The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

32

After everyone had been seated, Emperor An Qing finally arrived.

Emperor An Qing was a portly man in his forties. He had fair skin and bore a long '八' shaped beard. The moment he arrived, the crowd immediately stood up and saluted. Emperor An Qing then waved his hand and motioned for them to sit and commenced the start of the banquet.

The eunuch loudly announced for the banquet to begin. The music became lively as the Palace servants formed a line while serving the guests their food. In the center of the hall, a bevy of dancers wearing thin veils over their faces bowed to the emperor before starting their performance.

Emperor An Qing's interest was piqued. He leaned on the table and tapped along to the music.

An Chang Qing was not amused by the singing and dancing. Instead, he continued to pour wine for himself, one cup after another. The snow plum wine was mild and not too spicy, leaving a warm and soothing aftertaste. An Chang Qing was very much fond of it but after six drinks, Xiao Zhige took his cup away.

Xiao Zhige then picked up a piece of beef cooked with orange peel and placed it in his bowl. In an indisputable tone, he said, "Don't just keep drinking, eat something to line your stomach first."

An Chang Qing eyed the wine pot that was now placed far away from him with reluctance but still obediently ate his food. Seeing that Xiao Zhige had not moved his chopsticks, An Chang Qing served him a piece of jade-green cucumber to return the favor. He smiled smugly and said, "Wangye should eat as well."

"..." Xiao Zhige stared at the cucumber in his bowl, this was something that he did not like to eat. As An Chang Qing was still smiling like a little fox, he knew that this was revenge for taking away his wine. Xiao Zhige smiled helplessly and picked up the piece of cucumber to eat.

Their interactions had caught the Emperor's eyes. He squinted at An Chang Qing and said, "Why is the second son squeezed into one table with Wangfei?"

Before they could answer, they heard the Crown Prince laugh and say, "Father doesn't know this but Wangfei was originally arranged to be seated with the women. It's just that second brother was reluctant to part his side and had then brought him here."

"Oh?" Emperor An Qing smirked as he looked at Xiao Zhige and An Chang Qing, "If you want to sit together, so be it, but..." His tone suddenly changed, "I've heard that Wangfei had been quite daring lately. Didn't you purchase a vast amount of winter clothes and coal? That must've cost a lot, hasn't it? You're hoarding all these items when the winter is almost over. Zhige, no matter how much you want to pamper your Wangfei, there should be a limit..."

The Emperor's smile had now faded. The people present could all tell that he was clearly taunting the tiger and taking the chance to find fault with the Northern Warlord.

It had to be said that among the three princes, the wealthiest one was undoubtedly Xiao Zhige.

From the time Xiao Zhige left the Palace, he had opened many stores and over the years, they had generated a lot of profit. But this was just a trivial amount, after all, which prince did not have businesses under their name?

Xiao Zhige's most profitable venture was the iron mine in Yanzhou.

Yanzhou was situated along the border of the Northern Desert. It had barren lands and was constantly invaded by the Beidi people, making the province incredibly poor. By some stroke of luck, the Northern Warlord happened to locate an iron mine in Yanzhou. There were currently three iron mines within the whole of Da Ye, now that another was found, Emperor An Qing was naturally overjoyed.

Emperor An Qing had led a life of pleasure and extravagance but the national treasury had been depleting fast year by year. Therefore, he had had his own intentions for the newly discovered iron mine.