The Captivating Crown Prince

(22) Special Birthday Commemoration

In the center of the Great Hall, palace girls swathed in dancing robes were immersed in performing a meticulous dance, but alas, there’d always be a few restless dancers who would repeatedly send flirtatious winks towards the sons of the palace officials. The three most handsome men in the Great Hall were met with no exceptions.

Shang Wuxin wore a smile on her lips as she watched the coquettish dancers, but who knew what she was laughing at? One could suggest that maybe a dancer had caught the crown prince’s eye, but that didn’t seem right. A majority of the onlookers agreed that compared to His Majesty’s, the crown prince’s thoughts were much harder to surmise.

Leng Yu Feng did not spare a single glance for the dancers and instead focused solely on drinking the wine in front of him on the table. To him, women weren’t even as appeasing as good wine. If it weren’t for the event being His Majesty’s birthday commemoration, Leng Yu Feng would’ve thrown the dancers out already.

Huan Mo Che took in the Hall’s scenery with a warm and mild gaze, but he didn’t look at the dancers. The looks they cast him were openly ignored. He suddenly felt that no matter how beautiful these women appeared, they were only soiling his eyes, for they could not compare to the crown prince.

With the dance performance, the Hall’s ambiance improved significantly, inducing a much more harmonious atmosphere. Earlier, because of Consort Xin, the atmosphere had turned cold, but now it was becoming lively again. It was, after all, His Majesty’s birthday, so why wouldn’t everyone wear a joyous expression?

Fuhuang, erchen wishes fuhuang boundless longevity and good health!” Eldest Prince Shang Cheng Zhao knelt down respectfully and held up a landscape painting that he’d personally painted. The painting itself was not particularly striking, but its eminence was in the fact that he’d painted it with his own hands.

“En, Eldest Prince’s efforts are indeed genuine!” Emperor Shang was quite satisfied with the gift and gestured for Eunuch Xu to stow it away.

Emperor Shang never called his children by their given names, and numerous ministers were aware that he treated each prince with equal favor. This gave rise to several divisions of power and influence within the imperial court, and the great emperor himself also carried some influence.

“Fuhuang, erchen sincerely wishes fuhuang an auspicious life and good health!” Second Prince Shang Lan Hai said ceremoniously. His body was clad in a cyan robe lined with gold. As he spoke, he offered a lotus flower that he’d exerted great effort to find. The colors violet and blue coincided on its petals, making the lotus truly a wondrous and beautiful sight to behold.

The second prince was Consort Ning’s son. In the palace, Consort Ning was known to be a placid consort who didn’t fight nor vy for the emperor’s attention. She retained her tranquil nature in both the past and the present, so there were scarcely any consorts who held enmity towards her. Furthermore, she devoted herself to Buddha, so she spent most of her time secluded inside the palace fo tang. Consort Ning had 2 children: Second Prince Shang Lan Hai and Third Princess Shang Zhou Mo.

Emperor Shang studied the phenomenal lotus and pleasantly nodded his head. Many knew that today, the second prince seemed to have garnered the most satisfaction from His Majesty.

“Fuhuang, erchen sincerely wishes fuhuang longevity parallel to the Southern Mountains and happiness as immense as the Eastern Sea!” Third Prince Shang Cheng Yin congratulated. His gift was a statue sculpted from fine jade. Just one glance at its luster was enough to confirm its exceptional value. Originally, the third prince had believed that today, he would definitely be able to curry favor from fuhuang, but with the interference of his mufei’s blunders, Third Prince Shang Cheng Yin was afraid that regardless of what type of gift he gave, fuhuang would not regard him as anything special.