Her guards

Chapter 186 The Banquet Begins

As the drums and music resounded, the emperor and empress entered the main hall.

Everyone in the hall bowed in unison.

The emperor took his seat and glanced around the hall, noticing the vacancy in the seat of the Duke of Ding'an's residence.

He almost stood up again.

What about the fallen petals?
How did they disappear at this time?
"Where is Wei Jiao?" he asked, then looked at the Empress, as if to explain to her, "They said he was healed and could come out, so why has he disappeared again?"

The Empress didn't expose who he was asking about, and instead looked down and asked, "Duke Ding'an, have you seen Commandant Wei? He came with your young lady."

Duke Ding'an hurriedly stood up: "The Commandant of the Guards was careless and spilled tea. Go and change your clothes."

Did you spill tea?

This tea certainly wasn't spilled for Wei Jiao. The banquet hasn't even started yet, why are they in such a hurry? The emperor placed his hand on his knee, frowned, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

Asking them yielded no results. The eunuchs stepped forward to apologize, explaining that it was nothing more than a minor incident where a palace maid, in her haste to pour tea, had spilled it—a frustrating but understandable matter.

Another imperial physician came to report that he had examined Wei Jiao and Miss Yang and found that neither of them had been burned. They were tidying their clothes and would be back soon.

The emperor nodded and said, "That's good."

……

……

The music signaling the start of the banquet could be faintly heard from the side hall.

But the people here have no interest in listening.

"The bandage needs to be re-wrapped!"

"Your clothes aren't wet? Even if they aren't wet, it's still bad luck. Come with me to get some new clothes to change into!"

Wei Jiao's voice was loud in a palace room, and the imperial physicians and eunuchs hurriedly surrounded him.

From another inner room, a maid's voice was shrill.

"My young lady's clothes! Newly made clothes!"

"My young lady is going to offer a toast to His Majesty, so she's here on behalf of the chief priest!"

"That palace maid must have done it on purpose. Tell His Majesty to investigate thoroughly—"

The palace maid in charge of this place stood outside the door, looking at the noisy maids inside with their hands on their hips, and then at the displeased young lady wrapped in a cloak, a sneer appearing on her lips.

"Don't worry, Miss Yang, we will investigate thoroughly," she said, then scolded the three maids behind her, "Hurry up and iron Miss Yang's clothes."

The palace maids rushed in carrying charcoal braziers and irons.

The maidservant hurriedly helped the young lady take off her wet dress and handed it to the palace maid.

The palace maid personally poured tea and asked the young lady to sit down and wait. Taking advantage of the fact that the young lady's view was blocked by the palace maid, a little palace maid who was squatting on the ground drying her wet clothes had a glint in her eyes. Suddenly, she stood up and bumped into the little palace maid next to her. The little palace maid was holding an iron and was suddenly bumped forward, causing the burning charcoal in the iron to fall out with a clatter.

Accompanied by the crackling of fire, the skirt, which had just been laid out to be ironed, emitted plumes of smoke.

"what!"

The maid screamed when she saw this.

……

.......
"This slave deserves to die, this slave deserves to die."

Three palace maids knelt on the ground and wept.

"You did this on purpose!" the maid shrieked, clutching her skirt, which had a hole burned through it. "I need to see His Majesty—"

The palace maid, who had been all smiles, suddenly turned serious: "This is my fault for failing to discipline them properly. Miss, you don't need to see His Majesty. I will punish them myself."

After saying this, he called for someone to come.

"Break this stupid servant's hand!"

A eunuch rushed in from outside the door and tried to drag the young palace maid holding the iron away.

The young palace maid's cries were deafening, and she kowtowed repeatedly.

"Alright," Miss Yang said, pressing her forehead. "It's just a piece of clothing, so what if it's burned?"

As he spoke, he looked at the palace woman.

“Our Ding’an Duke’s Mansion is not so poor as to be that destitute.”

The palace maid bowed with a half-smile, saying, "Miss Yang is magnanimous." Then she turned to look at the palace maid on the ground, "Hurry up and thank Miss Yang."

The young palace maid trembled as she kowtowed in gratitude.

Miss Yang didn't even look at the little palace maid, but gestured to her own maid: "The Duke of Ding'an's mansion is closest to the capital. Go and tell my uncle and aunt to go home and fetch it for me."

The maidservant responded with a "yes," and glared fiercely at the palace woman.

Although the princess's sudden intervention, causing Miss Yang to leave early and disrupting the Marquis's arrangements, did not have a significant impact.

Now Miss Yang can wait here, disheveled.

The palace maid lowered her eyes and bowed her head to take her leave, a faint smile playing on her lips.

.......
"Fortunately, it was just that the palace maid spilled tea on her clothes."

Yang Luo picked up the scalded clothes and said softly.

"If you get splashed with water, you'll have to redo your makeup. And if they mess with your makeup while you're doing that..."

That's your face.

Even a small cut on the face can have unimaginable consequences.

Even knowing there might be unexpected events, these unexpected events can still be terrifying.

"Don't overthink it." Mo Zheng smiled gently. "These things won't happen."

If she hadn't given permission, the palace maid wouldn't have been able to get close to her at all.

She let the palace maid get close and caused more than half of the tea to fall on Wei Jiao.

If Wei Jiao hadn't fought back, she wouldn't have gotten wet at all.

As for the clothes, let them iron them if they want.

Mo Zheng looked towards the door, listening to the singing and dancing sounds coming from the direction of the main hall.

"Go and lure Zhu Yunxiao here."

"The time for His Majesty to send his congratulatory gifts is approaching."

……

……

The banquet inside the main hall was in full swing, with cups clinking and songs and dances filling the air.

The emperor's vision was somewhat blurry, but when the maid walked through the crowd to the Duke of Ding'an, he immediately saw her.

"Lord Ding'an," he called out.

The noisy hall fell silent instantly. Marquis Yichun, who was chatting and laughing with the people who came to offer their birthday wishes, looked over and Duke Ding'an, who was about to lose his temper and scold the maid, shivered.

"Your Majesty, I am here." He hurriedly stood up and strode over, with Lady Ding'an following closely behind.

Yang Luo stood still, following the backs of the Duke of Ding'an and his wife, and looked toward the Emperor.

The emperor's gaze passed over the Duke of Ding'an and his wife and also fell upon her.

Yang Luo smiled faintly.

The emperor withdrew his gaze and looked at the Duke of Ding'an and his wife standing nearby, saying irritably, "Why are you dawdling around? Do you want me and the Marquis to invite you?"

The Duke of Ding'an stammered, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was afraid of disturbing your enjoyment, so I wanted to wait until the very end..."

The Marquis of Yichun, sitting at the lower seat, smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't frighten him. I know the Duke's temperament."

He knew not only Yang Bin's temperament, but also the emperor's.

Calling Duke Ding'an here wasn't really to celebrate his birthday.

He looked at the Duke of Ding'an and asked him.

"How is Miss Yang? Is there anything the maid needs?"

Lady Ding'an hurriedly said, "She's fine. Her clothes are wet, and she's making a fuss about going home to get new ones. She's really spoiled."

Marquis Yichun laughed heartily: "It's a girl, that's normal. Your Excellency can just have someone take her."

The Duke of Ding'an immediately nodded in agreement, and then hurriedly raised his wine cup: "To the Marquis on his birthday."

Marquis Yichun smiled and raised his wine cup, and the emperor also slowly raised his wine cup.

Spoiled? Who spoiled her? Which of you two spoiled her? He, as her father, certainly didn't...

The emperor said, "Come, come, let's wish the Marquis a happy birthday."

After saying that, he drank it all in one gulp, suppressing the bitterness in his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the maid standing on the side of Duke Ding'an's seat turn and walk away.

She was simply dressed, and as she moved among the palace maids, eunuchs, and nobles, she had to give way frequently and was even scolded by some...

Her fallen petals... she was clearly a princess, yet she was like this...

The emperor looked at the princess sitting to the side.

Princess Heicheng was surrounded by her companions, chatting and laughing. Princess Nangong was eating snacks, while Princess Wuyang watched the singing and dancing with a critical eye. The palace maids and eunuchs around her were serving her attentively.

Noticing the emperor's gaze, they all turned to look, their faces beaming with smiles.

The emperor felt a sting in his eyes and turned to the chief eunuch beside him: "Pour the wine."

The chief eunuch hurriedly poured wine himself, listened to the emperor whisper instructions, and then stepped back.

After Marquis Yichun and Duke Ding'an and his wife finished drinking, they also called for a eunuch to pour more wine. After pouring the wine, the eunuch shook the wine pot, seemed to find it was empty, and then stepped back.

Meanwhile, amidst the crowd of people moving around the hall, toasting and laughing, Zhu Yunxiao put away his wine cup, smiled at the group, said goodbye, and headed towards the washroom.

The holiday is over, and the plot I thought I could finish writing hasn't even started yet. My progress prediction was wrong, so thank you all for reading along.