The seat beside Prince An remained empty, and no one dared to take it.
An official approached Shen Xiabai and said, "Was Young Lord Shen drunk just now?"
"Yes," Shen Xiabai replied.
The official smiled and said, "Young people are so passionate. May I take this seat?"
Shen Xiabai nodded casually. The official was overjoyed and quickly sat down. He was about to pour wine for Shen Xiabai and start a conversation when, unexpectedly, the person beside him suddenly stood up and left.
Shen Xiabai walked over to Prince An. Prince An sensibly moved aside to make room for him next to Cui Yunchu, but Shen Xiabai went to the other end and said, "Your servant will sit here."
Prince An looked up at Shen Xiabai, whose mind seemed to have suddenly gone blank, then at the empty seat, and finally at Cui Yunchu, who was glaring at them fiercely. He remained silent.
He raised his head and looked at Shen Xiabai, saying, "Can you two go to the Crown Prince? Why are you always bothering me?"
Shen Xiabai pretended not to hear. He lifted his robe and sat down beside Prince An. The two big men squeezed onto one stool, with the other end empty, as if Cui Yunchu sitting next to that end was a fierce beast and stinkier than the feces in a chamber pot.
Cui Yunchu was extremely angry, and her chest heaved violently.
She gave a loud "humph", turned her head away, and didn't forget to knock over the stool next to her.
If you don't want to sit, then no one will sit. Let them squeeze to death.
Damn Shen Xiabai. He sent her a letter yesterday, full of tenderness and longing, saying that he was sick with missing her. But today he had changed his attitude. Did he have a new girl he liked in the palace hall?
Cui Yunchu cast unfriendly glances at the girls in the hall one by one, with the corners of her mouth drooping sinisterly.
Everyone seemed suspicious.
The emperor, the empress dowager, and the princess hadn't arrived yet. A young maid brought in a tray with a sweet pastry on it. The pastry was very exquisitely made, with a red date inlaid on it.
Cui Yunchu buried her head and ate greedily.
Cui Yunfeng asked, "Elder sister, are you very hungry?"
Cui Yunchu didn't answer. Soon she had finished several pieces of the pastry. She wiped her hands with a handkerchief. Suddenly, a plate was brought over and placed in front of her. On the plate was the same pastry as before.
Cui Yunchu grabbed the pastry and threw it on the ground, aiming right at the positions of Prince An and Shen Xiabai.
The pastry broke into pieces all over the ground. Although Prince An lifted his feet, he still couldn't avoid getting a lot of the crumbs on him.
He straightened his lips and silently turned to look at Shen Xiabai.
"Lord Shen, can you take your little madwoman and get out of here?"
Shen Xiabai replied, "It seems that Princess An insisted on having Achu sit with her. Your Highness should go and persuade Princess An instead of blaming others."
The Crown Prince, who had brought the pastry to Cui Yunchu, was also stunned and said, "Cousin, I didn't put any poison in the pastry. I just saw that you liked it, so I brought it to you."
He was sitting nearby and saw that the situation here was special and strange, so he came over to have some fun.
Cui Yunchu looked extremely embarrassed.
She thought it was that dog thing who had brought the pastry to her.
"Your servant girl didn't mean to offend you, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Please don't misunderstand. Sit down, quickly."
The Crown Prince sat down beside Cui Yunchu without any hesitation. After getting along with her for so long, he no longer had the initial guard against her.
Shen Xiabai, who had been looking straight ahead, began to glance at the side frequently, which made Prince An, who was sitting in the middle, look ashen.
"Your Majesty, can't you sit over there?"
The Crown Prince looked innocent and said, "I saw that you two weren't sitting there, and it was just empty. So I came over to have some fun. I'll leave when the banquet starts."
Cui Yunchu sat there expressionlessly, moving to the other end. She exuded a cold air all over her body, and her angry and handsome appearance attracted the frequent glances of the young gentlemen in the back row across from her, especially that one from the Grand Secretariat.
Knowing that the girl was his future fiancée, he looked at her tenderly and couldn't take his eyes off her, smiling happily.
"Your Highness is so lucky. Prime Minister Cui's daughter is both talented and beautiful. She's really extraordinary."
"Nothing has been decided yet, nothing has been decided yet," Lord Liu said modestly with a smile.
Others couldn't hear their conversation, but Shen Xiabai and Prince An, who had excellent hearing from years of martial arts training, heard it clearly.
Prince An glanced at Shen Xiabai, who had a black face, and said, "If Lord Shen hadn't blocked the way today, I would definitely have gone over there to have a drink with Lord Wang from the Grand Secretariat, my future brother - in - law."
Shen Xiabai looked across the hall. After a long time, he withdrew his gaze.
"Who can say for sure about such things? At first, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also thought he would be a brother - in - law to Lord Zhou."
The Crown Prince sat there without saying a word, listening with great interest.
Prince An raised his eyebrows and said, "Lord Shen is right. I also thought so not long ago."
After all, Lord Zhou had said similar things not only to his Yunfeng.
"On the way here at the palace gate, I heard Lord Wang asking Lord Zhou about the things Eldest Miss Cui usually likes. I heard that Prime Minister Cui has arranged for them to meet the day after tomorrow."
There was a crisp sound of porcelain shattering. Prince An lowered his eyes and glanced at the wine cup in Shen Xiabai's hand, then smiled.
"I just think that Prime Minister Cui seems to have a special preference for fair - faced scholars. Both Lord Zhou and Lord Wang are like this." He sized up Shen Xiabai's lean and strong body from head to toe and laughed.
"Lord Shen, do you want to consider giving up martial arts and taking up literature?"
Shen Xiabai threw away the broken teacup in his hand. A maid immediately came to clean it up. He said, "If I were Your Highness, I wouldn't have the leisure to worry about these things. After all, the sword hanging over my head is still there."
Prince An, as fearless as a dead pig to boiling water, said, "It has been hanging over my head since I was born and has never fallen. I'm used to it. But for Lord Shen, Prime Minister Cui is arranging one thing after another. I really feel a bit of... sympathy for Lord Shen."
Shen Xiabai didn't even have a chance to get angry with a black face.
#
Cui Yunchu seemed to be full of energy. She smiled at the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, try this. It's very good."
"Hey, that one is also okay."
"What's the point of just eating pastries and not drinking? Come on, let your little sister fill your cup."
Soon, there was a small mountain of food on the Crown Prince's plate.
The Crown Prince didn't refuse at all. He smiled and said, "Thank you, cousin," one after another.
The two of them chatted very animatedly.
Shen Xiabai was about to stand up when Prince An pressed his leg and said, "They are relatives, Your Highness and cousin. Just bear it."
What Shen Xiabai couldn't stand the most were the Crown Prince and Prince An. They were like two firecrackers. Once they touched a certain nerve of his, they would immediately explode.
"Let go," Shen Xiabai said in a voice as cold as ice.
Prince An said, "Calm down, calm down. Be decent in public."
Cui Yunfeng looked at them bickering and was a bit unhappy. She stretched out her plate and said, "I want some too."
The Crown Prince subconsciously picked up a piece of food with the chopsticks he had used and gave it to Cui Yunfeng, saying, "Second cousin, here you are."
Prince An kicked the chair the Crown Prince was sitting on.
The Crown Prince looked back unhappily. Prince An said, "It's getting late. The banquet is about to start. Father and the empress dowager will be here soon. Your Majesty should go back to your own seat."
In private, especially in bed, Cui Yunfeng often compared him with the gentle and graceful Crown Prince. Every time she mentioned it, she would praise and envy the Crown Prince.
"After all, he is the Crown Prince," Shen Xiabai said.
Prince An said, "I've taken a dislike to him for a long time."
The Crown Prince was very magnanimous. After causing a stir, he got up gracefully and left.
Tang Qingwan retracted her outstretched neck and gave the Crown Prince a thumbs - up. The couple winked at each other.
Cui Yunchu was also a person who valued her dignity and had backbone. Knowing that someone was avoiding her, she pulled Cui Yunfeng and changed their seats.
Only then did Prince An take the seat where the Crown Prince had just sat and swept away the food on Cui Yunfeng's plate.
There was almost a galaxy - wide gap between Cui Yunchu and Shen Xiabai, and they ignored each other.
Cui Yunchu didn't know what was wrong. They had kissed passionately just the day before, leaving her lips swollen. But today, he suddenly turned a cold shoulder to her?
She held back her anger, feeling a bit wronged and even more indignant.
Damn it! If he dared to kiss her again, she would tear his mouth apart.
With a high - pitched shout from the eunuch, the emperor, the empress dowager, and the princesses arrived. After everyone paid their respects, the banquet officially began.
Today, the Grand Princess was the protagonist. Accompanied by the empress dowager, it was actually the Second Princess, Xiao Lan, who stole the show.
Cui Yunchu propped her chin and looked at her. She thought she'd rather be beaten to death than call her "step - mother".
