Of Soil And Sovereign

In the palace the day was going so slowly for Xuan, he would be finally seeing Mei the following day and that made him anxious he reviewed all the reports and memorials as well as scrolls took a stroll within the imperial garden and did a bit of training but looking at the sun it wasn't even ready to set yet as if mocking his impatience.

What worried him more was what he would take to her as a gift if he gave her jewellery or anything she won't be able to sell them as one couldnt sell a royal gift, so he decided on gifting her coins instead, He called his chief eunuch and requested him to withdraw about 1 tael of gold from his personal savings and to bring it back to him.

He had dinner and went to his chambers as the sun was setting; with his gift prepared, he proceeded to bed. However, he couldn't sleep easily, tossing and turning all night. He finally slept in the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning was business as usual, and Xuan went to court, where he sat there listening to men having wars with words, everyone trying to paint one another in a bad light in his eyes.

After court, Xuan met with Rui and Chen; they agreed to meet at the residence that evening. Left alone, Xuan found the time passing quickly as he waited.

His mind was in chaos and he was in jitters he couldn't keep still he hated this version of himself whenever it came to Mei all his rationale disappeared making him act like a teenager in love and since he had stopped the investigator from delivering reports as she was now in the capital he felt more ache in his heart.

The carriage stopping pulled him away from his thoughts and he knew he reached he took a deep breath and stepped down once he did, he saw Rui and Chen but they were not alone as they had a third person with them, and the moment he saw who it was he felt rage and the two seeing the emperor knew they were in for a hard time as they could sense his rag. They dared bring the young master of Prime Minister Feng Shirong's residence, the maternal cousin of the two siblings, and he was not sure why he was there as he was from the same family that abandoned the poor kids when they needed them the most.

They all bowed and Shirong could see the emperor's hostile gaze from his side eye, and what shocked him more was the emperor was visiting this household casually. Now, his curiosity increased.

He found Rui and Chen in a good mood this afternoon and when he asked why, they told him they were attending a party since they were in a good mood; he asked if he could accompany them they denied vehemently and the more they denied him the more his curiosity grew the more they opposed the more he wanted to go even when he knew it was rude to attend a party without an invitation he latched hard to them and they couldn't shake him off.

The only advice they gave him was when the time came, he should make a good offer to be forgiven, which confused him more, and now he understood why.

The more the emperor stared at him, the more he felt pressure pressing him down. He fell to his knees, apologised, and promised the emperor he would go to the areas where merchants experienced bandits to curb them.

The emperor was shocked because of this party. He had a quick solution to all his current problems, and he was surprised how much these young masters would go to satisfy their curiosity.

Allowing them to stand, he walked towards the gate, with them trailing behind him. Upon reaching the gate, he noticed the steward and Mingde waiting to greet them. Mingde bowed and expressed gratitude to the young master for visiting on behalf of their family and then proceeded to introduce himself.

Upon hearing the name Shirong, looked up to see a handsome young fellow, and the last time he saw this cousin of his was young, following him around like a shadow.

Shame hit him when their eyes met, and he wished for the earth to swallow him as he could see the recognition in his cousin's eyes. He wished he had never come, and what hurt him more was his cousin's act as if he were a stranger despite him deserving it.

Once, Mingde welcomed the four young men, and all of them introduced themselves. When Sirong introduced himself, Mingde didn't react and just nodded, which surprised all of them as they were hoping for him to show his displeasure.

He led them to the prepared spot for the dinner, and Rui immediately liked this cute younger brother. He felt like pinching his cheeks; Chen also liked the small boy despite his young age. He acted very mature and wasn't clumsy at all. He decided to introduce his younger brother, who was a little troublemaker with this younger brother so that he could learn how to behave well from him.

Once they reached the party place, they expected it to be within the hall but were shocked at the beautiful open spot where an enormous table was set with the sun setting and the lantern at the four corners. The setup evoked something deep in them.

The smell was heavenly, all coming from the flowers set at the centre of the table. With every colour mixed, one could see the person who did this put a lot of effort into it, and Xuan felt proud of Mei's thoughtfulness and creativity.

They were instructed to sit and Xuan took the seat next to Mingde once they all sat they were assisted to wash their hands with warm water. Rui was not a quiet person and he complimented everything from the setup of the place to the flowers , Mingde thanked him as he was so happy since his sister spent a lot of time and effort on the party and deserved all the praise.

Mingde explained the food would be served in three phases, beginning with a light snack to stimulate their appetites, and then the party began.