Chapter 21
"Brother Wei, hello!" Luo Sanrong greeted Wei Dao enthusiastically, but Wei Dao simply replied coldly, "Okay."
"Last night, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to work on paperwork all night, so I didn't come back last night." Luo Sanying explained.
Wei Dao stopped and asked in confusion: "I didn't ask you about what happened last night."
"Really? Hahaha." The situation was very embarrassing and Luo Sanrong wanted to escape.
Just as Luo Sanrong was about to leave, Weidao stopped him and said, "Help him! This is a very important birthday party for His Highness, and there will always be many people who want to find something to hold against His Highness."
"What are you talking about? He is the Crown Prince! Who dares to embarrass him?" Luo Sanying said in surprise.
"There are many reasons. In short, you are someone trusted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..." Wei Dao did not explain too much.
Luo Sanrong was a little flattered, but didn't take it seriously.
*
A month later, the envoy came to visit.
"Your Majesty, may your Majesty be blessed with good health." The envoy paid his respects, but he was not the Prince of Benin.
Only the guards around the prince saluted, while Prince Benin stood blankly in the hall.
The ministers in the court did not dare to challenge Prince Benin, so they could only rebuke the guards who saluted: "Since you have come to the territory of our Xia'an Kingdom, why don't you follow the local customs and use the etiquette of our Xia'an Kingdom?"
The guard looked at Prince Bening. Prince Bening said nothing, but sneered and expressed his disdain.
Some ministers felt insulted and wanted to reprimand, but were stopped by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Majesty stopped them with a look and said, "Prince Benin has come from afar. Our Xia An Kingdom has prepared a sumptuous banquet. Please rest for a while and wait for the dinner."
Prince Benin left without any greeting. The guards saluted behind him and quickly caught up with Prince Benin.
After Prince Benin left, some ministers began to vent their dissatisfaction, "Hmph, what an arrogant man." And, they glanced at Crown Prince Li Yin out of the corner of their eyes. However, the crown prince, who was usually the most intolerant of others, was standing there quietly.
The banquet was held after sunset. The weather was cool and the breeze was gentle. It was very pleasant to drink and have fun.
The prince also carefully arranged various programs. His Majesty and the queen sat in the upper seats and watched the lively scene of the banquet. His Majesty finally relaxed.
"Your Majesty, I would like to offer you a cup of tea instead of wine."
"good."
After the queen put down the teacup, she gave a look to her personal maid, who nodded slightly. The queen showed a triumphant smile, but no one saw it.
Ji Zeming was the person in charge of the banquet and kept a close eye on it throughout the entire process so that he could deal with any emergencies at any time.
"Sir, Miss Qing'er is missing..." Eunuch Zhang, who was in charge of the dancers' affairs in the back, came to report. Originally, this matter should have been told to Ji Zeming as soon as possible, but because Qing'er's solo dance was specially added by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the eunuch told Luo Sanrong first.
"What?" Luo Sanrong lowered his voice deliberately, but still caught Ji Zeming's attention.
"I'll go and take a look." Luo Sanying didn't explain much, just said briefly: "Qing'er is missing." He hurried to the back hall prepared by the dancers.
Ji Zeming was also shocked when he heard this. After all, causing trouble at a banquet like this was no longer a family scandal.
He habitually looked up at his elder sister, who was holding a cup of tea for him. Judging from her smile, it was she who did it.
Ji Ze knew that the most urgent task was to find Miss Qing'er as soon as possible, rather than worrying about who was at fault.
He followed closely behind Luo Sanrong, grabbed Luo Sanrong and said, "I'll go look outside, you go to the prepared back hall and take a look. Maybe Miss Qing'er is just out temporarily..."
"Okay." Luo Sanrong responded.
Luo Sanrong rushed into the back hall. The dancers in the hall were only wearing a layer of gauze to cover their exquisite body curves, and they were not wearing outer garments. Luo Sanrong was dressed as a eunuch. As expected, as soon as he stepped into the back hall, he was hit by all kinds of strange things.
Luo Sanrong could only temporarily leave the hall. After they had put their clothes in order, Luo Sanrong entered the hall and was teased by the other dancers: "I didn't expect that Eunuch Luo was so curious about us! I didn't expect that you are such a person!"
Luo Sanrong was embarrassed and didn't dare to look them in the face. He lowered his head and stumbled to explain: "What?! I...I'm here to look for Miss Qing'er."
"Qing'er? Yes, she was there just now!" a dancer answered.
Luo Sanrong walked towards Qing'er's seat and looked around. He found that Qing'er's dance costume and jewelry were still there. He guessed that Qing'er might have left not long ago, so he wanted to go find her quickly. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to leave, Eunuch Zhang came in anxiously and urged, "Sir, have you found Miss Qing'er? Miss Qing'er's solo dance is about to begin."
Luo Sanrong was holding Qing'er's dance costume, at a loss.
She recalled that the sharp-tongued and stingy prince would give her his bed to sleep in late at night, and that Weidao once asked her to help the prince more... She lowered her head to look at the maid in her arms, then raised her head again, as if she had confirmed her thoughts.
"Eunuch Zhang, please delay for a while. Qing'er has been found. Now we just have to wait for Qing'er to change her clothes..." After saying that, Luo Sanying hugged Qing'er's clothes and hid in a place with few people.
When Eunuch Zhang heard that Miss Qing'er had been found, the heavy stone in his heart finally dropped, and he replied, "Okay, okay."
*
Because there had been a gap of time in the front hall, the ministers felt something strange. Li Yin felt something strange and wanted to get up, but the emperor shook his head at him.
Li Yin could only continue to sit in his seat and signal Weidao with his eyes to go and see what was going on.
The interaction between Li Yin and Wei Dao did not escape the Prime Minister's attention. A barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He then raised his glass to toast Prince Benin and said nonchalantly, "It seems that there are some problems with the dance that His Royal Highness has carefully choreographed. Please be patient."
Prince Benin raised his glass and drank it in one gulp, "Oh, with such little ability, you still want to..." He stopped talking again, remembering that his Majesty had told him to be careful with his words and actions before he went on the mission.
Just when the court officials were about to take advantage of this to make trouble, a woman in a dancing costume, with waist-length hair and a veil came onto the stage, stepping on silk. Her eyes conveyed her feelings, and the musicians around her understood what she meant and started playing music.
The queen and the prime minister looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes.
That’s right, the woman in the dance costume is Luo Sanrong.
Luo Sanrong danced and spun to the music according to the dance in her memory. In the light of the candlelight, although her face was covered by a veil, she was still incredibly beautiful.
But Li Yin sensed something was wrong. Looking at the dance in front of him, Li Yin always felt that there was something familiar between the dancer's eyebrows and eyes, as if he had seen her somewhere before. It was completely different from the feeling Qing'er gave him.
Finally, more than a dozen dancers came on stage together and surrounded Luo Sanrong tightly, just like a blooming flower, and Luo Sanrong wrapped in it was the most delicate pistil.
The dance ended, and Luo Sanrong stood among the dancers, his eyes always looking elsewhere.
Ji Zeming, who had just discovered that Qing'er had died a violent death, rushed back from outside and looked at the woman dancing on the stage. He stood there for a long time without moving.
"Next, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will lead the reading of the birthday speech." The ceremonial officer announced loudly.
Li Yin took the bamboo slips with the birthday message from the ceremonial officer and, without opening them, announced loudly, "As the crown prince of Xia An, I wish to entrust this honorable mission to one of Xia An's most loyal courtiers, that is, Prime Minister Ji Ke."
The prime minister did not move. Only then did he realize that the prince was waiting for him here. Expressing loyalty in public was indeed a good way to gain the envoy's approval.
Li Yin raised his eyebrows, smiled, and signaled the prime minister to take the bamboo slips.
Ji Ke had no choice but to take the bamboo slips and read them carefully according to the words on them.
"May your majesty live long and long, and may your majesty live a thousand years and a thousand years."
"May Your Majesty live long and long, and may Your Majesty live a thousand years and a thousand years." The court officials echoed.
His Majesty and the Crown Prince looked at each other and smiled with satisfaction. The Queen clenched the teacup in her hand and forced a smile on her face.
The banquet was a peaceful scene, and no one noticed that Luo Sanrong on the stage had already slipped out of the banquet.
......
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