Not Your Typical Villianess

The night before the Palace banquet.

Two cloaked men both dressed in black jumped over the wall of Duke of Wu's residence, landing swiftly outside the residence. They surveyed their surrounding to ensure that there was no trailing them before moving out.

It was already past midnight and the usually bubbling capital had grown silent. there wasn't a soul in sight. Most businesses even those at the red light district were all shut down for the day by now. The capital guards were already performing their rounds and ensuring that the capital was safe.

The two cloaked men jumped onto the roof of the building opposite the Duke's residence quietly, they were careful not to make any noise and attract the attention of the guards. They ran along the streets and roofs quietly until they arrived at their destination.

A small stall deep in the alley that during the day served as a smithy. The men they were meeting with were already present, they walked into the stall and stood I'm the dark. The taller man of the cloaked duo went forward and asked "Did you have any problems coming here?".

Their contact a short man with a round face and a thin moustache replied "no, everything went smoothly, everything is set. On master's instructions, I will carry out our plans".

The taller cloaked man looked to his partner, who stood silently in the dark, he was the one in control. His taller partner only relayed his instructions while he stayed in the dark. "Carry on as planned" The taller man replied after he got a nod from his master.

The two cloaked men left quickly after throwing a bag of coins to their contact.

*****

The next day, the imperial banquet.

As they arrived, the guests were led to their seats by the palace servants. The imperial concubines and consorts were already seated at their seats apart from the sixth Prince's mother Imperial consort Shi and the Empress.

The Envoy from Chu state and the crown Prince Gao Zhan were seated on the first seats under the throne. Their seat was directly opposite the seats belonging to the imperial examination. Gao Zhan and the Envoy looked around silently as everyone got seated.

Su Liya stood behind Zhu Fengyin who sat next to Liu Yingjie. Madam Lu and Lu Yiling were seated next to another madam on the table up ahead. Liu Yaozhu was delayed at the military training ground but got back a few minutes before the Emperor arrived.

He sat on the free seat next to Lu Yingjie, Gao Zhan's watched her for some time before looking away. Gao Zhan had faced Lu Yaozhu multiple times and lost, after which he had grown to respect Lu Yaozhu as a worthy opponent.

Su Liya glanced at Gao Zhan discreetly, She was a little curious about a reoccurring character like Gao Zhan. In the original novel, Gao Zhan was a rather capable side character. He was one character with selfish goals, he never picked any sides and only watched out for himself.

Su Liya didn't like this character at all because he was a snake. He betrayed both his kingdom and Family when he joined hands with Emperor Zhong. This visit was the start of it all, he would antagonize Lu Yaozhu and the Lu family by fueling the Emperor's distrust.

Bang!! "The Emperor has arrived!" a Eunuch standing by the door and dressed in the standard low ranked servants green tunics announced loudly.

Everyone stood and looking ti the entrance bowed and chorused "Long live the Emperor!, Long live the Emperor!"

The Emperor walked in dressed in the customary Gold ceremonial attires. The Empress and Imperial consort Shi followed him behind. The Emperor sat on his throne at the centre of the room while The Empress and Imperial consort Shi satin the individual seats below the Emperor's throne.

"rise" the Emperor commanded when he was seated. Everyone returned to their seat on the Emperor's orders and the banquet began. There were a lot of performances one after the other, all of which were aimed at entertaining the guests.

Su Liya looked around the banquet hall, trying to take in the crowd. No matter her united the Emperor wished the guests to look, it washed hard to see their differences. The different Princes factions took jabs at each other both obviously and discreetly.

There were six living Prince but only four were actively involved in the struggles for the throne. The other two were either too young to get involved or sickly. Out of the four Prince's involvement in the struggle for the throne, only Three had good backings and stood a chance in the fight for the throne.

They were The Crown Prince, Zhongshan Ling, the sixth Prince, Zhongshan Cheng and the fifth Prince Zhongshan Zuo. The Crown Prince was raised by the Empress and had the backings of the Lu family, the He family and his maternal family the Tong family.

The sixth Prince on the other hand had the backings of the Zhu family, The Yang Family and his maternal family the Shi family. Lastly, the not so popular Fifth Prince, who had the support of Prince Yi, the Zhang family and his maternal family the Sheng family.

The Princes maintained a good relationship on the surface but anyone could see that it was all for show. The fourth Prince involved in the fight if the throne was Zhongshan Xi, the eighth prince. His maternal family was now in decline so he didn't have much support.

Out of the four senior Prince, only three were present, Zhongshan Zuo was noticeably absent from the banquet. The crown Prince Zhongshan Ling arrived a little after the Emperor arrived. He walked in and a few steps away from the throne, he bowed.

"Sorry for coming, late imperial Father and mother"

The Emperor look up coldly "Xiao Ling since you are here. Have a seat".

The crown Prince nodded and walked to his seat next to the Empress. As he looked up, he saw a familiar face seated next to Minister Zhu.