When they arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, all the ministers had already arrived. At this moment, the sound of drums and music suddenly rang out, each one passionate. When the ministers saw His Majesty coming in hand in hand with the Queen, they all paid their respects.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant, pays homage. Long live Your Majesty, and may Your Majesty live a thousand years ... a thousand years." The voices of the ministers were in unison and loud.
Su Jingyao and Jun Zechen walked side by side, gracefully moving towards the highest seat in the hall.
The highest seat today is occupied by a dragon and phoenix chair, which is just wide enough for two people.
This was a special arrangement made by Jun Zechen, and there were no separate dragon and phoenix thrones.
Afterwards, the four concubines sat on both sides of Su Jingyao and Jun Zechen according to their positions.
After the emperor arrived, the banquet officially began.
Defei sat below Su Jingyao with a complicated look in her eyes, sometimes looking at Su Jingyao, sometimes looking at Jun Zechen.
The virtuous concubine sat below His Majesty with a smug look on her face. It was obvious that she was still the number one among the concubines.
Concubine De glanced at the emperor and empress inconspicuously. They were sitting side by side, with outstanding temperament and demeanor, and seemed so well matched.
But her heart was full of bitterness, because she should have been the respected queen beside His Majesty.
But now even the positions of the four concubines are issued by the Queen's decree.
Recalling the past, when His Majesty's heart had not yet been completely taken away by the Queen, Concubine De was filled with fear.
Because the queen is kind and pure, of noble birth, beautiful, intelligent and well-mannered, such a nearly perfect woman, Concubine De doesn't know what kind of man would not be attracted to her.
So even though she believed that Jun Zechen would not fall in love with anyone else, she was still worried about the Queen.
Every time she was sad because of His Majesty's special treatment of the Queen, she would ask His Majesty at that time to make a promise to her.
However, in the end, these promises are like mirages in the mirror and will shatter at the slightest touch.
The funniest thing is that she always thought she knew the queen very well, but she didn't know that the queen was not as non-competitive as she seemed.
Her kindness is all a disguise, even His Majesty has been kept in the dark by her!
Thinking of this, Concubine De unconsciously clenched her hands tightly.
In the past few months, Concubine De has put a lot of thought and effort into carefully training many people.
She urgently needed a prince to consolidate her position, so she placed her people in both Concubine Chu and Concubine Ye's places.
Because she couldn't be sure whether Concubine Chu would give birth to a prince smoothly, she could only try her best to seize every possible opportunity, so she also placed spies with Concubine Ye.
It was because of this that she realized that she had always believed that Concubine Ye was disliked by His Majesty because she had plotted against the Queen.
But it turned out that the Queen had set up a trap step by step, making Concubine Ye fall into it foolishly.
Defei recalled every move of the Queen when she was still the Crown Prince's concubine. Now it seemed that they all had deep meanings and were deliberately intended to alienate the relationship between her and His Majesty.
In the end, he succeeded in convincing both her and His Majesty of the Queen's kindness and concessions.
Just like the incident with Concubine Ye this time, in His Majesty's heart, the Queen will always be the poor person who was plotted against and the most innocent person.
Concubine De lowered her head slightly, a hint of unwillingness flashed in her eyes. She bit her lips tightly, and her hand gripped the wine glass tightly, her fingers looking a little white because of the force.
It was all her fault for being so stupid and trusting the Queen so easily!
She will eventually tear off the queen's hypocritical mask and expose the real queen to His Majesty. At that time, will His Majesty still love the queen as unreservedly as he does now?
There was a glint of ruthlessness and determination in Concubine De's eyes.
After the banquet began, the ministers presented gifts, then the concubines presented gifts, and finally the queen presented gifts.
After the tribute was presented, it was time for the envoys to appear. These were steps that had been arranged long ago by the Honglu Temple, and everything seemed to be in order.
Then the eunuch's shrill and high-pitched voice echoed throughout the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
"The envoys from Yuehui Country and Princess Mingyue of Yuehui Country come to pay homage to the emperor—"
"The eldest prince of the Canglang Kingdom and the second princess come to see the emperor—"
"The envoys from Lingyu Kingdom and Princess Yixuan come to see you—"
"The envoys from the Seabuckthorn Kingdom and their three princesses have come to pay homage to the emperor—"
"The Crown Prince of Yuelin Kingdom and Princess Yafu come to see you—"
Later, some envoys from vassal states came, but the eunuch did not report them one by one.
Jun Zechen's majestic and imposing voice resounded in the hall, like a huge bell, "Announce."
Afterwards, special palace servants brought in envoys from various countries one by one.
The envoys walked to the center of the hall with solemn expressions and steady steps, their eyes filled with awe and respect.
However, the real focus of the ministers' attention was the beautiful princess and princess following behind the envoy.
Some of them are beautiful and charming, some are gentle and lovely, and some have a unique style.
Minister Su frowned slightly and looked at the princesses and princesses seriously, then he turned his gaze to his daughter who was sitting in the first seat.
My daughter looked calm, without any ripple on her face, as if all this had nothing to do with her.
He couldn't help but feel relieved. His daughter had such a magnanimous demeanor that many women could not match.
Su Jingyao didn't feel anything special, so her face looked calm.
What's more, the entire banquet was planned and arranged by her and the officials of the Honglu Temple. She naturally knew very well who the envoys brought with them.
As for the four concubines sitting next to her, Concubine De was surprised at first, but she quickly regained her composure, as if no matter how many women came to the harem, it had nothing to do with her.
However, Concubine Lin was originally quite proud of being promoted to a concubine today, but when she saw these princesses and princesses, her mood suddenly became depressed and her face looked a little gloomy.
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