Hearing that Zhao Ci wanted to go meet Zhao Yong,
his maidservant grew anxious. She didn't understand why Zhao Ci insisted on going. He was mocked every time he tried to join them, yet he never seemed to learn.
In Lingge, there was a pecking order among maidservants, too.
If a master's status was high, their servants could hold their heads high.
But if a master was bullied every day, their servants couldn't even look people in the eye.
"Your Highness, please don't..."
[Cuiyun's Current Wish]: For His Highness not to go out and humiliate himself. Reward for Completion: Insight +1, Self-humiliation Talisman x1.
A gray wish.
It would provide 1 Insight point at most.
'Might as well not complete this one!'
Zhao Ci cut her off with a smile. "It's fine!"
With that, he strode out.
Cuiyun was helpless and could only shut her mouth.
But the wish above her head changed.
[Cuiyun's Current Wish]: I hope His Highness isn't humiliated this time. Reward for Completion: Insight +10, Insult Talisman x1.
'Huh? It turned blue?'
Zhao Ci felt a flicker of joy. If he remembered correctly, a blue wish was worth 10 points—ten times more.
But the difficulty of completing the wish had also increased.
He quickened his pace and headed for the main gate.
...
When a Prince was young, he lived in the Imperial Palace with his mother, the imperial consort. Once he came of age, he would be granted the title of Prince and move out of the palace. Depending on his subsequent performance, it would be decided whether he would remain in the capital or be sent to govern a fiefdom.
Before that, although a Prince had been named, he had not yet received a formal title.
Therefore, Zhao Ci's residence was temporarily called the Tenth Prince's Mansion.
At that moment, several luxurious carriages were parked in front of the Tenth Prince's Mansion. A group of four youths in brocade robes stood before them. They all looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. Though their looks varied, they all exuded an air of nobility.
A tall, upright young man asked, "Your Highness! To invite him to the banquet, we only needed to send a messenger. Why must we personally come to his door to pick him up? Besides, the banquet doesn't start until evening, and it's barely noon."
The young man wore a black robe trimmed with fiery red brocade, and a flame pattern was embroidered on his chest.
This was the emblem of the Jinyang Zhu Clan. The young man's name was Zhu Yan, and the Ninth Prince's mother was his aunt.
Zhao Yong forced a smile. "Zhao Ci is my dearest Imperial Brother. As his older brother, wouldn't it be improper if I didn't come to get him myself? It doesn't matter that the banquet is later. Can't I visit my brother even without a banquet?"
Zhu Yan knew, of course, that Zhao Yong just wanted to make Zhao Ci look like a fool. This was standard procedure, after all.
However...
He felt that something was off with Zhao Yong's state of mind. Although he was smiling, his every word and action seemed tinged with hostility.
'I don't really want to get involved in this kind of dirty work,'
But if he left, there would only be three people left in their group.
For someone from Jinyang, that was unacceptable.
Sigh.
'Oh well, I'll just watch and see.'
Zhao Yong kept peering toward the gate, his eyes betraying his impatience. He was afraid Zhao Ci wouldn't come out.
Fortunately, he soon spotted Zhao Ci's figure.
"Zhao Ci!"
Zhao Yong waved enthusiastically.
Zhao Ci approached with a wide smile. "Brother Huang, you came all the way here yourself today?"
Zhao Yong laughed. "Of course! After all, I'm the one who invited you. It would be rude not to pick you up. Here's the plan! We'll ride in the same carriage today!"
[Zhao Yong's Current Wish]: Use the banquet to humiliate Zhao Ci thoroughly, make him know his place, and get him to call off the engagement immediately! Reward for Completion: Insight +100, Inferiority Charm x1.
'The wish is red, but I definitely can't fulfill this one.'
But...
'Call off the engagement?'
'I'm not even engaged!'
Zhao Ci was confused, but then his heart skipped a beat.
'This is bad!'
'I knew I'd forgotten something.'
This morning, that little old man Kan Tianji had a wish on his head: to persuade Zhao Ci to go to his fiefdom, or at least not drag Luotang into the mire.
At the time, he'd been so freaked out by that Old Deng Zhao Huan's blood-drawing wish that he'd forgotten all about it. Now that he thought back, Old Man Kan's wish had indeed not been settled.
Adding on Zhao Yong's frantic and pale-faced arrival, how could he not know what was going on?
Zhao Ci didn't have much of a clue about this marriage.
But Zhao Yong showing up so early gave him a bad feeling.
'Why do I get the feeling that Old Deng Zhao Huan is up to something?'
'I'll ask about it later!'
"A banquet, you say?"
Zhao Ci said apologetically, "Brother Huang! I actually came out to tell you that I can't make it to the banquet tonight!"
Zhao Yong was taken aback. In the past, Zhao Ci would always beg him to take him along. Why was he refusing this time?
'If you refuse, how am I supposed to have my fun?'
He quickly said, "Don't say that! This banquet is for disaster relief fundraising. Many talented young ladies will be in attendance, including that Miss Yang you used to admire..."
Zhao Ci waved his hand with a smile. "No need, Brother Huang! I'm a man who's about to be married. If I keep going to such places to dally with women, my wife will get angry!"
His smile contained both the regret of not being able to attend the banquet and the sweet bliss of a henpecked husband being kept in line.
Zhao Yong: "???"
The others: "..."
Zhu Yan subconsciously asked, "Tenth Prince, you're getting married? To which family's young lady?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake.
He saw Zhao Yong's face darken at the speed of light.
His facial muscles were even twitching slightly.
Zhao Yong collected himself and laughed. "Hah! It's just a banquet. Never mind that you're not married yet, it wouldn't matter even if you were! Besides, this banquet is to raise funds for disaster relief. If others heard you, they might think you're using your marriage as an excuse to dodge your charitable duties, wouldn't they?"
'Guilt-tripping me, huh?'
'Two-faced snakes really are rotten to the core.'
Zhao Ci waved his hand with a smile. "No need to worry about the donation. My wife has always been passionate about helping the world and saving its people, and she loves to do good deeds among the common folk. As it happens, I'm heading to the Kan Mansion tonight, so the donation can be put to use even more directly."
With that, he affectionately patted Zhao Yong on the back, inconspicuously sticking a Talisman Paper that only he could see onto it.
Ignoring Zhao Yong's face, which was twisting in frustration, he walked directly toward his own carriage.
This statement, however, shocked quite a few people.
The Kan Mansion?
The young men all turned to look at Zhao Yong in unison.
Suddenly, they understood why Zhao Yong had personally brought people to his door today.
Zhao Yong couldn't hold it in any longer. "Quick, escort my Imperial Brother to my carriage! If he's not at the banquet tonight, what's the point?"
Hearing this, the men hurried forward and surrounded Zhao Ci.
Zhao Ci frowned. 'This guy's defenses have really been broken. His bullying has gone too far before, but it was always just backhanded compliments and veiled insults. He's never done something like grabbing someone in the middle of the street.'
These men were all experts of the younger generation. Although he had broken through to a new realm, his actual combat strength hadn't caught up yet.
'It might be difficult to break free.'
Subconsciously, he reached for the copper coins in his robes, his consciousness connecting with the Talisman Paper in his mind.
Seeing a commotion, the people on the street discreetly turned their gazes toward them.
Everyone living here was either rich or noble. They were all aware of the relationship between the two princes, but they had never seen a scene like one accosting the other on the street before.
Although it was unlikely for one Prince to do anything too outrageous to another, judging by the situation, the drama was bound to be more exciting than usual.
They, too, wanted to see how it would end.
They wanted to see if the Emperor's favor toward Zhao Ci was genuine or just for show.
But unexpectedly...
"Ngh?"
Zhao Yong's expression suddenly changed. He felt his stomach churn violently.
Immediately after, a powerful warm current surged with unstoppable force toward the final destination of all food and grain.
'Oh no!'
"PFFFFFFFT~~~~"
"PFFT PFFT! TOOT~~~ SQUISH..."
"PFFTPFFTPFFTPFFT! SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH!"
A rhythmic beatboxing session echoed through the entire street.
The crowd followed the sound and saw Zhao Yong standing frozen in place, his face deathly pale. His legs were shaking uncontrollably as an unidentified liquid and paste trickled out from his pant legs.
A pungent, sour smell soon permeated the air.
The stench almost made Zhao Ci black out. He hadn't expected the On-Spot Relief Charm to be so potent.
He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Brother Huang! I have urgent matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave! The banquet will be fine without me. As long as you're there, it will definitely be... full of flavor!"
And with that, he hurried to his carriage, thinking, 'This guy's diet is definitely too rich. What is that smell?!'
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.
Zhao Yong's face was ashen. "Go after him!"
His men finally snapped out of it, but they didn't know whether to chase Zhao Ci or help Zhao Yong leave.
In front of everyone like this...
Just as they hesitated,
"CLANG..."
the sound of what seemed to be a copper coin hitting the ground was heard.
"WHOOSH!"
Everyone present whipped their heads around to see a single copper coin rolling toward Zhao Yong, only stopping when it bumped against his shoe.
They were dazed for a moment, wondering what was so interesting about a single copper coin.
But now, their gazes had followed it and landed on Zhao Yong.
And Zhao Yong was still performing his B-box routine.
The crowd: "..."
Zhao Yong's face was ashen. "Don't look!"
The crowd: "..."
They tried to look away.
They couldn't!
They absolutely couldn't look away!
...
「In a nearby alley,」
two young women watched, dumbfounded.
Zhu Li was so shocked the goose leg she was eating fell from her hand. After a long silence, she said, "Luotang, I used to think Zhao Yong was only interested in you for your looks, but now I think he must really love you!"
Kan Luotang was confused. "How can you tell?"
Zhu Li had a completely serious expression on her face. "Look at him! He heard you were betrothed to someone else and got so worked up he crapped his pants!"
Kan Luotang: "..."