Chapter 433 New Year's Eve Banquet
All the children of the Yun family, except Yun Chengshou who was far away in Ping'an Town, Cangchen Prefecture, gathered together.
Yun Sanlang, Yin Qianlan, Yin Qianxue and others were also very happy.
Even Yibanlian, who was staying here temporarily, quickly integrated into this lively big family.
His decision was indeed right. It would be better to stay at Ran's place than to stay alone in the mountains and forests!
The food was incredibly delicious, and there was someone to chat and drink with him every day, which was simply amazing.
Fortunately, he asked Yun Ran to keep the fact that he was living here a secret. If Nan Xuan knew about this, he would probably be furious.
In the next two days, Shanhailou was even more lively than when it had the most guests in the year.
Yun Yue still has a childlike heart. She pulled Yun Ran, Yun Chengxi and Chen Ce together, and the four of them enthusiastically taught the lonely king to read.
Yun Chenglu took Ye Jingzhen, and the two young men went to a spacious area outside the city of Kuizhou to compete in horse racing, archery, and martial arts.
The remaining two, Yun Chengfu and Rong He, who were not good at martial arts, occupied the terrace on the third floor. They drank tea and played chess. Occasionally, Yibanlian would come over and pull them to drink and chat.
Two days passed in a flash, and it was New Year's Eve in the blink of an eye. The invitations to the New Year's Eve banquet in the palace were also sent out.
Ye Jingzhen and Yun Ran had to go, and Yun Chengfu and Yun Chenglu were also invited because of their official positions.
That night, Shanhai Tower became much quieter without these people.
Lian Yunsanlang, Yin Qianlan and Yin Qianxue all wanted their children to come back soon so that they could stay up together to celebrate the New Year.
On the other side, Ye Jingzhen, Yun Ran, Yun Chengfu and Yun Chenglu had already taken their seats at the night banquet held in Chengqian Hall.
The New Year's Eve banquet was different from Ye Cangling's birthday banquet before. This time even the Queen Mother came.
Yun Ran sat next to Ye Jingzhen and sighed as she looked at the old lady sitting on the emperor's left, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had a headdress but no smile on her face.
Ye Jingzhen hid his hand in his sleeve, grabbed Yun Ran's, gently pinched her fingers, and asked her with his eyes: What's wrong?
Yun Ran leaned close to his ear and whispered softly, "I miss grandma."
Yun Ran was talking about Zhao Zhilan, and Ye Jingzhen naturally knew it.
So he sighed too.
This time it was Yun Ran's turn to ask him, "What's wrong with you?"
Ye Jingzhen pursed her lips: "I miss grandma too."
Yun Ran was stunned, and immediately realized that Ye Jingzhen was talking about Zhao Zhilan, not the empress dowager with a stern face sitting in the upper seat.
"Brother Xiaojing...isn't he close to the Queen Mother?"
Ye Jingzhen shook his head: "It's still far away."
Ye Cangling is not the Queen Mother's biological son, let alone a prince who has never been favored.
Speaking of kinship, the Queen Mother may be closer to the current Queen Chu He. After all, Chu He is her niece.
In the main hall, all the concubines, princesses, princes, dukes, and civil and military officials had already arrived.
The Queen Mother had a stern face and said nothing, so Ye Cangling sat firmly on his dragon throne without saying a word.
Yun Ran held her cheek and her stomach growled a few times. She was hungry.
Ye Jingzhen was sitting nearby, so he naturally heard it.
Taking advantage of the cover of his wide sleeves, he rummaged in his collar and pulled out a small paper bag, which he stuffed into Yun Ran's hand.
Relying on his years of experience in stealing food, Yun Ran sat still and opened the paper package with his nimble fingers.
Suddenly, a sweet fragrance entered her nostrils. It was mung bean cake.
This unique sweet smell should be from the Green Bean Pavilion in Kuizhou City.
Now that she has taken over the shop, she has quickly become familiar with all the branches under the Baidouxuan name, and has memorized all the pastry shops throughout Dakang and their respective specialty pastries.
The most famous pastry of Green Bean Pavilion in Kuizhou City is green bean cake.
Brother Xiao Jing was thoughtful. Yun Ran was very happy. While no one around was paying attention, she stuffed a piece into her mouth and chewed it carefully.
At this moment, Angie's high-pitched and shrill voice rang out.
"Announce, King Mengraolangda of Nanlin enters the palace for an audience!"
As soon as he finished speaking, three people walked in from outside Chengqian Hall.
The leader was tall and well-proportioned, wearing clothes typical of the Nanlin Kingdom, with complicated silver ornaments on his body, a heavy silver crown on his head, and a silver cane carved with a snake head in his hand.
Behind him, on the left, stood a burly man who was a head taller than the King of Nanlin in front of him. He had well-developed muscles, a face full of flesh, and a fierce look.
On the right is a tall and thin man wearing a black robe.
Yun Ran couldn't see the man's appearance clearly because he was wearing a hood that covered his face. He could only judge from his body shape that he was a man.
Moreover, she frowned, the man in black robe gave her a strange feeling.
There was something about this man that was very similar to a snake wizard.
But Yun Ran didn't know what it was exactly.
She glanced sideways at Ye Jingzhen beside her, and Ye Jingzhen also looked at her. His big hand hidden in his robe sleeve held her slender little hand tighter.
King Langda of Nanlin strode into the hall with his cane. He did not kneel down to worship Ye Cangling, but bowed and made a set of strange gestures, which should be the etiquette of Nanlin Kingdom.
"King Mengraolangda of Nanlin pays homage to Emperor Dakang!"
"Nanlin and Dakang are neighbors, and the two countries have always had friendly relations. However, Nanlin has been plagued by civil unrest in recent years, and has never been at peace. I have only come to pay homage today, and I hope that Emperor Dakang will understand.
This time, I have brought Nanlin's unique treasures to present to the esteemed Empress Dowager, as well as an extremely precious spiritual beast for the Emperor, the princes and princesses, and the civil and military officials to enjoy."
His nice words sounded so nice that the empress dowager, who had always had a cold face, actually smiled.
Ye Cangling also waved his hand and said, "King Nanlin is thoughtful. Our two countries are old friends. Although we have been apart for a few years, it is not a big deal. Please take a seat!"
His attitude made many civil and military officials present look gloomy.
King Nanlin had arbitrarily stopped paying tribute for many years, and now he still had this arrogant and casual attitude, which clearly showed that he did not take Ye Cangling seriously. Yet Ye Cangling smiled and let him take a seat.
But Ye Cangling didn't know what they were mumbling in their hearts. When he saw Langda taking the strong man and the wizard to take their seats, he clapped his hands and said:
"Everyone is here, let's start the dinner!"
As his last words fell, a pleasant sound of stringed instruments rang out from all directions. Four teams of dancers in lightly dressed and beautiful clothes came gracefully from the four directions of east, west, south and north, and danced to the pleasant sound of stringed instruments.
The Empress Dowager, the Emperor and the Empress started eating, and then the people attending the banquet started eating one after another.
Ye Jingzhen immediately picked up the chopsticks, picked up a shrimp ball and fed it into Yun Ran's mouth.
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