The soft music became louder, Cui Zheng turned around, and Li Minglou also stood up. A group of eunuchs and maidens walked in first, and spread out to stand on the seats above.
"Master Xiang, Mrs. Chu."
The emperor's voice then sounded and he walked in. This time he was not alone. Behind him were the third prince and the queen. The queen also held a four or five-year-old little princess in her hand.
Cui Zheng and Li Minglou leaned over to salute.
The emperor and the queen took their seats, the little princess sat next to the queen, and the third prince sat next to Cui Zheng.
"Please take a seat." The emperor said with a smile, "We are not in the court today. There is no formality between you and me."
Cui Zheng and Li Minglou thanked En and took their seats.
"What were the Madam and the Prime Minister talking about earlier?" the third prince asked curiously, "It sounded very lively."
Cui Zheng said: "Nothing, just trivial old things."
Li Minglou smiled at the third prince and said nothing.
This woman's dress is thick and heavy, but it cannot conceal her youthful beauty.
The third prince couldn't help but blurt out: "Madam, you are not very old."
About the same age as him.
Li Minglou said: "You have ambitions but not your age."
The emperor laughed and said, "That's right. Your Majesty, you should ask your wife for advice. Even though she is a girl, she is not inferior to a boy at all."
The third prince stood up and bowed to Li Minglou: "Please give me your advice, madam."
Li Minglou stood up and returned the courtesy, saying he didn't dare to take it seriously.
The king and his ministers looked good, and the emperor was happy: "Sit down quickly and talk."
"I wonder what your surname is, Madam. Where are you from? Where are your parents?" Cui Zheng asked.
Wu Ya'er is said to be an orphan with unknown origins, and no one knows the origins of this Chu lady. They only heard that she came from a wealthy family and Liang Zhen acted as a matchmaker.
"My parents are no longer here," Li Minglou said. "I was raised by my mother-in-law and moved around. My mother-in-law never said where she was from."
Cui Zheng said, "If you don't tell the truth, he seems to have a very shady background. He is young, rich and powerful... he must be a bandit somewhere."
Mountain bandits and horse bandits are entrenched in one area, and they are more powerful than aristocratic families, especially in the remote Shuobei desert.
Liang Zhen, the military commander who led the army, also had the best opportunity to deal with bandits.
"I won't talk about family matters." The emperor said, "Madam, tell me how to kill Ankang Mountain. This is my biggest happy event in Great Xia."
The third prince was immediately very interested.
Although official documents were sent along with Ankangshan's head, they are not as rich as those who witnessed it.
Li Minglou said: "Your Majesty, Ankangshan was actually killed by his son. When we saw him, he was already dying."
Is this so? Everyone in the palace was surprised, even the queen, who had been quiet all this time, looked over.
Even if this is the case, there is no need to say it, since not many people knew about it at the time...
This fact is not glamorous enough.
Li Minglou said: "This is the truth, how can we deceive His Majesty?"
There is a lot of deception, Cui Zheng thought to himself.
The emperor sighed: "Madam, you are so frank."
The third prince put his hands on his hands and smiled: "It is Madam's cleverness to take advantage of his internal strife and wear him down!"
Cui Zhengze was thinking about other things, his eyes were sharp: "Does Ande Zhong and Shi Chao's crossing have anything to do with you?"
Li Minglou said: "Yes, I let it go on purpose."
Cui Zheng took action and asked: "How can you not report such a big thing?"
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The third prince's smile froze on his face. He did not dare to disobey the teacher or speak.
"Master Prime Minister!" The emperor stood up again, "I will not accept your life! For such a big event, firstly, it must be kept secret, and secondly, the good opportunity must not be missed. The fewer people who know about it, the better. Linzhou is a long way away, how can we avenge it!"
Li Minglou also stood up and saluted the emperor, "Your Majesty, the Holy Ming."
Cui Zheng looked grave: "Fortunately, there is civil strife, otherwise..."
"Prime Minister, by doing this you are sure that they will have civil strife." Li Minglou interrupted him, "So there is no other way."
This Mrs. Chu is so fierce. Not only is she not afraid of Prime Minister Cui, she even quarreled with him. Even his father did not dare to quarrel with Prime Minister. The third prince remained silent, but looked at the woman sitting opposite... In fact, the beautiful woman
It is normal for a woman to have a little temper.
"Prime Minister, madam," the emperor said kindly, "Today is a private banquet, and we will not discuss state affairs."
He glanced at the queen.
The queen was silent for a moment and said: "The thief An is dead. Let's sit down and have a relaxing meal."
The little princess raised her head and whispered softly: "Mother, I'm hungry."
Because they knew they were coming to the banquet, the children did not hide it, their faces were filled with anticipation, and their saliva was about to flow.
The emperor was frugal, and the concubines and princesses could only be even more frugal. The little princess who grew up after the rebellion did not have any banquets in her memory.
The emperor felt a little ashamed and signaled the queen to be optimistic about the princess.
The queen said: "Children's words are unbridled, Mrs. Chu will not care about children."
She looked at Li Minglou, who smiled at her and said, "My wife is also hungry."
The emperor laughed and motioned for everyone to take their seats again: "Sit down quickly and try tonight's banquet. This is prepared by the queen herself."
Cui Zheng and Li Minglou responded in unison and took their seats. The third prince also breathed a sigh of relief.
The palace music was cheerful again, and Hu Ping stood up and shouted "Pass the meal" loudly.
A sound was heard, and groups of eunuchs and maids came quickly.
A eunuch came up to Yuanji and asked him to wait in the side hall.
Yuanji said: "My wife is not in good health. I carry medicine with me and I dare not stay away. I hope my father-in-law will be accommodating."
The eunuch was a little embarrassed. He glanced at the imperial army in the corridor. The leader of the imperial army came to ask. He smiled when he heard the reason and looked at Yuan Ji: "Mrs. Chu's entourage must be very skilled and can guard with our imperial army."
Yuanji lowered his head and said he didn't dare.
"It's not appropriate to stay at the entrance of the palace." The leader of the imperial army pointed to the bottom of the steps, "You can stand here."
Yuan Ji responded and walked over to stand. The leader of the guards looked around and walked away with a relaxed expression.
Yuanji looked up and saw a group of guards passing by. He and the young general at the head looked at each other, and the young general walked over with a smile. Yuanji lowered his gaze and heard the sound of singing and dancing coming from the palace.
When the song ended, the dancers left, and the dishes were placed on everyone's table.
"The harem has stopped singing and dancing for many years." The queen said, "Everyone only knows Linzhou ditties. Most of the food here is Linzhou flavor. Madam, please give it a try."
Li Minglou smiled and thanked him.
The third prince hurriedly said: "The flavor of Linzhou is very delicious."
Li Minglou smiled at him and nodded.
No words are worth ten thousand words, the third prince smiled broadly.
Cui Zheng said: "Ma'am, it's good to try it and get familiar with it."
What this means... Li Minglou glanced at Cui Zheng.
"Ah, wine!" Seeing that the situation was not going well, the emperor quickly changed the subject and shouted to the eunuchs, "Bring the wine!"
The eunuch responded to convey a message to the outside world.
The emperor smiled at Li Minglou and said, "This is wine from Huainan Road. Madam, please try it and see if it tastes right."
Li Minglou responded with a smile, and several eunuchs filed in holding small wine bottles and stood behind everyone.
The emperor raised his hand and signaled: "Pour some wine."
The eunuchs came forward to pour wine.
Li Minglou glanced at the person who was pouring the wine for him and said with a smile: "It does smell like Huainan Road."
The emperor laughed and turned to look at the queen: "You can also have a drink, don't drink too much, you are taking medicine."
He pinched the little princess's face again.
"Father has prepared red fruit pulp for you."
The queen responded and watched the eunuch pour it for each of them.
The emperor looked at the people in the room.
"Today's gathering is the joy of Great Xia!" He said, "With Governor Wu and his wife, the prosperous age of Great Xia can be restored."
He picked up the wine and drank it in one gulp.
"I will drink this cup first."
The third prince followed closely behind, Cui Zheng also picked up the wine, and they both drank.
The queen first served the little princess food, and then served the wine...
Just as Li Minglou was about to stretch out his hand, he suddenly stood up from behind, leaned over, grabbed the wine glass, and lifted it to his mouth...
Li Minglou held his hand.
"What?" she asked.
This sudden scene made everyone in the palace startled and looked over. Is this...a eunuch trying to steal the wine?
"What's going on!" the emperor shouted.
The eunuch next to him changed his face and screamed: "How brave! What are you doing!"
Li Minglou looked at it, then looked at the wine glass he was holding, and understood: "The wine is poisonous."
Alcohol is poisonous? What does it mean?
Cui Zheng frowned and shouted: "Mr. Wu, what are you talking about? You..."
Before he finished speaking, his mouth and nose hurt sharply. He couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe it, and then looked at his palm...
"Why is it bleeding?"
He raised his head, and under the light of the lamp, there was blood coming out of his mouth, nose and eyes.