Cai Xiaolian explained, "Your father has won the Emperor's favor, and besides, the Emperor hasn't seen you for a long time and wants to see you."
Gu Xin and Gu Hui: "?"
Cai Xiaolian said, "Your father became the top scholar, only to find out that our current emperor is none other than your Uncle Ye!"
Gu Xin: "!"
Gu Hui was also somewhat surprised.
In the sisters' minds, the emperor was always a dignified old man, not a simpleton like Uncle Ye who was like an uncle (father).
Gu Xin slapped her forehead: "No wonder! The jade pendants that Uncle Ye gave to me and Yuanyuan were so frightening that even the county magistrate was scared! So Uncle Ye is the emperor!"
Cai Xiaolian looked at Gu Xin helplessly and said, "Don't call him Uncle Ye next time you see him. Even if he doesn't say anything, the people around him will say you're ill-mannered. I've prepared clothes for you two sisters to wear to the banquet, come and try them on!"
Gu Hui: "Second Aunt, can't I wear men's clothes anymore?"
Cai Xiaolian said very firmly, "No!"
The next day, Gu Xin and Gu Hui went to find Huo Yanyu to ask her what they should pay attention to at these banquets.
Huo Yanyu said with a look of disdain, "Sister Huihui, Sister Xinxin, let me tell you, the first king of Xingnan Kingdom was a civil official from the previous dynasty. He married the only daughter of a military general, and that's how he was able to declare himself king in the north. He prides himself on being smart and always comes to our Great Zhou to challenge us with all sorts of strange questions. He always loses. This year, they'll definitely be competing in this again. And they're particularly good at picking people. They tried to challenge my brother before, but he stumped them. This year, they'll probably challenge Uncle Gu. And there's a princess who looks about our age. Sister Xinxin, you're the daughter of the top scholar, so they'll probably be looking for you!"
Gu Xin: "...Do we still need to do practice questions? What kind of questions are they?"
Huo Yanyu said, "Some strange divination questions. But don't worry, Sister Xinxin, the questions from Sister Niannian are much more difficult than those from Xingnan Kingdom, you'll be fine."
Hearing this, Gu Xin felt confident: "It counts! Then I'm not afraid anymore. My sister said I'm very capable! Can I test her back?"
Huo Yanyu nodded: "Of course! If you stump him, the Emperor will be so pleased that he will definitely reward you handsomely, and he might even like Uncle Gu even more."
Gu Xin's eyes darted around, and she had an idea.
When the banquet was about to begin, Gu Xin dressed smartly, combed her hair herself, and went into the palace with everyone.
She had never been to the palace before and thought that the house she had seen in her dreams was the best she could imagine. But when she entered the palace, she realized that she was wrong. The house in her dream was nice, but it really couldn't compare to the palace.
The palace is huge!
She didn't look around, but stared straight ahead, taking in the scenery naturally.
They weren't without anyone to guide them; they were led by Old Madam Huo and Madam Huo, so there was no fear of making mistakes.
Madam Huo was Huo Yanyu's aunt and the wife of the Prime Minister. She had met Cai Xiaolian a few times and did not look down on this newly promoted top scholar's wife, but they were not very familiar with each other.
Cai Xiaolian could tell. The Prime Minister's wife was just like that, much like Grandma Gu. She treated everyone the same. Only by observing closely could one discover whether she actually liked playing with you or not.
Only a prince and princess came from the other side. Neither the Empress Dowager nor Empress Dowager Jiang showed up. Empress Xue led the noblewomen to the banquet.
Cai Xiaolian was quite curious about Empress Xue and wanted to see what kind of unconventional empress the emperor was.
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