Not long after the palace examination, the capital bustled with excitement as the Qionglin Banquet was held.

It was the perfect time in the third month of spring. In the Qionglin Garden, the peach blossoms bloomed more splendidly on each tree, like a hazy sea of pink smoke. When the breeze blew, petals fluttered gracefully, carried by the wind and falling onto the banquet venue and the shoulders of the guests, making the already elated scholars feel even more intoxicated.

In recent years, the Qionglin Banquet of the Wen Dynasty had been held very grandly and could be said to be a place where one could rise to fame and fortune in a single step. This was because, in addition to the new scholars who had emerged victorious among the thousands of students this year, there were also the aristocratic families and imperial relatives of the capital, each with a more prestigious status than the last. More than half of the officials in the capital who had a say could basically be found here.

For the new scholars, it was not a bad thing to be able to make a good impression on these dignitaries at the Qionglin Banquet.

As for the dignitaries in the capital, it wouldn't hurt to show their faces in front of these scholars at the Qionglin Banquet, as there was no telling how many of them might be able to enter the court in the future.

Moreover, in recent years, compared to military officials, Emperor Wen Xiao had obviously paid more attention to supporting civil officials, so they all followed Emperor Wen Xiao's intentions with great discernment and went out of their way to create momentum for the Qionglin Banquet.

The ambitious scholars hoped to display their talents in front of the dignitaries and lay a good foundation for their future in officialdom. If they were even luckier, they could directly gain the favor of some high-ranking officials, and their future career paths would presumably be worry-free.

The dignitaries also needed to observe the true abilities of these new talents at the Qionglin Banquet. Therefore, under the circumstances where both parties had needs, the competitive yet elegant activity of poetry and prose contests became an unwritten rule at the Qionglin Banquet.

However, this Qionglin Banquet was a little different. It had been going on for nearly an hour, and everyone had exchanged all the pleasantries they could, but no one took the initiative to bring up the main event of the poetry and prose contest. The atmosphere fell into a brief silence.

The reason was obvious, and everyone present knew it well.

Sitting at the head of the table today was Prince Su!

They never imagined that Prince Su, a pure military commander, would one day appear at the Qionglin Banquet to entertain civil scholars. Not to mention that Prince Su rarely attended various banquets in the capital in the first place, even if he were to attend, he should have gone to the Huiwu Banquet to entertain military scholars! What was a military commander doing among a bunch of civil officials?

To say the least, with Prince Su sitting there, the murderous aura he had cultivated on the frontier frightened the civil officials and most of the inexperienced scholars so much that they didn't even dare to breathe heavily. As a result, the atmosphere of the entire banquet was bizarrely affected, and there were occasional lulls.

However, although everyone was as quiet as chickens on the surface, in fact, every scholar and official present was silently pondering some gossip that was not easy to say out loud.

The reason for Prince Su's abrupt appearance at the Qionglin Banquet this time was actually quite obvious.

Didn't you see them cowering their necks in fear of Prince Su's murderous aura, while their eyes couldn't help but sneak glances at the person beside Prince Su?

The man sitting next to Prince Su, with his outstanding appearance and demeanor, wasn't he the young master of the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion, Young Master Xie, whose gossip with Prince Su had recently spread throughout the capital?

It seemed that the rumors in the capital were not exaggerated this time. Prince Su was indeed very attentive to this young master. At this Qionglin Banquet, Prince Su was obviously only accompanying Xie Ming. Throughout the entire event, he was only busy pouring wine and serving food for Xie Ming. Even though he sat in the highest position due to his status, he didn't pay much attention to the other people at the banquet.

It is often said that heroes have a hard time overcoming the hurdle of beauties... Has Prince Su, this hard rock, finally fallen?

It was just unknown whether the Marquis Xinyuan, whose only seedling had been taken, would be so angry that he would secretly curse Prince Su in the middle of the night.

Although Xie Ming appeared indifferent and showed no rejection to Prince Su's closeness, who didn't know that this young master judged people by their appearance? He had always despised rough men like Prince Su the most, and he was also proudly aloof. If he was willing to submit to Prince Su, that would be truly bizarre!

Xie Ming was probably pressured by Prince Su's power and status. After all, even though the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion was powerful, it was still a notch below Prince Su Mansion.

Although the atmosphere was inexplicably awkward, everyone's minds were filled with surging thoughts, which could be considered quite interesting in its own way.

In the end, it was the Fourth Prince who stepped forward to break this awkward situation. He stood up, first toasted a cup of wine to Prince Su, and then spoke with ease, "We've already had three rounds of wine. Why don't we take this opportunity, while the mood is high, to invite the scholars to play a game of poetry contest, so that we can witness the elegance of the new scholars."

Among those present, apart from Prince Su, the princes had the highest status. The Fourth Prince now took the initiative to bring up the topic, which was undoubtedly the most appropriate.

Prince Su glanced at the Fourth Prince and rarely cooperated, saying two words, "Please proceed."

Seeing that Prince Su had finally expressed his stance, someone immediately followed up on the Fourth Prince's words, and thus the Qionglin Banquet was able to continue smoothly. The Fourth Prince also left a light but positive impression in everyone's minds due to his appropriate performance this time.

The scholars had prepared with great effort for this segment. Once the poetry contest began, they even forgot their apprehension towards Prince Su for a while and competed to recite poems, producing many excellent pieces. When the atmosphere reached its peak, even a few great scholars joined in and contributed a couple of poems.

He Yan sat upright beside Prince Su, quietly observing the liveliness in front of him without joining them, just drinking by himself.

Xie Ming himself only had an average level of literary skills. As an outsider, he was even more clueless about writing poems and essays.

However, this did not prevent him from watching this group of people compose poems with great interest. After all, he had only heard some superficial knowledge about various events of this period in history class. Being able to witness it in person was also a very novel experience.

Prince Su, despite being a local, had no trace of a scholar's mindset. So, the two "illiterates" sat at the head of the table, surrounded by a group of scholars, drinking and eating in their own world.

Seeing the young man tilt his head back and down another cup of peach blossom wine, his eyes turning a deep red at the corners, Prince Su couldn't help but frown and quietly advise, "Drink slower, be careful not to get too drunk or you'll have a headache when you go back."

Hearing this, He Yan shifted his gaze from the group of people who were happily competing in poetry, glanced at him, and replied lightly, "If I get drunk, won't it be convenient for you to do bad things? You should be happy."

Perhaps it was the drunkenness taking over, but at this moment, the young man's beautiful peach blossom eyes were glistening with a moist, gentle light. The way he looked at him from the corner of his eye was especially endearing. Coupled with his suggestive words, it only took a few moments for Prince Su's face and body to tense up.

"Ah Ming," Prince Su paused and said in a low voice, "You're drunk, be good, don't drink anymore."

His Ah Ming loved to tease him even when sober, and now that he was drunk, his words were even more provocative than usual. If he let him continue like this a few more times, he, a dignified prince, would likely embarrass himself in public today.

He Yan was indeed a little drunk, but unfortunately, drunk people generally lack the self-awareness that they are drunk, and He Yan was no exception.

He let out a soft snort, raised his hand to pour himself another cup of wine, and muttered in a small, resentful voice, "You're the one who's drunk!"

Prince Su was enchanted by his adorable, complaining appearance, and wished he could immediately pour him another cup of wine as he wished. But rationally, he knew that Xie Ming would harm his health if he continued drinking like this.

He quickly reached out and grasped the young man's wrist, using a clever trick to switch the pointed-mouth wine pot to his own hand, and comforted, "Ah Ming, be good."

The peach blossom wine was very mild on the palate, but unexpectedly had a strong kick. With this body's poor alcohol tolerance, He Yan quickly became drunk.

He Yan was now intoxicated, his cheeks flushed. Seeing Prince Su snatch his wine pot, he immediately reached out to grab it back. However, he still vaguely remembered that this was a very formal Qionglin banquet, and he couldn't blatantly make Prince Su lose face.

So he held back his anger, leaned closer to the man, and threatened in a low voice, "If you don't return the wine pot to me, I'll beat you when we get back!"

Was it going to be like that night, where he would "kick" him with his soft feet, tormenting him...

Prince Su imagined it for a moment and was involuntarily stunned by the young man's threat, almost letting the young man snatch the wine pot back from his hand.

He Yan's expression had already shown obvious dissatisfaction. In order to grab the wine pot, he had almost thrown himself into Prince Su's arms, but still failed to retrieve his wine pot.

He Yan was resentful inside, but since he couldn't hit someone in public, he reached out and fiercely pinched Prince Su's waist.

Drunk people have little strength. Even though He Yan felt he had been very vicious, in reality, the thick-skinned Prince Su only felt the young man's hand lightly pinching his waist.

Not only did it not hurt, it fired him up.

This Qionglin banquet was truly unbearable.

Prince Su felt he was burning even more intensely than the drunk Xie Ming. He used his internal strength to barely suppress the heat in his body and began to ponder how to take Xie Ming and leave early.

But the poetry competition had just ended, and the writing contest had only begun. It was estimated that it would not end for at least an hour.

If it were just him, he could directly leave early regardless of his reputation. But his Ah Ming was beside him, and his Ah Ming cared the most about saving face. Leaving midway was still a bit impolite, and Ah Ming would probably be upset with him in his heart after sobering up.

Just as Prince Su was troubled, the Fourth Prince had already extricated himself from the crowd at some point and came to his side. With a smiling face, he said very considerately, "Sir Xie looks drunk. Imperial Uncle, you should take him back. Your nephew will explain it clearly over there and will not let Sir Xie be gossiped about."

Prince Su pondered for a moment, then nodded to the Fourth Prince. This nephew of his was very tactful and good at reading expressions. If nothing else, he was quite satisfied with the Fourth Prince's ability to handle matters.

As for He Yan, when Prince Su supported him to stand up, he saw the Fourth Prince beside them and reflexively showed a hint of disgust on his face.