That figure in dark purple halted its advance upon hearing this, slowly turned around, and said with a fawning smile,
“Um, do you need me to find you a razor?”
“Rong San, you—!!!”
Feng Qingchen, who hadn’t slept for several days due to the preparations for the enthronement ceremony, squeezed out three words from between his teeth with difficulty, then rolled his eyes and acted as if he were about to faint.
Fortunately, Murong Bai, a divine physician even more skilled than an imperial physician, was there.
He took out silver needles from his sleeve and inserted them into several acupoints on Feng Qingchen’s face. Feng Qingchen, who had fainted from anger, slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing the Prime Minister did upon waking was to roll up his sleeves and go after the person leisurely fanning himself nearby for a fight.
“You black-hearted Rong San, I, I, I’ll fight you to the death!”
Feng Qingchen spoke and threw a punch, but alas, being a scholar, he couldn’t even touch the other person’s clothes, let alone hit them.
“Rong San, you stop for me!”
Hua Jinrong, who was running and stopping like a cat being walked, fanned himself and said,
“Feng Si, if I stop, wouldn’t you be able to hit me?
Of course, it wouldn’t matter if you hit me a few times, but if you accidentally hurt your hand while hitting me, wouldn’t that become my fault?”
Seeing that Feng Qingchen was about to roll his eyes again, Murong Bai had to step in to mediate.
“Alright, Rong San, don’t provoke him anymore. If you continue to do so, you’ll drive him mad, and you’ll be the one to suffer.”
“That’s right.”
Hua Jinrong thought about it, nodded in agreement, then stood in front of Feng Qingchen, assuming a posture of heroic sacrifice with righteous indignation. “Feng Si, come at me. I promise not to move and will let you pluck me as you please~”
Hearing those “filthy words,” Lin Qingge suddenly called out,
“Xia Cheng Ye.”
“Hmm?”
Hua Jinrong subconsciously turned his head, met a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling yet not smiling, and then realized he had been tricked by the latter.
“If I recall correctly, Xia should be the imperial surname, right?
The current Emperor is named Xia Cheng Lin, and Xia Cheng Ye is only one character different from Xia Cheng Lin. Therefore, to be called Xia Cheng Ye, one must at least be a prince, right?”
Hua Jinrong, whose disguise had been revealed, shrugged indifferently, “Your Excellency, when one is out, doesn’t everyone have a few aliases?
And precisely because Xia is the imperial surname, it’s always effective for bluffing when something happens~”
“Heh heh.”
Lin Qingge rolled her eyes to the sky and turned away from this place of trouble.
The enthronement ceremony began on time.
Because of her relatively low official position, Lin Qingge stood in a relatively rear position, and Yan Tinghao and others naturally stood behind her.
After the commotion at the palace gate, the officials who had written letters of leave of absence tried their best to stay away from these people who would resort to feigning injury at the slightest disagreement, causing a vacuum zone to form around Lin Qingge and her companions.
From afar, it looked like they had formed their own faction.
Standing at the very front of the main hall were the Right Prime Minister Shangguan Hong, who had been taking leave and not attending morning court, and the Left Prime Minister Feng Qingchen, who looked displeased with everything he saw.
“So that’s Prime Minister Shangguan. A big head and a thin neck, he looks like someone who only eats and doesn’t work.
I really don’t know how this creature, who has neither looks nor sincerity, managed to win over a beauty?”
Lin Qingge did not deliberately lower her voice. Although Prime Minister Shangguan in front could not hear, the surrounding officials heard it clearly. One by one, they cast surprised, even horrified, glances.
“What, did I say something wrong?
Or do Your Excellencies also share my thoughts?”
As soon as Lin Qingge spoke, everyone was so frightened that they lowered their heads.
At this moment, a eunuch’s sharp voice sounded:
“The auspicious time has arrived, the new Emperor and Empress ascend the throne!”
Immediately afterward, three whip cracks sounded from the steps, and under the command of the master of ceremonies, the officials performed the ritual of three跪 nine kowtows.
However, Lin Qingge stood motionlessly, staring intently at the pair of perfect lovers on the high platform, completely ignoring the continuous pronouncements of the master of ceremonies about the Emperor being the true Son of Heaven, inheriting the will of heaven and ancestors, and ruling the world.
The man, the new Emperor.
Unsurprisingly, it was the face she hated the most, without exception!
The woman, the Empress.
Although her face was veiled by a珠帘, she recognized her from her figure as someone she had spent half a year with day and night!
Her sister Ning Yue!
Perhaps it was Lin Qingge’s sudden stillness and refusal to kneel and bow, or perhaps her gaze, which had almost solidified into substance, was too obvious.
The new Emperor and Empress, who were in the midst of the enthronement ceremony, both looked over.
And the hand of the new Emperor, which had been raised halfway into the air to embrace the Empress, stopped awkwardly in mid-air.
Lin Qingge squinted her eyes unhappily. She finally understood what her sister Ning Yue had meant when she said she knew something she probably wouldn’t agree with.
Damn Lin Moyuan!
With three thousand beauties in his harem, he still shamelessly abducted her sister Ning Yue!
Did he believe she would turn around right now and contact Prince Wucheng to rebel?
As Lin Qingge gritted her teeth in annoyance, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out from outside:
“I do not agree!
Where did this woman come from? It should be me who stands shoulder to shoulder with His Majesty!”
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Prime Minister Shangguan, who had just realized something was amiss, looked at the newcomer with surprise, “Wan’er?”
After Prime Minister Shangguan spoke, his gaze fell on the person on the platform wearing a phoenix coronet and a robe of auspicious clouds, and he said strangely,
“Since Wan’er is here, then who is the Empress?”
Lin Moyuan, dressed in imperial robes, or rather, the new Emperor Xia Cheng Lin, said coldly with a stern face,
“Prime Minister Shangguan, are you perhaps unwell recently and suffering from delusion?
Your daughter Shangguan Wan’er is standing right beside朕, is she not?”
After the initial excitement, the gorgeously dressed woman who rushed into the hall restrained her previous anger and sobbed tearfully,
“Your Majesty, I am the true Shangguan Wan’er!
I am the Shangguan Wan’er who has been by your side for many years!
Your Majesty, please do not be deceived by this vixen who appeared from nowhere!”
Lin Qingge, who was holding her arms and clicking her tongue, watched as the grand scene of catching someone in the act instantly turned into a confrontation between the real and fake daughters,
“Tsk tsk, with acting skills that can make one cry on command, even a vixen would have to admit defeat, wouldn’t she?”
“More than that, Your Excellency. This imposter Prime Minister’s daughter is a master of changing faces~”
“Rong San, you should be content!
You only dealt with this woman for Lin Da once. Back then, all of their wedding was done by me!
I, who vowed to remain unmarried for life, ended up bowing and marrying such a creature!
No, I should just shave my head and become a monk!”
Feng Qingchen, who had approached at some point, said while rubbing the goosebumps on his arms with disgust.
“So, you all planned this for a long time, intending to play a big one during the enthronement ceremony?”
“Your Excellency, this is all His Majesty’s idea, and it has nothing to do with this student and others~”