Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Empress’s Banquet

The fifth prince Feng Jun Yun spent the next four days trying to search for the mysterious woman who stole his heart away. He was too preoccupied that he didn't mind planning to make trouble during the empress's banquet. On the morning of the banquet, his subordinate reported about the fifth prince's search. But unfortunately for him, it turned out to be a total failure. "Your highness, we last spot them around the merchants' residential area but according to the people we placed there to survey and wait, they never appeared there again. We suspected that those two have a powerful martial arts and our people couldn't follow them."

"Powerful martial artists? Including the white robed woman?" Feng Jun Yun is surprised but above all he felt more and more inlove. He felt proud of himself for choosing such outstanding woman. She is not all beauty but has skills. If she is even comparable to the renowned talented empress, then that would be better for him. He has a goofy smile on his face thinking about the beautiful woman in white. She looked like an angel and the white robe made her look more ethereal. 'Just who are you my princess? I want to see you again. I will snatch this empire and gift it to you, just let me see you again.'

His servants are used to his gentle smile but they knew deep inside that he is far from gentle. But now, his smile is really genuine and somehow looked silly. For the past four days, they could often see him looking around whenever they are outside the manor. And whenever he sees a white robed woman, he would stop and give a second look as if to make sure of the woman's identity. Only to get disappointed in the end. When he is at home and is in his study, he is often above the clouds staring at nothing like a crazy man that it looked painful to watch.

******

The palace is bursting with festivities which started early in the morning. The kitchen is busy preparing soup, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, dumplings and pastries enough for hundreds of guests. The servants are busy decorating the main hall of the Phoenix Palace. It was decorated with gold, red and white curtains. In front of the hall, a table is placed which is long enough for two people to share. It is believed to show harmony between the husband and wife since the banquet's purpose is to welcome the new empress.

Before noon, the guests started to arrive one by one. The court officials arrived earlier bringing their daughters along. Since the emperor already have an empress, taking in some concubines will naturally follow through. They are not in a hurry though since it hasn't been a month since the empress entered the palace. But displaying their daughter's beauty and grace early will give them a good head start. The hall looked like a garden from all the colorful and youthful ladies present at the banquet.

Among all the ladies, the most eye catching is the Right Prime Minister's granddaughter, Han Yimei. She wore a peach colored robe making her look younger. She is already eighteen but she is comparable or even better looking than the fifteen and sixteen-year-old ladies. She obviously took this banquet seriously. She is determined to catch Feng Jun Yi's attention not as a childhood friend but as a woman. She doesn't have any idea how Lin Xulian looked but she won't back down. She believed that if Lin Xulian is really a great beauty, the whole continent will know about her. But seeing that nobody had an idea who she is, she concluded that she would look like an average pretty girl. So she displayed her winning gentle, empress like smile.

The princes also arrived in the hall. The second prince brought his wangfei Xia Ruzhi. She looked feisty but is a real beauty. Oddly, they match really well. The third prince also brought his beloved Lu Yaoyao. He is the best picture of a happily married man. They've been married for three years since she was fifteen and the third prince was seventeen but still didn't have a child. The officials asked him to take in a concubine but he out rightly refused since he loves his wife so much. The fourth prince also came not minding the ladies present. The ladies also didn't mind him because no one wanted a man who is all brawns and no ambition for power. The fifth prince also arrived alone. But right now they realize that he is not himself. He is looking around as if searching for someone. He is hoping to see a familiar woman among the crowd. And as usual, the sixth prince didn't come.

When the eunuch announced the arrival of the empress's family, the hall immediately fell into silence and watched as the Lin Family entered the hall. On the front, the empress's mother and father led the entourage. The people watched in amazement as the buff and imposing Master Lin Xu entered while holding his beautiful and angelic wife by the hand. Master Lin looked vigorous despite the white stands on his hair and beard. He is imposingly tall in his 6'2 feet stature while his wife looked petite in her 5'5 feet height. Madame Lin, Yang Hua, has a gentle motherly smile on her face. She looked young but some official was able to recognize her as the miraculous doctor famous throughout the continent two decades ago so they knew she is almost fifty. She is actually 49 to be exact while Master Lin is 51.

Seeing her, the hall went to an uproar. Right at this moment, the ones who wasn't able to recognize her went wide eyed when they heard about her identity. They never thought they would know such famous person in this kind of event. They are starting to wonder how the emperor was so lucky to meet such people. A fearsome mercenary and a miraculous doctor. Such weird combo but both boost the empire's strength. This would surely stabilize the emperor's power. The officials who wanted their daughter to enter the back palace made sure to instruct them to have a good relationship with the empress.

When Lin Huang entered the hall following his parents, the ladies tried to contain their excitement. A lot of women tried to pull strings just to meet this famous leader of the Lin Mercenary Clan. He is the number one handsome man in the continent. Some could even tell that he is better than the emperor in terms of looks.

"The emperor and empress arrived!" A eunuch announced the emperor and empress's arrival. The people stood up and looked at the hall entrance.

Seeing the angelic woman who almost looked like Yang Hua beside the emperor, the hall went into deafening silence. She is graceful and elegant with her warm smile. She is beyond gorgeous with her minimal make-up, totally opposite to the other dolled up women in the hall but attracted more attention and admiration from the males.

Seeing her, Han Yimei's faced turned ugly. She is trembling in jealousy seeing that Lin Xulian is obviously more beautiful than her. But the silence was broken when a teacup fell and shattered on the hall's marble floor. The fifth prince was able to steal the crowd's attention. They are baffled with his stunned and pale face.