The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 140
Chapter 140 Dinner Battle
“Didn’t the princess already ask the Duke of Lu to propose in the hall?” Ruo Su reached out and poured a cup of tea, handing it to Xiao Xiwei and said gently.
Xiao Xiwei looked at Ruo Su quietly. After a while, she withdrew her gaze and said in a faint voice, “Does Auntie really think that method works?”
Ruo Su frowned.
The faint moonlight shone down and cast a shadow through the plum tree in the courtyard. Xiao Xiwei’s face was now hidden in this shadow, making people unable to see it clearly.
If she knew that it was useless, then why did she go to the Duke of Lu’s Mansion so hard to invite the Duke of Lu’s Crown Prince to come forward?
Without waiting for Ruo Su to say the question in her heart, Xiao Xiwei took a sip of the tea in her hand and said, “The moonlight today is really good.”
The same crescent moon was extremely good to Xiao Xi Wei in the Yan Palace, but Lu Haichuan in the palace did not necessarily feel good about it.
It seemed like he was going to choose one of the girls who was attending today’s banquet to go to the Northern Desert to get married. However, ever since he took his seat, the Northern Desert’s envoy had been a Ninth Princess one by one. It seemed that the Ninth Princess had to be the one who had made up his mind to propose marriage this time. Looking at the Emperor’s pleasant expression, it seemed that there was no meaning in choosing someone from the girls present today to go to the Northern Desert to get married. It seemed that the Emperor had tacitly agreed to this marriage. He had thought that, According to how much the Emperor doted on the Ninth Princess, he was probably unwilling to marry her to the Northern Desert. However, there was no suitable reason for him to cancel this marriage. Yes, Xiao Xiwei did not resist when he asked him to ask the Emperor to marry her in front of the hall. But now, it seemed that things were completely different from what he had imagined. As for Xiao Xiwei, did she also know this? What was the purpose of pushing him out this time? And should he open his mouth again? If he opened his mouth, he would probably enrage the Emperor, but if he didn’t open his mouth, it would be equivalent to cutting off King Yan’s path of retreat …
Just as Lu Haichuan was still hesitating, Lu Haiyang’s voice suddenly sounded beside him, “Big brother, I see that your expression is not very good. Is there something wrong with you?”
Before Lu Haichuan could answer, Duke Lu, who was in the lead, frowned and said, “Since you’re not feeling well, you should stay at home and take good care of yourself.”
“Father, big brother has been recuperating at home for a long time now. Do you want to come out and join in the fun?” Lu Haiyang smiled and treated Lu Country fairly.
“What do you mean by joining the fun? Don’t you know what kind of place this is?” Duke Lu coldly snorted and glared at Lu Haichuan in displeasure.
Being reprimanded by his father, a trace of embarrassment quickly flashed across Lu Haichuan’s dark face.
He knew that this time was different from the past.
Now that Lu Haiyang had obtained the Emperor’s important position by borrowing Qin King Chu Yanzhi’s East Wind, he had even become the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards. As for his father, he had clearly seen this and placed more and more reliance on him. Therefore, his chess piece was naturally going to be abandoned.
Thinking of this, Lu Haichuan’s heart suddenly burst out with a cold aura.
Xiao Xiwei was right. He had no choice now. Since there was no way to advance or retreat, he could only brave it out.
Thinking of this, Lu Haichuan suddenly stood up and bowed to the emperor on the throne, “Your Majesty.”
“Evil tent, what do you want to do?” Seeing Lu Haichuan’s actions, Duke Lu was infuriated. He lowered his voice and glared at Lu Haichuan angrily.
Lu Haichuan walked to the center of the hall and bowed to the emperor as if he hadn’t heard him. “Your Majesty, this lowly official wishes to ask Your Majesty to grant me a marriage.”
A loud voice rang out in the hall, and the surroundings quieted down.
The Emperor stared at Lu Haichuan, who was kneeling in front of the hall. Although there was still a smile on his face, a faint coldness slowly gathered in his eyes. “Oh, tell me, which family’s best friend do you like?”
Ever since Lu Haichuan said that he wanted to ask the Emperor to grant him a marriage, Lu Haiyang’s eyebrows couldn’t help but raise.
He said that after Xiao Xi Wei went to the Duke’s Mansion of Lu Country, Lu Haichuan’s’illness’ had suddenly healed, and he still wanted to attend this banquet. So it was this idea. However, Xiao Xiwei, do you really think that Lu Haichuan alone can stop Chu Zuizhi from going to the Northern Desert to get married?
Lu Haiyang couldn’t help but feel a mocking smile on his lips.
“Actually, I have always admired the Ninth Princess from the bottom of my heart. Please grant me your kindness.” After Lu Haichuan finished speaking, he fell to the ground.
A few wisps of coldness flashed through the Emperor’s deep eyes, but there was no trace of joy or anger in his voice. “If you admire Zui Zhi, then tell me, where did you admire Zui Zhi?”
Everyone in the capital knew that the Ninth Princess was naturally fat and drunk, and her appearance and conduct were all outstanding. When she said that she admired the Ninth Princess, she was afraid that few people would believe her if she said it out loud.
“Your Highness, the Ninth Princess is pure and gentle. Her character is noble and pure. She is not an ordinary woman.” Lu Haichuan raised his head and replied.
A soft laugh suddenly sounded in the hall.
“Big brother, why haven’t I heard you mention this before? Are you kidding me?” Lu Haiyang looked at Lu Haichuan and smiled.
However, Lu Haichuan did not even look at Lu Haiyang. He calmly faced the Emperor’s gaze and said in a loud voice, “Your Majesty, during the winter hunt, this lowly official wanted to ask Imperial Consort Shen to propose marriage to the Ninth Princess for this lowly official. However, Imperial Consort Yan said that the Ninth Princess was still young, so this lowly official only waited a year before asking the Emperor to marry you.”
On the day of the winter hunt, the former Crown Princess and Consort Shen did intend to betroth the Ninth Princess to Lu Haichuan. At that time, most of the madams and young misses present knew that it was reasonable for Lu Haichuan to admire the Ninth Princess when he spoke up.
The Emperor looked at Lu Haichuan and did not reply.
Lu Haiyang raised his eyes and glanced at the Northern Desert’s envoy unintentionally.
The envoy understood and immediately stood up, “Your Majesty, this is not possible. Didn’t you agree to marry me in the Northern Desert? Didn’t you have an old saying about how to marry a woman in two? Since you agreed to our marriage in the Northern Desert, you naturally can’t accept anyone else.”
“Your Excellency, the Emperor has accepted your kingdom’s request, but he did not agree to marry the Ninth Princess to the Northern Desert. Otherwise, there would not be today’s banquet.” Lu Haiyang turned to look at the Northern Desert envoy and said coldly.
“I don’t know what banquet is not. I only know that the Ninth Princess must marry to our Northern Desert.” The Northern Desert envoy straightened his face and said angrily.
“Why?” Lu Haichuan was also enraged.
“Just because we married our king of the Northern Desert, only the status of a princess is worthy of our noble king.” The Northern Desert envoy said proudly.
“Your Majesty” Lu Haichuan took a deep breath and turned to look at the emperor on the throne.
“Your Majesty, our Northern Desert has come with all sincerity. If Your Majesty does not allow this marriage, I’m afraid there will be no need for us to have any interaction in the future.” The Northern Desert envoy said coldly as he placed his right hand on his chest.
“You’re threatening us!”
“Alright!” The Emperor suddenly interrupted Lu Haichuan in a deep voice, “Northern Desert really wants to marry the Ninth Princess.”
“Naturally.”
“Even if there are so many outstanding ladies here, it won’t do.” The Emperor said.
“How can this be the same? We want to marry a real princess. Only a real princess can be worthy of our noble king and become the queen of our Northern Desert.”
The Emperor looked at the Northern Desert envoy for a long time and stood up with his wine cup at the end. “Since that’s the case, then I would like to wish the Northern Desert and Great Yue generations of friendship.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. This official is here to pay tribute to you on behalf of Your Majesty the King of Northern Desert.” After receiving the Emperor’s agreement, the Northern Desert envoy happily picked up his glass.
“Your Majesty, are you really going to marry the Ninth Princess to the Northern Desert? She, she is your beloved daughter!” Lu Haichuan said.
“Impudent!” The Emperor shouted coldly, his gaze sweeping towards Lu Haichuan like a dagger. “She is my beloved daughter, but at the same time, she is also the princess of Da Yue. Since she has all the honors of the princess, she has to shoulder the responsibility of the princess. This is the responsibility that comes with her.”
The Emperor’s words were loud and forceful.
In fact, with Great Yue’s current strength, there was no need to accommodate a country trapped in the desert. Although they could not attack Northern Desert, Northern Desert alone could not do anything to Great Yue, let alone let Northern Desert’s envoys force each other everywhere in Zi Chen Palace. However, even though they knew that this marriage was not a proper one, none of the officials in the hall spoke a single word. First, the Emperor had already made up his mind. Second, if the Ninth Princess was not married, then the one to be married to was their daughter.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your unfilial son drank too much today to say such nonsense! Hai Yang, why don’t you help your eldest brother down?” Duke Lu saw that the situation was not right and hurriedly jumped out.
“Yes, father.” Lu Haiyang replied, then stood up and walked in front of Lu Haichuan, stretching out his hand to pull him up, “Big brother, let’s go.”
Lu Haichuan looked up at the sarcastic smile on Lu Haiyang’s lips and bit his lips. In the end, he didn’t say anything and was pulled out of Zi Chen Palace by Lu Haiyang.
Behind him, in Zi Chen Hall, the sound of silk and bamboo sounded again.
The gorgeous dancers wore long yellow skirts and danced gently on the stage. Their dance steps were gentle, their wide sleeves stretched out, and they were as beautiful as butterflies dancing in the hall. Everyone who watched the dance smiled leisurely. No one cared. Just now, they decided the miserable fate of a flower girl …
The sound of silk and bamboo gradually faded away. Very quickly, no sound could be heard.
Lu Haiyang finally released his grip on Lu Haichuan. “Big brother, I’ll send you here. You know, I can’t leave Zi Chen Palace.”
Lu Haichuan did not even glance at Lu Haiyang before raising his leg and walking towards the entrance of the palace.
“Big brother, have you figured out how to ask Princess Yan to explain today’s matter?” Behind him, Lu Haiyang’s voice sounded cold.
Lu Haichuan stopped and turned to stare coldly at Lu Haiyang without saying a word.
Lu Haiyang smiled and walked step by step in front of Lu Haichuan, “I really didn’t expect it!” My upright and reckless big brother actually listened to a woman’s words one day and ran in front of His Majesty and acted like this? Admire the Ninth Princess? You can think of such a lousy excuse? “It’s a pity that you’ve expended so much effort. In the end, the Emperor still wants to marry the Ninth Princess to the Northern Desert.”
Lu Haiyang’s eyes sank, and the hand between his sleeves was tightly clenched into a fist. The corners of his lips were tightly pursed, only then did he suppress the rage that surged in his chest.
Even though he wanted to shred the person in front of him into ten thousand pieces, he knew that he couldn’t make a move because Lu Haiyang was waiting for this moment, so he couldn’t let him succeed.
“Big brother, I’m so happy to see you look so aggrieved!” As Lu Haiyang spoke, he laughed loudly and walked towards the palace with his head held high.
Lu Haichuan’s eyes were filled with killing intent.
The fingernails of his hands pierced into his skin, sending waves of sharp pain.
One day, he would return everything that he had humiliated a hundred times and a thousand times today.
He swore!
