Chapter 220 Help! How is this going to end?
A quarter of an hour later, the Ministry of Rites had prepared everything for the Empress Dowager's cleansing banquet.
The emperor, the crown prince and several others got on the carriage.
Civil officials and military generals were divided into four rows and mounted their horses in order of their official rank.
In order to come up with a ceremony that would respect the emperor, avoid being rude to the empress dowager and save time, the Ministry of Rites searched through ancient books and finally found the dust-washing ceremony that had been held by the founding emperor of the Xia Dynasty.
At that time, the Xia Kingdom was at war, and when the emperor welcomed the empress dowager, everything was kept simple. He did not dismount his warhorse, and there was no ceremonial music. However, he would ride around the city with the emperor in front and the courtiers on horseback on his left and right, accompanying the empress dowager in the middle.
After hearing the arrangements made by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Yuan Ruan was somewhat impressed by the quick wit of the Minister of Rites.
Soon, the welcoming ceremony was over.
After walking around the city, they arrived at the gate of the palace where the banquet was about to begin.
Yuan Ruan was carried off the horse by Qi Yue.
Out of curiosity about the Queen Mother, she kept looking at her carriage.
At this time, the dragon and phoenix chariot carried by eight people slowly fell down.
Two tall and thin men went in.
A moment later, a light sedan carried by two porters came over.
The person in the sedan chair was wearing a long skirt that was neither blue nor black, and her hair was covered with dazzling golden hairpins. In the backlight, Yuan Ruan could not see the other person's face clearly for a moment, but he felt that the other person was elegant and handsome.
The sedan chair bearers carried it to the emperor's side.
The Queen Mother said softly, "Emperor, how are you these days? Ahem..."
The emperor bowed and said, "My son is fine. Is your mother feeling better after going to Mount Wutai to pray for blessings?"
"Okay, okay. Ahem... these are just old ailments of mine, they're nothing serious." The Queen Mother waved her hands nonchalantly, then her eyes fell on Yuan Ruan, "This must be Xiao Jiuer. Come, come over and let me see her."
Yuan Ruan noticed that the Queen Mother was cueing her and immediately smiled sweetly.
The Queen Mother looked at Yuan Ruan for a long time, and suddenly laughed out loud: "Well, well, you are a lovely child. Come, sit next to me so that I can take a good look at you."
The emperor narrowed his eyes, but picked up Yuanruan and said, "Mother, you just came back and you need to rest more. Jiuer is grown up, don't squeeze you anymore."
The Queen Mother coughed twice again and said, "It's okay..."
System: [That’s too much! Your brother actually said you’re fat! How can you say a girl is fat? The most you can say is that you’re plump?!]
Yuan Ruan looked at his three-headed body: [Poof.]
The system said: [But Ah Ruan, it feels like the Queen Mother has always been paying attention to you. ]
Yuan Ruan was very calm: [Just kidding, I am the imperial teacher of Daxia, how could they not pay attention to me. But this queen mother has a good aura and seems very powerful. ]
System: [I think so too. He might be the most powerful person besides your brother.]
The emperor, who was communicating with the empress dowager, paused.
The Queen Mother looked at him sharply: "Why did the Emperor stop? Are you feeling unwell?"
Yuan Ruan immediately looked over with worry and pulled the emperor's sleeve: "Father, are you feeling unwell?"
The emperor made up an excuse: "It's nothing serious, I'm just a little thirsty."
The prince cleverly handed over the water bag.
The empress dowager looked at the emperor drinking water, then glanced at the prince and Yuan Ruan, as if she was thinking about something.
Seeing that the emperor was fine, Yuan Ruan looked back at the system, curious: [Tong'er, why do you say that about the Queen Mother? Is she really that powerful? Did you see some gossip?!]
All the civil and military officials pricked up their ears instantly.
System: [I didn’t read the content of the gossip. But in the court of Daxia, she has fewer gossips than your brother. With so many gossips, she must be a powerful person.]
emperor:……
It seems to make some sense, but it also seems to have no logic.
Yuan Ruan: [Haha... a lot of melons doesn't mean anything! But... hehehe, Tong'er, melons come, melons come. ]
The civil officials and military officers became excited: ...
Why did they come here so actively? Just for this bite!
The melons from other people’s homes are so delicious!
System: [I randomly clicked on one, damn! This is outrageous!]
Yuan Ruan: [Huh? Tong'er, why are you so excited? Is it really that outrageous? No matter how outrageous it is, can it be more outrageous than the Second Prince?!]
Civil officials and military generals nodded in agreement.
The young imperial teacher is right. No matter how outrageous he is, can he be better than the second prince?!
That one is far ahead.
System: [The Queen Mother is a man.]
Civil and Military Officials: Oh, that's it, the Queen Mother is... what! What!
The pupils of all civil and military officials trembled: !!!
The legs of several people went weak, and fortunately someone helped them up from behind, so the scene of Daxia officials sitting on the ground was avoided. However, their neat team was already in chaos.
Wait, we don’t want to eat such a dangerous melon!
The emperor had just taken a drink from the water bag and tried hard to hold it in, but he couldn't help it and spat out a mouthful of water, right on the empress dowager's face.
After being splashed with water, Tai:...
Yuan Ruan was so frightened that she couldn't help but sneak a peek at the Queen Mother. When she took a third look, she was caught by the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother wiped her face gracefully and said calmly: "Why does Xiao Jiuer look at me like this?"
Yuanruan came up with a reason: "Because you are pretty."
Queen Mother: …
Yuan Ruan was also embarrassed by herself and smiled foolishly at the Queen Mother.
Wait for the Queen Mother to go ahead and change clothes and wash up.
Yuanruan began to poke the system frantically.
Yuan Ruan: [Help! Tong'er, is this really a man? ]
System: [Yes.]
Yuan Ruan: [Tong'er, look carefully again, is there any reversal later?!]
System: [No. And I don’t need to watch the back to know that he must be a man, because when you praised him for his good looks, the corners of the Queen Mother’s lips dropped a little. Which woman would not like to be praised by a cub for her good looks! Only a slut who is unwilling to accept it!]
Yuanruan: [……]
Yuan Ruan: [What should I do? A man has appeared in the harem. How should I tell my brother? Will they suspect that the bloodline of the harem is not my brother's?]
The emperor clenched his fists, and the taut veins in his fists showed the burning emotions in his heart.
The court officials were even more panicked: They really wanted to say, Your Majesty, we believe in you! We believe that the bloodline of the palace is yours! Please, don't start a massacre!
Among them, the most feared were those court officials whose sisters served as concubines in the palace.
They were now as anxious as ants on a hot pot, with blisters on their lips.
They never imagined that just taking a leisurely bite of the royal melon while welcoming the Queen Mother would turn into eating a poisonous melon that could get their entire family exterminated?!
They looked at the prince pleadingly.
But the prince did not dare to move, as no one dared to move when it came to issues concerning the royal bloodline.
The prince couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had advised his father that it didn't matter, saying that the scandal had already been exposed. Even if more scandals were exposed, it wouldn't have any impact on the royal family. But now it seems that there is no "most scandalous scandal", only more "scandals".
He is really too naive.
How should this end now?