After leaving the imperial garden, Helian Qi headed straight for the Chengan Palace. As soon as he reached the palace gate, he heard the eunuch at the gate report, "The Prince of Nanping is back. He's waiting for Your Majesty inside the palace."
Upon hearing this news, Helian Qi's face instantly lit up with joy. Unable to contain his excitement, he pushed open the palace gate.
Once inside, he lifted the beaded curtain that blurred the view and saw a man standing still in the inner palace, looking at the portrait hanging on the wall. The man was dressed in official robes, holding his official hat in his hand. His back looked incredibly imposing, and the portrait he was looking at was that of their father.
The man turned around and saw Helian Qi behind him. Immediately, he bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Helian Qi quickly walked over and helped him stand upright. With uncontrollable excitement on his face, he said, "My dear brother, you're finally back!"
The man was Helian Rong, the Prince of Nanping and the younger brother of the current emperor. Now, there were only the two of them in the royal family. As the emperor, Helian Qi handled state affairs in the palace, while Helian Rong had been extremely skilled in martial arts since childhood. After the founding of the country, he had left the palace to fight in the east and west, expanding the territory of the Dongsheng Kingdom. He rarely had the chance to return to the palace.
This time, the neighboring Southern Kingdom had repeatedly disturbed the border of the Dongsheng Kingdom. Helian Rong had gone there to suppress the rebellion while ill. It had been more than three months since he left.
"It's good that you're back safely!" Helian Qi said, patting his brother's shoulder excitedly.
"Your Majesty, this time your humble brother went to the border to suppress the rebellion of the Southern Kingdom. After three months and ten days, all the remaining forces of the Southern Kingdom at our border have been eliminated. That's why the army has returned in triumph."
Helian Rong stated his achievements word by word.
"Good! This time when you return to the palace, you must stay with me for a while and fight side by side with me in court. There will be a victory banquet for you tonight. We won't stop until we're drunk!" Helian Qi said.
...
Soon, the happy news of Helian Rong's triumphant return from the border spread throughout the palace and the outside world.
People outside the palace were saying that General Helian was peerless and a hero in the world. Courtiers were also constantly praising General Helian for being the emperor's strong right - hand man.
The most excited were the concubines in the harem. Half of the palace maids, from the middle - aged ones to the twelve - or thirteen - year - old little ones, wanted to see this legendary general. Some palace maids even boasted that they wanted to spend a night of passion with the general at tonight's victory banquet...
The news in the harem spread so fast that even Dongfang Yi, who never bothered about external affairs, was forced to know about it. She also heard about this General Helian from various people. She wondered what kind of divine being he could be that made all the women in the palace act like they were chasing a star.
So she asked Donghua beside her, "Donghua, do you know what kind of person this General Helian is?"
"General Helian is the emperor's only brother. He has been extremely skilled in martial arts since childhood and has fought in various places for our Dongsheng Kingdom, winning a lot of territory." Donghua replied with admiration.
"Really? Donghua, are you also interested in him?" Dongfang Yi frowned and asked in disbelief.
She really couldn't imagine how good that general could be to make so many women crazy about him.
"The general is so outstanding. How could I dare to have such wild hopes?" Donghua replied, lowering her head.
Dongfang Yi couldn't help but roll her eyes and said nothing more.
Then Donghua continued to ask, "Your Majesty, what about tonight's victory banquet...?"
"I'm not going! I'm not going!" Dongfang Yi waved her hand impatiently.
She always hated such activities the most. A large group of people would gather around one person, constantly saying high - sounding words. Everyone was as fake as if they were wearing masks. She was already tired of dealing with other concubines in the palace every day. How could she have the energy to attend such a banquet?
"Just say that I'm seriously ill and can't go." Dongfang Yi said to Donghua beside her.
Donghua looked at the empress's indifferent look in front of her. Her mouth opened and closed uncontrollably a few times, but in the end, she didn't say anything else. She just replied "Yes" and retreated.
At night, the banquet hall in the palace was filled with singing and dancing. Helian Qi sat on the dragon throne at the highest position. The seat beside him was empty.
That seat was supposed to be Dongfang Yi's, but she claimed to be ill and didn't come.
Helian Qi frowned as he looked at the empty seat. He had already heard from Donghua about Dongfang Yi's matter in the afternoon. Although he was very unhappy in his heart, he had no way to deal with her.
On the next level below Helian Qi sat Helian Rong, the protagonist of today's victory banquet. He was sitting upright in his seat, answering the questions of other ministers.
At the bottom sat the ministers and concubines. The left and right prime ministers sat at the head of the ministers, while Concubine Chu and Concubine Shun sat at the head of the concubines.
The whole banquet was extremely lively. After Helian Qi said a few words of praise for Helian Rong at the beginning of the banquet, he rarely spoke. He only occasionally exchanged a few words with Helian Rong not far away. The rest of the time, he just glanced at the seat beside him with his peripheral vision.
All of his actions were clearly seen by Concubine Shun below. She couldn't help but feel heartache for the man sitting on the high - position.
Although her uncle had warned her from the moment she entered the palace not to waste any of her feelings in the palace, because feelings would become her weakness, her heart couldn't be controlled.
Uncle Nangong had told her when she entered the palace today that if she behaved well in the harem, he would be willing to support her as the empress. But now she just wanted to be the one who could always accompany him. Since his eyes were only on that empress, she didn't want to fight for the position of the empress and make him sad.
Everyone below had their own thoughts. For example, Concubine Chu had been trying to talk to her adoptive father, Prime Minister Nangong, all day but had been constantly obstructed.
She suspected that she might have become a discarded pawn because of the appearance of Concubine Shun. So she stared at the woman not far away with hatred in her eyes.
Regarding Helian Rong's return, the attitude in the court was ambiguous. One faction was the emperor's faction. They all followed Helian Qi's lead and were extremely relieved about General Helian's return.
The other faction was Prime Minister Nangong's faction. The Nangong family was a family of military generals. Helian Rong's return would surely impact the Nangong family's status, and the military talisman might be taken back, which would be harmful to their family's power.
Everyone on the field had their own thoughts but still greeted everyone with a smiling face, only saying high - sounding words. Just as Dongfang Yi had thought, everyone was as fake as if they were wearing masks, with no trace of authenticity.
But this banquet had just begun and would be a long one. It was destined to last all night, and everyone would not stop until they were drunk.