Chapter 28: What Good is That Head of Yours?
Li Feng surveyed the scene before her with great satisfaction. “We are all family here, there’s no need for such formality. Please, take your seats.”
With Jun He at their head, the five consorts took their seats in order beside Li XuanYue.
“I heard that Princess XuanYue is in poor health. And that she may have difficulty bearing children!”
Someone from the five clans suddenly let the question hang in the air, instantly steering the conversation back to the tense standoff of the previous day. The pleasant atmosphere shattered, frozen in an instant.
Li XuanYue glanced at the faces around the hall but said nothing. She had already made the matter of heirs perfectly clear yesterday. It was nothing more than a groundless rumor she had deliberately spread to expose Li QingHe’s true colors. She just hadn’t expected it to be quite this effective, or for so many people to have heard about it.
“And who, Second Prince, told you that?” Li Feng asked coolly, setting down her wine cup. She looked directly at Prince Jun Mo of the Snake Clan.
After getting to the bottom of the matter yesterday, Li Feng had immediately sent people to dispel the rumors and circulate Physician Fang’s official diagnosis. Had they not received the news?
The Second Prince, Jun Mo, froze. He hadn’t expected Li Feng herself to step in and question him on Li XuanYue’s behalf. After recovering, he quickly put down his own cup and replied, “I heard it from the common folk of other clans on the way here. I was merely inquiring out of concern for the Eldest Princess.”
But Jun Mo’s intentions were anything but kind. Whether Li XuanYue could have children or not had little to do with him. He was asking purely to see his half-brother, Jun He, made into a laughingstock.
Back in the Snake Clan, Jun He had always acted high and mighty, ignoring the other princes because his mother was the Emperor’s favored concubine. Now, his mother was dead, and he himself had been cast aside, sent to the Phoenix Clan in a political marriage. To say Jun Mo wasn’t gloating would be a lie.
If Jun He couldn’t even produce a legitimate heir in the future, how pitiful would that be? The very thought of it filled him with glee.
How could Jun He not see through his second brother’s petty games? He paid him no mind at all. With a cold, indifferent expression, he simply picked up his chopsticks and began eating the food before him.
Li XuanYue shot him a sidelong glance but remained silent. She knew full well that her five consorts were far from the innocent lambs they appeared to be on the surface.
Especially this Consort Jun. The more aloof he appeared, the more ruthless he was when he finally struck from the shadows. She remembered it all too well from her past life. On their wedding night, when her madness had been triggered, Consort Jun had shown her no mercy. He knew she had been drugged, but to save his own skin, he had still raised a dagger and stabbed her in the chest.
Although she had eventually tortured him to death, the ferocious look in his eyes from that moment was seared into her memory. It was a look of hatred and defiance. Even now, the memory of it made her skin crawl.
“Then has the Second Prince also heard from the people of my Phoenix Clan that this matter is false?” Li Feng said, her patience wearing thin. “Only the common folk enjoy spreading baseless rumors. As a member of the Snake Clan’s royal family, how could you believe such things?”
The implication was clear: You aren’t some ignorant peasant, so why would you believe everything you hear? What good is that head on your shoulders? You might as well stop thinking for yourself and just listen to whatever others say.
Li Feng’s words were as cutting as they could be, offering Jun Mo absolutely no face.
His expression was a picture of humiliation. In his entire life, aside from being thwarted by Jun He, he had never been so thoroughly shamed in front of so many people. Li Feng’s rebuke had made him lose a great deal of face before all the clans.
Worse, she was right. If everyone simply listened to others without using their own minds, what was the difference between them and the mindless snakes that had yet to gain sentience?
For a moment, unable to find a single word of rebuttal, Jun Mo could only sit there, seething as he sullenly drank his wine.
The members of the other four clans watched him suffer, a flicker of schadenfreude in their eyes. In their view, this Second Prince of the Snake Clan was a complete idiot. He had taken a perfectly fine welcome banquet and deliberately brought up the host’s most sensitive issue. He might as well have pointed at Li Feng’s face and declared that the Phoenix Clan was doomed.
The fact that Li Feng hadn’t already had the guards throw him out was a show of immense restraint. What more could he possibly expect?
After a few more rounds of drinks, several of the visiting relatives began to grow tipsy. Lang Hua’s aunt, Shu Fen, was the most notable. With just a few cups in her, her true form was completely revealed.
She transformed into a fox.
Her fiery red fur looked soft and sleek, and her enchanting fox eyes were lazy with drink. She brazenly rested her fox head right on the table. Beside her, Lang Hua was dying of second-hand embarrassment. She was truly treating the Empress and the others as if they were old friends.
“The Phoenix Clan’s wine really is the best,” Shu Fen slurred, smacking her foxy lips. She lifted her head from the table, the very picture of vulpine charm. “Hua’er, when your auntie goes home, you have to beg the Phoenix Empress for a few jars for me. I want to take them back to savor properly.”
Lang Hua was speechless. Was it possible to pretend he didn’t know her?
“Don’t you worry, Aunt.” Shu Fen’s tipsy fox form truly warmed Li XuanYue’s heart. “When you leave, I will be sure to have my Mother Empress gift you several jars. Enough for you to drink your fill when you get home.”
Lang Hua looked at Li XuanYue, surprised. She didn’t find this display improper? Or did she simply not care? A complex look flickered in his dark eyes.
“Hee hee, Princess XuanYue is so thoughtful. Not like my nephew Lang Hua. I ask him a question, and he doesn’t even answer,” Shu Fen grumbled with a pout of her fox muzzle. “He really needs a spanking.”
“Alright, that’s enough for today. Everyone is dismissed,” Li Feng announced. Shu Fen revealing her true form was a common occurrence among the hundred clans; she didn’t feel disrespected in the slightest. On the contrary, she found it refreshingly genuine. She rose and gestured with her hand, leaving the rest to Li XuanYue.
“Consort Lang, please help your aunt to my quarters to rest,” Li XuanYue instructed. “As for the other four, you will follow Yin Xin.” As her head palace maid and confidante, Yin Xin should have no problem handling such a task.
“Everyone, this way, please!” Suddenly entrusted with such an important duty, Yin Xin felt a surge of pride and validation. She puffed out her chest and gestured for the four consorts to follow. This was her first time handling something like this, and she had to appear mature and capable, lest she embarrass her princess.
Just then, one of the consorts spoke up.
“Princess, I have some matters I wish to discuss privately with Consort Zhong. I wonder if Your Highness could grant me this favor?”
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