His Highness the Prince's birthday banquet officially began at 8 p.m.
Yu Hanjiang led Xiao Lou into the banquet hall and, like the other guards, stood silently in a corner of the hall, trying to minimize their presence.
His gaze swept across the entire room, quickly locking onto " Xiao Lou " and His Majesty in the crowd.
This birthday banquet was not reported by official media, making it essentially a private birthday party. The atmosphere was not as serious as a government meeting, and the guests' expressions were relatively relaxed, but their attire was very formal. The male guests were all in suits or military uniforms, and the female guests, except for officials who wore suits, had their families wearing evening gowns.
His Majesty said a few words, and then immediately had the princes come forward.
A prince who looked exactly like Xiao Lou stepped to the front of the stage, smiled slightly at the guests, and his clear voice echoed throughout the banquet hall: "Thank you all very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my 25th birthday banquet. I am extremely honored to meet you all on this occasion. I hope to have more opportunities to learn from and exchange ideas with you all in the future..."
He was dressed in a white royal ceremonial robe today, and spoke with a constant smile, appearing elegant and composed. This young prince did not display any arrogant haughtiness; instead, he was humble and polite, making him seem approachable and gentle.
The handsome prince stood on the stage, speaking eloquently. His outstanding demeanor instantly attracted the attention of all the guests, and many young ladies even blushed involuntarily when they met his gaze.
Yu Hanjiang stared at the people on the stage and frowned slightly.
It has to be said that this person does resemble Xiao Lou very much.
Of course, Yu Hanjiang believes that if Xiao Lou were to personally attend today's banquet and give a speech, he would definitely be more attractive than the person in front of him, since Xiao Lou is a university professor in reality and often gives public lectures to hundreds of students.
However, objectively speaking, this clone performed very well.
At least most of the officials below the stage looked appreciative, and His Majesty seemed quite satisfied with him.
When the prince finished speaking, enthusiastic applause rang out.
The banquet was a buffet, with a relaxed and free atmosphere, which also made it convenient for His Majesty to introduce officials from various departments to the princes.
His Majesty led him through the banquet hall, first greeting several generals from the military.
The Empire's Marshal, Ye Ming, is 66 years old this year. His hair is gray, but the old marshal, dressed in military uniform, still looks very energetic. The three senior officers, all "Generals," are named Lin Zecheng, Farrell, and Es, and are dressed in pure black, dark blue, and military green uniforms, respectively.
The Luoke Empire's military doesn't distinguish between navy, army, and air force; instead, it's divided by military regions. This is probably because this era no longer involves naval and air warfare; most battles take place in interstellar space, requiring highly intelligent combat mechs.
Marshal Ye Ming is the highest authority in the Imperial Military, while the remaining three generals are in charge of the Southern, Eastern, and Northwestern Military Regions, respectively. Lu Jiuchuan's Arrow Legion belongs to the Southern Military Region, and his direct superior is General Lin Zecheng, who is also the biological father of the prince's fiancée, Miss Lin Yan.
Several officers saluted the prince, and the prince respectfully returned the salute.
Lu Jiuchuan followed behind General Lin, extended his hand to " Xiao Lou, " and said, "Your Highness, happy birthday."
General Lin introduced, "This is Major General Lu Jiuchuan of Arrow Legion."
The prince nodded, and as he shook hands with Lu Jiuchuan, a polite smile appeared on his face: "So you are General Lu, I have long admired your name. I heard that General Lu is currently the youngest major general in the military? You are indeed young and promising."
Lu Jiuchuan withdrew his hand: "Your Highness is too kind."
If Yu Hanjiang hadn't given prior notice that Xiao Lou had a clone in the palace, Lu Jiuchuan almost wouldn't have been able to tell them apart—they were just too similar.
Her appearance and figure are 100% copied, and even her smile looks like it was taken from Xiao Lou's face!
But upon closer reflection, something seemed amiss. The " Xiao Lou " in front of him looked at Lu Jiuchuan with absolutely no warmth. Even if the real Xiao Lou couldn't call Lu Jiuchuan "Brother Jiu" in public, his gaze wouldn't be so distant.
It was clearly their first meeting; he was polite and courteous, but also somewhat distant.
After greeting Lu Jiuchuan, he continued forward to exchange pleasantries with the other military generals.
Lu Jiuchuan turned back to look at his retreating figure, thoughtfully stroking his chin. Just as he was about to turn around to inform Shao Qingge, he saw Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walking towards him.
Shao Qingge extended his hand and said with a smile, "Your Highness, happy birthday. Your Highness is truly extraordinary today, worthy of our respect." CEO Shao's smiling expression clearly indicated that he was joking.
Xiao Lou didn't rush to extend his hand, but simply smiled at Shao Qingge until a person from the concierge department whispered in his ear, "This is Mr. Shao Qingge, the vice chairman of the Imperial Business Alliance."
Xiao Lou then extended his hand, gave Shao Qingge a light handshake, and withdrew it: "Mr. Shao, it's an honor to meet you."
Shao Qingge: "??"
What, you don't recognize me?
Ye Qi, who was following behind, also walked up to Xiao Lou and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Xiao Lou asked in confusion, "Who is this?"
Ye Qi paused, looking intently at Xiao Lou, as if to say: " Professor Xiao, it's me! Don't you recognize me in my military uniform?" However, Xiao Lou met his gaze...
There was no reaction.
Shao Qingge sensed something was amiss, gently put his arm around Ye Qi's shoulder, and introduced him, "Your Highness, you flatter me. This is my son, Shao Ye Qi. He has always admired Your Highness, so I brought him here to meet you in person."
Xiao Lou smiled slightly at Ye Qi, his gaze gentle: "Mr. Shao's son is a student at Ninth Military Academy?" He clearly recognized Ye Qi's uniform as belonging to Ninth Military Academy.
Shao Qingge said, "Yes, I just started my freshman year."
Xiao Lou praised, " Ninth Military Academy is notoriously difficult to get into, and Mr. Shao truly is a tiger father like a dog son."
Ye Qi: "???"
Listening to the conversation between Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou, Ye Qi gradually realized something was wrong. He took a step back in confusion, and then saw Xiao Lou walk past him and Shao Qingge, continuing to chat with the other guests.
Ye Qi whispered in Shao Qingge's ear, "Doesn't he recognize me?"
Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow: "He doesn't even know me—this Xiao Lou is suspicious."
Ye Qi looked completely confused: "Has he lost his memory? Why isn't Captain Yu with him?"
The two men were filled with questions when Lu Jiuchuan walked over, holding a glass of red wine, and said in a seemingly polite manner, "Mr. Shao, hello, I am Lu Jiuchuan, the leader of Arrow Legion."
Shao Qingge looked around and noticed that most of the guests' attention was on His Highness the Prince, and not many people were paying attention to them. So he also grabbed a glass of wine, picked out some food, and went with Lu Jiuchuan to the rest area on the side of the hall to sit down and chat while eating.
Lu Jiuchuan leaned close to Shao Qingge's ear and asked, " Do you have the bug king card?"
Shao Qingge also lowered his voice: "Yes, if Mr. Tang's leg needs treatment, Ye Qi can use a card at any time. However, the palace is a card- restricted area, and all cards will be unusable after we enter."
Knowing about the bug king card and that Tang Ci needs treatment for his legs, it seems this is truly Shao Qingge.
Lu Jiuchuan felt helpless; now he had to verify the authenticity of every person he met. He paused, then asked suspiciously, " Tang Ci left a message at your address; didn't you hear it?"
Shao Qingge and Ye Qi exchanged a glance. Ye Qi said, "After we came back from Southern Cross Star, we went straight to the Imperial Palace for the birthday banquet. We were in such a rush that we didn't have time to go home. I haven't even changed out of my military uniform."
No wonder these two took the initiative to greet " Xiao Lou "; it turns out they hadn't gone home at all and hadn't heard Tang Ci's message.
Lu Jiuchuan leaned close to their ears and whispered, "This Xiao Lou is a clone, not the Xiao Lou we know."
Ye Qi was stunned: "Clone? "
Shao Qingge frowned: "So, you mean, a person copied in Professor Xiao's appearance?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "Yes, it's hard to tell from appearance alone."
Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly: "No wonder. I always felt something was off. When he looked at us, it was like we were meeting for the first time. His eyes were so unfamiliar."
Ye Qi glanced around warily and said, " Where is the real Xiao Lou? Isn't His Highness the Prince's name Xiao Lou? Why didn't he attend today's banquet?"
Lu Jiuchuan didn't know how to answer Ye Qi's three questions. He pinched his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and said, " Xiao Lou is really with Hanjiang. To be precise, he's shrunk and hiding in Hanjiang's pocket. Hanjiang is also at the banquet, but he borrowed my mask and disguised himself as a Royal Guard soldier. I don't know which one he is."
To ensure the safety of the banquet, Royal Guard soldiers stood on the perimeter, dressed in neat white uniforms. Each of them was tall and imposing, making it impossible to tell which one was Yu Hanjiang in disguise.
Shao Qingge said, "So, the theme of this secret room is... cloning?"
Lu Jiuchuan cursed under his breath: "It's still unclear. Guardian gave us a blank test paper to answer, without even providing any questions. Damn! We don't even know what the puzzle is about."
Shao Qingge: "..."
He reached up and pressed his temple, seemingly lost in thought.
After a moment, Shao Qingge suddenly said, "By the way, when my father was in charge of Noah Medical Technology Company, it seems that he invested a large sum of money to launch the ' Noahs Ark Project,' the core of which was gene experimentation."
Lu Jiuchuan's eyes lit up: "Does your company participate in gene-related projects?"
Shao Qingge said, "That happened twenty years ago, I don't remember it very clearly. Later, it was said that the experiment failed, and all the relevant data and experimental samples were destroyed. I'll go back and check again to see if there are any missing clues."
Ye Qi guessed, "The genetic experiments must be related to human cloning, right?"
Lu Jiuchuan looked at him: "What are your thoughts?"
Ye Qi said softly, "Didn't someone use a single cell from a sheep to create a cloned sheep back then? Theoretically, if animal experiments can succeed, so can human ones. If that's the case, Professor Xiao might have more than one clone. Noah's Ark Project is a bit strange, considering it's their company's gene experiment. "
Shao Qingge squinted as he listened to Ye Qi's analysis. The little guy was quite serious: "Noah's Ark comes from the Bible. It's said to be a large ship built according to God's instructions, intended to allow Noah, his family, and all kinds of creatures in the world to escape a disaster. It was for escaping disaster!"
He looked at Shao Qingge and said with a puzzled expression, " CEO Shao, why did your father... who is also my nominal grandfather, launch the Noahs Ark Project? I think this must be a key clue."
Shao Qingge chuckled and patted his shoulder.
Bang: "My son is so smart."
Lu Jiuchuan: "......"
As the three were chatting, a young girl in a red evening dress walked up to " Xiao Lou ".
The girl had a fantastic figure; the red dress accentuated her snow-white skin, and her exquisite makeup made her exceptionally beautiful. Among all the female guests, her looks and demeanor were undoubtedly the most outstanding.
Upon seeing her, Xiao Lou smiled and nodded politely, saying, "Miss Lin."
Lu Jiuchuan crossed his arms and looked at the woman thoughtfully: "Is she Lin Yan?"
Ye Qi asked in confusion, " Who is Lin Yan?"
Lu Jiuchuan explained in a low voice, "It's said she's the prince's fiancée. Xiao Lou herself probably doesn't know her, but this clone seems to know her very well?"
The next moment, His Highness the Prince suddenly leaned down, very gentlemanly took her hand, and gently kissed the back of her hand.
Lin Yan's face flushed slightly, and her gaze as she looked up at him was full of adoration.
The handsome man and beautiful woman looked very well-matched standing together. His Highness reached out his hand, and Lin Yan gently took his arm.
Shao Qingge asked with a look of anticipation, "Are they already engaged?"
Lu Jiuchuan said helplessly, "The marriage was arranged when the Queen was still alive. I estimate that they should officially get married after this birthday, right? The prince is already 24 years old, it's time for him to get married and participate in politics."
Shao Qingge smiled enigmatically: " What about Xiao Lou's wedding? Will Clone replace him? We can't have a stand-in for him on his wedding night, can we?"
Lu Jiuchuan sighed and rubbed his forehead: "I don't know."
At this moment, Yu Hanjiang stared blankly at " Xiao Lou ".
He held the girl's hand, smiling and exchanging pleasantries with the guests, as if the woman standing beside him should be his princess. He was very considerate and tolerant of this girl, and his gaze towards her was full of tenderness.
Yu Hanjiang found it very uncomfortable that this person, with Xiao Lou's face, looked at a girl with such gentle eyes...
The sight of "handsome men and beautiful women on their wrists" is particularly jarring.
Yu Hanjiang simply chose to ignore it and quickly looked away.
Xiao Lou, on the other hand, was currently crouching on the edge of Yu Hanjiang's uniform pocket, carefully observing the scene over there.
The moment he saw " Xiao Lou " reach out and gently tuck a strand of hair behind Lin Yan's ear, he suddenly thought to himself, " Hanjiang, don't you think something's wrong?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice in his mind, Yu Hanjiang immediately responded, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Lou said, "If he was just cloning, why would he contact my fiancée?"
Although Xiao Lou and Lin Yan have no feelings for each other, Lin Yan is still his fiancée in name. They were officially engaged when the Queen was still alive. A clone should have the awareness of cloning. How could he dare to approach the real owner's fiancée without permission? And even make such intimate gestures in front of His Majesty?
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