Ping Zhao Lu

Chapter 125 He is really seriously ill

"The next one down is your second uncle. You two just came here together, so I guess you have met each other before." Xu Zhouye said with a smile.

Chu Heyuan looked in the direction he pointed and saw the King of Yue sitting there. He nodded slightly and said, "This son did come here with the Second Emperor's uncle."

After he finished speaking, Chu Heyuan's brows unconsciously frowned slightly, and he thought to himself: Why is the second uncle's princess not here?

Thinking of this, his gaze involuntarily turned to the empty seat next to King Yue.

Xu Zhouye keenly noticed the doubt in his eyes, so he leaned close to his ear and explained in a low voice: "The Princess of Yue died a long time ago."

Chu Heyuan was shocked when he heard this, and quickly retracted his gaze. His eyes were a little erratic, and he secretly said "guilty" in his heart.

I actually forgot about this, and I think I heard Shi An talk about it last night...

Chu Heyuan glanced guiltily at Shi'an behind him, and seeing that Shi'an's attention wasn't on him, he retracted his gaze. At this moment, the corner of his eye inadvertently swept across an expressionless guard standing behind the King of Yue.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he actually caught a glimpse of a cold and chilling look in the guard's expression, as if he was about to draw his sword and kill someone.

Chu Heyuan couldn't help but blink. When he looked at the guard again, he found that the other's expression had returned to normal, even to the point of being calm.

Could it be that I am really seeing things... Chu Heyuan murmured to himself in his heart.

As he was thinking, his eyes involuntarily fell on the upper left position, only to see that this position was also empty. Chu Heyuan turned his head to look at Xu Zhouye in confusion.

Xu Zhouye followed his gaze, his expression changing slightly before he patiently introduced, "This seat belongs to your father's seventh uncle, the most distinguished and prestigious prince in the Great Wei—the King of Wei. The King of Wei and his wife never attend such palace banquets."

Chu Heyuan was stunned after hearing this.

He had heard of the name of King Wei.

This is the only prince who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the emperor.

With such power, it's no wonder he can be absent so easily.

Chu Heyuan took a deep breath silently, trying to calm himself down, and then continued to listen attentively as Xu Zhouye introduced the royal family members he had never met one by one.

As time passed, Chu Heyuan, under the guidance of Xu Zhouye, greeted these elders one by one.

Every smile, nod and greeting takes up a lot of his energy, but he still remains polite and humble.

Finally, when all the royal family members were introduced, Chu Heyuan felt a wave of fatigue coming over him.

He walked to his seat somewhat numbly and sat down slowly.

His body seemed to have lost its support and slumped against the back of the chair. Chu Heyuan reached out listlessly, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a sip of hot tea, hoping to sober himself up.

At the same time, Xu Zhouye, who had been introducing himself non-stop, finally stopped talking. After talking for so long, his mouth felt dry and his throat felt like it was on fire.

He exhaled softly, slightly relaxing his tense nerves and calming himself down.

At this moment, a cup of steaming tea appeared in front of him.

Xu Zhouye subconsciously turned his head and his eyes instantly met those gentle eyes.

At this moment, the emperor was gazing at him with concern and whispered, "Moisten your throat."

A warm feeling suddenly surged in Xu Zhouye's heart. He reached out and took the tea from the emperor's hand without hesitation, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.

The cup of warm tea slid down my throat into my stomach, like a stream of clear spring water moistening my long-dried heart.

Their intimate interaction did not escape the eyes of the many people below.

Everyone present turned their eyes over here, and most of them looked at Xu Zhouye with unfriendly eyes.

There was almost a look of contempt on his face.

Facing these strange looks, Xu Zhouye seemed unaware and remained calm.

For him, as long as the warmth and care given by the emperor were real, nothing else mattered.

But there was still someone in the crowd who was not afraid of trouble and spoke up: "Royal brother and Royal...well, should we call them Royal sister-in-law?" The person who spoke was Princess Changle. She covered her red lips with her hand and laughed sweetly.

The laughter was as sweet as a silver bell, but it was mixed with a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Princess Changle continued, "The Emperor's sister-in-law is truly doted on by my brother! Even for something as trivial as a cup of tea, he has to personally feed her. It truly makes others envious..."

With Princess Changle taking the lead in stirring up trouble, those princesses and their husbands-in-law who were also dissatisfied with Xu Zhouye and could not stand his favored appearance all stood up to agree.

"That's right! Look at the harem, it has been completely disbanded now. This shows that His Majesty's love for the Queen is unmatched!" A certain prince consort said sourly.

Another princess continued sarcastically, "You all only know how to envy. In my opinion, although this is a good thing, dismissing the harem in this way is too disregarding the ancestral etiquette and laws..."

For a time, all kinds of gossips were heard one after another. Some praised the love between the emperor and the empress, while others questioned and disdained this behavior that broke the traditional rules.

Although these words were not spoken too loudly, they happened to reach the ears of Chu Heyuan who had just arrived here.

Chu Heyuan's calm expression instantly darkened upon hearing someone dare to discuss his father, the Emperor, and his father in public. He suddenly raised his head, about to open his mouth and argue with the group.

The emperor in the main seat spoke first: "What? Do you have any objections to my approach? Feel free to raise them loudly so that I can reward you according to your merits."

As soon as these words were spoken, the originally cheerful atmosphere suddenly fell into dead silence.

They all understood what the emperor meant by "rewarding according to merit" and immediately thought of the children of noble families who had been punished by the emperor at the empress dowager's birthday banquet.

It seems that this is not just a rumor.

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but shudder.

"Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, I don't want to see blood." Chu Yunxiao said coldly, glancing sharply at the princesses and princes who had been talking too much.

The people who were targeted hurriedly stumbled to their feet, their knees slamming heavily on the cold, hard ground.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. We acknowledge our mistakes!"

The terrified voice came out of their mouths, carrying endless fear and regret.

While they were shouting for mercy, they secretly raised their heads and looked at Xu Zhouye with pleading eyes, hoping to get his forgiveness and protection. "Please, Queen, forgive our unintentional words!"

Listening to their pleas for mercy, Xu Zhouye remained indifferent, not even raising his eyes, and said nonchalantly, "We are all family, there is no need to be so nervous. His Majesty was just joking. Everyone, please stand up and take your seats."

"This……"

The people kneeling on the ground were sweating profusely and looking at each other in confusion.

Is this a joke?

Regardless of whether it was a joke or not, why was it the Empress who woke them up instead of the Emperor?

Should they get up?

After such a dilemma, several people turned their gazes towards the emperor with trepidation.

In just a moment, he was quickly frightened by the emperor's intimidating eyes and looked away.

After a while, they could only look to Queen Mother Jiang for help.

At this time, Queen Mother Jiang was very upset.

These idiots only think of her when something bad happens, and never encounter any good things.

Despite this, she still pretended to be kind and gave them a reassuring look.

Just as it was her turn to speak, the emperor spoke up: "Didn't you hear what the queen said? Is it so difficult to ask you to go back and sit down? Do I need to personally invite you to take a seat?"

This scolding startled them and they trembled again. After they came to their senses, they quickly stood up and returned to their seats.

After this little incident, those royal relatives who were originally provocative and eager to cause trouble suddenly became as quiet as chickens and never dared to act rashly again.

Just at this moment, Chu Yunzheng strode into the hall.

His tall and straight figure was particularly eye-catching in the hall, but at this moment there was a trace of unconcealable boredom on his face.

As he glanced at the group of royal relatives in front of him, he felt a surge of pain in his head. In comparison, he would rather go to the frontier and eat sand for a few years than face such an upsetting scene.

Although you are reluctant, you still have to show proper courtesy.

Chu Yunzheng forced himself to cheer up, and with a somewhat listless look on his face, he walked forward. He first bowed respectfully to the three people sitting at the main seats, then turned to face the Queen Mother with a hint of apology, bowed deeply, and said slowly, "I was busy today, which delayed me for a while, so I am late. I hope you will not blame me, Mother."

Queen Mother Jiang looked at Chu Yunzheng kindly with a genial smile on her face. She waved her hand gently and said, "It's okay, it's okay. I understand. Please take a seat."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Yunzheng walked quickly towards the side of King Yue.

As soon as he sat down comfortably, the King of Yue's eyes immediately fell on him, and he asked with great interest, "Fourth brother, what's the matter that's holding you back? Is it a serious matter or something interesting? Why not share it with everyone and liven up the atmosphere?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Yunzheng frowned and glanced at Chu Yunyi. His expression seemed to say, "Are you okay? You have to be so careful and fussy about even a polite remark? You must be seriously ill!"