Banquet at night (1)
Banquet (1)
In the palace at night, there is joy and there is worry.
In the elegantly decorated and serene palace, Liu Guifei wore a snow-white silver phoenix patterned brocade dress that trailed on the ground. The palace maid carefully avoided stepping on the hem of the dress as she inserted a silver butterfly hairpin with flowing tassels into Liu's smooth black hair. Liu Guifei stood in front of the polished copper mirror, gazing at her icy and snowy complexion reflected in it, her expression calm and unruffled.
"Your Highness, the princess has arrived." The palace maid beside her reported softly.
The cold eyes of Yu Guifei flashed a faint warmth, "Let her in." Before long, a young girl wearing a light yellow dress walked in, standing at the door looking timidly at Yu Guifei before walking forward, softly calling out: "Mother..." Yu Guifei turned around, stretching out her hand to pull the girl to her side,
With a face that bore some resemblance to her own, Consort Liu lowered her eyelids and suppressed the complex emotions in her eyes, asking softly: "Ning'er, why have you come to see me at this time?" The girl looked up at Consort Liu and said in a low voice: "Chang Le sister said she's going to attend the palace banquet with Mother Empress, Ning'er wants to go with Mother too." Consort Liu was taken aback for a moment.
Furrowing his brow, he said: "You're still young, tonight's banquet is to welcome the Prince of Beijiang, you don't need to attend."
The girl's eyes welled up with tears of grievance, and Princess Chang Le was only one year older than her. However, the Empress Dowager often took her to palace banquets to play together, but the Empress never took her along or played with her. She knew that the Empress didn't like her... Seeing the childish face frozen in a daze, Consort Liu's expression slightly changed.
She relaxed, but soon calmed down and said in a cold voice: "Ning Er, you don't even listen to the empress's words? Go back!" Looking at her daughter's wronged and heartbroken appearance, she finally hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Go back to your own palace, and later let the nanny take you to attend the palace banquet." The girl wiped away the tears on her face with her hand and sobbed: "Wu wu..."
Don't be angry, Mother. I won't go then. Ning'er will stay and play with the younger brothers..." After saying that, she turned around and ran out in a hurry.
In the quiet palace, the senior palace maid beside Liu Guifei frowned and whispered: "Your Highness, aren't you being too...?"
"Never mind, help me with my hair instead," said Liu Guifei, turning around calmly.
Seeing her like this, the palace maid didn't dare to persuade her anymore. She turned around and looked at the door where there was no one in sight, and let out a faint sigh in her heart. Compared to how the Empress treated the eldest princess, she was too cold towards the second princess and even the two princes. In the future, when the princes and princesses grew up, they might also be affected by their feelings towards the Empress. Unfortunately, they...
Some of the palace maids' words couldn't be heeded even if they advised the princess. They could only nimbly help their master dress up, and then Princess Liu got up, took a look at the mirror, and said, "Let's go."
At the night banquet, it was still a harmonious scene of singing and dancing, with cups and chopsticks crossing each other. Ye Li sat beside Mo Xiu Yao, clearly feeling that from the moment she entered the grand hall, a gaze had been fixed on her without leaving. She raised her head to look over, and sitting across from her was indeed the key figure of tonight's banquet, the seventh prince of Beijun Country, Ye Lu Ye. Seeing Ye Li looking over at him,
He raised an eyebrow and lifted his wine cup in her direction, a gesture that was not subtle at all. The unbridled audacity in his eyes made Ye Li's heart sink with displeasure. Since he married Mo Xiu Yao, or rather, since she could remember, no one had dared to look at her with such brazenness. As if sensing Ye Li's anger, Ye Lü Ye raised an eyebrow and smiled, turning
He went over and sat down next to someone and started talking to them.
Ye Li's eyes drooped slightly as she lowered her head to gaze at her own hands. Did Ye Lu think she would lose control on the spot?
A slightly cool hand grasped hers, and Ye Li raised her head to see Mo Xiuyao's gentle and concerned eyebrows. Mo Xiuyao chuckled softly: "Don't be angry, my queen, I'll dig out his eyeballs for you later." Ye Li rolled her eyes at him and muttered: "He's the Northern Rong King's most favored son, if you dig out his eyeballs, Northern Rong and Great Chu will...
"Still not fighting?" Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly: "Who says it must be in Da Chu to take action? When I go to Bei Rong, I'll have a way to dig out his eyeballs to apologize to my wife." Ye Li shook her head, "It's nothing, as long as you return safely from Bei Rong, don't stir up more trouble." Mo Xiuyao gazed deeply at her with a pleased expression.
"Ah, is the wife worried about me? As a husband, I'm truly delighted." Ye Li couldn't help but pinch him. This man had been getting more and more pretentious since that night's lantern festival. Every day, he would shout "wife's master" nonstop.
Below, the interactive sitting on top of Mo Jingqi naturally saw clearly, originally could be considered handsome face slightly twisted, Mo Jingqi turned back to Liu Guifei and the Empress smiled: "Ding Wang and Wang Fei have been married for over a year, but they are still loving each other." The Empress took a sip of the wine in her cup, smiling faintly: "Your Majesty
It is said that King Ding and Queen Ding's love for each other must be another beautiful story in the capital. Mo Jingqi nodded with a smile, "The Empress Dowager is right, my dear concubine, what do you think?" Liu Guifei's face was as white as snow, her expression cold and detached, "Empress Dowager said so." Wang Zhaorong, who sat below Liu Guifei, looked at Liu Guifei and then at King Ding and his wife, covering her mouth with a silly smile.
Xiao Dao: "I heard that in the past, Liu sister and Ding Wang were still green plums and bamboo horses..." Before she could finish speaking, Mo Jingqi's gaze shot at her like a sharp arrow, Wang Zhaorong's heart skipped a beat, knowing she had misspoken but was so scared that she didn't know what to do. The Empress frowned slightly and said lightly: "Wang Zhaorong can't hold his liquor, just drink less."
"Shut up, what nonsense are you talking about?" Wang Zhaorong's face looked unpleasant, but she knew that the Empress had helped her out of a difficult situation, so she hastily nodded in agreement and lowered her head, not daring to say another word.
"Your Majesty." The prince, Ye Luoye suddenly stood up and loudly said to Mo Jingqi on the throne: "The crown princess of our country passed away at the beginning of the year. My father king is grateful for the promise of friendship between the two countries and will welcome the Princess of Great Chu with the etiquette of the crown prince's wife. I don't know if I have the honor to see my future queen sister."
As soon as Yelü Ye spoke, the entire hall was in an uproar. Becoming a concubine of the King of Beiting or becoming a princess consort of some prince versus becoming the crown princess of Beiting were two completely different things. Not to mention those who couldn't see through this marriage alliance, even those who had already seen through it and were waiting for an opportunity couldn't help but feel a little moved. The daughters in their families were used
What's the point of doing this? To form an alliance, to gain short-term benefits or relationships. After all, who can expect a relationship to last long just because of one woman? Even if they knew that marrying off their daughter to the Northern Rong would not end well, if there were enough benefits, sacrificing a daughter was completely worth it. Ye Li was somewhat surprised.
She glanced at Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said in a low voice, "The difference between being the crown prince's legitimate wife and being formally appointed as the crown prince's consort is not just a little bit. Who says that the Beijun people are straightforward and brave but bad at plotting and scheming?"
Ye Li was taken aback, but it wasn't like she had forgotten that the royal families of various countries still had the Golden Register, including the Northern Rong who were considered barbarians. Without being formally registered on the Golden Register, it would be impossible for her to enter the ancestral temple and have her name recorded in the family tree. Not to mention being married with the rites of a crown prince's consort, even if she was married with the rites of an empress, those women wouldn't count. Ye Li recalled the news that Mo Xiu Yao had spread about Ye Lu Ye wanting to personally select his bride. Ordinary consorts and princesses weren't allowed to be chosen, but the future empress of Northern Rong wasn't even allowed to be looked at beforehand - it was unthinkable in Great Chu, especially since there wasn't a suitable princess to present. Ye Li smiled wryly as she glanced at Mo Xiu Yao, openly mocking him for being unable to steal the chicken without losing the rice. Mo Xiu Yao didn't mind, anyway Great Chu had to marry off a woman to Northern Rong, and since Ye Lu Ye dared to generously offer the position of crown prince's consort, he didn't mind letting him choose someone within his own scope of preference. "Miss, you should still worry about Miss Hua from the Hua family. If Ye Lu Ye were to personally select, there's a 70% chance he'll choose Hua Tian Xiang." If he knew that Hua Tian Xiang and Ah Li had a good relationship, then the 70% probability might even increase to 90%.
Ye Li furrowed her brow slightly, "Then please trouble Your Highness to make sure the Prince of Beijun understands the importance of choosing a crown prince's consort with a noble imperial background."
Mo Xiuyao shook his head and chuckled softly, "If Yelü Ye was the crown prince himself, he might have chosen a woman of royal blood. But he's choosing for Yelü Hong, after all. Huatian Xiang isn't of royal blood, but she is indeed the emperor's niece, and her status isn't low either. Moreover, there's a great possibility that this could drive a wedge between the emperor and the Hua family. You see, although Old General Hua has retired from battle, his prestige in the military is still considerable. And once Huatian Xiang marries into the Northern Rong, the Hua family will be of no help to Yelü Hong whatsoever."
Ye Li furrowed her brow and pondered for a moment before asking, "What if we let him know that after Tianxiang becomes the crown princess of Northern Rong, she might become a great help to Yelü Hong?"
Mo Xiuyao rubbed his temples thoughtfully and smiled, "This... might just work. It all depends on whether we can deceive Yelü Ye."
Mo Jingqi was also taken aback by Yelü Ye's sudden words, and it took him a moment to regain his composure before laughing and saying: "Is what Prince Yelü said really true?"
Yelü Yu's face was full of sincerity as he said, "Of course it is true. Young King Xiao led the mission to welcome Princess Chuyu in person on behalf of his father, isn't that enough to show our sincerity?"
Mo Jingqi's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Ye Li, who was sitting on one side with her head down and talking to Mo Xiuyao: "Ding Wangfei, this matter was originally handled by you. Do you have a bottom line for the person to be married?"
Ye Li cursed Mo Jingqi secretly in her heart for being deceitful. He had clearly let someone present the candidates to him that morning, but now he was pretending to be completely unaware of it. Standing up, Ye Li respectfully said: "Your Majesty, indeed there are already several candidates. Before entering the palace, I ordered someone to report to Your Majesty, perhaps due to Your Majesty's busy schedule, you haven't had time to see it yet." Yelu Ye smiled and looked at Ye Li with raised eyebrows, saying: "Since the candidate has not been decided yet, I wonder if I can participate in it?" Weren't you saying that this king would personally choose a princess for marriage? This king will choose one for you to see. However...the person in charge of this matter is Ding Wangfei, what an unexpected joy...Yelu Ye looked at the woman opposite him with pleasure and secretly calculated in his heart.
"I humbly report to Your Majesty, Yelü Wangzi is after all a foreign man, and this would tarnish the reputation of our great Chu's virtuous ladies." A minister whose own daughter was also among the candidates stood up and said. Not to mention whether she can be chosen or not, if she were chosen to go to Beirong as the crown prince's consort, from then on it's likely that for a lifetime she would never see her family again. If she weren't chosen, then the reputation of one's own daughter would be completely lost, and in the future how could she marry?
"After all, being the crown princess of a country is a big deal. It's natural for Prince Bei to be concerned. As long as you're mindful of some things, that's all." The Empress Dowager Liu suddenly spoke up from where she had been sitting quietly at one side.
The empress didn't bat an eyelid, but glanced at Consort Liu. In this setting, even the empress hadn't spoken, and a consort daring to speak out of turn was already overstepping her bounds. Mo Jingqi looked at Consort Liu with some surprise, but she remained calm and composed, sitting properly beside him as if she hadn't said anything just now. Looking at his beloved consort, Mo Jingqi thought for a moment, raised an eyebrow, and smiled: "Since my consort has spoken, then let's follow Prince Ye's suggestion."
Yelü Yuzhi smiled and bowed: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Mo Jingqi smiled and said: "It's all for the sake of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Prince Yelü doesn't have to be so polite."
