Hold His Hand

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The emperor hosting a banquet is not strange to the ministers in the imperial court.

The current emperor’s life is quite extravagant and lustful. As a result, he never has enough money to spend, and he will do anything to make money.

This includes hosting large banquets.

There wasn’t much to eat at the banquet, but the gifts received were really quite a lot.

This time basically all the dignitaries from the capital were invited to the palace banquet. People from big families didn’t think much of it, but most of them still felt very honored and took out their best things as gifts, and strived to show their face at the banquet.

Even if the emperor’s power is not what it used to be, the imperial family is still the largest family.

“His majesty suddenly held a banquet this time. I don’t know what he wanted to do.”

“I heard that thief Xie donated some rare food…”

“That thief Zhang has been killed. Unfortunately, thief Xie’s hands are slippery and difficult to catch.”

“He won’t last long.”

…

Everyone was talking privately, then someone came to Wang Tingyun and asked Wang Tingyun what he thought of Xie Chengze.

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The old Wang family patriarch was ill and did not come, so Wang Tingyun represented the Wang family and said: “Xie Gonggong is working for the emperor.”

This was the same as saying nothing.

In fact, everyone also knew that the emperor couldn’t control the court and couldn’t make them obey, so he found a eunuch to suppress them.

They were dissatisfied with this, but if they didn’t want to tear face with the emperor, they had to act within the rules.

If Xie Chengze doesn’t do anything that violates the rules, they can’t do anything to him either.

All the officials entered the palace and took their seats in their respective positions.

At this time, a news spread — today, Xie Chengze will bring the man he raised at home into the palace.

Someone came close to Wang Tingyun and whispered: “I heard that the eldest prince was curious and mentioned this matter to his majesty. His majesty also became interested and asked Xie Chengze to bring him into the palace, saying that he wanted to take a look.”

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Wang Tingyun said: “I already know.”

After Wang Tingyun finished speaking, he said no more. The person who came to tell Wang Tingyun this gossip felt a little bored.

He still had a lot to say, but unfortunately Wang Tingyun was too serious.

This person went elsewhere and talked about this matter with other people. The others were obviously very interested in this matter: “That thief Xie has a noble appearance, but I never thought he would actually take this road.”

“He is good-looking. I wonder what he tastes like.”

“The person he raised is really shameless.”

“It’s a disgrace to us men.”

“I heard that man used to be a yamen servant, I wonder what he looks like.”

“He should be strong and powerful enough to make Xie Gonggong call his mother.”

…

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While everyone was talking, Xie Chengze already brought Lu Yanzhou into the palace.

The current emperor is not young anymore, he has many princes and princesses in the palace already.

Among them, there are four grown-up princes. The eldest prince is very similar to the current emperor and is the most favored one among the many princes.

At first, Xie Chengze was full of expectations for these princes. He thought that when the emperor died, they could succeed him.

However, he soon realized that these people were fundamentally crooked.

It was when the eldest prince was only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time. He killed a pregnant woman because he wanted to see what the fetus looked like in the mother’s belly.

This kind of person should go to hell.

Xie Chengze actually had no intention of bringing Lu Yanzhou into the palace. It was because the eldest prince said something to the emperor that made the emperor ask him to bring Lu Yanzhou with him.

“Lu Lang, the situation in the palace is complicated. You must be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I will be careful.”

Xie Chengze added, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to take good care of you when we enter the palace…”

“Don’t worry, AZe, I can handle it.” Lu Yanzhou smile again and squeezed Xie Chengze’s hand.

Xie Chengze had given numerous instructions along the way, just because he was afraid that he might offend others at the banquet. However, he was not a reckless person, he would be patient even if something were to really happen to him.

Seeing that Lu Yanzhou was not nervous at all, Xie Chengze thought about how Lu Yanzhou was always smart and knew what was best for him, so he said no more and only glanced at Lu Yanzhou’s clothes with slight dissatisfaction.

After knowing that he was going to the palace, Lu Yanzhou dressed up and put on new clothes. Lu Yanzhou now looked much more refined and handsome than his usual gray-faced appearance.

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Seeing Xie Chengze looking at his clothes, Lu Yanzhou asked with a smile: “How do I look? I won’t embarrass you.”

Xie Chengze said: “The four young masters in the capital are not as good as you, Lu Lang.”

After boasting, the two of them felt much more relaxed, and together they entered the banquet hall.

As soon as he entered, Xie Chengze changed his temperament and returned to the aloof and cold look that Lu Yanzhou saw when he first met him.

Lu Yanzhou’s temperament has also changed. He was once a scholar in ancient times, and now he looks like an aristocratic young man who grew up in a wealthy county.

The original owner did not do physical work when he was a yamen servant, so he was not as dark-skinned as the common people.

When he arrived in the capital, Lu Yanzhou not only ate and drank well, he also wore a windproof hat when riding horses. His skin was even better, so he looked no rougher than the young masters from the big family.

The look of these two people immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

These people were all curious about the man Xie Chengze raised at home, so they were a little dazed after seeing him.

They investigated and found out that the man Xie Chengze raised was a yamen servant he kidnapped from outside.

What does that yamen servant look like? Everyone thought that Xie Chengze’s man should be a dark strong man with a fierce face, but in fact…he was a gentle and elegant man like spring breeze and bright moon.

The people who had laughed at Lu Yanzhou before didn’t look very good now.

Lu Yanzhou is much more handsome than them!

There are also some people who are not so gossipy and even think that it has nothing to do with them what kind of person Xie Chengze likes or what he wants to do. When these people see Lu Yanzhou, they have only one thought — turns out this person looks like this! No wonder Xie Gonggong liked it and kidnapped him back to the capital!

Xie Chengze looked at the people around him coldly, then led Lu Yanzhou to the seat he had arranged, then asked Lu Yanzhou to sit down.

As for himself, he would have to serve the emperor later.

“Lu Lang, you wait here. If someone is disrespectful to you, you can just tell someone to tell me.” Xie Chengze still called him Lu Lang, but his voice and demeanor were completely different from when he was alone with Lu Yanzhou. When he said this, he also glanced at the people around them.

“Brother Xie, don’t worry about me, I can handle it.” Lu Yanzhou said.

Xie Chengze left, but he still left someone by Lu Yanzhou’s side.

As soon as Xie Chengze left, everyone’s eyes focused on Lu Yanzhou.

Being stared at by so many people, Lu Yanzhou smiled broadly and looked at them calmly.

If someone looked at him with malicious gazes, he would just ignore it. If someone looked at him with inquiring gazes…Lu Yanzhou raised his cup and smiled at the other person.

Wang Tingyun looked at Lu Yanzhou’s smile and frowned in thought.

He knew that the man beside Xie Chengze was the one who deceived his daughter.

He hated that man with all his heart, but he didn’t know what that man looked like.

So that person looks like this? Wang Tingyun suddenly understood why his daughter had lost her head.

It’s a pity that this guy’s embroidered pillow is just a straw inside, it’s only skin deep.

Everyone else thought the same.

Although they looked down on Xie Chengze and even Lu Yanzhou, but now that Xie Chengze was in power, they were unwilling and did not dare to confront Xie Chengze, so no one came up to find fault with Lu Yanzhou.

However, there were people who wanted to curry favor with Xie Chengze, or it was Xie Chengze’s subordinates who simply went up to talk to Lu Yanzhou.

Facing these people, Lu Yanzhou dealt with them appropriately, then these people secretly sighed — Xie Gonggong’s taste is really not bad.

Lu Yanzhou and the others came early, then everyone soon arrived. At this time, the emperor finally arrived with several princes and several concubines.

After some conversation, the banquet officially began.

The emperor left it to Xie Chengze to prepare the ‘tofu banquet’ this time, so Xie Chengze solicited Lu Yanzhou’s opinion to draft the menu.

Fried chicken is considered junk food in modern times, but in this era which lacks oil, this is the supreme delicacy.

And very precious!

Therefore, the first dish served was fried chicken drumstick, followed by fried fish, fried pork ribs, croquettes and even many other fried foods.

The quantity of each item is not much, just one piece. Besides these, there is also no shortage of soy products such as tofu soup.

Dishes that everyone had never seen before were served one by one, and those who had no expectations for the food at the banquet were shocked.

Some people who had eaten in advance regretted filling their stomachs before coming.

The food at this banquet is really delicious. They really wonder what the white jade-like food was made of.

Lu Yanzhou looked around and knew that their business wouldn’t be too bad next time. However, at this moment, the emperor on the dragon throne suddenly thought of Lu Yanzhou and asked Lu Yanzhou to go over.

Lu Yanzhou once again appeared in front of people, attracting everyone’s attention.

Everyone thought that the emperor would be a little disgusted with Lu Yanzhou who was involved with Xie Chengze. They never thought that the emperor would say to Xie Chengze: “Little Xie, you have good taste. He’s very good looking! Hahahaha!” The emperor, who was in a good mood, even asked Xie Chengze and Lu Yanzhou to eat dinner together, so there was no need to wait on him.

The ministers: “…” The emperor is still the same!

As for Lu Yanzhou and Xie Chengze, they sat down together, then Lu Yanzhou began to give various foods to Xie Chengze.

Xie Chengze straightened his back and kept paying attention to everything around him, but Lu Yanzhou was different. He only had Xie Chengze in his eyes. From time to time, he would feed Xie Chengze something too.

Lu Yanzhou made his decision from the very beginning. In front of others, he has to play the role of a pretty boy next to Xie Chengze.

As for these people…of course it’s to make money, make money, make a lot of money from them!

Building up grain while slowing down the reign of kind is the right way1Slow and steady wins the race!

Everyone saw the handsome man beside Xie Gonggong taking care of his food and drink with a smile from a distance.

They used to think that Lu Yanzhou might be a shield brought by Xie Chengze, but now they believe that Xie Chengze is really interested in this person.

They even envied Xie Chengze.

Of course, there are also people who envy Lu Yanzhou — there are always many people who covet Xie Chengze.

1Slow and steady wins the race