Chapter 197 Birthday Banquet Begins

Seeing the figure of the Great Chu Emperor walking away, Yunlan began to grumble in dissatisfaction.

"Your Majesty clearly said that you were going to visit the garden with our queen, how could you leave her here alone?"

After saying this, he looked at the Empress's face, fearing that she would be unhappy.

Unexpectedly, before the Empress had even opened her mouth, Miss Yue Ran on the side began to reprimand her: "If you talk so much again in the future, don't follow the Empress out."

Yue Ran's harsh words frightened Yun Lan to the point of being stunned.

He immediately looked at the Queen's back with some grievance.

The queen seemed to have expected this. She turned around to look at the aggrieved Yunlan, smiled at her, and then turned back to look at Yueran: "You shouldn't be so harsh to her."

"After all, Yunlan accompanied me through this difficult period. She was just a little willful. You just need to teach her well."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yue Ran has always been the one who understands the rules and would never overstep the boundaries even a little bit.

Yunlan was moved when she heard the Queen's words.

The Queen also turned around and looked at her: "Don't bother with Yue Ran about this. She is now in charge of the Jinxiu Palace. If she doesn't have some authority, she won't be able to control the people below."

"Your Majesty is right," Yunlan bowed happily, "I will listen to Sister Yueran in the future."

Shen Ning didn't say anything else, but just led the two of them forward, feeling a little annoyed.

Yun Ping and Yun Zhu previously had simply ruined most of the plans he had made in the palace.

If Prince Yi had sent Yue Ran to me earlier, I wouldn't have had to fight with Song Qingyan to this extent.

Now, others are on guard against me everywhere, which makes it really difficult to start.

But what Shen Ning didn't know was that Du Yueran was Prince Yi's backup plan. If Shen Ning failed, Prince Yi would definitely send Du Yueran into the palace as a concubine.

It was only because Shen Ning had become the empress that Prince Yi sent Du Yueran to be her maid.

At this time, outside the Xuanfu Palace, the Crown Prince and Song Zhuo bumped into the Third Prince, and they were talking as they walked over here.

But he ran into Guo Yueshao head-on.

Because of the relationship between Cui Wen and Guo Ping in the past, the third prince had met Guo Yueshao several times.

Of course I recognized her.

He hurriedly stepped forward and greeted her: "Sister Yue Shao!"

Guo Yueshao turned around upon hearing that, but the first person that caught her eye was the handsome Song Zhuo, who even surpassed the prince in elegance and grace.

She hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and the Third Prince are paying their respects to you."

He looked at Song Zhuo again and bowed slightly.

Song Zhuo had some impression of Guo Yueshao because he had met him in the Marquis' Mansion some days ago.

Guo Yueshao was born beautiful, and everyone would take a second look at her.

"Sister Yue Shao, why are you alone? Why don't you come to see Madam Guo?" The third prince stepped forward and spoke to Guo Yue Shao.

In fact, he was somewhat attracted to Guo Yueshao.

Which man would not be attracted to such a beautiful and polite girl?

Moreover, his mother had always told him that Guo Yueshao was the wife chosen by his grandfather for him, so he had long thought of marrying her.

But now that my grandfather is gone, I wonder if the Minister of Revenue Guo Ping will still be willing to marry his daughter to me.

However, Guo Yueshao never had such thoughts about the third prince.

In comparison, she prefers Song Zhuo, who is straightforward.

Guo Yueshao bowed politely and said, "I am not worthy of being called sister by His Royal Highness the Third Prince. My mother is inside! I will go in first."

After saying this, she bowed to a few people and walked into Xuanfu Palace with her maid.

The third prince seemed somewhat distraught.

Although Song Zhuo was not familiar with matters between men and women, he could see through the trick here. It seemed that love was unrequited. This Miss Guo did not seem to be interested in the Third Prince.

After walking a few more steps, he happened to see Pei Chuyan outside the palace gate from a distance.

Song Zhuo said goodbye to the two of them and went to Pei Chuyan.

The Crown Prince also reminded us today that this birthday banquet will be held with great ceremony and there will be foreign envoys present, so the safety of the Emperor of Chu must be well protected.

In addition to the originally agreed upon Su Lin Army, the prince also ordered the commander of the Su Lin Army, Wei Cheng, to personally lead his men to patrol near Xuanfu Palace.

In the imperial city, the deputy commander naturally also sent more people.

And with secret guards appointed by the prince himself, it should be foolproof.

Before the birthday banquet began, Song Qingyan received a message from Mei Ying.

Mei Ying followed Song Qingyan's orders to look for information about Du Yueran, but found nothing. Du Yueran was an innocent girl, just a peasant girl who was sold into the palace because her family was poor.

He served in the summer resort in his early years and was transferred back to the imperial city this month.

So he assigned it to the Empress.

Then there must be something wrong with Du Yueran's identity.

Song Qingyan had met Du Yueran in Rongle Palace today. Given her demeanor, she would have believed her if she was said to be the daughter of a criminal or from a fallen official family.

But she is a farm girl.

He then told Meiying to continue paying attention to the matter, and he took his people to Xuanfu Palace.

As the time was almost up, people took their seats one after another, and the noise in the Xuanfu Palace gradually died down.

"The Empress Dowager has arrived, His Majesty has arrived, the Empress has arrived, the Imperial Concubine has arrived, the Concubine Lan has arrived..." The eunuch's voice came from outside, and all the ladies looked towards the door with bated breath.

The Queen Mother took her seat, and everyone in the hall stood up and knelt down.

"I wish the Queen Mother good fortune as vast as the East Sea and longevity as great as the South Mountain."

"May the great Chu Kingdom prosper and prosper forever."

"Okay, okay," the Queen Mother hadn't attended such a lively palace banquet for a long time. With Qiong Hua's medicine to regulate her body these days, she felt very strong and in a much better mood. "Hurry up and get up. Today, you are very troubled to come to the palace to celebrate my birthday."

"Today's weather is really nice, the scenery outside is just right, and the flowers in the garden are in their prime. You don't need to be polite, just stroll around."

Everyone stood up and thanked him.

The Queen Mother said that they could wander around freely, but this was the Imperial Palace after all, so how could they really dare to wander around freely?

After the empress dowager finished speaking, dancers entered the room, music began, and the Xuanfu Palace suddenly became filled with singing and dancing.

However, the prince still glanced at the door with concern.

Seeing this, Song Qingyan said softly: "Prince, just rest assured and enjoy the feast. Chu Yan and the others are outside!"

Pei Chuyan's kung fu was taught by Duke Anguo himself. I'm afraid he can fight with Wei Cheng, the commander of the Yulin Army, for several rounds. With time, he will definitely surpass Wei Cheng.

"Take a taste, mother," the Great Chu Emperor raised the cup in his hand, "This is the wine brought by the Prince Yixuan and his wife of the Dali Kingdom. It is different from the fruit wine we usually drink."

"It's actually red?" The Queen Mother then noticed the cup in front of her. "It's really different from the others."