Chapter 711: What a great trick! It can even capture the soul of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Chu Ruohan picked up the teacup, gently stroked the wall of the cup with her fingertips, lowered her eyes, and said nothing.
Gu Qingchen had already stood up and bowed to the queen, showing no sign of being frightened by the scene.
"Your Majesty, your compliments are too kind. Qingchen is a mischievous child, and all he does is wield swords and spears. He's quite uncouth. If he follows His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I'm afraid he'll neglect his studies, and Qingchen will become a sinner for eternity."
These words were both self-deprecating and cleverly put all the blame for being "unsuitable" on himself. Although they were said in a witty way, they also shut others up and made it impossible for people to find any fault with him.
"Miss Gu is joking."
A gentle male voice came from outside the palace. Crown Prince Zhao Chen'an stepped in and smiled to help her out. "I think the way of civil and military affairs is to alternate between tension and relaxation. It would be a good thing if Sister Gu could teach me a little about riding and shooting."
Gu Qingchen is already one year older than the prince. He calls her sister so intimately. Who among those present could not see the protective intention behind her?
During the banquet, Qian Zhenyun, who came with the prince, saw all of this.
He did not look in the direction of Gu Qingchen, but just lowered his head. However, he was always paying attention to the movements over there out of the corner of his eyes. His eyes were deep and it was impossible to tell his emotions.
The prince's obvious protection, coupled with the queen's previous intentions, instantly made Gu Qingchen the target of public criticism.
An Qing'er, the young lady of the Duke of Anguo's mansion, dressed up particularly carefully today. She was sitting upright, holding a silk handkerchief tightly in her hand, and her eyes were almost overflowing with jealousy when she looked at Gu Qingchen.
Just when the atmosphere was tense, a notification came from outside the hall.
"Princess Jiahe of Prince Yong's Mansion has arrived——"
When everyone heard the sound and looked, they saw a girl in gorgeous clothes coming late.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Your Majesty, please forgive me."
As soon as the queen saw the visitor, a genuine smile immediately appeared on her face and she waved for her to come forward.
"It's okay, come and sit down. This is the legitimate daughter of Prince Yongding, Princess Jiahe."
The Queen took Princess Jing'an's hand and introduced her to everyone. The warmth and intimacy in her words were no less than when she spoke to Gu Qingchen just now.
Chu Ruohan saw all of this and understood it clearly. It seemed that the Queen had made up her mind today to find a candidate for the Crown Prince.
An Qing'er, the legitimate daughter of Duke Anguo, Princess Jing'an of Prince Ding'an, and his own daughter.
This was intended to determine the positions of the prince's wife and concubine in advance.
Chu Ruohan secretly shook her head in her heart, and then looked at her heartless daughter, who was now smiling happily at the prince's words. Her attention had long been diverted to the exquisite cakes in front of her and the song and dance that was about to begin.
As the person involved, she had no idea at all about the calculations and tricks in the hall.
The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet officially began, and the Queen, accompanied by a group of ladies and noble ladies from both the inner and outer courts, moved to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
After the emperor had three rounds of drinks, the topic turned to state affairs.
He first praised the newly appointed Dali Temple Minister Gu Lu by name, and then praised the achievements of the Duke of Zhenguo Gu Junze over the years, once again pushing the status of the Gu family to the forefront.
Chu Ruohan glanced at Gu Junze beside her. The latter was holding a wine glass, looking calm and not affected by this sudden emperor's favor at all.
Looking at my daughter beside me, she was holding chopsticks and concentrating on the plate of sweet osmanthus lotus root in front of her.
Of the two, father and daughter, one was disdainful and the other never took it seriously.
Seeing this, Chu Ruohan simply let go of the ripples in her heart and stopped thinking about it.
However, just because the Gu family may not care, it doesn’t mean others can turn a blind eye.
"Miss Gu is truly blessed to have such a father with such distinguished military achievements and a brother with such a promising future."
A voice suddenly rang out. An Qing'er's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it was just loud enough for the ladies at the surrounding tables to hear clearly.
"We ordinary women only know a little bit about needlework and sewing. How can we compare to a daughter of a military family like Miss Gu?"
Her eyes moved around, finally landing on Gu Qingchen, and a seemingly harmless smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
"I heard that Miss Gu is very skilled in martial arts and can kill a cow with one punch. Is that true?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a few suppressed giggles came from the neighboring table, and the laughter was full of undisguised malice.
For a moment, everyone's attention was focused on Gu Qingchen.
This is the most typical trick used by noble ladies to flatter each other.
If she admitted it, she would be proving herself to be rude and disrespectful, which ran counter to the standard of a gentle and virtuous lady; if she denied it, she would appear hypocritical and pretentious, and lose the frankness of a daughter of a general.
Gu Junze's face darkened, but someone grabbed the back of his hand.
He looked up and saw Chu Ruohan shaking her head at him: "Let Qingchen resolve this kind of girl's dispute herself!"
Gu Qingchen slowly put down his chopsticks, his face instantly darkening.
What she is least adept at dealing with is this kind of verbal dispute where there are hidden ulterior motives.
Her hands unconsciously clenched into fists under the table, and she almost had a fit on the spot, but her remaining rationality told her that this was a palace banquet, and her mother was right beside her, so she must not lose her manners.
Crown Prince Zhao Chen'an frowned, a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, and he was about to speak to help Gu Qingchen out.
However, the moment he stood up, Qian Zhenyun beside him stood up first.
Qian Zhenyun didn't walk towards Gu Qingchen. He just held up his wine glass and said to An Qing'er with a smile across a few tables, "Miss An, you are wrong."
An Wanru was stunned. She obviously didn't expect someone to interrupt her, especially the son of a common doctor whom she looked down upon.
Qian Zhenyun said loudly, "I heard that there's a wealthy businessman in Jiangnan who loves to brag. He says his daughter is so strong that she can kill a cow with one punch."
"Later, he set up a fighting arena to find a husband for his daughter. A poor scholar came to the door. He didn't want to compete in martial arts or literature, but simply asked the rich businessman a question."
He paused deliberately, keeping everyone in suspense and whetting everyone's appetite.
Even the emperor on the dragon throne became interested and leaned forward slightly.
Qian Zhenyun then cleared his throat and, imitating the scholar's tone, shook his head and asked, "Excuse me, father-in-law, was the animal your daughter killed a bull or a cow?"
"If it is a cow, is the calf inside the cow's belly yours or mine?"
There was a dead silence in the room at first, and then, someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Then, as if a fuse had been lit, laughter broke out instantly, diluting the awkward and tense atmosphere.
"Hahaha! This scholar is interesting!"
"Whose calf is it? That's a real dilemma!"
Even Zhao Yunci, who was sitting on the dragon throne, couldn't help laughing. She pointed in Qian Zhenyun's direction and cursed with a smile: "Slippery!"
This smile completely determined his fate.
The tense atmosphere just now disappeared, leaving only laughter in the room.
Gu Qingchen stared blankly in that direction. She had been filled with rage and was ready to overturn the table without caring about anything, but this sudden joke completely wiped out all her anger.
She looked at the man who was standing straight with a smug smile on his face.
The instigator, An Wanru, had a pretty face that turned red and white.
She originally wanted to make Gu Qingchen look bad in public, but ended up becoming the "boastful rich businessman" in the joke, left alone and surrounded by everyone's laughter. She was so embarrassed that she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
Crown Prince Zhao Chen'an sat down again and looked at Qian Zhenyun with undisguised approval in his eyes.
He whispered to the eunuch beside him, "Qian Zhenyun may seem like a philistine, but he's actually a wise and foolish man. He's a wonderful person."
A disturbance against Gu Qingchen was easily resolved by Qian Zhenyun with an almost absurd joke.
He sat down again, as if nothing had happened just now. He just raised the wine glass in the direction of Gu Qingchen from a distance, across the crowd of people drinking and chatting, with a soothing smile in his eyes.
The singing and dancing started again, as if to completely drown out the previous little episode.
But Gu Qingchen felt a little upset. The noise and scheming in the hall made her feel a little breathless.
She whispered something to Chu Ruohan, and left the table temporarily under the pretext of changing clothes, wanting to find a quiet place for a while.
The night in the Imperial Garden was much cooler than in the main hall, and the fragrance of chrysanthemums relaxed her tense nerves a little.
She walked around, just wanting to find a corner where no one would disturb her.
However, just as she reached a secluded corner behind a rockery, a charming yet obviously hostile voice came from behind her.
"Miss Gu, you have such a good trick. You can even seduce the Crown Prince's soul away."
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