As soon as Tian An sat down, the princess in the front row turned around to look at her curiously, "Are you the Princess of Anping who was recently conferred?"
Everyone was sitting at the moment, so Tian An couldn't stand up. He could only smile and say to her, "It's Anping. Anping greets Princess Shuhuai."
Princess Shuhuai widened her eyes in surprise, "You know me."
Tian An said bluntly, "There are many nobles in the palace, and they all have to do some homework."
Princess Shuhuai pursed her lips, "You are quite honest."
Tian An just smiled and said nothing.
Shu Huai was about to speak when she heard a young eunuch loudly say, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived, His Royal Highness Prince Rui has arrived, His Royal Highness Prince Chen has arrived, His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince has arrived..."
She quickly turned around and sat down, and saw the crown prince leading a group of princes, followed by young masters from various families, striding towards her with their heads held high.
They stood in the center of the banquet hall, below the Queen, and saluted her in unison:
"Your son pays homage to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother live long and happily."
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Queen. May your Highness live long and long."
"This humble servant pays homage to Her Majesty the Queen. May Her Majesty live long and well."
The queen smiled and raised her hand to the people below, "Everyone please stand up and take your seats!"
After the prince and the young masters took their seats opposite the ladies.
Tian An subconsciously looked for Zhao Yiming in the crowd. The queen said a long string of polite words, but she didn't hear a single word she said.
When she finally found Zhao Yiming and came to her senses, the palace maids had already brought ice basins, cakes, fresh fruits, and tea to the table in front of her.
As the ice basin was swung, the surroundings suddenly became a little cooler. Seeing that Tian An's forehead was still sweating, Deng Xue lifted the ice basin in front of her and fanned her with a round fan. Tian An indeed felt much more comfortable.
Seeing this, Princess Shuhuai's personal maid also imitated Deng Xue and fanned her young lady, and was praised by Shuhuai.
Knowing that she was imitating Deng Xue, she turned around and spoke to Tian An. "Do you have a grudge against that Jiang Wanmeng?"
Tian An was dumbfounded and said, "I'm not familiar with Miss Jiang, but I don't know what she's thinking."
Shu Huai said with a look of deception, "It's no use for you to deny it. Everyone knows what happened at the palace gate."
Without waiting for Tian An's response, she continued, "Since we're sitting at the front and back tables today, I'm giving you a piece of advice. Be careful of Jiang Wanmeng. That woman is not a good person."
Tian An looked at Shu Huai with a critical look and said with certainty, "You don't like her."
Shu Huai was probably a chatterbox. Tian An only said this one sentence, and she kept talking to herself for a long time.
After hearing what she said, Tian An remembered that Shu Huai was Xiao Hao's twin sister who pointed at Jiang Wanmeng's nose and scolded her until she cried on the Dragon Boat Festival.
No wonder she doesn't like Jiang Wanmeng. Given Xiao Hao's chatty nature, he must have said a lot of bad things about Jiang Wanmeng in Shu Huai's ear.
As the two were talking, they heard a concubine say, "With so many talented men and beautiful women gathered today, it would be a shame if we just had tea and snacks."
"Oh?" The Queen looked at the concubine who spoke with a smile on her face. "Does Concubine Chu have any good ideas again?"
The concubine named Chupin smiled and said, "Everyone here is a famous lady and talented man in the capital. Why don't we play the flying flower game and show off our talents to everyone?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the other concubines immediately echoed them.
Someone among the nobles below came up with a bad idea and said, "We're tired of playing Feihualing every year. Why don't we try something new today?
The ladies will play first. If any lady can't continue, she can seek help from a talented man opposite.
If the young man is willing to help and can continue the poem, then it is considered a pass. However, if the selected young man refuses to help, the young lady must drink a penalty. If the young man is willing to help but cannot continue the poem, both of them must drink a penalty.
When you come to the Young Master's side and play the flying flower game, you can also ask the Young Ladies for help. The rules are the same."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell into deep thought, and many young men and women exchanged glances across the table.
Tian An is one of them.
Because she saw that the person who came up with the bad idea was Shu Huai's twin brother, the bad-mouthed Xiao Hao, and he happened to be sitting next to Zhao Yiming.
Tian An couldn't help but suspect that this bad idea was actually given to Xiao Hao by Zhao Yiming, with the purpose of protecting himself.
She had been a science student in her previous life, and could barely recite a few poems, but the Feihualing that required on-the-spot poetry making was her nightmare.
When she heard Yaoyao say that they were going to play Feihualing today, she was already prepared to find an opportunity to take the hangover medicine and then admit defeat and drink the penalty.
However, she didn't expect that as soon as Concubine Chu mentioned the Feihua Order, someone came out to help her solve the problem.
But she winked at Zhao Yiming several times, asking about this matter, but he neither nodded nor shook his head, just looked at her with a smile on his lips.
Tian An was so angry that he turned his head away and ignored him.
However, how to play the Feihua Order does not depend on Xiao Hao's opinion, and it ultimately depends on the Queen's intention.
Fortunately, the Queen did not disappoint everyone. After a brief thought, she agreed, "I think this is a good idea. If we all help each other and drink less, we can have more fun later."
With the Queen's approval, the men were eager to try and their chests puffed out.
In comparison, the women were much more reserved. They all lowered their heads and dared not look at the opposite side. Even those who were braver only dared to half cover their faces with round fans and secretly glance at each other.
The eldest princess is the first one on the noble ladies' side, so she should take the lead.
She lowered her brows and thought for a moment before saying, "Since it's the Flying Flower Order, let's start with the word 'flower'!"
She looked towards the nearby lotus pond and said, "Then, in June, the lotus flowers are filled with fragrance, and the red clothes and green fans reflect the clear water."
The queen nodded and praised: "Not bad."
Then he looked at the Second Princess lovingly and said, "Yongle has always been talented and learned, but he can't lose to your sister!"
The Second Princess, Yongle, stood up and bowed to the Empress, saying modestly, "My sister has always been the most talented among all the sisters. I can only give it my best shot."
She knew that today's banquet was for the unmarried princesses to see each other, so she would naturally perform well.
Her beautiful eyes lightly swept across the clusters of flowers in the distance, and she said confidently: "A flower blooms not among a hundred flowers, but alone by a sparse hedge, and its charm is endless."
As soon as this sentence came out, it immediately won the praise of many talented people.
The second princess covered her face with a round fan, and while being humble with them, she was also secretly observing them.
Next it was the turn of the third princess, Yonglin.
Unlike the second princess Yongle, Yonglin did not write poetry to express herself, but chose to seek help from the talented scholars on the opposite side.
She stood up and walked towards the Queen, then her eyes looked straight in the direction of An Yichen.
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