Chapter 519 The Palace Banquet Begins
Seeing the guests coming from behind, they didn't want to block the aisle anymore, so they invited each other to walk together.
The palace maid led the four people into a large hall.
This hall is called Qiuhua Hall, and it is the largest palace between the harem and the front court.
Led by the palace servants, the four entered from the side hall. Si Jinyu glanced around and found that the aristocratic families were basically walking towards another side hall. He thought that there would be two banquets today, but he didn't want to enter the inner hall. He found that the banquet was still in one place, but the two sides were separated by huge gauze curtains, leaving only a table in the middle.
Looking at the banquet table, it was not a long table for two people used in ordinary banquets, but a square table with two seats lined up in a row.
In addition to a few plates of snacks and tea, there was also a booklet on the table.
Shi Yongfan casually opened the booklet and saw the items donated for auction. In addition to the specific pictures, each item was also marked with the name, material, donor and starting price.
The first item listed in this booklet was the sandalwood Buddhist beads donated by Empress Dowager Sheng, which she had offered to the Buddha for ten years.
Shi Yongfan's hands trembled slightly, and his eyes suddenly became straight.
The Queen Mother's belongings.
If I take a picture of this, I can use it as an heirloom!
There were many people who had the same idea as Shi Yongfan, and on the other side, the nobles from aristocratic families were also flipping through the booklets in their hands.
But when they turned over the page about the queen and saw the next page, they were obviously stunned.
On the second page, what was donated was a jade seal, and the owner of this jade seal was the old lady of Wu'an Marquis Mansion who was rumored to be seriously ill and had not much time left.
The jade seal given by the old lady is also an extraordinary item.
This jade seal was carved by the late marquis himself. With the jade seal, the Wu'an Marquisate can accomplish something within its capabilities.
To be honest, the weight of this jade seal is in no way inferior to the Empress Dowager's Buddhist beads.
Just with these two things, everyone present, no matter they were nobles or wealthy businessmen, began to be tempted and eager to try.
Apart from these two items, there were also donations sent in advance by women from the harem or ministers in the court, some of which were quite rare and eye-catching.
As the two sides were excitedly looking at the books in their hands, they suddenly heard a crisp applause, and the next second, there was a sharp message from the eunuch.
"The Queen Mother is here!"
At the command, everyone on both sides put down their books and stood up. Shi Yongfan followed the actions of Si Zhongqing and his son and hurriedly pulled his wife up. Through the gauze curtain, they saw the empress dowager slowly walking into the center surrounded by a group of palace servants.
Their eyes followed the Queen Mother who was leading the group, but they saw that there was a woman in light purple palace dress supporting her. Judging from her clothes and demeanor, she was obviously a noble lady in the palace.
Everyone was secretly surprised. After all, the Queen Mother had just returned to the palace not long ago, and no one had ever heard that she had treated any concubine differently, and she actually allowed the other party to sit with her on such an occasion.
With their doubts suppressed, everyone watched the Queen Mother take her seat before respectfully bowing and greeting her.
"We, the humble women, pay our respects to the Empress Dowager."
"Your humble servants pay their respects to the Empress Dowager."
Empress Dowager Sheng glanced at the two groups of people behind the curtains on both sides, raised her hand slightly, and said in a deep and wise voice,
"Today's charity banquet is for the people of Chuanlin. All the people are well-known for their good reputations in our dynasty. I, the emperor, and the people of Dayuan are all aware of this. I will not say more. Today's charity banquet is hosted by me, and Lang Zhaoyi will preside over everything."
Empress Dowager Sheng paused as she spoke, then turned to the purple-robed palace lady beside her and said, "Lang Zhaoyi, you start."
"yes."
Following a light and crisp female voice's response, everyone heard another round of crisp applause. The next second, the huge gauze curtain that was originally hanging in front of the people on both sides was lifted.
However, no one had time to look at the identity of the person sitting opposite them, and instead they all looked at the pure and beautiful woman who had walked to the center platform.
At this point, we finally got to see the true appearance of Lang Zhaoyi, the legendary emperor who was favored by the emperor.