Chapter 100

 

After a while, the guests arrived at Marquis Wuqing Mansion one after another.

The male guests stayed at the front, and the womenfolk went directly to the garden, where they would listen to the play and have a meal later.

Before the banquet started, Emperor Jingshun sent Eunuch Ma to give Old Madam Qi a birthday gift.

Old Madam Qi knelt down in front of everyone with a solemn expression and thanked the Holy’s grace.

At that moment, except for Princess Hua Yang, all the other womenfolk present casted envious glances at Old Madam Qi. Her son-in-law was the emperor, her daughter was the empress, and she also had a grandson who was canonized as the crown prince at a young age. Old Madam Qi had not lived her life in vain. She did not have to do anything to achieve glory and wealth. In terms of status, few women outside the palace could surpass her.

After Eunuch Ma left, the banquets at the two places officially began.

The womenfolk listened to the play, and the male guests drank happily.

Qi Jin and Chen Jingzong sat at a table with several young military attachés, and the older guests were entertained by Marquis Wuqing himself.

The people who sit at the same table with Qi Jin were all his good colleagues and friends. Some of them were known to Chen Jingzong, and some were introduced by Qi Jin after meeting.

“Prince Consort made a big splash in the last martial arts competition. I heard that His Majesty also rewarded you with a golden spear a few days ago. I wonder if you can take it out someday so that we can also admire the divine weapon bestowed by His Majesty?”

“Yes, the last person to be rewarded a golden spear from His Majesty was General Qin. This shows that His Majesty has high hopes for Prince Consort!”

General Qin was a famous general in the anti-Japanese war in this dynasty. From the white-haired old man to the young boy, almost everyone knew about him. He was currently stationed at Beiguan in Jizhou.

Chen Jingzong smiled and said: “I dare not compare myself with General Qin. If you are interested, I will be your host next time and treat you to a drink.”

“Come on, Prince Consort, let’s have another bowl!”

When men got together, especially a group of military attachés, no matter what they say was worthy of a drink, and they would only drink strong alcohol. If Qi Jin only prepare a few jars of ordinary wine, he would be laughed at by his colleagues.

Chen Jingzong would not refuse toasts from others.

Qi Jin was the host today and was also persuaded to drink a lot of wine. His and Chen Jingzong’s hands almost never left the wine bowl. If anyone dared to say “I can’t drink anymore,” the others would tease them.

However, no matter how much they want to drink, their stomachs were limited. Halfway through the dinner, Chen Jingzong apologized and left the banquet to go to the clean room.

“I will go with Prince Consort.” Qi Jin followed with a smile.

Chen Jingzong glanced at him, slowed down and let Qi Jin lead the way.

On the night of the sixth of First Month, the air was cold. A sickle moon curved in the sky, and when the wind blew, the lanterns hanging in the corridor swayed gently. Even though the people were chatting noisily, it still looked a bit desolate.

They then arrived at the clean room.

This was a clean room specially prepared for today’s male guests. There were several small rooms separated by screens. After the guests use it, the servants would immediately clean it up.

At this time, the clean room was empty. Chen Jingzong randomly picked a small room, and Qi Jin entered the one next one to his.

Neither of them spoke, there was only the sound of water and a hint of rivalry.

After fastening their belts, the two of them walked out almost at the same time and went to wash their hands in front of the washstand.

Qi Jin was the host. He took the initiative to pick up the kettle and pour water into the copper basin in front of Chen Jingzong.

Chen Jingzong smiled and did not say thank you.

Qi Jin also washed his hands silently.

Chen Jingzong finished washing first, waved his hands and was about to go out, when a white brocade handkerchief suddenly flew in front of his eyes and fell to the ground swaying like snowflakes.

The handkerchief was white and old, with a large red peony embroidered on it, almost occupying the middle of the square handkerchief, and surrounded by a few dark green leaves.

Even if Chen Jingzong didn’t understand the embroidery art, he could tell that the person who embroidered this handkerchief was not very good at it.

At this time, Qi Jin bent down, picked up the handkerchief with great care, and gently brushed off the dust that might be on it. He looked at the peony again, smiled, and whispered to Chen Jingzong: “When Hua Yang was eight years old, she learned to embroider, but she didn’t like it. She finally embroidered a complete peony, and wanted to show it to everyone. She would only be happy if everyone praised her for her good embroidery.”

The implication was that the handkerchief in his hand was the first finished peony handkerchief embroidered by Hua Yang.

Chen Jingzong looked at Qi Jin and suddenly snatched the handkerchief away!

Qi Jin’s face darkened, and immediately stretched out his hand to snatch it back!

But Chen Jingzong had already taken a few steps away and said to him with a smile: “I don’t know how to appreciate this kind of thing, it’s just my hands are also wet, so let me borrow it.”

After saying that, he wiped his hands with the handkerchief very roughly.

Qi Jin rushed over without thinking. He had carefully treasured this handkerchief for more than ten years. He had never used it to wipe his hands and sweat. How could Chen Jingzong dare to use it?

He wanted to take the handkerchief back, but Chen Jingzong seemed to be afraid of him and handed it over with a smile. However, when Qi Jin grabbed the handkerchief and wanted to take it back, Chen Jingzong did not let go.

Silk fabric was delicate, not to mention it was more than ten years old. Under the strength of two young military attachés that was like two tigers fighting against each other, the good handkerchief was torn in half with a tearing sound. Some threads hang down from the broken places, floating gently with the cold wind passing through the window.

Qi Jin’s face was ashen, but he still wanted to snatch the other half back.

Chen Jingzong moved his hand and, before Qi Jin could react, quickly and seemingly carelessly tore the half piece of cloth in his hand into several ragged pieces.

Qi Jin suddenly punched him.

Chen Jingzong turned sideways and grabbed his fist: “It’s just a handkerchief. Originally Hua Yang was willing to give it to you. Now if you go and ask her for another one, she will definitely be willing to give it to you.”

Qi Jin heard some overtones and looked at him coldly.

Chen Jingzong continued to hold his wrist: “You don’t deserve to know what happened between me and her. But I can tell you one thing, she said that in the whole world, she only gave me, a foreign man, a handkerchief. The one you have, either she didn’t embroider it, or you stole it while she wasn’t paying attention. If it’s the former, it’s fine even if it’s torn, why bother to care. If it’s the latter, you’re not worthy to keep it.”

Qi Jin sneered: “I’m not worthy, so are you? If it weren’t for Cabinet Elder Chen, you don’t even deserve to see her face.”

Chen Jingzong: “Yes, so I am very grateful to my father and swear that I will honor the old man throughout my life.”

Qi Jin had never seen such a shameless person. Thinking that his noble cousin was forced to marry such a rough man from the countryside, whether he was drunk or could no longer suppress his anger, Qi Jin threw away the half of the handkerchief, and punch with all his might.

Compared with his anger, Chen Jingzong was still laughing, and mocked while fighting back: “I thought a noble young master like you must be broad-minded, but I didn’t expect you’re not as magnanimous as a rough man like me. After all, today is your Marquis Mansion’s banquet, if you really hurt me, how should you explain it to Lord Marquis and Marquis Madam?”

Qi Jin kept trying to punch him.

Chen Jingzong: “Why don’t we move to another place to fight? This place is not clean. I’m afraid I might accidentally catch something and infect her.”

The uncontrollable anger in Qi Jin’s heart calmed down as Chen Jinzhong kept talking. At a certain moment, he suddenly stepped back and distanced himself from Chen Jingzong.

He stood in a corner where the light could not reach, lowered his eyes and moved his wrists.

Chen Jingzong picked up half of the handkerchief on the ground and continued to tear it into pieces.

Qi Jin looked at his actions and suddenly smiled: “She has given me so many birthday gifts, so what if you tear this one handkerchief?”

Chen Jingzong: “She treats you as a cousin, and you know that better than anyone else.”

Qi Jin: “I still know she won’t like you.”

Chen Jingzong: “This is between me and her. It has nothing to do with you. But you, your wife is almost as thin as a bamboo pole. If you are a man, just be nice to her.”

Qi Jin: “You are very considerate.”

Chen Jingzong walked to a copper lamp, lifted the lampshade, and put the shredded handkerchief in his hand. He watched the flames quickly burn the silk handkerchief to ashes, leaving not a single thread left. Chen Jingzong covered the lampshade again, turned around, and said while looking directly at Qi Jin: “Because she is soft-hearted and cannot bear to see others suffer, if she knew that Tian shi‘s previous illness was all caused by you, she would feel disgusted. Even you, as her cousin, would only make her disgusted.”

Qi Jin sneered: “Of course it’s easy for you to say. If you really ordered to marry a woman you don’t like, would you be nice to her?”

Chen Jingzong: “I won’t marry anyone I don’t like.”

Qi Jin sneered.

The one that press on Chen Jingzong’s head at most was a Cabinet Elder, but the one he facing was the empress

Qi Jin wanted to be with his cousin, but he could offend everyone except his aunt empress.

When his aunt asked him to get married, he had no choice but to marry. When his aunt asked his grandmother why he still had no children after getting married for so long, he had no choice but to let Tian shi get pregnant.

It was Tian shi‘s fault for being useless and couldn’t save the child, then became depressed and weak day by day, which made his cousin worry too.

Chen Jingzong washed his hands again and was about to leave. Before going out, he turned around, looked at Qi Jin and said, “I have one more thing to say to you.”

Qi Jin’s face was expressionless.

Chen Jingzong looked him up and down and said calmly: “A person like you is not worthy of her at all.”

Before he finished speaking, he opened the curtain and walked away.

Qi Jin listened to his footsteps gradually disappearing.

A man who married his cousin because of his father, on what basis saying he was unworthy?

If his aunt hadn’t stopped him, if Emperor Jingshun hadn’t cowardly listened to his aunt and asked his cousin to choose between him and Chen Jingzong, would his cousin really fall for Chen Jingzong?

The crown prince revered his aunt, and so was his cousin. Her aunt asked her to marry into the Chen family, then her cousin could only be wronged!

.

When it was almost the first watch of the night, the banquet at Wuqing Marquis Mansion finally came to an end.

Hua Yang came to the front yard surrounded by her grandmother, aunt and the others.

Chen Jingzong, Marquis Wuqing and Qi Jin, father and son, were all waiting there.

Hua Yang first looked at Chen Jingzong’s expression. Except for the smell of alcohol, he looked no different from usual. Then she looked at her uncle and cousin, who were also smiling as warmly as jade.

“Uncle, Grandma, we’re going first.”

Hua Yang stood next to Chen Jingzong and said goodbye with a smile.

Marquis Wuqing nodded. Old Madam Qi asked the maids to carry lanterns for her granddaughter with loving eyes.

Hua Yang was a little tired after a day of socializing. Finally she got on the carriage and exhaled softly.

Chen Jingzong then stepped inside and tactfully sat on the other end of the seat.

Hua Yang still couldn’t help but observe him. This night in her previous life had left such a deep impression on her. The drunken Chen Jingzong looked at her as if she was a prey, and might pounce on her and tear her into pieces at any time.

Hua Yang had witnessed her father emperor assaulting a palace maid, and she was also afraid that Chen Jingzong would force her in his drunkard state.

Of course, the relationship between the two of them had become much better in this life. Chen Jingzong, who could indulge himself to the fullest almost every other night, was not as frustrated as before.

Chen Jingzong leaned against the corner of the carriage window, raised his hand and massage his forehead. His two straight eyebrows were also frowned deeply.

Hua Yang: “Drink too much, uncomfortable?”

Chen Jingzong glanced at her, lowered his eyes and said, “Well, I’ve been drinking every day lately, and suddenly I can’t stand it tonight.”

Hua Yang originally wanted to poke at him and say he deserved it, but she remembered that her father-in-law’s grandfather also got into trouble because of drinking, and seeing Chen Jingzong’s rare uncomfortable look, Hua Yang swallowed her words.

There was warm water in the carriage. Hua Yang filled the teacup half full and handed it to him.

Chen Jingzong put one hand on his forehead and took the tea cup with the other, but he was so drunk that he couldn’t get it several times.

Hua Yang had no choice but to sit next to him, hold his shoulder with one hand, and bring the tea cup to his mouth with the other.

Chen Jingzong kept looking at her.

While enduring the smell of alcohol on his body, Hua Yang said coldly: “Whether there is a banquet or not tomorrow, just decline it.”

Chen Jingzong still looked at her.

Hua Yang had never served anyone before, and she was tired of lifting the tea cup, so she urged him to drink it quickly.

Chen Jingzong drank it all in one breath.

When Hua Yang turned around to put the tea cup, Chen Jingzong suddenly hugged her from behind and rubbed against her cloak: “I want to sleep with you tonight.”

Hua Yang:……

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