Seeing that the emperor and the empress dowager did not refuse, Xue Zhiyi opened the box.
Inside the box was a bright red palace flower decorated with silver branches, except that the green feathers had been replaced with osmanthus flowers carefully carved from beeswax.
The Queen Mother was stunned. She took out the palace flower and looked at it carefully. "Osmanthus? The best laurel in the imperial palace?"
Xue Zhiyi responded, "Although the shape is different from the palace flowers of previous years, it just happens to fit the meaning."
Xue Zhiyi secretly observed the emperor from the side, and then he saw clearly that he was an emperor over fifty years old, but vigorous and energetic. His eyebrows and eyes were like an eagle, and he seemed to be able to see through everything, which made people feel afraid.
But at this moment, he still looked at the palace flowers in the Queen Mother's hand without comment.
The Queen Mother said, "Palace flowers are a gift from the Heavenly Family, not for their own sake. In the future, becoming a general or a prime minister will not depend on this flower. I think this is very good."
Hearing this, Xue Zhiyi felt relieved.
This was her right bet. The empress dowager did not want Jingchun to be sent away, and did not want the emperor to have the opportunity to plant his own spies in Jianzhang Palace, so the empress dowager would most likely choose to protect Jingchun, so this palace flower could not become Jingchun's crime.
The Empress Dowager repeatedly examined the palace flowers. "Although this incident happened suddenly, the person who came up with this idea was calm in the face of danger and also had some ingenuity. What does the Emperor think?"
The Empress Dowager smiled at the Emperor, startling him for a moment. Then, he burst into laughter. "Your Majesty, what you're saying is true. It doesn't matter what the imperial palace flower is. What matters is that the person who wears it will surely be a pillar of Dayong in the future. The person who came up with this idea is a very smart person."
Lan Ying and Ge Yuanhui didn't understand the secret, they only knew that Xue Zhiyi was fine at the moment, and he had turned danger into safety... How could this happen?
The two looked at each other, with only reluctance and disbelief in their eyes.
Ge Yuanhui even clutched his handkerchief tightly under his sleeve.
From childhood to adulthood, Ge Yuanhui has always had whatever she wanted. People she dislikes can be easily eliminated without her having to do anything. But Xue Zhiyi, who is as lowly as a blade of grass, suddenly appears out of nowhere. He is like a thorn in her eyes and a thorn in her flesh, which cannot be removed no matter what. Not only that, this thorn is deeply rooted and has lush leaves.
Today, I have given Xue Zhiyi an opportunity for no reason. The Queen Mother and His Majesty already admire Xue Zhiyi very much. Wouldn't they look upon her even more highly now?
She actually let this happen right under her nose!
"Jingchun, was this your idea?" The Queen Mother asked Jingchun who had just escaped death.
Jingchun only felt that her underwear was soaked with sweat. She swallowed and said, "It was definitely not my idea."
At this moment, a light laugh was heard: "It's just a trivial emergency measure. I hope the Queen Mother doesn't blame Yuan Hui for taking the initiative."
For a moment, Jingchun was stunned. Not only her, but even Lanying was stunned.
As soon as he said this, Ge Yuanhui's heart skipped a beat.
She actually stole the credit from the person she despised the most.
After she realized what was happening, she felt an indescribable shame in her heart.
Xue Zhiyi just raised her brows calmly. She really didn't expect that Ge Yuanhui, who was always proud and noble, like a fairy descended to the world without being stained by the dust, would actually have such a shameless side.
Okay, that’s good.
Originally, she just wanted to take the opportunity to deal with Lan Ying, but since Ge Yuanhui fell into the trap, that was great.
She made a lot of money.
"So, it was Yuan Hui who came up with this idea?" The Queen Mother was also a little surprised.
But Ge Yuanhui gave a rare shy smile: "When Yuanhui entered the room, he saw Jingchun crying. He couldn't bear to see her sad, so he used this method."
Jing Chun looked at Xue Zhiyi helplessly and tried to ask her for help, but Xue Zhiyi acted as if it was none of her business, lowered her brows and remained silent.
"Jingchun." Ge Yuanhui called softly, but Jingchun shuddered and dared not look at Xue Zhiyi again.
"You don't have to be too sad. Your Majesty and the Queen Mother are so kind and magnanimous that they can't bear to punish you."
Jingchun just shrank back and continued her cowardly attitude: "I thank Your Majesty and the Queen Mother for your forgiveness!"
Lan Ying finally came to her senses. She smiled and agreed, "Miss Ge is kind and intelligent. I saw Jingchun was at a loss at the time, and everyone was undecided. Fortunately, Miss Ge came to her aid."
The two looked at each other and felt more guilty, but when they saw that Xue Zhiyi never spoke, they felt a little relieved.
But Ge Yuanhui didn't notice that the emperor's eyes changed very subtly.
Seeing Xue Zhiyi remained silent, Lan Ying no longer hesitated. She hurriedly wanted to get a piece of the pie: "It's just a beeswax hairpin. It can solve an urgent need. It's a blessing for me to be able to use this hairpin."
Hearing this, the Queen Mother simply smiled and said, "I just thought this beeswax looked very familiar."
After that, she said, "After the Qionglin Banquet is over, go to the storehouse and pick out a hairpin."
Lan Ying's face lit up with joy: "Thank you, Queen Mother, for the reward!"
Looking at the two people rushing forward, Xue Zhiyi seemed to be watching something that had nothing to do with her. She simply said, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, it's looking at the time. The Qionglin Banquet is approaching. When will you set off to move to the Imperial Garden?"
The chief eunuch beside the emperor also said: "Your Majesty, it is time for all the guests to take their seats at this hour."
The emperor only hummed, then stood up and bowed to the empress dowager: "Since that's the case, I will take my leave first."
The Queen Mother simply said, "The Emperor should go first. I should also prepare myself."
After everyone respectfully saw the emperor off, Ge Yuanhui also stood up to say goodbye, but before leaving, he did not forget to glance at Xue Zhiyi.
Fortunately, this bitch is self-aware enough to know that arguing is useless.
Xue Zhiyi just glanced at her back lightly: Some people are like this, they have everything, but they want to take away even a little bit of glory from others, but they don’t know that greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant, and they will be starved to death.
"Alright." The Queen Mother stood up and said, "Please change my clothes."
Xue Zhiyi lowered his eyes: "Yes."
The empress dowager's hairstyle and makeup had already been done, and she only needed to change into a phoenix robe and a hair crown to attend the banquet.
…
When they arrived at the Imperial Garden, all the invited court officials and their families had arrived, and the 132 new officials were also ready.
All they could hear was the eunuchs singing loudly: "Your Majesty has arrived! The Queen Mother has arrived! The Empress and the concubines have arrived!"
Xue Zhiyi and Chai Yue followed closely beside the empress dowager and entered as instructed.
All the guests bowed. Xue Zhiyi looked over and saw that in the imperial garden, groups of people were bowing to the emperor who was sitting on a high throne. Looking down from here, the shadows of people were undulating, their clothes were like waves, and their voices were like surging waves.
No wonder everyone wants to sit in that position. It turns out that this is the view from there.
It is no wonder that everyone wants to climb up. After all, the closer you are to this position, the more power you have to look down on the world.
She thought for no reason: No wonder Xue Zhentong and Fu Ling took her for granted as a chess piece.
Looking from this place, the seating arrangement is arranged from high to low according to the rank of the ministers, which makes it easy to feel that the person farthest away is as small as a bug. Perhaps this is how the Xue couple felt when they looked at her and her family at that time, so they had the illusion that they could easily crush them to death.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
