The Crown Prince choked for a moment, then glared at Shang Shaoyan with some annoyance, as if he was enduring something.
Shang Shaoyan then ignored him, and at this time, it was still a quarter of an hour before dusk.
A quarter of an hour later, Lu Yi and the new empress arrived. Lu Yi said a few polite words and then the palace banquet began.
Shang Shaoyan poked at the crab-stuffed orange in front of her listlessly, looking around with little interest. She was sitting close to Lu Yi, who was already observing her. Seeing Shang Shaoyan's sullen face, he immediately became unhappy.
Lu Yi gently put down his wine cup, looking at Shang Shaoyan with a forced smile: "Princess Heyang, is the food at the banquet not to your liking?"
Lu Yi's voice wasn't quiet, and many people in the audience heard it. The crowd immediately quieted down, looking at Shang Shaoyan with a mixture of pity and schadenfreude.
Shang Shaoyan was still estimating the time in his mind, estimating that Hua Qing and the others would set off in about seven or eight minutes.
If that's the case, why endure it?
So Shang Shaoyan nodded casually: "Yes, it's not quite to my taste. I'll improve it next time, thank you."
Lu Yi: "...?"
Everyone: "...?"
The Crown Prince, who was drinking, was so startled by Shang Shaoyan's words that he choked and began coughing violently. Shang Shaoyan glanced at him, frowned, and shouted sternly, "I'm talking to His Majesty. Are you disrespecting me by coughing here? Take it away right now."
Everyone: "..."
Lu Yi snapped out of his shock and before he could say anything, he heard Shang Shaoyan rebuke the Crown Prince. He was immediately enraged by Shang Shaoyan's words and said coldly, "Princess Heyang, how dare you!"
He really wanted to kill Shang Shaoyan on the spot, but Lu Yi also knew that the Tiger Tally that could command the Shang army was in her hands, and he couldn't touch her.
Lu Yi composed himself and was about to say something to ease the tension when Shang Shaoyan sincerely asked, "Is Your Majesty very angry? If you are angry, just say it. Don't keep it bottled up."
The entire Taiji Palace fell into an extreme silence. No one dared to speak, and even the usually domineering new empress was somewhat afraid of this atmosphere.
Lu Yi stood up tremblingly, pointed at Shang Shaoyan with his finger, and forced a laugh out of anger: "Guards, drag Princess Heyang away and execute her!"
Lu Yi was filled with violent emotions at this moment. He no longer cared about the tiger tally—he was the emperor of Southern Chen, how could he not command the mere Shang army? Besides, wasn't there Shang Yunlan?
Lu Yi had already made his plans, but no guards made a move.
Lu Yi frowned and ordered again, "Someone come here!"
But still no one answered, no one came, and the scene was eerily quiet.
Some people below had already realized that something was wrong and wanted to send someone to quietly report the news, but they were stopped by a guard.
Lu Yi didn't notice this. He was trembling all over, whether from anger or something else, he smashed a wine glass on the ground with a loud bang, and then roared hoarsely, "Where are the Imperial Guards? Are they all deaf? Do you want your whole family to be executed?"
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to him.
Lu Yi jumped and shouted at the head of the table, looking like a comical clown. Shang Shaoyan sat in his original seat, watching Lu Yi with a leisurely air, as if he were enjoying a wonderful farce.
Enraged by Shang Shaoyan's gaze, Lu Yi picked up the new empress's wine cup and threw it in Shang Shaoyan's direction, only to be shocked to find that Shang Shaoyan caught the cup with his bare hands, then crushed it into powder.
Lu Yi: "..."
He finally got scared and sat back down in his seat, trembling.
Shang Shaoyan curled his lips and said, "Your Majesty, your strength is lacking."
Lu Yi's anger was reignited. He actually tore a hairpin off the new empress's head and stood up to stab Shang Shaoyan.
Everyone present held their breath, wishing they had never come to this palace banquet at all.
However, some people held a sliver of hope, thinking that they could help Princess Heyang later and perhaps even gain merit for supporting the new ruler—yes, who among them wasn't shrewd? Everyone could see that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had rebellious intentions.
As the hairpin drew closer, Shang Shaoyan didn't even blink. He reached out and grabbed Lu Yi's wrist, rendering him unable to move.
Lu Yi's face paled with shock. He was about to say something to bolster his courage when he saw Shang Shaoyan looking at him with a half-smile, asking sarcastically, "Your Majesty, do you intend to rebel?"
Lu Yi: "...?"
The Crown Prince, who was already eight feet away from Shang Shaoyan in fright, thought: "...?"
Everyone present: "...?"
Everyone felt that they had never heard such an absurd and outrageous statement in their lives!
Shang Shaoyan sneered, then turned and stabbed the hairpin into Lu Yi's neck. Lu Yi's eyes widened, and he covered the hairpin, falling to the ground in shock.
In just a few moments, he stopped breathing.
Everyone was stunned by Shang Shaoyan's outrageous move. The Crown Prince finally came to his senses and hurriedly shouted, "Assassins! Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"
At that moment, the sound of swords clashing came from outside the palace. The crown prince breathed a sigh of relief and scrambled from his seat to the outside of Taiji Palace.
Some people came to their senses and hurriedly followed behind the crown prince, wanting to go out together.
But most people were watching Shang Shaoyan cautiously. Seeing that the latter showed no panic and even had a smile on his lips, they knew that the people who came from outside were probably not the people protecting the emperor.
They remained seated calmly, only wiping away their cold sweat.
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