CH 90.2

Chapter 90.2 – The Fish Turned Upside Down

However, the Emperor just stared at the water tank for a long time without saying anything. He was silent for such a long time that King Qi became a little flustered, so he called out cautiously, “Royal Father?”

Only then did the Emperor return to his senses and nod, “You have went through a lot of trouble for this. Not bad.”

After saying this, the Emperor waved his hand and motioned for the servant beside him to carry the birthday gift back. Then, he turned around and walked back to the throne.

He didn’t say anything bad, but his reaction was a little bland, like he did not just see an auspicious object. It was especially weird because the Emperor still looked very interested until he looked at it up close. Why did he react like this afterwards?

Everyone couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious. They all wondered whether King Qi had faked something and the Emperor found out.

No one dared to say this guess out loud, and they just looked weirdly at King Qi. King Qi was furious, but he also felt puzzled. He couldn’t feel more wronged when he looked at the throne.

Qi Yang who was watching from the sidelines also found it strange. She sneaked up to Lu Qipei’s ear and whispered, “What’s wrong with Royal Father? He looked quite happy before, and this dragonfish auspicious sign is indeed something unseen before.”

Lu Qipei managed to observe it more carefully, perhaps because she had a better position and angle. She whispered back to Qi Yang, “The dragonfish in the tank seem to be upside down.”

Qi Yang’s beautiful eyes widened slightly when she heard it – the fish turning upside down meant that it was dying. Presenting such a gift on the Emperor’s birthday was obviously a bad omen.

Thanks to the Emperor’s clear and calm mind, he knew that King Qi couldn’t have done it intentionally, otherwise he would’ve been furious right now. Still, he must be bottling his emotions inside right now.

As the two of them talked, they suddenly heard a loud bang that shocked everyone in the hall.

The glass water tank covered in red cloth was being carried away by the servants, but the whole bottom part suddenly fell down. The water inside splashed all over the floor, and the golden dragonfish immediately stood out among the broken glass fragments.

Nobody expected such a scene. There was a moment of silence in the hall.

What Lu Qipei saw before was not wrong. The arowana was dying, so when it left the water and fell into the glass fragments, its golden tail only splashed twice weakly, then it completely stopped moving.

Even if the people in the hall was unknowledgeable, they still had common sense. When they saw the dragonfish’s appearance, how could they not know its condition? The main hall was filled with gasps, and the servants carrying the water tank finally reacted. They immediately knelt down in panic, begging for mercy.

The Emperor’s face turned so dark it looked like ink would start dropping from it. He watched the chaos in the hall without saying anything.

King Qi finally reacted to the sudden change and quickly knelt down in front of the hall, saying, “Royal Father, please listen to This Child’s explanation. This son really found this auspicious sign to offer to you. When I entered the hall, the dragonfish was still alive and kicking, I really don’t know why it’s like this now. And this glass is also made from a whole piece of glazed stone, how could it fall of the ground? Someone must be planning to harm me, I beseech Royal Father to see it clearly!”

At the end of the day, King Qi was still a bit smart. His explanation sounded reasonable. But in this situation, the Emperor and Liang State really lost face in front of the envoys after this farce.

The reason the Emperor chose to hold back his anger before was because there were foreign envoys in the hall, and he didn’t want to expose his family’s dirty sheets.

But now his face had been lost. The Emperor had to endure it and glared at King Qi, “Are you not going to step back?”

King Qi got up while trembling, then wiped his cold sweat and returned to the table. He looked to the left and right, but his brothers there felt like the one who had harmed him. Finally, his eyes fell on the Crown Prince, and the hatred in his eyes grew stronger. Obviously, he thought that the Crown Prince was the most suspicious.

The Crown Prince didn’t pay any attention to him. Seeing that the Emperor was still angry and that the atmosphere in the hall was oppressive, he spoke up and gave an order to the servants who were still begging for mercy. “Clean up the hall and go back!”

The servants who heard that felt as if they had been given a pardon, and quickly cleaned up the glass fragments and water stains. It’s just that no one dared to move the dragonfish for a while, so Zhang Jian ordered someone else to take the body away.

The palace servants worked quickly, and soon the hall had returned to its former appearance, as if nothing had happened earlier.

But the atmosphere was already bad. Right now, who could continue congratulating the Emperor as if nothing had happened? King Wei, who was waiting in line behind King Qi to offer his gift, shrank his neck.

Right now, he was afraid of agitating the Emperor. For the first time, he started to regret the fact that King Chu had been deprived of his title – King Chu was the Fifth Prince, if he had still been here, he would be standing in front of him to tank the upcoming storm!

Unfortunately, King Chu wasn’t here, and he couldn’t escape from this if the atmosphere was to be restored. In the end, under everyone’s gaze, King Wei had to bite the bullet and go forward, congratulating the Emperor on his birthday and presenting him with a gift.

King Wei’s birthday gift was also quite valuable, and it could be seen that it had been prepared carefully. Compared to King Qi, it was satisfactory.

Originally, the Emperor didn’t like such extravagant gifts, but seeing it now, he couldn’t help but feel relieved. He nodded and said a few words of encouragement to King Wei, smiling slightly, which gradually relaxed the atmosphere in the hall.

The King Wu offered his birthday gift, followed by a group of princesses. When it was Qi Yang’s turn to present the birthday gift, the Emperor heard that it was a Bodhisattva statue that she especially brought from Huguo temple after praying there. The smile on his face finally looked more genuine.

Author notes:

I had named the Fourth Prince as King Liang before, then suddenly remembered that the country name was Liang too. So there was a little change and it was turned into King Qi. But it doesn’t matter, he’s just a cannon fodder anyway!