The incident came so suddenly that the entire Mountain and River Hall was filled with an undercurrent. Everyone's gazes were fixed on Shen Qingfeng. But Shen Qingfeng stood like a rock, rigidly maintaining his original posture, with a rebellious look in his eyes as he blatantly stared at the most noble person in Lixia.
"Feng'er..." Further away, Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu, who were sitting at a long table, exchanged a glance. Complex expressions flashed in their eyes.
Beside Shen Qingfeng, Lu Yan looked at Shen Qingfeng's side profile. A heart - wrenching pain welled up in his throat. He had to clench his fists tightly to suppress the sobs.
He felt a sharp pain in his palm. The wound carefully bandaged by Shen Qingfeng seemed to ooze a bit of blood again.
King Xia Jie looked at Shen Qingfeng with a gloomy face. Instead of sitting upright, he leaned casually on the dragon throne. His strong eyebrows twitched slightly, and a dangerous look flashed in his eyes. "What's wrong with Young Master Shen? Could it be that the kneeling in the snow has made you so weak that you can't even hold a cup steadily?"
Shen Qingfeng remained silent. His pale face slowly turned back. Looking at the jade bowl that had shattered into pieces in front of him, he said softly, "I'm weak. I didn't hold it steady."
King Xia Jie snorted and continued to poke at Shen Qingfeng's sore spot. "It was very cold in the snow. Did you get proper treatment when you got back? Don't leave any lingering ailments."
Shen Qingfeng pursed his lips. He lowered his head, and the bangs in front of his forehead covered his eyes. He didn't seem to want to answer King Xia Jie's question. He just stared silently at the table in front of him, and his body began to tremble slightly.
Seeing that Shen Qingfeng didn't say a word, the grand eunuch Chen Qi beside him spoke up. "Young Master Shen has quite a temper. The King is asking you a question, yet you dare not answer? Could it be that the kneeling has caused you a hidden ear - ringing ailment?"
As an eunuch, such arrogant words were spoken to the son of a court official, which showed how powerful this despicable eunuch party was in the court. And King Xia Jie seemed quite satisfied with Chen Qi's words. He even propped his head on the dragon throne, waiting for Shen Qingfeng's response.
But Shen Qingfeng still pursed his lips and remained silent, like a stone statue.
"Shen Qingfeng!" Chen Qi said in a fit of anger. "The King is asking you a question!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Seeing this, Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu quickly stood up and walked to the center. Father and son knelt down and kowtowed to King Xia Jie. Shen Shiqiu quickly said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. My son has been used to being unruly since childhood. It's my fault for not teaching him well. I hope Your Majesty will show mercy and forgive my son this time!"
"..." Shen Qingfeng lowered his head and listened to his father's plea not far away. He gritted his teeth tightly, and his body trembled even more violently.
"Qingfeng..." Even Xia Chuli cast a concerned look. He stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to grab Shen Qingfeng's sleeve. But since the eyes of all the civil and military officials were focused here, his hand only reached halfway before hesitatingly retracting.
"Shen Qingfeng, you're sitting quite comfortably. Hurry up and plead for forgiveness!" Chen Qi's shrill voice came again. On the dragon throne, King Xia Jie's smile grew wider, and whispers from the officials filled the air.
"They all said that Shen Qingfeng knelt in the snow all night to reject the marriage. I didn't expect it to be true."
"So what? He even caused a ruckus in the Mountain and River Hall during the court session. Everyone knows about it!"
"He has shamed the Shen family!"
"Not only the Shen family. This time, even the dignity of Lixia has been completely lost!"
The scolding around grew louder and louder. But King Xia Jie seemed to be watching a show. He completely ignored Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu, who were kneeling with their heads bowed in the main hall. Instead, he looked at Shen Qingfeng, who had his head down, leisurely.
"Qingfeng, Qingfeng." Seeing that the scolding around was getting more and more outrageous, Xia Chuli didn't care about anything else. He reached out and pulled Shen Qingfeng's sleeve, shaking it. "Say something quickly."
The noise grew louder. Lu Yan felt dizzy. In a daze, he seemed to feel a pair of hands quickly tearing his heart apart, and then piecing it back together into a broken shape. Pointing at the fragmented pieces, they mocked, "Look, this is your true heart."
He should have known earlier. Lu Yan smiled self - deprecatingly. When King Xia Jie asked him if he was willing, he shouldn't have had the slightest bit of luck. If he had refused at that time, it would have been better than being here today, in front of everyone, accepting the outcome that he had long expected but never wanted to believe.
"Shen Qingfeng, what a scumbag!" Someone cursed.
Lu Yan's nerves instantly tightened. He loved Shen Qingfeng. So what if he was rejected? It would just mean going back to his previous state. He could let him go, could fulfill him. He could watch him quietly from the side and protect him secretly. But he would never allow anyone to hurt him, nor would he allow anyone to slander him behind his back!
Lu Yan's muscles suddenly bulged. He raised his eyes and looked at the guy who had cursed. A fierce look flashed in his eyes. He just wanted to stand up and tear his mouth apart in public!
But just before Lu Yan could stand up, unexpectedly, Shen Qingfeng stood up. His cheeks were still as pale as snow, and his weak and thin body seemed as if it would fall at the slightest breeze. He slowly walked to the center, knelt down and kowtowed to King Xia Jie, who was sitting high on the dragon throne. In a trembling voice, he said, "I accidentally didn't hold it steady. I didn't mean to offend Your Majesty. Please... forgive me, Your Majesty."
The Mountain and River Hall fell silent again. Everyone was waiting for King Xia Jie's decision.
How would King Xia Jie deal with such an offensive incident?
Would he be thrown into the dungeon or flogged fifty times?
Unexpectedly, although King Xia Jie had a gloomy face, he was actually very happy. How could he punish Shen Qingfeng? If he threw him into the dungeon or directly disabled him, who would play the good show later?
But the others didn't know this. They only saw King Xia Jie putting on an image of a magnanimous emperor. He smiled and said, "Since it was just a matter of not holding it steady, it's understandable. We can't blame Young Master Shen for this."
The three members of the Shen family all knelt down and shouted, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" After Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu thanked the king, they both heaved a sigh of relief.
King Xia Jie slowly stood up and said loudly, "Since it was just a misunderstanding, Minister Shen and Young Master Shen, please return to your seats quickly. The banquet continues."
It was like a stone suddenly falling into a pond. After this rippling episode, the banquet started again. For a moment, the scene of the emperor celebrating with all the officials was widely talked about. People toasted each other, and the singing and dancing filled the air, presenting a scene of a good king and loyal ministers.
Since King Xia Jie had spoken, the marriage contract was almost a certainty. For a moment, many people came to toast Lu Yan, Shen Qingfeng, Xia Chuli, and Qi Shuhuan, the head of the Qi family. In front of Lu Yan and Shen Qingfeng, although there were some who didn't know the situation and came to flatter, most of them came under the pretext of toasting to watch the joke.
Lu Yan, who was usually self - disciplined, seemed to have opened the floodgates this time. He accepted all the toasts. Often, before the other person could finish speaking, he would raise his head and drink the wine in the cup. Of course, some people also came to toast Shen Qingfeng, but Lu Yan seemed to be drowning in the wine. Most of the wine intended for Shen Qingfeng was intercepted by him on the way and swallowed.
Shen Qingfeng looked at Lu Yan beside him, who was obviously drowning his sorrows in wine. A complex look flashed in his eyes. But Lu Yan seemed to be afraid of something. From beginning to end, he never looked at Shen Qingfeng, not even a glance.
On the other side, because Xia Chuli had been bestowed a marriage, and the person was from the queen's family, this prince, who was usually like a transparent person, received a lot of attention. There were also many people coming to curry favor with him. For a moment, he even began to handle the socializing clumsily and had no time to care about Shen Qingfeng.
Shen Qingfeng suddenly became the most idle one.
Right. Who would want to toast a "homosexual" who had made a fool of himself?
Shen Qingfeng looked at the wine that he had poured a long time ago but hadn't tasted a single sip. A bitter feeling welled up in his heart. He raised the cup and was about to drink.
Unexpectedly, a hand suddenly reached out, snatched the cup in mid - air, and then drank it all in one gulp.
Shen Qingfeng was startled. He looked at Lu Yan, who burped after drinking the wine, and frowned. "If you drink like this, you'll get drunk."
Lu Yan didn't seem to expect Shen Qingfeng to talk to him. He was stunned for a long time. Maybe it was because of the alcohol or something else, but his eyes were red. He slowly turned his head, looking at Shen Qingfeng with a drunken and gentle gaze for a long time. Suddenly, he let out a bitter smile and murmured almost to himself, "It's good to be drunk."