Qiao Ying took Lin Cheng's arm, dressed in a stunning red gown.
Her attire and Lin Cheng by her side made her the most eye-catching presence at this royal banquet.
The dress was prepared by Lin Cheng, deliberately not wearing the gown the Royal Family had prepared, in order to make Qiao Ying stand out more and have everyone pay attention to her. After all, this year's state banquet was held ahead of time because of the two of them, and they were the main characters of the banquet.
As soon as Qiao Ying entered, she spotted that tall figure.
Qin Hanyue was holding a glass of wine, away from the hustle and bustle, standing alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. His black plain woven suit made his overall temperament even more sharp and cold today, which set off his features to be even more hard.
His deep eyes fell on Qiao Ying's hand holding Lin Cheng's arm.
Then he took a sip of wine, as if to suppress his emotions.
The chatting crowd stopped and an eerie silence slowly fell over the lively palace.
Without exception, they all looked towards the two people entering the main hall.
Then came the buzz of whispering.
As Qiao Ying said,
There was the Pro-King Party that supported the marriage between Karina and Lin Cheng,
And naturally there was another party that did not support Lin Cheng inheriting the throne by marrying Karina. So next we could see those who were not on good terms with Lin Cheng usually would take the initiative to greet Lin Cheng and inquire about Qiao Ying, and then congratulate the two.
Karina attended the banquet in full costume, wearing a black veil that covered her face. Under the veil, her resentful eyes wished she could shred Qiao Ying, who was the center of attention, into pieces.
Seeing Lin Cheng with Qiao Ying by his side, Lai En's mouth curled up slightly. The girl seemed to be looking for someone, her eyes slowly sweeping the main hall, and stayed on him for a moment when she saw him.
Seeing this, Lai En enthusiastically raised his glass towards Qiao Ying with a bright smile, very friendly.
Qin Hanyue by the floor-to-ceiling window saw their silent interaction from afar. The hand holding the wine glass gradually loosened its strength.
Behind him, his father's words called Lai En's attention back: "Is that girl Lin Cheng’s girlfriend?”
Lai En turned to look at his father: "Yes, a Chinese girl, very beautiful and especially interesting."
Someone interjected: "It's a pity she is Lin Cheng’s girlfriend and they plan to get married, even refusing Princess Karina because of this."
Lai En didn’t care: "So what?"
Another person followed: "That's right, so what. Who doesn't know Duke Lai En has his way with women. Not to mention someone else's girlfriend, even someone else's wife, as long as the Duke has his eyes on her..."
He chuckled, the implication was obvious.
The few people exchanged glances, and then all tactfully ended this topic. Apparently they were just joking around and didn’t really want to see Lai En seduce Lin Cheng’s girlfriend.
Not far from Qin Hanyue, Flowing Shadow and Moon Shadow were standing. An earl dressed like the White Horse Prince walked past them and shoved his empty wine glass directly into Flowing Shadow’s hand.
Flowing Shadow looked at the empty wine glass in his hand with dangerous eyes.
The two of them had been mistaken for servants more than once.
Moon Shadow took the glass from him and stopped a bloody and brutal scene from happening in time.
Moon Shadow: "There are too many people here, let's split up and look."
Flowing Shadow looked at the bustling crowd in the hall, then at Qiao Ying who was surrounded. He nodded reluctantly.
"If you find anything, don't act rashly. We don't know how much power he has in the royal family." Moon Shadow's eyes swept over those flashy royal family members in the hall: "It would be best if we could catch them all in one net to avoid future troubles."
Flowing Shadow hmm-ed in response and was about to walk towards the crowd.
Moon Shadow stopped him: "Restrain your aura a bit more, and keep your hands hidden."
Flowing Shadow moved his mouth: "I know."
Qiao Ying disliked such occasions the most. She used to have Qin Hanyue get rid of one or two people for her, let alone having to deal with a large group now. Qiao Ying directly pretended to be deaf and mute, leaving Lin Cheng alone to handle them, while she searched for Mr. J in the crowd herself.
After one group who didn’t wish for the marriage was done giving blessings, another group who supported the marriage followed. This group clearly had a different attitude towards Qiao Ying. However, Qiao Ying didn’t care about their attitude at all.
Seeing Qiao Ying distracted, they thought Qiao Ying couldn't understand what they were saying. So they advised Lin Cheng to marry Karina without any consideration for Qiao Ying's feelings, letting her know that she should step aside on her own accord after seeing the gap between her status and Lin Cheng’s.
They insinuated in various words that Lin Cheng shouldn't be too selfish and only consider himself. He was loved by C Country’s citizens thanks to the king’s trust and support.
He should not fail the king.
Lin Cheng: "My girlfriend can understand you. I hope everyone can give her due respect."
After Lin Cheng spoke out, it was strangely quiet around them for a moment.
Qiao Ying retracted her gaze from afar and glanced at everyone. The atmosphere instantly became even more awkward.
Someone tried to break the silence by asking about Qiao Ying's family background and identity, wanting to show Qiao Ying the gap between her and Lin Cheng to make her quit voluntarily.
Yet Qiao Ying made them face reality instead: "He doesn't like Karina and doesn't want to inherit the throne. Even if it's not me, it would be someone else. Rather than persuading Lin Cheng, it's better to help the king find a good successor."
The atmosphere froze again.
Offended by Lin Cheng’s presence, they did not get angry with Qiao Ying.
Lai En’s words full of smiles rang out: “Miss Qiao is absolutely right.” Lai En strongly agreed with what Qiao Ying said, he almost applauded.
Seeing Lai En, the expressions of these people were very interesting. It could be seen that they, the Pro-King Party, did not favor Lai En either, which meant they were not on the same side as Lai En.
At the same time, Lai En and Lin Cheng might be at odds too.
Lai En and Lin Cheng were the two youngest dukes in the C Country’s royal family. That said something, obviously.
Qiao Ying's gaze went over Lai En's shoulder and looked at another person. That person had his back turned and left, blocked from view by others.
Just now that person had been standing with Lai En the whole time with his back to her. Qiao Ying could only see his side face. Judging by his side face and age, he should be a blood relative of Lai En.
Lai En: “Is Miss Qiao interested in knowing more about me?”
With Lin Cheng present, Lai En’s frivolous attitude immediately made the faces of those around look bad. If someone like Lai En ascended the throne, they would definitely not have good days.
Lin Cheng: "Duke Lai En overpraises me. I just want to marry the girl I like. I have no intention of making enemies with the royal family."
Lai En: "It was my mistake. Duke Cheng please don't mind.”
Lai En smiled and turned to look at Qiao Ying: "Miss Qiao, do you still remember me?" His smile deepened. Without asking, he lifted his wine glass and clinked Qiao Ying’s.
Qiao Ying: "Did you come alone, Mr. Lai En?"
Lai En: “Is Miss Qiao interested in knowing more about me?”
Even with so many people present, Lai En was still so frivolous. The faces of those around them were even more ugly now. If someone like Lai En took the throne, they would definitely not have good days.
Although keeping his distance from the crowds, Qin Hanyue still inevitably attracted attention.
Many recognized Qin Hanyue and came over to greet him, very surprised that Qin Hanyue would appear at their state banquet.
Seeing Qin Hanyue didn’t even have a female companion, their minds became active at once, wanting to marry their daughters or female relatives to him.
While danger and turbulence brewed under the surface on one side of the royal banquet, on Qin Hanyue’s side it was like a matchmaking session.
Qin Hanyue got rid of them with a few words.
His eyes had been on Qiao Ying all this time, unable to look away at all.
"Mr. Qin." Kala walked over.
"I just learned that Mr. Qin's girlfriend is also surnamed Qiao, named Qiao Ying. Her name sounds very similar to Duke Lin Cheng’s girlfriend Qiao Yin."
Kala walked over quickly and spoke very fast, successfully making Qin Hanyue stop in his tracks.
