Once Jun Buli put on his palace robes, his entire bearing changed completely. In Nanzhao, there had still been traces of the “little bear cub” about him, but now, he looked every bit the noble, commanding sovereign, awe-inspiring without even trying.
Seeing him approach, Baili Weisheng raised an eyebrow and asked, as his first question, “Where’s Consort Li?”
This fellow just had to bring up the one topic he shouldn’t have.
Mentioning Consort Li in front of Mother and Father was clearly meant to embarrass him.
“Exhausted from travel, she went back to the palace,” Jun Buli said.
“Oh my, Prince Yao and Prince Yao’s consort personally hosted a banquet, and she didn’t even show face?” Baili Weisheng asked exaggeratedly.
Jun Buli gave a hollow smile. “She’s a mere consort—she’s not qualified to show up uninvited.”
Indeed, this welcome-home banquet of Ziqing’s hadn’t invited Consort Li at all.
As Jun Buli spoke, his gaze unconsciously flicked to his mother’s large belly. He truly couldn’t imagine—at his own age, and his mother was still having a baby.
If it was a boy, fine. But if it was a girl, then wouldn’t that mean…
Jun Buli couldn’t even bear to imagine what life would be like going forward, and shuddered involuntarily, quickly turning away to find a seat.
“Where’s Baili Xiaosheng?” he asked.
“Your wife went off to familiarize herself with the surroundings,” Baili Weisheng answered first.
At those words, Meng Duo’er spurted out a mouthful of water, coughing repeatedly, while Ziqing wanted to laugh but held it back—she knew that on this Nanzhao trip, Jun Buli must have somehow offended Baili Weisheng!
Even Hongyi and the other maids nearby couldn’t help but cover their mouths and stifle giggles. In the whole scene, only Jun Beiyue and Jun Buli, father and son, weren’t laughing.
Jun Beiyue’s sense of humor ran high, and he was busy preparing Ziqing’s special meal, with no time to bother with Baili Weisheng’s joke—having missed out on caring for one child, this second child, he was determined to be by her side every single day!
Seeing this side of Jun Beiyue left Jun Buli somewhat dumbfounded, and truthfully, there was a tiny bit of jealousy in his heart toward his soon-to-arrive little sister (or brother).
Jun Buli didn’t laugh, but he didn’t show any anger either, maintaining a calm expression as he ignored Baili Weisheng’s needling, not even bothering to wonder where Baili Xiaosheng had gone off to—she couldn’t leave Prince Yao’s manor anyway.
As for Baili Weisheng’s talk of “wife” this and that, he didn’t take it to heart at all.
Baili Xiaosheng was several years older than him, and besides, she was his foster older sister—what did wife have to do with anything? Though recalling their childhood together now still felt rather fun, that was all in the past, when they were children.
“Father, shall we begin the meal?” Jun Buli asked respectfully. He might be the sovereign, but Jun Beiyue was the true head of the family—everything he had came from his father and mother. No matter how powerful he became, no matter the circumstances, he always held deep respect for his father.
Jun Beiyue glanced around at everyone and said, “Hongyi, didn’t I tell you to go fetch Jing’er?”
At these words, Jun Buli’s chopstick-holding hand froze involuntarily. For a moment he couldn’t quite process it, only feeling that the name “Jing’er” sounded remarkably familiar!
“Uncle Beiyue, I’m back!”
Suddenly, a voice clear as a silver bell rang out, and everyone turned to look, seeing a light, brisk figure come dashing over—this girl, dressed in pale green, running like a green butterfly, quick and graceful.
Calling him “Uncle Beiyue” so affectionately made it clear this girl was greatly doted on by both Jun Beiyue and Ziqing. Jun Beiyue had even specially reserved a seat for her, right beside himself.
The corner of Jun Buli’s mouth twitched repeatedly—he knew there was no shortage of trouble to come.
“Jing’er, how was it? The Da Zhou palace is much more fun than the Xijing palace, isn’t it?” Ziqing asked with a smile, seeing the exhausted look on Guxi’s face trailing behind, guessing how wild this girl had been.
“Much better, and there’s also that… that…” Situ Jing’er trailed off deliberately, glancing casually at Jun Buli.
Jun Buli, still very polite, kept a calm expression, watching Situ Jing’er along with everyone else—after all, here, he was technically the host.
Situ Jing’er broke into a cheerful grin and declared loudly, “There are just so many consorts! Even more than the maidservants in our Xijing harem!”
The corner of Jun Buli’s mouth twitched again, though he patiently kept his composure.
This remark from Situ Jing’er set off an eruption of laughter throughout the whole gathering, especially from Ziqing—though truthfully, it wasn’t Situ Jing’er’s comment that amused her so much as her son’s reaction.
Fortunately, her son had only just begun the imperial consort selections a few years back—once a year, various ranks of consorts and concubines, sometimes dozens, sometimes just over ten—added together, it did amount to quite a number.
Throughout history, plenty of emperors ascended the throne as children, and once enthroned, would immediately begin building up a store of fine consorts for the future, preparing for the continuation of the line.
Having many consorts wasn’t actually a pleasant thing for an emperor—it was more of a chore, a helpless obligation.
Of course, one couldn’t rule out that some emperors simply enjoyed the company of women.
Amid everyone’s laughter, Situ Jing’er, silly and innocent, chimed in, “Emperor brother, with so many consorts, you must be so tired.”
Uh…
What exactly did that mean?
Tired in which particular sense?
Ziqing nearly burst out laughing, Jun Beiyue couldn’t hold back a chuckle either, Baili Weisheng laughed so exaggeratedly he slapped the table, and Meng Duo’er blushed bright red.
Without a doubt, every adult in the room had interpreted her words the same way!
As for what Situ Jing’er actually meant, only she herself knew—in truth, she hadn’t meant it the way Ziqing and the others assumed at all!
The whole point of her remark had been the affectedly sweet way she’d said “Emperor brother”—she was deliberately trying to needle Jun Buli.
Well, regardless of the intended meaning, she’d achieved her goal. The corner of Jun Buli’s mouth kept twitching—at this rate, it would go numb permanently.
A whole burst of laughter, and no one knew whether, if this crowd of troublemakers realized Jun Buli, at his age, still had no experience with women, they’d laugh even harder.
After a good while, it was Jun Beiyue, doting on his son, who coughed lightly a few times and said, “Hongyi, since everyone’s here, let’s begin the feast.”
“Yes!” Hongyi said happily. Prince Yao’s manor had never been this lively before—it was rare for everyone to gather together like this. She hurried to signal the maids to bring out the hot dishes and pour the wine.
Soon, a procession of maids came out bearing dish after dish of fragrant, beautifully presented delicacies, and the wine cups on the table were filled to the brim.
Everyone chatted while enjoying the delicious food, the atmosphere warm and harmonious, with Situ Jing’er especially delighted.
In truth, she was quite similar to Baili Weisheng—the carefree, thoughtless type. Except Baili Weisheng’s carelessness meant he didn’t bother worrying about others, didn’t keep people in his heart, while this girl’s carelessness meant she never held grudges, never dwelled on unpleasantness—a natural-born, extroverted optimist.
She truly didn’t hold any grudge against Jun Buli, nor against Baili Xiaosheng. This trip wasn’t about relying on Ziqing’s favor to stir up trouble for revenge.
She simply, genuinely didn’t want to go back to the Xijing palace, and had come to Da Zhou’s palace to wander around instead. With her formidable martial skills, she loved traveling the martial world. She was already thinking that once she got bored of Da Zhou, she’d find an excuse to slip away from her guards and wander off somewhere else. She hadn’t been to the northern parts of the Longyuan continent yet, hadn’t seen snow before.
Thinking of this, Situ Jing’er couldn’t help but feel a secret thrill of anticipation, and casually grabbed the wine on the table, downing the entire cup in one go.
Seeing this, everyone stopped in their tracks…