As Pei Mu'en stepped into the hall, the previously calm atmosphere instantly erupted into laughter, most of it not very friendly.
Especially Prince Duan, who laughed with utter arrogance: "Well, well! You actually brought it here. Good, good, twelfth brother, come on, give us a show and show us what talents it has!"
He acted completely as if he were treating Li Xingchao like a street performer.
Sitting nearby, Li Xingyu rolled his eyes in exasperation at his arrogant and foolish older brother.
Li Xingchao let go of the rope, leaving the donkey standing right in the middle of the hall, and said, "It doesn't have any particular talents, seventh brother. Don't laugh at us."
Completely ignoring Li Xingyu's warning looks, Prince Duan continued, "No talents? Then it's just a stupid donkey. Why on earth does Prince Zhao treat a stupid donkey like a precious treasure?"
Li Xingchao sneered, "It's just a beast, kept for amusement. Why look for deep meanings everywhere? Not everyone shares seventh brother's boundless curiosity, treating everything like a child who has to ask *why* for everything."
The smile on Prince Duan's face froze a little, turning quite sharp.
Meanwhile, a new wave of attendants entered carrying dishes, clearing away the plates and debris from the guests' tables and replacing them with completely fresh courses and wine.
Pei Mu'en watched as the eunuch placed the poisoned dish right in front of Li Xingchao. Anxious, she walked over.
Noticing something off about her reaction, Li Xingchao immediately looked down at the food in front of him.
Ever since the night Pei Mu'en helped Ma Tie catch the assassin, Li Xingchao knew this donkey wasn't just a good one; she was as smart as a specially trained hunting hound. It was the same last time when he was given laxatives: Da Chen later mentioned that Pei Mu'en had barged into the small kitchen and made a fuss for a bit. Reflecting on it afterward, Li Xingchao figured she must have sensed something was wrong, and perhaps had gone into the kitchen to try and save him.
And today was no different—she was clearly warning him that the food on the table was tainted.
Li Xingchao picked up a dish of food and swapped it with Li Xingyu's.
Confused, Li Xingyu asked, "What are you doing?"
Li Xingchao shamelessly replied, "The food on other people's tables always smells extra good."
Li Xingyu retorted, "I think you're just terrified of being poisoned. If it's really poisonous, isn't my life worth anything? Who isn't an imperial prince here?"
Seeing how stubborn he was being, Li Xingchao blatantly swapped the wine pitcher as well, saying, "Don't worry, I'll make sure someone collects your body."
While the two brothers bickered, they failed to notice the fleeting look of panic that crossed Prince Fu's face. He wanted to call out a warning, but Prince Duan was keeping his eyes fixed on him, eager to use the donkey to further humiliate Li Xingchao.
Seeing Li Xingyu drink the wine, Prince Fu muttered inwardly that it was all over and closed his eyes in despair.
This wretched ninth brother was truly hateful! He usually didn't look like such a glutton—why was he eating and drinking with such urgency right now?
So be it, he would just have to play the hand he was dealt. Who wasn't a target after all? Besides, Li Xingchao was the one who had proactively swapped the dishes; he could easily pin the blame on Li Xingchao later.
At that moment, Prince Duan stood up, marched over to Pei Mu'en, and grabbed the rope around her neck with such force that her donkey hooves stumbled.
What is this big idiot trying to do? Pei Mu'en shot him a sideways glance.
With the alcohol kicking in, Prince Duan pointed at Li Xingchao and declared, "You've raised a beast but don't know how to train it. Today, big brother will teach it a proper lesson for you."
With that, he pulled a leather whip from his sleeve, making a motion to strike Pei Mu'en.
Wait, where did the whip even come from?!
You people come to a banquet bringing both poison and whips, and why are they all apparently prepared for *her*, hello?!
Whose toes did she step on anyway?
Stroke the tassels of the whip, Prince Duan asked Li Xingchao, "Will this beast obey or not?"
Prince Duan's words almost sounded like he was scolding Li Xingchao himself.
Li Xingchao smiled. "Hard to say, depends on my mood. I'll warn you first though—if it hurts seventh brother, don't say I didn't warn you."
Prince Duan sneered. "Then it's a deal. If I successfully train this beast, you'll thank me with a generous gift. If I fail and someone gets hurt, we'll skin this donkey alive and add it as an extra dish!"
Li Xingchao neither agreed nor refused, merely smiling faintly as he gestured: "Be my guest, seventh brother."
A nameless fire flared up in Pei Mu'en's heart. Everyone in this room looked like high-ranking nobles, surrounded by banquets, song, and dance in a haze of decadent luxury. Yet here they were, talking about training a donkey and skining her alive—it sounded utterly absurd.
Yet reality often exceeded imagination; these pampered scoundrels were one more ridiculous than the last.
Putting his full strength into it, Prince Duan spun around and lashed out with the whip.
Pei Mu'en was already prepared and nimbly dodged it.
"Oh?" Seeing Pei Mu'en evade the blow, Prince Duan suddenly found it amusing.
While the rest of the crowd had initially just wanted to watch Li Xingchao make a fool of himself, they were genuinely captivated by Pei Mu'en now. There was indeed something delightfully unusual about her; they were starting to understand Li Xingchao a little.
To the side, Li Xingyu covered his face and shook his head. Just days ago, he had chased all over the place trying to pet Pei Mu'en and couldn't even brush against her—this donkey was an absolute spirit. Given the current situation, his seventh brother was bound to stir up some serious trouble.
With a fast, accurate, and vicious snap, Prince Duan cracked the whip again, but Pei Mu'en dodged it once more.
She was genuinely angry now.
Outside the hall just a moment ago, Li Xingchao had fed her medicine that made donkeys go wild and whispered in her ear that she was going to help him wreck the banquet.
She had been a bit dazed back then, but now she understood completely.
She didn't even need the medicine; she could just perform at her steady, chaotic baseline.
Emboldened by his growing temper, Prince Duan lashed out with another whip strike. Quick-witted and sharp-eyed, Pei Mu'en caught it in her teeth and clamped down, refusing to let go.
A gleam of excitement lit up Prince Duan's eyes. "Li Xingchao! I've changed my mind. Name your price in silver—His Highness will buy your donkey!"
Li Xingchao remained silent, coldly munching on a melon.
As the two locked in a stalemate, Pei Mu'en suddenly released her bite. Losing his footing, Prince Duan stumbled backward, his hands instinctively flailing forward, but they were right in the middle of the hall, and anyone nearby was too far away to catch him in time.
With a flying leap, Pei Mu'en rushed forward and gave a violent *rip*, tearing away a massive chunk of Prince Duan's sleeve and exposing half his shoulder and chest.
Prince Duan froze in a daze. Something seemed terribly wrong with this picture.
Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Pei Mu'en attacked from a different angle and took another bite, stripping away the rest of his outer garments until only a pair of undergarments remained on his body.
Looking down to find himself stripped bare in the blink of an eye, Prince Duan was utterly dumbfounded. "What the—"
That wasn't even the end of it. Letting out a resounding donkey bray, Pei Mu'en charged straight toward Li Xingchao's row, ramming and overturning all of their tables. Watching as his only remaining possession in the blink of an eye was a single wine cup in his hand, Li Xingchao calmly finished his drink.
Pei Mu'en bared her teeth at him: *Moron, stop drinking, there's poison in that wine!*
Seeing Pei Mu'en spin completely out of control, Prince Fu shouted, "Guards! Someone come quick!"
Patting his robes, Li Xingchao walked right over to Prince Fu, sat down beside him, and threw an arm around his shoulder to keep him from moving. "Don't be afraid, fifth brother. The beast I raise doesn't bite people."
Looking at Li Xingchao's smile that didn't reach his eyes, Prince Fu knew he was making a thinly veiled reference to Zhu Kuai beating someone to death in the street a few days prior.
A retort choked in his throat. Just as he was about to snap back, Pei Mu'en had already initiated full-scale table-clearing operations, unleashing indiscriminate destruction.
She turned the meticulously arranged Banquet Hall into an absolute wasteland: basins faced the sky, bowls rested upside down, tables and chairs were knocked completely out of place. The living could only scramble for cover, fleeing their seats as soup and broth splashed everywhere, making the room look at first glance as though a small stream had been diverted indoors.
Ruined. Everything was ruined.
As Prince Fu looked around at the guests who had nowhere to stand, while that mad beast of a donkey continued tearing the place apart like a lunatic, the only part of his banquet hall left intact to look at was the ceiling overhead.
Beaming brightly as he watched Pei Mu'en run amok, Prince Fu finally realized why Li Xingchao had insisted on bringing a donkey—he had come specifically to crash the party.
Everything that had just transpired between him and Prince Duan was likely playing right into Li Xingchao's hands.
Resentment burned fiercely in Prince Fu's heart.
After his multiple covert plots against Li Xingchao had failed, and on top of that, having his hard-earned reputation tarnished by the incident where Zhu Kuai murdered an Imperial College official—even though Li Xingchao had distanced himself completely from the matter—Prince Fu knew it was inextricably linked to him.
Thus, he had seized today's flower-viewing banquet to use the donkey to humiliate Li Xingchao, distract his attention, and slip him aphrodisiacs. Miss Zhou's father was originally just a minor censor; if Li Xingchao took Miss Zhou on an occasion like today, it couldn't be kept quiet. For the sake of the imperial family's dignity, the Emperor would undoubtedly force Li Xingchao to marry her.
With such an unpromising and helpless in-law family, Li Xingchao's chances of vying for the succession would invisibly shrink.
Though his plan had been sound, why on earth had Li Xingchao suddenly swapped his food with Li Xingyu's?
Prince Fu glanced at Li Xingyu. The ill-fated ninth brother was already succumbing to the drug's effects, lying flat on the floor.
The donkey was still leaping around the room creating chaos, Prince Duan was screaming in his undergarments, Prince Qi's face was livid with rage, and guests were fleeing in a panicked mob—it was absolute, utter disorder.
His head pounded with a splitting ache. He felt intensely irritable, dying to fly into a rage.
Taking a deep breath, Prince Fu turned his head only to catch sight of that hateful, detestable smile plastered across Li Xingchao's face.
Li Xingchao offered a comforting pat. "The beast doesn't know how to behave. Please don't take it to heart, fifth brother."