Chapter 05 Spring Banquet

Shen Sui did not come to Fengchun Palace for several days.

If it were in the previous life, Wu Chun would probably be sad for a long time, and even try her best to pester Shen Sui to accompany her more.

Now, she is happy and at ease.

Winter is gradually passing, and it is spring with thousands of branches and flowers blooming. The white magnolias outside Fengchun Palace are like ribbons, and the red plums in the white porcelain vase by the window have been replaced by yellow winter jasmine. It

is finally spring.

Wu Chun opened the window, and the warm spring breeze in the afternoon came with the fragrance of flowers and plants.

As a native of southern Xinjiang, Wu Chun grew up in a place with a humid and hot climate. Even in the winter in southern Xinjiang, there is no need to wear heavy winter clothes like in Daliang. Due to habit, and the fact that Wuchun accidentally fell into the winter lake when he was young, he was left with a chronic illness. Compared with the locals in Daliang, he is more afraid of the cold.

"Your Highness." Jinglian called her from outside the window, "Last time you wanted to check the affairs around Concubine Liu Gui, I asked Agui to find out. In the past few days, Chengxing Palace has been no different from usual. If there is anything different, it is that the colorful peony glazed incense burner that Concubine Liu Gui should have presented to the Empress as a birthday gift was broken by a clumsy palace maid and replaced by a pair of Dezhou folk craftsmen who spent eight years making it. "I want to give you a hollow carved hibiscus bracelet made by Liu Guifei. Dezhou is the hometown of Liu Guifei's maternal family, so sending this gift is particularly thoughtful."

Wu Chun heard it and frowned, "In this case, breaking the incense burner seems to be a good thing. The bracelet that took eight years to make was taken away by Liu Guifei. How could it be such a coincidence?"

If Wu Chun remembered correctly, Empress Chen had a miscarriage shortly after the birthday banquet. Although her life was not in jeopardy, it was also a close call. After that, Liu Guifei was demoted to a concubine. If the emperor had not really doted on Princess Shen Ying, I am afraid that Liu Guifei would have been sent to the cold palace.

If Liu Guifei had never had contact with others before, the problem must have been the Empress' birthday banquet.

When Jinglian heard this, her heart skipped a beat. "You mean..."

"The manpower I can mobilize is really limited. It's not easy to find Dezhou's spy from here. This line is broken. Go and give more money to that guy called Agui. These things should not be known to others."

"Yes. Your Highness, the Queen's birthday banquet will be held in a few days. The emperor is very happy. The women of the harem and the princes and princesses will attend the banquet. Naturally, you should go too."

Jinglian said while looking at Wuchun's face. There are many etiquettes for such occasions. What if Wuchun gets into trouble if he is not careful?

It's hard for a servant to say, but Wu Chun knows it very well in her heart. She smiled and said, "Do you think...your prince is so stupid that he will be embarrassed even to attend a banquet?"

"I dare not!"

Wu Chun said, "There are many people at the banquet, but it is also a good opportunity for me to walk around the palace. I am a princess of Southern Xinjiang after all, not a country woman. I remember all the rules that should be followed."

Not only remember? It's not an exaggeration to say that it is engraved in my heart!

In order to please Shen Sui, she learned the official language of Daliang and the characters of Daliang. She followed the etiquette of Xue Shang, who was known for his strictness, in walking, sitting and lying. She never slacked off . But

Shen Sui never thought of her well.

Wu Chun took a deep breath.

After so many days, it's time to see Shen Sui again.

...

On the day of Queen Chen's birthday banquet, Shen Sui wore a white cross-collared gown, a jade pendant with a green cloud pattern on his waist, and a water-blue sleeve. The wide sleeves fluttered in the wind, and he looked like a jade mountain about to fall, like a famous scholar on the mountain.

At first glance, the white cross-collared gown inside was not auspicious for a birthday banquet, but the water-blue sleeves outside suppressed the whiteness.

I don't know what Shen Sui'an was thinking.

He stood under the vermilion palace wall, looking out of place.

Wu Chun approached and saw that the circle of teeth marks on Shen Sui's face had completely healed, and his face was flawless.

Seeing her coming, he stretched out his hand to her, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, as if the two had never argued before, but were a couple who respected each other.

Wu Chun didn't even look at Shen Sui, and took the arm of a eunuch next to him and got on the wooden sedan chair.

Shen Sui's hand froze in the air.

His eyes turned and fell coldly on the eunuch's arm.

The eunuch's spine was immediately chilled! He was frightened and knelt in front of Shen Sui.

Shen Sui naturally withdrew his hand and moved his eyes back. The bone-chilling coldness in his eyes just now had completely disappeared. He put on the warm smile when he looked at Wu Chun and sat on the sedan chair.

The sedan chair moved forward, but the two people in the car were silent all the way.

Until they arrived at Shou'an Palace.

Shou'an Palace was where the emperor's beloved concubines or empress dowagers held birthday banquets. There were pavilions and waterside pavilions, and thousands of flowers bloomed. It was spring, and the scene was lush and luxuriant. The palace maids were busy coming and going, and there were palace maids watering the hydrangeas; eunuchs were carrying food boxes in and out; guards stood by the waterside pavilions and in the corners of the banquet halls.

The atmosphere was noisy and joyful.

"The Third Prince and the Third Prince's Consort are here..."

When Shen Sui came down, he still held out his hand to Wu Chun with a faint smile, and Wu Chun took his hand this time.

The banquet was arranged along both sides of the open-air stone platform. There were two chairs side by side on the highest step, and the seats below were arranged according to rank.

Wu Chun and Shen Sui sat in front of a table.

Many people have come to the banquet. The eldest prince Shen Heng and the second prince Shen Gong have both arrived. Their seats are above Shen Sui, and the empty seat opposite Shen Sui is Shen Ying's.

In other words, Shen Sui is the lowest-ranking prince.

Shen Gong did not look at Shen Sui well, and his contempt was written all over his face; Shen Heng, on the other hand, was open and generous, and nodded slightly to Shen Sui, with a handsome face and the demeanor of a gentleman.

As soon as Wu Chun sat down, she caught a glimpse of Shen Gong's domineering and arrogant look, and her stomach began to churn. The jade cup filled with wine in front of her reflected her eyebrows, and then gradually turned red, becoming a cup of blood!

The death of Jinglian, the thousands of arrows on the city walls, the palace full of wailing and blood...

For a moment, Wu Chun almost overturned the jade cup with a slap, but it was Shen Sui's cold hand on her hand that brought her back to her senses.

She turned her head to meet Shen Sui's probing gaze.

Behind him, Shen Gong occasionally gave her a sarcastic smile.

"I don't know where this bastard came from. He was born in an ignominious way and married in an ignominious way. Now he has the nerve to bring the woman who was supposed to be his sister-in-law to attend the Queen's birthday banquet..."

Shen Sui let go of Wu Chun's hand, as if he understood why Wu Chun was distracted just now, and his sharp eyes shot towards Shen Gong.

Shen Gong was stuffing his food with pastries when he was choked by Shen Sui's look. "What are you looking at? Is there anything wrong with what I said?"

"Second brother, stop talking." Shen Heng frowned and flicked his sleeves. "Today is the Queen Mother's birthday. It is disrespectful for you two brothers to quarrel. Be careful of father's punishment."

Shen Gong snorted, rolled his eyes at Shen Sui, and said nothing more.

Shen Sui turned his gaze back and glanced at Shen Heng, but he did not feel any gratitude towards this royal brother who protected him.

Wu Chun gradually calmed down and silently remembered Shen Gong in her heart. She didn't know what went wrong with Shen Sui in her previous life. She didn't kill Shen Gong immediately when the palace coup happened. In this life, she would not let Shen Gong have an easy time!

However, according to Wu Chun, Shen Sui's life experience is not glorious.

Shen Sui's mother was Xiao Cairen, who was exiled to Fengzhou by the emperor in anger. Xiao Cairen was exiled for two months before she found out that she was pregnant with the heir.

Because of the two-month time difference and the concubines' whispers, the emperor was suspicious of Xiao Cairen's pregnancy and asked her to stay in Fengzhou until the baby was born. The day of birth was extremely dangerous, and Xiao Cairen died in childbirth, and the baby was considered to be unknown.

But in the end, for the sake of the royal family's face, the emperor sent people to Fengzhou to serve.

But this child had a bad fate. When he was five years old, he was robbed by robbers. All the servants around him died. Only Eunuch Cui was left to protect him and escape.

The house he originally lived in burned down, and it was too dangerous for the young royal bloodline to live outside the palace, so the emperor took him back.

At the age of five, the child was named "Sui", which means comfort.

So in the night of the previous life, Wu Chun would see shallow burn marks on the back of Shen Sui's shoulder. I think it was because she was too young at that time, and the wounds left behind were likely to stay with her for a lifetime. That piece of skin was slightly raised, and when Wu Chun's nails couldn't help but scratch it, Shen Sui would always grab her wrist and move it away.

That was a wound that no one could touch.

"The Concubine and the Princess are here—"

"Your Majesty, the Queen is here—"

Wu Chun's thoughts returned.

Concubine Liu and Shen Ying were seated first, and when Shen Yu and Queen Chen arrived, everyone stood up and saluted. Shen Yu said to stand up, and sat on the highest seat with Queen Chen, and everyone returned to their seats.

Queen Chen, with her round belly, was middle-aged, but because of the luxury she had, she was radiant, and the accumulation of years made her look like a precious jade. According

to the red tape of Daliang, the next period of time should be boring and tedious. Wu Chun looked around and his eyes fell on Shen Ying.

The cute princess was dressed like a porcelain doll today, with pearls in her hairpins, a red gold necklace on her chest, a cross-collared dress with gold and flowers, and a face covered with rouge and powder, as bright as a lotus and the sun.

Compared with this princess, Wuchun's dress was much simpler. It also seemed that Shen Sui... did not have a very high status in the palace.

Shen Ying was chatting and laughing softly with the palace maids next to her, with the cute and naive look of a young girl.

When she first married Shen Sui, Wuchun also had some of Shen Ying's shadow.

Shen Sui's eyes fell on Shen Ying for a moment, then moved away.

Wu Chun's eyes turned and he caught a glimpse of the guard standing in the corner below the stage. He looked like a member of the imperial guards and was of high rank. He was handsome and bright-eyed, with darker skin than Shen Sui's cold white, sharp features, and a slim waist. His figure was not much inferior to Shen Sui's.

Could it be Xiao Huaiwen?

Soon, it was time for everyone to present gifts to the empress.

When Shen Heng and Shen Gong presented gifts, Empress Chen was smiling. When

it was Shen Sui's turn to present gifts, the eunuch respectfully carried a long and flat wooden box up. As soon as he opened the wooden box and presented it to Empress Chen, the expression of Empress Chen suddenly changed!

"How dare you!" Queen Chen screamed, her face turning pale. "How dare you offer this thing!"