Chapter 7: The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet
Today was the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet. All officials ranked fifth grade and above, along with their family members, had to attend the evening banquet in the palace.
Sweetie and I, as daughters of the Minister of Revenue, naturally had to go to the palace.
"Sweetie Song is here! Tsk tsk tsk, she still has the face to come to the palace?"
"Hilarious! What she likes to eat is different from what we like. We eat food, but should we put a plate of... that on her table?"
"Hahaha, look at her aggrieved expression. It's killing me!"
Almost all the noble young ladies gathered together, pointing and gossiping about Sweetie. Even her close friends kept their distance and ignored her.
But the heroine of a mindless sweet romance doesn't need friendship—she only needs love.
At this moment, Sweetie, sitting beside me, was sweetly gazing from afar at Dominic.
Dominic smiled seductively and mouthed: "Woman, I want you."
Obviously, Sweetie shyly lowered her head.
Next to her was a small flowerpot covered with red cloth. This was the glazed flower they'd cultivated together, meant to be presented to the King as a Mid-Autumn gift today.
Looking at that pot of flowers, I suddenly had a bold idea.
"Your Majesty, this humble daughter wishes to present a gift to Your Majesty!"
Sweetie picked up the flowerpot and stood up courageously. Her dewy, adorable big eyes blinked at the King, looking stubborn and cute.
Seeing such an adorable young lady, the 50-year-old King's heart melted, and he softened his voice: "Oh? What do you wish to present?"
Sweetie said, "It's this pot of flowers."
Just as Sweetie was about to lift the red cloth covering the flowerpot, I activated my plot-modification system.
Original text: Sweetie presented the King with a pot of flowers.
I changed "a pot of flowers" to "a pot of maggots."
Hehehe.
Sweetie thought to herself: This is an extremely rare glazed flower, worth a fortune. The King will definitely be very happy when he sees it. If the King is happy, he might generously reward her, and her reputation might recover.
With this in mind, Sweetie smiled shyly and lifted the red cloth covering the flowerpot. She blinked and asked in a sweet voice, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
But when the King saw the "glazed flower," he was shocked and horrified. He jumped up from his dragon throne and nearly fell to the ground.
Trembling, he pointed at the flowerpot in Sweetie's hands, clutched his chest, and rolled his eyes back.
"You... you... you..."
The Imperial Guards quickly reacted and immediately surrounded Sweetie.
Only then did Sweetie realize something was wrong. Instead of the red glazed flower, the pot was filled with squirming, pale maggots.
Sweetie freaked out. Her hands loosened, and the flowerpot crashed to the ground with a loud smash. Hundreds of maggots were freed and crawled all over the great hall.
Several even crawled onto Sweetie's body.
Sweetie screamed in terror: "AHHHHH!"
Seeing his beloved surrounded by maggots, Dominic immediately roared and rushed forward to save his love.
But he didn't notice me quietly sticking out my foot.
Dominic tripped over my foot, his body leaning forward uncontrollably, and he fell to the ground. By unfortunate coincidence, his mouth hit the ground and ate a mouthful of maggots.
In the end, Sweetie fainted from fright, while Dominic went crazy and rushed out of the great hall to wash his mouth.
Fortunately, the royal physicians arrived in time, and the King was fine—he woke up within minutes.
The first thing the King did upon waking was order Sweetie's punishment.
At the critical moment, I stepped forward to plead for Sweetie.
"Your Majesty, please spare her life! Sweetie didn't mean it! You know Sweetie has some... special hobbies, which is why she raises maggots."
At this point, I added: "Sweetie is soft and cute, and maggots are also pale and tender. They both live in cesspits, so perhaps she just felt close to the maggots and wanted to present them to Your Majesty."
The King raged impotently but couldn't punish someone who was mentally disturbed.
In the end, he could only order Sweetie to be expelled from the palace.
"I once heard rumors that Sweetie Song eats excrement. I thought it was malicious gossip, but I never expected... sigh. Pass my decree: Sweetie Song is forbidden from entering the palace!"
I smiled. Just punishing Sweetie like this wasn't enough. I had to take it slow.