lcionline Chapter 210 Everyone has their own concerns
Chapter 210 Everyone has their own concerns
At the Lantern Festival dinner, Qi Minxiu and Qi Yue sat opposite each other, but both were in Cao's camp but their hearts were with Han.
One was worried about Xiao Mo's health, and the other was thinking about how to hide the matter from Nie Changyuan once and for all.
Because Concubine Liang was right. If it weren't for this incident, he would never have Xiao Mo in his life.
Now Xiao Mo's attitude towards him has not changed 180 degrees, but it is much better than before.
As long as he made a little effort, she would be more likely to accept him than anyone else.
Every time he thought of this, his heart couldn't stop trembling, with joy, worry and fear.
He had no intention of hurting her relatives, but since things had come to this, he could only go with the flow.
Qi Yue drank absentmindedly, never looking up at the people dancing in the hall.
The emperor noticed that he seemed a little lost, and called him back with a smile after the dance.
"Prince, what do you think of today's dance?"
Qi Yue came back to his senses and nodded to the emperor on the high throne: "Your Majesty, today's dance is wonderful. The music is beautiful and the dance moves are moving. It is truly a masterpiece of God."
"What about the lead dancer?"
"Look at this dancer. She doesn't look like a palace dancer. She's beautiful and has a graceful figure. She looks like an emperor descended to earth."
The reason why Qi Yue praised the female lead dancer like this was because he knew that in such important occasions, civil and military officials would usually send their own daughters in to make themselves familiar.
Either she is chosen by the emperor to be taken into the harem, or she is chosen by the prince to be his concubine.
In short, there is no loss either way, but what Qi Yue did not expect is that this time this woman was specially arranged for him by the emperor.
The emperor seemed very satisfied with his answer and even laughed heartily.
"This is the second daughter of the Imperial Censor, two years younger than you. I think she's a perfect match for you. I was worried you wouldn't like her, but since you say she's great, then I'll..."
"Father!" Qi Yue felt something was wrong the more he listened, and he hurried to the center of the hall and knelt down.
"Marriage is no joke. I want to focus on state affairs first. Let's talk about marriage later."
After refusing, he was afraid that the emperor would be angry, so he kowtowed to him and said: "Today is the Lantern Festival. I wish your father all his wishes will come true and everything will go well."
The emperor's face, which had been gloomy, instantly brightened up after hearing his blessing.
"Get up. Since you don't like it, I'll find you another suitable one."
Qi Yue lowered his head and stood up gracefully without even looking at the woman opposite who was looking at him with a wronged expression.
In fact, the East Palace is so big that it is more than enough to accommodate many women, but he doesn't want to be responsible for someone he doesn't like.
Although there were many concubines in the harem that the emperor married in order to balance the previous dynasty and whom he did not like at all, he believed that if possible, he would definitely not want to do that.
Concubine Liang once said that it doesn’t matter if you don’t like her, just marry her and raise her.
But this sentence "Just keep it" contains too much information, they won't understand.
In his opinion, if you marry someone, you have to be responsible for them. If you marry someone and then have them stay alone in the empty house every day, it would be better not to marry them.
Otherwise, you will hurt both him and the girl, and maybe you won't be able to win people's hearts and instead make them resent you.
Qi Yue had just sat back in his seat when Yuan Mu suddenly came up from behind.
"Your Highness, General Xiao has woken up and said he is feeling much better and wants to return to the Prime Minister's Mansion."
Qi Yue paused in his drinking and gently put the cup back which was almost at his lips.
He glanced at the emperor sitting in the main seat and wanted to say hello to him before leaving, but the music that started again made him feel embarrassed to disturb his interest.
The emperor was smiling and drinking with everyone. He glanced at Qi Yue who left his seat in a slightly anxious manner and turned to look at Concubine Liang in confusion.
"Why did Yue'er leave? She seemed so flustered."
Concubine Liang smiled and wiped the corner of her mouth: "Maybe she is drunk and wants to leave to rest. If she feels a little dizzy, she won't be able to walk steadily."
The emperor thought about her words and became even more puzzled: "He can drink so much, how much has he drunk and he's already lost it?"
"Your Majesty, don't you know that drinking too much alcohol can cause a burning sensation in the chest?
You just said you wanted to marry the censor's second daughter to him, and it scared him so much that he drank several large cups. It's strange that he didn't get dizzy."
Concubine Liang spoke in a joking tone, which not only did not displease the emperor, but instead he smiled and said that he had not thought it through.
Qi Minxiu noticed Qi Yue's expression when he left halfway and guessed that his departure must be related to Xiao Mo.
Just as he was about to put down what he was holding and follow, he thought of Xiao Mo's attitude towards him.
What was he going to do? To continue to annoy her?
Thinking of this, he picked up the wine glass again and drank with resentment in his eyes.
When Qi Yue rushed back to the East Palace, Xiao Mo had already dressed and was ready to leave.
Shen Yun held her arm, and before they walked out of the room, they ran into Qi Yue who was in a hurry.
Qi Yue opened his mouth slightly and gasped: "What are you doing?"
Xiao Mo looked at him with her usual cold eyes: "I'm well now. Today is Lantern Festival, and I want to go back and spend time with my parents."
"The Prime Minister and his wife are at the palace banquet. There will be no one at home when you return."
Qi Yue said as he led her to the bed: "If not, why don't you come with me to attend the palace banquet?"
The palace banquets during the Lantern Festival were mostly attended by the emperor's family, and there were very few high-ranking officials, so she didn't want to go.
Moreover, judging from the time now, the banquet should be halfway through. It would be very inappropriate for her to show up so hastily.
"Forget it, I'm still a little dizzy and don't want to go to such a noisy place."
Xiao Mo's refusal was very reasonable, and Qi Yue didn't say anything after hearing it.
He pushed her to sit on the bed and touched her head: "Well, it's better, but it's still a little feverish. You should be fine after two days of rest."
Xiao Mo instinctively wanted to reach out to stop Qi Yue from touching her head, but when she raised her hand, she suddenly remembered her plan and naturally put it down.
"Then I will stay here tonight and leave the palace early tomorrow morning."
She forced a faint smile, trying to make herself look more docile.
Qi Yue hadn't seen her like this for a long time. He felt so happy in his heart as if a ball of candied fruit had exploded, so sweet that he didn't know why.
"Well, you haven't had dinner yet, what would you like to eat?"
Xiao Mo touched her belly and embarrassedly looked away from him.
"Just eat something. Today is Lantern Festival. You are the crown prince, so you should return to the banquet as soon as possible."
Qi Yue frowned pretending to be unhappy: "Are you trying to drive me away?"
She was indeed trying to drive him away, but now she couldn't say it as bluntly as before.
"How could that be? Today is a holiday, and you're here with me instead of accompanying your father, the emperor, and mother. If anyone tells others about it, they'll probably scold you to death."
Qi Yue pursed his lips and smiled, pinching her face a little stiffly.
"With me here, who would dare to scold you? The banquets in the palace are just the same over and over again, nothing new. I might as well stay here and have a meal with you."
Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment, and a flash of vigilance passed through her eyes.
Now that he said that, she couldn't keep refusing: "Okay, I want to eat meat."
Qi Yue looked at her lovingly, then turned around and told the palace maid to go to the kitchen to prepare some light meat dishes.