"Mother!"
Princess Xuan looked at Concubine Cui with grief and anger.
She herself was beaten beyond recognition by Zhou, so how could she let him go so easily?
Concubine Cui looked at her meaningfully: "Shut up! Today is a palace banquet! You have to know the big picture. If you have anything to say, we can talk later."
Concubine Cui emphasized the word "palace banquet". Upon hearing this, Princess Xuan's body softened and she didn't say anything else.
Emperor Mingde did not expect that something so disappointing would happen just as the banquet started today, and his good mood was somewhat ruined.
Jiang Qianruo glanced coldly at Princess Xuan: "You are so arrogant and presumptuous. Princess Yongping is not allowed to enter the palace again!"
Princess Xuan lowered her head, a hint of hatred flashing in her eyes.
Back at the main banquet table, the man already knew what had happened.
King Xuan looked at Emperor Mingde at the top of the table patiently, took several deep breaths, and then forced a smile to suppress the resentment in his heart.
My father is becoming increasingly impatient with them. To embarrass his wife and daughter in public today is tantamount to a slap in his face.
It just so happened that he had had enough.
As soon as everyone was seated, King Xuan stood up, raised his glass, and toasted Emperor Mingde with a beaming smile: "Another year has passed. Your son offers a toast to your father. May your father be blessed with longevity, good health, and a prosperous and peaceful world!"
Following Prince Xuan's lead, Prince Yi also stood up and raised his glass: "Your son wishes your father a long life and good fortune, and a prosperous nation!"
Emperor Mingde turned his gaze to Prince Ping, who stood up awkwardly and raised his wine glass dryly: "May you have great fortune and peace of mind, and may you be blessed with good health."
Emperor Mingde looked at them deeply, raised the wine glass in front of him and drank it all: "Let the banquet begin!"
As Emperor Mingde finished speaking, the sound of fireworks could be heard from the sky.
The atmosphere, which had been a bit tense because of what had just happened, dissipated a lot in an instant.
Marquis Xuanping looked up at the fireworks in the sky, a smile appeared on his pale face, and he did not look at all as embarrassed as he had been in the dungeon before.
Xie Siheng was not in the mood for the banquet and was secretly alert.
He focused almost half of his attention on Marquis Xuanping. Seeing the smile on his face, Xie Siheng's eyes flashed with strong murderous intent.
Marquis Xuanping felt this strong murderous intent but didn't care at all. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Xie Siheng.
He gave a provocative smile, full of malice and evil.
Ji Changying looked at Marquis Xuanping, then at Xie Siheng, frowned and began to think deeply.
Zhou was happily feasting on her meal, picking up some food for Ji Changying while eating. "Those dishes over there are cold and not tasty. You can have this."
Ji Changying looked at her mother eating with great joy, and sighed in her heart that it was indeed a relief to have nothing to worry about.
She also reached out and picked a dish that was a little far away from Zhou and was emitting faint steam. She gave it to Zhou: "This should still be hot, mother, try it."
"Okay!" Zhou started eating happily.
Emperor Mingde and Jiang Qianruo sat at the top and accepted everyone, listening to the flattery and toasts from many ministers.
When the event was almost over, Jiang Qianruo glanced around and said with a smile, "Since it's a palace banquet, it would be boring to just sit there. With so many ladies here today, why not help liven up the atmosphere?"
Hearing this, everyone became excited and came!
Upon hearing this, Duke Chengguo stood up immediately and said, "I have a granddaughter named Jiang Shuyan, she's fifteen years old this year and is very skilled in the zither. Why not let her come and give you some inspiration?"
The first one to appear and the last one to appear are naturally impressive, but the people in between are aesthetically fatigued and difficult to remember.
So when he heard what the Queen said, Duke Cheng was the first to stand up and recommend himself.
Jiang Qianruo naturally wouldn't spoil the fun and nodded with a smile.
Jiang Shuyan blushed, and she stood out in front of everyone with her guitar in her arms. She bowed to everyone and began to play the piece she had carefully prepared.
It can be seen that this was indeed carefully prepared. The sound of the piano flows into the ears like a clear spring, making people feel refreshed and the previous boredom disappears in an instant.
With her performance, the young ladies from various families who had been preparing for a long time no longer hid themselves and began to stand up on their own initiative.
Some show off their talents, some show off their singing skills, and some show off their dancing skills.
As time went by, King Xuan's expression became more and more relaxed, while King Yi's eyes wandered among the many ladies, estimating the interests behind them.
Only Prince Ping and Zhou were like each other, working hard without any care in the world. Song Ruqing kept winking at Zhonglizhou but got no response.
When she turned around and saw her husband who was only busy eating, she pinched his arm in annoyance and turned around.
King Ping gasped in pain, rubbed his arm quickly, and whispered, "What's wrong? Who made you angry?"
Song Ruqing glared at him, "Are you out of your mind? Don't you see what we're trying to do? I asked Zhou'er to take the initiative and ask Yunyi to marry him, but he hasn't responded yet! Do you really want my father and the others to just give Zhou'er someone?"
Prince Ping hesitantly said, "Didn't they say... ahem, didn't they say I was the Empress' biological child? With the Empress around, she should... maybe... probably... wouldn't just randomly force someone else in, right?"
Song Ruqing sneered: "So what if he's my biological child? I didn't raise him much, so how much affection can I have? Maybe in order to stabilize the relationship in the court, Zhou'er was sacrificed."
King Ping remained silent, but this possibility was not impossible.
After the dance, the young lady from the Ding family stood there with sparkling eyes.
Jiang Qianruo smiled and said, "Not bad!"
The young lady from the Ding family immediately walked off the stage in disappointment, and the dancers following her were also preparing to go back behind the scenes.
Emperor Mingde said, "I would like to take this great opportunity to announce that Prince Ping will be enthroned as the—"
Before the emperor could finish his words, King Xuan stood up and smashed the wine glass in front of him.
The smiles on everyone's faces froze, and the happy atmosphere just now was suddenly filled with tension.
"Get started!"
As soon as King Xuan finished speaking, a palace maid standing in the shadows not far from Emperor Mingde moved.
She jumped up, drew the dagger in her hand and stabbed towards Emperor Mingde.
“Protect the Emperor!!”
When Eunuch Liu saw this, he was unable to react and shouted in a shrill voice, and the banquet hall suddenly became chaotic.
Jiang Qianruo reacted extremely quickly. The moment he saw the palace maid, he stood up and pushed Emperor Mingde aside. He turned around and kicked the dagger in the hand of the person who came.
The dagger in the maid's hand was kicked away. Without further ado, she flew backwards and stood beside King Xuan, a smile on her lips: "It's done."
The incident happened in a flash. All the ministers in the court stared at the scene in a daze, their brains somewhat frozen.
"King Xuan! You actually sent this assassin?! What are you doing...?!"
Prince Yi almost instantly realized what Prince Xuan was going to do. After all, he had thought about it, but he just didn't have the courage.
But he didn't expect that even though he didn't dare, someone else did!
King Xuan stopped pretending and said, "That's right, it's just as you think!"
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