After lunch, Su Qingyu returned to the west courtyard to bathe and change clothes, preparing to enter the palace in the afternoon.
She changed into a long brocade dress with a honey-colored peony pattern, and also replaced her jewelry with a newly made top-quality jade headpiece.
After leaving the house, Shen Zhixiu looked her up and down several times and praised her: "This color suits you. Make more clothes of this color in the future."
Su Qingyu had originally thought that Shen Zhixiu, a grown man, wouldn't understand clothes and jewelry. But she had recently discovered that Shen Zhixiu had a keen eye for these things. Whenever she couldn't make up her mind, she'd always ask him.
In Shen Zhixiu's words, although he doesn't wear skirts or jewelry, he can still tell what is beautiful and what is ugly.
Two carriages from the Shen family entered the palace one after the other.
When the few people arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, it was already crowded with people inside and outside.
Su Qingyu looked around and saw that they were all familiar faces from the previous palace banquet. There were only a few people in the capital who were qualified to attend the palace banquet, and they had become familiar faces from the coming and going.
The Marquis of Pingning's Mansion was also among the invited guests this time, and Marquis of Pingning Su Chengye came alone.
Families like the Su family may have titles, but they have little presence in front of the emperor. Whether or not they can attend the palace banquet is usually a matter of the emperor's whim, and today, the emperor has thought of the Su family.
The father and daughter met in the palace. Su Chengye wanted to show off his fatherly style and angrily scolded Su Qingyu for not going home to visit her grandmother and serving her by her bedside.
But for some reason, seeing Su Qingyu's stern expression, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
He felt that knowing his daughter well, even if he asked, it would be bad news. He might even be ridiculed by her and eventually laughed at by his colleagues.
He couldn't afford to lose face, especially when the palace was holding a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
So the prepared words finally turned into, "Your grandmother misses you, go back and visit her more often."
Seeing that he hadn't said anything nonsense today, Su Qingyu gave him the face he deserved. She bowed and said "yes", quite respectfully.
Before the palace banquet began, Shen Zhixiu was constantly being distracted by his colleagues. Su Qingyu also struck up a conversation with the wives of several high-ranking officials. The interactions within the inner chambers would also aid her husband's career.
These skills of dealing with people are all learned by these noble ladies from childhood. They may not know other things, but they must know how to be a lady of the house.
Only Consort Xian and Consort Rong were present from the harem today. Among the princes, besides His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there was also His Royal Highness the Third Prince, Prince Cheng. The Second Prince was stationed at the border town, and the remaining princes were minors and were not present.
After Emperor Xuande came in with the two empresses, everyone knelt down and saluted before taking their seats.
"Today, regardless of whether you are king or minister, please just treat it as a family dinner. It will be a wonderful story for us to reunite as king and minister and enjoy the beauty of the full moon together."
The emperor was being polite, but the others couldn't take it seriously. They all stood up and knelt, thanking him together.
Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu sat next to several royal princes. After a few rounds of toasts, the atmosphere in the hall became much more cheerful.
Xianfei sat on the left side of Emperor Xuande, wearing a lake blue palace dress and a high flying bun. Her hair was full of pearls and jade, and she looked luxurious and elegant.
"Your Majesty, I have heard that Lord Shen and his wife can play the piano with both hands. I wonder if Your Majesty would be interested in listening so that we can learn more."
Given Shen Zhixiu's status, it was difficult for Concubine Xian to give him direct orders. So she brought up the matter while joking with the Emperor.
Firstly, she was curious about how to play the piano together, and secondly, she wanted to know whether Su Qingyu was just being perfunctory with her last time.
When Su Qingyu heard that Concubine Xian finally mentioned this matter, she breathed a sigh of relief, and there was an inexplicable excitement in her eyes.
After two months of hard training, it finally paid off. If Concubine Xian hadn't mentioned it, she would have felt at a disadvantage.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuande also looked at Shen Zhixiu, "Oh? Mr. Shen and his wife have such a refined taste? Would you like to let us see it?"
I thought that with his personality, he would definitely refuse, and Emperor Xuande didn't want to force him.
Unexpectedly, Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu looked at each other, then nodded and said, "Since Your Majesty does not mind, then your servant and I will present our humble service."
The chief eunuch Hu Lu ordered someone to bring up the piano table. Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu stood up and sat down behind the piano table together.
The two usually played "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix," and today they played the same piece. Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunions, so it was fitting.
Before playing, the two of them looked at each other out of habit. The moment their eyes met, they were filled with affection.
Su Qingyu's green fingers stroked the strings twice.
Then, they each played with one hand, while the two adjacent hands were placed under the piano table, fingers interlocked.
The melodious tune flowed from the strings of the zither, and many people were stunned, including Emperor Xuande.
Few people know that when the former queen entered the palace, she and he fell in love because of the song "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix".
Hearing this again today, the late Empress was gone, and Emperor Xuande felt a wave of desolation. Watching Su Qingyu and Shen Zhixiu sitting together, their affectionate expressions, he felt a mixture of loneliness and envy. If only he had been able to... Zi Ning wouldn't have been separated from him forever.
This scene was also seen by Concubine Xian.
No one knew more about the affairs between the emperor and the late queen than she did.
Concubine Xian gritted her teeth and glanced at Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu. Did these two do this on purpose? Why did they play "Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix" when there were so many other things to play?
In reality, she had wronged Shen Zhixiu. The Emperor and the late Empress had become lovers because of "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix," and that was nearly twenty years ago. Not many people in the palace knew about it back then, and even fewer knew about it now.
But Concubine Xian didn't care about that. She just felt that the handsome man and beautiful woman in the center of the hall were particularly dazzling.
Her mind seemed to have returned to the past, she was watching the emperor and the late queen being affectionate while she was sad and heartbroken beside them.
She had beaten up those two people back then, so naturally, she couldn't expect to do well with the two people in front of her either.
After the song is over, the lingering sound lingers in the air.
Emperor Xuande spoke first, "You play well, reward."
The virtuous concubine smiled and said, "If your majesty wants to reward us, please give us something good. Don't just give us some gold and silver and send Mr. Shen and his wife away."
Emperor Xuande's original intention was to reward her with gold, silver, and ornaments as per custom. Hearing Concubine Xian's words, he smiled and asked, "Then, according to Concubine Ai, what should I reward her with?"
The virtuous concubine pretended to ponder for a moment, then acted as if she had suddenly realized something.
"Your Majesty, didn't Xiyue send two beauties into the palace a few days ago? The beauties of Xiyue are all proficient in music and understand the ways of the world."
"In my opinion, it would be better to give those two beauties to Lord Shen. A talented man and a beautiful woman complement each other very well."
“Mrs. Shen is virtuous, she won’t refuse, right?”
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