Chapter 236: The Irritable Queen Mother vs. the Cold Imperial Master (19)
At the hour of You, the red sun sets in the west.
The Taixing Hall in the imperial palace was brightly lit, and the sound of stringed instruments and wind instruments was endless.
A group of ministers have already taken their seats with their families.
Chu Yixiao was sitting in a high position, and on a low chair behind him to the right was Jiang Lianxue, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes.
The empty seat on his left, parallel to the ebony table, was reserved for the current empress dowager.
"The Queen Mother has arrived—"
A loud singing was heard, and everyone immediately stood up and nodded in greeting. Chu Yixiao even walked down the platform to wait.
Compared to the curiosity and humility of others, Jiang Lianxue and General Jiang both looked reluctant.
Only Ming Yan, who was sitting in the first seat on the left side of the hall, did not need to bow. He calmly sipped his fragrant tea, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at the door.
In the past few days, he deliberately avoided contact with the Queen Mother.
Even when delivering medicine, he didn't say much.
It seems that my heart has calmed down a lot.
A skirt as bright as the sunset glow suddenly entered Ming Yan's field of vision.
The girl was dressed in a gorgeous scarlet dress, with a phoenix hairpin holding a pearl stuck diagonally in her hair, which made her pretty face look like a delicate peach blossom.
Lu Cha's gaze passed over the crowd and fell on Ming Yan, a sweet smile spreading across the corners of his lips.
The next moment.
Ming Yan turned his head as if he saw nothing.
Lucha: "?"
What?
My smile isn't bright enough?
"May your majesty be blessed with good health and happiness." Chu Yixiao bowed meekly.
Lu Cha nodded slightly, and with Jin Yu's support, he walked towards the platform.
Chu Yixiao took his seat right after him. "Today is my beloved concubine's birthday dinner. Please treat it as if you were at home. There's no need to be so reserved."
After everyone stood up to express their gratitude, they began to exchange greetings with each other.
Ming Yan was sitting a few steps away from the platform. Lu Cha was unable to communicate with him. While he was thinking about how to move to sit down below, he suddenly heard a delicate voice.
"Your Majesty, I will feed you some wine."
Jiang Lianxue deliberately took Chu Yixiao's arm and lovingly fed him the wine in the glass, then looked at Lu Cha with pride.
The lover she once loved now has eyes only for her. Jiang Lucha will definitely be pissed off!
However, Lu Cha just looked away in disgust.
That’s it?
No kiss at all?
Ugh~
Seeing Lu Cha turn his head away with a lack of interest, as if he looked down upon her own inferior methods, Jiang Lianxue's face twisted slightly.
Although her face had recovered mostly after using the best medicine, she still needed thick makeup to cover up the remaining slap marks.
Once the expression becomes ferocious, it looks like a ghost that is taking lives, terrifying and horrifying, without any beauty at all.
Thinking that Lu Cha was about to hand over the Phoenix Seal to her, Jiang Lianxue swallowed her anger.
She will tolerate this bitch for a while longer!
After all, she was the highest-ranking concubine.
If I don’t give her the Jianglu Tea, who else can I give it to?
Chu Yixiao naturally knew that Jiang Lianxue's previous actions were intended to anger Lu Cha. He despised her in his heart, but pretended to dote on her on the surface.
"My dear, this is your favorite almond soup."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jiang Lianxue shyly took the porcelain bowl handed to her by Chu Yixiao.
Everything on the platform was visible to the officials below.
Two ministers gathered together and whispered:
"Why does Concubine Jiang seem to be deliberately showing affection to the Emperor, as if to irritate the Empress Dowager?"
The older minister stroked his beard and whispered, "Of course it's because the Queen Mother once had a crush on the Emperor before she entered the palace."
Ming Yan, who was not far from the two of them, tightened his grip slightly on the fingertips that were resting on the edge of the teacup.
The young official couldn't believe it: "Then the late emperor stole his own son's woman?"
"That's not the case," the older minister replied, "The Emperor has never been with the Queen Mother. It was the Queen Mother who unilaterally liked the Emperor."
"Come to think of it, the Queen Mother is quite pitiful."
"Her mother died early, and the man he loved didn't love her. Instead, he made her sister his concubine. She had just entered the palace when the late emperor passed away. I don't think she is comfortable being the empress dowager."
"Ever since the Queen Mother came in, General Jiang has had no good face."
The young official was unconcerned: "Now that the power of the court is in the hands of the Jiang family, what hardship can the Queen Mother have?"
"Discussing the rights and wrongs of the royal family is punishable by thirty strokes of the cane according to the laws of Great Chu."
Ming Yan's sudden words made the two officials shut up instantly.
He rubbed the bamboo patterns engraved on the teacup, his eyes deep and cold.
It turns out that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have a past together.
But at this moment, a drunken old minister staggered in front of Ming Yan with an arrogant attitude:
"It's said that the Ming family's divination can predict when a person will die. I'm already sixty years old this year. Why don't you calculate it for me?"
Ding Dong—a few copper coins were thrown on Ming Yan's table, making a crisp sound.
The old minister laughed sarcastically: "These are the rewards I give to the Imperial Master."
"I can't predict it, so I'll just treat it as a reward for you."
At every banquet, officials would humiliate the imperial teacher and vent all their daily grievances on him.
It’s just because the Ming family has fallen into decline and has no power or influence.
It was Ming's father who was humiliated in the past, and now that Ming Yan is the national teacher, these people have turned their spearheads towards him.
Ming Yan raised his hand to pick up the jade pot and pour tea. His long sleeves dropped the copper coins to the ground without any ripple.
"I'm not dead."
"What do you mean?!" The old minister was about to lose his temper, but was suddenly pinned to the ground by two eunuchs.
"What are you doing?! Don't you know who I am?!"
"But this old man..."
Before he could finish his words, a cold light fell.
Boom——!
The head of the old minister who was shouting just now fell to the ground.
The blood instantly dyed the originally bright yellow floor tiles red.
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