Chapter 31: Palace Banquet Wind and Clouds (1)

The moonlight began to rise, and the sunlight hadn't yet dissipated its warmth, but the Haoyue had already bloomed with tenderness. The Huanyang City at night, having shed the noise and complexity of the day, still revealed its foundation as the first city of Qiongyue and its unique kingly aura. On the road leading to the Imperial City, carriages and sedan chairs were endless, showing how grand the palace banquet tonight was.

There were many carriages on the official road, but one of them appeared unusually eye-catching. The dark red carriage body, made of fine silk interwoven with gold thread, was embroidered with gold-threaded flowing cloud patterns on both sides, and the carriage shafts pulled by four horses of uniform color were all glowing with gold. However, the grandeur wasn't the reason it attracted attention; it was because every carriage and sedan chair that passed by it slowed down unconsciously, and no one dared to travel side-by-side with it, only because the owner of this carriage was the current Prime Minister of Qiongyue—Lou Xiyan.

"Are you sure this will work?" Zhuo Qing glared at Lou Xiyan, who was leaning against the carriage body with his eyes closed to rest, and tugged at the strange hat on her head. Legend had it that this earthy gray robe was worn by eunuchs of the lowest rank. Looking ugly was secondary; the main thing was that this big hat was pressing down on her and making her very uncomfortable. However, there was one good point: her face was almost completely covered by the hat brim, so her appearance couldn't be seen clearly.

Lou Xiyan laughed, opened his eyes slowly, pulled down Zhuo Qing's hands that were pulling at it randomly, and smiled: "Don't worry. After entering the palace, I will let a little eunuch in the palace take you to your sister's garden. On such an occasion today, your sister probably won't attend. You two can talk slowly, and after the palace banquet ends, I will send someone to pick you up."

He was dressed very formally today—a light blue long robe with rolled edges, a men's outfit with silver-threaded water wave patterns on the front, paired with a purple-gold hair crown, which set off his handsome features and elegant temperament to the fullest. It was just that there was still a faint exhaustion in his brows from time to time. Zhuo Qing said sincerely: "Lou Xiyan, thank you." Qingfeng's identity was just a gift, yet he had gone to such trouble for her. Zhuo Qing was conquered by this man's magnanimity.

However, the emotion only lasted for 0.1 seconds, because the next moment, Lou Xiyan buckled her fingers and smiled lightly: "If Feng'er is willing to call me Xiyan, I will be happier than hearing the words 'thank you'."

Did this count as molestation? Zhuo Qing cursed inwardly, broke free from his hand, raised a cunning smile, and patted Lou Xiyan's cheek like a puppy, clicking her tongue and laughing: "Little Yan, be good, don't push your luck!" If it came to disgusting names, she wouldn't fall behind~

"Xiao Yanyan~" Lou Xiyan's face instantly turned to stone...

Watching the unrestrained woman opposite him who was laughing until she swayed, with a hint of indulgence in the corners of his mouth that he himself had not noticed, Lou Xiyan shook his head gently. In this world, perhaps only she dared to make fun of his name like this.

"Master, we have arrived at the palace gate," Mo Bai's deep voice came from outside the carriage.

"Mm," Lou Xiyan responded faintly, making a gesture for silence toward Zhuo Qing. Zhuo Qing suppressed her unrestrained laughter and nodded in understanding.

The palace gate guards naturally recognized the Prime Minister's carriage and dared not be negligent. The carriage only paused at the palace gate for a moment before slowly proceeding into the palace.

Once inside the palace walls, it was very quiet outside. One could hear people walking by the carriage from time to time, but their footsteps were extremely light. Zhuo Qing could clearly feel the change in atmosphere—oppressive and heavy. Living in such a palace was definitely not an easy task. She hoped that the person she would see in a moment was Gu Yun, yet at the same time, she hoped it was not her.

Zhuo Qing remained silent. After the carriage traveled for a distance, it slowly came to a stop.

Mo Bai's voice sounded again: "Master, Xiao Liuzi has arrived."

Lou Xiyan lifted the cloth curtain slightly and stepped out of the carriage first. Zhuo Qing followed behind him, lifted her hem, and jumped straight down. Lou Xiyan shook his head with amusement. Was she really a young lady of the Qing family? He had truly never seen a young lady of a noble house behave in such a manner.

As Lou Xiyan stepped off the carriage, a gray figure emerged from the bushes nearby, bowing as he approached. In a slightly shrill voice, he softly offered his greetings: "This servant pays respects to the Prime Minister."

The sky was too dark, and he remained half-bowed, so Zhuo Qing could not make out his features, but judging by his build and voice, he was no more than ten years old.

Pulling Zhuo Qing forward, Lou Xiyan gave instructions in a low voice: "Take her to Qing Ling's courtyard immediately, keep watch outside, and after the palace banquet ends, bring her to the North Palace Gate."

"Prime Minister..." Xiao Liuzi prostrated himself on the ground, his voice trembling.

Lou Xiyan's eyes flickered slightly; he had already guessed that something had changed. Holding Zhuo Qing's hand in his palm, Lou Xiyan asked, "What happened?"

Kneeling on the ground, Xiao Liuzi replied with a trembling voice: "Beauty Qing served the Emperor last night, but offended the Imperial countenance. She has already been demoted to a palace maid and was taken away by the Imperial Household Department at dusk."

So Qing Ling had already been conferred the title of Beauty, but how could she have offended the Emperor on the night she served him? Thinking of Gu Yun's martial arts skills and fiery temper, Zhuo Qing felt a chill run down her spine and asked urgently, "Where is she now?"

Xiao Liuzi raised his head slightly, but upon seeing the young man's hand being held tightly by the Prime Minister, he knew that this person was also someone not to be offended. He quickly lowered his head and replied in a panic: "This servant does not know, this servant truly does not know."

Waving his hand lightly, Lou Xiyan said calmly: "You may go. Have Chief Steward Fang investigate how Qing Ling is doing and where she is."

"This servant will go at once." Xiao Liuzi scrambled up from the ground and ran away in a flash.

Lou Xiyan looked at Zhuo Qing beside him and saw her brows locked in a deep frown. Mistaking her concern for her sister, he patted the back of her hand and comforted her: "Don't worry, there will definitely be news of your sister before tomorrow."

Zhuo Qing had no other choice but to nod. If even Lou Xiyan could not find her, it was even less likely that she could. Looking down at her strange attire, Zhuo Qing smiled bitterly: "What do we do now?"

Lou Xiyan's narrow eyes lifted slightly, and he chuckled softly: "I will take you to see the Qiongyue royal palace banquet, how about that?" Since Qing Ling could not be found, he could not leave her alone in the palace, so keeping her by his side was the best idea.

"Ah?" Zhuo Qing was stunned. As for so-called banquets, she had never had any interest in them, okay...

Unfortunately, Lou Xiyan was not really asking for her opinion. He merely glanced at the Prime Minister's Mansion guards beside him and said to the thinnest one: "Take off your clothes."

"Yes." The guard did not even think about it; he nimbly stripped off his outer robe and handed it over respectfully.

Stuffing the clothes into Zhuo Qing's hands, Lou Xiyan led her to the side of the carriage and smiled: "Go and change into these."

Zhuo Qing climbed into the carriage helplessly. Being in the palace, she did not know what else she could do, so she might as well go and see this so-called royal banquet. She threw the clothes on haphazardly, took off the hat that was suffocating her, and climbed out of the carriage again.

The clothes looked a bit large on her. Lou Xiyan pulled her sleeves and naturally helped her roll them up. A flash of something unusual crossed Mo Bai's deep blue eyes, but it quickly returned to calm.

(End of chapter)