She wanted to say, "Are you going to depose the queen and establish a new one?" But after all, the queen was still here, so it was difficult to say it, so she could only say half of it and swallow it back.
At this time, everyone, led by the empress, had already kowtowed to Emperor Tianwu, and Concubine Yuan Shu was sitting there, enjoying the congratulations with Emperor Tianwu as a matter of course, with her head slightly raised, unable to conceal her pride and arrogance.
Concubine Yuan Shu was quite good at pretending at first, pretending to be sensible, kind, and virtuous. But today, her increasingly swollen heart can no longer be hidden, especially after what the man did in the bathroom last night, Emperor Tianwu has returned to being tightly controlled today, which makes her self-confidence full again. In her opinion, Emperor Tianwu has been completely controlled by her, and no matter how others toss, the old emperor can't get out of her palm.
Moreover, today was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Although she had attended such palace banquets every year, she was always mixed in with the concubines. In addition, these concubines were just decorations to Emperor Tianwu, so even though she came every year, she was just going through the motions and had no sense of existence at all.
But this year was different. Emperor Tianwu took the initiative to pull her to sit beside him, a position that was previously reserved for the empress. After all, she was also a woman, vain, and could no longer resist the temptation of such power. She sat on it without refusing. And until now, the empress was paying homage, but she did not stand up. Instead, she looked down at the people below, thinking that one day, these people would all submit to her.
Apart from the special status of Consort Yuan Shu, the status of the Eighth Prince has also changed. In the past, the princes were seated in order, from the eldest prince to the ninth prince, in a row. However, because Dashun did not appoint a crown prince, the position that belonged exclusively to the crown prince had been vacant for many years, with no one sitting there.
But this year, the Eighth Prince Xuan Tianmo, under the public signal of Emperor Tianwu, stepped out from the pile of princes and sat on the throne that belonged to the Crown Prince. The vacant position for many years was finally filled. Although Emperor Tianwu did not explicitly say that he would make the Eighth Prince the Crown Prince, this behavior was too obvious. The court officials were not stupid. Who could not understand these things? So, the Eighth Prince's party swelled up again, and their faces were flushed and they couldn't close their mouths. The people on Xuan Tianming's side frowned, secretly wondering why Emperor Tianwu had changed so much? But no one had the intention to betray him, and no one suspected whether the Ninth Prince had done something that was not favored by Emperor Tianwu. In their hearts, there has always been only Xuan Tianming as a belief, and they have always believed that only Xuan Tianming is suitable to take over the job of Emperor Tianwu. This time it was because of Xuan Tianming's ability and the fact that he has a magical wife like Feng Yuheng behind him. It has nothing to do with whether she is Concubine Yun or not.
It can be said that the loyalty of the Ninth Prince's party is very high, which is far beyond the reach of the Eighth Prince's party. So at this time, the Ninth Prince's party is not fragmented like when the Eighth Prince was in trouble, but is more united and tries to find out the reason why Emperor Tianwu has changed like this.
The congratulations from the Empress and her few female relatives did not make Emperor Tianwu smile at all. He just said "yes", nodded, and waved his hand, saying: "You are late, never mind, please take your seats!"
Following his words, the female relatives found their respective seats and sat down. Feng Yuheng also went to the table of several princes' wives and sat down. Xuan Tiange looked around and simply pulled Xiangrong and Feng Tianyu to sit at the table with Feng Yuheng. However, only Fen Dai was left. She looked left and right and found that there was no suitable seat for her. She felt very embarrassed.
Feng Yuheng whispered to Xiangrong: "Go and call her to this table!"
But before Xiangrong could go and call for help, he saw Fendai had already found a secluded corner and sat down. Beside her were the ladies who had walked with her from Jingci Palace before, so they could be considered their own family.
As for Feng Zhaolian, she walked to the table where the princes were sitting without any hesitation, kicked the chair of the Sixth Prince Xuan Tianfeng, and said, "Sixth Prince, can you move aside? Make room for me."
Xuan Tianfeng looked at Xuan Tianhua helplessly. He had heard about Feng Zhaolian's love for Xuan Tianhua, but he didn't expect Feng Zhaolian to be so generous and openly wanted to sit here at the palace banquet. Should he give up this seat or not? After all, Feng Zhaolian should be considered a man, and he is a former prince of the Qianzhou royal family. It's nothing for him to sit with them. But the strange thing is that Feng Zhaolian is dressed in women's clothes as usual today. It's really embarrassing to sit here like this.
He looked at Xuan Tianhua, hoping that Xuan Tianhua could give him some advice, but Xuan Tianhua remained silent, lowering his head, wondering what he was thinking. Xuan Tianfeng had no other choice, and with Feng Zhaolian urging him, he had to move aside and make room for him. Feng Zhaolian sat down as he wished, but he was not in a hurry to talk to Xuan Tianhua first, but said to Xuan Tianfeng: "I heard that the Sixth Prince just returned to Beijing yesterday. Have you heard that your 30,000 Northeastern troops have fallen into the hands of the Eighth Prince?"
Xuan Tianfeng nodded. What could he do if he knew? The emperor gave it to him, could he ask for it back? It was a pity for the 30,000 brothers who had fought with him through thick and thin. Although the military token was still in his hands, his father would surely take it back today and give it to the eighth brother. Once the Emperor Tianwu gave the order, he would have no choice but to give it.
Feng Zhaolian knew what he was thinking, but whispered, "In fact, handing over the military token is not necessarily a bad thing. A military token doesn't mean anything. As long as those 30,000 people have you as their commander in their hearts, you will always be their commander, and no one can take it away. If you can turn those 30,000 people into 30,000 pairs of eyes, then Old Eight will have trouble sleeping and eating."
Feng Zhaolian's words revealed the secret, which gave Xuan Tianfeng a new idea about the military power. Yes, a military token doesn't represent anything, so what if he handed it over? The 30,000 brothers gave him 30,000 hearts. Lao Ba was happy to think that he had added 30,000 new helpers, but he could turn this help into resistance and fight a beautiful turnaround.
Everyone was seated, leaving only the Queen standing at the foot of the hall. She just walked forward a few steps and then stopped again, staring at Emperor Tianwu and Concubine Yuan Shu.
People were very curious and stopped greeting each other. They all turned their eyes to the hall, wondering who would win the contest between the Queen and Concubine Yuan Shu.
The instigator of this incident, Emperor Tianwu, then opened his mouth and scolded the empress: "Everyone has taken their seats, why are you still standing there?"
The queen looked up coldly and asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, where shall I sit?"
"In such a huge Jade Palace, does the Queen mean that there is no place for you to sit?" Emperor Tianwu's face was gloomy, which was totally out of place with the atmosphere of the first day of the new year.
Immediately, the Eighth Prince's party members shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, calm down and take care of yourself!" At the same time, someone said to the Queen: "Your Majesty, today is New Year's Day, you must not make the Emperor angry."
At this time, Concubine Yuan Shu, who was sitting next to Emperor Tianwu, stood up and said to him, "Your Majesty, it's all my fault. I took the Empress's seat. The Empress is blaming me! I will step aside and sit. Only the Empress can sit in this seat. I dare not dare to covet it."
As she spoke, Concubine Yuan Shu was about to retreat, but was pulled back by Emperor Tianwu. "My beloved concubine, please sit still. I let you sit in this seat. No one except me can drive you away from here. Queen, I want to ask you, are you dissatisfied with my arrangement, or do you think that this huge Jade Palace can't accommodate you?"
Every word was merciless and directed at the queen. Not only the queen herself, but also the others felt their cheeks burning and ashamed. How could a queen, who was insulted like this by the emperor in front of so many people, still have the dignity to talk about?
However, the Queen had seen all kinds of big scenes, so this little setback was nothing to her. She just nodded lightly, and then said to Concubine Yuan Shu: "Concubine Shu, please sit down. Since the Emperor asked you to sit, you should sit well and sit firmly. The Emperor is right. In this huge Jade Palace, I can find any place. I will do as I please." After that, she walked straight to where the concubines were sitting, found an empty seat and sat down.
When the concubines who were trying to curry favor with Concubine Yuan Shu saw the queen coming, they quickly moved their chairs away. No one wanted to get too close to the queen at this time. After all, the emperor's attitude was clear. It was uncertain how many days the queen would live, so it was better to stay away. ︽②︽②︽.*②阁︽②,
In the past, the palace banquet would only officially begin with the arrival of the Queen, but today was different. The palace banquet had already been announced to begin long before the Queen and her entourage arrived. Emperor Tianwu had even brought Concubine Yuan Shu to accept the worship of the ministers, and the female relatives who came with Concubine Yuan Shu had also performed the ceremony. At this time, they were only focused on watching the singing and dancing and chatting, as if the arrival of the Queen and others was just a small episode that disappeared after they sat down, and no one cared.
Some third and fourth rank officials were discussing, "The Eighth Prince has not yet taken a concubine, neither a principal concubine nor a concubine. This is a good opportunity for us!"
"Yes, yes! Although it is wishful thinking for us to send our daughter to the Sheng Palace to be the principal wife, there is still hope for her to be a concubine. Just based on the emperor's attitude, when the eighth prince inherits the throne in the future, the concubine will also be a concubine in the palace, a legitimate master's wife!"
"Look at where the Eighth Prince is sitting today. That's the position of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, and it was the Emperor who took the initiative to let him sit there. This shows that the Emperor already has a candidate for the Crown Prince in mind, and it has to be the Eighth Prince."
"But tell me, why did the Emperor suddenly abandon His Highness the Ninth Prince and choose His Highness the Eighth Prince?"
"Don't you understand?" Someone pointed at Concubine Yuan Shu in a self-righteous manner, "The emperor has been waiting for Concubine Yun for eight years, but in the end he got nothing. I heard that Concubine Yun allowed the emperor to enter Yuehan Palace, but never stayed overnight. The emperor is also a man. Who can bear Concubine Yun's repeated torment? But Concubine Yuan Shu is different. She is gentle and charming. She has entered the emperor's heart at this time. Naturally, she can get whatever she wants!"
As people heard these words one by one, everyone had their own analysis of the matter...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
