Chapter 16: Banquet

“Someone’s coming, Host.”

Xie Yushu staggered back from Xiao Zhen’s shock, not even caring about his disheveled state. 

She reached out, grabbed Xiao Dao, and pulled him into the path, whispering, “You leave the Duke of England’s Residence first and wait for me at home.”

Xiao Dao wanted to stay with her. 

“I can secretly protect you and keep those lechers from getting close.” 

The people here were truly detestable. 

Just now, he’d seen two Young Masters blocking her way, crowding up to her.

Xie Yushu realized, “You were the one who used pebbles just now to drive away Meng Tingchun and the Duke of England’s Young Master?”

Afraid she would blame him, Xiao Dao nodded, wanting to explain that they deserved it, but then heard her let out a laugh.

“Good Xiao Dao, go home and I’ll reward you.” 

She held his wrist, her peach-like face close to his, “Now be good and go.”

A reward? 

Did she mean she’d give him something? 

She wasn’t mad that he’d secretly followed her?

Xiao Dao’s face grew hot as well. 

It was hard not to obey her orders. 

He nodded, obediently turned around, leapt onto the wall, and vaulted out of the West Garden.

Xie Yushu watched his figure disappear after a few nimble jumps. 

Even without knowing martial arts, she could tell that Xiao Dao’s skills were enough to handle even the male lead Xiao Zhen. 

How could someone like him be tied up and sold by a scrawny old man? 

Was he pretending? 

Pretending to be a little beggar to be sold off?

Who exactly was he?

“Missus, there you are.” 

On the path, Jin Ye and Yin Ya hurried over, calling out, “The banquet is about to start. Pei Young Master has been looking all over for you.”

Xie Yushu turned back. 

Under the tree, the disheveled Xiao Zhen was already gone.

Of course, he was the Fourth Prince, and even more afraid of being seen in such a state.

Xie Yushu twirled the Jade Hairpin in her hand, recalling how Xiao Zhen had been stripped just now—his back as flawless as jade, the muscles tense, his neck and ears flushed pink. 

The sight of him being humiliated was, in fact, quite a treat.

She lowered her head and chuckled, tucking the hairpin away into her pouch.

In the warm chamber, the mirror lay shattered across the floor.

The attendant knelt behind Xiao Zhen, hardly daring to breathe. 

The Lord always kept his emotions hidden, and he had never seen the Lord so furious—nor so disheveled and embarrassed. 

He didn’t dare ask what had happened, only heard the Lord grit his teeth and repeat that name.

“Xie, Yu, Shu.”

He was going to kill Xie Yushu.

Xiao Zhen pulled open his loose collar and, sure enough, saw a patch of red rash spreading across his chest, hot and itchy as if burned, creeping up to his Adam’s apple.

He had always been allergic to certain pollens; contact with his skin would inevitably cause a rash.

“Does Your Excellency want the Imperial Physician called?” the attendant asked in a low voice.

Xiao Zhen’s rage burned hotter. 

How could he explain to the Imperial Physician? 

Say he’d been stripped and pressed into the flowers by someone? 

And by a woman, no less?

He had never been so humiliated. 

Not even Song Jie, who treated him as a puppet, had ever stripped him in broad daylight. 

Yet Xie Yushu not only stripped him but even commented, “Such tender flesh.”

Utter humiliation!

Xiao Zhen scratched at the rash on his chest until it bled, his anger burning ever hotter.

Xie Yushu was deliberately humiliating him.

Even if Xie Yushu hadn’t seen his face and didn’t know who he was, she should have realized from his clothes that he couldn’t possibly be a common thief.

Why did she deliberately shame him?

All Xiao Zhen could think of was her foot stepping on his hair; even closing his eyes, he couldn’t shake off the memory.

Today, he would make Xie Yushu kneel and beg for mercy.

“Tie my hair,” Xiao Zhen said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to suppress his anger. 

“I’m going to the banquet to celebrate the Duke of England’s birthday.”

The attendant looked up in surprise. 

“Is Your Excellency not returning to the palace?”

He hadn’t planned to show up at the banquet, only to deliver a gift and catch a glimpse of Xie Yushu. 

But now, he had changed his mind.

“Since the banquet is starting, I’ll have a cup of wine before leaving.” 

Xiao Zhen opened his eyes, straightened his clothes to cover the rash as much as possible, and turned to the attendant. 

“I heard the Duke’s Young Master and Meng Tingchun were ambushed and injured?”

“Yes,” the attendant replied, “while they were blocking Madam Xie’s way, someone struck their faces and hands with stones, but no one knows who.”

It must have been that Xiao Dao.

Xiao Zhen remembered Xie Yushu calling that little thief by name. 

“Send someone to quietly inform the two Young Masters that the one who injured them was Madam Xie’s attendant, called Xiao Dao.”

He pushed open the window and heard the gentle notes of a pipa drifting on the wind.

The banquet had begun.

Why haven’t the meat dishes been served yet?

Xie Yushu sat beside Pei Shilin and Pei Mother Li Huixian, eyeing the delicate, refreshing cold dishes with little interest. 

All she wanted was a bite of meat.

The banquet was set in the grand Water Pavilion of the East Garden, with ice at the four corners and a cool breeze that cleared the mind. 

Xie Yushu turned to look at the center of the lake, where the famous Yiji played pipa on the Lotus Boat, her red skirt billowing like a blossoming lotus.

She was lost in admiration when suddenly the seats at the head table grew noisy; everyone stood up from their seats.

Pei Shilin reached out to pull her up and whispered, “The Fourth Prince is here. Stand and pay your respects.”

Xie Yushu lazily got up and looked toward the head table, only to see Xiao Zhen—now in fresh clothes—enter the banquet with his attendants.

Duke Zhang Yunkai rose to greet him, surprised. 

“Didn’t the Fourth Prince return to the palace due to illness? Are you feeling better?”

“Much better, so I came to celebrate the Duke’s birthday.” 

Xiao Zhen’s tone and smile were so gentle that no fault could be found. 

He looked to the only one who hadn’t stood—

Song Jie—and said, “Prime Minister Song, since you’re still recovering, there’s no need to rise. Everyone, please be seated.”

Song Jie remained seated in his Hu Yi, showing no intention of rising, only lifting his eyes to look at Xiao Zhen.

“What brings the Fourth Prince to the banquet so suddenly?”

The standing guests were also surprised. 

The Fourth Prince had been frail since childhood, extremely careful with his diet. 

It was said that even at the Emperor’s banquets, he received special care and dishes.

Judging by the seating, even the Duke hadn’t expected the Fourth Prince to stay for the feast, as there was no seat reserved for him.

“I heard the pipa and was captivated by the music. I thought I’d join the fun,” Xiao Zhen replied without arrogance, having his attendant bring over a Hu Yi and sitting beside Song Jie. 

He neither drank wine nor ate dishes, only asking for a plate of chilled cream. 

Casually, he glanced toward the back seats and easily found Xie Yushu, for she was the only one who hadn’t looked his way.

She neither touched her chopsticks nor spoke to anyone, simply leaning on the back of her chair, chin propped on her hand, watching the Yiji play pipa on the lake in leisure.

It was as if nothing at all had happened.

Beneath his inner robe, Xiao Zhen’s chest itched again. 

How could she act like nothing had happened after humiliating a man like that?

“What is Your Highness looking at?” 

Song Jie leaned back in his chair, stifling a cough.

Xiao Zhen’s gaze shifted, realizing Song Jie had been watching him all along. 

Was he watching him—or watching Xie Yushu?

“Just admiring the scenery on the lake. Prime Minister Song, you misunderstand,” he replied, withdrawing his gaze and smiling at Song Jie.

Song Jie merely curled his lips coldly and said nothing. 

The breeze in the Water Pavilion made him uncomfortable, and he lowered his head, covering his mouth as he began to cough.

Just then, two people burst in from outside the Water Pavilion, noisily shouting something about “Pei” and “Xie,” and “such nerve.”

Song Jie frowned at the commotion and looked up to see that it was Zhang Ling, the youngest son of the Duke’s second wife, and Meng Tingchun, Jia Ning’s cousin—two of the most notorious playboys in Bi Jing.

“No manners!” 

Duke Zhang Yunkai immediately rebuked his son. 

“Why haven’t you greeted the Fourth Prince yet?”

Neither had expected the Fourth Prince to be present. 

Upon seeing Xiao Zhen, they quickly stopped and bowed.

The Duke, seeing his son’s right cheek swollen, grew more upset. 

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room and apply the medicine? Why are you here?”

“I’m here to ask Xie Yushu for an explanation.” 

Zhang Ling, only fourteen and spoiled, blurted out her name without a second thought.

Song Jie’s frown deepened.

Meng Tingchun pulled Zhang Ling back, a bit more composed, and bowed to the Duke. 

“Uncle, Ling and I were injured by stones in the garden. The one who did it was the attendant of Madam Xie from the Duke Yongyi’s Residence. We just want to clarify things.”

Their voices carried throughout the Water Pavilion, and everyone turned to look at the Duke Yongyi’s party. 

Some wondered who Madam Xie was, others waited for a spectacle.

Xiao Zhen smiled slowly, also looking toward Xie Yushu.

Only now did she turn her face his way.

“What are you causing trouble for now?” 

Zhang Youwei got up and quietly scolded her troublesome younger brother. 

“It’s Father’s birthday banquet. Can’t this wait until after the feast?” 

She’d heard that Zhang Ling and Meng Tingchun had been harassing Xie Yushu when they were injured—how shameful.

But Zhang Ling retorted, “If we wait until after the banquet, what if the person who hit me runs away?”

He said no more, and together with Meng Tingchun, circled the crowd and strode up to Xie Yushu. 

“Madam Xie, was it your attendant who injured me and Brother Tingchun?”

Two grown men, angrily questioning a married woman.

Even if Pei Shilin didn’t like Xie Yushu, he couldn’t let her lose face. 

He stood up to defend her, “Are you perhaps mistaken? My wife didn’t bring any attendants into the manor.”

“But the attendant struck us from the shadows—someone saw it with their own eyes, and even heard the name Xiao Dao,” Zhang Ling scoffed, not taking Pei Shilin seriously at all.

Meng Tingchun looked only at Xie Yushu. 

“Madam Xie, do you have an attendant named Xiao Dao?”

But Xie Yushu remained seated in her Hu Yi, raised her eyes to meet his, arched a brow and smiled lazily. 

“Someone saw it with their own eyes, huh…”

The breeze from the Water Pavilion blew in, making her black hair and earrings sway, scattering flickers of light. 

She looked at Meng Tingchun, smiling sweetly as she called him, “Cousin, I also happened to spot a little thief sneaking into the Guogong Mansion. Could that be the one who injured you?”

Her tone carried a hint of coquettishness, as if she’d called him cousin on purpose to tease him.

Meng Tingchun’s ears grew hot, his throat dry.

Xie Yushu’s gaze drifted toward the front, watching a certain someone lean back in his chair. 

She said with a smile, “I even picked up a Jade Hairpin that the little thief dropped. If Cousin and Young Master Xie want to catch him, I might be able to help.”

Xiao Zhen’s heart skipped at her gaze. 

Damn it, he’d forgotten that she’d taken his Jade Hairpin.

Beside him, Song Jie looked at Xiao Zhen, then at Xie Yushu, and then back at Xiao Zhen. 

Why was she looking at Xiao Zhen? 

That gaze clearly showed recognition…

“Host, you have gained 1 point of Green Hat Value, from Song Jie.” 

The system chimed in sweetly.