"Please stand up." Queen Pei smiled and opened her arms, asking everyone to stand up.
"I'm sorry to trouble you all for my birthday banquet this time." Queen Pei said a few polite words as usual, and then waved her hand to call on everyone to perform singing and dancing.
Princess Changping also sat at the table and looked at the men's seats with sparkling eyes.
Under the palace lanterns not far away, the prince sat alone. Unlike the elegance he showed at his last wedding, this time he looked visibly more depressed and frustrated. It seemed he hadn't taken care of himself for who knows how long, and the stubble on his face was almost half a finger thick.
But no matter what, after all, he has such a beautiful appearance, even if he is so decadent, he is still handsome. Princess Changping indulged in it. In the past, because of Wang Qingluo, the prince cousin could not marry her, but now he has no princess consort, she still has a chance.
Changping is not stupid, so he naturally knows what Queen Pei is thinking.
She wanted the prince to marry Shen Qingqiu, and then take the military power without bloodshed. But based on her understanding of Shen Qingqiu, she was afraid that her aunt's plan would eventually come to nothing, so she might as well plan for herself.
If she only had wealth but no power, she would not be able to keep anything in the end. Only by becoming the Crown Princess could the things she had accumulated over the years not turn into ashes. Otherwise, they would only serve as a wedding dress for others.
They were all the same kind of people, how could Changping not understand his aunt? In the end, he was no longer useful, and he was probably even more miserable than Wang Qingluo. Wang Qingluo was carrying her aunt's grandson, and she didn't even care about her grandson, so how could she care about the interests of her niece? After the banquet lasted for several days, after looking at the gifts sent by all the ladies, Queen Pei finally talked about the main topic of the day.
She smiled at Liu and said, "You rarely came to the palace before, and I didn't see you often. After giving birth to the prince, you are even more charming than when I first saw you."
Liu immediately hugged Tuan Ge'er and thanked her, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am the son of Pu Liu, how can I compare to your beauty."
Empress Pei waved her hands and smiled, "No need to flatter me like that. My age is right here, how can I compare to you young people in terms of prettiness?" After thinking for a moment, she turned her head and looked at Shen Qingqiu on the side, "Ah, seeing how pretty the Marquis's wife is, I forgot that she is still the mother of a grown-up girl. Speaking of which, Lady Kangle is almost fourteen years old this year, right?"
Speaking of herself, Shen Qingqiu naturally had to stand up, "Reporting to the Queen, I will be fourteen after the New Year."
Empress Pei smiled brightly, "A fourteen-year-old girl is not young at all, it's time for her to get married." She looked Shen Qingqiu up and down again, her eyes full of satisfaction, "I know that the emperor likes the princess. When the princess was a companion in the palace, I also liked her very much, but you were still young at that time, so it was not suitable. Now you and the prince are a perfect match."
"Your Majesty, is that right?" The Queen looked at the Emperor who was sitting not far away.
The emperor had originally intended to grant Shen Qingqiu a marriage. It was not that he did not understand the thoughts of the concubines and princes below him, but no matter how much they fought, she would eventually marry him as his daughter-in-law.
The emperor glanced at the depressed prince, and then at the beautiful Shen Qingqiu.
He narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. He knew that the queen had been restless in recent years. If it were in the past, he would have to punish her. But he was a father after all. He knew that the prince was forced by the queen to divorce the princess. First he lost his wife and then his child. Now he was very depressed.
He and the prince are father and son, and he knows the character of his eldest son well.
He was not the type of person who would fight for power and he could not bear to see him continue to be so depressed. It would be better to follow the Queen's wishes and arrange a marriage for the prince. Shen Qingqiu looked no worse than Wang Qingluo, so it would be nice if they could make a perfect couple.
"Now that the Queen has said that, I think the two of them are a good match." The Emperor smiled softly and looked at the Crown Prince again, "Prince, how about asking Princess Kangle to be your Crown Princess?"
The emperor's question meant that he was going to grant the marriage.
Concubine Li's expression changed and she looked at Queen Pei with hatred.
This old woman is really calculating! She actually invited Gu Yanran, the hot potato, to such an occasion and directly blocked her words. If she can't snatch it now, won't she just watch the military power represented by Shen Qingqiu being given to Queen Pei and the Crown Prince for nothing?
The prince still looked as if he had lost all hope. It was only after the palace maid beside him reminded him that he raised his drunken eyes and bowed to his father. "I will listen to you, father. I will marry whoever you and mother tell me to marry." Then he started drinking again.
The emperor looked dissatisfied.
Empress Pei said quickly, "How can the servants below do their work? The prince drank too much and no one stopped him. Don't you know how drunk he is today? Quickly remove the wine on the prince's table and bring some sobering stuff over."
"yes."
The prince just smiled and let the palace maid remove the things on his desk.
Empress Pei wanted to strike while the iron was hot. "I think it's not right for the Crown Prince to have no one to take care of him. Why don't you ask the Emperor to grant the Crown Prince and Princess Kangle a marriage?"
The emperor was about to nod.
Shen Qingqiu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stepped out and knelt on the ground. "The emperor has granted me a marriage, and I shouldn't have refused. But I already have an engagement. If I don't report it now, I'm afraid I'll be accused of deceiving the emperor in the future."
Shen Qingqiu knelt on the ground, "I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."
The Emperor and Empress Pei were both stuck where they were. They had not expected that the final obstacle would be Shen Qingqiu.
"Engagement, how come I haven't heard of any engagement for the princess?" Empress Pei's smile turned colder, and she looked at Liu at the side, "I don't remember what family Madam Hou showed the princess. Not reporting an engagement is a crime of deceiving the emperor. If you deliberately make up an engagement, it is also deceiving the emperor. Madam, you should think it over before you speak."
Empress Pei knew that Liu was timid, so she spoke these words specifically to her.
The implication was obvious. There was no reason to disobey the royal marriage. Even if there was an engagement, it would become void. She expected that Liu, a woman from the inner house who had never seen much of the world, would be intimidated by her.
"I dare not lie to the emperor and the queen, Qiu'er is indeed engaged."
However, Liu's behavior was completely different from what she had expected. She did not show any fear or trepidation. Instead, she was neither humble nor arrogant. Even her eyes did not show any panic.
"Madam Hou, you should know that a marriage granted by the royal family is honorable. Do you want to disobey the order?" Queen Pei narrowed her eyes.
This matter was too difficult for Gu Yong. She had to find a way to pressure Liu and make her agree to the marriage.
"Of course I dare not disobey the Emperor and His Majesty, but as Qiu'er said, Qiu'er was engaged to Dao Yue, the only son of the Dao family, a year ago. The marriage certificate has been signed, and everyone knows that a woman cannot marry twice. If I sign the marriage certificate with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at this time, wouldn't it be a joke?"
Queen Pei sneered, "Marriage contract, why haven't I heard of a marriage contract before?"
The smile on her face disappeared, and she looked at Liu with dignity, "Madam Hou, your husband, Marquis Gu, said during his last court session that he wanted to keep your daughter for a while, but he didn't mention any engagement at that time."
Liu remained neither humble nor arrogant, "This... this is hard to say?" She showed some embarrassment on her face.
"Is there anything wrong with saying this in front of the Emperor and His Majesty?" The confidant next to Empress Pei said coldly, "Madam Hou, don't treat this place as your backyard!"
"My daughter has grown up, so how can she let her parents decide..." Liu covered her face with a handkerchief. Was she afraid of the queen? What queen was she afraid of? Both her husband and daughter were first-class talents, so Liu was confident.
Even when she was speaking in front of everyone in the hall, she spoke with confidence, "Qiu'er is naughty and always likes to run to the army. In the past, I always thought she ran to the army because she liked to wield spears and sticks. It was only now that I learned that she had actually married the boy from the Dao family."
Queen Pei's expression became increasingly ugly.
This family in the Marquis' Mansion are all unscrupulous people who changed their careers halfway!
They are all so shameless. If it were any other family, they would have dragged their daughter out and thrown her into a pig cage for having an affair with a man outside their family. But Liu said it without blushing or breathing heavily, as if her daughter had done something to bring honor to the family.
Gu Yong heard it clearly from the side. He was afraid that the Queen would embarrass his wife, but when he saw her talking so freely in front of the Queen and even telling lies as if they were true, he couldn't help but curl his lips.
After a moment, he stood up again and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I wanted to find a time to report this matter to Your Majesty. It would be an honor for the Marquis's Mansion if Your Majesty wanted to grant me a marriage, but this girl is so ignorant that she has already found a husband for herself." Gu Yong's face was calm, as if this was a very normal thing.
"I should have broken that boy's legs, but my daughter is spoiled. I saw that she really liked that boy, so I agreed to the marriage. Now that it is at the Queen's Thousand Years Banquet, I will shamelessly ask the Emperor to grant my daughter a marriage."
Empress Pei blushed. What a Liu, what a Gu Yong! "Since our children are engaged in private, how can this be counted?" Empress Pei gritted her teeth.
Normally, she would look down upon such a woman with a damaged reputation, but seriously, compared to military power, compared to the power in hand, what does her son's reputation count for? "Why doesn't it count?" It was Shen Qingqiu who spoke.
"Your Majesty once told me that my word is my bond. Your Majesty said that he likes me, so I should naturally put Your Majesty first. Even if I don't keep my word, how can I break my promise to someone?"
She used the emperor as an excuse, and now Empress Pei was speechless.
Concubine Li on the side covered her lips with a handkerchief and smiled. She just liked to see the Queen suffer a setback.
"Your Majesty, a gentleman helps others to achieve their goals," Concubine Li leaned against the emperor softly, "Since the princess really likes him, and it is the marquis who asked for the marriage, why doesn't Your Majesty give the marquis this favor?" In short, what she can't get, the queen can't get it either!
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