Empress Yan had just returned to her residence in the palace when the palace attendant came to report that Gao Gong had returned.
Empress Yan frowned and asked, “Why did he come back?”
The whip wound on Gao Gong’s face had scabbed, and he kneeled in the yard, begging for a day, but couldn’t find a way to soften Sui Heng’s heart. Sui Heng sent words saying that if he continues to be disruptive, he will be directly taught to be thrown into the Green Slave Camp as a slave for the rest of his life and will never have to come back.
Gao Gong could only come to see Empress Yan in disgrace.
After listening to him, Empress Yan scolded him directly, “Brainless fool. Don’t you know what kind of person he is? When he was a child, one of his beloved horses was lashed by the head of Jiuyang Wang’s family. He risked being punished by the emperor and ran to their mansion and lashed them with ten lashes to get back at them, let alone a human being. He brought the person all the way back from Jiangnan, naturally, he treasured him. You’re good, not only did you not serve them well, but you even pretend to be clever and show off as a steward as well. You deserve it!”
Gao Gong: “……”
Gao Gong thought that Empress Yan would back him up, but he didn’t expect Empress Yan to scold him even harder.
Gao Gong felt somewhat aggrieved because he didn’t really want to show off his authority as a steward, but he thought that Empress Yan would be more happy to see a noble daughter or son from the Yan family be the Crown Princess. He definitely didn’t want to see His Highness mesmerized by others, so he took it upon himself to arrange for Jiang Yun to go to the guest room.
Empress Yan was furious.
Not only was she mad at Gao Gong for his inability to do as one sees fit and couldn’t learn the most basic skills of weighing up a person’s words and closely watching their facial expressions, she’s also hated that Gao Gong was drawn back, which means that all affairs in the private courtyard would have to be controlled by the people sent by Empress Dowager.
Gao Gong frowned and looked at Empress Yan pitifully.
Empress Yan said, “Clean up the mess you’ve made yourself, Bengong can’t help you. Bengong won’t take you in either. You can think of a way, continuing to kneel down is also good. You can beat yourself up too and make the Crown Prince allow you to go back to the private courtyard to do your work.”
Gao Gong is crying without tears, so he could only step back and continue to kneel in the private courtyard.
When Fan Qi returned to the mansion holding the invitation, Jiang Yun had already finished breakfast and was sitting in the pavilion reading a book.
Ji An knows that Jiang Yun likes to be quiet and dares not disturb him. He took a few palace attendants and hid far away to tidy up the flowers and plants.
Fan Qi thought of something and raised his eyebrows. He walked into the pavilion and placed the invitation on the stone table.
He was quite active, and Jiang Yun couldn’t help but look up and give him a faint glance.
Fan Qi raised his eyebrows and said, “Spring Banquet, you must have heard of it, haven’t you?”
As the Crown Prince of Jiang, Jiang Yun has naturally heard of such grand events in the enemy country.
But Jiang Yun did not enjoy the excitement, the Liushang Banquet was only to maintain the alliance of countries. That’s why he had to participate, so he was not very interested.
Jiang Yun didn’t know what this rough guy meant.
Fan Qi tilted his buttocks half-way and sat directly across from Jiang Yun, pushing the invitation in front of him. “In the Sui capital, literati, nobles, and famous scholars all took pride in attending the Spring Banquet. Only at the Spring Banquet did literary masters like Young Master Yan Qi have new articles to be published. Seeing you spend your days here reading books and studying hard, I’m afraid you can’t recognize many words, can you? Can you complete an article?”
Jiang Yun said calmly, “I just enjoy reading, not for the sake of writing articles, nor for the sake of competing with others.”
Fan Qi snorted lightly, “That’s true. When I was a kid and couldn’t practice martial arts well, I said the same thing to my master. But everyone knows that’s a lie for the sake of convenience and laziness. Those of you who have twisted hearts and didn’t do well in writing will make excuses for yourself, saying it’s because you don’t like it, not because you can’t. However, if you say you don’t like it, then so be it. With that level of yours, you’re not qualified to attend the Spring Banquet anyway.”
Jiang Yun is not interested in arguing with him.
Lowering his head, he casually scanned the two lines of elegant characters on the invitation.
On the third day of March, by the Qushui River, we await your arrival and celebrate a grand banquet together.
The handwriting is vaguely familiar.
Jiang Yun suddenly remembered when he and Sui Heng were trapped at the bottom of the cliff that day. One evening, when he returned, he accidentally found a dead yellow sparrow among the thorns. On the back of the yellow sparrow, someone used green ink to tattoo two rows of such elegant, small regular characters there.
Jiang Yun said calmly, “I heard that the Spring Banquet was organized by the Right Prime Minister Yan Bing. I believe this invitation must have been sent by someone from the Yan Mansion.”
Jiang Yun’s intuition tells him that this boss should not be too idle to come over and discuss the Spring Banquet with him; most likely, it’s related to this freshly baked invitation on the table.
Sure enough, Fan Qi proudly said, “Of course, the invitation for others was sent by the Yan Mansion or the housekeeper. His Highness’s invitation was personally sent by Young Master Yan Qi.”
“And the words on it?”
“Of course, it was also written by Young Master Yan Qi himself. Young Master Yan Qi is not only a great writer but also a great calligrapher. There were countless literati in the Sui capital who copied his calligraphy. In ordinary bookstores, the genuine works of Young Master Yan Qi have been sold for a thousand gold per piece.”
Jiang Yun let out an “Oh.”
“That’s really impressive.”
“Naturally, Young Master Yan Qi was personally taught to read and practice calligraphy by his elder, Yan Ge, since he was young. Yan Ge was a famous calligrapher when he was young, besides that Jimo Qingyu. Of course, I’ve heard that there’s also Xu Ruzi, who’s been practicing in the mountains for a long time. His handwriting was also very powerful, even surpassing that of Jimo Qingyu. But that’s just a legend. I’m afraid you, who came from such a small place, have never seen such a beautiful handwriting before. How about I lend you a copy for a couple of days?”
Jiang Yun said there’s no need.
Fan Qi is naturally just saying.
He just wanted the little vixen to be aware of his own place and keep his tail down. Don’t rely on His Highness’s favor and be lawless.
Fan Qi was bored and said to himself, “His Highness has not attended the Spring Banquet for a whole three years. This year’s Spring Banquet will be highly valued by His Highness. Unfortunately, you can only stay in the mansion, and I’m afraid you won’t be able to see His Highness’s heroic demeanor.”
Fan Qi refused to leave, partly because he wanted to take the opportunity to ridicule and attack Jiang Yun and partly because the Ministry of War had cast a new batch of good swords, and His Highness promised to give each of them one.
He counted the days, and it should be today.
Jiang Yun thought of something and asked, “Will your Highness also personally enter the competition?”
“Naturally. His Highness’s Cuju, horseback riding, and archery are all top-notch. Not to mention the noble disciples in the capital, even the fierce generals of those small countries in the north. When they see His Highness, they all want to take another road.”
“Since he’s so impressive, why didn’t he participate for the three years in between?”
“Naturally—naturally, it’s because His Highness is on a military expedition and doesn’t have time to participate.”
Jiang Yun is somewhat skeptical.
Even if Sui Heng led the military all year-round, he wouldn’t have missed such an important event perfectly for three whole years. Like the Liushang Banquet, the Spring Banquet is also a banquet held by the suzerain state of Sui to entertain its subordinate states. According to common sense, as the Crown Prince of the suzerain state, even in the midst of busy schedules, Sui Heng should try his best to spare time to participate.
What exactly happened in the middle of this?
Jiang Yun’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on the two small lines on the invitation.
This Yan Qi is also very strange. If he indeed has an old friendship with Sui Heng, as the palace attendants said, why doesn’t he personally hand over such an important invitation to Crown Prince Sui Heng himself instead of purposely passing it through Fan Qi?
Just as he was about to take another opportunity to inquire, there was a commotion coming from the entrance of the mansion. Sui Heng has returned from the court.
There are also Shi Fang and some personal guards following behind.
The guards carried a long iron box, inside lay the newly casted precious swords.
Fan Qi’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly stood up immediately.
Sui Heng looked happy and went straight to the pavilion. Before he could even talk to Jiang Yun, he saw the invitation on the table.
His eyes suddenly darkened.
“Where did it come from?”
Fan Qi: “Young Master Yan Qi has just personally delivered it…”
Noticing that Sui Heng’s face did not look right, he slowed down his later tone.
“He gives it to you, and you just take it?”
Sui Heng pressed his fingers on the invitation, his eyes gloomy and filled with a strong murderous aura.
Fan Qi was lost in thought.
Shi Fang stood at the back and whispered, “As far as this subordinate knows, this year’s invitations from the Yan Mansion are all unified in style. Participants in the Spring Banquet, regardless of status, must present their invitation. This is a rule.”
Sui Heng fell silent for a moment, then thought of something and slowly released his hand, his expression returning to normal.
He didn’t care much for the invitation, flicking it aside, reaching out, and grabbed Jiang Yun onto his shoulders with just one hand.
It was in public, so Jiang Yun looked at him angrily.
He whispered, “What are you doing?”
The guards turned around, and Shi Fang immediately lowered his head. Only Fan Qi froze in place like a fool.
Sui Heng picked Jiang Yun up and strode straight into Weirui Hall, leaving a sentence: “Except for Fan Qi, everyone picks one, and the extra one should be given to Shi Fang.”
This is obviously the allocation of that batch of swords.
Fan Qi stared incredulously.
Shi Fang smiled and said, “Thank you very much, Your Highness!”
After they entered the room, Jiang Yun said, “Don’t carry me like this again in the future.”
His little lover’s flesh is like jade, soft and gentle, with a pleasant and extremely light lotus fragrance permeating from his sleeves, making people feel refreshed. All the gloom in his heart can be swept away.
Sui Heng deliberately jokes, “So how do you want Gu to carry you?”
Jiang Yun said, “This is daytime.”
“What’s wrong with daytime? You’re Gu’s little concubine, and Gu can hug you whenever he wants. Does Gu have to pick a time too?”
Sui Heng sat on the couch and casually peeled an orange to feed Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun refused.
Sui Heng stuffed the orange over and said, “Then you feed Gu.”
Jiang Yun: “……”
Jiang Yun doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, so he frowned and looked at the orange in his hand.
Sui Heng said, “All of the strangers’ Wai Shi serve their masters like this. You also need to learn. It doesn’t make sense to always make Gu serve you.”
Jiang Yun lay on his shoulder, peeled off a piece, and slowly put it into his own mouth.
Sui Heng couldn’t help laughing.
Feeling the shallow breathing and chewing sound close to his ears, the skin around his neck became itchy, and his heart was also itchy. He said, “You are such a pampered little ancestor, you won’t even willing to feed Gu an orange.”
Not only Jiang Yun didn’t feed him, but he also shoved the orange peel into his mouth as well.
Sui Heng suddenly said, “It’s almost the third of March. How about you go to the Qushui River to participate in the banquet with Gu?”
“The Spring Banquet?”
“Yeah, this is a grand event in the Sui capital, once a year, with many delicious things to eat and fun activities to do. Gu will take you on a good tour.”
Although Jiang Yun doesn’t like to join in the fun, as Sui Heng said, the Spring Banquet is a grand event in the capital of Sui, with specifications and scale comparable to the Liushang Banquet. This year, there may be other countries from Jiangnan joining in too. Even if he hadn’t accidentally fallen into this person’s hand, he is still very interested in going and taking a look.
Then he nodded.
“Up to you.”
In the yard, Fan Qi crouched against the wall in a gloomy manner.
Shi Fang approached while nibbling on an apple and asked, “Why is Big Brother still here?”
Fan Qi was feeling depressed and told him to get lost.
Shi Fang smiled and said, “Even if I get lost, Big Brother’s beloved sword still won’t come back.”
“You little bastard, you’re still talking!”
Fan Qi gritted his teeth in anger. “I really don’t understand what His Highness is really thinking.”
“I advise Big Brother to stay away from the Yan family in the future. You know His Highness doesn’t like the Yan family, why do you always get involved with the Yan family?” Shi Fang said with a straight face.
“When did I get involved? The fact that he, Young Master Yan Qi, personally came over to deliver the invitations is a good intention ah. Why doesn’t His Highness appreciate it at all?”
Shi Fang sneered, “If Young Master Yan Qi really wants to personally send the invitation to His Highness, he can just choose the time when His Highness is in the mansion and come over to deliver it. Why does it have to go through Big Brother’s hand?”
“Isn’t it just because His Highness wasn’t here?”
“Exactly? Master Yan Ge, attends the morning court every day just like His Highness. How could he not know?”
Fan Qi couldn’t completely understand his twists and turns.
“Just sending an invitation, is it that complicated?”
“Big Brother has a pure heart and thinks it’s not complicated, but others may not think so. For example, now that the Spring Banquet is approaching, if he really wanted to help His Highness, he could have taken the initiative and asked for a visit, so why is there no action?”
Fan Qi was even more dizzy.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Shi Fang shrugged and said, “It’s nothing, just afraid that Big Brother is pure-hearted and will be used by others.”
“If I can think of this, so can His Highness. What His Highness is angry about is not that Big Brother accepted that invitation, but that Big Brother was being used without realizing it.”
“This Yan family not only wants to please His Highness and reconcile with him, but also has become accustomed to being arrogant and unwilling to bow down voluntarily. Tsk, there is no such cheap thing in the world.”
Shi Fang took a bite of the apple and sneered.
