The banquet officially began, and Mayi and the dancers made their orderly exit with small, quick steps.
Before long, Mayi, dressed in palace attire, sat down next to Consort Hui on His Majesty's right.
Qin Susu looked at the table full of delicious food and couldn't wait any longer, but after glancing around, she didn't dare to eat to her heart's content.
However, Gu Xiaoran, a little foodie, had absolutely no appetite when faced with a table full of delicious food.
All he wanted was to end the banquet as soon as possible and go home to sleep.
He ate the food on the table bit by bit, but because he had no appetite, he kept taking apart and putting back the crab legs in front of him, over and over again.
Perhaps he couldn't get used to the imperial cuisine; he felt that his mother's cooking was much more delicious.
Qiu Yan glanced at the food on the table, smiled slightly, and then continued to enjoy it.
Gu Qian barely touched the food, only sipping two glasses of wine.
During the banquet, he kept serving Qiu Yan food according to her preferences.
He was so distracted that he didn't even notice that Qiu Yan's plate was piled high with food.
Finally, the two chopsticks collided, and Qiu Yan stopped Gu Qian, who then stopped what he was doing.
Qiu Yan leisurely ate the food on her plate, already noticing that countless eyes were scanning her.
In particular, the daughters of officials looked at her with eyes full of jealousy.
Even Qin Susu, who was behind Qiu Yan, was not spared.
However, Qin Susu, always carefree and oblivious, was only focused on enjoying the food and didn't notice anything amiss.
She would only glance at Mayi every now and then.
Qiu Yan inadvertently exchanged a glance with Qin Shi, who was standing behind Duan Xiang.
Even though Madam Qin was smiling at her with her lips narrowed,
But she could see through Qin's smile that concealed a dagger.
"That woman, is she your former stepmother?" Qiu Yan glanced in the direction of Qin Shi as if by chance and asked Gu Qian.
"Yes," Gu Qian nodded in response.
Qiu Yan stopped looking at the man, but thought to herself that the woman must be very good at pretending.
Looking at her face, she has a kind and gentle appearance, and the first impression she gives is that she is easygoing and approachable.
After Gu Qian finished speaking, he looked at the princes on the side of the hall and began to introduce Qiu Yan to them one by one.
"To His Majesty's left, from left to right, are the First Prince, Prince Rui, and the Third Prince, Prince Yi..."
Speaking of the Third Prince, Qiu Yan couldn't help but take a few more glances.
However, it turned out that the Wing King, like Xiao Ran, had no interest in the banquet at all, and was just staring blankly at the food on the table.
Prince Rui would occasionally clink glasses with certain officials from a distance, then drink the wine in one gulp, his face radiating a gentle smile throughout the entire process.
Qiu Yan couldn't see any clues about the two of them.
Then, she turned her gaze to Gu Qian, who continued his introduction.
"To His Majesty's right, from left to right, are Consort Hui, Consort Li, and Consort Lan..."
He introduced them one by one according to their seating order.
Qiu Yan and Ma Yi looked at each other, smiled and nodded.
Because of the seating order, she asked:
"It seems that Consort Hui is highly regarded by His Majesty."
“Hmm,” Gu Qian nodded slightly, “She’s from the Qin family, and she has considerable influence behind her.”
As he spoke, he glanced in the direction of the Qin family.
Qiu Yan understood.
"What powerful backers does the Qin family have?"
They need to find the suspicious people step by step, and then find the culprit behind the scenes.
Gu Qian then gave an introduction:
"The person in charge of the Qin family, who is also Qin Shi's father, was once His Majesty's mentor, the Imperial Tutor."
"He has offered advice and strategies to Your Majesty on more than one occasion, all for the sake of Your Majesty's throne and empire."
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