended not to know anything and picked up his wine cup to drink alone. He really had no interest in the throne!
Seeing the atmosphere become tense, Su Wenxuan suddenly laughed, "Fourth brother misspoke, shouldn't he be punished?"
Su Wenyan couldn't help but groan inwardly. Although he knew that the Crown Prince had no good intentions today, why did everyone like to use him as a shield? He nodded with a bitter face, "I will accept any punishment from Your Majesty."
"That's good." Su Wenxuan raised an eyebrow. "Then, let's have a penalty drink! Your sister-in-law has to drink one too!"
Just moments ago, Ye Wanning was pondering Su Wenyi's intentions when she suddenly heard him say something that left her speechless. She stared at Su Wenyi with wide eyes in surprise. What was going on?
Seeing Ye Wanning's expression, Su Wenlan couldn't help but find it amusing. He waved his hand and said, "This fourth brother misspoke because of his wife. Sister-in-law, do you think you should be punished?"
Just because of this? Ye Wanning rolled her eyes, finding it both funny and infuriating. She looked at Su Wenyi with a half-smile, "Then according to the Crown Prince's logic, the Crown Prince should also be punished."
"Oh?" Su Wenyan raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
Ye Wanning shook her head, a slight smile playing on her lips, "You're the one who started this banquet."
"Hahahaha." Upon hearing this, Su Wenliang couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Sister-in-law is right!" He then looked at Su Wenliang and said, "According to sister-in-law's logic, then Third Brother should also be punished. If it weren't for Third Brother, there wouldn't be this banquet today!"
The tense and stiff atmosphere from a moment ago has transformed into a harmonious and cheerful one in just a few words. Ye Wanning looked thoughtfully at Su Wenzhen, who was chatting happily with the other two brothers. He was indeed a formidable character. She turned her head and looked at Su Wenzhen, who was silent to the side, and couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in her heart. If Wenzhen wasn't a fool... She looked at Su Wenzhen and wondered who would win in this battle of wits and ruthlessness between the two...
The banquet was only halfway through when Ye Wanning was quietly eating when a sudden pain shot through her lower abdomen. Oh no! Ye Wanning clutched her stomach, her brows furrowed. This food... was poisoned!
She reached out, intending to stop Su Wenzhen from picking up food, but found him acting as if nothing had happened, which stunned her.
Seeing Ye Wanning's pale face, Su Wenzhen was startled. Could there be something wrong with the food? He immediately dismissed the thought. No, he had eaten it too, so why didn't he see anything wrong with himself? Staring at Ye Wanning, he didn't want to show concern, so he pretended to be silly and asked, "Wife, what's wrong? Why is your face so pale?"
Another wave of cramping pain hit, and Ye Wanning frowned, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead. The food wasn't poisoned, it was the wine, and probably that wasn't poison either… Ye Wanning felt her stomach rumbling, and tears welled up in her eyes. Who the hell had put laxatives in there! Her face contorted in agony, she turned and saw Qiu Shan standing not far away. Ye Wanning called out softly, her voice strained, "Qiu Shan…"
"Ah?" Qiu Shan was startled by the shout, and turned around to find her mistress pale-faced and looking like she was about to die. She was terrified. "Your Highness...you...you..."
"Take me to the... outhouse..."
"Huh?" Just then, music started playing on stage. Qiu Shan hadn't heard Ye Wan Ning's words clearly, so she cautiously asked again, "Your Highness... where did you say you were going?"
"Toilet..."
Qiu Shan opened her eyes but still couldn't hear clearly, so she bent down and brought her mouth close to Ye Wan Ning's lips, "What did you say, Your Highness?"
Seeing that she hadn't heard Qiu Shan after being told twice, and with her stomach hurting badly, Ye Wan Ning couldn't help but feel a surge of anger and shouted, "I said my stomach hurts, take me to the toilet!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Wanning regretted it. Looking up, she saw everyone in the hall laughing so hard they were doubled over. She felt embarrassed and blushed so much that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide in.
"Autumn Fan...you should take your master there quickly..." Su Wenxuan suppressed a laugh, shook his head, and said.
"Yes, yes!" Su Wenliang interjected with a smile, "Your Majesty, you should go quickly! Don't stay cooped up!"
"Pfft!" Another burst of laughter came from inside the hall.
Ye Wanning gave an awkward laugh. "Yes." She gritted her teeth and walked out of the hall. Damn it! She couldn't let her find out who had given her the laxative! Otherwise, she'd drag him out and beat him to death, or she wouldn't be Ye!
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