This slave doesn’t know how to swim
Zhou Huaiyan poured himself another cup of wine. Despite his frail health, he had a penchant for drinking. This dandy prince would inevitably get drunk and make a fool of himself at every New Year’s Eve banquet.
Ah Fei, kneeling beside him, looked worried.
“Master, please don’t drink too much.”
“When has it ever been your place to tell Dianxia what to do?”
Zhou Huaiyan pushed his hand away and, abandoning the wine cup, drank directly from the jug. His posture was erratic and improper, causing many to show expressions of disdain.
“His Highness the Ninth Prince is truly unconventional, always so enthusiastic at the New Year’s Eve banquet.”
Concubine De covered her mouth and laughed lightly. Midway through the banquet, she suddenly suggested that the daughters of various families perform to celebrate.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Huaiyan remembered the portraits of those eligible girls in the capital that his uncle had shown him. Given the grand scale of this year’s New Year’s Eve banquet, it was likely that Emperor Zhou intended to arrange marriages for the princes.
The high-ranking officials came with their families, and the princes of the palace were all of marriageable age. Everyone understood the underlying intentions.
“Excellent! Let us see the grace and talent of the daughters of our great Zhou.”
Emperor Zhou laughed heartily and approved of the suggestion.
However, the Empress looked dejected and, after less than an hour, excused herself due to ill health.
Following this, the legitimate daughters of the high-ranking officials began to showcase their talents one by one: dancing, playing the zither, the flute, calligraphy, embroidery…
A dazzling array of everything that one could ever wish for.
To maintain his reputation as a lecherous prince, Zhou Huaiyan had to watch each performance closely, especially the dancers, and occasionally show a few expressions of interest.
He even had to inappropriately shout praises, causing the legitimate young ladies to blush.
Ah Fei watched with extreme jealousy, but still had to follow the young man’s gaze.
So the master likes those who can dance.
So the master likes slender waists.
And a flexible body…
And… a perky butt…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
One after another. Ah Fei remembered every detail clearly.
Fcali j kbwjc lc ktlaf abbx atf rajuf. Fcilxf atf batfg sbecu ijvlfr ktb kfgf mtjgwlcu jcv mbdefaalrt, rtf tjv jc jlg bo tfgblrw lc tfg.
“Ktlr wlclrafg’r vjeutafg, Tf Olcusec, klrtfr ab mfifygjaf atf qgbrqfglas jcv ubivfc juf bo qfjmf bo beg Xgfja Itbe klat j rkbgv vjcmf!”
“Sword dance?”
Zhou Huaiyan showed some interest. The next moment, Hongdou quickly introduced her in his ear,
“Ye Lingyun, the eldest legitimate daughter of Minister Ye Hui, is known for her aloof and proud nature. She has learned some swordsmanship, but her literary talent is even more remarkable. She won against last year’s top scholar in a recent poetry gathering.”
On stage, her sword dance was as graceful as a startled swan and as fluid as a swimming dragon, truly astonishing many noble families in the capital.
Zhou Huaiyan was already slightly tipsy at this moment, his fair, jade-like face tinged with a faint drunken blush. He lazily rested his cheek on his hand, his dreamy peach blossom eyes showing a hint of admiration,
“Lingyun, what a good name…”
Before he could finish, Ah Fei suddenly wiped his lips with a handkerchief. His tone was as respectful as ever, but it sounded somewhat cold.
“Master, you’re drunk.”
“…Huh?”
Zhou Huaiyan felt the world spinning and collapsed into Ah Fei’s arms, his upper body going limp.
Eh?
The young man frowned in confusion. Was he already so drunk that he couldn’t sit up straight?
However, to others, this scene appeared as a licentious prince brazenly playing with the foreign slave in public.
Swish!
With a flash of cold glint, an icy sword blade suddenly aimed directly at Zhou Huaiyan. Ah Fei instinctively moved to counterattack, but Hongdou swiftly grabbed his wrist.
“Do not act rashly!”
As these words fell, the sword blade abruptly changed direction, merely lifting the wine jug from the table and filling a cup, which it then balanced on the blade.
The white-clad young woman, holding the sword in one hand, stood icily arrogant and beautiful, like ice and snow.
“Lingyun admires the bravery of the former imperial concubine, who charged and exited through the chaos of battle three times. Today, seeing His Highness the Ninth Prince’s valor, I wish to offer you a toast.”
This action brought silence to the hall. Ye Lingyun’s behavior was clearly provocative.
“…Oh?”
Zhou Huaiyan lazily propped himself up, showing no sign of fear. He simply took the wine cup from the blade and played with it idly between his fingers.
“Dianxia has never… been toasted in such a manner before.”
Ye Lingyun did not withdraw her sword. Instead, she looked down at Zhou Huaiyan with a sullen expression, as if disappointed that iron could not turn into steel.
“Is that so? Then it is Lingyun’s honor.”
“Since you admire the imperial concubine, ah… then you should toast to her.”
Zhou Huaiyan squinted and chuckled lightly, as if heavily intoxicated. But the next moment, he flipped his fingertips and directly spilled the wine from the cup onto the ground, then casually threw the cup away.
“What’s the matter with you, Your Highness?”
“You…”
Ye Lingyun frowned. She was about to say something, but at this moment, Emperor Zhou suddenly laughed.
“Minister, this child of yours is quite interesting.”
Ye Hui quickly came forth and knelt down, sweating profusely.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Highness, please forgive me. This minister failed to teach his daughter the right way.”
Emperor Zhou didn’t respond but smiled as he looked towards Zhou Huaiyan.
“I remember, Huaiyan will be nineteen soon, right?”
Zhou Huaiyan’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly having a bad premonition. He had previously thought that this cheap dad wouldn’t grant a marriage for him, but with this beginning, this occasion, it was obviously for an arranged marriage!
Thinking of this, the young man immediately pretended not to have heard due to drunkenness. Hongdou cooperated even more, hurriedly shaking him as if in a panic.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, His Majesty is calling out to you.”
“Hmm? Oh… Emperor Father…”
Zhou Huaiyan, supported by the palace maid, staggered to his feet, knocking over the wine on the table.
Splash!
The spilled wine immediately dirtied Ye Lingyun’s dress. It even dampened the hem of the young man’s robes. This unbecoming scene instantly caused many people to laugh.
A breach of etiquette before the emperor could be a serious offense, but given the presence of Duke Wei, Emperor Zhou was unlikely to punish him severely. Zhou Huaiyan’s mind raced.
Fortunately, at this time, Minister Ye Hui spoke up,
“Your Majesty, my daughter's dress is wet and unfit for Your Majesty’s presence. May Your Majesty permit my daughter to change into clean clothes and then return to greet Your Majesty once again.”
Being interrupted like this, Emperor Zhou frowned. But he had not yet responded when Zhou Huaiyan, seemingly overcome by drunkenness, began to vomit. Hongdou quickly called for the young eunuch to bring a bucket.
Emperor Zhou, irritated by the sight, waved his hand dismissively.
“Alright, alright. Everyone, withdraw.”
Finally having escaped that annoying New Year’s Eve banquet, Zhou Huaiyan staggered as he was helped into the sedan chair by Hongdou. Suddenly, he grabbed Ah Fei’s hand and pulled him into the chair.
The drunken young man’s breath was even hotter and more intoxicating than usual, with a faint scent of alcohol. The tips of Ah Fei’s ears blushed.
Yet his words were unusually clear:
“Ah Fei, secretly check if the Empress has returned to the palace.”
“Yes.”
Ah Fei was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
He chose a small path and quickly headed towards the Empress's palace. However, halfway there, he suddenly heard a few bits of a female voice coming from behind a distant rockery.
Ah Fei initially thought it was a little palace maid meeting someone in secret, but then the night breeze unexpectedly carried a faint scent of Buddhist incense.
Someone from White Horse Temple?
Every year on New Year’s Eve, monks from White Horse Temple are invited to the palace for blessings. Ah Fei had occasionally encountered these monks and they always carried this scent.
Ah Fei instinctively felt that something was wrong. He held his breath and approached quietly, only to see two people in black cloaks intimately pulling at each other. From their builds, it was clear that they were a man and a woman.
A monk meeting privately with a palace woman was clearly a serious violation of palace rules. But this had nothing to do with Ah Fei. He still needed to go to the Empress’s palace to carry out his master’s orders.
However, at this moment, he suddenly heard an angry male voice,
“The arrow is now fitted to the bowstring and must be fired. Or are you reluctant to give up the Empress’s position?!”
The Empress’s position?!
——The Empress???
Ah Fei’s eyes widened instantly. He wanted to listen more carefully, but the woman hurriedly covered the man’s mouth, whispered something quickly, and then turned and ran away.
Ah Fei noted the direction in which the woman left and waited for a moment. He distanced himself first to avoid beating the grass and startling the snake, and then followed over.
…….
Oh my! Madam empress is naughty !
Thank you for the chapter.