In a blink of an eye, it was almost noon.
The purpose of this palace banquet was, firstly, to commend the merits and reward the meritorious officials, and secondly, to celebrate the full moon of the little emperor's grandson.
Now, both the awarding ceremony and the full moon celebration have been completed. After the highlight was over, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly relaxed.
In the center of the hall, the dancers were still dancing gracefully, while the guests on both sides had already started to leave with their wine glasses to drink and chat with people they knew.
There were also some people who were good at socializing and took the opportunity to build relationships with high-ranking guests.
Xia Miaoyuan stuffed two snacks into his purse and ran to find Xiao Wanyin.
"Little cousin, I miss you so much since you've been staying at home these days." Xia Miaoyuan said in a baby voice.
Xiao Wanyin blinked her big eyes and said, "In two days, I will go back to Kunning Palace to live."
"Wow! That's great!"
The two sisters talked and laughed, and ran out of the hall to play.
The two found a place in the corridor and started playing shuttlecock.
Xiao Wanyin could kick more than ten times in one breath, but Xia Miaoyuan couldn't do it yet, so Xiao Wanyin patiently taught her.
When the two sisters were concentrating on playing shuttlecock, they suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Uncle Ninth Prince, I appreciate your kindness, but I don't want to consider this right now."
[Huh? Isn't that my second brother's voice?] Xia Miaoyuan grabbed the shuttlecock and tiptoed over with Xiao Wanyin.
Walking to the corner of the corridor and looking over there, I saw the Second Prince and the Ninth Prince standing together.
From what the Ninth Prince said, it seems that he wants to introduce a certain daughter to the Second Prince.
The Ninth Prince was a little embarrassed: "Chengnian, you are not young anymore, it's time to think about these things."
The Second Prince gave a forced smile: "Thank you, Uncle Royal."
As he spoke, he turned around and walked away, leaving the Ninth Prince alone.
【Why does something feel wrong? 】
[When the Crown Prince was looking for a wife, wasn't my second brother really looking forward to it?]
[Is it because the noble lady introduced by the Ninth Prince is too ugly? ]
While Xia Miaoyuan and Xiao Wanyin were confused, the second prince had already walked up to them.
The second prince touched his two sisters' heads lovingly, then picked up Xia Miaoyuan again.
At this time, the Queen also slowly walked out of the hall, followed by Yingxue and Sangqi.
The queen had been sitting upright in her seat for the entire morning and her back and waist were aching, so she came out to stretch her muscles.
"Mother!" Xia Miaoyuan called out loudly.
When the queen saw her daughter, niece and the second prince were all there, she walked over with a smile on her face.
"You're all here!"
"Miao'er, Ayin, when the banquet starts, you two must return to your seats obediently." The queen instructed softly.
"Don't worry, Auntie! I'll take Miao'er back home when the banquet starts!"
After a few jokes, Xia Miaoyuan suddenly remembered that the Second Prince had just rejected the Ninth Prince. Wanting to tease him, she deliberately said to the Queen, "Mother, the Ninth Prince just introduced a noble lady to my second brother, but he said no!"
"He must think I'm ugly!"
Xiao Wanyin covered her mouth and giggled.
"No way!" The second prince's face turned red with embarrassment and he quickly explained.
"It's not that I think she's ugly, but I don't want to get married so early."
The Queen pursed her lips and said calmly, "Chengnian, it's nothing. If you don't like the one someone introduced to you, just turn it down. I'll find you a better one later."
Unexpectedly, the Second Prince reacted strongly, waving his hands repeatedly and saying, "Mother, I really don't want to think about marriage right now."
"I, your son, should make the most of my youth and make more achievements in the army."
The Queen and Xia Miaoyuan looked at the Second Prince in surprise.
At this time, Xiao Qiu, who was beside Princess Jin, ran over hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, our princess has a stomachache. I'm afraid she's about to give birth!"
When the Queen heard that Princess Jin was about to give birth, she ignored everything else and strode into the hall with her skirt fluttering.
The second prince, Xia Miaoyuan, and Xiao Wanyin also followed him into the palace.
When the Queen came to Princess Jin, she was already frowning in pain.
"What's wrong?" The queen stepped forward and held Princess Jin's hand.
"Your Majesty, I have a stomachache, which comes and goes, and is even more severe than the usual menstrual pain." Princess Jin replied with difficulty.
"And the pain gets worse with each attack!"
The Queen's face instantly showed both surprise and joy: "Yes, yes, the baby must be about to be born!"
At this time, the queen returned to the hall in a hurry with her people. This scene had frightened everyone in the hall. They stopped talking and looked towards the queen and Princess Jin.
"What happened?" The guests started talking at once.
"Could it be that Princess Jin is having a seizure?"
"Oh, looking at Princess Jin's expression, it really looks like she's enduring pain."
"Hey, you finally got pregnant, but why don't you just stay at home and take care of the baby? Why are you joining in the fun at the palace banquet?"
"That's right! And, thankfully, I'm still trying to taste exotic fruits and vegetables."
Meanwhile, the Queen had already begun giving orders in an orderly manner.
"Yingxue, take someone to send Princess Jin to the west wing of Shanglin Garden, and have someone boil more water."
"Xiao Luzi, the midwife prepared by the Prince of Jin's Mansion may be too late. Go to the palace and call a few midwives over."
"Sang Qi, take Doctor Yin to the west wing for emergency use."
Following the Queen's orders, the palace maids began to get busy.
The Princess of Jin was carried out by the palace servants in a sedan chair.
It was almost time for lunch and the guests should return to their seats to enjoy it.
But at this time, seeing that Princess Jin was about to give birth, everyone had no interest in lunch and all their attention was focused on Princess Jin's delivery.
Inside the main hall, Minister of Works Niu Baijin took a sip of wine and gossiped to the Vice Minister of Works, Lord Wang, standing behind him. "I wonder if the Princess of Jin's long diet of exotic fruits, vegetables, and grains will affect the fetus in her womb."
Lord Wang was used to currying favor with his superiors, so upon hearing his immediate superior's words, he immediately chimed in, "I've heard that eating those foreign things would cause chronic poisoning in the Central Plains."
"Looking at the complexions of Prince Jin and Princess Jin today, they both looked sallow and pale, definitely not the look of health."
"I guess it must be from eating those exotic fruits and vegetables these days."
At this time, Censor Zhang, who was standing by, stroked his beard and said, "I think what Lord Wang said makes sense."
"Today, I also felt that the Jin King and his wife looked strange."
"Thinking that the Princess of Jin is still pregnant, ah, what a sin! If the adults are poisoned, the fetus will definitely be affected."
"Even if this child is born, we don't know whether he can survive."
The conversation among them became more and more lively, and more people joined in.
A gray-haired civil servant said coldly, "In my opinion, if a living baby can be born, you will be lucky."
"I've personally witnessed cases before where a pregnant mother was poisoned, which resulted in the fetus also being poisoned, ultimately resulting in a stillborn baby."
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