CHAPTER 247: CHAPTER 245: DOES HIS HIGHNESS NOT BEAR TO SEE ME DIE?

Luo Wanxiang was aggrieved.

In the past, she was Jiangnan’s number one beauty, admired wherever she went. But ever since Shen Yinning arrived at Liang Garden, everyone who saw her declared that they had been blind and naive before, elevating an ordinary young woman as the top beauty without realizing that such a stunning creature existed. Everyone claimed that Shen Yinning deserved the title of number one beauty instead.

The maids and attendants in the garden visited Zhaoyue Pavilion incessantly, as if hoping to catch even a glimpse of Shen Yinning’s charm.

Even Shen Yinning’s hairstyle, makeup, and attire had become trends that they scrambled to mimic.

Luo Wanxiang was utterly infuriated!

Now that she finally had this opportunity, she wasn’t about to let Shen Yinning off!

Look at the Crown Prince; he was not the type to pity delicate beauties. If he refused to drink the wine Shen Yinning poured, then Shen Yinning would die!

Luo Wanxiang restrained her excitement and rose to snatch the guard’s sword: "The wine-order tonight is akin to a military order. Tonight, I will be the Commanding Officer, and everyone present must obey me!"

As she spoke, she lifted the sword and pointed it toward the screen: "Shen Yinning, I command you to pour wine for the Crown Prince!"

"Ridiculous!" Luo Xibai suddenly slammed the table. "I am hosting the Crown Prince and Lord Xue tonight, and everyone present is male. Allowing you to sit here and drink was already an exception. What is a young woman like you meddling in this for? Get out of here immediately!"

"Brother!" Luo Wanxiang called out in a sweet voice. "Didn’t you once praise my bold demeanor, saying I was different from other women and had a touch of a general’s spirit? You used to bring me along to drink with your subordinates, and even made me Commanding Officer several times before. Have you forgotten all of that?! What’s so improper about me being the Commanding Officer tonight?!"

Luo Xibai was furious: "How is this the same—"

"At the banquet, the Commanding Officer reigns supreme; a mere woman dares not disobey."

A melodious and jade-like voice drifted out from behind the screen, as delicate as pearls falling onto a tray.

Paired with the fine wine on the table and the spring blossoms outside the pavilion, it left half of the audience breathless.

The crowd couldn’t help but feel their throats dry, eagerly turning their gazes toward the screen.

These southern officials had already heard that a beauty of unimaginable allure had arrived at Liang Garden—a woman so stunning that Lord Luo adored her, treating her like a treasure, afraid to let her fall or melt. At regular banquets, he couldn’t bear to bring her out to meet guests.

No one expected that tonight, they would be lucky enough to see her in person.

Shen Yinning stepped out from behind the screen: "And yet, there is no woman called Shen Yinning here."

Tonight, the girl came adorned in splendid attire.

Her jet-black hair, crimson lips, snowy skin, and icy grace were complemented by the emerald flower mark between her brows. Clad in a pomegranate-red wide-sleeved robe as radiant as clouds, her resplendent beauty eclipsed the intoxicated decadence of the pavilion.

Her appearance froze everyone in place, their gazes riveted entirely upon her.

"Enough!" Luo Wanxiang snapped impatiently. "I don’t care if you are called Shen Yinning or Lv Zhu now; I command you to quickly pour wine for the Crown Prince! If he refuses to drink the wine you pour, then the fate of those maids precedes yours!"

Luo Xibai tried to intervene, but Shen Yinning had already gracefully stepped over to Lu Ying’s side.

She knelt, seated herself, and rolled up her sleeves to pour the wine.

Her jade-like fingers lifted the white jade cup, offering it to Lu Ying.

With a slight curve of her crimson lips, she lifted her gaze, her phoenix-shaped eyes shimmering like a rippling lake: "I invite the Crown Prince to drink."

Lu Ying cast a cold glance at her.

She knew full well that this banquet was arranged by Luo Xibai to humiliate him, yet she still personally stepped forward to pour wine...

From childhood to now, she had always been like this—always favoring others over him.

A flame ignited in his heart, burning him with discomfort, making the wound on his arm itch and ache anew.

He withdrew his gaze and said coldly, "And you are so confident that I, in my solitude, would be willing to drink the wine you pour?"

Then, pausing, he fixed his gaze on Shen Yinning again, his brows furrowing heavily, his narrow eyes steeped in cold frost: "Are you so confident that you are different from other women in my eyes?"

His voice was low—so low that only Shen Yinning could hear.

To others, it appeared as if Lu Ying and Shen Yinning were locked in a stalemate.

Luo Wanxiang wore an expression of mockery as she spoke loudly in ridicule, "What ’number one beauty,’ eh? Turns out she’s nothing special! Our ancestors were wise indeed—beauty fades, and serving others with such charms is never lasting!"

Luo Xibai’s face darkened.

Unlike Luo Wanxiang, he knew that Lu Ying and Shen Yinning had once been involved in an affair.

In their southern region, there was an old saying: "Ten years to share a boat, a hundred years to share a bed." Lu Ying was utterly heartless—even the woman who had stayed by his side for so long wasn’t given the slightest favor. How could such a cold and ruthless man exist in this world?!

The other guests couldn’t bear the thought of such beauty perishing, and they each urged:

"A beauty pouring wine is the greatest delight. Why must the Crown Prince make things difficult for her? Just drink a sip!"

"They say the Crown Prince is a paragon of nobility and virtue. How can he allow an innocent woman to face death before his very eyes?"

"If not, Your Highness, allow me to drink Lv Zhu’s wine on your behalf."

"I also am willing to drink in place of His Highness!"

"..."

Amid the chorus of voices, Lu Ying’s expression grew colder.

These men had succumbed to lust, their faces betraying a "die under the peony, and it’s worth it" attitude, leaving behind any semblance of scholarly dignity or national integrity.

These Jiangnan officials were a den of colluding snakes and rats. Who knew what his half-brother had been doing in this territory all these years?

Shen Yinning maintained the posture of offering the cup, lowering her voice: "On Lantern Festival night, I attempted to end Your Highness’s life. Yet Your Highness spared me. For this reason alone, does it not prove that Your Highness holds me in special regard? This life of mine was originally saved by Your Highness. If Your Highness wishes to reclaim it tonight, then please go ahead."

The girl’s tone remained nonchalant, showing no trace of fear for her own life.

After she finished speaking, she tilted her head slightly and began drinking the wine within the white jade cup herself.

Lu Ying abruptly clenched his Moyu Ring.

In the next moment, Luo Wanxiang’s face lit with joy as she hurriedly proclaimed, "Everyone, you’ve seen it, haven’t you? It’s not that I’m insisting on her death—it’s that the Crown Prince refuses to drink the wine she poured! According to the rules of tonight’s banquet, she deserves death!"

She raised her sword without hesitation and stabbed it toward Shen Yinning’s back!

Luo Xibai leaped to his feet in utter panic, roaring, "Luo Wanxiang!"

Luo Wanxiang paid no attention to him at all.

The guards were positioned too far to intervene in time.

As the sword point approached Shen Yinning’s back, Lu Ying extended his hand and pulled Shen Yinning directly into his embrace.

Without expression, he took the white jade cup from her hands.

With his lips brushing against the faint red imprint left by the girl’s lips on the rim, he tipped his head and drank the remaining wine to the last drop.

He threw the cup to the ground and coldly glanced at Luo Xibai: "As soon as I arrived in Jiangnan, I heard the tale of Lv Zhu and Liang Garden, praised as the Twin Wonders of Lin’an. Tonight’s banquet, having her pour wine for me counts as Luo Xibai’s sincerity in hosting his guest."

Shen Yinning smirked subtly.

This cup of wine had been Luo Xibai’s ploy to humiliate Lu Ying.

If he drank it, it meant bowing his head to Jiangnan’s power. But if he didn’t, she would die before his eyes.

Needing to preserve both the dignity of the Crown Prince and the court, yet unwilling to let her die, he had cleverly devised this compromise.

Xue Ling coughed lightly, feigning slight intoxication to smooth things over: "Lord Luo, the Crown Prince, being of noble status, deserves only the best. Naturally, the one to pour his wine ought to be the most beautiful woman of the pavilion. If only you’d had such foresight earlier, Lv Zhu would have been pouring his wine from the start, and those maids wouldn’t have needed to perish!"

This remark was clever and flawless.

It elevated Lu Ying’s status while shifting all blame for the maids’ deaths onto Luo Xibai.

Luo Xibai’s thick, furrowed face trembled in fury, yet he couldn’t argue against Xue Ling at all!

Luo Wanxiang, thwarted in her effort to kill Shen Yinning, clenched her teeth in secret fury and begrudgingly threw aside her sword.

Shen Yinning, still leaning in Lu Ying’s embrace, tilted her head close to his ear and spoke in a detached yet suggestive tone: "Your Highness couldn’t bear to let me die?"

Although seemingly fragile, she was still alive, and her entire weight pressed against Lu Ying’s injured left arm.

His arm throbbed with pain, yet he quietly retracted it: "Never did I bear reluctance."

From his body, Shen Yinning keenly and unmistakably detected a faint scent of blood.

She raised her brow: "You’re injured?"