Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Li Chengqi hurried over and whispered to his father, "It has been found out that it was arranged by Wei Wen, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

Li Dan was taken aback. Why would Wei Wen want to change the seats? It didn't make sense!

The seats were chosen by themselves and approved by the emperor. Wei Wen was merely the executor; he had no right to adjust the seats, and it was Yuan Min who was adjusted. Why was that?

Li Chengqi guessed the reason, and he whispered, "It's probably the Crown Princess's idea!"

Li Dan had a sudden realization and, after the position was decided, he also gave the Crown Prince a copy. The Crown Princess Wei also saw it. Wei was dissatisfied with Xue Wei because of her daughter Li Guo'er's matter, and at the same time, she was also dissatisfied with Yuan Min.

It was indeed somewhat inappropriate for Yuan Min, a merchant, to sit in the first-class section, but this was arranged by the emperor, which Wei Shi was unaware of. She took advantage of this loophole to vent her inner dissatisfaction.

Wei Wen is the Crown Princess's cousin. He has taken it upon himself to adjust the Emperor's arrangements, which has caused him great trouble.

"Father, should we inform the Crown Prince?"

Li Dan narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Go and tell him! It's not worth offending the emperor over something so trivial."

..........

After the archery competition concluded, the various recreational activities, such as ring toss, arrow slingshot, and dancing, also came to an end.

When the time came to 5 p.m., the banquet officially began. Everyone returned to their tables, and groups of palace maids went about serving dishes. Music from string and bamboo instruments began to play, and dozens of dancers danced gracefully in the open space in the middle.

Once the banquet begins, the rules become stricter: no noise or horseplay, no moving around freely, and no changing seats without permission. The entire banquet hall becomes orderly.

Yuan Min sat next to Xue Wei, happily fiddling with the golden crown. "Do you think this golden crown is pure gold, or is there copper mixed in?"

Xue Wei laughed and said, "Your question is an insult to the Prince of Xiang. How could the Prince of Xiang wear an 18K gold crown? Of course, it's pure gold."

Yuan Min was taken aback, tilted her head, and asked, "What does 18K mean?"

Xue Wei explained vaguely, "This is a Persian expression, meaning 75% gold content."

Yuan Minjiao said with a smile, "I learned a new word today, 18K."

At this moment, seven or eight young male guests walked past them, each of them glancing sideways at Yuan Min. Xue Wei looked up and glared at them, which frightened the male guests into quickening their pace.

Xue Wei stared coldly at them, and noticed that after circling around, they went back.

Xue Wei then realized that these people had come specifically to see Yuan Min.

This society is very realistic. Power, wealth and beauty have always been the focus of public attention. Yuan Min has two of them, so how could she not attract attention?

There was a reason she was invited to the first-class VIP area.

Normally, she should be sitting in the first-class VIP area, smiling sweetly as she nestles beside a powerful official, or sitting aloofly among a group of wealthy business tycoons.

But now, she is willing to be a respectable wife and stay with him, a low-ranking official, betraying this rigidly hierarchical society.

Yuan Min is very famous in Luoyang, but Xue Wei doesn't know it. Luoyang has always had the saying of three goddesses: Empress Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er, and Princess Taiping Li Lingyue. But since last year, it has become four goddesses, with the addition of the fairy goddess and goddess of wealth, Yuan Min.

However, Yuan Min rarely attended gatherings or appeared in public to take care of Xue Wei's feelings, so Xue Wei didn't notice.

But at today's grand birthday banquet, Xue Wei finally realized the extent to which Yuan Min received attention, far exceeding that of him, the Three Talents Young Master.

"Do you know those men from earlier?" Xue Wei asked in a low voice.

Yuan Min nodded gently. "I know two of them. They're from the family of the candidate fairy. They have an older brother named Hou Mochenying. He's been bothering me all last year, and he'll probably be here today too. He might bring a group of people to chat me up later. I'll turn them down. Just ignore them."

Xue Wei said coldly, "If they dare to come, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Yuan Min smiled and said, "I'm used to it. It's always like this at every gathering. You don't need to pay attention to these snobs."

Xue Wei looked somewhat sullen and asked again, "Didn't you say that you lived with your father since you were little, and didn't live in the Yuan residence? How do you know them?"

"When I was a child, my father was always away on business and rarely at home. Whenever there was a large gathering of nobles from Guanzhong, my grandfather would send a carriage to pick me up, so I gradually got to know many people."

It was fine before, but things started to change last year. I attended three gatherings of Guanzhong nobles last year, and each time I was surrounded by a large group of men who fawned over me, asking me to lend them money or to invest in my business. But most of them hoped to marry me. I received a lot of letters every time.

In the latter half of the year, I basically stopped attending. Occasionally, there would be small gatherings with friends, like Ajiao, Fairy, and Wine Maiden, and two or three familiar men would also come often. You know, it's Dugu Yizhi, my third brother Yuan Mao, and Dou Huaizhen, Dou Wenniang's third brother, who's very pretentious and insists that I become his confidante. Apparently, he got a family fortune at the end of last year and went to Qinghe County to become the magistrate.

Xue Wei pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "I didn't understand before, but now I'm realizing more and more clearly that a beautiful and wealthy young woman like you is actually a target for many men. Those without power can only entangle themselves with you and daydream about it, but powerful men might actually make a move on you."

Yuan Min was silent for a moment before saying, "So you don't want me to show my face in public anymore?"

"no!"

Xue Wei shook his head. "I have never restricted your freedom. I am thinking about how to make you safer. I can't be by your side to protect you every moment."

Yuan Min sighed and took Xue Wei's hand, saying, "Today's situation is special, so guards are not allowed to come in. If it were any other place, Qing Ling and the others would be guarding me, and those men who want to take advantage of me would not be able to get close at all. So don't worry, I'm safe."

That being said, didn't Yuan Min almost get kidnapped by Wu Chongxun last time? There are also many powerful men who don't physically rob, but use their power to coerce.

Xue Wei finally realized that if he wanted to protect his woman, he needed to have great power so that other men would not dare to covet her.

Half an hour later, the banquet gradually reached its climax, and the guests began to toast each other. A dozen merchants came to Yuan Min's side with wine glasses, and Xue Wei quickly stood up and blocked Yuan Min.

"Everyone, please understand that Master Yuan cannot drink alcohol!"

"We mean no harm. We just heard that Ms. Yuan is currently acquiring shops, and we are very willing to cooperate with her. This drink is a token of our appreciation. She can just have a little bit."

"I'll drink it for her!"

Xue Wei picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, then coldly stared at the group of merchants, as if to say, "You can leave now."

Seeing that Yuan Min was unwilling to pay attention to them, the dozen or so merchants had no choice but to leave sheepishly.

Perhaps emboldened by the presence of a dozen or so merchants, a group of young nobles from Guanzhong also came over with wine cups, surrounding Yuan Min.

"Yuan Min, we also salute you!"

Yuan Min was a little annoyed. "I don't know you. Please don't bother me. Lao Xue, let's go!"

Xue Wei put his arm around Yuan Min's shoulder and strode out. The group of noble young men from Guanzhong were not willing to give up and rushed up to stop them.

One of the men, who seemed to be in the lead, said coldly, "Yuan Min, this is pointless. We're all friends, we used to drink and laugh together. What kind of person are you to turn your back on us like this?"

Yuan Min sneered, "Houmo Chenying, I made it very clear to you last year that I could not accept your marriage proposal. I hope you will stop harassing me. This is the imperial palace, not your Houmo Chen residence. What are you trying to do by blocking our way?"

Xue Wei pulled Yuan Min behind him and said coldly, "If you have any problems, come at me. I'm happy to oblige. But if you're planning to lay a hand on my wife, get out of my way!"