Chapter 1804: Calm and Relaxed
The emperor also sighed. Zhou Man still had a bowl of hot noodles to eat, but he didn't. After changing his clothes, he casually stuffed two pieces of snacks into his mouth and came out of the back hall, smiling and greeting the ministers in the court.
Then he had a cordial and friendly conversation with the ministers sitting on both sides of the front row, and discussed some state affairs during the break.
Gu Zhong was even busier. He went out to keep an eye on things personally. After three quarters of an hour, he finally led a team of eunuchs into the hall to distribute lunch boxes.
Manbao sat at his seat and also received a lunch box.
She was quite happy. Although she had just eaten a bowl of noodles, she was still a little hungry after walking back from the back hall and sitting for a while.
So she opened the food box and saw two white steamed buns, a small plate of pickled vegetables, a small plate of steamed meat, and a bowl of radish and meat soup. She happily took the chopsticks and looked up at the emperor.
The emperor also opened his food box, then held the chopsticks and said with a smile: "You are all hungry, let's have lunch."
Gu Zhong shouted loudly, "The emperor has granted a banquet."
Manbao opened his round eyes and bowed slightly with other ministers to thank the emperor. He waited until the emperor took a bite before picking up his chopsticks.
Manbao directly picked up a piece of steamed meat that looked good and put it in his mouth. It was cool and greasy, with a unique taste. Manbao held it in his mouth for a while, looked around and saw that everyone avoided the steamed meat in the food box and only ate the steamed buns with pickled vegetables. He couldn't help but widen his eyes.
County Magistrate Guo on the left met her gaze, glanced at her food box, and saw that there was a piece missing from the steamed dish. He then knew what was going on.
A smile flashed in his eyes, and he nodded to Zhou Man and whispered, "Master Zhou, please don't be rude in this hall."
So you have to swallow it.
Lord Tang in front of her on the left and Lord Yang in front heard the voice and turned to look at her.
Lord Tang smiled with his eyes curved and whispered, "How is it? Doesn't the working meal in the palace have a unique flavor?"
Yang Heshu glanced at him, turned slightly, and reached out to feel the bowl of soup in Zhou Man's box. Then he took her soup, replaced his with hers, and said with a smile: "Drink it with the soup. Mine is hotter than yours."
Manbao took a closer look and discovered that there was still a hint of steam coming out of Yang Heshu's soup bowl, but there was no trace of steam coming out of hers.
Manbao reached out to take the soup and took a sip, holding it in her mouth for a long time. She didn't know if it warmed up the meat in her mouth, but she swallowed it whole. Then she remembered to ask Yang Heshu, "Xiaoxue Yang, is my soup cold too? Then I can't drink it, it will upset my stomach."
Yang Heshu smiled and said, "It's not cold, but slightly warm, just right for drinking. Since you've already eaten noodles, then eat less of what's in the lunch box. The grand court meeting is still a long way off, and we wouldn't want to be disrespectful."
Manbao agreed.
He no longer touched the steamed meat and soup, but picked up a steamed bun and started eating it with pickled vegetables.
When Lord Guo heard their conversation, he looked at Zhou Man in surprise. The two of them had sat in the same row and had experienced five or six grand court meetings, so they were quite close. So he asked, "Did you eat noodles?"
Manbao nodded and sighed, "We ate at Princess Mingda's palace. I had planned to have a working meal, so I even tried to eat less. I didn't expect a working meal to be like this."
Lord Guo felt that the steamed bun in his hand no longer smelled good, and he felt very depressed. If any of them went to the prince's palace to eat during the break in the court meeting...
After finishing their working meal, the eunuchs filed in and collected the food boxes, and then the court meeting continued.
The first half is about questions about today's memorials, and the officials mentioned have to stand up and answer the questions.
Manbao was also questioned three times, and she became a little angry in the end. She also felt that she was being targeted, but after seeing the number of times the Ministry of Household Affairs was questioned, Manbao instantly healed.
Minister Liu and his two assistant ministers were constantly being questioned, and they had to answer almost every three questions. But the strange thing was that no matter how sharp the questions were, or even how harsh the words were, Minister Liu always answered slowly and never showed a trace of anger.
Manbao looked at them with his big eyes, sometimes looking at Minister Liu, sometimes turning to look at the official who asked the question, and after a while he became thoughtful.
Manbao was eager to try and wanted someone to ask her again, and then she would answer the other person slowly and calmly like Minister Liu.
Unfortunately, when the court meeting came to an end and everyone started to flatter her in a friendly manner, no one asked her any more questions.
Lord Tang, who was sitting in front of her on the left, let out a long sigh, shifted his butt, and whispered, "It's almost over."
Manbao was very disappointed and muttered quietly: "I'm not hungry yet, can't you ask me two more questions?"
Upon hearing this, Lord Tang and Lord Guo turned to look at her in horror, and even Yang Heshu couldn't help but look back at her.
The ministers in front have begun to flatter each other and then flatter the emperor. Even a loyal minister like Wei Zhi couldn't help but praise the emperor, thinking that although the emperor had made many small mistakes in this year, there were no problems in major administration.
Although the emperor did not agree with Wei Zhi's flattery, he was still a little happy in his heart.
Of course, there were also people who were very good at flattering the emperor. They could make the emperor feel relaxed and happy just by saying a few words. So Manbao followed the crowd and stood up with everyone to express that the emperor was very wise.
The grand court meeting finally ended.
The emperor left first, followed by the high-ranking ministers in front, and then it was the turn of these minor officials.
Manbao left the palace and ran after Minister Liu, leaving Lord Tang, who wanted to talk to her, only able to reach out his hand before he could even open his mouth.
Manbao ran away. She was small, young and agile, and soon caught up with Minister Liu who was walking slowly in front.
"Master Liu, I have a question for you."
Minister Liu got a headache when he saw Zhou Man. She had just had a big quarrel with his left assistant minister in the hall. If the two sides were not far away from each other, he would have suspected that they were going to fight.
Alas, the good thing about being young is that you always speak loudly when you argue.
Seeing Zhou Man now, he thought she had come up to him to quarrel, so he quickly waved his hand and said, "The court meeting is over. If you had any questions, just raise them in the hall. Let's not talk about state affairs now, let's not talk about state affairs."
Manbao pulled his sleeve to stop him, "I'm not talking about state affairs, I just want to ask you a question."
Minister Liu was helpless and asked, "What's the problem?"
"Minister Liu, how come you can remain calm even when someone is arguing with you?" Man Bao said with sparkling eyes, "I think your composure is truly remarkable."
Minister Liu stopped dead in his tracks, his face wrinkled with a smile, and he asked with his hands clasped together, "Do you think so?"
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
