The sky gradually darkened.
As night falls, the Imperial Garden gradually becomes lively.
The banquet begins.
The emperor, empress and queen mother sat in high seats, concubines sat separately, and ministers and family members, both men and women, sat at separate seats.
Peng Hui shouted, "The Northern Di envoys come to see us!"
For a moment, all the guests were silent and looked at one place.
Several tall-armed and narrow-eyed men dressed in exotic costumes walked up to the table. The man in the lead had slightly dark skin and looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was slightly taller than Gu Shimin. Between his sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, there was a deep calculation as deep as water and the gloom of a veteran in the battlefield.
"Foreign minister Helian You pays homage to the Emperor of Dayong."
As the future heir of Beidi, he naturally learned the official language of Dayong.
During the meal, Huo Wuyou simply poured himself a glass of wine and drank it, as if he wanted to swallow down the surging hatred.
The emperor exempted them from the formalities and let them take their seats.
Listening to the emperor and Helian You's hypocritical words, Huo Wuyou felt annoyed. He looked at the empress dowager, but Xue Zhiyi was not by her side. He then looked at Huo Zhiyu's seat, which was also empty.
I don't know what he was thinking, his pair of auspicious phoenix eyes dimmed slightly, not showing on his face, but his fingers were already anxiously clenching the cup.
As the emperor and Helian You toasted each other, the topic naturally shifted to the issue of marriage.
Helian You smiled and said, "My father Khan only hopes that I can bring a princess back to Beidi this time. I just don't know if the flowers in the Central Plains can withstand the bitter cold of the desert."
"As a princess of the emperor, blessed with the blood of a true dragon, why should you fear the bitter cold?" An Zhaoyi said coldly.
Although An Zhaoyi was allowed to attend, her favor was no longer the same as before. She hated Concubine Li and tried to please the Queen and the Queen Mother more and more. At this moment, she was eager to go against Concubine Li.
Upon hearing this, Concubine Li's smile froze for a moment, then she said softly, "Your Majesty, Pingzhang has been unwell recently and fell ill again this morning. I'm afraid he can't withstand such praise from Concubine An."
Sure enough, there was not even a seat arranged for Gu Ruxuan at today's banquet.
Concubine Ge continued, "Speaking of which, Princess Anle is from a military family, and her father and brother are both stationed at the frontier. She must be different from these spoiled girls who grew up in Huajing."
Huo Wuyou frowned and said nothing: The Ge family's goal is to destroy the marriage, and now they have rashly pushed A Yu out, their purpose is definitely not to make A Yu the candidate for the marriage.
In short, when something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
Helian You heard this and echoed, "Princess Anle has a free and easy personality, she is indeed different from others."
Concubine Ge was surprised: "So, Your Highness has already met Princess Anle?"
Before Helian You could speak, a concubine chimed in, "Your Highness, you don't know, but the Princess and His Highness have known each other for a long time. They are a match made in heaven..."
When he was almost done speaking, Concubine Ge belatedly reminded him, "Don't be careless with your words."
The Empress Dowager's expression had changed, but the Emperor did not stop them. He just let them continue talking one after another.
Helian You smiled and said, "I just wonder why Princess Anle didn't show up today? Is she feeling unwell?"
After saying this, everyone noticed that Huo Zhiyu's seat was empty.
"I didn't know the prince of Beidi was so concerned about the royal women of other countries."
The concern is almost shameless.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Huo Wuyou leaning against the wall. He was wearing a red dress and his hair was covered with flamboyant beads, making him look like a peacock, but his face was stiff and impatient.
Hearing this, the imperial concubine smiled as if to smooth things over: "Your Highness, this is Princess Anle's brother, the Marquis of Lin'an."
After saying this, Concubine Ge pretended to be worried and said, "I wonder if the Marquis of Lin'an knows where the princess has gone? She hasn't been seen for such a long time, it really makes me worried."
As soon as Concubine Ge opened her mouth, Huo Wuyou glared at her: "Concubine, you are worrying too much. What could possibly happen in the palace?"
As he spoke, he suddenly smiled casually: "The Imperial Concubine just said that A Yu's father and brother are stationed in the northwest, so she is not afraid of the bitter cold?"
The imperial concubine had always thought of him as an ordinary playboy and had never understood his character in detail. At this moment, she didn't know what he was going to say, so she just didn't answer him.
Huo Wuyou slowly shook the wine cup in his hand and said, "Unfortunately, my father and brother left Yueling Pass three years ago. Now, Princess Anle's brother is only a pampered and idle lord like me."
As he spoke, his brows raised slightly. "Come to think of it, the one guarding Yueling Pass is Duke Dingguo. I imagine the girls of the Ge family must be as strong as bulls, right?"
He said this, but still in a joking tone, making it seem too petty to argue with him.
Concubine Ge was speechless.
Everyone had expected that Huo Wuyou would express his dissatisfaction with the marriage. After all, no one wanted their loved ones to be sent thousands of miles away. However, Concubine Ge could not find the right words to refute his malicious ridicule.
She could only think bitterly: He is just a useless playboy who can only talk big.
At this moment, An Zhaoyi suddenly cried out, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Miss Yuan Hui since the banquet started. It's been such a long time since we last saw her. As your aunt, how could your Imperial Concubine not be worried at all?"
Concubine Ge was distracted: Sure enough, Ge Yuanhui's seat was also empty. She was preoccupied today and didn't even notice where Ge Yuanhui had gone.
During the meal, Ge Jingyang sighed worriedly. He had discovered his sister was missing a long time ago and had sent someone to look for her secretly, but there was still no news.
There must be no mistakes in today's plan.
At this moment, there was an unexpected bang, and Helian You stood up with an apologetic look on his face: "Your Majesty, I accidentally knocked over the wine cup just now. I'm sorry. May I leave and go change my clothes?"
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