Chapter 600: Birthday Banquet
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chu Min’s expression darkened. For just a fleeting moment, he felt that Duke
Jingguo knew everything.
“Father, don’t worry too much. You’ll be fine.”
Duke Jingguo shook his head and gestured for Chu Min to help him lie down.
“I’m tired, so tired. Go. It’s late. Rest well. You still have to attend the morning
court session tomorrow.”
Chu Min carefully covered the old man with the blanket. “Yes. You should also rest too, Father. I will come over to visit you tomorrow.”
Duke Jingguo closed his eyes.
He only opened his two eyes again when he heard Chu Min’s departing footsteps. He exhaled deeply as he watched Chu Min leave. When he closed his eyes again, a teardrop seeped out of the corner of his eye.
Prince Jiangning’s birthday was at the end of the month.
Due to the news that Xiao Jin would be attending the banquet, many people turned up to attend Prince Jiangning’s birthday celebrations on this day.
Early in the morning, Prince Jiangning stood outside the main gate in good spirits to welcome guests. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had seen so many flattering and fawning faces at the same time.
“Happy Birthday, Your Highness!”
“Lord Li, you are here. Please come in, come in!”
After a few days of recuperation, Xiao Shijie’s wounds had already healed. He was now standing outside the entrance with Prince Jiangning to welcome
guests.
The people who came to celebrate Prince Jiangning’s birthday were all very perceptive and ignored Xiao Shijie’s existence. Those who didn’t want to hurt feelings simply exchanged a few words of pleasantries with him before entering the residence.
Xiao Shijie only looked at those people’s expressions icily.
Prince Jiangning caught sight of this. “That’s enough. Your injuries haven’t fully healed, so just go inside and wait. It won’t be too late for you to come back when the banquet starts.”
Xiao Shijie did not object. “Alright, I’ll go in first.”
After Xiao Shijie left, Prince Jiangning let out a deep breath. When his son was standing at the side, he always felt a burden in his heart. Now that his son was gone, he felt much more relaxed.
Just as the banquet was about to begin, a convoy of Imperial Guards arrived outside the residence.
When he saw this, Prince Jiangning immediately went up to welcome the visitor. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Xiao Jin, who was dressed in a maroon regular robe, alighted from the horse carriage. He didn’t walk off after he had stepped firmly on the ground. Instead, he reached out to help Su Ying down.
Prince Jiangning wasn’t expecting Su Ying to come as well.
“Greetings, Your Imperial Highness.”
The two of them stood still to let Prince Jiangning and the rest straighten up.
“Today, the Empress and I are here to attend Prince Uncle’s birthday banquet. Prince Uncle, you are the host, so you can simply treat me and the Empress as ordinary juniors,” Xiao Jin said.
Even if Prince Jiangning was given ten thousand balls of steel, he still wouldn’t have the guts to do that!
He respectfully invited the guests into his residence. The weather was cold, and Prince Jiangning had already ordered people to tidy up the largest courtyard for today’s banquet. It was just enough to accommodate the guests who came today.
■■His Majesty the Emperor has arrived. Her Imperial Highness the Empress has arrived.”
As the announcement from the eunuch rang out, the people who had already arrived in the banquet hall stood up and bowed.
Xiao Jin held Su Ying’s hand and walked into the hall before sitting down on the seat of honor.
Xiao Shijie saw Xiao Jin’s feet flash past his eyes, and his eyes erupted with killing intent.
Suddenly, an embroidered shoe decorated with pearls stopped in front of him. Xiao Shijie got a shock and instinctively raised his head, only to lock eyes with a pair of almond-shaped eyes that were so deep that they seemed bottomless.
Xiao Shijie quickly withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes. It was not that he had not heard of the Empress’s reputation. Rather, he did not take her seriously. To him, no matter how powerful a woman was, how powerful could she possibly be?
However, her gaze just now made him inexplicably fearful.
This woman had such a strong aura.
After a glance, Su Ying withdrew her gaze and followed Xiao Jin to the mam seat.
Prince Jiangning sat one step below Xiao Jin and Su Ying. He kept paying attention to their gazes from time to time.
“To celebrate Prince Jiangning’s birthday, Young Master Xiao specially came back from Jinling City. Your filial piety has truly touched me. I will first toast you with this cup of wine, Young Master Xiao.”
Xiao Shijie picked up the wine cup on the table and stood up respectfully. “Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I have long wanted to return to the capital city, but I was always held back by myriad matters. Thus, I was unable to return for a long time. Now that I finally have the opportunity to meet Your Majesty and my father, I couldn’t be more happy.”
“Your subject should be the one to offer a toast to Your Majesty.” After saying that, Xiao Shijie downed the wine in his cup in one go.
Xiao Jin also drank the wine in his cup.
Prince Jiangning then stood up at this opportune time to liven up the atmosphere. The atmosphere at the banquet suddenly became lively.
After a few cups of wine, Prince Jiangning was a little tipsy, and he became more emboldened.
“Your Majesty, I’m really happy today. I can’t even remember how long it has been since I’ve had such a birthday celebration. I have to thank Your Majesty for this.” Prince Jiangning’s face was reddish as he came up to Xiao Jin with a wine cup. When he spoke, he was already slurring a little.
Xiao Jin raised his cup with an amenable expression and clinked it with Prince Jiangning’s cup. “It’s good as long as Prince Uncle is happy.”
“Happy! You have no idea how happy I am. Hehehe!” After saying that, he drank the wine in his cup and turned to the dance floor in the middle of the hall to dance with the singers.
The guests felt that Prince Jiangning was quite daring to act so impudently in front of the Emperor. However, when they saw that the Emperor did not seem to take offense, they all smiled and immersed themselves in the enjoyment of the song and dance.
The atmosphere at the banquet was pushed to a climax.
Su Ying sat on the chair and ate the dishes on the table with great interest. Although the taste wasn’t as good as the ones in the palace, it wasn’t bad either. “This snack is not bad too. You can try it.” Xiao Jin pushed the snacks in front of him to Su Ying’s side.
Su Ying gave a murmur and picked up her chopsticks to continue eating.
Xiao Shijie sat one step below them, seemingly watching the song and dance. However, his peripheral vision was fixed on Xiao Jin and Su Ying all the time. When he saw that Su Ying was focused on eating the entire time, he felt that the way Su Ying looked at him just now might have been an accident.
The moment Xiao Shijie withdrew his gaze, a maidservant fell onto him. The wine in her hands instantly soaked his robe.
“Your Highness, please forgive me, please forgive me. Your servant deserves to die, your servant deserves to die…” The maidservant was so scared that her face turned pale and she kowtowed repeatedly to beg for mercy.
Coincidentally, the singing and dancing stopped at this moment. For a moment, many people were attracted by the commotion and looked in Xiao
Shijie’s direction.
Prince Jiangning was dancing merrily with the dancers when he suddenly heard the maidservant’s cries. He then scolded her with displeasure, “What are you doing? Today is my birthday, yet you’re crying and wailing. Get lost, get lost! Get lost at once!”
The maidservant didn’t dare to say anything else and quickly left.
The caretaker walked to Xiao Shijie’s side at the appropriate time and said, ■Your Highness, your robe is already wet. You’d better come with me quickly to change into a clean set.”
Xiao Shijie’s expression was not too pleasant. He appeared very dissatisfied with this interlude. However, due to the presence of the guests, he was trying his best to endure it.
“Please excuse my lack of manners.” Xiao Shijie stood up and bowed to Xiao Jin before leaving with the caretaker.
The dance music started playing again. Prince Jiangning resumed dancing with the dancers as if he did not take the earlier little episode to heart.
Xiao Shijie followed the caretaker to a side room in the back courtyard.
“Your Highness, please wait a moment. Your servant will get someone to bring a clean robe to you.”
Xiao Shijie nodded and sat down on the chair unhurriedly.
After the caretaker left, a figure pushed open the door to the room and walked in..