As soon as Jiangmen Jiaojiao opened her eyes, she was paranoid that the prince had come to steal her

Chapter 112 Wing Ju
The chrysanthemum viewing banquet was held in the imperial garden.

After Xie Zhaozhao arrived, he sat down with Mrs. Yu. Within a moment, Concubine Ning and Concubine Xian arrived.

After the death of Queen Daxing, Emperor Xuanwu had no plans to establish a successor.

Concubine Ning and Concubine Xian were always in charge of palace affairs.

Today at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet, the female family members are also honoring the two of them.

However, today's banquet is grand. In addition to the female family members, there are also male guests. Emperor Xuanwu will also be present in person.

Chen Shulan was undoubtedly the guest of honor among the female relatives today. As soon as she arrived, she was invited to take a seat next to Concubine Xian.

Concubine Xian asked Chen Shulan about her family affairs cordially.

Xie Xingchen smiled softly and said, "Third sister, what do you think of Miss Chen?"

"Very beautiful." Xie Zhaozhao smiled lightly: "Better than you."

Xie Xingchen froze, feeling angry and resentful for a moment, but unable to act.

Xie Zhaozhao ignored her and sat quietly in his seat, lowering his eyebrows and thinking about other things.

Not long after, Emperor Xuanwu arrived.

The male guests and female family members all knelt down and knelt down to greet each other.

Xie Zhaozhao also knelt down and saw from the corner of his eye that Yun Qi and the prince were accompanying Emperor Xuanwu, followed by the tall and burly King Liang, and a gentle and sickly young man in white brocade clothes accompanied Liang. On one side of the king is the king of Zhou.

Everyone is here at the banquet today.

Xie Zhaozhao lowered his eyes and saluted politely.

"Be flat."

A moment later, Emperor Xuanwu's deep and solemn voice came from the high platform, "Today is the Double Ninth Festival, and I would like to ask you all to come with your families. This is for the enjoyment of the monarch and his ministers. You don't have to be restrained."

Everyone said "yes" in unison, but everyone sat in their seats and still behaved very well.

Yun Qi followed the prince and sat in the second seat below Emperor Xuanwu's left hand. He was dressed in a black brocade robe with arrow sleeves, wide shoulders and narrow waist. His posture was obviously casual and natural, but when viewed from a distance, it was difficult to look away.

From his position, he could see the female guests seat when he looked up.

The moment Yun Qi met Xie Zhaozhao's eyes, he blinked at Xie Zhaozhao quickly, with a hint of smile in his eyes.

Xie Zhaozhao turned away and lowered his head to eat the cake.

Yun Qi raised his eyebrows and glanced thoughtfully at Chen Shulan, who was sitting next to Concubine Xian. He also lowered his head, placed one hand on his chin, and called to the little eunuch beside him, "Send her an extra piece of cinnamon cake." .”

"Yes."

The little eunuch retreated in response.

After a while, a palace maid placed a jade cup on the table in front of Xie Zhaozhao, with five pieces of jade cinnamon cake neatly placed on it.

Xie Zhaozhao was startled and wanted to ask something, but Gong E bowed and left.

Xie Zhaozhao subconsciously raised his eyes and looked at Yun Qi.

The other party lowered his head to talk to the prince.

Xie Zhaozhao pursed his lips and pushed the jade cinnamon cake aside.

"Why don't you eat?" Mrs. Yu asked, "I just saw that you liked it very much and ate several pieces."

"I'm full." Xie Zhaozhao pushed the cake away, "I don't want to eat it."

Mrs. Yu didn't say anything more, and put the tea on the table in front of Xie Zhaozhao, "Runrun, this cinnamon cake is a bit dry and a bit sour. In fact, it doesn't taste very good."

Xie Zhaozhao: "..."

On the other side, Xie Xingchen was sitting upright, a little nervous.

First of all, it was my first time to participate in such a large palace banquet, so I would inevitably have stage fright.

Secondly, of course it was because of King Liang.

She secretly looked at Prince Liang.

Although he is a bit older, to be fair, King Liang does not look old-fashioned, and he looks to be in his early thirties at first glance.Although Prince Liang's appearance was not as handsome as Chu Nanxuan's, he still had thick eyebrows and cold eyes, a straight nose and thin lips.

But perhaps because he was often in the army, Liang Wangzhou exuded a domineering aura, which made Xie Xingchen a little frightened.

Suddenly, a cold gaze swept over him. It was Prince Liang who noticed that Xie Xingchen was secretly looking at him and looked over.

Xie Xingchen froze and immediately averted his eyes. He became even more nervous and straightened his back subconsciously.

The tables placed in front of the banquet guests were low.

Xie Xingchen grasped the slender waist and fell into the eyes of King Liang.

Prince Liang looked away expressionlessly, took a glass of wine and drank it, and never looked here again after that.

However, Xie Xingchen was sweating all over his back. The slight fear in his heart was suddenly magnified. His hands and feet were stiff and he dared not move for a long time.

"Xingchen? Xingchen?" Mrs. Dou pushed Xie Xingchen's arm, "Mrs. Liu is asking you, what's wrong with you?"

"I--"

Xie Xingchen came back to his senses, showed a slightly stiff smile, and greeted Mrs. Liu politely.

Emperor Xuanwu only stopped at the imperial garden banquet for a while, and then he left with the prince.

Before leaving, he left a message asking everyone to feel free to do so, and gave Yun Qi a faint look, which contained a warning that Yun Qi could understand.

"Farewell, Grandpa Emperor." Yun Qi stood up and saluted, his expression unchanged.

The Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet, as the name suggests, the chrysanthemum in the imperial garden is the protagonist.

Someone suggested writing a poem or fu with chrysanthemum as the title.

There are talented men and women in Beijing, and of course they must show off their talents on such an occasion.

Xie Zhaozhao has always been a spectator on such occasions.

It just so happened that I had something on my mind today, so I was silent from beginning to end.

I don't know who composed a chrysanthemum chant. It was very neat and drew applause from the whole house.

Concubine Xian suddenly said with a smile: "Shulan, you are a famous talented woman in Langzhou, why don't you also make a song."

Chen Shulan, who was sitting next to Concubine Xian, smiled dignifiedly and elegantly, "Then let's show off one's ugliness."

She lowered her eyes and thought carefully for a moment, then chanted softly: "I want to climb high, but no one brings me wine. I feel sorry for the chrysanthemums in my hometown, so I should bloom near the battlefield."

Her voice fell and the whole room fell into silence.

In the past, when people chanted chrysanthemums, they mostly praised the character and grace of chrysanthemums, but in fact they were arty sentences without any depth.

But Chen Shulan’s quatrain is different.

This poem does not express homesickness during ordinary festivals, but the emotion and concern for the suffering of the people during the war. It seems to be written plainly, but in fact it is very sentimental and has far-reaching implications.

As soon as this poem came out, it seemed that all the previous chrysanthemum poems were vulgar.

"it is good!"

On the high platform, a deep male voice suddenly sounded, followed by the sound of clapping.

Everyone looked and saw that it was His Highness King Zhou.

King Zhou is twenty-six years old this year. He is handsome and elegant. However, he has been in poor health since childhood and rarely appears on such occasions.

If King Liang hadn't returned to Beijing this time, I'm afraid he wouldn't have attended the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet.

Xie Xingchen had no idea about Chen Shulan's poems. He just looked at King Zhou with a smile on his lips and approval in his eyes, feeling unwilling to feel depressed.

Even if the marriage is granted to the King of Zhou, it is still better than that of the King of Liang.

"Ms. Chen is worthy of being the granddaughter of King Zhongshan. She has both literary talent and concern for the country and the people." King Zhou said with a smile: "Just the artistic conception of this poem, you can tell that there are hills and valleys in the chest, and the eyebrows are not allowed."

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness." Chen Shulan lowered his head and said modestly: "It's just a little effort of words. If you say you are concerned about the country and the people, none of your Highnesses or the civil and military officials of the DPRK is more worthy of these four words than Shulan."

King Zhou's smile deepened and he said pointedly: "Girl Huida, whoever marries a girl will be truly blessed for a hundred generations."

(End of this chapter)