Chapter 533 - 536: Badmouthing
A total of seven princely heirs had come to Shangjing by imperial decree.
The man in purple before her was one of them.
But what he didn’t expect was that the beautiful woman before him was, too.
After announcing his identity, Li Yu puffed out his chest, waiting for her to start fawning all over him.
It had always been this way. The moment he revealed his identity as the Heir of Prince Qing, everyone around him would frantically shower him with flattery and suck up to him.
Even the other princely heirs who had traveled to Shangjing with him were quite deferential in his presence.
After all, everyone knew that among the seven Vassal Kings, Prince Qing Mansion was the most powerful, second only to the Yu Royal Mansion.
However, Li Yu did not get his wish this time.
The woman before him showed only a flicker of surprise before addressing him respectfully.
"Oh, so you are the Heir of Prince Qing. Please forgive my earlier rudeness."
Li Yu frowned. ’Is that it?’
’Isn’t she going to use this chance to latch onto me?’
’Or does she simply have no idea what the Prince Qing Mansion represents?’
When he didn’t move, Hua Manman looked at him in confusion.
"Is there anything else, Young Master?"
Li Yu snorted in displeasure, but in the end, he didn’t say anything more and turned to leave.
Hua Manman limped after him.
As they pushed open the door and stepped inside, a strong stench of alcohol hit them in the face.
Five young men were seated inside, surrounded by several gaudily dressed women.
They were drinking and carousing, each laughing with wild abandon.
Seeing the Heir of Prince Qing leading a beautiful woman in, the other five started to clamor.
"So this is Miss Nan Jia? She really is beautiful!"
"The zither’s over there. Quick, play us a tune!"
"I don’t want any of that highbrow stuff. I want the kind of tunes you play for customers at the brothel."
His words caused the others to burst into raucous laughter.
Li Yu cursed irritably.
"What’s all the racket? Look at you lot, acting like you’ve never seen a pretty girl before! Besides, her hand is injured. She can’t play the zither right now."
The fattest of the men immediately shouted.
"It’s fine if she can’t play, she can still sing! I’ve heard Miss Nan Jia’s singing voice is exceptional!"
The others clapped in agreement.
Li Yu turned to the woman beside him, feeling tempted.
’A woman this beautiful must have a beautiful singing voice, right?’
Li Yu asked, "What songs are you good at singing?"
Hua Manman said apologetically.
"My apologies, my throat has been bothering me lately, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to sing."
Her words immediately drew complaints from the other five men.
"You can’t play the zither or sing? Then what are you even doing here? Get out, get out!"
Li Yu immediately glared back at them.
"Keep shouting and I’ll sew all your mouths shut!"
He then turned to Hua Manman.
"If you can’t sing, then drink. You can drink, can’t you?"
Hua Manman said shyly, "I’m not much of a drinker, I can’t handle too much."
Li Yu had her sit down at the table.
Seeing this, the other five men realized the Heir of Prince Qing had taken an interest in the girl!
They exchanged a look.
Next, they began to take turns toasting Li Yu and Hua Manman.
Li Yu’s status was clear. He could drink if he wanted to and not drink if he didn’t. No one dared to force him.
But Hua Manman was different.
She was still under the guise of Miss Nan Jia, so she couldn’t refuse the cups of wine offered by the guests.
So she drank one cup after another.
She didn’t forget to ask.
"May I ask how I should address you gentlemen?"
Li Yu pointed at the five men and introduced them one by one.
"This is the Heir of Prince Zheng, that’s the Heir of Prince Hao..."
Prince Qing Mansion, Prince Zheng Mansion, Prince Hao Mansion, Hong Prince Mansion, Ming Prince Mansion, Zhuo Prince Mansion.
The princely heirs of six Vassal Kings were all here!
’Add in Hua Manman, the resident impostor, and all seven princely heirs were present and accounted for.’
’If these were the Seven Dragon Balls, they could summon the Divine Dragon now.’
Li Yu noticed the woman’s cheeks gradually turning crimson and her eyes becoming hazy.
As if she were drunk.
Li Yu took the wine cup from in front of her and placed it aside.
"Alright, don’t drink anymore."
After that, no one forced Hua Manman to drink anymore.
Hua Manman pretended to be drunk and lay her head on the table, but her ears were pricked up, eavesdropping on the conversation between Li Yu and his group of friends.
The fattest one was the Heir of Prince Zheng.
As he enjoyed the attentions of the woman beside him, he remarked wistfully.
"Tsk, tsk. We’re all here, except for the Heir of Prince Yu."
The Heir of Prince Zhuo sneered, "What’s the point of calling him over? He’s already latched onto the Regent King. Why would he deign to hang out with us?"
The Heir of Prince Ming cursed irritably.
"He knows they’re about to make a move on us, but he still goes running to kiss up to them. He’s nothing but a traitor selling us out for his own gain!"
The Heir of Prince Hong had a calmer temperament.
He put down his cup and offered a reminder.
"Watch what you say."
The Regent King’s power was absolute right now. If someone were to overhear this and it got back to him, we’d all be in for it.
Back in their own fiefdoms, they could rely on their fathers’ protection to do as they pleased without a care in the world.
But now they were in Shangjing. This was the Regent King’s turf, and he could toy with them as he pleased.
The Heir of Prince Hao first glanced at Li Yu, then said cautiously.
"The people from the Yu Royal Mansion are always stuck-up. If the Heir of Prince Yu were here, we’d have to wait on him hand and foot. It’s better this way. Without him, we brothers can have a much better time."
The other men chimed in with their agreement.
"That’s true!"
Hua Manman quietly touched her nostrils.
’Nonsense. My nostrils point down, thank you very much.’
The Heir of Prince Zheng’s gaze shifted to Hua Manman, and he let out a lecherous chuckle.
"Yu, Miss Nan Jia is completely drunk. Why don’t you take her to the next room to rest for a bit?"
At this, the others began to hoot and catcall, urging Li Yu to hurry up and take her away.
Li Yu was indeed feeling tempted.
Seizing the opportunity, he helped the woman beside him to her feet.
Hua Manman did not resist.
She had already figured out who this group of people were.
’Next, she just needed to wait until she was alone with Li Yu and knock him out.’
However, they had just gotten to their feet when they heard a clamor of footsteps outside.
It was immediately followed by a loud BANG.
The door was violently thrown open from the outside.
Everyone in the room turned pale with fright.
The next moment, they saw the Regent King striding in with his trusted aides.
Li Ji’s gaze swept around the room, finally landing on Hua Manman, who was held in Li Yu’s arms.
His eyes instantly turned to ice.
None of them had expected the Regent King to burst in. Their astonishment quickly gave way to terror.
After all, they had just been bad-mouthing the Regent King moments ago.