In autumn, the suburbs of Beijing in the Wu Dynasty were full of red leaves, lively and prosperous.
The street leading from the city gate to the palace was crowded with people, and everyone wanted to see the Queen Mother Dilu and the princess.
The Di people and the Wu Dynasty have been at odds for generations, and now they want to have friendly relations, which is hard to accept for a while.
Under the escort of the imperial guards, the sedan finally passed through the sea of people and entered the palace.
The civil and military ministers filled the hall. Duke An Guo led the officials of Honglu Temple and led Mrs. Wu Ya and Song Liyun onto the Golden Luan Hall with full guard of honor.
The Emperor of Wu Dynasty did not sit on his seat, but stepped down. In full view of the crowd, he almost shocked everyone's jaws and received him with the courtesy of a junior.
Mrs. Wu Ya and Song Liyun didn't think much about it and still responded with the national gift.
After some ceremonial exchanges, the Emperor of the Wu Dynasty also issued an imperial edict, conferring the title of Lady Wuya as the Prince of Pingyuan County.
This was already stated in the letter.
The princes of Pingyuan County in the Wu Dynasty were generally only given titles by royal ladies such as the queen's biological mother, stepmother, grandmother, or the wives of foreign vassals.
In the final analysis, she is the top among noble ladies, on the same level as the Empress Dowager of the Wu Dynasty.
Song Liyun is a foreign princess and is not suitable for titles, but she is given gifts.
The Emperor Wu of the Wu Dynasty gave away a royal house with mountains, water, front halls, backyards, and private gardens.
Because Mrs. Wu Ya and Song Liyun were both female relatives, the palace banquet was held at the Shoukang Palace where the Queen Mother lived. In addition to several high-ranking ministers, princes, nobles, and female relatives of various high-ranking families, the banquet was attended.
At the beginning of the lanterns, the Shoukang Palace was already brightly lit, with singing and dancing.
The palace maids in bright clothes brought fruit plates and cakes, the musicians played and sang, the dancers had fluttering clothes, and there were even more noble ladies with colorful flowers.
These noble ladies surrounded the Queen Mother and Mrs. An Guo as usual, but their eyes could not control their glances at the VIP table.
On the main seat, the emperor and the queen sat side by side, and from time to time they raised their glasses to Mrs. Wu Ya and Song Liyun, who were the guests of honor.
At the banquet, Duke An Guo was smiling all over his face, and his eyes when he looked at Mrs. Wu Ya were even more tender.
Although the Duke's wife has been married to Zhao Yanjiao for more than forty years, she has never seen her old man so happy.
Taking another look at Mrs. Wuya who was still beautiful at her age, she lowered her aging eyes and said bitterly to Mrs. Shizi who was waiting beside her: "A lowly concubine, relying on the fact that she is a woman of the Di tribe, the emperor wants the border to be stable."
If you don’t condone it, she is so presumptuous and dares to flirt with you in this hall!”
She hated Zhao Yanjiao for being old and disrespectful. She already had a family full of children and grandchildren, but a concubine suddenly appeared, and the two of them sat together unscrupulously, drinking and enjoying themselves.
The Crown Prince's wife, the Crown Prince's wife, is also in her late forties. In the early years when the Zhenbei Hou Mansion was suppressed by the old emperor, she developed the habit of forbearance.
Now that I have received a hint from the Queen, I dare not accept these words, so I can only change the subject: "Mother, it's getting cold at night, do you want to go to the side hall to add some clothes?"
Mrs. Wu Ya is the queen mother of a foreign country, and Duke An Guo is also the auxiliary minister, so she should accompany her.
Moreover, the two people did not behave in a transgressive manner in public.
Even if the father-in-law toasted to Mrs. Wuya, it was allowed by the emperor.
She thought that her mother-in-law was out of sight and out of mind, so she excused herself to put on more clothes and stay away for a while.
The Duke's wife snorted coldly: "Your Majesty has a temperament that neither fights nor robs, and you are so weak and incompetent. It's just a word. As long as that barbarian woman dares to step into the Duke's mansion, she will kneel down and serve tea!"
Mrs. Shizi felt the hairs on her back stand on end.
My mother-in-law is getting older and she is the uncle supervising the country, so she is a little arrogant. She usually says a few words in the house and no one cares about her, but now she is in the palace.
Mrs. Shizi whispered: "Mother, the Queen Mother of Dadi has her own mansion, and she probably won't enter the Duke's mansion."
She already knew that not only the Queen Mother of the Di tribe had a mansion, but even the military girl also had a reward.
After all, it is because of a good marriage that the black-bone chicken also flies up the branches and becomes a phoenix.
The Duke's wife was non-committal: "A woman doesn't even have a family tree when she gets married. No matter how talented she is, she is just a lowly outsider!"
Madam Prince's mouth twitched slightly.
She wanted to say that such a beautiful outdoor room is probably what all women want to do.
You don’t have to deal with an old, confused and trouble-making mother-in-law, you don’t have to have sex with your concubines, and you don’t have to worry about your husband saying something wrong or doing something wrong that will implicate the nine tribes!
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were each angry, and the Queen Mother was also unhappy. She looked at Song Liyun, who was leisurely eating the imperial meal, with a cold look in her eyes.
She remembered that she sent four maids and ladies to the grassland specifically to serve as Zhao Tingduo's concubines.
Aunt Xu sent some replies at first, but in the end there was no more news.
Only now did she know that two of the four noble girls died, the surviving one was rewarded to the tribal leader, and the other was just married to an ordinary tribesman.
Although the man named Abu is now leading troops stationed in Xuyang Grassland, in the final analysis he is just a soldier.
Such contempt for imperial power and failure to take the Wu Dynasty to heart were a naked provocation to oneself.
The Queen Mother and Mrs. An Guogong remained silent. Only the Queen Mother asked about the grassland scenery from time to time, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
The emperor couldn't suppress his curiosity and couldn't help but said to Song Liyun: "Princess Di, I heard that Midacheng has developed a canister that can eject air. What is it called a steam engine? Is there anything strange about it?"
The emperor opened his mouth, and the whispers around him suddenly stopped. Everyone stopped watching the singing and dancing, and all looked at Song Liyun.
The steam engine was only tested before Song Liyun left to provide power for the spinning machine. It was made by several senior blacksmiths hired from the Wu Dynasty.
Song Liyun said softly: "Back to the emperor, the steam engine can provide power, and its function is similar to the windmill on the grassland.
It's just more convenient to use and you can use it wherever you want.
If it is placed in a carriage, it can be used instead of horses to pull the carriage!"
Her words caused a burst of laughter in the palace, and a minister loudly said: "A piece of iron can make the carriage run if you put it on the carriage. This is really nonsense and absurd.
Your Majesty, although Princess Di is the queen of the Di tribe, she was born in the military household of the Wu Dynasty and has little knowledge. Unless she explains it in detail, everyone will be convinced!"
This person's voice was so loud that it didn't even cover the sound of the people beside him. Such rude words immediately silenced the entire audience!
The dancers who were circling in the hall also put away their colored silks and retreated.
Mrs. Wu Ya's face darkened, she put down the wine cup in her hand and said, "What I, Princess Dadi, said is true. You believe it or not, so why do you need to explain!"
The emperor also frowned: "Come here, He Aiqing drank too much, send him down!"
Several eunuchs trotted forward, trying to pull others out of the palace.
The Queen Mother, who had been silent all this time, said: "Your Majesty, the Ai family feels that what Mr. He said is true.
How could this iron lump run away on its own?
If Princess Di did not deliberately deceive us, she should naturally explain herself."
Song Liyun stood up slowly and stared at the person with sharp eyes. She knew that her identity as a military girl of the Wu Dynasty would be criticized sooner or later.
Someone deliberately mentioned it at this palace banquet today. There must be a reason why it happened. Rather than hiding it, it would be better to make it known to the world directly.
"Does this gentleman know what this is?"
Song Liyun raised his hand, pulled out a gold hairpin with precious stones from his bun, and waved it in front of everyone in the hall.