Marrying a wife and a concubine together? Wouldn't it be better to divorce and become the queen

The whole afternoon ended with everyone enjoying the spring scenery with the pleasant music of stringed instruments.

In the evening, a grand and lively dinner was held in the palace.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. This time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took Your Majesty's place in the Jiangnan Salt Inspection Tour and exposed some illegal officials. Your Royal Highness is wise and brave, and his demeanor is admirable."

At the banquet, a minister raised his glass to congratulate Emperor Xia Ming, and other ministers also raised their glasses to express their approval. Emperor Xia Ming was very pleased and raised his glass:

"The Crown Prince is my son who I personally taught. He knows how to help me share my worries at such a young age. He deserves to be commended, but you should not praise him too much, lest he become complacent, haha."

The ministers talked and laughed, raised their glasses and drank them all.

King Jing also drank a glass of wine, and with a little drunkenness he looked at King Chu beside him, and sighed faintly:

"Alas, who is not a son taught by the emperor himself? We have done a lot for the emperor, but he has never praised us in front of the ministers. I don't need to say anything about this king, but what about the King of Chu? Concubine Ru is so favored by the emperor, but the emperor did not give you the task of inspecting the salt. I guess the emperor does not think the King of Chu is capable of taking on this task, not to mention the scandal of favoring his concubine over his wife a while ago.

I heard that your concubine's mother was imprisoned after being caned, and the Third Emperor has been sending doctors to treat her. It can be seen that the Third Emperor really loves the concubine. Why didn't you bring her here today? Let me see what kind of beauty she is to win the Third Emperor's favor."

King Jing's words were full of ridicule and sarcasm.

When someone was needed to replace their father during the salt inspection, they both expressed their willingness to share their father's worries, but their father personally appointed the crown prince to go out, which was equivalent to the crown prince inspecting civil affairs on behalf of the emperor. If the crown prince did a good job, he would not only make great contributions to the court, but also increase his prestige among the people.

His father gave the opportunity to the prince to gain experience, but the prince was very competitive. Xie Yan was unwilling to accept this. In order to prevent Xie Heng from completing the task smoothly, he thought of some ways to obstruct him. However, Xie Heng seemed to know his plan and solved it time and time again. He almost suspected that there was a traitor in the Chu Palace, which allowed the prince to know his plan clearly and respond flexibly.

Xie Yan did not bring Feng Shuyao here today in order to avoid someone provoking something that made him unhappy. But King Jing insisted on bringing up something that was not related to the topic and had to irritate him. Xie Yan gritted his teeth and said coldly:

"King Jing, isn't the wine on your table enough to fill your mouth? If not, I'll give you my wine too!"

He placed the wine on his table on Xie Ji's table, his eyes scanning the flattering expressions of the ministers as they congratulated the prince, mixed with a few disappointed and mocking looks directed at him. Xie Yan's heart seemed to be filled with a burning fire, burning his entire body and making him feel suffocated and panic-stricken.

He stood up shakily and went to the yard outside to get some fresh air.

Feng Qingluan witnessed the whole process of Xie Yan being ridiculed by King Jing. She looked at Xie Yan's wine glass and a faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

Seeing Xie Yan go out, Zhaoyang winked at Di Manli. Di Manli was delighted and stood up and chased in the direction of Xie Yan.

Xie Yan walked out of his seat and came to the corridor. He held onto the pillar and shook his head.

He has a good alcohol tolerance, but tonight he felt dizzy after just a few drinks. He thought it might be because he was in a bad mood or was too angry.

He walked to the yard, wanting to breathe some fresh air to clear his head.

A tender and concerned voice came from behind: "Your Highness Prince Chu, what's wrong with you? Are you drunk?"

Di Manli caught up with him and saw Xie Yan holding onto the pillar and unable to stand steadily. She took his arm and supported him:

"Your Highness, are you going to the courtyard? Be careful of the steps."

Xie Yan's vision was blurry. He looked at the woman next to him. His mind was not yet completely confused when he recognized it as Di Manli. He shook off her hand and said incoherently: "I don't need your help. I can walk by myself."

Di Manli was thrown aside by him, but she was not embarrassed at all. She came forward like a dog-skin plaster, with a dazzling smile on her delicate and fair face:

"Your Highness, Prince of Chu, I haven't seen you for a long time. I really look forward to talking to you at this Hundred Flowers Banquet. Speaking of which, your Highness is getting married, and I haven't toasted you yet. Bring the wine tomorrow."

Di Manli's personal maid Ming'er came up with a tray with a wine jug and wine glasses.

Di Manli poured a glass of wine for Xie Yan and handed it to him, and then filled her own glass.

"Your Highness, I respect you. You must be in a good mood on this beautiful spring day."

She downed the wine in one gulp.

Xie Yan looked at the wine glass in his hand, thinking back to what King Jing had said to him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He poured the wine into his mouth, threw the glass heavily to the ground, and cursed:

"Who are they? One day, I will trample everyone under my feet. I will remember all those who laughed at me. I will not let any of them go. I will not let any of them go!"

Xie Yan's voice was quite loud. Di Manli was afraid of attracting other people, so she stepped forward to support him and pushed him to the corridor: "Your Highness, you are drunk. I will take you to your room to rest."

She was anxious to bring Xie Yan to the room she had arranged, but Xie Yan was angry and had no feelings for her at all, so he pushed her away again:

"You don't need to pity me, and I don't need your comfort. Go away and don't follow me!"

He pointed at Di Manli and stopped her from following him.

Liu Qi was standing guard outside. When he heard that his master had left for the banquet, he came over and saw that he was drunk. He was afraid that he would fall, so he quickly went to support him and said, "Your Majesty, I will take you to rest."

How could Di Manli just let Xie Yan go like that? She had to follow him.

Liu Qi turned around and said, "Miss Di, the prince said you are not allowed to follow him, please respect yourself!"

Liu Qi knew that Di Manli liked his prince, but the prince didn't like her and spoke to her in a harsh tone.

Di Manli was scolded by a guard and was a little annoyed. Coincidentally, other young ladies came out for some fresh air, so she did not shamelessly follow them and let Liu Qi and Xie Yan disappear from their sight.

"He is just a small guard, yet he dares to scold me? When I become the concubine of the King of Chu, I will make him pay!"

Di Manli cursed angrily and said to the maid behind her: "Ming'er, you follow quietly behind and see which room Liu Qi will place the prince in. Come back and report to me."

I'll go there tomorrow.

Di Manli thought to herself that there was no one else around the King of Chu. Once she had found the room and sent Liu Qi away, she would go in and have physical contact with the King of Chu, and then everything would be fine.

Liu Qi sent Xie Yan to a room called Songcuiyuan in the side hall to rest. After settling him down, he left the room and stood guard at the door with a sword in his hand.

Ming Er quietly wrote down the name of the room and came back to tell Di Manli. Di Manli went to find Princess Zhaoyang and told her about her relationship with Xie Yan. Princess Zhaoyang said, "Don't worry, I will personally take Liu Qi away."

However, she was gone for a short while before returning angrily:

"That Liu Qi has no sense at all. Even this princess couldn't call him. He said that he would never leave the door until the emperor woke up. Manli, I will go there later. After calling him away, you can go back to the room. You should rest for a while and get enough energy for the next thing. I will call you immediately when there is any situation here."

Although Di Manli was somewhat unhappy, she had no other choice.

The drug she put in the glass of wine lasted long enough, so there was no need to rush, so she found a room and moved in.