Chapter 15 Delicate Palace Maid VS Cold Emperor 15

Shen Qi was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, looking handsome and majestic without even getting angry.

Behind him was the emperor's grand procession. Su Zhiruan and Zi Yu followed behind Xiao Fuzi, who walked one step behind Shen Qi.

The entire palace was magnificent, decorated with lights and colors, and at the very top and center was the emperor's dragon throne.

Because Shen Qi had not yet appointed a queen, only the empress dowager was sitting on the right.

On both sides of the lower part, one side is the royal family, such as Prince Duan who rushed back from his fiefdom, and the other side is the concubines and imperial concubines of some status in the harem. The seats below the rank of imperial concubine are at the back.

After them came the important officials of the court, who were seated according to their rank, and behind the officials were their families.

The atmosphere in this dynasty is relatively open, and men and women can sit together without so many precautions.

When Shen Qi came in, everyone knelt down and saluted together, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to His Majesty. Long live the emperor--"

The concubines followed closely behind, their clothes and hair were fragrant, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the emperor--"

Shen Qi strode to the Queen Mother and bowed, "Your son pays respect to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother be blessed with good health and happiness."

The empress dowager gave him a false support, "The emperor's filial piety is evident to all."

Then, Shen Qi sat on the dragon throne, and Su Zhiruan, Zi Yu, and Xiao Fuzi stood behind him respectively.

"My dear ministers, please stand up." Shen Qixu helped them to stand up. He continued, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner. My dear ministers, you don't have to be polite. Just have fun together."

"Your Highness obeys your order."

Xiao Fuzi gave a few instructions to the young eunuch behind her, and then, accompanied by the sound of stringed instruments in the air, some dancers in gauze clothes came out one after another and danced gracefully in the hall.

Su Zhiruan felt a little sleepy, but in this kind of situation, if she made the slightest movement, she would definitely be caught by others, so she could only force herself to be alert and calculate in her mind how long it would take to finish.

According to the gift list provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after the court dancers finished their dance, it was the princes and ministers' turn to present gifts, and the concubines or ministers' families would perform. Finally, Shen Qi would make a summary and, if there were suitable young men and women, he would match them up to create a good marriage.

It seemed that she was destined not to be able to go to bed early today. She felt a little disappointed, so she forced herself to cheer up.

At the concubines' seats on the right, countless pairs of eyes were staring at Su Zhiruan. Except for the Imperial Concubine who didn't even look at her, most of the remaining concubines who looked at Su Zhiruan were curious, wondering how she had waited for favor for a whole month. Among them, Concubine Song and Concubine Wang, who had been punished by the Imperial Concubine to kneel together with Su Zhiruan, were quite excited.

There were a lot of people present.

After the dancer finished her dance, she gracefully left the stage.

Afterwards, many daughters or sons of ministers, as well as concubines from the harem, came out to perform.

The imperial concubine wrote a piece of calligraphy on the spot, and the virtuous concubine followed closely behind, playing the flute to accompany the imperial concubine. Concubines of lower status such as Wang Guiren choreographed a dance together, which was stunningly gorgeous and moving.

The ministers and royal relatives toasted each other, and then toasted Shen Qi with some auspicious words.

After three rounds of drinking, everyone's consciousness gradually became more relaxed, and their speech and behavior became much more relaxed.

Su Zhiruan served some dishes to Shen Qi, and he ate them all. The Queen Mother's look changed a little, but she was also a little dizzy because she had drunk some wine.

Shen Qi also drank a lot of wine, and even wanted to hold Su Zhiruan's hand in the hall, but Su Zhiruan took it back in time.

This small action was seen by Xiao Fuzi and Zi Yu. They were startled and looked at each other, almost frightened.

The palace was bustling and crowded. After drinking some wine, even the temperature rose a lot. The air was filled with the aroma of wine and the scent of powder left by the concubines and dancers after dancing, adding a lot of harmony to the banquet.

After everyone gradually let go.

"Your Majesty, I would like to present you with a South China Sea Guanyin, wishing you great fortune and a long life!"

"Your humble servant is also polite. A red coral from the West Sea can calm your mind. Your royal brother is busy with official duties, so this is most appropriate!"

These two are Shen Qi’s cousins. It can be said that the three of them grew up at the same time and have a deep relationship.

However, at this moment, a loud laugh came from the left seat. A fat prince who was drunk squeezed out from the gap in the seat. His eyes rolled and his face flushed. He pointed at the two young cousins ​​and laughed. From the air, one could even see the saliva spurting out of him, "You two are still too young!"

"Prince Duan? My nephew and I are young, and we have never seen any good gifts from Prince Duan." The cousin who sent the Red Coral from the West Sea snorted coldly. Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, or perhaps it was because young people were unwilling to admit defeat. He raised his chin and chest, "Why don't you take it out and let me, your nephew, see it, or else it will be worse than what I prepared for you, my brother."

Shen Qi's expression darkened. He was holding a white jade wine cup in his palm and rubbing it carefully. He said slowly, "Prince Duan has a gift for me. It's not good to hide it. If it's a gift like the two sick tigers back then, then I can only send someone to let you live in the hunting ground and catch tigers yourself."

The emperor was displeased.

Many people noticed it, and no one even dared to whisper at this time, for fear that they would say something wrong and thus anger the emperor. Even the sound of clinking glasses became much quieter.

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As Su Zhiruan watched this scene, the plot in his mind became more substantial.

This part also appeared in the original plot. Prince Duan had always been resentful about why he was not the one who ascended the throne, so he was not very respectful to Shen Qi over the years.

This part also appears in the plot. After drinking, Prince Duan gave a statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbirth, and was very proud of it. After getting drunk, he became more outspoken and said whatever he wanted to say.

He felt that he had annoyed Shen Qi, but he also underestimated Shen Qi, and still regarded him as the young prince in his teens, rather than the 28-year-old emperor Shen Qi who was about to reach adulthood. It was after this plot that Shen Qi directly killed Prince Duan, and from then on there was no more Prince Duan in the world.

Just when Su Zhiruan was thinking of this scene, Prince Duan had someone carry the things out, then he stretched out his hand and lifted the red cloth.

Everyone present looked over.

——A statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbirth!

Almost in an instant, Su Zhiruan felt the murderous aura from Shen Qi.

Prince Duan below continued to be complacent, "Your Majesty, I have sent you a statue of Guanyin, hoping that you can expand your harem and add more little princes and princesses!"

He was completely unaware that the atmosphere around him had changed and just kept talking to himself.

Even though many people present had drunk a lot of alcohol, they were still awakened by the fright.

Shen Qi narrowed his eyes, and there was a little more frivolity in his dark eyes, but more of it was murderous intent hidden in them, "It seems that the wine in the palace this time is very much to the emperor's uncle's taste. Emperor's uncle is so outspoken, aren't you afraid that I will punish you?"

"Your Majesty, tell me if what your uncle said is true," Prince Duan was paunchy, reeking of alcohol, with not much hair, and his eyes were cloudy and muddy. He waved his hand and called his sons over, "Come on, come on, all of you boys, raise your heads and let your Majesty see."

(End of this chapter)