Chapter 186: The Rule‑Breaker

On his way back, Da Wang showed Wei Shen the Vermilion Bird Hairpin, asking, "How is it? Did I manage it?"

Wei Shen hadn't reacted yet, "What?"

"Before coming out, how did I say it? Take you out to be a playboy, walk sideways, eat without paying, buy things without paying." He proudly lifted the ruby gold hairpin, a spoil of war, in his hand.

Wei Shen thought for a moment; it seemed… De Yue Lou really didn't pay, and the manager didn't even dare to ask for it.

"Not bad, initial success. If Da Wang stays in Chang'an a while longer, he'll surely become the top playboy on Chang'an Main Street." Wei Shen gave a half‑hearted compliment, "What's that hairpin got to do with not paying? You're just overcharging acquaintances."

Da Wang didn't mind either, saying, "I've realized that being a rule‑follower is meaningless; you only get bullied. If I can't be the one who makes the rules, I'll be the one who breaks them—I'm happy, especially happy."

Wei Shen: ……

"You keep saying Prince Yu is the villain, but with these words you're sounding like a villain yourself."

Da Wang, lost in thought, looked at the hairpin and laughed; Tong Chen was completely bewildered, they all shut themselves up to reflect; Le Cheng, what's this about? In a moment let the carriage go straight into the courtyard; we should at least put on a show, the Honglu Temple is crowded and messy…

The next day, outside the Establishing Chapter Palace, the small group of four vassal kings waiting for the morning audience was down to three; the only one who didn't know the reason was Bai Li Hu, who lived in the palace.

He casually asked the two brothers, "Why hasn't Third Brother come today? Is he making up another excuse to take time off?"

He always acted properly in front of the two elders, but when he was alone with Da Wang, Da Wang had never heard him call him "Third Brother".

Prince Yu heard this and twitched the corner of his mouth, "Your Third Brother is formidable— in less than half a day he'd beaten both the Wusun Prince and the Xianbei Prince, truly audacious. Fortunately the father emperor is lenient, only making him reflect for a day."

Bai Li Hu still understood Da Wang: '…What kind of punishment is this? Third Brother must be delighted.'

Who would say otherwise?

Bai Li Heng stood there silent, as if in meditation; Bai Li Hu politely interjected, "Second Brother, do you know why this is?"

"What could it be? The Fourth Younger Sister, only just turned thirteen after the New Year, was sent to marry the old Wusun King in place of the Third Elder Sister; the Third Brother, upon meeting the Wusun King's grandson, felt indignant. If it were me, I might have gone and beaten him up. Or perhaps the Elder Brother's cultivation of nurturing qi is superb, making him seem… unmoved? Sigh… after all, the Fourth Younger Sister went in place of the Third Elder Sister."

Prince Yu immediately darkened his face; fortunately, it was dark so no one could see clearly.

"Please, Second Brother, watch your words and actions— you were there yesterday too, didn't you hear that the Fourth Younger Sister voluntarily requested the order? What does "stand in for" mean?"

Bai Li Heng snorted, "Just believe it yourself."

"You!"

The atmosphere in that corner instantly tensed; the nearby officials wanted to withdraw, but the audience time arrived, the hall doors opened and everyone began to file in, and the audience began.

September 11, the Ningde Emperor's Longevity Celebration.

The four seas come to congratulate; may your longevity be boundless.

It might be considered a fine thing in a prosperous age, but in today's Great Jin it looks like a forced effort, like a last‑ditch struggle.

Outside, Chang'an Main Street was decked with lanterns and banners; inside the Imperial Palace the scene was even more grand.

The Ningde Emperor's favorite music and dance never ceased; the musicians and dancers numbered over eight hundred, playing in unison the calls of a hundred birds, the lively celebration resembling a gathering of phoenixes.

The country bumpkin Da Wang once again broadened his horizons.

Da Wang wore a smile on his small face, but inside he was wildly complaining about his father.

Tsk tsk, what's the use of keeping so many courtesans and musicians? Now there are over a thousand on the field; with that money it would be better to raise more troops! Daughters wouldn't have to marry into the desert to eat sand!

Inside the Grand Hall, the Ningde Emperor's exalted throne hung above; the vassal kings and the Nine Ministers sat above, with foreign envoys on the upper level, while officials and the envoys' attendants sat in the side wings of the hall, jointly conducting the grand affair.

Others were either exchanging pleasantries to the left and right or enjoying the music and dance; what about Da Wang?