There was singing and dancing on the stage in the main hall.
The drums are beating.
The sound was so loud that it echoed throughout the hall.
On the stage built above the hall, a woman in a dance skirt was waving a ribbon in her hand and beating a drum.
Her lithe waist danced gracefully, and as she moved, the ribbons beat out a soul-stirring tune.
There was a beaded curtain on her face, and her beautiful face was vaguely visible.
Everyone was attracted by the woman on the stage.
The emperor sat at the main round table, and beside him sat the imperial teacher, the empress dowager, the queen and others.
Not only was the woman's dancing posture graceful, but the drum music she played was also very pleasant to listen to. The emperor's eyes could not help but fall on her.
The queen sitting beside him lowered her eyes slightly, looking worried.
...
...
Concubine Yun cursed inwardly, why did she invite a vixen? She poured a glass of fruit wine for the emperor, "Your Majesty, please try it. This is the newly brewed fruit wine that was presented as tribute. It tastes wonderful."
She held the glass to the emperor's lips.
"Hmm." The emperor took a sip with enjoyment and praised, "The wine is good, and the music played by the dancers makes me feel happy. Good, good..."
Concubine Qi on the side said with a smile, "Your Majesty, this is the top dancer in the Spring Garden. I heard that she has excellent dancing skills since she was a child. Her posture is agile and light, and she can also dance with her palms."
"Palm dance..." The emperor's eyes were filled with lust, "I have never seen a palm dance before."
"Your Majesty, there will naturally be a dance performance of this piece of music later."
At this moment, Concubine Yun said to the emperor coquettishly, "Your Majesty, this dancer is just a plaything. If Your Majesty likes her, you can let her stay in the palace and let her dance for Your Majesty in the future..."
Although Concubine Yun hated every woman who seduced the emperor equally, she was not stupid. As long as she could please the emperor, she would be favored.
Seeing that the emperor had this idea, Concubine Yun naturally went along with it and made a suggestion.
Although the emperor did not respond to Concubine Yun's words, he already had this plan.
At this time, the second prince, who was sitting at the next table, was also looking at the dancing woman on the stage in shock.
No one could have imagined that she would come to the palace to dance for the emperor.
She was naturally beautiful and charming, and was exactly the type of person his father liked.
The second prince was already worried that Li Niang would be favored by the emperor. When he suddenly heard his mother say that she wanted to give her to his father, his face turned very ugly.
His usually calm, gentle and elegant face was filled with suppressed anger, and he almost lost control of himself and wanted to overturn the table.
He, he absolutely cannot let Li Niang enter the palace to serve his father!
Qin Wu, Yang Zhanying and others sat at one table, and the Qin family sat at the next table.
Qin Suhu kept staring at Qin Wu. He wanted to talk to her several times, but he didn't know what to say.
Qin Wu could feel Qin Suhu's eyes looking at her, but she never even looked at him.
Yang Zhanying leaned her head close to Qin Wu's ear and whispered, "Sister, can you help me see if the Second Prince has taken a fancy to the dancer on the stage?"
After all, he might be her husband in the future. Yang Zhanying had no choice but to look towards the Second Prince inadvertently, trying to find a way to find fault with him so that she could make a fuss about it and make the Second Prince dissatisfied with her. Then she would go to the Emperor and ask him to cancel the arranged marriage.
Of course, it would be best if the Second Prince had a woman he liked, so that she could immediately help him.
Although the Second Prince married her for personal gain, one should always hold onto a glimmer of hope.
"Which man here didn't look at the dancer?" Qin Wu also liked the women dancing on the stage. With that figure and that dancing skill, any man would be unable to take his eyes off her and his heart would beat fast.
However, the way the Second Prince looked at the dancer was indeed different from that of other men, and there was hidden anger on his face.
She remembered that the divorce between Qin Yinnuan and the Second Prince had caused such a stir because the Second Prince and Qin Yinnuan seemed to be respectful and loving to each other on the surface, but the Second Prince had a mistress outside, who was then discovered by Qin Yinnuan.
In the end, Qin Yinnuan broke up with the second prince and married Qi Xiuzhe.
Perhaps this woman might be the second prince's mistress in his previous life.
But she didn't know him and wasn't very clear about it, so it was hard to say for sure now.
"Yes, I see from the emperor's eyes that he likes that woman very much. All men are like this." Yang Zhanying smacked his lips, looking very contemptuous.
Even old men like beautiful women.
Fortunately, her father was at home taking care of her pregnant mother and didn't come, otherwise her mother would have been so angry that she would die.
Changing the subject, Yang Zhanying added, "But, you see, the Imperial Master didn't even glance at the dancer. Tsk tsk, the Imperial Master is the Imperial Master, he is not moved by beauty."
Qin Wu also glanced at the national teacher.
No expression could be seen on the face covered by the golden mask. The red lips were pretty but without any curve. She was as cold and reserved as a flower on a high mountain, and no one dared to approach her casually.
He sipped the fruit wine specially supplied to the royal family this year, his eyes not even on the stage.
Feeling Qin Wu's gaze, he raised his eyes and met her gaze.
The two eyes met.
Qin Wu was stunned for a second.
Then it was removed without a trace.
Yang Zhanying couldn't detect the subtle movements of the two people. She speculated and said, "Don't you think the national teacher is abnormal? Everyone likes beautiful women, but he is so special. I wonder if he has a homosexual tendency and likes men?"
She had heard that the Imperial Master didn't like women to be within one meter of him, so he was most likely a homosexual!
"Cough cough." Qin Wu almost choked on the fruit wine she had just drunk.
She lowered her voice and said, "Sister Yi, please don't tell this to others. Be careful what you say."
The Imperial Master is not a good person, he is a good jerk and he is not easy to mess with.
"I'm just analyzing it with you." Yang Zhanying laughed and teased.
The dancer's drum beats fell.
Everyone applauded.
"What's your name?" the emperor asked her.
"Your Majesty, I am the dancer Li Niang from the Spring Garden."
"You dance well and play the drums well. Reward." The emperor waved his hand happily and said, "Give me a pair of night-shining pearls."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor."
Next comes the procedure of toasting and praying.
After the Imperial Astronomical Observatory finished praying for this year's auspicious words, the emperor took up his wine glass and poured it on the ground to pay tribute to heaven and earth.
The banquet of a hundred families officially begins.
The palace maid brought the dishes.
At the Banquet of a Hundred Families, the dishes served were all home-cooked dishes that ordinary people from all over the Great Zhou could afford. This was to make the officials understand the hardships faced by the people of the Great Zhou and to think more about them.
If the people eat and drink well, the dishes at this year's banquet will naturally be good too.
But if it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, and the court fails to resolve the people's difficulties, the dishes at today's banquet will be all kinds of coarse food.
If they have to eat coarse food, it also means that the emperor is dissatisfied with the officials' work.
This banquet of a hundred families was not an easy one for the court officials. If the emperor was dissatisfied with the food from any of the families, he would reprimand them on the spot.
Fortunately, this year's banquet was not too bad. After all, the snowstorm was a natural disaster and was unavoidable, so the emperor did not blame it too much.
Everyone at the banquet table chatted with each other in a relaxed manner.
Qin Suhuo pushed his wheelchair to Qin Wu's table. He said to her with a flattering smile on his face, "Xiao Wu, all these crabs are for you to eat."
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