Wen Qianyue propped her chin up, utterly bored. Thinking of her daughter far away in the capital city, a sense of melancholy welled up inside her.
"Which noble family does this young lady belong to? I've never seen you before," asked the girl sitting beside Meng Ruxue.
She was Meng Ruxue's bosom friend and they were extremely close.
Wen Qianyue really didn't want to socialize with these young people. "I'm an elder of Xie Yunxiao."
"An elder of the young prince of Huainan?" The girl raised her voice, looking at Meng Ruxue in surprise.
Meng Ruxue didn't say a word, just shook her head gently. But there was a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
"Oh no! Oh no!"
Maybe the King of Ling had done too many despicable things and even the heavens couldn't stand it anymore. Today's wedding banquet had been constantly interrupted.
The King of Ling's face was as black as coal. He had clearly reached the limit of his patience and gritted his teeth. "Speak!"
"Some tough guys came to the palace demanding payment of debts. They said... they said that..." The servant stammered and looked in the direction of Xie Yunxiao.
Xie Yunxiao blinked his eyes in confusion.
Wen Qianyue had a bad feeling in her heart.
The King of Ling roared, "Speak quickly!"
Damn it! All he wanted was to celebrate the joy of having a son in his old age. Was it really that difficult?
Why did everyone keep causing trouble for him!
"They said that the young prince of Huainan owed them silver and they were here to demand payment..."
The King of Ling was speechless with rage. "They want money from Xie Yunxiao. Why are they causing a ruckus in my palace?"
Everyone present turned their heads in unison, as if they had received special training.
Stared at by so many pairs of eyes, Xie Yunxiao calmly picked up his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, clearly not taking it seriously.
The King of Ling glared at him fiercely, irritated by his attitude. "Xie Yunxiao, the trouble you've caused has even reached my palace. This is really unacceptable."
"If my royal sister were still alive, I'm afraid she would have been so angry that she'd be dead many times over."
Wen Qianyue: "..."
Without a doubt, this was definitely aimed at Xie Yunxiao.
Wen Qianyue couldn't help but feel worried.
"This young prince is really out of line. He's always gambling and indulging in pleasure. He even lets creditors chase him to someone else's palace."
"In my opinion, since Xie Yunxiao has no parents, it's inevitable that he grew up to be such a lawless person without proper discipline."
"Princess Changning and General Xie were such outstanding people. How could their son turn out like this? It's really..."
Everyone was talking about it. Wen Qianyue found it rather amusing to hear them speaking up for her.
Xie Yunxiao's face was gloomy, but he showed no intention of explaining.
"He's even getting angry. He's ruined this wonderful banquet, but he doesn't seem to feel the slightest bit of guilt. He's really thick-skinned!" someone whispered.
"Xie Yunxiao, what are you doing in my palace?" The King of Ling stood up dissatisfied. "Fine, bring those people in. I'd like to see how much silver you owe and why they've come to my door."
Wen Qianyue saw that Xie Yunxiao was about to lose his temper, but for some reason, he managed to hold it back.
He clenched his fingers, stood up, and apologized to the King of Ling. "It's my fault today. I've ruined your happy occasion. I'm here to apologize. Just let them go to the prince's mansion to get the money. There's no need to trouble you, Your Highness."
Wen Qianyue roughly guessed who could make Xie Yunxiao endure the injustice and willingly take the blame.
"If you could solve this problem, would I need to worry about it? I'm your elder after all. I can't just let you do whatever you want," the King of Ling said unhappily. "Bring those people in."
Soon, a group of people were brought in by the guards.
The leader of the group obviously hadn't seen such a grand occasion before. He forced himself to speak.
"I've come to pay my respects to Your Highness and all the noble guests," he said. After that, the gambling house steward saw Xie Yunxiao at the table and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Young Prince! You've made it so hard for me to find you," he said with a bitter face. "I'm just running a small business to make a living. I really can't afford to wait any longer. If I had any other choice, I wouldn't have come to your palace."
"I know you're not short of money. Please be kind and pay off these debts," he said, taking out a stack of promissory notes from his bosom and respectfully handing them to Xie Yunxiao.
His eyes were just like a mouse seeing rice.
Some people sitting nearby saw the content on the promissory notes and couldn't help but gasp.
Oh my god! So much money!
Xie Yunxiao glanced at them. Just as he was about to dismiss the people as usual, he was interrupted by another voice.
"I think you guys are deliberately trying to extort money from the young prince of Huainan, aren't you?" she said with a smile.
Wen Qianyue felt that almost all eyes had turned to her.
The gambling house steward immediately got angry and glared at her. "What are you talking about, little girl? It's only natural to pay back debts. Even the emperor can't avoid this principle, right?"
After saying that, he knelt on the ground directly. His voice was full of grief. "Please, Your Highness, make the decision for me!"
"The prince who breaks the law shall be punished the same as the common people. You should solve the problems you've caused by yourself. Although I'm your uncle, I will never show favoritism to anyone."
Just as Xie Yunxiao was about to stand up, Wen Qianyue pressed him down with one hand. "Your Highness hasn't investigated clearly yet. How can you make a hasty conclusion?"
She really thought that Xie Yunxiao was a big fool, the kind who would count money for someone even after being sold.
The King of Ling said unhappily, "They've come to the door. Can it be fake?"
"But I just noticed that the name signed on it doesn't seem to be the young prince of Huainan's," Wen Qianyue pretended to be confused.
"What?" The King of Ling frowned tightly.
"Oh," Wen Qianyue pretended to be surprised. "Could it be that you guys saw that the prince of Huainan is rich and easy to deceive, so you deliberately brought someone else's promissory notes to demand payment?"
Even so, she didn't forget to tease Xie Yunxiao.
Xie Yunxiao: "..." This doesn't sound right.
The troublemaker's face clearly showed a hint of nervousness.
At first, everyone present didn't believe this, but seeing the strange reaction of the people below, they really began to suspect.
The gambling house steward became even more panicked. Remembering the instructions from his superior, he had to brace himself and continue. "I'm just trying to make a living. If it were a small amount of money, I would just consider it a tribute to the prince. But this time, the amount is really too large. If the prince doesn't pay back, I'm afraid I'll really have to sell my children and mother!"
"I beg the prince to have mercy on me," he said, kneeling down and kowtowing several times. The sound of his skull hitting the ground was muffled.
Wen Qianyue was a bit speechless.
Was it really the case that the more pitiful someone was, the more reasonable they were?
This was obviously a show of misery, but these people actually believed it.
"Xie Yunxiao, explain this clearly to me," the King of Ling was confused, but it didn't stop him from getting angry.
Wen Qianyue noticed the hesitation in Xie Yunxiao's eyes and secretly looked in the direction of Meng Ruxue.
Under everyone's gaze, Xie Yunxiao finally looked up. "That promissory note is really not..."
Suddenly, a voice interrupted Xie Yunxiao's next words. Wen Qianyue didn't even need to look to know who made the noise.
"Miss Meng, are you okay?"
Sure enough.
Meng Ruxue's smiling face just now instantly turned as pale as a silk handkerchief. Cold sweat rolled down her temples, but it couldn't hide the sickly blush on her cheeks. She curled up and bent down, her fingers clutching her chest as if her breathing was restricted. There was even a mist of pain in the corners of her eyes.
Wen Qianyue could easily guess what would happen next, even with her toes.