Chapter 274 [Something is wrong]
The Prince of Jin, who was sitting on Hou Xiaoxiao's right, was greeting several other princes. He had peach blossom eyes, long eyebrows, and fair skin.
There was a wheelchair behind him. I heard that he fell while walking at night and now cannot walk independently.
Jiang Lili glanced at the live broadcast screen, but couldn't find any man with the temperament of a prince. She asked curiously: "What about the third prince?"
[@薛蔚: The person behind the Second Prince is the Third Prince!]
Jiang Lili was surprised when she saw the Third Prince's face. She realized that after taking one look at this face, she would forget what he looked like the moment she turned around: [How come this person has no memorable features? He looks like so many people. I'm a bit face-blind. I don't see that he looks like a prince at all.]
Xue Wei explained: "The Third Prince, Chu Lin, is a rather bland and ordinary individual. His mother, Consort Lin, was a daughter of a prominent general, but she was later overthrown when the court became involved in a dispute with the harem. Chu Lin was also not favored by Emperor Qingning."
In fact, Emperor Qingning had three daughters, but he cared more about the prince and never cared about the princesses.
The only daughter of Emperor Qingning who was given the title of princess was his youngest daughter, Princess Roujia. She was only 20 years old, and her husband was the third place winner in the previous palace examination.
Princess Roujia's seat was at the very back, so Xue Wei and others did not introduce her.
Before the incident in Marquis Zhaoping's Mansion, Concubine Ying Xin Yingshu was the most beautiful concubine in the harem, but she had not given birth to a child. Now it seems that there were signs of this a long time ago.
At this time, Xin Yingshu, who was the imperial concubine, sat down in her seat. She touched the fox fur scarf around her neck, and a rare smile appeared on her face.
At the hour of You, a sharp and familiar voice rang out simultaneously in everyone's live broadcast screen: "The Emperor has arrived!"
Then everyone saw Emperor Qingning appear at the door of the hall, and Zhou Jushan followed behind him like a servile boy.
Emperor Qingning was wearing a dragon robe with his crown tassels swaying gently. He was followed by a large group of people and had a masked smile on his face.
All the guests present stood up and bowed deeply to Emperor Qingning.
"Long live our emperor!"
Emperor Qingning walked all the way to his throne amid the people's worship.
After he sat firmly on the dragon throne, he asked everyone to sit down, and then everyone dared to sit down.
Although there were many people in the hall at this time, the atmosphere was much more serious than before.
Also coming with Emperor Qingning was Wen Jiyue, the palace maid who Xin Yingshu and Zhou Jushan arranged to be by the emperor's side and serve him refreshing latte.
In just a few months, she has been promoted from a beauty to Wen Zhaoyi, which makes all the concubines in the harem furious.
Emperor Qingning brought her to the banquet and let her sit in the seat closest to him, which made the beauties furious.
The emperor sat down and exchanged pleasantries with his ministers. He then looked at his princes, his gaze landing on the prominent Prince Jin. "Second brother, how is your leg? What did the imperial physician say?"
"Thank you for your concern, Father!"
Prince Jin quickly asked the eunuch beside him to help him stand up: "The imperial physician said it will take another two months before I can move freely."
Emperor Qingning consoled him, "You've suffered so much. After the banquet, I'll have Zhou Jushan pick out some supplements for you to take back."
"Thank you, Father."
The King of Jin bowed and said, "After this unforeseen disaster, I have been reflecting on where I have fallen short. Heaven is reminding me that I still need to learn more from my brothers."
He said with great emotion: "There is no such thing as suffering. When God bestows upon a man a great responsibility, he must first make his heart and mind suffer, his muscles and bones toil, and his body starve."
When these words came out, many officials were surprised! They never thought that the King of Jin would have such an opinion.
When everyone in the group heard Prince Jin say this, they all became alert: [Who taught him this? Could it be the student council?]
Hou Xiaoxiao frowned. "I said this when I was counseling a concubine. Could it be that he has been sending people to monitor me? Or did the concubine tell him everything I said to her?"
Hou Xiaoxiao believed that the former was more likely. The concubine was her right-hand man, and she had observed her for a long time and found her to have good character, so she dared to treat the concubine as her own.
@Hou Xiaoxiao: As expected, even if the Prince of Jin is a bad person, he was raised in the royal family and shouldn't be underestimated. He's such a hypocrite, even stealing what I said and showing off in front of the damn emperor.
Hou Xiaoxiao complained in the group chat, "Prince Jin is inhumane right now, and his leg is broken so he can't leave the house, but he can't help but feel anxious, and even invited a troupe to perform at his mansion."
@Jiang Lili: Isn't his money running out? Where does he get the money?
@Hou Xiaoxiao: It's because he has a good older brother. The Prince of Jin has always been close to the eldest prince, Prince An. Prince An is incredibly wealthy, having amassed influence over the Yu family, the most powerful imperial merchant family in the capital. The money the Prince of Jin spent on the music was all paid for by Prince An.
[@周居善: Prince Jin's mother, Concubine De, was a member of Empress Feng's party. Before the incident at Marquis Zhaoping's mansion, Marquis Zhaoping's sister, Xin Yingshu, was constantly honored and favored. Emperor Qingning treated her most specially, and the other concubines ganged up on her to isolate her.
Concubine De is Empress Feng's number one military advisor in dealing with Xin Yingshu.
After hearing Prince Jin's thoughts on this "heaven-sent mission," Emperor Qingning nodded in satisfaction and approval: "Chen'er is quite sensible. You have inherited the wisdom of your mother and I."
The eldest prince looked at Prince Jin with surprise, and his expression became more secretive: "Second brother has made a lot of progress in these days of recuperation in the mansion."
The eldest prince of the Jin Dynasty raised his glass, his smile ostentatious: "Thank you for your kindness, big brother."
@Jiang Lili: Wait, what does the eldest prince mean? There's a lot of tension between the two of them. Has this ever happened before?
The members of the Beijing team all agreed: “This has never happened before. Prince Jin has always been an obedient and good younger brother in front of Prince An.
[@周居善: Something is not right today, everyone please be careful.]
After the false greetings, the ritual and music performance began. Everyone could finally take a breath, no longer having to deal with social interactions, and enjoy a few bites of the delicious food on the table.
The musicians played music and the dancers danced to the music, which was extremely enjoyable to watch.
After three singing and dancing performances, in order to avoid aesthetic fatigue, the most lively show, lion dance, came on.
The clear sounds of stringed instruments turned into the lively sounds of gongs and drums. The spacious hall was instantly filled with the atmosphere of the New Year and did not seem so cold anymore.
Two red and gold lions pranced around the banquet hall to the beat of the band's drums, looking lively and agile, and very festive.
The lion dancers are obviously very skilled. The heavy and exquisite lion costumes are very lively under their control, just like real lions, full of vitality.
@李销冠: This livestream is great! If the nobles in the palace can watch it, we should be too!
However, Sheng Zhixing, who possessed a pair of sharp eagle eyes, noticed something was wrong.
[@盛执星: Wait, these two lions are a little weird.]
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