Chapter 429: Palace Banquet (3)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Without turning his head, Qi Haoran said in a low voice, “There’s no need to choose. You can sign up freely. Whoever feels that they won’t lose face can participate. However, there aren’t many people who are willing to perform on the spot every year.”
There were not many families who could attend the palace banquet to begin with, and there were only a few young and good-looking legitimate descendants in those families. There were not many youths who had praise-worthy abilities, and there were even fewer who had the ability, the courage, and the approval of the elders in the family.
Why did it have to be a young and good-looking legitimate descendant?
If they weren’t young, how could they have the cheek to stand up and perform? Even if that person wasn’t gorgeous, they had to at least be decent-looking. At the very least, they couldn’t make people dislike them immediately. If the first impression was bad, people wouldn’t be very interested in watching that person perform.
As for it having to be a legitimate descendant, other than the royal family, only the legitimate descendants attended the palace banquet.
As for the princes and princesses, they were even more casual. As long as they were mentioned, they could go on stage.
However, the princes would only go on stage when they needed to entertain the Emperor. On the other hand, there was a tacit rule on the princesses’ side. A princess would usually only perform at the palace banquet when she reached a marriageable age. This would serve as a stage for them to casually show off their talents. There was no need to be outstanding; it was just a signal to the ministers to tell them which princess was ready to recruit a prince consort. If there was a young and handsome man in the family who had yet to be engaged, they could fight for the prince consort position.
“Chen Qian is participating in the Spring Quarter Examinations next year. He’s just trying to boost his score,” Qi Haoran said in a low voice.
Stunned, Mu Yangling asked, “Aren’t the Spring Quarter Examinations anonymous? How does this help to boost his score?”
“After the Spring Quarter Examinations is the Palace Examination. If he can obtain the Emperor’s praise at this time, as long as he’s in the top two of the Spring Quarter Examinations, his ranking in the Palace Examinations won’t be too low.”
Mu Yangling sighed. “Indeed, it’s different when you have connections in the government. This can be considered a disguised backdoor, right?”
Qi Haoran said nonchalantly, “Hasn’t it always been like this since ancient times? It’s also very risky for him to do this. If he angers His Majesty or accidentally offends someone here, he will face difficulties in his future career.”
In short, there were opportunities and risks, although the opportunities were much greater than the risks.
Qi Feng, who was at the side, couldn’t take it anymore. He glared at his son and snapped at him softly, “What nonsense are you spouting during the palace banquet?” After saying that, he even glanced at Mu Yangling vaguely, his eyes filled with disdain and displeasure. In his opinion, chattering at the palace banquet meant that one had no manners. A country bumpkin was still a country bumpkin. Even if she attended the palace banquet, she was still a country bumpkin.
Mu Yangling blinked and looked at the other families beside her. She realized that the other families were also chatting and laughing happily. There were even some people who left their tables to have fun with those they were chummy with.
Mu Yangling retracted her gaze. Since it wasn’t her problem, it was her father-in-law, Qi Feng’s problem.
Upholding the principle of not bickering with old people, Mu Yangling decided to ignore him.
Mu Yangling could tolerate it, but Qi Haoran could not. He clenched his fists tightly, and the veins on his forehead bulged. What was the meaning of his father’s gaze just now?
Looking down on Ah Ling?
What right did he have to look down on Ah Ling?
Sensing that Qi Haoran was in a strange mood, Mu Yangling used her sleeve to cover her finger and poked his back. Qi Haoran’s anger burst with a pop.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, Mu Yangling reached out to hold Qi Haoran’s hand, which was hanging by his side. Qi Haoran immediately grabbed it tightly and refused to let go.
Mu Yangling tickled him. Qi Haoran looked straight ahead as if he was watching Chen Qian’s performance seriously.
Although the couple sat one in front of the other, there was a short table between them. Mu Yangling placed her left hand on the table and used her right hand to hold his hand. Because their sleeves were wide, no one noticed them. However, if anyone looked carefully, they would be able to tell that Mu Yangling only wanted him to divert his attention and not play with him.
Mu Yangling struggled twice but could not break free. She could not help but poke his back with the fingers of her left hand. Madam Wu was staring ahead and did not see it. Li Jinghua pretended not to see it.
The couple was in a battle of wits and courage. One wanted to pull her hand out, while the other held it tightly. They were completely unaware that their actions had fallen into the eyes of the youngest son of the Hua family, Hua Yuan, who was sitting adjacent to the Qi family.
Perhaps because Hua Yuan’s gaze was too focused, Qi Haoran sensed it and he turned to look at him. Hua Yuan grinned at him, and Qi Haoran responded with a smile and a nod. Mu Yangling followed his gaze and met Hua Yuan’s eyes.
There was no shyness, let alone fear. Hua Yuan raised his eyebrows. This was different from what he had observed this afternoon.
However, he didn’t have time to think too much. The Emperor had already called out Qi Haoran’s name. It turned out that Chen Qian had already finished his performance and left after receiving the Emperor’s praise.
Qi Haoran immediately let go of Mu Yangling’s hand, stood up, and walked out to kneel on the passageway. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor looked at him with a satisfied smile and said, “I heard that you’re skilled in martial arts. Before you went to Xingzhou Prefecture, you could already defeat all the young masters of the various families in the capital. After you went to Xingzhou Prefecture, you became even more valiant and highly-skilled.”
Even if Qi Haoran thought that the Emperor was telling the truth, he should still be humble at this moment. Hence, he said, “Your Majesty, I haven’t defeated all the young masters of the various families. I’ve never fought with General Yuan’s four sons.”
Not only the ministers, but even the Emperor was embarrassed. He was just exaggerating, alright? Do you really want to defeat all opponents in the capital and be invincible at the age of 12?
Fan Zijin also lowered his head and laughed secretly. However, he heard the Emperor say, “Since you’re so confident, why don’t you perform a sword dance for us to see?”
Qi Haoran frowned in distress. He studied sword arts, which was different from the elegant sword dance. Hence, he gave a warning and said, “Your Majesty, my sword dance is not good. I can only use swordplay to kill enemies. If Your Majesty still wants to see it though, I’ll perform the dance for you.” What he meant was that if he danced poorly, the Emperor couldn’t blame him.
The Emperor said with a smile, “I’m tired of watching the same few sword dances every year. It’s nice to see something different like watching a martial artist perform sword dance.”
The Emperor gestured to the emissary, and a guard brought over a soft sword.
Qi Haoran usually used a hard sword. But since it was just a sword dance and not going on the battlefield to kill enemies, he was not picky. He took the sword and thought for a while before performing a swordplay that he thought looked nicer.
However, no matter how nice it looked, it was still much inferior to the flowing sword dance. However, his figure was majestic, and he leaped like a bird. When he wielded his sword, it was as if he was on the battlefield, exuding a powerful aura. The more Qi Haoran danced, the smoother his moves became. The spectators only felt that the killing intent that assaulted their faces terrified them, and then their blood boiled.
The civil officials in the east all looked impressed, while the generals in the west looked at Qi Haoran with bright eyes, planning to compete with him.
Even the Empress, who was sitting far away, felt the sword aura. The Emperor was slightly surprised. He had only mentioned it casually and did not expect Qi Haoran to really be able to dance.
After Qi Haoran finished dancing, he put away his sword and stood up. He clenched his fists and said, “Your Majesty, I’ve embarrassed myself.”
However, the Emperor laughed out loud and clapped his hands. “Well danced. How is it ugly? I think your swordplay is even better than the previous sword dances.”
The corners of Qi Haoran’s lips curled up slightly, and he was also a little smug. However, Fan Zijin looked at the Emperor warily. Why did he call upon Haoran to perform a sword dance for no reason?
As expected, the Emperor said happily, “Such a talented man should be matched with a beauty. Minister Qi, how about I matchmake you with a beauty?”