She probably thought that no one could see her feelings for King Jingnan, and she even said angrily: "I have already become a nun, how can you hold such a banquet?!"

Su Bei couldn't confront such a stubborn person, so he smiled and said, "Actually, I have selfish motives in this matter, and I have to ask my aunt for help. This time, I not only invited men, but also many women. It's all because of the relationship between Prince Zunyi and a close friend of mine."

Su Xiujie himself didn't know what was going on, let alone Chu Ruzhi.

"What's it got to do with them?"

Su Bei sighed, "Prince Zunyi has done favors for the emperor, so the emperor and I treat him like a brother. However, he clearly has feelings for my best friend, and the girl also has feelings for him, but they are blocked by the word "door", and neither of them is willing to admit it."

This was not the case. Su Xiujie had made it clear last time, but Duan Zhanfang felt that she was of humble origin and did not want to marry someone of higher status, so the relationship ended up ending between the two of them.

However, these words aroused the eldest princess's extreme sympathy.

“If that’s the case, we really need to bring them together…” Chu Ruzhi sighed softly, his eyes drifting into the distance.

She hated the fact that two people were interested in each other but couldn't be together. From the various actions of King Jingnan, she inferred that King Jingnan was not indifferent to her, otherwise why would he keep his oath?

Su Bei said, "But Prince Zunyi is naturally not as noble as my aunt. We can't hold a banquet for him, and we have to borrow my aunt's name."

"That's fine, we're not inviting only men anyway." Chu Ruzhi agreed.

This was the first palace banquet held by Chu Younan since he ascended the throne. Not to mention the invited guests, even those who were not invited tried every means to come as followers.

Everyone wants to get close to the emperor and the empress. Besides, you can get to know more nobles in places where nobles gather.

This led to the banquet being overcrowded on the day, with too many people gathering outside the palace gate. Only a dozen people were allowed in, and the queue outside was endless.

When the imperial guards guarding the palace gate came to report, Chu Younan's first reaction was: "Pass the order down, only those with invitation letters are allowed in..."

"Wait a minute!" Su Bei's eyes turned and he got an idea, "Did anyone bribe you to come in?"

The commander of the Imperial Guards was terrified and said, "Yes, but I will never accept it..."

"Collect!" Su Bei pursed his lips, "And you can't take less!"

The commander of the Imperial Guards looked confused, and Chu Younan was also a little puzzled.

But fortunately, Chu Younan knew that Su Bei would not act recklessly, so he nodded.

After the commander of the Imperial Guards left, Su Bei explained to Chu Younan: "It costs a lot of money to hold a palace banquet. Instead of letting them eat and drink for free, it's better to take the opportunity to collect some money. The treasury is empty, and it's not easy to make them bleed."

Dark! Really dark!

But...I like it!

Chu Younan raised the corners of his lips, "That's a good idea!"

People with different ideals cannot work together.

Extorting some money from them and using it for disaster relief or for diverting water from the south to the north would be good things for both the country and the people.

The Queen's Back Garden was crowded.

However, looking at the crowds of people, Su Bei felt very happy, just like looking at piles of silver.

Before everyone had entered, the commander of the Imperial Guards had already come in carrying two large boxes. When they opened them, they were filled with silver.

"The bids at the door are getting higher and higher. I dare not embezzle the silver, so I sent it all over."

Chu Younan nodded with satisfaction, "I'll give you a hundred taels of silver. Keep up the good work."

I searched a little.

These two large boxes weigh tens of thousands of taels, but the reward is only a hundred taels.

However, the commander of the Imperial Guards was still overjoyed. His annual income was less than 100 taels, so this was a huge sum of money for him!

Although people think he is greedy for money, it's worth it!

The banquet went quite smoothly.

Those nobles had already discussed it privately, guessing that today was either to choose a consort for the eldest princess or to choose a concubine for Prince Zunyi.

These two positions were what they had been longing for, so they spontaneously held a competition, hoping to stand out in front of these two people.

There always has to be some prize in the competition. As the emperor and empress, Chu Younan and Su Bei presented two jade ruyi.

Not only them, but also those who initiated the competition had their own prizes.

The rewards are very generous.

The competition is divided into male and female. The male side focuses on literature and martial arts, while the female side competes in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Chu Ruzhi and Su Xiujie both sat in the audience as judges.

The two of them had a tacit understanding and both thought that they were helping each other choose their other half.

Everything was going smoothly on the man's side, with each round proceeding as planned, but something went wrong on the woman's side.

Sitting next to Su Bei was Duan Zhanfang, who didn't dare to go up to compete.

"Didn't your father ask you to meet him in Beijing? Today is a great opportunity." Su Bei urged.

Duan Zhanfang sighed, "I have a bad fate. I might kill someone later. Forget it..."

"You know your father can't do the math. I heard that he asked you to meet the young master of the Chi family again?" Xue Jinrong interrupted.

Duan Zhanfang stopped talking.

Chi Yu's disappearance had not been made public, and Mr. Duan had no idea about it, so he urged again.

But she still had no plans to go on stage. On the one hand, she was afraid of bringing bad luck to others. On the other hand, she had already been kissed by Su Xiujie, although only on the face. But in her heart, she had already decided to wait for Su Xiujie for the rest of her life.

But just because she doesn't want to go on stage doesn't mean she can choose not to go on stage.

In the distance, Yu Zihe, who had spent a lot of money to sneak in, was almost angry to death.

Other women could return to their parents’ home after being divorced, but she could only live with her aunt for a while because her father was implicated in the last official purchase incident and all her family members were exiled.

She sneaked in today to see if she could hook up with a rich husband, but in this place where so many noble ladies gathered, she was worth less than cabbage and no one even looked at her.

Not only that, Fang Tongpu, who divorced her, was now courting the girl, and it was obvious that she had no way out.

Coincidentally, she heard two girls chatting nearby.

"You don't have to be shy. Tell me, which one do you like?"

"My family is in business, how can I be worthy of these people..."

"I don't think you have this in mind at all. Are you thinking about your cousin?"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"Who is talking nonsense? I think your cousin Chi Yu is handsome and can study. He may be able to serve as an official in the court in the future!"

"But I heard that he wants to meet Miss Duan. Look, Miss Duan is sitting next to the Queen. How can I compare to her?"

Yu Zihe's eyes turned, she knew that Miss Duan! She was the one who caused her to be divorced.

How can I let her have an easy life?

So Yu Zihe started chatting with the two girls, "I know that girl. Don't be fooled by her glamorous appearance. In fact, she can't do anything."

"If you are better than her, and your aunt hears about it, she will naturally give priority to you..."

"What are you still hesitating about? What's your name? I'll sign up for you."

The girl looked at her eagerly, as if she had seen her savior.

"My name is Jiang Xiaochun..."