Eight Treasures Trousseau

13

Chapter Thirteen: Crown Prince

Inside Zhao Yang Hall, some of the idle and less accomplished young males of the Imperial House used what they thought were discreet looks to examine Xian Junwang and his wife but didn't even know that the wine they held in their wine cups had spilled out.

However, the Imperial House never lacked those that were good actors. No matter how shocked they were, how jealous and envious, the majority of people could pick up their composure and wait for the banquet to start after the initial shock.

No matter how many people were paying attention to her, Hua Xi Wan's expression did not change from beginning to end. After greetings to their neighbors, she sat silently beside Yan Jin Qiu as though no one was paying her any attention.

"This wine is called Lotus Immortal Wine. It is fragrant but not harsh. Supposedly, drinking this can increase longevity, protect the appearance, and is most suited to females." Yan Jin Qiu picked up a wine cup and poured some for Hua Xi Wan. The warm smile on his face was enough to dazzle the eyes of many females. "Xi Wan, have a taste."

Hua Xi Wan's eyebrow rose slightly as she said doubtfully, "It is this wondrous?" Then she raised the wine cup and took a small sip. The flavor was very faint, and after swallowing, there was a burst of lotus that was left in her mouth, sweet yet not strong.

"How is it?"

Looking at this face that was just a hand-length away from her, Hua Xi Wan reached out with an index finger and poked him back. She used her handkerchief to wipe the corner of her mouth and lazily said, "Not bad." In her last life in the entertainment circles, while she had not been willing to accept the hidden rules, she had attended many meals and drunk all kinds of alcohol.

To her, wine was just like men. It was normal to like this thing, but if one couldn't live if separated from it, then their life was over.

Seeing Hua Xi Wan's interest in the wine was lacking, Yan Jin Qiu was not demotivated and started to talk about the identities of the people in the hall, as well as the connections between the families. He also took away the wine cup in front of her in a natural movement and exchanged it for a cup of steaming tea.

Hua Xi Wan listened silently. When she heard that Ning Wang had requested to title the son of his second wife as the heir, her eyebrow shifted slightly. If she remembered correctly, the di eldest son had been born to this Ning Wang's original wife. There hadn't been any problems she heard of about his conduct. It was very interesting that the position of heir had been given to the second wife's child.

No wonder the Emperor felt such danger. He had managed to get the throne after such struggle, but all his brothers were still circling around. He had managed to survive until the two most able had died, but their sons were all very able while his own son was not. She really felt sympathy on the Emperor's behalf.

Even though Yan Jin Qiu's words were sparse, Hua Xi Wan still managed to conclude some things from these words. Ning Wang's family was not very good, but the Emperor treated them pretty well. Shen Junwang who was the most popular in court appeared to be treated importantly on the surface, but the Emperor found him a junwang fei born from a prestigious family that was empty on the inside while stating that he was caring for his juniors. The average Crown Prince did not have good relationships with his cousins of the same generation. The only one that frequently followed the Crown Prince was Yan Qian Xun, the heir to Ning Wang who was born of the second wife, and some of the Imperial House members that were wastrels.

The Crown Prince was average and a wastrel and didn't have any other brothers. His male cousins were very outstanding, so this matter wasn't really good to think deeply about.