Mei Ying recommended herself. Liu Xuan was not annoyed when their conversation was interrupted. "Miss Mei is also proficient in this?"

Mei Ying raised her eyebrows and looked at Su Juan with a smug look on her face. "My father is the current minister, so he naturally disciplines me a lot in this regard, so I know a lot about this."

As she spoke, she talked about some of the things her mother taught her about planning banquets at the Mei Mansion in the past.

Liu Xuan frowned slightly but did not interrupt. He listened to her finish speaking without saying anything else.

Su Juan smiled without saying anything. It turned out that Mei Ying liked Liu Xuan.

Since she wants to show off in front of her lover, why should she be the bad guy and ruin his romantic opportunities?

Xie Xun on the side could not stand it any longer and started to talk, "Your Mei family's banquet is like piling up mountains of gold and silver. Now that Xuzhou is suffering from a flood, if you really follow your way, the scholars of the world will be stabbed in the back."

Although Xie Xun did not understand the issue of floods, he also knew about natural disasters and man-made disasters. It was inappropriate for people in the court to drink and indulge in pleasure.

Su Juan's eyes flashed with surprise when she looked at Xie Xun, and then she remembered that he had confined himself to reflect on his mistakes because of an article written by Cai Yi.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, [He knew that he would be stabbed in the back by scholars all over the world. It seems that Xie Xun has learned his lesson.]

Xie Xun snorted lightly, flicked the fan and shook it, saying, "What do you mean by learning a lesson? I will remember the lesson I taught you."

Minister Mei was a man who cared a lot about face. The Mei family held several banquets a year, with mountains of gold and silver, for fear of being looked down upon.

The nobles in Beijing did not like to go to the Mei family, and those who went to the banquet mostly came to ask a favor of Minister Mei.

Now that Xuzhou is suffering from a flood, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet has to go on. It cannot be a grand affair, but we cannot let the envoys from other courts feel that they are being neglected.

If we follow the Mei family's approach, it will really break the spines of all the scholars in the world and make the people of the world feel disheartened.

Mei Ying's expression froze slightly. She looked at Liu Xuan with an aggrieved look on her face. "Does Master Liu feel the same way?"

Liu Xuan didn't want to hurt anyone, but he never said anything against his will. "Miss Su's suggestion is indeed not appropriate."

His voice was as gentle as the wind, but it made Mei Ying's heart chilled.

Mei Ying laughed dryly and said, "In that case, I won't bother you guys anymore to talk about business."

Having said that, she walked away quickly, feeling so ashamed and angry that her teeth were itching. Does this Xie Xun know how to talk? He is so annoying!

Su Juan glanced at Mei Ying who was leaving, but thought of another thing. She remembered that the Mei family had no other livelihood outside. The salary of Minister Mei alone was obviously not enough to support such a large Mei family and hold so many banquets.

Where did that money come from?

Seeing that Su Juan was thinking seriously about something and obviously had no intention of discussing business anymore, Liu Xuan did not mention it again.

Xie Xun pulled her aside and said, "I'm telling you, we're close on weekdays, but you should stay away from Liu Xuan in private. He's just an inflexible idiot. What's the point of being with him?"

Su Juan, however, had a look that showed she saw through him, "I think he's a good person. He knows a lot, doesn't have any ulterior motives, and speaks directly and simply."

[You were robbed of your limelight by someone else, so you come here to sow discord? 】

However, Xie Xun raised his fingers and counted the losses he had suffered from Liu Xuan since childhood, one by one, to prove that Liu Xuan was a man of deep scheming and not at all as gentlemanly and upright as he appeared to be.

People who are too upright are often the most terrifying. Can you imagine if such people who are sensible and self-controlled go crazy?

Su Juan looked at him with a puzzled look, "Xie Xun, do you want to be my father?"

The way he tried to persuade people with earnest words was very similar to the old father in the family ethics dramas I watched in the past, who was worried about his rebellious daughter and son.

As soon as these words were spoken, most of the people looked towards Su Juan.

What?

Xie Xun wants to be Su Juan's father?

What, Xie Xun wants to be Su Juan’s father?

No way, Xie Xun is going to be a father?

Oh shit! Xie Xun is a father now!

"Puff!" Duke Ping spat out a mouthful of wine, and the Minister of War opposite him suffered.

"Sorry, sorry!"

The Minister of War's face turned black, but he still had to smile, "Haha, it's okay, I still have to thank the Duke for the wine."

The people around him didn't know whether to laugh or not, for fear of offending the Minister of War.

Seeing how scared Duke Ping was, it is not a bad thing for this son to be a father. Regardless of whether this is true or not, if it were Your Majesty, you would probably be so happy that you would not be able to sleep at night.

The old emperor, who was still in the meeting, did not believe this. "Okay, today's meeting ends here. All the ministers, follow me to the Imperial Garden to take a look."

Look where this news about Prince Xie being the father came from.

When the emperor and his ministers arrived, the empress was already there.

Knowing what the girl from the Mei family had said at the table just now, the queen's eyes darkened slightly and she whispered instructions to the palace maids around her.

Soon, palace servants brought writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, saying that they were prepared by the Empress' order. She asked all the noble ladies to write poems and paint on the theme of chrysanthemum. The first winner would receive the prize prepared by the Empress - a gold hairpin inlaid with jade flowers and double red beads, which was presented to the imperial court last year.

The emperor was surprised. He was already surprised that the empress supervised the chrysanthemum viewing banquet, and now she was giving questions to the noble lady to enjoy herself.

What's going on?

For a time, many noble ladies vied with each other, not for the prize, but to gain a reputation as a talented person in the eyes of the Queen Mother and to earn fame.

This is a matter of bringing honor to my family.

The Mei family has always been very concerned about their reputation, so Mei Ying would naturally not miss such a good opportunity.

Su Juan had no intention of participating and just watched from the sidelines, "This golden hairpin is quite pretty."

Liu Miaoqing had no intention of getting involved. After all, she was now in the court, and there was no need to argue with the women of aristocratic families about these things.

But when she heard Su Juan say that the gold hairpin was beautiful, she left.

Su Juan's eyes lit up, [When Miao Qing takes action, we will know whether it works or not! ]

Some of the ladies had already observed and saw that Liu Miaoqing was not prepared to participate, so they tried it. Now their faces changed.

There is already the most talented woman in Beijing, why would you come out and embarrass this person?

Mei Ying, however, was very conceited and thought this was an opportunity to surpass Liu Miaoqing.

The Queen, under the pretext of sizing up the noble ladies competing, set her gaze on Su Juan. Her eyes were gentle and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

In the eyes of the meticulous Liu Xuan, this scene became the best evidence of Su Juan's identity.

The paintings were completed quickly, and more than a dozen paintings were laid out for the queen to evaluate.

Su Juan was curious, so she sat forward and took a look.

The queen smiled and looked at the emperor beside her, "Your Majesty, could you accompany me down to take a look?"

The emperor was stunned, almost thinking that there was something wrong with his ears, and was overjoyed, "Yes!"

Then he personally held the queen's hand and walked down together.

Su Juan looked at his reaction and said with a sigh, "Look at the old emperor. He has been made to act like a pure young boy who has never been in love before. He is already an old man with no future."

All the ministers: That’s right, as the king of a country, you are so incompetent.

The old emperor is enjoying it. You know nothing. I am so blessed! Happy!