Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 53 Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet

After hearing this, the Tubo envoy saluted excitedly and said:
"Thank you, Khan, for your mercy! Once this news is spread back to the country, the king will be ecstatic and grateful. We have been waiting for a long time, and we don't know when the princess will be able to set off?"

When the emperor heard this, he raised his sleeves, thought for a moment, and said:

"There's no rush, you still have to be careful when choosing a princess. I will definitely choose an excellent princess for the King of Tubo. You can send a letter back to Songtsen Gampo and let him wait with peace of mind. It won't take too long."

"Thank you, Khan!" The Tibetan envoy's expression was filled with excitement. After returning to his seat, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip, laughing.

Wu Rou wanted to laugh when she saw him like this, but secretly lowered her head to hold it back.

She and Xiao Cairen co-hosted the banquet, and one of them stood on the side of the main hall, supervising the progress of the banquet. If there were any mistakes, they could coordinate and resolve them on the spot.

Her position was at the back between the seats of King Jin and the Crown Prince. King Jin happened to see her looking down and snickering from one side of his face, so he rolled his eyes at her.

Wu Rou quickly raised her head, pretending that nothing happened, and carefully observed the situation at the banquet.

The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is originally a family banquet, intended for reunion, and foreign ministers are generally not invited.

Therefore, the concubines, princes and princesses in the palace will all attend and gather together to watch the performance. Then when the moonlight is strong, they will walk to the viewing platform outside the main hall to admire the moon and compose poems.

At that time, the emperor would set a topic, such as adding a certain word, or specifying a four-character or five-character sentence. Everyone would write a poem, recite it and taste it. If they did well, they would be rewarded with money and property.

The concubines, princes and daughters in the palace, no matter what their level, can all do basic rhymes. Sometimes even a few nonsense sentences are very interesting, so they are very active and no one dares to speak.

This year, because we invited envoys from various countries... In fact, we mainly invited the Tibetan envoys to the palace to give him an opportunity to agree to the marriage. By the way, we also invited the envoys from various countries to the palace.

Therefore, the poetry part was eliminated, and the scale and number of banquet programs were increased.

The interior of the Liangyi Hall is spacious and broad vertically, and is divided into two parts: the front court and the back court. The front court is on a slightly higher ground and is where the emperor, his concubines, and the princes and princesses were located.

The emperor sat on the main seat in the middle, with the princes and princesses sitting on the left side, and the concubines sitting on the right side. On the empty court in the middle was a large carpet provided by Persia, with bright colors and patterns. Under the bright lights, It just serves as the stage for the show.

The second half of the main hall, a little away from the emperor, is the back court, which is three steps lower. It is the position of the ministers, who are ranked according to their rank.

Today, there are envoys from various countries sitting in the back court, accompanied by several interpreters and officials from Honglu Temple, about 200 people.

In order to ensure the viewing effect, all programs are duplicated, with the best ones on the carpet in the front court and the inferior ones in the back court.

The Tai Chi pattern of yin and yang is painted on the floor, which is the stage location of the show.

In the back court of Liangyi Hall, there are a total of three such patterns, lined up at equal intervals. If the seats are full of guests, the program will need to be performed in four copies at the same time, and the scene will be extremely spectacular.

At this time, a dance was being performed in the venue. Twelve strong men, wearing shorts and long trousers, with huge drum heads hanging on their bodies, formed a circle.

They faced outside, performing in circles while beating a magnificent rhythm. Their movements were bold and unified, and matched with their singing harmony, they were so powerful that it felt like the entire hall was resonating with it.

Suddenly, a light figure leapt out from the drum formation, flying like a wild goose in the air, with its clothes and ribbons flying, and it jumped like a full-bowed horse.

Taking a closer look, it turned out that a woman was dancing out holding a long sword.

From Wu Rou's position, she could see that from the two circles in front of the court, a strong and light figure suddenly jumped out at the same time. It was as clean and neat as a replica, which made the people in the hall hold their breath for a while. She was very satisfied.

When she was rehearsing, she forced the instructor to put in a lot of effort.

The drum formation quickly dispersed and formed two rows. The drums were used to sing and cheer, as if to encourage them. The sword dance in the field was fierce and cheerful, yet gentle and graceful.The combination of hardness and softness, the contrast between yin and yang, is very beautiful.

Wu Rou was lost in thought when she suddenly felt someone coming next to her. She turned around and saw that it was the eunuch on duty next to the emperor. He came to Wu Rou and whispered:
"Wucairen, your Majesty will let you pass."

Wu Rou glanced at the seat and saw that the emperor was wearing a bright yellow round-neck uniform and a black futou, and he was leisurely watching the performance below.

He picked up the wine glass and put it in front of his lips and took a sip. His brows were relaxed and he seemed to be slightly tipsy. He didn't look like he wanted to hold her accountable for her mistakes.

So she quickly lowered her head, followed the eunuch in a polite manner, and stopped under the throne.

When the emperor saw her coming, he waved to her and motioned for her to come up.

There was no one else on the emperor's throne, and he asked her to come forward in full view of the public. This honor made her think a little too much. Wu Rou lowered her head even more, and stepped onto the imperial steps lightly...

She didn't dare to stand higher than the sitting emperor, so she knelt down at his feet.

Prince Jin frowned in displeasure when he saw her pretending to be obedient and happy, and then looked away.

The emperor leaned on the desk in front of him with one hand, tilted his body slightly, and asked softly:
"Last time you and Xiaojiu explored those girls of the right age, were there any relatives of the Li clan who could be of great use?"

Wu Rou really didn't expect that the emperor wanted to ask this... She raised her head subconsciously, glanced at the Tibetan envoy sitting at the head of the back court, and replied:

"Yes, there are two county heads and two girls from the Li family who are concubines. They are all very good, but they were not willing to get married last time."

When the emperor heard this, he frowned slightly and said:
"The government of Tubo is stable. Apart from being uncomfortable with life, there is no need to take too many risks. This time, I think it is better to use someone from the clan named Li. Otherwise, the court will think that I am partial to my own clan members and do all the hard work." Let others go.

I don't believe that such a large clan cannot choose a woman as ambitious and courageous as Princess Honghua. "

Wu Rou responded "Yes", raised her face and asked obediently:
"...What does Your Majesty need Arou to do?"

At this time, the performance in the venue was over, and there was a burst of noisy cheers and applause.

The emperor glanced at the field, then looked back at her and said:
"You draw up a list tomorrow. It's only been a year, and the wedding won't be too soon. Pick out the people you think are available, and I will choose one when the time comes."

"Yes, Ah Rou knows." Wu Rou answered, holding her hands.

"Okay, go down..." the emperor said casually, and then sat up straight.

Wu Rou glanced at the emperor and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she saw that he was watching the next program seriously and showed no favor or thought for her at all.

When she left and stood up, she looked up and saw the concubines sitting opposite, several of whom were looking at her.

Today all four concubines are here, except Concubine Wei, Concubine Yan Xian, Concubine Yin De, Concubine Yang Shu... Of course Xu Chongrong is also here.

When Xu Hui saw her looking over, she looked away haughtily... She seemed to be jealous again, but she tried her best to hide it in order to maintain her dignity and self-esteem.

Wu Rou discovered that the fourth concubine was probably older and had a calm demeanor. She had never shown jealousy on her face...

Although she wasn't sure if they did.

On the contrary, other low-ranking concubines and married women like her would always inadvertently reveal a she-wolf's sinister gaze, as if someone else had robbed her of her flesh.

Wu Rou secretly swore in her heart that she would learn from the Fourth Concubine in the future, and she must not put these thoughts of competing for favor on her face, it would be too stupid...

……

She returned to her seat and stood there. After just standing for a while, a female official came over to ask for instructions, saying that the envoy of Baekje Kingdom asked for instructions and wanted a dish of Jinqiu. She was very pestering.

Wu Rou looked over at the position of Baekje Kingdom, and saw the head of the Baekje envoys, stretching his neck and looking here, looking eagerly.

Trichosanthes is a platter of ten kinds of fruits in autumn. It is estimated that Baekje is a small and barren land, and there are not many fruits to eat in total. So when I saw the palace maid passing by carrying asparagus, I thought it was rare and wanted to try it.

But at the banquet, not everyone's dishes are the same. The emperor has emperor-level dishes.

The concubines, princes and princesses also have dishes that match their status, not to mention the courtiers.

Wu Rou thought for a moment and said to the palace maid:

"Go and tell him that some of the fruits in the Ten Golden Autumn Festival are tributes. They are rare in quantity and can only be tasted by the royal family. Your Majesty does not reward them with other gifts, so officials cannot eat them.

If he likes it, he can add two more fruits to the lotus cup on his desk. "

"Yes." The female officer took the order and left. She walked around the corridor behind everyone and walked to the side of the Baekje envoy.

When Wu Rou saw that the female officer had spoken respectfully, the Baekje envoy was stunned for a moment, then immediately looked happy and nodded wildly, knowing that the matter was settled.

Wu Rou withdrew her gaze and thought to herself: Your Majesty just conferred the title of King of Baekje a few years ago. This Baekje envoy is new. He has never seen the world and is surprised by everything he sees.

"Wu Cairen, are you tired of standing? Come and sit." A young and clear voice suddenly said.

Wu Rou looked over following the voice and saw Princess Jinyang patting the seat next to her. Her eyes were big and cute, and she greeted her with a smile.

Wu Rou smiled and shook her head. She had an errand, so how could she sit down next to Princess Jinyang?

"Come on." Princess Jinyang patted the place next to her again and said, "Please talk to me."

Seeing that Wu Rou still refused, she realized that it was against the rules, so she quickly called to the female officer serving her behind her and instructed her to ask the emperor for instructions.

The emperor listened to the eunuch's request, glanced here, and nodded to Wu Rou.

Wu Rou then sat down with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)