…should she compliment Madame Lu for putting in so much effort?
“Miss Qin.” The refined man offered the wine cup when he saw that Qin Yining had yet to drink. He looked at her tenderly, the warmth in his light-brown eyes enough to melt winter snow. “Miss Qin, please have a cup. This has been distilled from fruit and especially prepared for you. The alcohol content isn’t high, and it’s refreshing on the palate.”
The girl’s lips were slightly compressed and she pushed away the cup that was being brought to her lips. “I’m fine without.” Her tone was coldly aloof.
This was absolutely a red wedding. Madame Lu had arranged beforehand for these men to keep them company, so how would she dare partake in anything offered at this banquet?
The man had been entranced by Qin Yining’s mesmerizing profile. That she would refuse the wine was the last thing on his mind, so in his unpreparedness, the wine splashed on his sleeve and half his shirt.
The disturbance immediately alarmed those at the head seat.
Madame Lu’s red lips were slightly parted as she was accepting the red-clad twin’s offering of an orange bite with his mouth. She was leaning coquettishly in the white-clad twin’s embrace and looked over angrily at the development.
Qin Yining rose and dipped a curtsey to Madame Lu and Li Helan. “Many thanks to the madame and princess for your good intentions. This little girl has some affairs to attend to at home and must depart early. I will take my leave now.”
She turned to call a furiously blushing Jiyun to her and left.
Madame Lu bounced to an upright seated position and slammed her hand on the table. “Née Qin! How dare you deny me face like this! Don’t blame me for being merciless if you dare set one foot out this door!”
Qin Yining sniffed contemptuously and whipped back with a stern glare. “Do you think that would actually scare me? You and I have just met, what kind of prior relationship can you draw on? I’d like to ask Her Highness however, does the Marquis of Northern Stability know that you’ve come to this banquet?”
“How dare you!” Li Helan flew into a rage, but panic flooded her heart as a sense of guilt crept up on her. She spoke without thinking. “What are you acting all superior and pure for?! You’re just a broken toy that big brother Pang’s gotten tired of! You have the chance to taste some gentle loving today, how dare you not be grateful!”
Qin Yining’s expression had frozen over. “Then did Your Highness request such a person because you want to taste some fierce and passionate action?”
“Despicably shameless!” Li Helan was both humiliated and furious that her vulnerable point had been jabbed at. Tears filled her eyes. The man who was built exceedingly like Pang Xiao quickly hugged the princess and whispered comforting nothings in her ear.
Qin Yining looked at those in the hall and then at Li Helan. “You’re just lying to yourself. They may look similar, but it’s hardly the same thing. What can you really get a taste of? You’re just reaching a new low with what you’re doing now. This is all I’m going to say. Please enjoy yourselves, everyone.”
Chapter 353: With Swords Unsheathed and Bows Drawn
Qin Yining couldn’t be bothered spending another second dawdling in this ludicrous farce. She whirled and left, Xianyun hastily coming forward with Qin Yining’s cape and Jiyun helping her over the door threshold.
Li Helan was shaking in her fury and roared, “Servants, take her!”
“Understood!”
The princess’ bodyservants instantly sprang into action and surrounded Qin Yining and her maids. They would pounce as soon as Li Helan gave the order.
Any ordinary girl would be quailing at the sight of so many unfriendly guards and servants circling them in unfamiliar territory. But Qin Yining was an old hat at life-threatening scenes. She naturally wouldn’t cower or tremble like any typical noble daughter.
She turned back calmly, looking at the princess with a supercilious smile. Her tone was mild, as if discussing what to eat for dinner, but the edge in her words glinted keenly.
“Princess of Anyang, I’m here today due to Madame Lu holding a banquet. My entire family saw the invitation, so is it really appropriate for you to act like this, in a banquet that someone else is hosting? The Qins won’t easily let things go if I lose so much as a single hair here. Or are you actually acting on behalf of an imperial decree?”
The words of ‘imperial decree’ jabbed most deeply into Li Helan’s greatest fear!
The princess knew that her happiness depended on Li Qitian’s favor; thus she never defied her royal brother’s will. Just as she had with her marriage, only in obeying Li Qitian would she find stability and happiness.
The empress dowager had once privately told Li Helan that it was a given the emperor would make heavy use of the Qins. He needed to rope in the Great Yan faction. If she really erupted in all-out hostilities with their fourth miss today and Li Qitian misunderstood her for it, there would be no happiness in her future!
The princess was both fearful and infuriated, but didn’t dare give the order to take down Qin Yining. Incensed glaring was all she could settle for.
Having spent many years hunting, Qin Yining never backed down even when faced with hungry wolves, much less a spoiled brat of a princess.
“The Princess of Anyang would be well served with reflecting over your own deeds. Even if you don’t think doing all this behind Prince Consort Ji’s back is breaking the rules, you should consider the matter of imperial dignity.”
This was insulting Li Helan for not keeping to the principles of a married woman and cheating on her husband!
Enflamed cheeks burning like mad, the princess pointed a shaking finger with red nail polish at Qin Yining. She shrilled, “Who the hell do you think you are?! How dare you try to teach me a lesson!?”
“There’s always bound to be someone who smooths over a bumpy road. I’m just indignant on the prince consort’s behalf. Besides, why be so angry if you’re not feeling guilty?”
Roused to new heights of fury, Li Helan was about to shriek back when Madame Lu raised a hand.
She’d been quietly enjoying the show but rose at this time, pushing aside the beautiful twins who wanted to support her. The banquet host sashayed slowly down the stairs, an unadorned hand caressing the golden hairpins stuck in her hair.
“Does Miss Qin plan on making an enemy out of the Lus?” she jeered.
“Madame Lu represents the entire Lu clan?” exclaimed a surprised Qin Yining.
The singular question jabbed painfully at the madame’s weakness. Her face turned beet red and she screeched after a long moment, “Even your father or the Faithful Prince of the First Rank needs to mind their manners and behavior in front of my family. Who the hell are you to throw your weight around in my territory?? You’re just a broken, discarded toy. How dare you think you’re superior and innocent!? I invited you here today to give you face. You won’t turn it down if you know what’s good for you!”
The Qin fourth miss almost burst out laughing.
She could never bother arguing with fools—that was what, well, fools did.
“Oh? So Madame Lu can represent the entirety of the Lu clan? Does your family know about your all-encompassing abilities?”
“How dare you! You refuse a toast only to be forced into a forfeit! I’ll have them force it down your throat!” The madame jabbed a finger back at the beautiful male selection, her intentions quite clear.
If Qin Yining didn’t back down and submit, the madame would force her into enjoying the ‘hospitality’.
The Qin fourth miss narrowed her eyes, frosty glares leveled in all directions to stab into onlookers like arrows of ice. “I’ll even lend you some courage. Why don’t you try it!?”
She’s not afraid of even this?!
Is she a woman or not??
“You…” Madame Lu’s lips trembled from rage, unable to say a word for the longest time.
She really didn’t dare do anything to Qin Yinin
g. If anything serious happened, that'd be at complete odds with what her family wanted to do.
She’d been able to invite the Qin fourth miss here today because she’d heard that the family patriarch wanted to strike up a friendly relationship with Qin Huaiyuan. Even if they weren’t in the same faction in the future, a friendly relationship was preferable to animosity.
But to think this girl, who normally looked quiet and biddable, would be so intimidating when she decided to bare her teeth!
Bored by everything, Qin Yining turned and carelessly thrust a granny servant out of her way, leaving with Xianyun and Jiyun.
The granny servant snuck a peek at the wordless Madame Lu and Princess of Anyang. Reading the situation, she directed the other servants and guards to back off to the side. Even if they were part of the princess’ household, they would still come in for their share of punishment if something went wrong.
Chapter 353.2: With Swords Unsheathed and Bows Drawn
With glowering expressions, Li Helan and Madame Lu watched Qin Yining quick-step her way through the crowd.
At this time, a granny servant suddenly called out, “Prince Consort Ji and the Faithful Prince of the First Rank has come!”
Li Helan almost collapsed to the ground when she heard this. She hastily waved a hand at the escort behind her, the one who looked exceedingly like Pang Xiao.
Color had drained from all of the male companions’ faces; they shot to their feet to dismiss themselves. The war gods of the north and south had come! These were entities that no one could afford to offend!
The Pang Xiao-lookalike was doing his best impression of a sheet of white paper. Ji Zeyu had long since dominated the north—his Dragon Riders kept the Tartars firmly down. How had he ever been so damn foolish to think he could share the same bed companion as such a hero??
He was an absolute idiot and courting death!
Qin Yining had also heard the report. She’d just exited the door when a figure clad in black and another in white rounded the corner.
Both of them were equally tall and bulky. One was wrapped in a black, sable fur cloak while the other sported a white, fox fur coat. They seemed possessed by the gods themselves, their frosty auras intimidating anyone else from approaching.
Pang Xiao’s phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed beneath his angular eyebrows. Though a jeering sneer curved his lips, his eyes were as if the coldest stars on a winter’s night, both freezing others out and pushing them away.
Ji Zeyu’s handsome, chiseled face was half buried in the collar of his snow-white cloak. He looked indifferently into the house. He presented such an exquisite sight that he looked like a jade sculpture that a craftsman had painstakingly carved.
It was the first time that Qin Yining had observed Ji Zeyu in such close quarters. Wow, I never thought there’d be someone in this world whose beauty surpasses the definition of gender.
Pang Xiao was up in the girl’s face by now and sniffed disdainfully, “You’re here too? Is this a place where you can come?”
Qin Yining snuck a peek out of the corner of her eye at those in the house. She couldn’t contradict her performance from earlier, so had to show a tough side now as well.
“Doesn’t Your Highness like to joke around.” She arched a brow. “Do I need to report at all times to Your Highness as to where I am?”
The prince’s expression sank, seemingly unable to accept that his former toy had turned so disobedient.
Meanwhile, Ji Zeyu reached Li Helan.
The princess’ face was ashen, but her ears and neck were flaming red. It was the first time she’d ever spoken to her husband in such a gentle tone. “What brings you here, prince consort?”
Ji Zeyu raised cupped hands to Li Helan and didn’t spare a look at the other women in the house. He wholly ignored Cui née Lu and Little née Lu’s looks to make straight for the men. He looked at them with his hands behind his back. “Did you enjoy yourself, princess?”
“No, no, I didn’t…”
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. You’re the princess, and I’m the prince consort. You’re my master. You can do anything you’d like.” Ji Zeyu turned back with a severe, remote air and looked quietly at Li Helan.
Heart pounding frantically, the princess recalled how she’d been uncontrollably attracted to this man on their wedding night.
Such a beguiling man was her lawfully wedded husband! But he only spoke harshly to her, and had even discovered the rare occasion in which she’d mustered courage to seek some fun outside.
Wouldn’t their life together be increasingly difficult in the future?
Catching a glimpse of Pang Xiao furiously glaring at Qin Yining out of the corner of her eye, heartache welled up in Li Helan. Of these two men, one was her husband and another the one she’d loved for many years. She really didn’t want to give up either one!
Qin Yining surreptitiously winked at Pang Xiao and quickly threaded past the crowd with her maids.
Ji Zeyu was pacing in front of the line up of escorts. Those who hadn’t run away in time quailed violently in front of the frostily statuesque marquis.
“Which one does the princess like?” Ji Zeyu was still expressionless. “Why not say the word to Madame Lu and bring him back with you?”
“No no no, prince consort, listen to me, I didn’t…”
“Your Highness is the purest of royalty, there’s no need to explain yourself to a subject.” Ji Zeyu stopped in front of the muscular man and turned back to his wife with a slight smile. “Is this your type?”
Blushing painfully, Li Helan shook her head rapidly.
Pang Xiao walked up to Madame Lu. “If I may, are these your male escorts?”
The madame was all loving smiles. She looked bashfully at the prince and nodded shyly.
Pang Xiao arched a brow in a teasing grin. “If Madame Lu’s escorts have offended this prince, can I punish them as I would?”
Utterly captivated by the grin, Madame Lu completely lost the capacity for thought. She nodded.
Pang Xiao strode up to the men and demanded lowly, “Who was it that served the eldest princess just now?”
The one who had served Li Helan was as white as a sheet and didn’t dare out himself. However, the ones next to him all looked at him.
“It was you?” The prince walked next to him.
The man thumped to his knees. “This humble one was only following orders. This lowly one would never dare, never again!” He kowtowed repeatedly.
Pang Xiao turned back to Li Helan. “Which hand did he touch you with just now?”
The princess’ lips trembled as she wished ardently for a hole in the ground to crawl into.
A dark chuckle rang out as Pang Xiao casually pulled out the sword at Ji Zeyu’s waist. He tapped both sides of the man’s shoulders and declared irately, “You court death in touching my brother’s woman!”
Blood geysered out of the man’s shoulders and he fell to the ground, wailing and howling.
Chapter 354: To Threaten
Blood dripped from the sword; the look in Pang Xiao’s phoenix-eyes was so sharp it could cut glass. His angular eyebrows were faintly raised, looking to be immensely enjoying the bloodletting. He stooped down. “How is it? Comfy?”
The man lying on the ground convulsed with pain. He really wanted to just faint and forget about everything, but the acute anguish yanked on his consciousness, making him more alert than he’d ever been.
“Your, Your Highness, I know, I know my wrongs. Mercy, please, Your Highness!”
His voice was so faint that it was almost nonexistent, but in a hall so quiet that a pin drop could be heard, every word was a devastating blow onto everyone’s hearts.
Scared witless, it took a long time for Madame Lu to recover her wits. A frown creased her forehead. “How can the Faithful Prince of the First Rank be so cruel?”
“Cruel? Does that apply to something like this? This prince feels that that thing’s dirtied Ah Lan’s swo
rd!” [1] Pang Xiao wiped the sword clean on the man lying down and flung it casually back to Ji Zeyu.
Anyone else would’ve been frozen with shock at the prince’s actions, but the marquis remained where he stood without a flicker of change in his expression.
The sword unerringly re-sheathed itself in the scabbard by Ji Zeyu’s waist with a clang.
Pang Xiao’s dashing throw, Ji Zeyu’s absolute trust, and the solemn killing aura exuded by the two made hearts pound painfully with fright.
Li Helan’s ears warmed over when she looked at the two perfectly beautiful men.
Madame compressed her red lips and smiled faintly, highly titillated. “Forget it. If this is how the prince will quell his anger, then it doesn’t matter if you take all of these men.”
The escorts all whipped their heads around in disbelief at the madame. They’d never thought that their owner would gift them away like this!
Trembling like leaves, they stared at the crippled man on the ground who was slowly slipping unconscious. They fell to their knees to kowtow with unspoken accord.
“Aren’t these Madame Lu’s precious companions?” sneered Pang Xiao. “Aren’t you worried about hurting their feelings with talk like this?”
The madame wanted to respond with, “What do their lives matter if they can be traded for a smile from you?”
But when she lifted her head to meet Pang Xiao’s eyes, the frosty, violent light shining in the prince’s eyes made her words sputter to a stop. He flared with brutal savagery even when smiling, as if a wild beast that would pounce and devour its victim at any time. The madame didn’t dare voice what she was thinking.
Ji Zeyu tightened his collar and took his leave from Li Helan. “Please enjoy yourself here, princess. You must have your fill of fun. This subject will take his leave now.”
He flung an arm around Pang Xiao after he spoke, indicating for the prince to leave with him.
Li Helan frantically chased after the two. “This seat has nothing to play with here. Prince consort, take me back to my manor!”
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