Chapter 224
secretly adjusted his zhenqi, readying himself for any moment.
At that moment, the sound of instruments could be faintly heard in the distance. Among the solemn palace music, a eunuch yelled out, "His Majesty has arrived." The one holding most authority in the world, the only master of Qing, His Majesty the emperor walked with the empress came forward. With bright smiles, they stood next to the dragon throne.
"We wish Your Majesty a very long life."
The Qing subjects all knelt down, while members of the envoys bowed. The tense atmosphere had been replaced by somberness.
The emperor sat up high, the empress next to him. The prince too had his own seat two steps below his parents. For an occasion like this, the other princes wouldn’t be here. The emperor scanned his subjects and said, "You may rise."
They did, and the feast officially began. The envoy from Northern Qi went up first and sang their praises along with some recitals of the friends.h.i.+p between the two nations. Dongyi’s Yun Zhilan came up next and expressionlessly said a few words.
The empress smiled and quietly murmured to His Majesty, "This one from Dongyi is quite haughty." This exchange couldn’t not be heard by anyone else, so it was rather direct.
"He is the head disciple of Sigu Sword. If he couldn’t be haughty, he probably wouldn’t have to courage to swing his sword either, especially not here."
The palace girls served up food, and the various officials began to eat. None dared to say anything. His Majesty hadn’t spoken yet, so all were quiet.
Fan Xian uncomfortably lowered his head and inconspicuously observed the people sitting across from him. The table which was vacant a moment ago was now occupied by an old man. Despite his age showing on his face, his eyes were clear, and his wrinkles seemed to be hiding countless wisdom. The old man wore a cloud-like white robe which hid his short stature. Without question, that must have been Zhuang Mohan.
Fan Xian hadn’t seen him take a seat. "So," he reasoned, "he must have arrived with the emperor. If that was case, then the rumors must be true. The empress must favor this Zhuang Mohan, who stayed in the palace the entire time."
While Fan Xian secretly observed the old man, both the emperor and empress were observing him. The empress took a small sip of liquor and said, "That young man is Fan Xian, the future son-in-law."
His Majesty smiled, "He certainly is handsome, with a quite a reputation in poetry, not to mention today in court, where two shaoqings complimented his talents. I am most curious as to why the prince would go out of his way to establish good relations."
The empress’s smile was a bit forced, "Perhaps the prince understood the importance of having good relations? Besides, Fan Xian is soon to be the prime minister’s son-in-law."
"Oh, good relations?" His Majesty didn’t quite smile, nor did he look at the empress. Instead, His Majesty stared at his son sitting below, "Looks like he finally gets it now."
While there was just a hint of dissatisfaction, the empress felt His Majesty was in a good mood today, since he rarely gave such a direct evaluation of the prince. She said happily, "As he grows up, he’ll come to realize things."
The emperor only smiled without saying anything.
Only a short while after the main feast, Fan Xian was drinking nonstop. Whether it was due to his nervousness or something else, no one knew. The alcohol served was more or less the same type as yellow wine; it wasn’t very strong and tasted sweet and sour. Drinking it, Fan Xian didn’t feel like it was too much. But in the eyes of the various officials present, Fan Xian was drinking like a wild animal. Even Zhang Zigan had enough and warned him, "Sir Fan, you mustn’t drink anymore. Should you misbehave in front of His Majesty, it would be a major crime."
Hearing he was being called "Sir Fan", Fan Xian realize he was being reminded. After all, this was not Liujing River but the most solemn Imperial palace, and he wasn’t here to drink but to be a civil servant. Fan Xian smiled on the inside and adjusted his zhenqi, moving all his drunkenness onto his face. Slight confusion clouded over his eyes. He lowered his voice and said, "I’m not going to lie to you, sir, I’m actually this nervous. So it would be better for me to drink