The Emperor's Longevity Festival was coming soon. According to custom, a dinner would be held in the palace, and officials above the fifth rank could bring their families to the banquet to celebrate the Emperor's birthday.

Because of the emperor's birthday, the palace was decorated with new looks, and all the halls were decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, adding to the festive and lively atmosphere.

On the way to the banquet garden, red silk was laid underfoot, and lanterns and colorful ribbons were hung in the sky, creating an air of luxury.

Ning Xihua went to the banquet with Prince Ning. She marveled at the decorations along the way and thought that the palace had spent a lot of money to show off the country's power in front of foreign envoys.

Arriving at the garden, Ning Xihua sat down with Prince Ning. As soon as she sat down, she noticed the gazes from the opposite side. She looked up and saw that there was more than one person.

She saw that the people sitting in a row opposite her were all princes and princesses. Sitting directly opposite her were Su Bi, Su Xu, and a prince she had never seen before. The ones who were looking at her were Su Xu and the prince.

She first glared at Su Xu, her eyes full of impatience.

What are you looking at? Have you never seen a beautiful woman?

Ning Xihua was indeed very beautiful tonight, wearing a sky-blue palace dress and a white palace belt around her waist. As the occasion was formal, she wore a full set of pearl head ornaments. Her manners were elegant, and she looked bright and dignified.

Su Xu had a complicated expression.

The last time he attended the flower viewing banquet, he was only concerned with comforting Lin Mengli and had not realized how much Ning Xihua had changed. But when he saw her today, he felt that she seemed to have been reborn and was truly beautiful and charming.

He even saw her walking along with Prince Ning, attracting the astonished gazes of many princes and nobles.

Seeing Ning Xihua glaring at him impatiently, he withdrew his gaze somewhat awkwardly and quickly turned his head to look away.

But I felt extremely upset in my heart. This kind of cover-up behavior seemed to be a bit of a cover-up.

Ning Xihua glared at Su Xu and then turned to look at another person.

This person has a good appearance, delicate features, clear eyes and eyebrows, and has a refined and scholarly air. Ning Xihua has never seen this person before, but she guessed that this is the fifth prince Su Han.

It is said that the fifth prince Su Han is obsessed with landscapes and has no interest in politics, but he has a very high level of talent and ability in calligraphy. Everyone says that there will be a great calligrapher in the royal family.

When Su Han saw Ning Xihua looking back at him, he smiled brightly, his eyes full of admiration and kindness. He even raised his wine glass and toasted Ning Xihua from a distance.

It was hard not to feel good about such an action, so Ning Xihua also smiled and nodded to him kindly.

But in her heart, she began to be alert.

How could I forget about such a person!

The fifth prince Su Han had little presence in the early part of the original book. His mother, Concubine Shu, was framed for miscarriage in her early years, and she was disheartened. From then on, she devoted herself to worshipping Buddha and ignored her children.

Su Han's maternal grandfather Zheng Rong served as the Prince's Tutor when the current emperor was still the crown prince. After the current emperor ascended the throne, Zheng Rong was promoted to the first-rank tutor. Although it was a honorary position, his reputation among literati was quite high.

The Zheng family is a family of scholars, and under the influence of his grandfather, Su Han also has a talent for calligraphy.

Originally, Su Han seemed to be a scholar who was not familiar with worldly affairs and had a low presence in the royal family.

But in the later part of the original book, Su Han changed from his previous weak and frail self to a shrewd and calculating man. He even married the daughter of the powerful general Yao Yuan. Once he gained the support of the Yao family, he became Su Xu's biggest competitor.

After the death of the original body, most of the sufferings of Su Xu and Lin Mengli were created by the villain Su Han.

However, Su Han was defeated in a fight and was demoted to a commoner by the emperor. Only then did Su Xu ascend the throne smoothly.

Ning Xihua already knew from her original body's memories that the plot of the original book might not be consistent with the actual situation.

But Su Han is nothing short of a time bomb. No one knows how many unknown things he did in the early days. No one knows whether Su Bi knows his true identity.

Thinking of this, Ning Xihua subconsciously glanced at Su Bi. Su Bi seemed to sense something, looked back at her, and nodded at her with a curled lip.

But based on Ning Xihua's understanding of him, he was probably aware of the look just now, so she always felt that Su Bi's smile was meaningful.

Prince Ning, who was standing by, also noticed his concubine's movements. She attracted the attention of the three princes as soon as she arrived, which was really worrying.

"Tsk tsk, you've made some progress." Prince Ning joked.

Ning Xihua still had a smile on her face, her lips moved slightly, and she whispered, "That's the beauty of your girlfriend."

Prince Ning smiled and said, "Please don't let the boat capsize and cause me trouble." Although he said it with disgust, he sounded proud.

Girls grow up and cannot be kept, but she deserves to be matched with the best man in the world. It doesn't matter if the relationship fails, he will always be there to support her, she just needs to choose what she wants.

Ning Xihua knew that the old man had misunderstood, and was too lazy to explain, so he just whispered back: "It won't capsize, I row the boat relying on the waves."

This girl only knows how to talk nonsense. Prince Ning shook his head and no longer cared about the undercurrents among these young people.

After waiting for a while, Emperor Shao Yuan came with Concubine Sun Gui.

Both the Empress Dowager and the Empress died early, but Emperor Shao Yuan still brought Concubine Sun to attend such an important occasion, which was considered to give enough face to the Sun family.

It seems that after the last punishment, the Sun family finally managed to appease the emperor.

Concubine Sun Gui raised her head, with a smug look on her face, and sat on the main throne with Emperor Shao Yuan, accepting congratulations from court officials and royal family members.

The emperor announced the start of the banquet, and then, according to custom, each family presented a birthday gift. After the court officials and royal family, envoys from various countries came to present gifts.

The first to come up was the envoy of the Kingdom of Liu. The envoy came forward with a woman and saluted, saying, "I, Princess Jielan, would like to congratulate Your Majesty and wish Your Majesty a long life. I also wish that our friendship with the Kingdom of Li will last forever."

Then people presented gifts and some Ryukyu specialties.

If we were to ask which country Emperor Shao Yuan most wanted to see come to celebrate his birthday, it would definitely be the Ryukyu Kingdom.

He had just ascended the throne and due to political instability, he had to go to war with the Ryukyu Kingdom and was forced to send the crown prince to the Ryukyu Kingdom as a hostage. This was a great humiliation in his political career.

However, things change over time. Under his diligent and diligent governance, the power of Dali State grew stronger.

Not only did he take back the crown prince while the country was in chaos, he also took advantage of the chaos to capture several cities on the border of Ryukyu, forcing Ryukyu to sign a surrender treaty and become a vassal of Dali.

Seeing the Ryukyu envoy coming to congratulate him on his birthday, Emperor Shao Yuan felt proud and avenged his previous humiliation.

He smiled and raised his hand to indicate that he didn't need to be polite. "Thank you for sending someone to come and give my regards to your king."

The envoy replied respectfully: "I will definitely bring it to the king. This time, the king also asked me to bring Princess Jielan with him, hoping to establish a friendly relationship between Qin and Jin with Dali."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the court turned their eyes to the woman behind the Ryukyu envoy.