Xiao Huaiyan did not even lift an eyelid, acting as though that insidious and sly sneak attack just moments ago were merely a gentle breeze brushing past. He steadily raised the tray and held it out before Li Jingchen. “Young Marquis, please partake.”
The fake smile on Li Jingchen’s face instantly stiffened, and a surge of furious anger violently flared up within his heart.
This bastard! The physical strength was unexpectedly this great! In full view of the public, he could not make a second move, and could only resentfully reach out to take his portion of the sacrificial pork, his teeth grinding together with a rattling sound as hatred itched with irritation.
Only then did Xiao Huaiyan straighten his posture, holding the remaining sacrificial pork as he retreated back to his own position.
The cold wind outside the hall continued to blow, and the ancestral worship grand ceremony proceeded with solemnity, yet beneath the calm surface, the undercurrents grew increasingly fierce.
An attendant presented that portion of plain-boiled, unadorned, and insipid pork before Shen Chaoqing. Gazing at the meat block devoid of any grease and appearing somewhat stringy and tough, his stomach instinctively churned with a trace of aversion.
Ever since he became Emperor, Shen Chaoqing had never eaten this sort of thing again, yet precisely because he was the Emperor, he was all the more required to eat it.
This was ancestral regulation, this was “divine grace”… To hell with blessings, those illusory and elusive things.
On the surface, Shen Chaoqing remained unperturbed, picking up a small piece and slowly delivering it into his mouth. The coarse texture slid across his throat, bringing a slight discomfort.
“Ugh!”
An exceedingly abrupt, suppressible dry retching sound erupted from slightly behind and to his right, shattering the solemn and reverent atmosphere of the Ancestral Hall.
Shen Chaoqing’s brows instantly knitted together as he turned his head in displeasure.
He saw that the Heir of the Marquis of Jing’an, Li Jingchen, was currently bending forward, one hand tightly clamping over his mouth as his complexion turned ashen white, fine beads of cold sweat seeping onto his forehead while his body trembled uncontrollably and violently. Upon the golden bricks beside his feet, a few droplets of the foul matter and sacrificial pork residue he had just vomited—which he had failed to swallow completely were shockingly splattered.
The surrounding officials were all stunned, looking at Li Jingchen in sheer disbelief.
Right here at this ancestral worship grand ceremony, right before the spirit tablets of the ancestors, someone actually vomited out sacrificial pork in public?! What sort of contempt and disrespect toward the ancestors was this!
Several older officials, who had originally felt a sense of nausea toward such greasy and raw plain-boiled meat, were stimulated by the sound and smell, causing their own throats to begin uncontrollably rolling up and down as their complexions turned greenish-blue, holding themselves back with intense restraint so they wouldn’t vomit along with him.
For a time, whispers and suppressed gasps spread amongst the crowd.
Shen Chaoqing was already out of sorts in mood due to this tedious ritual and the unpalatable meat; hearing this retching sound, he felt an angry blaze surge straight to the top of his head, and the lump of meat in his stomach that had yet to digest seemed to churn along with it. He abruptly slammed his jade chopsticks down onto the desk, producing a crisp, sharp sound.
“Li Jingchen!” Shen Chaoqing demanded with undisguised wrath, “You have a colossal amount of audacity!”
Scared out of his wits, Li Jingchen no longer cared about the nausea as he slammed down onto his knees with a loud thud, kowtowing like pounding garlic: “Your Majesty, forgive me! Your Majesty, forgive me! This subject… this subject had no intentional design… it is this meat… this subject suddenly felt unwell in his stomach…” He spoke incoherently, trembling all over from terror.
“Unwell in your stomach?” Shen Chaoqing sneered coldly, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding officials who were forcefully suppressing their discomfort. “I see you are dissatisfied with the grace of the ancestors guards!”
“Present!” The guards outside the hall answered in unison, striding inside.
“Drag him out and give him twenty heavy strokes with the staff.”
Punishments within the palace were strict and severe; the injuries on Li Jingchen’s back had yet to fully heal, and to receive another twenty heavy staff strokes on top of that—if not properly treated and cared for, it would surely leave behind lingering chronic ailments.
“Your Majesty!” Li Zecheng immediately stepped out of the ranks, dropping to his knees as he spoke anxiously and hurriedly, “Your Majesty, calm your anger! On the day of ancestral worship, seeing blood is inauspicious! Chen’er is young and ignorant; he did not intentionally commit an offense. I beg Your Majesty to spare him this once for the sake of the ancestors and the Empress Dowager!”