AMLFS Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Hongmen Banquet

The ginger soup was passed over through warm lips, and Song Huaixi swallowed it before he could react.

A faint spiciness lingered between his lips and teeth, and he reached out to support Zhao Fangye’s shoulders, lowering his head to kiss him.

Song Huaixi’s eyes were dazed, his waist so weak he could barely stand.

He naturally sat on Zhao Fangye’s lap, his waist instantly imprisoned by a large hand. In his hazy state, Zhao Fangye fed him an entire bowl of ginger soup.

After a long while, Zhao Fangye released his lips and kissed him on the forehead.

Song Huaixi was still in a daze, wrapping his arms around Zhao Fangye’s neck and reaching up.

As if not yet satisfied.

This time, Zhao Fangye didn’t stop him, letting him affectionately touch his lips, embracing his waist and enjoying the tenderness.

Some things, once started, are hard to end, just like his feelings for Song Huaixi.

Having tasted the sweetness, he craved more.

After indulging for a good while, Song Huaixi finally stopped. He leaned on Zhao Fangye’s shoulder, playing with his slender fingers.

Song Huaixi was naturally slow-witted and didn’t think there was anything wrong with this behavior.

For him, it was just following his heart, but in Zhao Fangye’s eyes, it was blatant teasing.

Restraining the emotions in his heart, Zhao Fangye intertwined his fingers with Song Huaixi’s, placing his head on the crown of Song Huaixi’s head: “I haven’t seen you come to the study to write these past few days. What have you been doing?”

Recently, Zhao Fangye had been busy with affairs and was usually in the study.

Song Huaixi, who used to cling to him, hadn’t been coming around much these days.

“Reading picture books and playing with Little Wolf.”

Song Huaixi leaned in his arms and complained in a delicate voice, “The study is so cold. Every time I go to write, my hands get so cold they hurt.”

He hated the cold the most, that stinging feeling made him very uncomfortable.

Zhao Fangye was used to the Northwest, so the cold in the capital was nothing to him.

Therefore, there wasn’t much charcoal burning in the study.

Song Huaixi was different, he was afraid of the cold. His limbs were always ice-cold in the winter. He couldn’t stand any cold, so he preferred to stay in the warm and cozy bedchamber where the ground dragon was burning brightly.

Listening to his complaints, Zhao Fangye’s voice was filled with doting: “Huaixi is afraid of the cold, how about I order people to add more stoves? Do you want to come?”

“Yes, I want to come!”

Song Huaixi immediately agreed. If the study wasn’t so cold, he would have liked to stay with Zhao Fangye as well.

As they were talking, Butler Wang requested outside the door, “Your Highness, there’s an imperial decree from the palace.”

Hearing it was from the palace, Zhao Fangye’s good mood vanished.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he said to the outside, “Enter.”

Butler Wang walked into the room and was secretly pleased to see the two embracing each other.

Calming his emotions, he then said, “The palace has issued an imperial decree, ordering you and the Princess Consort to attend the New Year’s Eve palace banquet tomorrow.”

“Understood,” Zhao Fangye said, his eyebrows showing coldness.

After hearing their conversation, Song Huaixi yearned for the palace banquet: “Are we going to a banquet? Sounds like fun!”

He had never been to a banquet before, usually only his father could attend.

Poking his little head, Zhao Fangye said in a flat voice, “Who was it that said they didn’t like the palace after returning from there last time? Have you forgotten so quickly?”

His reminder immediately shattered Song Huaixi’s rising expectations. He was still a little scared from his last experience. There were so many bad people in the palace, he didn’t like it.

So he lay limply in his arms and said in a muffled voice, “Then I don’t want to go.”

“If you don’t want to go, then we won’t go.”

Zhao Fangye didn’t care.

He would definitely not let go of what he did to the Crown Prince that night. Plus, he was still under house arrest. For the Emperor to call him to the palace banquet at this time was surely to find fault with him.

A Hongmen Banquet, it was good that Song Huaixi wasn’t going.

There were too many dirty things in the palace, and he didn’t want Song Huaixi’s clean eyes to see them.

Early the next morning, Zhao Fangye got up to prepare to attend the palace banquet.

Song Huaixi was still fast asleep in bed. Sensing the emptiness beside him, he muttered a few words in his sleep. His little face was flushed red from sleep, making people’s hearts soften. Zhao Fangye reached out to tuck the quilt in for him, put on his court clothes, and turned to leave the courtyard.

He sat in the carriage, preparing to head to the palace.

Suddenly, he was stopped by Zhang, the nanny, who rushed over from the residence.

Song Huaixi ran out in a panic, following behind, and stood by the carriage: “Zhao Fangye! I want to go too!”

“What are you going for?” Lifting the curtain and seeing that he was already dressed neatly, Zhao Fangye asked with confusion in his eyes, “What? Changed your mind?”

Without saying much, Song Huaixi got into the carriage with the support of Deputy General Sun.

Climbing into the carriage, Song Huaixi hugged Zhao Fangye’s arm and sat down.

He thought of what the nanny had told him.

He must not embarrass Zhao Fangye.

He originally didn’t plan to attend, but Nanny Zhang said that if he didn’t go, those bad people would use it as an excuse to bully Zhao Fangye.

He, his parents, and his brother might also be bullied.

Thinking of this, he would go even if he was afraid of the palace.

He wanted to protect Zhao Fangye, to protect his parents and his brother.

Not knowing what he was thinking, Zhao Fangye thought he was just being playful. He had never seen a banquet before, so he wanted to go along. He let him be.

The carriage soon arrived at the palace gate.

Various carriages were parked at the palace gate, and many officials were bringing their families into the palace for the banquet.

The especially luxurious carriage of the Ning Wang Mansion slowly stopped at the palace gate, instantly attracting everyone’s attention.

Their eyes were filled with curiosity.

After all, Zhao Fangye’s strength was not to be underestimated with the Chancellor’s support, and he also had military power in his hands. He was an equal match for the Crown Prince in the competition for the heir apparent.

He even subtly overshadowed the Crown Prince.

Now that the Crown Prince was licentious and immoral, they also wanted to see what Zhao Fangye’s attitude towards the Crown Prince was.

However, he had only returned to the capital for a few days before being given a male wife and then, for no reason, absenting himself from court and being placed under house arrest.

Now that Prince Zhao was attending the banquet, everyone was even more curious.

Zhao Fangye got out of the carriage first, then reached out to the carriage and helped Song Huaixi down.

The moment Song Huaixi got out of the carriage, the eyes of the crowd scrutinized him even more freely.

“Why are they looking at us…”

Noticing the gazes around him, Song Huaixi felt inexplicably uneasy and timidly hid behind Zhao Fangye.

Reaching out to put his arm around his shoulders to comfort him, Zhao Fangye’s sharp eyes coldly swept around at the people who were observing him.

Everyone immediately turned their heads and withdrew their gazes.

“Don’t mind them, just follow me.” He took his hand and walked into the palace gate.

After being taken to the banquet and seated, Song Huaixi was immediately attracted by the food in front of him.

He swallowed his saliva and couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Noticing his subtle actions, Zhao Fangye couldn’t help but curl his lips.

What a little glutton.

He bent his finger and stroked the tip of his nose: “Eat. Don’t worry about anything.”

“Really?” Song Huaixi leaned closer to his ear and whispered, “Will it cause you trouble?”

Nanny had repeatedly told him before leaving that he must not cause Zhao Fangye any trouble.

Hearing this, Zhao Fangye chuckled softly: “No matter how much trouble you cause, I can handle it. Besides, it’s just eating a pastry.”

Hearing him say this, Song Huaixi was completely relieved and focused on eating the pastries in front of him. His cheeks were bulging like a little mouse.

When he tasted something delicious, Song Huaixi would take a piece and feed it to Zhao Fangye.

Not caring at all that it was in public.

However, Zhao Fangye didn’t pay any attention to their scrutiny, opening his lips to accept the food Song Huaixi offered.

The ministers in the hall were a bit puzzled by their interaction. Logically speaking, shouldn’t they have a different attitude after being given a male wife?

But looking at the way Prince Zhao was acting, he seemed to dote on this male consort quite a bit.

Sitting in the upper seat, a venomous look flashed in the Crown Prince’s eyes. Although he was drunk that day, he remembered Zhao Fangye’s face very clearly.

Clenching the wrist that Zhao Fangye had stepped on, which still throbbed with pain, Zhao Jingshuo watched the two of them, anger burning in his chest.

He would definitely not let this go.

So what if he had military power in his hands and was so arrogant? Just wait and see today.