Nan Rongchen naturally did not have the energy to listen to how the two of them sniped at each other. Having calmed down from the trance of his past life over these past several days, he realized he was not entirely without things to do.
Whether he could successfully fake his death and live at ease when the time came, or truly die, made little difference.
However, since he was still alive and still occupied the sovereign’s throne, paving even one path forward was better than none.
It was already the second month of spring. The palace grounds were bursting with rejuvenation, and around the Hanyuan Hall, tall towers and scenic ponds were all in place, presenting a scene of utter prosperity from afar.
This Hanyuan Hall was also the work of the chief artisan of the Jiushu Pavilion, elegant on the outside and glittering with gold and jade within.
Amidst several announcements of “His Majesty has arrived,” Nan Rongchen walked past the gold-and-jade curtains. Pearls and bright moons reflected in his eyes, casting the shifting, dazzling lights of banners and pennants.
The silk draperies fluttered down and folded away. White-robed, dark-haired dancing girls had already stepped into the dance pool in the center of the hall. It seemed he had arrived late.
Nan Rongchen waved his hand to signal the full hall to rise, and spoke to the Master of Ceremonies beside him, “Grant the Prince of Shule a seat.”
Granting a seat was not difficult; the crucial question was where to grant it? The Master of Ceremonies covertly glanced toward Prince Xiang. The higher-ups had previously claimed the Sovereign’s injuries had yet to heal, and Prince Xiang had taken full charge of organizing this reception banquet, so why had the Sovereign arrived today after all?
And where exactly should this Prince of Shule be placed?
Before he could pull back his gaze, he saw his pillar of support, Prince Xiang, looking elsewhere. Granted a temporary reprieve under the assumption that Prince Xiang had already selected a spot, the official hurriedly followed that line of sight, only to run squarely into the Emperor’s pair of phoenix eyes, which revealed neither joy nor anger. His legs went soft, nearly causing him to collapse to the floor.
Amidst the silence, Nan Rongchen lazily spoke, “Grant him a seat at Prince Xiang’s side.”
Since he was already addicted to doing good deeds, and he had no idea whether Helian Yi had crossed paths with Nan Rongchengyu yet, he might as well lend another helping hand.
“This subject did not know Your Majesty had the leisure to attend today.”
Seated upon the imperial throne, Nan Rongchen appraised Nan Rongchengyu, whose eyes had lit up the moment he caught sight of him. This must be the acting skills the system kept talking about.
Pure mastery; who else could it be?
Nan Rongchengyu’s words hardly harbored any kind intentions. Look, the Western Xia envoy was already naturally riding the coattails of his younger brother’s remark to mock him, “We heard that the Emperor of Linyue was deluded by sorcery and committed suicide in the court over some grain and fodder. This envoy is here to respectfully inquire about Your Majesty’s health.”
“Thank you, Envoy, for your concern. It is all thanks to Prince Xiang securing the grain.” Since it was time for Nan Rongchengyu to shine, Nan Rongchen had no intention of holding back. “If the Envoy has spare time, you might consult a thing or two with Prince Xiang. Who knows, perhaps you too can procure some grain during a famine.”
These words were spoken in earnest. In truth, Western Xia originally possessed the capability to squeeze out grain reserves; while the fields had suffered, the wealthy households’ granaries certainly had not. The grain used for the expedition against Yuezhi in his past life had been extorted by him from Western Xia.
Infuriating though it was, there was no way to refute it. The envoy gritted his teeth, spat out a couple of polite phrases, and sat back down in his place.
“This banquet is entirely thanks to Prince Xiang’s arrangements, so let Prince Xiang continue to oversee it.” Nan Rongchen took the cup of wine handed over by the eunuch. “Today, Gu merely wishes to join all the envoys in admiring the new Witch God divination recently obtained by our realm’s Chief Astrologer.”
“As for the rest, everyone can enjoy themselves to the fullest without feeling constrained.”
Having dropped these words, he unceremoniously drained the cup of mellow wine in a single gulp, genuinely preparing to be a hands-off boss.
He was at ease, but the Chief Astrologer, clad in moon-white robes embroidered with silver threads outlining all twenty-eight lunar mansions and his jade crown fastened with absolute precision, looked the part of a cold, transcendent immortal in communion with the divine. Yet, a single sentence from the Son of Heaven had reduced him to an object displayed for amusement.
He didn’t even earn a fraction of Nan Rongchen’s gaze. Sitting kneeling below, he remained motionless, merely reaching out to press down upon the wooden bamboo slips before him.
The late Emperor had firmly believed in the Witch God, using underhanded methods, whether through slaughter or bribery, to wipe out all other sects in Linyue.
After several rounds of political maneuvering, for this current Son of Heaven to show virtually no reverence toward the Witch God was truly ironic.
Upon seeing this, Nan Rongchengyu raised his cup in a toast, taking advantage of the moment to openly take in his royal brother’s expression and demeanor. Half a month had passed, and this villainous boss of his did look somewhat different. “Your Majesty exaggerates; this is merely this subject’s duty.”
Yet, regardless of how many twists and turns arose along the way, Nan Rongchen, this villainous boss, still wound up in the Hanyuan Hall precisely as the plot dictated.
The sole unexpected element was that Nan Rongchen had actually brought Helian Yi along.
His gaze swept briefly over Nan Rongchen’s lips, stained red with wine, before resting upon the bloody scratch across Helian Yi’s neck.
That wound hadn’t been there last night. It looked to be the handiwork of Nan Rongchen; his blade-work was decisive, proving that a villainous boss was far more interesting than those disposable cannon fodder characters.
Nan Rongchen offered a token nod of acknowledgment. To a protagonist like Nan Rongchengyu, the Linyue throne had always been an item well within his grasp; thus, this banquet, matters of state, and all other cumbersome affairs naturally fell under his duties.
In his past life, he had acted as the sucker doing the heavy lifting for Nan Rongchengyu for far too long; now, it was about time he enjoyed a moment of peace and leisure.
Consequently, he propped up his chin and watched the song and dance unfolding in the hall, assuming the posture of a complete spectator.
The sound of the pipa was like the chirping of orioles and falling pearls, harmonizing with the zither. The resulting music swept through like a gentle breeze, dispersing a hint of the hall’s intoxication.
A group of white-robed dancing girls holding red plum blossoms danced gracefully forward. Their fluttering hems swayed as they moved swiftly, and flashes of crimson peeked out from their midst.
Once they had sufficiently whetted everyone’s appetites, the maidens suddenly scattered in all directions, falling away like light snow. A woman in crimson moved with feather-light steps, her slender waist bending slightly while her jade-like arms flowed in graceful curves, resembling a red plum blossom standing proud against the wind in the snow. Her face was half-hidden behind a fine veil, which failed to conceal the profoundly touching, delicate charm within her eyes.
The music ceased, and with it, the dance came to an end. The woman in crimson gently removed her veil, bowed deeply, and the red jade-pendant hairpins on her head swayed gently, casting shifting shadows upon her snow-white cheeks and highlighting her enchanting beauty.
“This subject pays respects to Your Majesty.”
“Emperor of Linyue, this dancer is a peerless beauty of the first order in our Western Xia.” Another blue-robed envoy cupped his hands in a salute, his intentions transparent without even looking. “We heard that Your Majesty made wild remarks in his youth, leaving the inner palaces completely vacant to this day. Why not accept her today, lest Linyue truly finds itself without an heir?”
Upon hearing this, Nan Rongchen raised his cup and looked toward the woman. He held no impression of her, but beauties in this book, even if they were moved, would only ever bestow their hearts upon his protagonist brother, Nan Rongchengyu. “If the King of Western Xia truly wishes to assist Gu, why not simply write a letter of surrender? Wouldn’t that break Gu’s vow?”
Seeing the envoy’s expression curdle, Nan Rongchen considerately offered a way down. “However, it would not do for Gu to reject the envoy’s kind intentions. Prince Xiang has likewise remained unwed to this day, so we shall bestow this dancer upon Prince Xiang.”
“No refusals allowed.”
Nan Rongchengyu’s hand gripping his wine cup paused momentarily. A few spilled droplets stained his fingertips, their damp stickiness mirroring the captivating flush of wine reflected in the Emperor’s eyes.
This was the first time throughout the entire banquet that Nan Rongchen had looked directly at him. Understandable, of course, since he was the villainous boss, after all, and not so easily put in his place.
Even if placed in the modern era, this woman would still qualify as a top-tier beauty; whether working as an actress or an internet celebrity, she could easily amass a legion of fiercely loyal visual fans.
Yet compared to his villainous royal brother, she lacked a certain something. To think Nan Rongchen would actually bestow this woman upon him! “Speaking of dancers, Western Xia’s Mingyue Pavilion is renowned across the world. However, the crowd there is a mix of fish and dragons; this Prince once went there and ran into quite a substantial disturbance.”
Mingyue Pavilion? Was this a jab at him? Nan Rongchen glanced at Helian Yi. Matching Nan Rongchengyu up with a mismatched pair right before Helian Yi’s very eyes would surely accumulate a bit of hatred value.
As the protagonist, having received his arrangement, Nan Rongchengyu naturally had to seize the opportunity to strike back. He spoke up once more to play along, “What sort of disturbance was it?”
Noticing that Nan Rongchen had stopped sparing him his attention for even three seconds, Nan Rongchengyu rubbed his fingertips together to wipe away the lingering wine. “Word has it that a foreign spy was uncovered, and they even searched out a private arsenal in the vicinity.”
He deliberately put heavy emphasis on the final three syllables, anticipating a flash of visible surprise upon Nan Rongchen’s face that only he could catch.
Yet Nan Rongchen happened to raise his cup to drink at that exact moment, his dark robes concealing the greater part of his face.
He came away empty-handed once again.
Seeing this, the Western Xia envoy chimed in, “The matter is true. It was later investigated and found that the incident had nothing to do with Mingyue Pavilion. Since Prince Xiang has brought it up, this envoy shall request our sovereign to investigate thoroughly upon returning to court, so as to eradicate future troubles.”
So Nan Rongchengyu had been setting a trap for him here, knowing quite a bit indeed. “In Gu’s view, there is no need to investigate further. To express gratitude for the dancer the envoy offered to Prince Xiang, Gu will speak plainly: Western Xia does have intelligence operatives within Linyue, and back then they were indeed located at Mingyue Pavilion. As for now, as Prince Xiang well knows, they have long since shifted locations. One cannot simply hang oneself from a single withered tree branch.”
“Naturally, Gu is well aware that Linyue also harbors Western Xia scouts. That makes everything fair and balanced.”
Hearing this, Qi Yan, standing in attendance before the steps, muttered internally: Was this something that could be said out loud so casually? Their Southern Liang had perished precisely at the hands of someone of this sort.
The grand hall fell into an abrupt silence once more. Nan Rongchen twirled the crimson gemstone on the wine flagon and shifted the blame back, “Prince Xiang has always been prudent in speech and cautious in conduct; how did such a careless leak happen today, forcing Gu to expose our realm’s internal affairs?”
Nan Rongchengyu stared fixedly at the wine flagon beneath Nan Rongchen’s fingers, completely failing to guess what route Nan Rongchen was trying to take, his tone laced with a hint of grievance. “This subject knows he has long failed to win the Sacred Heart, but Royal Brother need not use state affairs to publicly strip this subject of his dignity.”
“This subject will gladly accept whatever punishment Your Majesty sees fit to mete out.”
If he didn’t still have use for Nan Rongchen’s deployment network in Western Xia, he certainly wouldn’t have stooped to deploying these green tea tactics.
Nan Rongchen curved his lips into another three parts of a smile, indulging in some good-natured self-reflection. “It seems Gu has indeed treated Prince Xiang somewhat coldly in daily life. Your management of the grain procurement was commendable; let this dancer serve as preliminary compensation.”
Protagonists, roughly speaking, all tended to harbor an inflated sense of self-importance. To Nan Rongchengyu, this forced bestowal of a reward ought to feel like humiliation and punishment.
This excursion had unexpectedly yielded extra harvest.
Nan Rongchengyu forcibly stabilized his expression, continuing to play along with Nan Rongchen in maintaining the facade of brotherly harmony. “This subject thanks Your Majesty.”
For Nan Rongchen to insist on shoving this dancer into his hands, there was bound to be a hidden conspiracy at play. Very well, he would accept her and see what tricks they were trying to pull.
Nan Rongchen himself harbored no conspiracies; it was merely a matter of convenience. “Today is both a state banquet and a family banquet; you may simply address Gu as Royal Brother.”
Hearing Nan Rongchen obediently call out “Understood, Royal Brother.”
Strike with a stick and follow up with a sweet date? Put that way, the situation cleared up considerably. Nan Rongchen was evidently attempting to co-opt him into his own faction.
His handling of the grain procurement had clearly been treated as a form of allegiance-pledging. For a source of amusement to yield such unexpected utility, the protagonist halo truly was exceptionally useful.
That word “family banquet” struck the envoys as suspicious and jarring, yet they had no way to argue against it. This development deviated entirely from the previous day’s discussions, and seeing Nan Rongchen’s nonchalant expression, it was doubtful whether those secret agents were even still stationed in Western Xia anymore. These cunning scoundrels of Linyue were simply playing games with them.
“Your Majesty, merely watching gentle songs and graceful dances lacks amusement. Why not let us present our realm’s tribute items for appreciation next?”
Nan Rongchen retained a clear memory of this banquet. What followed next, based on his recollection, was the very moment his younger brother would make his stunning debut in the spotlight.
In his past life, he hadn’t given it a second thought, and this time he had no intention of interfering either.
Since the system’s so-called protagonist halo was proving so remarkably useful, employing it to deflate Western Xia’s arrogance could well be considered putting things to their proper use.
“Granted.”