Song Dynasty female artist

But Zhao Rui insisted on confronting these court officials, who were left speechless. Some of them were even caught by their political opponents, who took the opportunity to make reports and got themselves into trouble.

No one has mentioned the harem in the past six months.

Your Majesty has already taken a concubine, and they cannot force Your Majesty to favor her whether she has a child or not.

At the banquet, the ministers' eyes were instead fixed on Prince An's children.

To this year's palace banquet, Prince An not only brought Princess An, but also two concubines. It was quite lively.

Some ministers whispered, "Prince An has three children. The oldest was born to a concubine, the second is a legitimate son, and the third is also born to a concubine. But the one that His Majesty first favored was the eldest son Zhao Xing. This is really hard to guess."

"What's so hard about guessing? Aren't these children all being raised in the palace now? If Your Majesty really has this intention, he will definitely choose Prince An's legitimate son."

Only someone with this status is worthy of that position. Wasn't Zhao Xing chosen in the first place because the principal wife was still a princess of the Liao Dynasty?

Your Majesty will not allow the Princess of Liao to have children, at least not a boy.

That's why Zhao Xing was trained.

Now Princess An is the eldest daughter of the Cao family and has a noble status, so the most likely candidate is the legitimate son Zhao Heng.

Those people spoke as if everyone around them was deaf, and people thought they were speaking very softly, but in fact, everyone nearby could hear it clearly.

When you hear what they are talking about, your eyes will naturally turn to the protagonist of the story.

Lu Sihui was the first to notice the inquiring looks from others.

Even though she didn't hear it herself, she could guess what they were discussing from the way their eyes shifted between the children.

Lu Sihui straightened her chest, lovingly touched the child's head, bent down and whispered to her son: "Go and toast to the Royal Grandmother later, and your Majesty, have you remembered what your mother taught you?"

Zhao Ming nodded: "Mother, I remember."

Although he was only two or three years old, Lu Sihui had taught him how to read people's eyes and act accordingly.

Seems sweet-talking and likable.

But a child should act like a child. He should be at an innocent age, carefree, and should cry and laugh when he wants. Such teaching will make the child lose his childishness and innocence prematurely.

No one here is stupid.

When Zhao Xing, who was five years and two months old, led his two younger brothers to offer tea to the empress dowager, Zhao Xing wanted to speak several times but was interrupted by Zhao Ming.

Queen Mother Cao touched Zhao Xing's head and said, "You, my brother, have done a great job. You two brothers should also listen to your brother and live in harmony with him. Do you understand?"

"Thank you, Grandmother, for your guidance. We know now."

"Go."

After saying that, he touched the back of the second son Zhao Heng's hand to show his affection.

Only the third brother, Zhao Ming, was passed over.

Cao Yuyan really couldn't like Zhao Ming's behavior just now, but the child was still young, so Empress Dowager Cao didn't blame him. She just looked at Lu Sihui, and she no longer had the same love as before.

Lu Sihui was completely unaware of this.

He was just angry that Queen Dowager Cao only held Zhao Xing and Zhao Heng's hands.

Zhao Xing's biological mother was just a slave. She had the opportunity to become a concubine because of Prince An's favor. Later, after giving birth to Zhao Xing, she was promoted to a concubine. Her birth was too low. Not to mention Cao Zhuohui, how could the son of a slave be praised by the empress dowager.

The Queen Mother is really confused now.

When they arrived before His Majesty, he was very pleased and gave them all rewards.

But the eldest son was given a Ruyi lock, the second son was given a purple jade pendant, and her son was given only a gold-inlaid pendant.

Lu Sihui felt that it was targeting her son.

The Lu family is not as good as before.

Ever since her grandparents passed away, the Lu family has been headed by her third grandmother, who doesn't like her and is snobbish. Knowing that she has no support from her natal family, they all try to step on her.

She remembered all these people's faces.

Ram ate quietly, watching everything around him.

Lu Sihui looked very unwilling. Such people are the best to use.

She now has to make preparations for both scenarios. If the third brother is unreliable, she will have to rely on her own abilities to keep her footing.

The party is coming to an end.

Leng Zhongyan and the others came to Gu Qingjue with wine.

Everyone knows that this person has good connections, so no one is surprised.

Leng Zhongyan: "A few ministers in the court said they had something to do and didn't come. Ziyuan thinks they will..."

Everyone understood what was not finished.

Previously, we have found several officials who might have been bribed by the Liao Dynasty, but there is no list of these officials.

Those who came today are officials of the fourth rank and above and their families.

It would be horrible if they were all bribed. They would have no choice but to obey the Liao's infiltration work.

Li Duanyuan whispered, "I don't know about the others, but there is also King Xuan. His loyalty to the court is obvious to everyone. He is definitely not a spy of the Liao Dynasty."

"Ziyuan, do you think what I said is right?"

Gu Qingjue: "..."

"Let's go and watch the fireworks. They have also arranged fireworks this year. I heard that the artillery shop has something new this year."

Li Liuyu shouted over here: "If you're late, you'll miss it!"

The fireworks were so brief and easy to miss, so they followed them out of the hall.

"Bang bang bang..."

Shortly after the fireworks were set off, the palace servants shouted in panic, "Oh no! There's a fire in the palace."

"The water is leaking? What should we do?"

The older woman remained calm, but the younger ones looked nervously at the place not far away where smoke was already rising.

Some people speculated: "Could it be the fireworks that caused the fire?"

This speculation was echoed by many people.

The fire did indeed start after the fireworks were set off.

Gao Taotao stood beside the Queen Mother and asked in confusion: "How could a fire start so easily when there are still snowflakes that haven't melted yet?"

At this time, Commander Zeng appeared in front of Zhao Rui in armor and said, "Your Majesty, the Royal Guards have sent a group of people to put out the fire. The fire can still be controlled. Don't panic."

Queen Mother Cao: "That's good. Let everyone be more careful."

"Yes."

With Commander Zeng around, everyone feels more at ease.

Because of the sudden fire, the fireworks were not set off and were withdrawn.

Originally, this year's banquet was going to be very relaxing and enjoyable, but after what happened in the end, no one was in a very good mood.

When leaving the palace, some people were still talking about the fire.

"It always feels unlucky for something like this to happen on New Year's Eve, like a bad omen."

As soon as Lu Sihui finished speaking, Cao Zhuohui glanced at her.

"Princess, I am only guessing."

"Since it is just speculation, then you should be careful with your words and actions. You are the concubine of Prince An, so you should understand this principle even more."

Lu Sihui retorted: "Princess, although I am the concubine of Prince An, I also have the freedom to speak. It's New Year's Eve, and a fire broke out. Maybe it's a warning from God to express his dissatisfaction!"

Cao Zhuohui stopped, and before anyone could react, she slapped Lu Sihui in the face: "Concubine Lu, if you don't want to live, don't drag us, the entire palace, to be buried with you." (End of this chapter)