“Xuan Yanyu, say that again?” Yan Yunning stomped hard on Xuan Yanyu’s foot once more.
Pei Shutong, who had been watching Xuan Yanyu closely, clutched the teacup in her hand tight with barely contained fury.
“Want a kiss,” the man said in a low, magnetic voice.
Yan Yunning yanked Xuan Yanyu’s large hand off her lap and ran her middle finger back and forth across the back of his hand. She looked at Xuan Yanyu with a bewitching smile. “Who?”
Xuan Yanyu flashed a charming grin. He understood her meaning and, without the slightest hesitation, answered, “You.”
Yan Yunning tilted her chin up, her brow arching into a curve. “Keep dreaming, Your Majesty.”
The man widened his eyes.
Yan Yunning let out a low hum. “From this moment on, only I am allowed to hold your hand, and only I am allowed to be coquettish with you. You are not permitted to be like that with me.”
“Why?” Xuan Yanyu frowned and asked.
Yan Yunning patted the back of his hand, a smile dancing in her eyes. “Because Your Majesty intends to avoid me in a few days. When you give up that idea of avoiding me, then and only then will I allow you to hold my hand.”
Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together. “If you didn’t covet me, would I be avoiding you?”
“Xuan Yanyu, don’t force me to hit you in front of everyone on a day like today.” Yan Yunning narrowed her eyes in warning.
The man pouted and pressed his case. “Really not possible?”
“No!” Yan Yunning nodded firmly.
“Then I have one request.”
Yan Yunning raised an eyebrow, a faint smile on her lips. “Shut up, don’t say it. This Palace does not agree.”
The man muttered under his breath, “You won’t even let me speak before telling me to shut up and not say it?”
“Unless you are telling me you have thought it through and no longer plan to avoid me, everything else is superfluous and need not be said to me.” Yan Yunning cast him a sideways glance. “Understood?”
“His Majesty and the Empress of Xuan are truly a loving couple.” The Prince of Second Rank cast a disdainful look at Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning’s clasped hands beneath the imperial table. He took up his wine cup, rose with the support of a maidservant, and smiled. “His Majesty labors tirelessly in governing the realm. This official raises a cup in respect.”
The moment the Prince of Second Rank finished speaking, the great hall fell immediately silent. Who in that hall did not know that the Grand Emperor currently held the reins of court, and that every affair in Xuanzhao was handled by the Grand Emperor? Was the Prince of Second Rank not mocking His Majesty with those words?
“Indeed, it was exhausting. His Majesty did not rest until dawn last night,” Yan Yunning said with a serene smile.
“So His Majesty stayed up all night attending to the affairs of Xuanzhao. This old official raises a cup to His Majesty.” The Minister of Justice lifted his wine cup and drained it in one hearty gulp.
Seeing Xuan Yanyu leaning languidly against the golden imperial throne with no intention of responding, Yan Yunning smiled and poured him a cup of wine from the decanter, gesturing with her eyes for him to drink it.
The man took the jade cup, the corner of his mouth curving into a careless smile, and took a light sip.
“We officials also raise a toast to His Majesty.”
“Enough.” The man’s fingertip traced the rim of the cup, his tone plainly impatient. “Everyone sit down and eat.”
All these endless toasts — what a bother!
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The assembled officials settled back into their seats.
The Prince of Second Rank exchanged a glance with Pei Shutong. Pei Shutong’s lips curved into a lovely smile, and she rose to her feet with a delicate, gentle air. “Your Majesty, this official’s concubine would like to display a small talent or two, if Your Majesty would be pleased to allow it.”
“How has a concubine come to the palace banquet?”
“Indeed, how did the Prince bring a concubine into the palace?”
“And she wants to perform a talent? She is no entertainer — what talent is there to perform?”
“This was the Emperor’s banquet for officials and their family members. Her performing a talent for everyone will only diminish her own standing.”
“She is merely a concubine. Performing a talent for us is not beneath her standing.”
Several of the madams at the table whispered among themselves.
Pei Shutong’s expression shifted slightly.
Up on the high seats, neither Xuan Yanyu nor Yan Yunning had spoken a word. Fearing they might displease them, the madams’ whispered murmuring died away.
After all, since His Majesty and the Empress had said nothing, naturally there was no need for them to say more.
“Your Majesty.” Pei Shutong called out again in a coy, honeyed tone.
The wife of the Minister of Revenue cast Pei Shutong a contemptuous glance and muttered under her breath, “If someone who didn’t know better heard that soft call, they would think she had some sort of relationship with His Majesty.”
“Hush — how can you say such a thing?” The Minister of Revenue went pale with fright.
His wife pressed her handkerchief to her lips, breaking into a cold sweat. She was accustomed to speaking freely at home, and for a moment had forgotten she was in the palace.
Xuan Yanyu lazily half-closed his eyes, making no move to acknowledge Pei Shutong.
Having stood for a while, and beginning to feel the awkwardness of the situation, Pei Shutong bit her lip and spoke again in a soft, meek voice. “Your Majesty, may you grant permission?”
“Anno—”
Xuan Yanyu had barely uttered a single syllable before Yan Yunning curved her lips into a smile. “Permission granted.”
Every gaze in the hall snapped to Yan Yunning at once. She had cut off His Majesty mid-word and made the decision in his place… This was…
“Yes.” Pei Shutong’s slender fingers parted her outer robe to reveal a bright orange tube-top gauze skirt beneath. Her collarbone was fair and pale, her expression demure and shy, the ivory expanse below her collarbone pearlescent in the light. The hairpin in her hair swayed gently as she took slow steps to the center of the great hall and dipped into a light curtsy.
“The Crown Prince is tired. Take the Crown Prince back to his chambers.” Yan Yunning looked toward Ye Chen.
“Yes, Empress.”
The little one, who had been happily eating, looked up in bewilderment. Before he could say he was not tired, Ye Chen had already covered his eyes and carried him out of the banquet hall.
The Prince of Second Rank’s expression changed drastically. The Crown Prince had been taken away — so what was there left for Pei Shutong to perform her talent for?
This performance had been Pei Shutong’s means of slipping medicine into the Crown Prince’s drink under the guise of a dance.
With the Crown Prince gone from the banquet, all of his plans had been thrown into disarray.
The other officials and their families were also stunned. This… this was far too improper — even less fitting than the entertainers who had performed earlier.
Pei Shutong was not as furious as the Prince of Second Rank. Her true intention had been to dedicate this dance to the Emperor. She kept a beautiful smile on her face and began rising on her toes, spinning in small light steps, her arms lifting upward, her waist gently swaying, the shoulder straps of her garment sliding slightly down her shoulders, half-revealed, half-concealed.
She seemed to lose herself entirely in the dance, quite unaware that the Prince of Second Rank was grinding his teeth in silent rage.
What a disgrace — he had been utterly humiliated.
Clothing like that was fine enough for wearing in private — but how could she… could she…
Yan Yunning noticed the slight rounding of Pei Shutong’s lower abdomen and lightly tapped the man beside her, dropping her voice very low. “Is Pei Shutong with child? If she is pregnant, why would the Prince of Second Rank still use her in a scheme against Xiaoxiao?”
Before the banquet began, guards had reported to Xuan Yanyu about the Prince of Second Rank’s movements for the day.
Xuan Yanyu, who had been gently stroking Yan Yunning’s fingertips, lifted his gaze and swept a glance downward. His brow furrowed hard. “Get out of my sight.”
Pei Shutong startled, her body lurching, and she tumbled to the ground. A maidservant quickly retrieved her shed outer robe and draped it over her, helping her retreat back to her seat.
Xuan Yanyu’s gaze swept across the assembled civil and military officials below. His voice was heavy and measured. “The Prince of Second Rank disregarded palace protocol by bringing his concubine to the imperial banquet, and then permitted that concubine to behave with impropriety — performing a dance unfit for polite company and bringing shame upon this court. How shall he be punished?”
The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Justice exchanged a glance and rose together. “Your Majesty, this official believes that the Prince of Second Rank failed to keep proper control and permitted his concubine to perform a dance unfit for a proper occasion. He should rightfully receive a beating across the face.”