In the palace hall, dozens of eunuchs and palace maids have placed the small tables and tableware and food neatly, and there is a red carpet avenue in the middle, and the civil and military officials on both sides have already sat and waited.

Although Ye Fu is young and promising, compared with the civil and military officials, the official position is inferior, sitting in the back rows. Ye Fu's father, Ye Jian, sat at the head of the right, middle-aged in his forties, with sword eyebrows and short beard, and a straight face. Next to him sat Ye Fu's teacher, Sima Yuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, in the age of flowers, his hair and long beard were gray, and he was also thin.

Before the banquet began, seeing that the seat on the left side was empty, Ye Jian, who was on the same side as Sima Yuan, asked softly, "Lin Xiang is sick today?"

Ye Jian didn't answer, just shook his head.

There is a small hall on the banquet hall, and there are four vacant seats on the left and right sides, except for the last two positions on the left side that have been seated in the auxiliary minister Zhongyan and the general Zhongze, the other six positions are still vacant.

Auxiliary Minister Zhongyan is in his forties, with open eyebrows, leopard head and eyes, swallow jaw and dense beard, a long and curly beard, and his long hair scattered at will on the back of his head, as if on fire, and I don't know what to talk about with the eunuch on the side, and the laughter is like a huge thunderstorm, like a galloping horse.

Compared with him, Zhong Ze, the general at the next table, looks much more gentle, nearly forty years old, the same long red hair is tied neatly, the ends of the hair are as smooth as a waterfall, although the skin on his face is clean, and he has no beard, but there is a long scar on the left side of his face, which adds a bit of ruthlessness, and a pair of red eyebrows are like dyed willow leaves.

At this time, a eunuch in front of the palace shouted:

"The king of Jianzhou has arrived. ”

Zhao Rui, the king of Jianzhou, just entered, and saluted with the ministers of civil and military affairs on both sides of the avenue, and the ministers also stood up to return the salute, for a while this Zhao Rui was like a movie star walking on the red carpet, and the stars were shining.

Zhao Rui's biological mother is the Empress Dowager Zhongda, who is over seventeen years old, although she was only born one day later than Emperor Zhao Meng, but now she is the difference between monarchs and ministers. Although his appearance is not as good as one percent of Lin Xiao's, he is very delicate in dressing up. The neat long hair comb scores exactly the same, and it is staggered. A golden hairpin jade chrysanthemum on the top of the head, so thin that even the buds are visible, the powder and fat on the face are all high-end colors, and the bright star chrysanthemum made of obsidian on the two ears is even more valuable, blinblin~

When Zhao Rui and the ministers saluted and were about to walk to the small hall, the general Zhong Ze had already stood up and waited, and the auxiliary minister Zhong Yan on the side deliberately tilted his head with a displeased face.

"Third uncle. Zhao Rui called and saluted Zhong Ze, Zhong Ze smiled and nodded, looking happy.

"Second uncle. ”

Listening to Zhao Rui's call, Zhong Yan looked at it, nodded, and turned his head back again, and after Zhao Rui sat in the first seat on the left, he turned his head back again, and he didn't want to look more, and at this moment, outside the hall, there was a slender chant of the eunuch in front of the palace:

"The king of Zhuzhou has arrived. ”

At this time, this Zhongyan stretched out his head, and looked out with the civil and military officials, and after a long time, the figure of a eunuch appeared, this eunuch with purple lips and purple robes was the old man in Zhuzhou Houfu today, and the father-in-law of Xichang Factory Qian Zhenhaiqian.

The officials turned to each other, it turned out that the king of Zhuzhou was still asleep at this time, and was carried into the palace by Gonggong Qian, walking briskly, with wind under his feet, and finally before the next sound, Zhao Ang, the king of Zhuzhou, carefully placed it on the empty seat on the left side of Zhongyan.

"Nephew. Zhong Yan shouted and pushed Zhao Ang, who was still asleep.

"Bastard thing. Zhao Ang was drunk and scolded in a low voice in a daze, "Who dares to make noise." ”

When Zhong Yan heard this, his face was as angry as his beard, and his eyes were angry, staring at Zhao Ang.

Zhao Ang opened his eyes and looked at him, pursed his lips, disagreed, neither blamed himself nor apologized, like a nobody, drank all the hot tea on the small wooden table, and continued to fall asleep half-drunk and half-awake with his head on his pillow.

"The second prince of Beiqi, Yelujin, and the envoy have arrived. There was another slender shout, and the civil and military officials had already stood up from their seats, and the envoys who entered the main hall saluted at the same time.

By the time Yelujin took the three envoys into the seats, all the eight seats in the small hall had been seated, and only two seats were left on the left and one on the right side of the high hall.

"The emperor has arrived. With the shouting of Cai Zhonglian, the factory father, the ministers got up again, and Zhao Meng entered the left seat on the high hall under the gaze of everyone.

"Long live the emperor, long live, long live. "The ministers saluted, and as for the bowing ceremony, it was already in the southern kingdom.

Zhao Meng replied "Zhongqing is flat" Not long after, quite embarrassing things happened, the queen mother did not appear for a long time, the emperor was not good to salute the banquet, the civil and military officials did not dare to move the chopsticks, and the four-person envoy from Beiqi was not easy to ask for a gift, everyone bowed their heads and was silent, and suddenly heard a snoring sound that resounded through the hall.

Zhao Ang, the king of Zhuzhou, was asleep on the table in the small hall, his nose was blistered, and the four Beiqi people on the opposite side were not laughing or seeing, they could only see out of sight and sit alone.

Sima Yuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, pays the most attention to the etiquette of diplomatic relations, and the state banquet is the envoy of peace talks, and on this important occasion, there are also the embarrassing personnel of the emperor's relatives who are sleeping heavily, which is really unheard of in the history of the southern country for thousands of years, unheard of, unseen, embarrassed and embarrassed, and there is nothing to do at the moment, but he shook his head in disappointment. Some of the older officials in the back rows on both sides only sighed softly, looking at each other, only the helplessness between the two eyes.

Everyone was restless, and after waiting for a long time, they finally heard a shout from the chief manager Zhou Baokang:

"The Queen Mother has arrived~"

The crowd rose again.

I saw that at the entrance of the side hall, the Queen Mother Zhongda walked forward slowly with the support of Zhou Baokang.

Although this Zhongda is the queen mother and the emperor's stepmother, she is only less than forty years old. In the year of the tiger and wolf, the heavy makeup is light, the facial features and body are all small and small of Dongyin women, a pair of big eyes are out of the mind, extremely seductive, making people salivate, the eyebrows are slender and light red, and the long red hair is smooth and shiny. The graceful figure wears a Hunan red satin robe, and the thin silver thread outlines the delicate outline.

After Zhongda walked to the high hall, all the officials shouted in unison:

"The Queen Mother is a thousand years old, a thousand years old. ”

"All the ministers are exempt from courtesy" The Queen Mother replied, all the ministers sat down, not impressed, only Sima Yuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhongye Fu, the host and guest of the Ministry of Rites, paused for a moment and sat down slowly.

Zhongda turned around and smiled and glanced at Zhao Meng, and Zhao Meng also hurriedly bowed: "Erchen has seen the queen mother." ”

"The emperor has worked. Zhongda nodded back, and just took a seat when she came to her seat, Zhao Meng was just about to speak, but she listened to Zhongda's voice:

"Let's have a banquet at the Qing family~"

His Royal Highness's Ministry of Rites Shangshu Sima Yuan, when he heard this at this time, his face was so green that it was almost dark, if he hadn't taken it in one breath, he would have almost died of anger in the hall.

Although this cumbersome etiquette is troublesome and complicated, it has been practiced in the south for thousands of years, and the politics of all dynasties have never been changed. After the emperor, it was enough to take a seat, and she also added a "Zhongqing" before the "free ceremony", and she also opened the banquet, and also turned the national rites and family rites upside down.

According to the Southern Rite Law, the national ceremony, military ceremony, and family ceremony are performed in different order, in order of size, the national ceremony is performed on the occasion of the national ceremony, and the family ceremony is performed on the occasion of the family ceremony, so the state banquet should be performed on the national ceremony. And the queen mother is the minister, the emperor is the king, and the minister should salute the king, and now this Zhongda ostensibly puts the family ceremony in front of the national ceremony, but in fact performs the national ceremony on behalf of the monarch.

If this national ceremony is a family ceremony, then this southern country is the emperor's country or the queen mother's home?

If there had been such a transgression of propriety in previous years, the Ministry of Rites or other ministers would have come out and spoken out. But in this hall, all the civil and military officials of His Royal Highness are black-haired, and the military and political ministers of the palace, the emperor's relatives and relatives are all red-haired except for the heirs of the first emperor.

But even so, except for a few people with lofty ideals in the south of the hall, most of the civil and military affairs are in their eyes, and they will not hurt in their hearts at all, no matter who is the boss, they are all wage earners, and in troubled times, they only seek the stability of high-ranking officials and Houlu's jobs, and it is better not to stand in line than to stand in the wrong team.