Chapter 28
Tang Yan didn't leave her seat until the banquet began. Her teacup was emptied and refilled, and she glanced around boredly.
Many eyes were on her, after all, she was Princess Yun'an's "honored guest" today.
In the second month after Tang Yan entered the palace, she met the legendary Princess Yun'an. Their first meeting was not pleasant—Tang Yan's stone was faster than Yun'an's voice.
She said she was her brother's friend.
She said she wanted to protect her.
—After all the bullying, Sister Changge became her shield.
So after her brother's case was closed, Yun An specially requested permission from His Majesty to bring Tang Yan out of the palace under the guise of an invitation to a banquet. This was also the first time she had left the palace since entering it.
"I invited you all here today to introduce someone to you." Yun An's voice rang out, and several pairs of eyes naturally fell on Tang Yan and the person next to her. Tang Yan did not look up, but simply raised her glass and drank.
After all, she wasn't the main character at this banquet.
"Today is my ninth brother's birthday. This banquet is to celebrate his birthday. All guests are welcome, so please enjoy yourselves."
After Yun'an finished speaking, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.
"A toast to the Ninth Prince!" Soon someone raised their cup.
And so, one after another, voices of good wishes and the sound of pouring wine rose and fell, never ceasing.
Tang Qi mingled among the crowd, raised his cup, and as he drank, deliberately tilted it to one side and asked the people at the next table, "Why isn't the Ninth Prince's birthday banquet held in the palace? Why is it at the Princess's residence instead?"
The person at the next table glanced at him and said, "You don't even know that? The current emperor values this Ninth Prince the least. He's too busy bothering him to even host a banquet for him. What a joke. Only our Princess Yun'an has a kind heart."
Judging from his words, he didn't seem to have a good impression of the Ninth Prince either. Tang Qi then asked, "What is the Ninth Prince's name?"
“Sheng, Xing, Xing”.
Tang Qi choked on his tea.
“Good…good name.” He wiped the water from his mouth.
Yun'an also prepared some other things for this banquet, including a sword dance performance. Tang Qi enjoyed the performance while eating pastries and drinking wine.
Tang Qi casually glanced through the gaps between the dancers, and when his gaze swept over a certain spot, he unexpectedly met the eyes of the person opposite him. He and Cheng Junshi stared at each other strangely through that narrow gap.
Cheng Junshi neither evaded nor hid.
They glare at you and then kick you; really, who's afraid of who?
However, he didn't have a chance to continue competing with Cheng Junshi, because that little gap had been squeezed out, and by the time he could make room to look again, Cheng Junshi had already turned his head away.
Why bother arguing with him?
"This sword dance performance was truly spectacular!" As the dancers left the stage one after another, people in the banquet quickly chimed in with praise.
“I’ve seen sword dances that are far more spectacular than this,” someone else said.
"Sister, you must be joking. The dancers Princess Yun'an has hired are court dancers." Wei Fan glanced at the speaker.
The person didn't speak, only chuckled, and looked in Tang Yan's direction. Sensing her gaze, Tang Yan turned her head and stared back at her.
"Of course I'm not joking, right, Princess Yunluo?" The man's tone was smiling, but his eyes were anything but friendly.
"Princess Yunluo? Could she be... the legitimate daughter of Marquis Jianbei?" Tang Yan's identity was directly stated.
Tang Qi glanced at the man; he looked familiar, like one of Sheng Hui's commanders. It seemed they had met before during a military briefing, but the man wasn't particularly capable, so Tang Qi didn't remember him well.
"Of course, not everyone is so lucky as to be personally bestowed the title of Princess by His Majesty."
Tang Qi sighed. Yun An was indeed immature. Although she meant well by bringing Tang Yan out of the palace, and using the Ninth Prince's name was a way of indirectly supporting Tang Yan, placing Tang Yan in such a high-profile position only made her a target of public criticism.
Ultimately, the Marquis of Jianbei's mansion no longer had anyone to protect her.
The royal family may protect her for a time for certain reasons, but they cannot protect her forever. The dissatisfaction, ridicule, contempt, and jealousy she now endures are long-lasting and indelible.
"The misfortune of losing both father and brother?" someone laughed at the banquet.
Shen Zhiqing raised her eyes and glanced at the person who spoke: "Miss Deng, do you know that words can be dangerous?"
Deng Yu shrugged indifferently and said, "You can't blame me for this. Madam Shen, you don't know this, but a few days ago I went to the palace to attend the princess's investiture banquet. Our Princess Yunluo put on quite a show in front of His Majesty with her dead brother's sword."
Deng Yu looked at Tang Yan, who was in a high position: "That dance was truly unforgettable, Your Highness. I wonder if any of you will have the honor of seeing it today?"
Deng Ning's daughter.
Tang Qi glanced over and twirled the teacup in his hand.
"Aww!"
Deng Yu suddenly cried out in pain and clutched her arm, which she felt had been hit by something.
"Are you alright?" the person next to her asked hurriedly.
Deng Yu shook his head, his eyes scanning the crowd several times but unable to find the culprit, and finally he could only give up in frustration.
"During the banquet, His Majesty returned my brother's sword to the Marquis of Jianbei's residence. I performed a sword dance to thank His Majesty in order to retrieve the sword. Now that my brother's sword has been retrieved, I will not continue to make a fool of myself in front of everyone." Tang Yan raised his cup, circled around to cover his face, and drank it all down, thus fulfilling all the proper etiquette.
Deng Yu looked at Tang Yan as if she still wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden voice.
"Royal sister, didn't you say there was another super-big-surprise?" Sheng Xingxing's eyes lit up as she looked at Yun An: "Quick, quick, royal sister, I can't wait!"
Once the Ninth Prince spoke, no one else said anything more. Yun An followed suit and looked towards the center of the banquet, saying, "That's right, the next surprise is—the Eastern Hunt."
Eastern Hunt?
Tang Qi kept her eyes fixed on them, tapping her hand lightly on the table.
"Seriously, brother? You're even interested in the Eastern Hunt?" The person next to Tang Qi tugged at his sleeve, coughed twice, and whispered to him, "You're just here to grab a bite to eat, aren't you? I'm only telling you because you look friendly. The Eastern Hunt is an activity for young masters and noble ladies. It involves hunting in the Eastern Hunt Mountains. Eating and drinking is fine for us, but if it's horseback riding and archery, that could really kill you."
As he spoke, the man stuffed some pastries into his arms: "The princess is kind. Ordinary people like us can occasionally snag a few banquets. To put it bluntly, this Eastern Hunt is just the princess giving us a chance to leave on our own."
“Anyone who wishes to participate in the Eastern Hunt may come here to collect arrows. I have arranged for people to count them on the Eastern Hunt Mountain. Return here within two hours. The one who hunts the most will receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver and a name card,” Yun An said.
Seeing that Tang Qi still had no intention of leaving, the person next to him packed the pastries and gave a final reminder: "Don't blame me for not warning you, you basically have no chance of getting that reward money, don't end up losing your life."
Tang Qi finally looked at him and smiled, saying, "It's alright, I'm lucky."
The man blinked, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "You are this one."
Tang Qi had participated in the Eastern Hunt before. It was similar to a general hunt, but on a smaller scale. In addition, the Eastern Hunt usually involved two people in a team, with different colored ribbons separating the teams.
After Yun An finished speaking, those who did not want to participate in the Eastern Hunt naturally left, and the rest began to pair up with each other.
Tang Qi stood to one side and noticed that Tang Yan also had a sash tied around her wrist. Tang Qi almost instinctively glanced at Sheng Xingxing's wrist—thankfully, there was nothing there.
He felt a sense of relief and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sister Yu, don't go!" The Sheng Hui leader, whom Tang Qi thought looked familiar, was chasing after Deng Yu.
Deng Yu rolled her eyes at him: "Gu Chao, who told you to be in my group?"
"Sister Yu, I am your father's subordinate. With me protecting you during the Eastern Hunt, I will not let those beasts harm you," Gu Chao said to Deng Yu with a somewhat obsequious tone from behind.
Deng Yu turned around and rolled her eyes at him again, quickening her pace.
She almost brushed past Tang Qi, her gaze lingering on his face for a few seconds as she turned back. Gu Chao quickly followed Deng Yu and ran out of Tang Qi's sight.
Tang Qi, however, did not take her gaze off their backs.
"You want to choose her as your target?" Shen Zhiqing asked.
She and Ye Qian were not participating in the Eastern Hunt, and the two of them were already standing next to Tang Qi.
Tang Qi neither confirmed nor denied it.
“I have a more suitable candidate, Lu Chenghe. He used to be Deng Ning’s subordinate, and a few months ago he joined the army in Yuan’an. Now he is under my brother’s command. I saw him at the banquet just now. You should be able to meet him during the Eastern Hunt.” As if remembering something, Ye Qian added, “He left Sheng Hui just as the Marquis of Jianbei was finishing his southern campaign.” Ye Qian said.
Tang Qi didn't answer him, still staring ahead.
"...You still want to choose Deng Yu." Ye Qian understood his silence and continued, "She's Deng Ning's daughter. You want to get close to her and then use her identity to gather the information you want?"
"Can't I?" Tang Qi asked back.
"...This is not good, she is not in the know."
“She is not innocent either,” Tang Qi said.
"She didn't participate in her father's evil deeds, but she enjoyed his benefits. Ye Qian, she is not innocent."
Shen Zhiqing chuckled, pointed at Ye Qian, and said to Tang Qi, "So now you know why I hate him?"
After she finished speaking, she stepped out without looking at Ye Qian again.
Ye Qian paused for a moment after hearing her words. He didn't leave with Shen Zhiqing, but just lowered his head: "I just feel that no matter the reason, it's unreasonable to deceive someone out of affection." He paused and then said: "You're already playing Lin Zhengye, are you going to continue playing someone else's friend? A name can be fake, but can the heart... also be fake?"
“This may save you time and effort, but it might not be the best approach. I don’t care about Deng Yu; it doesn’t matter who she is,” Ye Qian looked up at Tang Qi. “I don’t want you to be wrong.”
“Once a lie begins, it never ends.” Ye Qian sighed. “I just hope… you will always be yourself.”
He walked away, but Tang Qi still didn't move.
Ye Qian wasn't wrong. Once the bottom line is crossed, abandoning one's conscience is only a matter of time. Tang Qi also knew in his heart that his only target for revenge was Deng Ning. The more people involved, the wider the tear in his conscience would become. He could use Deng Yu today, but once his conscience was exhausted, could he also use innocent people?
Is everyone paving the way for his revenge plan? What gives Tang Qi the right?
Choose me.
Tang Qi stared blankly at the arrow that suddenly appeared in front of him.
“I said,” Cheng Junshi repeated, “you choose me.”
Tang Qi: "...Huh?"
Cheng Junshi waved the arrow in his hand: "I need a teammate."
"…oh."
Tang Qi wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead. Why is this person breathing so heavily...?
"Are you also participating in the Eastern Hunt?" he asked.
"Hmm," Cheng Junshi replied.
"Is this what you're looking for?"
Tang Qi saw Cheng Junshi glance at him, then nod again: "Yes."
Tang Qi was stunned. He thought carefully about the reward Yun An mentioned. A hundred taels of silver would definitely not be enough for Cheng Junshi. In that case, what he wanted was a name card.
His eyes lit up. Having a visiting card was equivalent to gaining the host's recommendation, which would be a great help to his career. Moreover, this was Yun An's recommendation, which was priceless.
It's not surprising that Cheng Junshi wanted this.
Considering how much Cheng Junshi had helped him in the past, Tang Qi had no reason to refuse; this was simply a way of repaying him.
Tang Qi then reached out and grasped the arrow, and smiled at him:
"Approved."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
