As soon as Fang stepped in, his eyes were attracted by the glazed palace lantern. It was exquisite and elegant. There were colorful silks and satins hanging down from the palace lantern. They floated gently with the breeze. There were eight coiled dragon pillars supporting the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony. , the carvings are lifelike. Because it is late winter, the ground is covered with thick silver-patterned velvet carpets, which is very warm and pleasant. In the corner of each lamppost, there is a fire to warm it, adding various spices. , so that not only the temperature in the main hall is pleasant, but also the fragrance is blowing towards your face.
The emperor's dragon chair was displayed in the center of the hall. On one side was the queen, and on the other side was a bird cage with an emerald parrot. There was an emerald parrot in it, but the parrot was very quiet, even though it was in the cage. He shook his head, but made no sound.
Princess Ning whispered in Shen Fengxu's ear: "Have you seen that parrot? It is something that the emperor values very much. Even at such a palace banquet, he must bring it with him."
"Why does the emperor value a parrot?" Hearing this, Chen Fengxu couldn't help but ask, feeling a little curious.
"I heard from others that this parrot was given to the emperor by someone a few years ago. However, this parrot was not good at talking to people. So the emperor hired a parrot tamer in the palace, but this parrot could not speak a word, and could not even speak a word. The chirping of some birds did not occur in this parrot. Over time, the emperor forgot about this parrot." Princess Ning then recounted the past events, "It was only later that something happened. The assassin sneaked into the palace, disguised as a maid in the palace, and wanted to assassinate the emperor. The emperor did not notice it at first, but the parrot that could not speak human language suddenly shouted loudly, saying that there was an assassin, and shouted one after another After two or three calls, the emperor was prepared and captured all the assassins who came to assassinate him. Otherwise, the emperor would definitely be injured, but because of the parrot, not only did he not suffer any injuries, but his assassins were also killed. Uprooted, the emperor was still frightened, and he was even more grateful for the parrot. The parrot was given an official position, and strange to say, from that day on, the parrot was as usual, incomprehensible to people, no matter how good the trainer was. Even the parrot can no longer say a word. Others say that this parrot was given by the gods in heaven to protect the emperor."
Gave an official position to Parrot?
Shen Fengxu felt a little funny for a moment, but when he looked up, he found that there was actually a sign hanging on the parrot's neck, which probably stated the parrot's official position. However, Shen Fengxu was a little far away from the parrot. I can't see the writing on it clearly.
But listening to Princess Ning's words, Shen Fengxu also understood why this parrot was valued by Ming Jin.
"So, from then on, the emperor would take this parrot with him wherever he went. First, he hoped that if he encountered any danger in the future, this parrot would give him a warning in advance. Second, he regarded this parrot as a symbol of auspiciousness. "
Shen Fengxu nodded.
Ming Jin was a person who paid great attention to red tape and was very superstitious. He believed in some rumors, so he always used Qin Tianjian and was lenient in other aspects, but he did not allow others to break the rules of the palace.
Under the Emperor Ming Jin and the Queen, there are other favored concubines, such as soft concubines, virtuous concubines, and shu concubines. There are also some concubines who are not very favored, but have reached the rank of concubine or above, so at this moment Also at the banquet.
Further down, there are two rows of guest seats. The male guest seats have the seats for the princes, clans and court officials, and the same is true for the female guest seats. Since it is a palace banquet, it is not the random arrangement at the banquets in the past. , they are all arranged in order of rank, but Shen Fengxu, as a fourth-rank commander, stands out among the noble ladies in the capital.
Among the current clan daughters in this dynasty, only Princess Qingning has not yet left the cabinet, and she is now far away from Pingzhou. Therefore, the current position of clan daughter is only Shen Fengxu, and next to Shen Feng The most charming ones are the Sixth Princess Minglan and the Ninth Princess Mingsi.
At this time, a palace maid came forward and whispered something in Ming Jin's ear. Ming Jin showed a faint smile on his face, nodded, and waved his hand for the palace maid to retreat.
The Ninth Princess quietly took a look at Shen Fengxu.
During this period of time, she has been with Shen Yulou. As her companion, Shen Yulou is much older than her, but he is gentle and graceful, and the two of them get along very harmoniously, but for some unknown reason , Ninth Princess always feels a little weird.
Shen Yulou...
It is indeed as brilliant as the rumors say, but that's all.
"Are you Lord Minhe?" Mingsi called out in a low voice.
If it were in the past, the Ninth Princess would probably not have exchanged a single word with Shen Fengxu, but now Shen Fengxu is the Lord of Minhe County, and as the daughter of the clan of this dynasty, he is naturally qualified to talk to her.
Chen Fengxu looked at the Ninth Princess and smiled slightly: "Yes, what did the Ninth Princess do?"
The sixth princess, Ming Lan, had beautiful features. She glanced at the ninth princess and said, "Nowadays, apart from Lord Min and Jun, there are no other daughters of the clan who can attend the New Year's Eve banquet."
As she spoke, she showed a strange smile to Chen Fengxu: "I heard that Lord Minhe is the adopted daughter of Princess Ning."
Chen Fengxu frowned slightly, but immediately relaxed and smiled lightly, "What the Sixth Princess said is true."
The smile on the sixth princess's face became even weirder.
She knows it.
Her cousin is not a peaceful person and has always been careless and wanton. Princess Ning has been worrying about his marriage for a long time. Mingshu is old enough already, but Mingshu himself is unwilling to marry, no matter what. No girl from any family in the court wanted to see her.
So much so that Princess Ning once suspected that Ming Shu didn't like women.
The sixth princess felt the same way.
Previously, there were occasional rumors about Ming Shu and Shen Fengxu in the capital, and the Sixth Princess had vaguely heard about them. Now, Shen Fengxu has become Princess Ning's adopted daughter, and was granted the title of Fourth Grade Minhe County Lord. Come to think of it...
The one sitting above the Sixth Princess is the eldest princess Shunning. However, the eldest princess Shunning's face looks groggy, and her eyes are green. It is obvious that she has not been able to sleep well at night. Although her face is covered by thick rouge and watercolor, she is still Unable to hide the haggardness.
Come to think of it, Princess Shun Ning has been unable to live in peace since Master Ji's death.
At this time, Princess Shunning's eyes fell on Ming Yan, who was sitting opposite the male guests.
Such a sinister and cold gaze was like a sharp blade that had been unsheathed and was about to pierce deeply into Ming Yan's body. Ming Yan on the other side obviously felt such aura and just tilted his head to chat with the third prince beside him. Just pretend that you haven’t seen Princess Shun Ning.
At this time, I heard Ming Jin, who was sitting on the dragon chair, laughing and saying, "Today is a festive day. All my dear friends are gathered together, so there is no need to be restrained."
At this time, a chamberlain said outside the palace gate: "Jiang Xiaoyi has arrived——"
The expressions of the concubines in the palace suddenly changed.
Jiang Xiaoyi?
She is clearly just Xiaoyi and has not yet become a concubine. How can He De attend the New Year's Eve banquet?
After hearing this, a slight smile appeared on Chen Fengxu's face. It seems that Jiang Xiuyue had already thought it through during the previous period.
She not only wants to survive, but also bears the grievances and grievances she has suffered, and the fate of the entire Yi'an Bo Mansion.
So Jiang Xiuyue came.
Everyone's eyes fell on Jiang Xiuyue. Because Jiang Xiuyue's way of entering the palace was very novel, it had become everyone's pastime after dinner a few days ago. Everyone knew about Jiang Xiuyue's origin.
Now that Jiang Xiuyue came to the New Year's Eve banquet as Xiaoyi, it can only mean two things. One is that Ming Jin must be very fond of Jiang Xiuyue, otherwise Jiang Xiuyue would not have the chance to come, and the other is that this situation in front of her Jiang Xianyue is not a good person either.
You must know that although she became the emperor's concubine, because she did not enter the palace as a beautiful girl, others thought that all this was Jiang Xiuyue's plan for a bright future, so they all felt a little jealous of Jiang Xiuyue. Fear.
There are many young and beautiful women in the palace, but they are not favored by Ming Jin. However, Jiang Xiuyue made an exception and attended the New Year's Eve banquet, which shows that Jiang Xiuyue is not an ordinary woman and cannot be easily provoked.
It's just that others don't know that this is not what they think.
Seeing Jiang Xianyue walking in, a gentle smile appeared on Ming Jin's face and he said: "This is the newly promoted Jiang Xiaoyi in my palace."
All the civil and military officials on the side said one after another: "Jiang Xiaoyi is really a rare beauty."
"As expected, she is gentle, virtuous, dignified and polite."
"..."
Yi Anbo was naturally among the civil and military officials, but after seeing his daughter with his own eyes, he couldn't help but have a complicated look on his face. He did not say any congratulations against his will, but just sat there without saying a word.
As for Yi Anbo's wife, Mrs. Li, she was almost in tears at this moment. Fortunately, the lady on the side gently patted Mrs. Li on the shoulder. Only then did Mrs. Li realize that if she did such a thing in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she would definitely It is not good for Jiang Xianyue, and it is also bad for Yi'an Bo Mansion.
As Ming Jin listened to the congratulations from others on the side, the smile on his face grew stronger.
Although they were all flattering words, they sounded particularly comforting. Jiang Xianyue bowed, her eyes always falling on Ming Jin, without even looking at both sides. She bent her knees and bowed Yingying: " Thank you, Your Majesty, for showing mercy and allowing me to attend the New Year's Eve banquet."
Shen Yulou gently tightened his fingers and looked at Jiang Xiuyue.
Ming Jin smiled and said: "Jiang Xiaoyi has just entered the palace and is not familiar with anything yet. I am not trying to break the rules, I just want Jiang Xiaoyi to meet you all."
Isn't this an exception?
Concubine Rou on the side said in a soft voice: "This is the first time that I have seen Jiang Xiaoyi. Xiaoyi has been in the palace for so long, and she has not been able to offer tea to the Queen. If she hadn't come today, I would have almost forgotten about it. Where is this person?"
Queen Hu glanced at Concubine Rou and said calmly: "I have been feeling unwell recently, so I do not need to send greetings to my sisters. Naturally, Jiang Xiaoyi cannot come."
Ming Jin only turned a blind eye to the dispute between the Queen and Concubine Rou, and asked the chamberlain to bring up the tables and chairs, specially adding a seat for Jiang Xiaoyi. Although she was still far away from Ming Jin's seat, with her status, she could attend the New Year's Eve The night banquet is already very decent.
Prince Mingcheng stood up with the wine glass in his hand and said with a smile: "Congratulations to my father for finding a beautiful woman again. Today is New Year's Eve. I would like to toast my father with a glass of wine. May my father be in good health and may the country of Daluo be prosperous."
As he said that, he drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
As the words of Prince Mingcheng fell, the rest of the people present stood up together: "May the Emperor be in good health, and may the country of Daluo prosper." After saying this, they all drank together.
But at this moment, a rather inconsistent sound of shattering suddenly came over.
It seems that someone broke the wine cup.
Under such circumstances, it is tantamount to courting death.
Everyone's eyes turned at the same time, looking at the location where the sound came from.
The broken wine cup fell to the ground, and the fragments of the wine cup and the fruit wine in the cup spilled all over the ground. After a moment of hesitation, Chen Fengxu knelt on the ground and said calmly: "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
Everyone: "...?"
Ming Jin was in a happy mood, but the sudden broken wine cup made Ming Jin's heart sink.
Just now everyone was wishing the dragon good health and prosperity for the country. But at this moment, Chen Fengxu's wine cup broke. What does this mean? What does it mean?
So his expression was slightly ugly: "What's so exciting about this?" On an occasion like the New Year's Eve banquet, Ming Jin didn't want blood to be splashed on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, let alone anyone's head falling to the ground, but if Shen Fengxu said no Even if he comes up with a reason, he will never let it go.
At the male guests' table, Ming Yan smiled slightly, shook the wine cup in his hand, and drank it all in one gulp.
Shen Fengxu didn't break the wine cup on purpose, but when she stood up to toast, someone suddenly pushed her from behind. She had an injury on her ankle, so naturally she couldn't stand steadily, and the wine cup broke. It slipped out of my hand.
Standing behind Shen Fengxu is the palace maid.
But Chen Fengxu didn't say anything, he just looked back at the maid.
First, even if she said it, it would be meaningless. No matter whether Shen Fengxu was pushed or not, she did smash the wine cup. This is irrefutable. Second, it was very likely that someone would knock her down and rake her up.
So Shen Fengxu pretended that nothing happened.
At the moment Ming Jin asked, there was no strange color on Shen Feng's face, and he just said softly: "I wonder if your majesty has ever heard that when people burn porcelain, the porcelain is not broken, but it has to be cut into pieces to leave traces on the porcelain. There are fine lines underneath.”
Ming Jin has lived in fine clothes since he was a child, and all the porcelain he uses is in perfect condition without a single flaw. He has never heard of the idea of opening pieces, so he frowned: "Go on."
"When making the embryo, soaked porcelain powder is picked, clarified and melted into mud to form an embryo. During firing, slices are cut on it, which looks like cracks. They are all inside the embryo and exposed on the porcelain body. ." Chen Fengxu said slowly, "The reason why we do this is to bring peace to the year after year. Porcelain has a spirit, and opening a piece means it can withstand disasters, which is a good luck. Therefore, I would like to congratulate the emperor. Already."
Everyone on the side suddenly looked at each other.