Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 88 : Winter Solstice (2)

Chapter 88: Chapter 88 : Winter Solstice (2)

"No need," Xie Jianyu replied, finally turning around to look at Liu Wenyuan. "You should not wander out on your own. Where are your maids?"

Liu Wenyuan smiled.

"The Empress has requested my help in banquet preparation. I am here to do my job."

"Ah."

Liu Wenyuan asked again, "Can I come and help? It is very crowded out there. Everyone is quite busy."

Xie Jianyu gave a brief nod.

"If you don’t mind, that would be great."

Liu Wenyuan’s smile grew wider. He stepped into the room and stopped behind Xie Jianyu.

"Your Majesty, you have long, beautiful hair," he praised as he took a handful of Xie Jianyu’s silky, smooth, and long hair.

"... Thank you for the compliment."

"Thinking about it, the Crown Prince helped me twice but I haven’t had the chance to say thank you."

"..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. If not for your benevolence, I might rot behind bars the last time."

Malice passed through Liu Wenyuan’s eyes for the briefest moment. And then, he pressed the silver comb in his hand hard into Xie Jianyu’s scalp.

Xie Jianyu winced from the stinging pain. Liu Wenyuan gasped. The silver comb dropped from his hand. It glided down Xie Jianyu’s hair and dropped to the floor.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

Meanwhile, Xie Jianyu’s maids finally came back with the box of heavy accessories. They were surprised to see an unknown person tending to their master.

"Who are you and what are you doing to His Majesty???"

Liu Wenyuan turned around and stared at a fuming Mingyu and a surprised Qingyun.

"I... I just want to help..."

Mingyu dropped the box of accessories to the floor and grabbed the silver comb from Liu Wenyuan’s hand.

"You are messing His Majesty’s hair! Please leave the job to professionals, thank you!"

"Mingyu, don’t be impolite," Xie Jianyu quickly scolded his maid. Liu Wenyuan was after all a prince from Wuyang Palace. If Liu Wenyuan submitted a complaint to the Golden Dragon Palace, Xie Jianyu had no choice but to punish Mingyu.

Liu Wenyuan pursed his lips in displeasure. He bowed deeply to Xie Jianyu.

"I am sorry again for failing to help, Your Majesty. I look forward to your grandiose performance."

"... En."

The omega then left without looking back.

Mingyu humphed.

Anxious, Qingyun tugged at her sleeve.

"Mingyu! Did you know that that was the famous Ethereal Beauty???"

"I don’t care who he is!" Mingyu shouted. "Ethereal Beauty or not, he disrupted our work! How infuriating!"

"He just wanted to help," Xie Jianyu said. "No need to exaggerate. Let’s finish this."

"Yes, Your Majesty," both maids said in unison.

Xie Jianyu sighed while both maids worked on his hair. Even the golden crown was heavy. Once he finished his dance performance, he was going to strip out of these ridiculous layers right away.

He was never going to attend the banquet while wearing this heavy attire.

Liu Wenyuan went to the banquet venue. The Snow Upon The Branch Pavilion was located just next to a huge crescent-shaped hole in the clouds. The hole used to be covered by a layer of ice. Tonight, the layer of ice had disappeared. It connected directly to the human realm.

Small children gathered at the edge of the hole and pointed at the bright dots under the clouds.

"Look! Look! I can see the human beings!" a child with nine fox tails exclaimed.

"Foolish! You see nothing! They are smaller than ants from this distance!" an older child with wolf ears said in response.

The fox child cried out, "You are just bullying me! You haven’t been in the human realm yourself, so what do you know?"

"There, there, children, please don’t get too close to the edge. If you fall down, you will break your necks..."

The eunuchs were busy taking care of the children while the parents were busy entertaining themselves at the banquet tables.

Zhang Fengxi’s gaze wandered to the kids.

The child he lost had a tiger sigil on his forehead.

Heavenly creatures looked like human babies when they were born. As they grew up, the clan-specific identifying marks started to show.

Tiger ears and striped tiger tails for tiger cubs, for example.

His and Xie Jianyu’s child, had he survived, he might be two years old now.

"Prince Fengxi."

Zhang Fengxi turned his head and looked at Liu Wenyuan, who just arrived. As a couple of betrothed, they shared a table for the feast.

"You are here."

"Yes, sorry for the wait."

Liu Wenyuan looked at the children who were being driven away from the huge hole by the eunuchs.

"Does Prince Fengxi like children?"

"Ah... Yes, who wouldn’t like them?"

Liu Wenyuan smiled.

"Ours would look so adorable."

Zhang Fengxi squeezed Liu Wenyuan’s hand and smiled.

"You are right."

In his past life, Liu Wenyuan miscarried their child. The omega cried a lot afterward. He was depressed for months, and nothing Zhang Fengxi said could rouse his spirits.

This time, Zhang Fengxi thought to himself, he must prevent Liu Wenyuan from going through the same tragedy a second time.

"Oooooh everyone, look!!! It has started!!!" someone cried out and pointed above everyone’s head.

All heads turned to the crescent-shaped hole. One by one, bright lanterns rose from underneath. The lanterns flew up to the sky, illuminating the night sky with a dazzling light.

"Oooooh~!!!!"

The children cried out in unison.

Liu Wenyuan poured wine for him and Zhang Fengxi.

"Prince Fengxi, shall we toast for our future?"

"Certainly."

Their cups clinked lightly in the air.

Zhang Fengxi downed the entire cup with one gulp.

"Good wine," he commented.

"Yes, I heard that the Empress specifically ordered a thousand jugs of the best wine of the season for this occasion."

"Ah."

Their conversation was interrupted by another round of cheers from the banquet guests.

Surrounded by hundreds of lanterns that floated upward, someone in a bright red ceremonial costume flew lightly into the stage with a majestic sword in his hand.