The next day, Wei Hongru and his father, the Marquis of Hengyuan, Wei Chunlin, went to the palace together to attend the banquet. Wei Hongzheng was the son of a concubine without an official position, so he did not have the qualification to face the Emperor. 

In this regard, after Wei Hongru got on the carriage to the palace, Wei Hongzheng, who saw this scene, was full of hatred and anger. He was obviously the eldest, but because his mother was just a concubine, everything he deserves has to be handed over to Wei Hongru. Sooner or later, he would trample Wei Hongru under his feet!

As soon as the Hengyuan Marquis entered the palace, he learned that the Emperor had invited a lot of people to the palace banquet. There were all three palaces, princes, five marquises, a king, and a general came, not to mention that the dynasty’s second-rank officials also came. Additionally, there were also several merchants from the Mountain People Tribe and the Xianlu Kingdom. Seeing this situation,  Marquis Hengyuan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Marquis.” Marquis Hengyuan turned around and saw that the one who greeted him was Luo Rong, also known as King Murong Duan. Murong Duan was the younger brother of the late Emperor Kangsheng, but since his birth mother was just a palace maid, his status in the palace had not been high. 

After Emperor Kangsheng fell into a coma, the palace was in chaos. The few sons in the capital had no time to take care of him and the women in the harem were also busy fighting for power. Only King Luo Rong was always at Emperor Kangsheng’s bedside.

King Luo Rong never participated in the imperial government, nor did he participate in the battle for the throne. Because of his ‘obscurity,’ after ascending to the throne, the crown prince graciously named him King Luo Rong. In the eyes of the aristocratic families, this King Luo Rong, who had no ability, did not participate in governmental affairs, and who just liked to raise flowers and play with birds was just a chess piece for Emperor Yongming to show his generosity that wasn’t that noticeable.

Marquis Hengyuan greeted King Luo Rong politely on the surface and asked tentatively, “Your Majesty, why is the Emperor in such a good mood that he would even invite me to a banquet?” Emperor Yongming had no money, so even his meal during the New Year’s would be as simple as possible. So how could he not be curious when the Emperor decided to invite guests to the palace just after the New Year?

King Luo Rong also dressed very simply. In addition to the king’s clothes, he didn’t even wear a decorative jade pendant on his body. Because he stayed in his flower garden all the time, King Luo Rong was dark and strong, while his hair was white and his face mellow. 

If he did not wear the king’s clothes, you would think at first glance that he came from a farmer’s family. Emperor Yongming was also quite dark, but in the past few years because he rarely left the palace, he had become more white.

King Luo Rong said with a smile, “This king just went to see the Emperor and also asked. The Emperor said he got some good food, so he decided to let a few people come to try it. The king asked what it was, but the Emperor still refused to say.” 

King Luo Rong licked his mouth. “This king would like the Emperor to have some more good wine. This king has now turned gluttonous.” Then he asked with a curious look, “This king heard that the Marquis is receiving sheep’s milk wine and tea! If you receive some, sell this king a few pounds of wine. But this king doesn’t have too much money, so if the Marquis can sell at discount…”

Marquis Hengyuan’s expression immediately turned dark, while Wei Hongru with a calm expression, didn’t say anything. Marquis Hengyuan said awkwardly, “Is that so? I don’t know about it yet. When I get back to the mansion, I will ask what’s going on first.”

King Luo Rong was surprised. “Huh? The Marquis doesn’t know. A few days ago, this king’s servant came to ask this king if there is still goat’s milk wine and Longjing tea rewarded by the Emperor in the mansion, and said that the Hengyuan’s mansion is buying goat’s milk wine and Longjing tea at several times the original price! 

He gestured with three and five fingers respectively. As if he didn’t understand the black expression Marquis Hengyuanhou couldn’t hide anymore, King Rong Wang continued to say, “The marquis is really rich and generous, even this king was tempted. But since the wine and tea is a reward from the Emperor, even though this King was greedy for money, he still didn’t dare to sell the wine rewarded by the Emperor and could only give up.” 

He then sighed. “No, the wine has already been drunk, since this king’s addiction to alcohol has awakened again. Goat’s milk wine, I really can’t drink other wines, so I can only rely on Marquis Hengyuan.”

King Luo Rong’s voice was quite loud and everyone around could hear it. What made Marquis Hengyuanhou’s teeth itch even more was that the sickly son of Prince Luo Rong also came to make trouble!

King Luo Rong’s son Murong Yi was twenty two years old this year. His name might sound nice, but he has been a sickly child since he was born. No matter what medicine he took, he never got well; so his whole body was white and a little plump. In stark contrast to the tanned and thin King Luo Rong. 

King Luo Rong also has a younger son named Murong Hui, who has just turned ten years old and was born from a concubine, who was relatively introverted. He was following behind his elder brother Murong Yi, grabbing his elder brother’s clothes and peeking at the dark-faced Marquis Hengyuan.

The Marquis of Hengyuan was so embarrassed that he wanted to cover the mouths of this father and son duo. But he couldn’t do something like that, since it would be disrespectful to the Emperor and put him on the spot. But even the merchants from the Mountain People Tribe and the Xianlu Kingdom who heard it, turned their attention toward them.

“Ai, Marquis Hengyuan, so it was your household who bought it. Coincidentally, this old man also wants to buy some from you, but it shouldn’t be too expensive since I don’t have that much money.” Duke Ning Guogong came over with a smile, stroking his beard. At this point, Marquis Hengyuan could only blame his eldest concubine born son, Wei Hongzheng, for not doing good work. He still didn’t know how much tea and wine he had, but everyone in the capital already seemed to know about it!

With Ning Guogong’s meddling, other people also came toward Marquis Hengyuan for some unknown reason, wanting to buy tea and wine from him. This made Marquis Hengyuan’s forehead covered with sweat, but he couldn’t get angry. 

When his father was about to be overwhelmed, Wei Hongru said, “Uncles, my father really does not know about this matter, there might be some misunderstanding. Who does not know that the new tea and wine business belongs to the Emperor? Even ten Marquis Hengyuans wouldn’t have the courage to dare to think about the Emperor’s business. After returning to the mansion to find out, I will give an explanation to all the uncles.”

The Marquis of Hengyuan nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes! After returning to the mansion, this Marquis will definitely find out. If it was true that Hongzheng acted ignorant, this Marquis will definitely punish him severely and will definitely give the king and duke an explanation.”

King Luo Rong said with an unfortunate expression, “If that is so, if Hongzheng could really buy the new tea and wine, this King will definitely be interested. Alas, the number of new tea and wine is so small. It seems that this king will have to ask the Empress for it, but even the Emperor might not be able to do anything about it.”

Edited by: Jaisland

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