The princess paused for half a second before slowly saying, "Alright, it's about time. Let's begin the banquet."
She nodded slightly, and as soon as she finished speaking, the maids filed in, carrying each dish of food and then gently placing it down.
Wearing armor has one inconvenience: even picking up chopsticks is a bit difficult.
Li Chenjiao removed the nail guard on her right hand and first had Qiu Hu fill a small bowl with chicken soup.
The stage outside had already been set up. The Fujin first asked her mother, Xilin Gioro, what she wanted to hear.
Lady Xilinjueluo simply smiled and said, "Today is the Second Prince's birthday, so naturally everything should be done with the Second Prince in mind. Why don't you ask the Second Prince what he would like to hear first?"
The Second Prince is so young, how could he know anything about opera...?
Under everyone's gaze, the Second Prince quickly blushed, coughed as he spoke, and finally threw himself into the arms of Granny Yun, seemingly muttering something.
However, the sound was so faint that even Li Chenjiao, who was right next to her, couldn't hear it clearly.
The woman from Xilinjueluo's family sat closer and could vaguely hear the Second Prince calling out "cat, cat" in a low voice.
She had said those words to let everyone know that today was the Second Prince's birthday, the birthday of the eldest son of the family, so that everyone would understand the hierarchy...
Lady Xilinjueluo was momentarily careless and forgot that the Second Prince's health had not fully recovered. In addition, he was timid, which resulted in her making a fool of herself, and she looked embarrassed.
Seeing this, Lady Ma, who was sitting on the other side, quickly spoke up to defuse the situation. With a smile on her face, she said gently, "I noticed that the stage wasn't set up yet. Why don't we have our meal first? It would be more pleasant to watch the play after we've eaten. With so many eyes watching, I'm afraid the Second Prince might feel embarrassed. Not to mention the Second Prince, I'm afraid even I'm feeling quite flustered. Today is the Second Prince's birthday, so I won't offer my respects to the Second Prince. I'll offer my respects to you, the Fujin, first. It's truly not easy for you to raise the Second Prince."
As she spoke, she raised her wine cup and offered it to the Fujin (principal wife).
The expression on the Fujin's face immediately softened considerably. She gently raised her hand and politely returned the greeting to Ma Jia Shi.
After she put down her wine cup, she looked at Yu Ru beside her, as if to make a gesture.
Yu Ruyi curtsied and waited a moment until no one noticed her before quietly leaving.
The luncheon was rather unappetizing for Li Chenjiao, but fortunately, she had eaten an extra bowl of sweet fermented rice soup with glutinous rice balls before leaving, so she wasn't too hungry yet.
After lunch, everyone moved outside to watch the play. The seats were all in the shade, so they were spared the hassle of going out in the sun.
Li Chenjiao's position was arranged after Fujin, Xilinjueluo, and Majia.
The Second Prince was still assigned to sit next to the Princess Consort.
Before sitting down, Li Chenjiao noticed Ma Jia giving her an apologetic smile.
Li Chenjiao smiled politely in return; this man was indeed polite.
After Li Chenjiao, there were several women from the Song, Wu, Baijia, Liu, and Niohuru families.
The princess's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Madam Xu. Seeing that Madam Xu was still standing there, she couldn't help but feel a surge of displeasure.
Perhaps the Fujin (principal wife) felt that Xu Shi standing there alone was a bit of an eyesore, or perhaps she thought she was being very merciful, so she gestured for Xu Shi to sit down.
The maid quickly brought over an embroidered stool, which was slightly lower than the ones the others sat on.
The height of the embroidered stool seemed to constantly remind Xu Shi of her status as a concubine, a person of inferior status.
Xu's heart tightened. She lowered her head, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes.
But she dared not be negligent in the slightest, immediately expressed her gratitude to the Fujin, and then sat down carefully.
At that moment, a sense of satisfaction flashed through the Fujin's heart.
Seeing Xu's trembling appearance, she felt her position was even more secure.
Li Chenjiao glanced at her and saw that Madam Xu was still the same Madam Xu. Even though she was raising the Third Prince, she did not seem to have become arrogant because of it.
She quickly looked away, staring at the stage in front of her with little interest.
Both the Fujin (wife of the emperor) and Xilinjueluo (née of the emperor) ordered a play, and the banquet was still lively. At this moment, the mother and daughter had their own things to talk about, and their interest was obviously not in the play.
The playbill quickly fell into Ma Jia's hands, but Ma Jia glanced ahead first, and then handed the playbill in her hand to Li Chenjiao.
Li Chenjiao has always been a person of strong likes and dislikes, and this time she returned Ma Jia's smile in kind.
She took the playbill handed to her by Lady Ma Jia, and in the end only chose the play that the previous Fujin had already chosen.
Ma Jia finally selected two operas, both of which were not commonly watched by nobles.
Li Chenjiao vaguely remembered that these two excerpts of the play were more popular among ordinary people.
This Lady Ma Jia is quite interesting.
Soon, actors and actresses came on stage.
Li Chenjiao lowered her head and took a sip of tea, when she seemed to hear a cat meow.
Because she also owns a cat, Li Chenjiao has always been particularly sensitive to cat meows.
Smoothing her hair, Li Chenjiao looked up and followed the sound.
A cat, its body as white as snow, with its belly exposed, sat sideways beside a carved solid wood chair, lifting half of the lace trim.
The one holding the cat is the Second Prince.
Li Chenjiao frowned slightly as she listened to the cat's meow.
She listened for a while longer, and the cat's meow seemed to have returned to normal.
Li Chenjiao withdrew her gaze, but became even more attentive.
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