Chapter 763 - 092 Bestowed Marriage_4
Seeing the time, Xia Zheng’s eyes twinkled as he clutched his stomach and said to the Old Emperor, "In anticipation of your palace banquet, I didn’t eat anything at lunchtime. Now I’m so hungry, my stomach is sticking to my back. I won’t accompany you for this wretched tea anymore; I’m off to find something to eat at the banquet."
"Off you go, and don’t bother me here," the Old Emperor said, waving his fists as if shooing away a fly, as though he wished never to lay eyes on this fellow again.
When a banquet was held in the palace, there were time constraints for entry. Once the time arrived, the palace gates would be closed, only reopening after the banquet concluded. Except under special circumstances, the gates were not to be opened during this period.
The palace banquet was about to begin, and one by one, numerous court officials and their families were still making their way in. Xia Zheng hid himself quietly to the side, waiting until he saw his parents’ sedan chairs enter the gate and move away before he breathed a sigh of relief.
From a distance, he even heard his family’s old man asking about him. Fortunately, everyone thought he was still with the Old Emperor drinking tea, or else the old man would have surely sent someone to drag him over to keep him by his side.
Previously receiving the Old Emperor’s oral decree, he had entered the palace early. Now that his family’s old man and Princess Anle were inside, he could finally leave openly and legitimately.
Xia Zheng timed it perfectly. Just a short while after he left the palace, the gates were closed, no longer allowing people to come and go as they pleased.
Xia Zheng chuckled and whistled, as Liuzi led out two horses from around the corner. Riding swiftly, if he left at this moment, whipping the horses into a gallop, he should reach his destination before midnight.