"Qingfeng, come on, sit here," Chen Luo said in a familiar tone, waving to Shen Qingfeng.
Shen Qingfeng's face darkened instantly. On the contrary, Xia Yonglin was taken aback. He glanced between the two and said, "It seems that Qingfeng has a good relationship with the Marquis of Southwest?"
"Not at all."
"Of course not."
The two said in unison. Then Shen Qingfeng's face turned even darker, while Chen Luo burst into laughter, which even made Su Huanyu, who was sitting on one side silently drinking tea, turn his head and look at them suspiciously.
Shen Qingfeng said in a cold voice, "Marquis of Southwest, our relationship is not that close. Please show more respect when referring to me."
Hearing this, Chen Luo let out an "Oh?" and looked at Shen Qingfeng teasingly, propping his chin. "Once you marry Lu Yan, you'll be my sister - in - law. This relationship is inevitable."
At the mention of Lu Yan's name, Shen Qingfeng's veins popped out. He took a step forward, ready to confront Chen Luo directly, but was stopped by Xia Yonglin. Xia Yonglin smiled and tried to smooth things over. "If Qingfeng doesn't want to sit here, come with me. Sit next to me, okay?"
Xia Yonglin looked down at Shen Qingfeng's angry yet still picturesque face. His heart fluttered. How could such a peerless beauty fall for a good - for - nothing like Xia Chuli? He felt indignant no matter how he thought about it. Without waiting for Shen Qingfeng to reply, he grabbed Shen Qingfeng's hand and led him away from Chen Luo's table.
"Humph, looking for trouble for no reason," Su Huanyu, who had been sitting on one side observing coldly, suddenly let out a soft snort after Shen Qingfeng was led away by Xia Yonglin.
Chen Luo glanced at him sideways. The smile on his face remained unchanged, but there was a hint of disdain in his tone. "Isn't the Marquis of Dongxiang always reluctant to get involved in such things? Then shut up."
Su Huanyu gave him a cold look. "Boring!"
Shen Qingfeng shook off Xia Yonglin's hand. He tidied his clothes and calmly sat at a place one table away from Xia Yonglin.
Xia Yonglin looked at his hand that had been shaken off. A flash of cruelty passed through his eyes, and then he put on a smile. "Sit wherever you like, Qingfeng. Servants! Serve tea!" As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the main seat.
The banquet began.
It was more of a pastime than a real banquet. After Xia Yonglin gave the order, all kinds of beautiful women filed in. Everyone in the hall stared blankly, almost drooling at the beauties.
"I've heard that the Second Prince has good taste. Now I see that the rumor is true," one of the aristocratic sons sitting on one side said. Shen Qingfeng took a closer look and found that it was Qi Wei, the eldest son of the Qi family.
It made sense. Given Qi Siyu's family status, he couldn't have been invited here.
Everyone echoed, and praises filled the air. After receiving a round of flattery, Xia Yonglin ordered the beauties to go to each attendee's side to serve.
Since there were relatively few people at this banquet, and they were all prominent figures in Lige, they naturally knew about Shen Qingfeng's preference for men. Seeing that Xia Yonglin also sent a beauty to sit beside Shen Qingfeng, everyone had a look of anticipation on their faces, as if they were waiting to watch a show.
It was still Qi Wei who spoke first, full of mockery. He pointed directly at Shen Qingfeng and said, "Your Highness the Second Prince, are you mistaken? Why is there a girl beside Shen Qingfeng? Shouldn't you find a young male prostitute?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall burst into laughter. Shen Qingfeng calmly finished the tea in his cup, gently placed the teacup on the table, looked up coldly at Qi Wei, and said, "Don't worry, Young Master Qi. Although I have a preference for men, everyone has an appreciation for beauty. His Highness the Second Prince has bestowed a beauty to accompany me in drinking. I don't think it's inappropriate."
The laughter in the hall paused for a moment. Everyone was watching their reactions. Xia Yonglin, sitting on the high seat, squinted his eyes and carefully sized up Shen Qingfeng, this cold and beautiful person.
"Humph, you're a homosexual, and you still have the nerve to say it in public? How shameless!" Qi Wei sneered.
Shen Qingfeng didn't care. He grabbed the woman's slender waist and pulled her into his arms, making an ambiguous gesture. He looked at Qi Wei coldly. "So what? I, Shen Qingfeng, act uprightly. Even the person I like must be good - looking. So don't worry, Young Master Qi. With your looks, I don't even give you a second glance."
Hearing this, Qi Wei was instantly furious. He slapped the table and stood up. "What did you say?!"
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Xia Yonglin couldn't just sit back and watch. He spoke up to stop them. "Young Master Qi, you were the one who spoke rudely first. You're in the wrong. Are you going to start a quarrel and disgrace the noble families of Lige in front of the two princes?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Luo sitting on one side said with a smile, "Hey, it's okay. You can just ignore me~"
Qi Wei gritted his teeth unwillingly. "Your Highness the King of Cheng, it's that homosexual..."
"Qi Wei," Xia Yonglin glared at him. Qi Wei suddenly shut up. His Adam's apple rolled, and he turned his head to glare at Shen Qingfeng. The shame, anger, and hatred in his eyes were undisguised.
Shen Qingfeng wasn't afraid of him. After all, Qi Wei was a fool in his previous life. He was useless except relying on his father. He gave Qi Wei a cold look and then calmly drank his tea.
Qi Wei sat down angrily, and the banquet continued. Of course, after Qi Wei's outburst, everyone lost the mood to tease Shen Qingfeng. They all came here to relax. With beauties in their arms and strong liquor, the young masters were all a bit drunk. They fondled the breasts of the women in their arms and released their desires infinitely amidst the charming laughter of the women.
The only ones who remained unmoved were probably Shen Qingfeng and Su Huanyu. They just silently ate the food in front of them, as if the sounds around them didn't exist.
Su Huanyu was naturally frigid, while Shen Qingfeng was not interested in such things. If he had any real interest, it was only the food in front of him. He finished a plate of steamed pork with rice flour and then waved to the maid to bring him a new one.
Xia Yonglin lifted his head from the fair skin of the beauty in his arms. He stared at Shen Qingfeng's handsome side face for a while. Suddenly, his Adam's apple rolled. He tightened his grip on the woman in his arms, making her cry out in pain.
He felt jealous.
Such a beautiful person like Shen Qingfeng was blind enough to like Xia Chuli, that good - for - nothing!
For a moment, he really wanted to possess Shen Qingfeng, both mentally and physically.
Although he knew in his heart that he couldn't do anything to Shen Qingfeng today. After all, Shen Qingfeng was his guest. If something happened, it would be hard to explain to Shen Shiqiu and the king.
But the alcohol fanned the flames of Xia Yonglin's suppressed desires. As the saying goes, alcohol leads to mistakes. His eyes darkened. He waved to a maid beside him. When the maid got closer, he whispered something in her ear, and then the maid retreated.
Xia Yonglin turned his head to look at Shen Qingfeng sitting below the steps. His eyes were filled with blatant desire.
"Mr. Shen, it's time to refill your wine," the maid said, holding a new bottle of wine. She knelt down beside Shen Qingfeng's table and replaced the empty bottle on the table.
Shen Qingfeng had a good capacity for alcohol and was naturally not afraid of drinking. Moreover, the wine in the King of Cheng's mansion was of high quality. He had just started to enjoy the previous bottle, so when he saw the maid coming to refill the wine, his eyes lit up. "Thank you."
After another cup of tea's time, the temperature in the hall seemed to rise a bit. Shen Qingfeng propped his head up with one hand, and his eyelids were starting to droop.
The flirting sounds between men and women filled his ears, which made him a bit irritable. He didn't know if it was because it was a bit stuffy in the room, but his body suddenly felt strange.
It was time to go back. Shen Qingfeng thought. He put down his wine cup and was about to turn to Xia Yonglin to bid farewell when he saw the obvious look of desire in Xia Yonglin's eyes that he hadn't had time to hide.
Shen Qingfeng was dazed for a moment. When he blinked and looked again, he saw Xia Yonglin looking at the beauty in his arms and kissing her fiercely.
Did he see wrongly?
Shen Qingfeng shook his a bit muddled head and bowed to Xia Yonglin beside him. "Your Highness the Second Prince, I'm not feeling well. I'll take my leave now. I'm sorry to have bothered you today. I'll invite you for another gathering some other day."
"Are you leaving already?" Xia Yonglin's voice was a bit hoarse.
Shen Qingfeng only felt the heat all over his body was unbearable. He said, "Yes, I'll take my leave."
He propped himself up on the table and stood up with the help of the beauty beside him. Just as he was about to leave, he felt his knees go weak, and he fell backward.
The expected pain didn't come. Instead, he fell into someone's arms.
"Be careful," Xia Yonglin's voice sounded above his head, which startled Shen Qingfeng and made him instantly sober up.
"I'm fine, Your Highness the Second Prince. Let go of me," Shen Qingfeng struggled.
"You call this fine?" Xia Yonglin seemed to get closer. "Are you drunk?"
"I'm not drunk..." The heat in his body was getting stronger. Shen Qingfeng then noticed something was wrong. He had a constitution that was hard to get drunk. Although he had drunk a bit more today, the amount was far from enough to get him drunk. Could it be - there was something wrong with the wine?!
This Xia Yonglin was really crazy! Even in such an occasion, he still had lecherous thoughts! Cold sweat broke out on Shen Qingfeng's forehead. He gritted his teeth and endured the heat all over his body, struggling more and more violently.
At this moment, the door was suddenly kicked open by someone. A cold wind rushed in, making Shen Qingfeng shiver.
"Bang!" Shen Qingfeng looked up and saw Lu Yan standing at the door, covered in snow and facing away from the moonlight, with a gloomy face.