Chapter 404: Celebration Banquet
After all the windows in the imperial study room opened, Zhao Jue used his internal energy to control the wind, swallowing up the white powder, and then threw it out, letting it disperse with the wind. After making sure everything was safe, he controlled his internal energy and made the mysterious letter float in the air.
Zhao Jue couldn’t help but snorted disdainfully when he read the contents of the letter. After a while, he finished reading the letter and threw it into the small burner on top of the table without hesitation. As he watched the letter slowly turn into ashes, the chief eunuch had already returned.
The chief eunuch stood outside the imperial study room, bent his waist, and saluted respectfully towards the closed door. His superior demeanor was not evident at all at this time. After taking a few deep breaths, the chief eunuch said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the punishment has been completed."
Inside the imperial study room, Zhao Jue listened to the words of the chief eunuch, but remained silent. Without his permission, the chief eunuch could only maintain his posture. Half an hour later, Zhao Jue said slowly: "There will be no second time."
After hearing Zhao Jue’s words and knowing that they had escaped the death penalty today, the chief eunuch’s heart finally dropped. Although he had served the emperor since childhood, the chief eunuch knew that the emperor never trusted him even for a second.
Recalling the emperor’s tragic past and his current situation that is similar to living in hell, the chief eunuch was heartbroken, but he had more respect and fear for the emperor than pity for him.
Thinking of the late Empress Dowager, the chief eunuch couldn’t help but blame her for her neglect of the emperor since he was born, and her pressure and impossible expectations, which forced the emperor to become what he is today.
After reminiscing for a few seconds, the chief eunuch said respectfully and sincerely: "This servant thanks the Emperor’s benevolence."
Unlike the deserted and cold imperial palace of the Shang Empire, the imperial palace of the Bei Wei Empire was full of joy and laughter since dawn. After Rui Wang, the eldest prince of the Bei Wei Empire, won the war on the border between the Shang Empire and the Bei Wei Empire, Emperor Ren personally welcomed him back and prepared a celebration banquet for him.
In the past, at this time of year, common people would celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and thank heaven for blessing them with a good harvest. But since the long drought began seven years ago, almost everyone has forgotten about this annual harvest festival.
If it hadn’t been for Emperor Ren’s decree to allow everyone in the Bei Wei Empire to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, no one would have remembered that it was already the time for the harvest festival. Unfortunately, the imperial decree not only failed to make the common people happy, but pushed them into the abyss instead.