One Lifetime Is Never Enough

1.96 When Will You Love Me Until?

At the Imperial Palace, the eunuchs and various servants and maids had been scurrying about since before dawn, even when the stars were still displaying their magnificence in the dark sky.

That day, the Emperor was going to host one of the biggest banquets in history, extending his requests for attendance to not only all of possible nobility in Da Lang, but also his harem and his concubines' children. 

The concubines' children were young princes and princesses with no important standing apart from their title, and they could never reach the heights and favors possessed by the Crown Prince, Second Prince, and the Third Prince, as well as Princess Zhang XiuYa. Nevertheless, they were still of imperial family and had been living well since their births. The Emperor never hold any riches back from them, but he had never put them in public display as well, leaving them to live their lives as they saw fit, as long as they did not covet for power.

That day, every single one of them had been summoned to attend the banquet.

Each one of them knew about the Kingdom of the Northern Plains, and their soon-to-be arrival of the young King.

The Emperor had even gone as far as having some paintings of King JingHan drawn by a talented Da Lang artist - based on the Emperor's memory, but exaggerating his features a tiny bit.

He asked his messengers to have a painting accompanying each of his invitations, to every noble household that had at least a young maiden of marriageable age. On the paintings that now had been circulating among the various noble households of Da Lang and the royalties, JingHan was not only a dashing young man with well-proportioned body. He was also portrayed to be an enlightened individual, with subdued gaze full of wisdom, and wearing an elaborate expensive looking robe.

In short, although the face was more or less the same between the real person and the painting, the whole atmosphere and character painted on the scrolls was totally different.

Emperor Zhang could not be blamed though. Ever since a messenger from JingHan came bearing his news of intended arrival, Emperor Zhang could only come to conclusion that JingHan was looking to strengthen the Jing and Zhang through marriage.

JingHan's marriage.

Therefore, the Emperor wholeheartedly wished to assist his nephew-in-law, even suggesting the idea to Princess Zhang XiuYa.

In his view, JingHan was as bit as handsome as Ji SongLi, and was also a commendable warrior.

Princess Zhang XiuYa's response? She dropped to a kneel as soon as the words left the Emperor's lips, tears pooling in her eyes,

"This niece would rather die than be married to that savage! Imperial uncle, please do not let him choose this niece!"

Emperor Zhang could only furrow his eyebrows at her blatant disgust. He finally promised that he would try to dissuade JingHan, should Zhang XiuYa was chosen by the King. 

However, the Princess was not exempted from the banquet, and she was still requested to attend in her best attire and behavior.

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At the expansive outdoor courtyard, in front of the royal assembly hall, various seats and wooden platforms had been set up in accordance to the ranks and status of the attending nobles and royal family.

The Emperor and the Empress already sat at the tallest platform, located right at the top of the stairs that would normally lead to the royal assembly hall.

At the bottom of the stairs - where three separate platforms had also been set up higher than the others -, the Crown Prince Zhang KongJing, Second Prince Zhang JunLi, and Third Prince Zhang GuoFu also sat, conversing to each other. To the right of the Third Prince's stage, a lower platform had been set up, to host the young representatives of Ministry of Finance - Chao HuiBo and Chao MeiHua.