It can be said that the person who has been the most popular during this period is Princess Hu Rou.

After hearing the description from the palace servants, the Third Prince remained expressionless, but he had already figured it out in his mind.

I'm afraid it was Princess Hu Rou's idea to invite the foreign envoys to the banquet this time.

Sure enough, at the banquet, in addition to all the ministers, the emperor also arrived.

The Empress sat on the right side of the Emperor's seat, but on his left was the shy-looking Hu Rou.

Zhao Ji practiced martial arts a little late last night, and was a little late for the banquet today.

However, the emperor has always liked Zhao Ji, and today was actually the emperor's private banquet, so he did not blame him too much.

When Zhao Ji sat down yawning, he happened to see Hu Rou next to the emperor.

Zhao Ji just raised his eyebrows calmly, and happened to meet Hu Rou's eyes at this moment.

Hu Rou, who was always bold and wild, blushed all of a sudden and avoided looking at Zhao Ji.

It was obvious that Hu Rou felt guilty, as she knew how she came to be favored by the emperor this time.

The third prince didn't notice these lawsuits.

Gutali was still the official head of the delegation. After raising his glass and greeting the emperor several times, a teasing look appeared on his face.

"Princess Hu Rou has always been the most elegant and beautiful pearl on our grassland. Such a beautiful pearl should be paired with a hero like you! Now it seems that they are indeed a perfect match!"

The emperor was very happy with these words, and drank two glasses of wine in a row. He waved his hand and called the eunuch over: "According to my order, Princess Hu Rou, who is gentle and elegant, and has excellent moral character, is specially appointed as the Defei!"

This level made the queen's eyes widen at once.

"Your Majesty, you must not do this... Sister Hu Rou has only just served Your Majesty, and was sent here for marriage. If you give her the title of consort directly, it would be a bit too much..."

The queen didn't want to say it so clearly, but she was afraid that the emperor would just give her the position of concubine with a wave of his hand.

You have to know that this has never happened before. Even the noble Queen was only given the title of Concubine Shu when the Emperor ascended the throne.

This is because the queen's mother's family is noble and the queen herself is very smart.

Now, such a woman from the grassland is so favored by the emperor and is promoted to the position of concubine.

In the history of previous dynasties, princesses sent from other tribes to marry also started out as concubines.

The prime minister felt that the emperor's impromptu decision was inappropriate.

You know, the Prime Minister advocated peace talks and accepting Princess Hu Rou into the harem, but now the Emperor obviously looks confused.

It was indeed something that made the prime minister a little worried about the status of the queen, who was his own daughter, in the palace.

When the foreign envoys heard the queen's words, they immediately became unhappy.

Gutali stood up with a deliberately gloomy face and said, "Your Majesty, you are wrong. We sincerely sent the chief's sister to marry us. This is a great sincerity. You know, Princess Hu Rou has many admirers in our grassland!"

"We were not exaggerating when we said Princess Hu Rou was the most dazzling pearl on the grassland. We were so sincere, why is the Queen so angry? Is it because we shouldn't send women to the Emperor's harem? Having three wives and six concubines is a common thing. Queen, are you jealous?"

The foreign envoy made his point so clearly that the queen's face turned red with anger.

The queen basically had the words "rude foreign gang" written all over her face.

Zhao Ji spoke leisurely at this time: "The Queen of our dynasty has always been virtuous and kind, and has never been jealous. In this harem, the Queen treats everyone equally. I think the Queen spoke today just to remind the Emperor of the etiquette."

"Why do you think the queen is jealous and is sowing discord when you see the foreign envoys? Who is sowing discord?"

Zhao Ji's words were soft but sharp, which not only protected the queen's dignity, but also put the blame on the foreign envoys.

Especially the last sentence, which successfully made the emperor, who had just been refuted by the queen and was still a little dissatisfied, narrow his eyes slightly. It was obvious that the emperor was not so angry at this time.

Princess Hu Rou stood there awkwardly. In fact, when Zhao Ji stood up just now, the princess was a little nervous.

Because the princess was very scared, Zhao Ji exposed what happened between them.

If it really came to that, Hu Rou would probably be forced to death.

Even if the foreign envoys had eight hundred mouths, they dared not open their mouths to say anything when Zhao Ji opened his mouth.

After all, they knew Zhao Ji's affairs very well in private. He was able to get two secretaries of confidential departments to take down for two consecutive months. This person must be no ordinary person.

So Gutali, who knew the current situation, touched his nose and sat down quietly.

On the other side, the queen next to the emperor never expected that it was Zhao Ji who spoke up to defend her.

For a moment, the queen's heart was filled with mixed feelings, with many thoughts intertwined in her mind, and in the end she couldn't even tell what kind of mood she was in.

The queen looked at Zhao Ji deeply. Zhao Ji felt someone's gaze on his face. He turned around and happened to see the queen's face with a complicated expression.

Zhao Ji smiled, nodded to the queen, pursed his lips slightly, and then made a lip gesture.

Zhao Ji's movements were slow, so his lip reading was very clear.

It was precisely because the lip reading was too clearly concealed that the emperor had no idea that at that moment, two blushes appeared on the queen's face.

At this banquet, Hu Rou directly became the Defei, and the envoys from foreign countries looked even more glorious.

From the looks of it, both parties at the banquet seemed to be having a great time, as if it was not them who were fighting fiercely and shedding blood in the north a few months ago.

Zhao Ji drank the wine slowly, taking a sip after another.

I really felt a little sweaty and sticky, which was not very comfortable.

So he simply said goodbye to the emperor, left the banquet and went outside to get some fresh air.

It’s the same breeze and the same people.

When Hu Rou saw Zhao Ji leaving the banquet, she chased him out without saying a word.

He chased Zhao Ji to the quiet lake and grabbed Zhao Ji's arm.

"This princess knows your secret!"

Zhao Ji yawned and looked at the princess boredly: "What secret did you know?"

Zhao Ji's attitude was beyond the princess's expectations, but Princess Hu Rou was naturally not a timid person: "I know you are not a eunuch, you are just a fake eunuch!"

Hearing this, Zhao Ji laughed and then reached out to scratch the princess' nose: "Then Princess, please tell me, what do I have more than the fake eunuch?"

Hu Rou's face turned red in an instant. She stammered and couldn't say anything. She reached out and punched Zhao Ji: "You stinky hooligan!"