He followed the emperor slowly and leisurely, with graceful steps and extraordinary nobleness in every gesture, like a banished immortal from the sky, exuding a feeling that he was to be admired from afar but not touched.
When he walked past Gu Yanfei, he curled his lips at her, a gentle smile appearing on the corners of his mouth, just like the bright spring sunshine, graceful and elegant.
The emperor and others went up the stairs and sat down one by one on the second floor of the houseboat.
The emperor said with a smile on his face: "Everyone, have fun. This is a rare feast for lovers. Don't be restrained."
When the emperor mentioned the word "鹣鲽", he thought of his son, and his mood became better and his face became radiant.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone thanked the emperor in unison.
Most of the guests at the banquet were of noble birth and had many opportunities to visit the palace and meet the emperor. Therefore, most of them were not restrained and chatted and laughed freely. Some sat down to drink tea, eat snacks, whisper to each other, or go to the deck outside to enjoy the lake view.
The pleasure boat appears lively and festive, with people chatting and laughing happily, but in fact everyone has their own thoughts.
Empress Dowager Yuan was sitting on the left side of the emperor, and she said casually: "I like these young girls very much. Young girls should be lively and happy."
"Is that what the Emperor said?"
Empress Dowager Yuan turned around and said the last sentence specifically to the emperor.
"The Queen Mother is right." The emperor smiled and stroked his beard, with deep smile lines at the corners of his eyes. "Young girls are indeed lively and cheerful."
As he spoke, the emperor couldn't help but glance at Chu Yi who was sitting on his right. He saw Chu Yi's eyes half-closed, and his smiling eyes looked straight through the window at the deck below, and his long eyelashes fluttered gently with pleasure like butterfly wings.
Following Chu Yi's gaze, the emperor indeed saw Gu Yanfei. The little girl was leaning on the railing of the pleasure boat with Wei Jiaoniang, smiling happily. The two of them were huddled together, whispering to each other, and laughing with great joy.
The emperor's gaze quickly turned back to his sons. He was so happy that he wished the two children would come in pairs and call him father.
I must not let the Queen Mother mess it up and ruin my son's good marriage.
The emperor said to himself as he picked up the blue and white porcelain teacup and sipped his tea.
The brisk rhythm of the clappers sounded again, and the storyteller downstairs continued to tell the story. After talking about the auspicious sign of Emperor Taizu encountering a real dragon, he began to talk about the beautiful story of Emperor Taizu visiting the thatched cottage three times to invite Tiangang Zhenren to come out of seclusion. Then he talked about how Emperor Taizu was seriously injured on the battlefield and his life was in danger, and then the real dragon reappeared...
"Taizu is truly a god." Empress Dowager Yuan sighed with a hint of regret, "Not only does he have the help of a rare person like Tiangang Zhenren, but he is also blessed by heaven. The real dragon appeared twice for Taizu, not only recognizing him when he was little, but also saving him in times of danger."
"With the blessing of the real dragon, Taizu was able to turn danger into safety every time he encountered danger, and he won every battle. That's why Dajing is so prosperous and peaceful today."
"Is that what the Emperor said?"
Empress Dowager Yuan smiled dignifiedly and gracefully.
The emperor smiled and did not respond to Empress Dowager Yuan. He took an orange from the fruit plate on the table, peeled it, and gave half of it to Anle.
Anle took half an orange without saying a word, a well-behaved smile appeared on her little face, and she began to peel the orange peel bit by bit, as if there was nothing more important than this.
Empress Dowager Yuan showed no anger at the emperor's deafness and dumbness. She turned her gaze to Chu Yi, smiled more deeply, and asked, "My eldest prince, what do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Yi, who was drinking tea, put down the teacup in his hand, smiled faintly, nodded slightly and said: "Great-grandfather is destined by heaven, so there is a real dragon from heaven to help."
Chu Yi said it lightly, but Empress Dowager Yuan's expression changed slightly.
However, Chu Yi's words completely reversed the cause and effect of her words, emphasizing that it was Taizu who had the ability to found a country, so he was helped by the real dragon.
The two have completely different focuses.
Several princes and princesses nearby seemed to be drinking tea, but they were actually paying attention to the conversation between Empress Dowager Yuan and Chu Yi, and they keenly heard the wit in their words.
Prince Jing couldn't help but look at Empress Dowager Yuan's expression. She was still smiling, but her eyes were like knives, cutting fiercely into Chu Yi's face.
Empress Dowager Yuan was indeed unhappy and her eyes were gloomy, but she couldn't say that Chu Yi was wrong.
Her lips gradually tightened and she was unable to continue.
Chu Yi turned around and said to the emperor in a gentle voice: "Father, your cold is not completely healed yet, where is the hand warmer?"
The emperor caught a cold on the second day of the Lunar New Year and recovered after several days of recuperation. The imperial physician advised the emperor to keep warm.
"..." The emperor's face froze and his eyes wandered.
He was in such a hurry to see his son's sweetheart that he had forgotten where he put the hand warmer.
Anle had just finished eating the half orange that the emperor had given her, and she easily took out her hand warmer from her sleeve.
It was a very lovely gilded hand warmer in the shape of a gourd with delicate vine leaf patterns carved on it.
Anle silently handed the hand warmer to the emperor.
Chu Yi and An Le, a brother and sister, do not look alike, but they have a pair of similar phoenix eyes with pupils as black as ink jade. They look at the emperor together.
Faced with these two similar pairs of eyes, the emperor could not utter a word and obediently took the gourd-shaped hand warmer.
The rhythm of the quick-paced music below gradually increased, and the storyteller talked about a miracle doctor who heard that Taizu was seriously injured and came all the way to send him a miraculous medicine.
Yuan Zhe, who was sitting next to Prince Kang, frowned slightly and stared at the emperor and Chu Yi without blinking. His right hand clenched and released in time with the rhythm of the allegro.
After repeating this several times, Yuan Zhe suddenly said, "It is said that a true dragon chooses its master. Emperor Taizu first won the heart of the dragon, and then won the hearts of the people. He attracted heroes from all over the world to join him. The Black Dragon Army under his command has become very powerful in just one year..."
At first glance, these words seem to make sense, as if to say that Taizu won the people's submission because of the vision of the black dragon descending to the world.
“Bang!”
The sound of a cup hitting the table suddenly rang out, rudely interrupting Yuan Zhe's words.
Not only did the princes and princesses sitting nearby hear it, but even the young men and girls sitting a little further away heard the noise, and their gazes surged like waves towards the owner of the cup, the Grand Princess Fengyang.
"Who do you think you are!" Feng Yang looked at Yuan Zhe coldly, with a powerful aura sweeping over him like a raging fire or lightning, extremely fierce, "It is not your place to interfere in our father's affairs."
(End of this chapter)
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