A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace Chapter 1084: Truly a Blunder
Previously on A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace...
Once the initial pleasantries concluded, Prince Jin at last felt relaxed.
His stance toward the Fifth Prince eased a little.
"Let’s go inside together!" Prince Jin stated indifferently.
The Fifth Prince replied at once.
"Yes! Father, please go ahead!"
Prince Jin took great pleasure in his eager and dutiful manner.
They stepped into the main hall.
Civil and military officials of the Great Chu Dynasty offered respectful greetings.
Zhao Junyao exuded a gentle warmth like a spring breeze, perfectly blending with the hall's ambiance.
Prince Jin struggled to find grounds for voicing discontent.
He reflected silently:
The Great Chu Dynasty appeared polite yet hid endless schemes, forever hunting chances to create chaos.
They could twist even routine tasks like hosting envoys into vexing ordeals.
Truly devious and sly.
Why not mirror their tactics and make them suffer unease in return?
In their terms, this meant ’turning their tricks back on them’!
Prince Jin inhaled deeply.
He hid every sign of irritation from his face, adopting a cordial smile instead.
After further courteous banter,
Zhao Junyao gestured casually.
Sumptuously clad female dancers drifted inside, wafting a scented breeze behind them,
donned in exquisite translucent attire, undulating their slender waists to the refined palace melodies.
They evoked vivid butterflies flitting amid a verdant spring garden.
The main hall brimmed with music and dance, as merrymaking and cheers fostered a vibrant mood.
Following several rounds of wine,
Prince Jin lifted his cup toward Zhao Junyao and declared,
"I toast to the Emperor of Great Chu with this cup!"
"Oh?" Zhao Junyao arched a brow.
His expression urging further clarification.
Prince Jin pressed on,
"I have only one daughter, Hai Feng, whom I’ve cherished like a precious jewel since she was young!"
"Since she got married, the thought of her being so far from me has left me restless and yearning, to the point of illness!"
"Today, having finally seen her and finding that she has been well cared for in the Great Chu, I, as her father, am relieved!"
"It’s all thanks to the considerate care of the Emperor of Great Chu and the Fifth Prince. I toast to the Emperor of Great Chu!"
With those words, he lifted his cup to Zhao Junyao and drained it fully.
Zhao Junyao smiled with assurance.
"It is what we should do!" he said and downed his cup as well.
Prince Jin heaped praise upon him.
"The Emperor of Great Chu has good drinking capacity!"
Zhao Junyao refused to lag behind and flashed a subtle smirk.
"Likewise!"
Outwardly, wine and dances abounded, yet covertly, cutting retorts and sly ambushes lurked.
After numerous verbal clashes,
Prince Jin conceded that his rhetoric paled against Zhao Junyao’s.
Muttering inwardly about those ’bookworm scholars’, he yielded with reluctance.
Still, he reassured himself deep down.
'If words fail me, my unmatched martial strength will prevail!'
'Imperial authority and riches aren’t defended by glib tongues; ultimate dominance belongs to the mightiest fist!'
That idea steadied Prince Jin somewhat.
The feast proceeded.
In its later phase,
Prince Jin deployed a fresh scheme to provoke Zhao Junyao.
One instant vaunting the trove of presents he’d delivered to the Great Chu Dynasty,
next crowing over Western Xia warriors’ ferocity and their horses’ power.
Then rambling about Western Xia women’s unrivaled grace and temptation, utterly unlike Great Chu’s, and suchlike.
As these words escaped his lips,
Zhao Junyao wore a mask of indulgent apathy.
However, the final statement,
made Zhao Junyao nearly choke on his tea.
"Great Chu’s Emperor! I have meticulously chosen over a dozen beautiful women from Western Xia as a gift to the Emperor of Great Chu!"
"This is a token of my heartfelt sincerity!" You absolutely must accept~
Prince Jin uttered this with fervent zeal, desperate to showcase his allegiance and audacity.
Zhao Junyao found no apt words for rejection.
Trading beauties among foreign realms was commonplace and unremarkable.
Such offerings went to officials and sovereigns alike.
For Western Xia, a mighty power, to proffer lovelies to Great Chu’s Emperor posed no affront.
Thus... it stood as fitting and proper.
Zhao Junyao lacked any pretext to decline.
Nevertheless, frustration choked him within!
He spurned even his homeland’s finest maidens, let alone alien ones...
It seemed like evading one plight merely to encounter another; the deeper his rumination, the greater his unease.
What could he tell Qingqing...
Across the banquet’s latter stretch,
Zhao Junyao’s thoughts drifted afar.
Prince Jin perceived it too.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fathom the reason for the Great Chu Emperor's displeasure.
He quietly conferred with his trusted aides for quite a while.
Finally, they reached a common conclusion.
‘The Great Chu Emperor must feel the gifts from Western Xia lack sufficient worth!’
‘He worries his own farewell offerings will seem too meager, leaving him at a disadvantage!’
With this understanding,
Prince Jin started to look down on Zhao Junyao.
‘Great Chu Dynasty still boasts as the overlord of nations, the Celestial Empire!’
‘If the emperor himself is this miserly, how impressive can the populace be!’
‘The splendor of this Capital City is nothing but a superficial show!’
‘Heh, scholarly obsession deludes the realm, breeding fools and making all of Great Chu seem impoverished and tacky!’
Growing increasingly scornful, Prince Jin regretted sending Fengfeng here.
What a grave error!
After a short pang of remorse,
He chose to station several Western Xia warriors beside Fengfeng.
Primarily, to train his grandson in martial arts adequately,
and also to guard Fengfeng.
Wed into the Royal Family, she was bound to suffer injustices; guards close by would reassure him!
Prince Jin felt immensely satisfied with this plan.
His smile widened notably.
Yet...
Zhao Junyao had no patience left for him.
After a few more rounds of toasts, all guests were mildly tipsy.
Chatter increased, and the mood turned even more animated.
With rosy cheeks and stumbling words, people huddled in groups of three or four for casual talks.
Finding no urgent issues,
Zhao Junyao cited pressing affairs, excused himself politely, and departed.
He left behind several elder princes from the Royal Clan, plus princes like the Fifth, Sixth, and Little Seventh, along with ministers for companionship.
After all, Prince Jin was only a prince. Senior Royal princes were there for seniority, upholding the order.
On status, multiple Great Chu commandery princes attended too, so no true disrespect occurred.
To sum up,
Zhao Junyao had upheld his host responsibilities without needing to stay by his side nonstop!
Plus, clashing dialects after half a phrase were irritating, and he had no desire to endure it!
...
During the banquet.
Once Zhao Junyao departed,
Prince Jin experienced total relief, as if his greatest annoyance had vanished.
He started talking and behaving without restraint.
Emboldened by wine, he spilled words both fitting and taboo.
The essence of his rant:
Great Chu's people all bore that bookworm aura, unfit for manual toil.
Their men lacked proper manly vigor.
As for women, no need to mention—just endless complaints and troublemaking!
While unloading his thoughts, Prince Jin felt completely liberated.
Yet...
He could rant, but the others weren't speechless.
The Seventh Prince promptly shot back.
Zhao Junyan sneered.
"Men not acting like men? Prince Jin sure has guts!"
"Though unworthy, I stand ready to spar with Western Xia’s warriors..."