Cheng Mu'an and Gu Haojun came to the palace as promised, and the banquet was set up in the backyard of the Empress Ci'an Palace.

Cheng Muan wanted to politely refuse, he probably guessed the queen's thoughts, recently there have been some rumors about him and Princess Taishun in the capital, as the saying goes, there is no wind and no waves, he doesn't want to sit down on this kind of rumor, he can avoid it.

But the queen seemed to know that Cheng Mu'an would deliberately excuse herself, so she deliberately found Liu Kuo and told him that he must bring someone here.

Gu Haojun persuaded Cheng Mu'an not to brush the queen's face first, if there is a problem, he will solve it, he is not afraid of death, is he still afraid of a woman.

Liu Kuo seems to have some unclear attitude towards this matter.

When Cheng Mu'an and Gu Haojun arrived at Ci'an Palace, they immediately understood.

Among the guests who have arrived in Ci'an Palace, in addition to the three princesses who have been waiting for the word boudoir, they are the children and grandchildren of more than a dozen families in the capital who are suitable for age and have not yet married, and the queen is obviously setting up a blind date banquet.

From the seats, it can be seen that the status of the three princesses is different, Princess Taishun sits next to the queen, and then Princess Yongning, and the outermost Princess Kang'an.

Cheng Muan wanted to find the most inconspicuous place to sit, but the queen was staring at him.

"Your Majesty, you see that Lord Cheng is really modest, and he has made great contributions to the imperial court, but he has to hide in a small corner, so don't let people mistakenly think that the Ci'an Palace of the concubines has mistreated the heroes. The queen said half-seriously and half-jokingly.

"Cheng Aiqing, come, sit down to my lower seat, Kuo'er can't come today if she has something to do, this time it's the queen's banquet, just listen to her" The emperor said to Cheng Muan with a smile.

Cheng Mu'an had no choice but to walk out of the side of the pillar, Gu Haojun smiled at him, and he said that the place Cheng Mu'an picked was not suitable, and he would not sit for a long time.

The queen watched Cheng Mu'an sit down with satisfaction, she glanced at Princess Taishun again, nodded lightly, and Princess Taishun looked at Cheng Mu'an shyly.

Princess Kang'an saw Princess Taishun's appearance, and turned her head to the other side coldly, with a faint mockery at the corner of her mouth, she has a sweetheart, and the queen is not ignorant, but in order to create an opportunity for Princess Taishun today, she also pulled her to make up the number, she was very disdainful in her heart, the queen was too partial.

Princess Yongning lowered her head slightly, as if she was listening carefully to the queen's words.

"The palace invites you to come to the banquet today, first, the emperor wants to meet the future pillars of the court, and take this opportunity to let the three princesses in the palace get acquainted with the young talents. As soon as the queen finished speaking, some people were already eager to try and full of anticipation.

Of course, this does not include Cheng Muan and Gu Haojun.

During the banquet, everyone ordered to drink, the emperor was naturally elected as an official, and the sons of each family tried their best to show their talents, and the couplet poems were indeed brilliant, and the atmosphere gradually became relaxed and more harmonious, especially the pot shooting, even the emperor couldn't help but give it a try.

Cheng Muan hardly speaks, and he doesn't get much forward, this kind of opportunity is still left to other people who have a heart, he has Wen Xiaomiao enough.

Gu Haojun was also afraid of being favored by the princesses, and it would be miserable if a holy decree came down, but he was not as tough as Lao Cheng.

When the banquet was almost coming to an end, Cheng Mu'an was already a little absent-minded, and Wen Xiaomiao's figure kept pouring out of his mind, thinking about what she was doing now, whether she was enjoying the shade in the pavilion or copying under the lamp, thinking of her bright eyes and bright smile, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Princess Yongning secretly glanced at Cheng Mu'an, and suddenly breathed a sigh.

Suddenly, the whole audience was dark, leaving only a row of magnolia lanterns in front of the table flickering, and everyone quickly quieted down.

Cheng Mu'an looked up and found that Princess Taishun was already standing in the center of the field, changing into a bright and colorful neon dress and feather robe, it seemed that the princess deigned to give everyone a dance.

Like the sound of heavenly music, Princess Taishun danced, her posture was graceful, her gait was light, no matter what, she was still very talented in dancing, no matter how complex and difficult the movements seemed to be very easy for Princess Taishun, she was originally beautiful, with a good figure, Gu Haojun pretended to be casual and glanced at the audience, everyone had their own thoughts, but they were all fascinated.

Cheng Mu'an looked at it lightly, in the eyes of others, at least in the eyes of Princess Yongning, he thought that he was watching Princess Taishun dance intently, but in fact, his thoughts drifted far away.

The white ramie dance that Wen Xiaomiao danced in the bright moonlight of the plum garden that night was a little jerky, and it was not very skillful, but Cheng Muan felt that Wen Xiaomiao and that dance that night were extremely beautiful, and the beauty made him feel moved when he thought about it.

Wen Xiaomiao was dancing with her heart, dancing for him alone like an elf.

As Princess Taishun got closer and closer to Cheng Mu'an, everyone gradually saw the way, hey, it seems that this news is not groundless.

Cheng Muan lowered his head and pretended to pour wine and eat vegetables.

Gu Haojun shook his head slightly, it seemed that Lao Cheng was going to be in trouble.

As the musician put away the last note, Princess Taishun just stopped at Cheng Mu'an's table.

Princess Taishun turned sideways to Cheng Mu'an, embarrassed to face Cheng Mu'an, bowed her head shyly, her cheeks were rosy, her eyes were watery, and she presented the peony flower in her hand in front of Cheng Mu'an, and said in a coquettish voice: "Lord Cheng, this is Wei Zi in the peony flower, please accept it." ＂

"The minister is afraid, Princess Taishun is a golden branch and jade leaf, and the minister is ashamed to accept it. Cheng Mu'an hurriedly stood up, took two steps back, bent over and refused to pick up flowers or look at Princess Taishun.

After Wei Zinai was a peony, Princess Taishun gave this flower to Cheng Mu'an, implying that she liked him, and the flower represented her, and if Cheng Mu'an accepted the flower, it would also mean that she accepted her.

"Lord Cheng, you just accept it, this is a piece of Yu'er's heart, this Wei Zi is a good match for Lord Cheng, Your Majesty, what do you say? The queen made a pun, and moved out of the emperor to pressure Cheng Mu'an.

"I think," the emperor had just said the beginning, but was interrupted by Cheng Mu'an.

Cheng Muan preemptively said: "The emperor, the queen, Weichen is just a martial artist, he doesn't know how to appreciate flowers and cherish flowers, he only makes sticks and dances swords on weekdays, rides horses and drinks, if such a precious and rare peony is given to Weichen, I am afraid it will soon wither, according to Weichen's opinion, it will be given to people who really love flowers and understand flowers. ＂

Princess Taishun's face was a little unbearable, and her face sank.

She didn't expect Cheng Muan to refuse without hesitation.

"Master Cheng, you are too humble, I think you took good care of the capital flower head back then, didn't you take good care of it? Could it be that you still have an unforgettable love for her? There was already a hint of coldness in the queen's voice.

This Cheng Mu'an is really a little ignorant, how many people are looking forward to becoming the princess of the dynasty, and they all dream of it, he actually didn't give her and the princess face in front of so many people, so he refused.

"The Cheng family and the Qin family have long been incompatible. Cheng Mu'an didn't say more, the queen wanted to involve him with the Qin family, and he wouldn't take such a big crime on himself.

He didn't know how much the queen knew about Wen Xiaomiao, and he didn't know how much Princess Taishun knew about Wen Xiaomiao, he still had to deal with Wen Xiaomiao's affairs in a low-key manner, the palace was as deep as the sea, and it seemed that if he couldn't do it, he had to send Wen Xiaomiao out of the capital secretly.

"Queen, let's discuss this matter later, the purpose of today's banquet is not here, right?" The emperor still felt guilty about the destruction of the Cheng family and Cheng Muan, he was willing to be a peacemaker at this time, and said to Cheng Muan: "Cheng Aiqing, sit down." ”

"Your Majesty, Empress." Cheng Muan lowered his head slightly and sat back in his position, not looking at anyone.

Princess Taishun got angry, raised her head, shook her head, and left the main hall, never returning.

She didn't hate Cheng Mu'an, but was angry with Wen Xiaomiao, if there was no Wen Xiaomiao, Cheng Mu'an would be hers sooner or later, Princess Taishun made up her mind that she would get rid of Wen Xiaomiao at all costs to get Cheng Mu'an.

The atmosphere of the banquet was slightly awkward and dull, and everyone was bored and did not speak, for fear of accidentally offending the queen.

Seeing this, Princess Yongning volunteered to step forward and played a song "Mountains and Flowing Water" on the guqin for everyone, she originally wanted to play a song "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" to Cheng Mu'an, but seeing this situation, she could only put away her thoughts, even if it was to relieve the current tension and resolve the crisis for Cheng Mu'an.

After the last, the emperor lost interest in seeing the queen, and Princess Taishun disappeared, anyway, it was almost over, so he simply announced the dismissal.

Walking out of the palace, Gu Haojun patted Cheng Mu'an on the shoulder, and said with a look of admiration: "Old Cheng, you are amazing, you rejected Princess Taishun in front of so many people." ”

"If you don't refuse, it's not good, so many people are watching, if you take it, then tomorrow the whole capital will say that I want to marry Princess Taishun, and then it will be difficult to argue, and it will not be easy to get out." Cheng Muan was a little annoyed, he had heard of this princess Taishun for a long time, and he had met a few times in the prince's mansion, and he was very depressed that she would take a fancy to him.

"Estimate, the whole capital, no, the whole country can refuse Princess Taishun, I'm afraid you are the first person, you didn't look at her ugly face when she left, you have to be careful, don't hurt the little Miao Miao who came to your house." Gu Haojun is not alarmist, he has listened to Gu Shuting speak ill of Princess Taishun.

"I'm also thinking about this, either I will marry Miao Miao immediately now, or I will send her out of the capital to avoid her first." Cheng Muan said.

"The filial piety period hasn't expired yet, has it? Why don't you send it out first, hasn't Mrs. Chen already found it? When the time comes, it will be impossible to let her live with Mrs. Chen. Gu Haojun suggested.

"Well, let's talk about it." Cheng Muan said.

"What, reluctantly?" Gu Haojun approached Cheng Mu'an, looked at his expression, and said with a smile.

He thought that Cheng Mu'an wouldn't pay attention to him, and he definitely wouldn't be able to do it before, but Cheng Mu'an said in a low voice: "My relatives have lost too much at once, and I'm afraid of losing them now." ”

Gu Haojun quietly stopped talking.