Chapter 302: Her High Salary Is Not for Good-for-Nothings

Prince Wei’s disappearance hadn’t greatly affected the Empress, and so his return was no different.

However, now that everyone was gathered, Xiao Li made the rare decision to have a banquet prepared.

Xiao Li was a generous Emperor. Her officials’ benefits and salaries were excellent, but she was also lazy—so lazy she couldn’t be bothered to hold a banquet.

But with the new system established in Yanping State, a banquet was necessary to bring everyone together.

Xiao Li delegated the entire affair to her subordinates, not bothering with it herself. There was enough money and enough people. Her attitude was simple: if you screw it up, you’re finished.

Her high salaries were definitely not for supporting useless people.

After ten days of preparations, the banquet began.

The guests included the officials and military generals who had followed Xiao Li, as well as local officials at the governor and deputy governor levels.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like many people, but in the end, they managed to gather a full two hundred.

Palace banquets were grand and solemn, but local ones needed to be more approachable. Half the red tape was cut, and many more dance and acrobatics performances were added.

Security for the Empress’s banquet was ironclad. The Silver Armor Guards were stationed every three steps, conducting rigorous checks and leaving no opportunity for anyone with ulterior motives to slip through.

The Empress was always decisive when dealing with unauthorized individuals trying to sneak in. There was no need for interrogation; if anyone with a questionable identity was discovered, they were to be killed on the spot.

This was the absolute authority to kill that the Empress had granted the Silver Armor Guards.

Seeing the woman in front of her get discovered and cut down with a single slash, Niu Jiahua was completely dumbfounded. The Silver Armor Guards didn’t even need to question her; her panic was a dead giveaway.

When she saw a Silver Armor Guard walking toward her, her first instinct was to feign composure. But when he drew his blade, she realized she was likely about to die and quickly shouted, "I’m Prince Wei’s savior! I’m here to find Prince Wei!"

Niu Jiahua thought that mentioning Prince Wei would surely intimidate these guards, but she didn’t know that they recognized only the Empress. Prince Wei held no influence over them whatsoever.

The deadly blade swung down mercilessly. Niu Jiahua dodged it with her brute strength and quick reflexes. Knowing she couldn’t win a fight, she didn’t even try. Instead, she ran for her life toward the banquet.

Having run through the forests since childhood, she was incredibly fast at navigating obstacles. For a moment, she actually managed to slip past several Silver Armor Guards.

But how could the Silver Armor Guards protecting the Empress be such pushovers?

Once they recovered, several of them closed in, opening their silver umbrellas above to form an inescapable, deadly trap.

Niu Jiahua came within a hair’s breadth of death.

She took a slash to her shoulder, scrambled out from under one of the Silver Armor Guards’ feet, and quickly grabbed a passing woman as a hostage.

"Don’t come any closer!"

The faces of the Silver Armor Guards turned grim. ’What the hell? We’ve run into a tough one today.’

She absolutely could not be allowed to get near Her Majesty. But now they didn’t dare to make a move, because the person Niu Jiahua was holding hostage was Wang Wanqing.

Unlike Prince Wei, Wang Wanqing was someone the Silver Armor Guards had to be wary of offending.

But Wang Wanqing, despite being held hostage, remained calm. "Don’t come any closer for now."

Niu Jiahua said, "Take me to see Prince Wei. Now."

Wang Wanqing glanced inside and raised her hand. "Would one of you run and fetch Prince Wei?"

’Meeting Prince Wei is easy enough. I can’t let her ruin Her Majesty’s banquet.’

A Silver Armor Guard quickly went inside, and a moment later, he really did bring Xiao Jingyi out.

The moment Xiao Jingyi saw Niu Jiahua holding Wang Wanqing hostage, he felt that his own death was not far off.

"What are you doing? Let her go, now!"

Niu Jiahua was surprisingly obedient and released Wang Wanqing. She hurried toward Xiao Jingyi, but just as she was about to speak, the Silver Armor Guards swiftly apprehended her.

Niu Jiahua’s face changed, and a look of pain crossed it. "Xiao Jingyi, make them let me go! My back is injured, it hurts so much."

Xiao Jingyi said nothing. Niu Jiahua looked at him in disbelief. "You’re not going to help me?"

Xiao Jingyi just felt exhausted. "Why did you come here?"

Niu Jiahua said, "I got news about my father. You said you’d help me find him."

Xiao Jingyi had promised, but not for her to cause a scene like this. He cupped his hands toward the Silver Armor Guards. "This person is an acquaintance of mine. I ask that you please be lenient and spare her life for now. I will go and plead for forgiveness from Her Majesty."

Niu Jiahua was furious. "Plead for forgiveness? For what crime? I just wanted to come in and find you, but they tried to kill me without any reason! It’s completely unreasonable!"

Wang Wanqing sneered, looking at this idiot who had appeared out of nowhere. "Prince Wei, I suggest you handle your acquaintance properly. The last person who dared to take me hostage is already pushing up daisies."

After speaking, Wang Wanqing flicked her sleeves and left.

Niu Jiahua was still being held down, but she was not about to back down. "Who does she think she is? Why is she talking in that sarcastic tone?"

Niu Jiahua used to be in awe of powerful officials. Her family were bandits, and even the mention of a County Magistrate’s title would make their hair stand on end.

But she had saved a Prince. After spending so much time with Prince Wei, she felt he was no different from an ordinary person—just a normal man of flesh and blood, not some mythical being with three heads and six arms.

Prince Wei had allowed her to call him by his name, and over time, she developed the illusion that they were equals.

’Prince Wei is a Prince. At most, he only has his Imperial Sister above him. Everyone else is below him. Who did they think they were, talking to her—someone on the same level as Prince Wei—like that?’

’And these Silver Armor Guards, they’re just a bunch of guards, aren’t they? How dare they not even listen to a Prince? They deserve to die for this!’

Niu Jiahua didn’t say much, but she was too simple-minded. To a Prince like Xiao Jingyi, who had survived the intricate politics of the palace, her thoughts might as well have been written plainly on her face.

Xiao Jingyi knew with absolute certainty that if Niu Jiahua stayed, she would be the death of him. He was aware of her ignorance, but he was even more aware of his Imperial Sister’s ruthlessness.

Yet, Niu Jiahua had indeed saved his life once.

"Wait here quietly. I will go inside and plead for you."

Normally, such a minor incident would not have reached the Empress. At most, a report would be submitted after the banquet tallying how many intruders were caught.

However, with Prince Wei and Lady Wang involved, the Silver Armor Guards quickly reported to Yang Jun, who in turn relayed it to the Empress.

Although Xiao Li hadn’t anticipated something like this happening, she wasn’t particularly surprised either.

"If he wants to get someone out of the Silver Armor Guards’ custody, then he’ll have to do it by their rules."

Yang Jun bowed his head. "As you command."

Wang Wanqing’s seat was toward the back. She wasn’t at all concerned about being taken hostage, because she knew she didn’t need to complain; the Empress would never let her suffer an injustice.

As for Prince Wei, however, it would be difficult for him to ever recover from this.

The next time Niu Jiahua saw Xiao Jingyi, he was being carried out on a stretcher, barely conscious, with blood dripping from it.

Niu Jiahua broke down instantly. "Xiao Jingyi, what happened to you? Who hurt you like this?"

Xiao Jingyi was in so much pain that he was about to pass out, but he forced himself to stay conscious and look up at her. "If you want me to die, just keep running your mouth."

Niu Jiahua swallowed the words she was about to say, and in the end, she followed them all the way to Xiao Jingyi’s residence, crying.