Chapter 257 Emperor's Tea Party
Zhou Xiaocheng led civil and military officials to welcome envoys from various countries.
The envoys from the Northern Wei Dynasty were led by the eldest prince Yuan Rong, the eldest princess Yuan Ying and her husband Murong Fenghuang.
Yuan Rong came with a luxurious carriage. In the carriage was a woman who was wearing Central Plains clothing and covered her face with a veil, not saying a word.
The eldest princess Yuanying and her husband Murong Fenghuang were both riding horses. Many people on the streets of the capital knew Murong Fenghuang. The people with mixed feelings looked at Murong Fenghuang on his tall horse and couldn't help but curse him: "You bastard!"
Murong Fenghuang was not angry either. He waved his whip and pointed at the people and cursed: "I am now the son-in-law of Wei. If anyone dares to disrespect me, I will let your emperor kill you."
"You bastard, you're still bloodthirsty!"
Even though they cursed, they did it in a low voice because they valued their lives. This man was a demon who killed without blinking an eye.
Behind them came another group of people, carrying the Japanese flag. They were the Japanese Crown Prince Kameyama Nai and Prince Kameyama Komatsu. The brothers were not as good-looking as Murong Fenghuang, but they were definitely handsome men in the Tang Dynasty. Their beauty was not as aggressive as Murong Fenghuang's, but extremely delicate. Yes, flower boys, like women!
The last team is the royal carriage, a majestic bronze carriage, a dignified royal guard of honor, and guards on tall horses, solemn and dignified.
"See, that's the Emperor of Song."
"Have you heard of Sihai Pavilion? It used to belong to Lord Song."
"Wanghai Pavilion is also his"
"Very kind. Song State is now the richest country. I heard that their grain seeds were all given by the Princess of Yongning County."
"Yeah, our county lord is really amazing."
"What's the point of being so powerful? He kidnapped the Crown Prince and went to open up wasteland in Lingnan."
When the envoys from the three countries arrived at the palace, Zhou Xiaocheng welcomed them into the main hall. The banquet had already been set, and the palace maids and eunuchs were busy serving them tea, dishes and wine.
Zhou Xiaocheng sat at the top with a smile on his face.
The host and the guest exchanged greetings and took their seats.
Because there were female guests among the guests coming today, Zhou Xiaocheng invited the Empress Dowager, Vice Empress Zhuge, Imperial Concubine Chen Yuanyuan, Concubine Zhang Yanyan, Concubine Li Tiantian, Concubine Shen Yangyang, and the families of the ministers to attend the banquet.
For the sake of His Majesty the Emperor's great cause, the Empress and all the other ladies were smiling like flowers.
As soon as he sat down, Zhou Xiaocheng met Murong Fenghuang's beautiful and evil eyes.
He was not afraid either, because he was born a military general and was not afraid of fighting. Besides, Murong Fenghuang was his defeated general and was also his male concubine, bah!
Murong Fenghuang had already walked around the entire palace twice and saw that the entire palace was still in tatters. The so-called harem in the back was just a few rows of bungalows.
The veiled woman kneeling beside Yuan Rong was pouring wine for him.
He hummed and called out, and finally pointed his finger at her mouth and said, "Your nails are too sharp. What if you prick my baby? Use this!"
The woman lowered her head
Many court officials and their families in the hall had frowned brows. The Northern Wei Dynasty really acted without regard for moral principles.
Zhou Xiaocheng didn't expect Yuan Rong to be so unrestrained and was quite embarrassed, but guests are guests and the barbarians are just so rude and barbaric.
The Empress Dowager and the four new concubines could not watch and could not tolerate it. They were all from prominent clans and had never seen such vulgar behavior, even worse than that of a brothel maid, being brought to a royal state banquet.
Especially with so many female relatives present here, doing this is clearly an insult to the female relatives of the Tang Dynasty.
The food and wine were delicious, and Zhou Xiaocheng gave a welcome speech, especially to Liu Yu, the ruler of Song, whom he praised and welcomed highly.
He welcomed Liu Yu, Yuan Rong and Yuan Ying, Kameyama Nai and Kameyama Komatsu, and said many polite words.
After welcoming everyone, he raised his glass and nodded to Murong Fenghuang.
Yuan Ying was very unhappy to see his husband being looked down upon, and he said loudly: "Your Majesty, I think your Central Plains country is just like this. The imperial palace is shabby and there is not even a decent palace. The so-called harem is just a row of bungalows like cow sheds. It is really shabby. No wonder my husband despises it."
The Queen had to stand up and confront her.
"Princess Yuanying, you don't know that our Majesty is different from the Majesty of Wei. Our Majesty is kind-hearted. The Tang Dynasty was just established, and he couldn't bear to waste people's money and labor. It doesn't matter if he lives well or not, as long as the people can live and work in peace and contentment, he will be the greatest satisfaction."
"Oh, your Majesty is really kindhearted. His beautiful wife lives in a stable. Is it for the sake of the people?"
Princess Yuanying said bluntly, "But along the way we saw many Tang people freezing to death on the roadside, dragging their families with them to beg our Wei frontier soldiers, begging them to flee to our Wei Kingdom!"
The Empress looked at Yuan Ying and said unceremoniously, "It is very cold now. Which country has not frozen to death? Your Highness Princess has only seen some scenes of the extremely cold northern regions. You must know that even a desolate place like Lingnan has been transformed into a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River by my son!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she didn't expect that Liu Yu, the ruler of Song, would be the first to agree: "The wild land of Lingnan has been developed into a prosperous land. To be honest, the reason why our Song Dynasty has developed rapidly and the country is peaceful and the people are safe is all thanks to the help of the eldest prince of Zhou and the princess of Yongning. The original crop yield per mu was 1 dan, but now the minimum is 10 dan."
Yuanying was a little dissatisfied: "Are Lord Song and Prince Zhou friends?"
"yes!"
"Just because we are friends, Lord Song is lying for the Tang Dynasty?"
Liu Yu looked at Yuanying and said calmly, "Princess Yuanying, do you doubt the strength of the Song Kingdom?"
Yuan Rong felt something was wrong when he heard this. Could it be that the King of Song wanted to attack Wei on behalf of the Tang Dynasty?
He suddenly cried out "Ah", kicked the busy woman out, and cursed, "You slut."
He slapped the woman in the face, and the veil on her face fell off. Yuan Rong looked at the two words tattooed on her cheek, "ugly" on the right and "slave" on the left, with a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes of disgust.
Then she calmly put on the veil.
The Empress was frowning, Vice Empress Zhuge was pinching her palms desperately, and Imperial Concubine Chen Yuanyuan couldn't hold it in any longer and ran out of the hall, vomiting outside.
The Queen Mother said calmly: "Take it to the harem, it's useless."
Chen Yuanyuan's mouth was blocked and she was taken directly to the harem.
Suddenly someone in the hall recognized the woman: "Isn't that Xiang Fei? How did she become the slave of the eldest prince of Wei?"
Not only was she made a slave, but she also had words tattooed on her face: Ugly slave!
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