[Negative emotions from Fan Xian +111!]
Fan Xian's expression changed. He sprang to his feet, waving his hands repeatedly.
"Mind your words, Your Highness! Mind your words! You can't say things like that lightly!"
Zhou Cheng chuckled.
The Crown Prince and the Second Prince exchanged glances, then both turned rather peculiar, appraising looks on Fan Xian.
Fan Xian slowly sat down, cursing Zhou Cheng eight hundred times in his heart.
This bastard used this matter to needle him every time!
He recalled accompanying Liu Ruyu into the palace a few days earlier. Apart from the Empress Dowager and the Empress, he had met the mothers of all the adult princes on that visit.
The Eldest Prince's mother was a martial arts fanatic who could barely get through three sentences without mentioning martial arts. The Second Prince's mother was a book fanatic. Having heard of his widespread poetic fame, she had insisted he compose a poem on the spot.
Only Zhou Cheng's mother, Noble Consort Li, had been normal.
Gentle and virtuous, she spoke softly, and her manner toward others was like a spring breeze brushing their faces, leaving them feeling bathed in its warmth.
Now, looking at Zhou Cheng...
How had such a gentle woman given birth to this thing?
As Fan Xian silently disparaged him, a line of eunuchs entered carrying food.
They deftly arranged the dishes on the table. The fare was light, all thin soups and watery dishes, with just one meat dish in the middle. Everything else was vegetarian.
Fan Xian looked at the lone meat dish, then at the greens and cold dishes around it. His mouth twitched.
Wasn't this banquet a little too shabby?
Just then, a figure approached from the far end of the covered walkway.
Emperor Qing.
The four hurriedly