The guard started wailing, “No, Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This servant knows his mistake! Please don"t chase this servant out of the palace!”
When De Quan heard the wailings of this guard, his expression didn"t change in the slightest. Instead, he spoke unhurriedly, “Enough! There are plenty of people watching. Those who don"t know might think that there is something wrong with your head. If I were you, I would quickly take the money and leave. His Majesty doesn"t wish to leave a bad impression for the esteemed guest and is sparing your life. Why else do you think you"re still alive?”
The guard heard De Quan"s words and immediately stood up to head to the inner affairs department. By the time he emerged, he was wearing commoner robes and was no longer the palace guard he once was.
At the palace gates, De Quan called out the guard and kindly "reminded" him, “I do not wish to criticize you. You have been working at the palace gates for a rather long time but why are you so bad at making judgements? Those people are surrounded by a n.o.ble aura and you actually tried to make a move on them? You cannot blame anyone for losing your job. If you wish to blame something, blame it on your stupidity. Hurry up and leave. Leave before His Majesty changes his mind and executes you. You have to understand that our Emperor is getting increasingly temperamental.”
The guard understood De Quan"s advice and immediately replied, “Many thanks to Chief De Quan"s kind intentions. Please take care of yourself.” The guard quickly left towards his home.
De Quan watched as the guard left and he thought to himself, These people are merely servants. Why do they think that they have the authority to make their own decisions?
“Whatever… at least he doesn"t have to be on his toes all the time.” De Quan muttered softly and immediately returned to the throne room. He had to serve the emperor as guests were present.
Just as De Quan entered the throne room, he immediately heard the emperor"s orders, “De Quan, ignore my previous orders. Hurry up and send a message to Qingfeng to tell him that those people are here. Tell him to hurry up and enter the palace.”
De Quan acknowledged his orders and headed straight to the Second Prince"s residence.
...
“Master, Eunuch De Quan is here and says he has a message from His Majesty.” Pei Qingfeng"s guard reported.
Pei Qingfeng was actually writing something but his hand stopped. After letting out a long sigh, he said to the guard, “Let"s go. Let"s go and meet Emperor Father.”
In fact, Pei Qingfeng already knew what was going on but he didn"t wish to face it.
“Your Second Highness.” When De Quan saw Pei Qingfeng coming out, he immediately bowed to Pei Qingfeng.
Pei Qingfeng greeted, “I wonder why Eunuch De Quan is looking for me?”
De Quan smiled and said, “Your Second Highness, a group of esteemed guests arrived at the palace. From what His Majesty says, those people are here and he requests your immediate appearance.”
Pei Qingfeng"s smile immediately froze as he thought about how the inevitable had arrived. He immediately replied to De Quan, “Since that is the case, I shall follow Eunuch back to the palace. Men, prepare the carriage.”
Just like that, Pei Qingfeng followed De Quan back to the palace.
As soon as Pei Qingfeng took a step into the throne room, he saw a snow-white figure rus.h.i.+ng at him.
“Big Brother Qingfeng! Xian"er is finally able to see you again!” Ling Xian"er plunged into Pei Qingfeng"s embrace.
Pei Qingfeng revealed a doting smile before putting on a straight face to chide Ling Xian"er, “Xian"er, you are already a grown-up young lady! How can you casually jump into another man"s embrace? Has Master been teaching you the wrong things?”
Ling Xian"er replied without shame and hugged Pei Qingfeng even tighter while speaking coquettishly, “I don"t care, I don"t care! Xian"er misses Big Brother Qingfeng too much. Big Brother isn"t an outsider, why can"t I hug you?”
Pei Qingfeng shook his head helplessly and replied, “Alright, let go of me for now. I have to pay my respects to His Majesty. Your Big Brother Qingfeng cannot possibly behave without etiquette just because you are behaving like a wild-child, right?”
In response, Ling Xian"er helplessly let go of her hand and backed off to the side while waiting for Pei Qingfeng to pay his respects to His Majesty.
“This official son pays his respects to Emperor Father. Long live Emperor Father for ten thousand years.” After finis.h.i.+ng his greetings, he turned to bow to the middle-aged man, “Honored Sir, it has been a long time. I trust you have been well.”
That middle-aged man laughed heartily, “Hahaha, Qingfeng is truly an elegant and fine young master. It seems like I"ve embarra.s.sed myself. Xian"er, look at your Big Brother Qingfeng. He is such a well mannered lad. He is the complete opposite of a wild child like you. You"re just embarra.s.sing yourself at this point.”
How could the emperor not notice the middle-aged man"s intent? He immediately brokered a compromise, “Honored Sir can"t be more wrong. It is nothing for a young lady to behave a little willfully. If she is so inflexible, she wouldn"t be a member of your sect. In my opinion, I feel that Xian"er"s personality is just right, lively and sweet. She"s a little bundle of joy.”
“Your Majesty must be joking. This la.s.s loves to pester Young Master Qingfeng. He spoiled her since a young age. She even behaves wantonly in the throne room. I hope for Your Majesty"s forgiveness.”
This unified act made Ling Xian"er and Pei Qingfeng rather uncomfortable.
The Honored Sir looked at Ling Xian"er and Pei Qingfeng before withdrawing his smile. He turned to look at the emperor with a serious expression on his face, “Your Majesty, to be honest, I am here this time to discuss something with you. These children haven"t seen each other for a long time, why don"t we allow them to go out and enjoy themselves while we discuss proper matters. What do you think?”
The emperor was a shrewd person and immediately understood the Honored Sir"s objective. He immediately instructed, “Qingfeng, bring Xian"er out for a tour of the garden. I will stay here with Honored Sir to discuss some proper matters.”
Pei Qingfeng understood they didn"t want him to hear their discussion and he quickly agreed.