Chapter 22: Wolf Gentleman

  "Ran Ge, how interesting is her identity?" asked the young man sitting below Ran. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with an air of grandeur, and even when seated, he was a head taller than others, quite impressive.

  "Let her tell you." Xuan Ran nibbled on a grape sent by Wu Ji, thoroughly enjoying the other's tenderness. With a gentle breeze and a delicate fragrance, where was there still any dazzling brilliance?

  The young man looked at Nan Yue and asked, "What's so special about your background that made my brother say those two interesting words?"

  The situation in the country of Da Rong is still hearsay to Nan Yue Lan Sheng, but it can be roughly known that the three princes and five princes, as well as the one who ranks sixth in enjoying the beauty's favor, should all be imperial sons. Xuan Ran is the son of the King of Dongping, and the highest young man calls him "older brother", and is also seated below, possibly being the son of another king. Across from Xuan Ran is a young man with dragon patterns on his robe, with an overbearing cold aura, and a bow placed on the table. Further down, the people at the banquet are dressed in expensive clothes, but no longer have dragon patterns, mostly belonging to the sons of aristocratic families. She didn't have time to take a closer look, as the young man asked again for the second time.

  "His Highness is asking you a question, how can you remain silent?" Born into royalty, he often showed impatience towards those outside his family.

  "Third Brother, don't be annoyed. This girl speaks according to rules, ask her two sentences and she'll respond with one sentence. Wait, soon she'll spit out the words." Xuan Ran's laughter was piercing, not even looking at Nan Yue Lan. What did he say? Letting them wait, she was just asking for trouble. Looks like she won't learn a lesson.

  "Two sentences for one sentence?" The Third Prince raised his eyes to look at Nan Yue Lian Sheng, "You've made me curious, where did such a bold daughter-in-law come from? Do I also need to say two sentences to get one response from her?"

  The chubby Wu Deng came over to pour oil and said, "Speaking of which, this girl stands as straight as a bamboo pole, her knees don't bend."

  Her gaze was as sharp as an arrow, but when it landed on Nan Yue Lan Sheng, it didn't evoke even a hint of fear. She opened her mouth calmly and said, "I am Nan Yue Lan Sheng, a young woman who has been living outside for over ten years. I arrived in the imperial capital today to pay my respects at my mother's grave. Tonight, I will be staying at Li Leng An. As an outsider, I naturally don't know any of you gentlemen, so please forgive me for not knowing better."

  The emperor's expression changed suddenly, and he asked immediately, "Does the Nanyue clan still have a daughter? Could she be from a side branch?"

  The daughter of Nan Yue is special, Lan Sheng had a feeling early on, but seeing the gaze of these palace people turn into astonishment one after another, her originally unsuspecting thoughts also secretly gave rise to curiosity. What's so special about Nan Yue's daughter?

  "Shengdi, this isn't someone from a side branch, but the eldest daughter of the Grand Master of the Great Country." When that woman said it herself, till dawn. Xuan Ran thought, I'll do something good for myself.

  The young nobleman on the main seat pushed away the dancing girl and stood up straight, scrutinizing Nan Yue Lan Sheng with utmost seriousness. The fifth nobleman leaned forward, his hands propped against the table, his entire body leaning in.

  The winner walked into the arena, making a sound of approval, "I heard that there was a woman who impersonated Nan Yue's family and deceived the governor of Sha Zhou for 300 gold. Could it be you? What a big nerve, running to the imperial capital to commit fraud. You said you didn't know us because you were unfamiliar with the place, so let me tell you about the people at this banquet."

  It turns out there's such a thing, no wonder everyone thinks she's a scammer.

  Here is the translation:

  "Gao Shuai Ge clasped his fists with both hands, starting from the main seat to report their identities. "I'm San Ge, the son of the current Emperor and Consort Shu. My fifth brother is the son of the Emperor and Consort Xian. Yan Tang Ge opposite me is my elder brother Yan Sai, I am Yan Sheng, and West Ping Wang is our father. As for those below, I won't mention them, in short, even the lowest-ranking official among our fathers is a first-rank official."

  Nan Yue Lan's line of sight didn't dodge to the east or glance to the west, and those who relied on their ancestors' military prestige were not worth looking at. The few people in front of her, within her range of vision, couldn't be excluded.

  "Xuan Ran's voice was cool and calm, 'Victory brother is probably wasting his breath, you say she's pretending to be someone else, but she thinks we're just making up a name. If I hadn't said that there should be people here who know her, she would have already let that little brat behind her teach me a lesson.'"

  The fifth prince chuckled and said, "Regardless of whether this little girl is pretending or not, Brother Rong has always been called a beauty, and today he's being punished by eating turtle, which makes me feel very pleased in my heart."

  Yu Rong smiled and said, "She's not even a beauty, why should I show off my charm to her?" Then she turned to the Third Prince and asked, "Third Brother is older, can you verify whether what she said is true or false?"

  The third prince stroked his mustache with his index finger, and after a while, he replied, "Everyone knows that the National Master's mansion is worth 4,000 taels of gold. If you don't mention it today, I can really forget about it."

  Xuan Sheng said with a smile, "I hear Third Brother's meaning, the eldest daughter of the Imperial Tutor's Manor is not Nan Yue Jin Wei?"

  "Not bad, the national teacher and I had a daughter, which made the big madam who hadn't given birth yet very unhappy, and she made a fuss to the empress dowager. Our dynasty has always emphasized the importance of the first wife, although it's not a written law, but there is a tradition that if the first wife doesn't give birth after three years, then the husband can have children with his concubines. The empress dowager immediately instructed the old madam of Nan Yue Fu to keep the news of the birth of the daughter secret, so not many people knew about it. A year later, the big madam gave birth to Nan Yue Jin Wei, and because she was born with an unusual sign, three great masters all predicted that she would be a heavenly girl reborn, so everyone naturally regarded her as the eldest miss of Nan Yue. Later, Nan Yue Yu Rui was born, and another strange prediction came out, and that older daughter who was born out of wedlock completely disappeared from view. I also only heard my mother mention it once when I was young, ah yes..." The third prince pondered for a moment before laughing out loud twice."

  The fifth prince asked, "What's going on?"

  "I may have only heard it said, but I know that among us, there might be someone who really recognizes Miss Nan Yue." The Third Prince said.

  "Who? Let him come and identify!" Hyun Seung was the youngest among the crowd in the temple, with a hasty and impatient temperament.

  The third prince smiled and narrowed his eyes, "Victory brother don't be impatient, let's sell a pass first. Let's ask Miss Nan Yue to take a seat, whether it's true or false, they can't escape anyway. Rong brother is right, with her accompanying us tonight will be more fun." He then ordered Bi Duwei to lead people to the empty seats next to him.

  Since she couldn't run away just now, of course it's hard to get off the tiger's back now. Nan Yue Lan felt like she was being pushed into a pack of wolves, sitting on high alert as if ready to jump up at any moment.

  Waiting for her to sit down, the Third Prince poured half a cup of wine for the warriors and said, "Miss Nan Yue said we are gentlemen, so we should behave well. Since she doesn't like to talk, let's not force her, just go with the flow."

  The sound of good ups and downs is high and low.

  Nan Yue Lan was too lazy to look, sitting on a soft cushion, her eyes cast down and not raised.

  "Third brother, the bullfight is not interesting, and the song and dance are nothing special. How about playing a game of drum passing?" The voice belonged to the fifth prince, with a sly tone, "Whoever gets the ball has to come up with an exciting performance on the spot. Playing the zither, reciting poetry, anything goes. Speaking of which, who among us doesn't have some special talent? Brother Rong can play the guqin well, if not for this method, where else would you get to hear it?"

  Xuan Rang smiled, "Fifth brother's words don't match his heart, last time I played, who fell asleep?"

  The fifth prince looked embarrassed and laughed dryly, "This is one thing at a time, and Rong brother loves high mountains and flowing water, but I love the bustle."

  The third prince said, "This idea of yours is not bad, Fifth Brother, it's better than just sitting there doing nothing."

  As soon as he opened his mouth, some people held drums and others took hammers, and they hastily prepared everything.