There are always many new programs at the palace banquet during the New Year. In addition to singing and dancing, there are also magic shows. After the programs in the Jade Palace were finished, the Queen said that she had invited a troupe of actors and arranged for everyone to move to Mingzhi Palace to listen to the opera together.
Speaking of which, Feng Yuheng had never listened to an opera in the palace, or rather, she had not listened to an opera seriously since she came to Dashun. If she had any memory, it was when Feng Jinyuan was still the left prime minister, and Han was making trouble in Feng Mansion and invited an opera troupe to enter the mansion. But how could an opera troupe of that level compare with the one of the royal family?
Xuan Tiange told Feng Yuheng: "Mingzhi Palace is the place for listening to opera in the palace. Generally speaking, if the banquet is held in summer, a temporary stage will usually be built in the imperial garden. But now it is the first month of the year and it is cold outside, so it is just right to set it up in Mingzhi Palace. Mingzhi Palace is a stage built indoors. It is very large, and there are enough seats below for everyone to sit down. When the emperor's uncle was young, he loved listening to opera. At the time, he had a special craftsman make a special design. It is said that some work was done on the wall, so that the sound transmission is very good. Even if all the seats are full, the person sitting at the back can hear clearly what is being sung on the stage."
Feng Yuheng nodded. There was no sound amplification equipment in ancient times. If so many people wanted to listen to the opera together, it would be a test of the basic skills of the actors. Secondly, the environment in which the opera was performed was also very important. What Xuan Tiange said was probably to achieve the theater effect of later generations. The natural sound amplification of this environment can be achieved through the design of the concave and convex wall surface, which is not complicated. In fact, Feng Yuheng did not like watching operas. After all, he had appreciated the film and television dramas of the 21st century, and did not think this more primitive way of story interpretation was very good. But after all, it was a unified arrangement of the royal family, so it was necessary to sit for a while.
The Emperor and Empress walked first, followed by the imperial concubines, and there was no deliberate order after that. People had drunk quite a bit of wine, and it was a happy day. The eldest prince was even walking arm in arm with a minister he was familiar with. Basically, whoever had a better relationship with someone would walk together, and the ladies took this opportunity to look at the young men and ladies in the capital one by one, gathering together from time to time to comment on them, and some were already quietly making estimates in their hearts.
Ren Xifeng and Feng Tianyu were not in a very good mood. Both of them were a little depressed. Xuan Tiange said, "I know why you are not interested. It's been another New Year. I'm afraid the marriage can't be postponed any longer. I heard that the thresholds of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion and the Pingnan General's Mansion were trampled down by matchmakers."
No matter how noble one's status is, one must follow the rules when facing the marriage ceremony. The profession of matchmaker may not sound very respectable, but it is a popular job. Especially those matchmakers who specialize in serving the nobles in the capital city are very familiar with those wealthy families who have no engagements. No matter whether they are men or women, as long as they are not engaged, once they have passed the coming-of-age ceremony, no one can escape their eyes.
Ren Xifeng and Feng Tianyu were both old enough and were from well-known wealthy families in Beijing. Matchmakers were very happy to take their business. They would visit their homes several times a day to present marriage proposals to different young men. At first, the masters and ladies of the two families wanted to keep their daughters for a while longer, but after another year, General Pingnan's wife had already said that keeping them would only make them enemies. Although Ren Xifeng did not want to get married early, she had no choice but to let her mother take the initiative to find a date for her.
Feng Yuheng was a little puzzled. "According to your status, the emperor will grant you marriage sooner or later, right?"
Xuan Tiange said, "It should have been like this, but General Pingnan and the Right Prime Minister are both meritorious officials of Dashun. They had long ago requested an imperial decree for their daughter, not to marry the prince, not to enter the palace, and to choose her own marriage instead of accepting a marriage granted by the emperor. The emperor's uncle also agreed. So..." She hugged Feng Yuheng's arm, "the ones who should be most worried are not them. After all, the mansion makes the decision, and they can also like each other. It's me, Ah Heng, you have to think about it for me. I am the princess of Dashun, and I am the only princess with a surname in the royal family. I don't even need to think about choosing my own marriage. So, the only way in front of me is marriage. Do you think I am the one who should be most worried?"
After she said that, Ren Xifeng and Feng Tianyu were no longer worried about their own affairs, but were worried about Xuan Tiange. She was right. As the only princess of Dashun, she would marry sooner or later, but she didn't know where she would marry.
"Speaking of which, Ah Heng, I have to thank you and Brother Nine." Xuan Tiange added, "Thanks to you for destroying Qian Zhou in advance, otherwise if you had sent me there, do you think I would have survived? I heard that it's so cold that a person can be frozen to death there, and I would have died in just a few days after I went there."
"Puh, puh, puh!" Ren Xifeng hit her. "It's New Year's Day. Why don't you say something else? It's unlucky to say something like this."
Xuan Tiange also knew that she had said something wrong, so she smiled and stopped talking about it, but she kept talking to herself: "I heard that there will be a war with the south after the New Year. My biggest hope now is that this war can be fought cleanly and neatly, and the south can be taken down in one fell swoop, just like Qian Zhou, so that I don't have to go to the south to marry." Xuan Tiange said it a little lonely, not as happy as she was at the beginning. After all, she was getting older and older, and marriage was imminent. She also knew that Dashun couldn't keep her for long.
But fighting a war is not easy. Feng Yuheng knew that Qianzhou was an accident. If it weren't for the sudden earthquake and avalanche, Qianzhou would never have been destroyed so easily. If a stalemate occurs, Qianzhou will give in and offer a peace letter, and Xuan Tiange is the only candidate for Dashun. Of course, it is also possible that the princess of Qianzhou will marry over, just like Kang Yi did, but Dashun has no suitable candidate to marry. Earthquakes are not so easy to encounter, not to mention that they are natural disasters that hurt the country and the people. She doesn't want to see such an ending from the bottom of her heart.
She didn't tell Xuan Tiange about this, but Feng Tianyu asked, "You're only worried about the north and south, but not the east and west?"
Xuan Tiange thought about it seriously for a while, then shook her head, "I am afraid, but not as much as the north and south. After all, the climate in the east and west is not much different from that in Dashun. I think if I really want to marry there, I can't bear too much suffering."
She waved her hand and didn't want to talk about it anymore. However, several people understood that whether one suffered or not had little to do with the climate. It mainly depended on the man who married her. If two people's hearts were together, no matter how difficult the environment was, it didn't matter.
They soon arrived at Mingzhi Palace, where palace servants were already there leading everyone to their seats. Of course, they still sat at the front, just behind the concubines.
Today's play is about a reunion, telling the story of a pair of childhood sweethearts. The girl used all her wealth to send the boy to Beijing for the imperial examination, but the boy was delayed in the imperial examination due to illness. He spent all his money, had nothing to eat or live, and could not find anyone to take his letters back to his hometown, so he lost contact with his hometown. Until the next imperial examination, he won the first place, and did not want gold, silver, jade, or a beautiful princess. He only brought his men back to his hometown to find the girl who had been waiting for him for years, and the two finally got married.
It was a perfect play. Xuan Tiange couldn't help but sigh: "A princess marries a number one scholar. This kind of thing can only happen in dramas! In fact, which princess would be so lucky to marry a number one scholar and live in a familiar place without leaving the capital. Unless there are so many princesses in the royal family that the palace can't accommodate them all."
Feng Yuheng was not very interested in such a play. Just like Xuan Tiange said, it was too idealistic and unrealistic, especially unrealistic for Dashun. Of course, if it was too in line with national conditions, the troupe would never dare to perform in front of the emperor.
She left the table, using the excuse of going out for some fresh air. Although it was a little cold outside, the air was very good. There was no heavy industry in ancient times, and there was no tobacco in these days, so there was no pollution. The moon was bright, the stars were shining, and it was much more comfortable than in the 21st century.
She asked a palace maid, who said that there was a lake not far away along the path on the left side of Mingzhi Palace. There were many lanterns on the other side. Although there were fewer people, it was not deserted with the lights. Feng Yuheng nodded and walked over there with Wangchuan Huangquan.
Huang Quan was still very interested in the play just now. He recalled it while walking, and occasionally discussed it with Wang Chuan. When they walked to the lake, Wang Chuan stopped Huang Quan's excitement and asked Feng Yuheng, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?"
She shook her head, "No, I just feel it's too noisy inside, and it's quiet outside."
Huang Quan stopped talking about the play and said, "No one from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion came today. Is the marriage of the Eighth Prince over? Miss, to be honest, this marriage was planned and instigated by us. Someone is behind this. On such an important day and for such an important matter, how could the Lu family let Lu Yan get sick at this time? And she was so sick that she couldn't get out of bed?"
Wang Chuan also said, "That's right, young lady. I also think that someone must have done something behind the scenes, and this person might be an important figure. I always think that Lady Yuan is unlikely to do it, unless she sent secret guards to sneak into Lu's house at night to poison Lu Yan."
"It's not impossible." Feng Yuheng responded casually, but in fact, he didn't think so in his heart. Before, in the Jade Palace, Xuan Tianming had taken the opportunity to come over to toast and told her about something. That day, they went to the Lu Mansion to deliver the things brought back from the south to Lu Yan. Not long after they left, another group of people from the Lu family came. They were from the Queen's side. Fang Yi came in person to deliver the Queen's thoughts. He thought that the Queen was following their thoughts to send gifts, but now thinking about it, it was not entirely true. "Anything you say is just speculation. I will go to the Lu Mansion in person tomorrow and see it." Her plan was ruined. Even if she was not in a hurry to turn the game around, she had to know what was going on. No matter who it was, she couldn't let anyone hide in the dark.
Several people were standing by the lake and talking. Suddenly, the three of them stopped talking at the same time. After a while of silence, Wangchuan had the most sensitive hearing. He looked at Feng Yuheng and the others, and then heard Feng Yuheng raise his voice and ask, "Who is sneaking around behind us?"
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