Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

72. To Witness Miracle

Translator: Antonia

There was a slight change in Madam Zhao’s expression. A woman at her age was too clever to fail to understand what the Empress meant. At once, she, with a sulky look, stood up, far away from the Empress and curtsied a little, “Your Majesty is right. Zheng, hurry to get off the stage and leave it to other performers.”

These words were sort of a humiliation on the Empress, but Madam Zhao still said them without scruple because she was in anger and on the account that in the past two years the status of the Zhao family was raised high, even if the Empress was irritated, she had to pretend not to have heard that and swallow the anger.

Du Chuxuan saw clearly the scene but didn’t plan to say anything. After all, if the Emperor could see things clearer, there would be less obstacles to the actions they were going to take.

But when he didn’t speak, there was certainly someone else who would like to take credit. Yuxing Wei the third prince started innocently, “This sister of the Zhao family dances like a fairy. I don’t believe there will be a better performer.”

Hearing this, the Emperor also looked a little sullen, his eyes sweeping over the Zhaos with dissatisfaction. He, as an emperor, could raise the status of a family and could certainly decide the life and death of this family. If it pledged loyalty to him all the time, he was also willing to give it a lifetime’s wealth and honor.

However, if this family showed a little disloyalty, then he would let it have the due amount of his raging wrath. No one present knew what was in the Emperor’s mind. Even though Master Zhao saw it and became displeased, he wouldn’t let his family lose face in front of so many people.

“I heard that Her Highness the Crown Princess is a beautiful lady of many accomplishments, and now a role model of all noble ladies. Why not let Her Highness show some talent for us to appreciate?” He firstly sang highly of the Crown Princess, which sounded flattering to the Emperor, and then his proposal of letting Du Chuxuan perform would make sense.

At least, the Turkic envoy wouldn’t be so stupid as to let the Crown Princess marry one of the Turkic princes, so this was the best solution to the situation. Nevertheless, Master Zhao was still somewhat annoyed. If no other ladies performed today, he was afraid the Turkic envoy would really take his daughter away.

On hearing his proposal, Yuxing Tianrui took Du Chuxuan’s hand and pressed it, his eyes shining with disapproval. Obviously, he didn’t want Du Chuxuan to perform, because he knew Du Chuxuan’s true identity and that he was a man who didn’t know any of the girls’ things. Therefore, it wouldn’t be performance but making a fool of himself.

Du Chuxuan, on the other hand, didn’t mind. Of course, he couldn’t outperform Zhao Zheng who had been preparing for a long time. Even if his twin sister was put in such a position, she couldn’t get a way out either.

However, he never needed to imitate anyone. He was just himself. Since now he was the Crown Princess, he would just do a groundbreaking thing.

“Since Master Zhao mentioned it, I’ll take it. However, I have to beg for father and mother’s forgiveness because I don’t like the girl stuff since childhood and only learn martial arts. On a trip of my father, he encountered something really interesting. Now I’d like to display it to everyone and hope to bring some joy.”

He clapped, and Dongxiang, dressed as a guard, brought over something. It was a thing he had been taken with him. To this banquet, he hadn’t wanted to bring it but on the thought of the disputes in the harem written in novels, he took it anyway. Surprisingly, it was useful now.

Seeing that what Dongxiang brought was a box the size smaller than a palm and the box, not very exquisite, seemed to have some sheets inside, the Emperor was intrigued, “What’s this? It looks interesting.” Not to mention others, only the colors of it looked fun.

“I don’t know the exact name either. It’s just my father did it once. Later, please open your eyes wide, and I’ll just do once, because the seller of it said it won’t be surprising if it’s performed too many times.”

Saying that, he folded his hands together and pinched all the items in them, revealing nothing to people. Then, he said, his eyes smiling, “Father, please name a number from one to ten.”

“I don’t need to know the number. You may just tell mother. Keep it low and don’t let others hear it.” Du Chuxuan said in a jocular way and pointed at his own ear, indicating that he might hear it.

The Emperor found his mysterious look interesting and became very expectant, “Great. As you wish.” He thought for a while and turned to whisper to the Empress. He said something, after which the Empress flushed slightly and had a bashful look on her face.

Du Chuxuan was too lazy to guess what it was. He turned to Yuxing Tianrui and gave him a blink, the cute look giving a catch at his heart. In another situation, Yuxing Tianrui had every reason to believe that his soul would be taken away by this gorgeous thing.

Seeing the Emperor and the Empress parted, Du Chuxuan spoke, “I guess father already has a number. Now it’s time to witness miracle.” Then he put all the cards together, turned them around to let the audience see the bottom number on it.

He then opened all the cards in one hand and pointed from left to right, as if he was hesitant to choose one, “I think father just called this number. Right. This one.” He murmured, undecided.

After a long while, he seemed to suddenly think of something and patted his head, “Look at me. Father is the son of heaven. Surely I’m unable to read his mind. It doesn’t count. If I happen to make a right guess, father, please take it as my luck and just casually reward me a little. If I’m wrong, I’ll have another man to play again.”

He had a girl’s face and was well dressed up by the maidservants today, so now he looked no lesser than Zhao Zheng. In addition, his gesture was entirely cute and lovable in a girly way, which people found very amusing and entertaining. At the moment, the Emperor had no thought of suspicion at all and readily agreed.

With the promise of the Emperor, Du Chuxuan was finally relieved a little. This performance had no problems, but it would not be a pleasant thing if the Emperor was a suspicious person and it caused him any troubles.