The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

The palace banquet arrived as scheduled, grand in scale. Even seventh-rank officials could enter the palace, and those with titles could bring their entire families, such as Marquis Pingyang’s residence.

He Dongchen entered the palace with Princess Xiangyang, their procession allowed to pass straight through the palace gates without stopping for inspection, as officials and guards showed deference along the way.

Others looked on with envy.

Jiang Yueming entered with his Hanlin Academy colleagues, watching the familiar carriage enter the palace.

Just as she was about to continue, a guard suddenly approached him and cupped his fists in salute, saying, “Sir Jiang, My Lord has something to convey.”

Several of Jiang Yueming’s colleagues exchanged glances, taking a couple of steps aside with a calm demeanor. The guard’s blade bore Prince Cheng’s residence’s family crest.

Jiang Yueming frowned, feeling impatient, and directly ignored him, leaving him hanging.

The guard, feeling awkward, realized it wasn’t appropriate to make a scene at the palace gate and could only leave dejectedly.

Upon learning that he had been rejected, Young Master Cheng’s expression changed slightly. This woman was indeed difficult to handle, impervious to both soft and hard approaches.

Meanwhile, Song Qile, positioned behind, was thrilled. She clutched her handkerchief tightly in the carriage.

At the last palace banquet in her previous life, she had hastily married into the Wang family and lost her chance to enter the palace. Later, she heard that at that banquet, an envoy had posed a difficult problem, which Jiang Yueming had resolved effortlessly, winning the Emperor’s favor. Jiang Yueming had been rewarded with a large amount of gold and silver, and within days had been promoted twice, causing envy among many.

This time, she was determined to outshine Jiang Yueming and make a grand impression. She sought no promotion or wealth, only a few words of praise from the Emperor to avoid being looked down upon.

Her heart raced with excitement as she could not resist lifting the curtain to glance at the street. She was stopped by her watchful stepmother, Liu Shi, who scolded, “Mind your manners! Don’t embarrass yourself!”

Since Liu Shi’s daughter had been forced to marry a relative from the maternal family, Liu Shi had harbored deep resentment towards Song Qile. Unfortunately, Song Qile had proven elusive, and Liu Shi had not been able to catch her in any compromising situation.

Hearing that, Song Qile lightly dropped the curtain and chose not to argue.

***

As the hour approached, everyone took their places. The Emperor entered last, raised his cup, and made some ceremonial remarks. The banquet officially began.

Due to the large number of attendees, the banquet was divided into the inner hall, middle hall, and outer hall. The inner hall, with attendees selected by the Emperor, included favored consorts, high officials, princes, Grand Princess Xiangyang and He Dongchen.

The middle hall was arranged for envoys from various countries and noble families, while the outer hall was reserved for lower-ranking officials, such as Jiang Yueming, a seventh-rank official, who had to sit near the door. The wind blew in, causing the dishes to cool, and not only that, the draft under the table made his legs feel cold despite several layers of clothing.

Unfortunately for Jiang Yueming, it was his period that day, and he quickly became stiff and pale from sitting for a short while. He took a deep breath and tried to distract himself. The grand hall was spacious, allowing him to see the activity inside, but he could not make out the faces clearly.

Jiang Yueming scanned the inner hall and quickly spotted He Dongchen in a moon-white robe. He Dongchen was leisurely fanning himself and occasionally raising his cup to drink, looking dashing and unconcerned by the surrounding noise.

For some reason, Jiang Yueming felt a moment of distraction.

Someone nearby commented with envy, “Sir Jiang, you’re so favored, yet you are still sitting here in the outer hall with us in the cold wind?”

Jiang Yueming snapped back to reality and replied blandly, “Why don’t you ask the Emperor yourself?”

The person was momentarily speechless. He hadn’t seen the Emperor all year and wasn’t about to ask such a question.

At that moment, two eunuchs carried a small screen over to Jiang Yueming and said warmly, “Sir Jiang, this is the screen that Duke Fufeng sent for you.”

After setting up the small screen in front of Jiang Yueming’s table, which was slightly taller than the tabletop and perfectly blocked the dishes, Jiang Yueming felt her cold legs warm up instantly. A smile appeared on his face, making him look radiant.

He smiled and said, “Please thank Duke Fufeng for me.”

The young eunuch nodded and left quietly.

Onlookers around gazed at the screen with a tinge of envy.

Jiang Yueming looked towards the inner hall and happened to make eye contact with He Dongchen. They both raised their glasses and drank to the bottom.

The inner hall was already filled with music and dancing, a scene of peace and joy.

***

At this moment, the envoy from the Liu Kingdom suddenly stepped to the center and announced loudly, “The Ding Kingdom is full of talent. I have an ancient riddle. May I have the honor of presenting it?”

The Emperor’s smiling face darkened slightly as he thought; How unfortunate.

In recent years, the Liu Kingdom had been increasingly restless, and now they were even provoking during the palace banquet.

The hall fell silent as everyone held their breath and stole glances at the Emperor’s expression.

Sitting in the back row of the middle hall, Song Qile adjusted her clothes, her heart racing as she prepared to stand up at any moment, lest Jiang Yueming steal the limelight.

“What is His Majesty’s opinion?” The Liu Kingdom envoy asked arrogantly.

The Emperor suddenly burst into laughter, “Why not? Just go ahead and tell us.”

After speaking, he cast a sinister glance at the courtiers, warning them that if they couldn’t answer and embarrassed him, they would face his wrath.

The Liu Kingdom envoy’s eyes flashed with triumph as he signaled for two large wooden blocks to be brought forward. He announced, “This wood was originally a single piece, now sawed into two segments of equal size. I would like to know, which segment is the head and which is the tail?”

Upon hearing that, many people furrowed their brows, staring at the two identical wooden blocks, puzzled. They were exactly the same; how could anyone distinguish which was the head and which was the tail? Even the carpenter who had cut them probably doesn’t remember.

As everyone pondered, Song Qile, who had already stood halfway up, turned pale and wobbled precariously. She was pulled back into her seat by Liu Shi.

“What are you doing? Don’t cause trouble!” Liu Shi whispered a warning. This was a palace banquet; she didn’t want to be implicated. When the Emperor was angry, he didn’t care about whether someone was a stepmother or not.

Song Qile’s thoughts were in chaos. How could this be? This wasn’t the problem she had expected. Why was this happening? Was even Heaven against me?

The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The Liu Kingdom envoy looked pleased with himself, while the Emperor’s expression grew increasingly sour. With a forced smile, he said, “What are your thoughts, my dear ministers?”

The civil and military officials were sweating profusely, bowing their heads and avoiding eye contact with the Emperor.

He Dongchen observed the situation for a while, seeing that no one was responding. Just as he was about to stand up, a clear voice came from the outer hall, “This humble official can solve it.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and turned their eager gazes towards the outer hall.

The Emperor, seeing that it was Jiang Yueming, was immediately delighted and instructed someone to let him answer the question.

Jiang Yueming left her seat and, under the gaze of the crowd, walked step by step towards the inner hall, passing by the embarrassed Song Qile and standing next to the Liu Kingdom envoy.

In her green official robes, with a face as elegant as jade, standing next to the burly Liu Kingdom envoy, she was quite a sight.

The Liu Kingdom envoy gave Jiang Yueming a critical look and gruffly asked, “What’s your method? Don’t try to fool me.”

Jiang Yueming didn’t respond immediately. He asked the Emperor, “May I request a large water tank to be prepared?”

The Emperor waved his hand grandly, “Granted.”

Soon, several guards brought a large tank into the hall.

Jiang Yueming then asked the guards to help throw two wooden logs, each as thick as a water barrel, into the tank. With a splash, the water surged.

After the water settled, the two logs floated on the surface.

“Everyone, please look.” Jiang Yueming pointed at the water tank. “Both logs are floating on the water. One end is lighter, and the other is heavier. The lighter end is the tip, and the heavier end is the root.”

The crowd began to understand. The heavier ends of the logs were clearly not the cut ends.

Jiang Yueming continued, “Now, let’s look at the two logs. The lighter end of each log differs in weight. By similar reasoning, the lighter end is the tip.”

Thus, the two logs were successfully matched.

The crowd had a moment of realization.

The Liu Kingdom envoy, unwilling to concede, argued stubbornly, “Is that so? Perhaps my logs are different from others. The root might be lighter and the tip heavier. The world is vast and full of wonders.”

When these words were spoken, everyone looked on with disdain.

Jiang Yueming had never seen someone so shameless.

***

He Dongchen chuckled lightly, “Even if the root is lighter and the tip heavier, the principle still holds.”

With that, he stood up and leisurely approached the water tank. With a casual glance, he pointed to the barely noticeable mark on the two logs. “If it’s really that difficult, isn’t there a mark you made yourself?”

The Liu Kingdom envoy stared in disbelief. Such a tiny mark had been noticed! What kind of eyesight was that?

The Liu Kingdom envoy, clutching the logs, retreated in disgrace under the scornful gazes of the crowd.

The Emperor was greatly pleased, rewarding Jiang Yueming and He Dongchen, and even had an extra table added in the inner hall for Jiang Yueming to sit at.

As a seventh-rank official, Jiang Yueming was seated among high-ranking princes and top officials, standing out like a crane among chickens.

The colleagues who had mocked him for sitting in the outer hall were now utterly silent.

He Dongchen raised his cup to Jiang Yueming. What had been across the entire hall before was now just a step away.

Song Qile, watching from behind, gritted her teeth in frustration. It’s Jiang Yueming again! Why was it that as a woman, she had to painstakingly plan my marriage, while Jiang Yueming could enter court and compete with men for glory?