The next day, the sky was white and the lights were dim.

At the beginning of the morning, the palace people took off the lanterns that had been bright all night, replaced them with red lanterns, and hung them high. It was another four hours, the ceremony was magnificent, the palace gate was wide open, and the guests below were coming and going, and the foreign envoys, who had traveled so far, got off one after another, handed over the birthday gift to the guards, and took their colleagues behind them, along with the long procession, little by little. The envoys glanced at each other and greeted each other, their faces full of smiles, and they looked at each other from a distance, and they were peaceful.

The Queen Mother lived in the Kunning Palace, and the location of the birthday banquet was set in the Taiji Hall of the Imperial Palace, and it was not arranged in the Cining Palace. This is not just a birthday feast, but also a state feast. The Tai Chi Hall is large enough to accommodate the guests.

The guards on both sides of the road have changed into new clothes today, red clothes and armor, which looks a little solemn and festive. The palace maids who are busy in front of each seat are carefully selected, and all of them are beautiful.

Today, the masters of Wan'an Temple will be neatly dressed and follow the father-in-law who came to lead the way into the palace, for a time Wan'an Temple became deserted, but the street outside, is different from the noise of the past, the sound of carriages and horses lingered here for a long time, actually covered the bell of Wan'an Temple. Today is the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, the city is full of joy, and the scene everywhere is no different from Chinese New Year's Eve.

The sun is slanting in the west, it seems to be about to set, the sky will be dark, and the birthday feast is about to begin.

Under Chu Chu's service, Li Xiao put on the new clothes he took from Gao Changyu yesterday and glanced at the one on the side. When he came back yesterday, Xu Sheng specially sent it, saying that His Majesty had prepared it for him, and asked him to wear it today. Before leaving, Gonggong Xu said several times, but unfortunately, today, Li Xiao did not choose the clothes given by the emperor. It's not that the emperor's clothes are bad, but the decoration, gold silk leather shoes, inlaid with several pearls during the period, and the color is even more fancy, he really can't look at it directly. It's still a good body given by Gao Changyu, the main tone is cyan, indifferent and graceful, which is quite suitable for his identity as a little transparent today.

"Childe tonight, can you come back?" The little girl asked. If Li Xiao doesn't come back tonight, then she will go to Qiu Xiang to play. The two are not much different in age, and their temperaments are extremely similar.

Li Xiao shook his head, he didn't know the charter of the birthday banquet at all, and he didn't count when he would come back, so instead of letting the little girl wait boringly in the temple, it was better to let her go out to play. Waving his hand, he said, "Go ahead." ”

The little girl who got permission looked happy and ran out quickly. Li Xiao smiled and said in his heart, at such an innocent age, I still miss it. After that, he was about to leave, and just about to go out, he touched his waist, which was a little empty, turned his head and took the black jade pendant from the eaves of the bed, and hung it up.

He didn't like these superficial things, it always felt heavy and uncomfortable to hang around his waist. There is no way today, the palace banquet, there is nothing to pin around the waist, and my heart is empty.

Walking outside the palace gate, there is still a long queue, stretching all the way, almost to the street where Wan'an Temple is located, at this time the queue waiting to enter the palace are some small feudal states, as well as officials of low status in the court. Li Xiao had no official position or title, so he hid at the back of the team and waited quietly to enter the palace.

In front, there were many fathers-in-law who were in charge of the banquet reception, and the guards by the door looked serious, carefully checking the salute of the people entering the palace. This is the Imperial Palace, and the people in it tonight are either relatives of the Emperor or foreign envoys, and most importantly, His Majesty the Emperor. So they need to check carefully, but they can't let the slightest danger in. In this way, the speed of entering the palace is much slower.

"Oh, Li Gongzi, why are you here." Xu Sheng looked panicked and ran towards Li Xiao. The officials lining up in front of them looked over in the direction where Xu Sheng was running, and they all wanted to know what kind of character could make the harem manager, Gonggong Xu, come forward to greet him in person.

The officials looked over, but found that the Li Gongzi in Xu Sheng's mouth was just a young man, and he was handsome, but they had never seen this young man, and they didn't know what the identity of the young man was, whether it was the illegitimate son of a minister, or His Majesty the Emperor...... For a while, officials were talking a lot, and they were all speculating about Li Xiao's identity. It wasn't until the sharp-eyed official recalled the poetry meeting of Xiaozhu in the bamboo forest that he suddenly realized, "Isn't this the same Li Gongzi who wrote the remnants of the poem with the Yuxian Ju!" ”

I see, but Li Gongzi does not have an official title, how can he come to the birthday banquet, and let Gonggong Xu greet him personally. Then, the officials began to speculate again, and it was not until the officials of the Ministry of Etiquette explained that they were silent. When it comes to His Majesty, none of them dare to speak. It was Li Xiao who was shouted by Xu Sheng, and the officials looked at it like this, and they became a little uncomfortable.

With an embarrassed face, he followed Xu Sheng into the palace through the side door.

"Li Gongzi, how are you ...... Don't wear the clothes prepared by Your Majesty? Xu Sheng's face was bitter, there were many people just now, he didn't mention it, and now there is no one, so he couldn't help but ask. Li Xiao didn't wear the clothes he sent yesterday, if His Majesty really blamed him, then what would happen to his head.

Li Xiao didn't know this, otherwise he would still wear it for Xu Sheng's sake of helping him. He smiled and said, "It doesn't fit, so it's not worn, what's wrong?" ”

Xu Sheng shook his head, didn't speak, his body trembled forward, and his heart kept going up and down, I don't know what His Majesty's reaction will be after seeing Li Xiao not wearing that. So along the way, he didn't even pay attention to the palace people who were saluting around.

Li Xiao was very comfortable, the busy palace maids around him were all beautiful, and along the way, he looked around, raised his eyebrows and watched them busy in the magnificent palace with a wicked smile. The palace maids who were watching found that the handsome Li Gongzi cast a different look at them, and they couldn't help but feel shy, their pretty faces were slightly red, and a faint blush attached to them, becoming more and more ruddy. Most of these palace maids have no experience in the world, and when Li Xiao looked at them like this, their hearts were full of joy, and they kept peeking at the former.

Come to the front of the hall, celebrities and gentlemen gather, the figures are scattered, and it is very lively. The Queen Mother's birthday banquet, looking at it at will, the hall was full. There are some people that Li Xiao knows, but most of them have never seen.

"Li Gongzi, your seat is there." The sadness on Gonggong Xu's face had not yet subsided, he pointed to a seat next to the door of the hall and said.

The seat is not small, but in the huge Taiji Hall, it seems a little "obscure".

Nodding towards Xu Sheng, Li Xiao sat down. The former was also a salute, trying to squeeze a smile on his face and turned to leave.

Father-in-law Xu is in a bad mood today. Li Xiao looked at Xu Sheng's back and said secretly in his heart. Thinking about it, he didn't know why Xu Sheng was like this, from just now outside the palace, when Gonggong Xu saw him, he looked like this, it stands to reason, Gonggong Xu will not be like this, and today is the birthday banquet of the Queen Mother, Xu Sheng's stinky face, I am afraid that he is dying.

Shaking his head, he pursed his parched lips and picked up the wine glass in front of him, only to find that there was not a drop in it. waved his hand, called softly, and motioned to the palace maid on the side to pour wine.

When the young palace maid saw the handsome Li Gongzi on the side calling her, her heart moved, and she was stunned for a while before she reacted. Hands and feet stiffly poured a glass of sake for the latter, and then looked straight at Li Xiao, without moving for a long time.

Li Xiao naturally didn't speak, he was very thick-skinned, he was seen as soon as he was seen, after all, the other party was still a girl. If you have the chance, you may be able to get out of the virgin tonight. No, no, palace maids are not allowed to have fornication with others in the palace. He sighed, feeling sorry for the good-looking palace maid beside him.

"Brother Li!" Just thinking about it, a person came from the front, it was Lu Yunlu, who had not been seen for many days.

Lu Yunlu is the son of Lu Qinghou, the son of the Marquis of the first rank of the dynasty, so he is naturally qualified to participate in the birthday banquet. He saw Li Xiao appear from a distance, he was startled at first, and after confirming that it was Li Xiao, he hurriedly ran over, pushed away the officials on the side, and then sat down.

The official was unhappy at first, but when he knew that it was Lu Yunlu, he could only consider himself unlucky and obediently sit with his closer colleagues.

Lu Hou Ye protects the shortcomings, and the official is only a mere seven grades, and he can't afford to provoke him.

Smiling at Lu Yunlu, Li Xiao drank all the wine, and the palace maid next to him saw that Li Xiao had finished drinking, and hurriedly poured a glass.

I haven't seen him for many days, and Lu Yunlu is still the same as before, an arrogant gentleman. This seat was arranged by the Ministry of Etiquette, and he drove the officials away without any mercy. is also the high-ranking and powerful Marquis Lu, and he has this arrogant capital.

"Brother Li, are you okay?" Lu Yunlu stepped forward and asked, Junxiu's face was full of worry. Like Chen Ziye, he also went to Wan'an Temple, but Chu Chu stopped him at the door. In the following days, he was also locked up in the mansion and was not allowed to go out, but he was worried about Li Xiao's situation all the time, after all, the latter stayed with him that day, and he didn't help when something happened later. In Lu Yunlu's eyes, Li Xiao is his only friend, so it was love at first sight.

Li Xiao shook his head and said with a smile: "Thank you Brother Lu for your concern, but Li is fine." ”

Although Lu Yunlu is a little more sloppy and lustful, he is still not bad in nature, of course, this son of Lu Hou has no bad intentions, and he also knows that Lu Yunlu's ambition is just to enjoy life in peace, which is very similar to him.

"By the way, Brother Lu, who is this seat reserved for?" He asked, gesturing to the seat beside him.

At this time, the foreign envoys and the officials of Haoguo had already arrived, and there were people on each seat, and there were even two people. The banquet was about to start, but the seat next to Li Xiao was still empty, which made him very puzzled.

This seat is even more inconspicuous than his.

Lu Yunlu stretched out his head to take a look, took a cup on the side and drank a cup, moistened his throat, coughed, and was about to speak, when suddenly, the little eunuch in front of the hall recited clearly: "The saint has arrived, the queen mother has arrived, and the queen mother has arrived ......."

The little eunuch shouted loudly, his voice lingered in the main hall, reaching everyone's ears, and the originally lively Taiji Hall was quiet for a moment. The foreign envoys all poked their heads together, looking in the direction that Emperor Hao was coming from, while the officials of Hao sat upright with solemn expressions.