The layout of the state banquet palace is roughly the same as last time, with the throne of the emperor and queen still in the middle of the high platform, and the tables of nine judges are placed side by side on both sides. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the middle of the high stage is a spacious stage, and in the first row on both sides of the stage, there are tables for the participating ladies, one seat for each person, and fifteen seats on each side of the stage.

The second and third rows on the left side of the stage are the seats of the young celebrities in Beijing, a total of 20 seats, which is already full. On the right are the seats of the harem concubines and the noblewomen and ladies who did not participate, a total of twenty seats, except for the second and third seats of the jade concubine and the concubine de, they have all arrived.

The three rows of seats on the opposite side of the high platform were filled with officials from the DPRK and China according to their ranks, and in the middle of the first row were the prime ministers on the left and right.

On the high platform, the queen sat upright on her phoenix seat, and next to her, on the first judge's seat on the right sat a woman in her forties, who was dressed in the clothes of an ordinary noblewoman, with only a few jade hairpins on her head, holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hand, her eyes were half-closed, and she did not talk to the queen.

Although Lin Wan had never seen this woman, the only one who could sit in that position was the eldest princess today. The eldest princess is the sister of the emperor today, but she is dissatisfied with the emperor's actions back then.

The eldest princess Zhou Changying is a famous calligrapher in the capital, and she is also very fond of poetry and songs, and she is a fair person, and she is a judge of the Qixi Festival every year, but she never participates in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Because the Qixi Festival was held on the island in the middle of the lake in the eldest princess's mansion in previous years, this year it was arranged in the State Banquet Palace because of the relationship. For this matter, Emperor Liu's concubine went to the eldest princess's mansion to invite her five times, and the eldest princess reluctantly agreed to enter the palace to participate in the banquet and continue to serve as the judge of the Qixi banquet.

The second seat next to the eldest princess is currently empty, and every third seat is Qiu Ming, and the last seat on Qiu Ming's right is the man in green clothes who sat at the same table with him on the painting boat of the eldest princess's mansion last time. The other judges Lin Wan all knew each other, so there was no need to guess, this person must be Xiao He, the son of Northern Qi.

The first seat of the judges' seat on the left is vacant, and the second seat sits a man in a black robe with gold trim, his eyes are cold, his air is magnificent, and he is not angry and arrogant. This person was Lan Ziheng, whom Lin Wan met in Tianxianglou last time.

Ximen Yuqing, who was sitting on the third seat, was completely different from Lan Ziheng, gently shaking the folding fan, the corners of his mouth hooked a shallow arc, half leaning on the circle chair, looking like watching a play in the opera garden.

On the fourth seat sat Bei Xiaonan, and the fifth seat was Jin Haoran, the two had a very good relationship, occasionally got together to talk a few words, and raised a glass from time to time.

The first seat on the right side of the contestant seat was empty, and Lu Manting sat on the second seat, dressed in a pink palace dress, with willow eyebrows frowning lightly and her eyes sorrowful, sitting quietly like this, which had already attracted the pity of most of the young nobles opposite.

Next to Lu Manting sat Liu Fangyao, dressed in plain white palace clothes, smiling lightly, her appearance and posture were not inferior to Lu Manting, but she did not have Lu Manting's Tsinghua temperament, and she was no match for Lu Manting's Chu Chu and moving expression.

The woman sitting on the fourth seat, Lin Wan has never seen it, but just looking at the eyebrows and eyes that are very similar to the queen, it is not difficult to guess that it should be the queen's niece, Lu Manting's sister Lu Manyi. Lu Manyi is not as beautiful as Lu Manting, but she is extremely dignified like the queen, and her majestic temperament is the same as that of the queen.

All but the first and fifth seats are full. Lin Wan looked for the player's seat, and finally saw Lin Huixin sitting opposite, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Among the thirty celebrities and beauties, except for these four people, Lin Wan didn't know the rest of the people, but their eyes intersected, some smiled and nodded, some treated each other coldly, and some lowered their heads and pretended not to see.

Except for the emperor and a few people who were left behind to discuss matters, Lin Wan and the others were the latest, and they no longer alarmed everyone, and were led by the palace maids from behind the screen, bypassing everyone in the hall, to their respective seats.

Zhou Lingwei was brought to the first seat of the player's seat, so the fifth seat was Lin Wan's.

Lin Wan lowered his head and followed a green-clothed palace maid to his seat.

Lin Wanmu doesn't squint, and doesn't want to please or entertain anyone. It wasn't until I walked to Lu Manyi's side that I raised my eyes and glanced at her, nodding and smiling lightly at each other.

As soon as Lin Wan entered the main hall, he felt a hot gaze on the high platform sticking to him, and he knew who it was without looking at her, Lin Wan only glanced at the high platform, and then lowered his gaze, as if he didn't notice anything.

Ximen Yuqing seemed to squint at the audience unintentionally, and since Lin Wan came in, his eyes have been following her figure. When she looked at it, her heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and when her gaze skimmed over her in disregard, her heart couldn't help but feel a sour feeling in her heart, and she raised her head and drank the sake in the cup.

"The emperor has arrived! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived! His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince has arrived!" With the singing of Gonggong Qi, Zhou Changan took Zhou Tianhong and Zhou Tianqi, as well as the left and right prime ministers into the palace.

The prime minister on the left and right also walked to the front of the ministers, lifted his robe and knelt down. All the ministers knelt down together and shouted: "Welcome to the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!"

Several noble princes and judges on the high stage also stood up to greet them.

Zhou Changan walked through the crowd, stepped onto the high platform, greeted several princes and princes of Linguo, and then stood in front of his throne and said loudly: "All the ministers are flat!"

The ministers said in unison: "Thank you Emperor Longen!" The ministers got up and waited for the emperor to sit down before they took their seats.

Zhou Tianhong greeted the eldest princess, nodded to the other judges, and sat in the vacant seat next to Zhou Changan.

Zhou Tianqi walked straight to the eldest princess, bowed respectfully, and called: "Imperial aunt." ”

The eldest princess was not even moved in the slightest when the emperor came up. And when she looked at Zhou Tianqi, she smiled and nodded, her eyes were full of love, and she said softly: "Come, sit next to my aunt." ”

The vacant seat next to the eldest princess was reserved for Zhou Tianqi.

Zhou Changan glanced around at the contestants in the audience, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "I have heard that the Qixi banquet over the years is full of heroes and wonderful. This year's Chinese Valentine's Day, when several distinguished guests were here, we arranged the banquet in the State Banquet Palace, and also took this opportunity to welcome the arrival of the Prince of Nanyue. ”

Prime Minister Liu Cheng stood up on behalf of the courtiers and delivered a speech in a long tone, expressing his welcome and admiration to the prince of Nanyue, and also praised the emperor by the way.

After all the trivial opening ceremonies were over, Zhou Changan turned his head and nodded to his father-in-law. Father-in-law Qi stepped forward to announce the rules of the competition, the selection criteria, and the final form of rewards. (To be continued.) )