The banquet hall was very lively and crowded. Accompanied by the prefect An Rulong, the imperial regent Helian Wushuang appeared in casual clothes and was immediately greeted with a burst of warm applause.
The Prince Regent was indeed as heroic as the rumors said. He was about forty years old, tall and handsome in appearance. Although he was wearing casual clothes, a strong military atmosphere could be seen from his walking, sitting and standing postures.
As the most powerful general in the empire and the regent with the highest authority, Helian Wushuang has a high status in the hearts of the people.
The applause of the nobles was heartfelt and lasted for five minutes, and it did not stop until the regent waved his hand.
This banquet was nominally a thank you dinner for the visiting delegation from Da Chu. The Prince Regent did not overwhelm the guests with any speech. As soon as the applause stopped, he retreated to the corner of the banquet hall and chatted with his old classmate Chen Fei.
The music sounded, and pairs of men and women danced on the dance floor, while most of them gathered together in twos and threes to chat.
As they chatted, their eyes were actually paying attention to what was going on in the corner.
Among so many guests, there were very few who were truly qualified to say a few words in front of the Prince Regent.
Most people could only stand at a distance, admiringly looking at Chen Fei who was chatting and laughing with the regent.
Of course, Li Xuan was not qualified to see the regent. Fortunately, the banquet was of a very high standard. Not only was the food first-class, fresh and delicious, but even the maids were the most beautiful.
Li Xuan sat comfortably on the sofa, drinking wine and admiring these beautiful faces, but he didn't feel bored at all.
A black shadow suddenly shrouded from behind, startling Li Xuan.
As soon as he turned around, he saw Master Liu's round body like a wine barrel.
"Why didn't you go catch up with the regent?"
Li Xuan quickly stood up.
Li Xuan heard from Liu Cui that Lord Liu had fought with the regent more than ten years ago, and he was one of the few nobles in Maplewood City who could be related to the regent.
Everyone wanted to get close to the Regent, but Mr. Liu didn't take this opportunity to go to the Regent to reminisce. This made Li Xuan feel very strange.
Master Liu showed a hearty smile and said: "This is not a suitable place to reminisce about old times. I have made an appointment with the Prince Regent. When the banquet is over, he will come to my house for a drink."
Seeing the pride on Mr. Liu's face, Li Xuan knew that the old man was showing off, but he knew that Mr. Liu liked him very much, and even if he was showing off, there was no malice, so he said with a smile: "Do you need me to accompany you for a drink?
?”
Mr. Liu rolled his eyes and said, "You are not my son-in-law, so why are you going to accompany me for a drink?
It doesn’t matter if you are my son-in-law, the regent doesn’t like drinking with strangers!”
Li Xuan shrugged his shoulders and said: "Forget it, I don't care about it either."
At this time, Li Xuan suddenly saw Bai Mengde.
Bai Mengde was wearing a white suit and looked elegant and handsome. He walked straight to the Regent, said a few words to Chen Fei first, and then bowed to the Regent.
Then everyone saw clearly that the regent reached out and patted Bai Mengde twice on the shoulder.
"Damn, what's the background of this kid!"
Li Xuan's eyes widened.
Master Liu knew about the bet between Li Xuan and Bai Mengde, and said upon seeing this: "Don't you know, Bai Mengde is the daughter of a famous family in Chu, and Chen Fei is his aunt!"
Li Xuan took a breath of air and narrowed his eyes slightly. This boy is actually the nephew of the regent's old lover. Something is not good! When he was thinking about it, Bai Mengde, who was standing next to the regent, stood proudly.
When he started, his eyes swept across the banquet hall one by one, and soon fell on him.
Everyone in the banquet hall was paying attention to the young nobleman who had won the favor of the regent. When they saw this, they followed Bai Mengde's gaze and saw the somewhat depressed Li Xuan.
Some people who knew the inside story immediately understood that Li Xuan, who had been extremely arrogant since arriving in Maplewood City, was afraid that he would be defeated this time! Sure enough, Bai Mengde smiled and said a few words to the regent, and the regent also turned his attention to
Li Xuan.
Everyone became nervous. What's going on? Children are fighting and asking adults to come out and calm things down?
No way! Even Lord Liu was startled. Only Li Xuan remained expressionless, letting the regent's eyes pass over his body.
In fact, Li Xuan was secretly complaining that if he had known that Bai Mengde had such a big backer, he would not have made any bets.
The art world of the Yunteng Empire is being trampled upon. It has nothing to do with me, an earthling, so why should I stand out? Li Xuan was regretting it when he suddenly heard a thick voice in the banquet hall.
"Li Xuan, come here."
The whole place was silent for a moment, because the person who said these words was the regent! Li Xuan thought he heard wrongly, but the next second he saw the regent waving to him, and then he was sure that he had indeed shouted.
own name.
Bite the bullet, Li Xuan walked over, respectfully saluted the regent with the highest etiquette of the Yunteng Empire, and said: "Li Xuan, imperial envoy from Maplewood City, pays homage to His Highness the regent!"
"Call me Helian Wushuang."
The regent's voice was deep and powerful, with an intoxicating magnetism.
If he had not been a politician or a soldier, he would have achieved great success by singing.
The regent came to Maplewood City to meet friends in a private capacity this time, but even if he deliberately obscured the identity of the regent, others still did not dare to neglect him.
Li Xuan was not stupid, he lowered his hand and said: "I obey, Your Highness."
The regent's lips slightly raised, and he no longer bothered to correct himself. He changed the subject and said, "I heard that you made a bet with Bai Mengde to compete in poetry writing?"
"Mr. Bai Mengde challenged me, and I had no choice but to accept it."
Li Xuan said.
Bai Mengde rolled his eyelids, and if it wasn't for the fact that the regent was standing by, he would have made a sarcastic comment.
The regent said calmly: "Bai Mengde is talented. I know a little bit about it, but you, do you know poetry?"
"Understand a little bit."
Li Xuan said.
"Oh..." The regent was silent for a few seconds, wondering what he was thinking.
After a while, he spoke again: "I heard that you have all prepared your works and are waiting for Kang Hua's selection. In that case, why not let us listen to the works from Yunteng and Dachu in front of everyone tonight?
What do you think of the works written by outstanding young people from the two countries?"
Who dares not to agree with the Regent's proposal?
Besides, everyone likes to watch the fun, and it would be great to witness the confrontation between Li Xuan and Bai Mengde! But most people are not optimistic about Li Xuan, because Bai Mengde is Kang Hua's disciple and Chen Fei's nephew.
Just by setting up these two relationships, there is a 90% chance of winning! Li Xuan and Bai Mengde had no objections. In fact, they were not allowed to have any objections. Soon the new poems collected this time were sent to the banquet hall and selected from them.
The two people's works were published, and Kang Hua, who was a judge, also came to the regent's side.