The sky lantern was lit to pray for Emperor Hengde, and now that the sky lantern is extinguished, the omen is really unlucky.

The master of ceremonies of the Sle Bureau was drenched in cold sweat and didn't dare to speak, and Gong E, who was in charge of delivering the lamp, had weak legs and fell directly to the ground, trembling.

The whole banquet was silent, and everyone didn't know what to do, and a Kong Ming lantern slowly rose into the air from the direction of Huating Pavilion.

The Kong Ming lantern is not as luxurious and beautiful as the one that Emperor Hengde just lit with a four-clawed golden dragon painted on it, and there are only big red longevity characters written in cinnabar on all sides.

After one lamp rose into the air, followed by the second and third, and a quarter of an hour later, ninety-nine Kong Ming lanterns floated like stars over Huayi Palace.

Zhao Che got up, walked to Emperor Hengde and knelt down, and said in a loud voice: "Please forgive my father, my son is good at making a claim, and personally wrote the word longevity on these ninety-nine Kong Ming lanterns, and also sent these lanterns to Yunshan Temple to let the monks in the temple chant for 7749 days to pray for their father's blessing, praying that his father can live with the mountains and rivers!" ”

Zhao Che's voice was loud, enough for everyone present to hear clearly, and the hundred officials woke up suddenly, and immediately echoed: "I wish Your Majesty a long life with the mountains and rivers!" ”

The longevity character written by his own son, as well as the chanting and blessing of the monks, the weight of these ninety-nine Kong Ming lanterns is much heavier than the one that has just been extinguished.

Emperor Hengde's face softened slightly, and the master of ceremonies felt that he had walked around the ghost gate, and after the catastrophe, he rolled up his sleeves and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty is blessed with Qitian, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince bows to his relatives and is filial, which is really an example for the children of Zhaoling, and it is the blessing of Zhaoling's rivers and mountains!" ”

When the words fell, Murong Qi, the great prince of Nanxiang Kingdom, took the lead in raising the wine glass in front of him, and Lang Sheng shouted: "I wish His Majesty Zhaoling a long life with the mountains and rivers!" ”

The sky lantern went out was just a small episode, and there were already ninety-nine Kong Ming lanterns to make up for it, and holding on to it would only disturb the interest of this banquet.

Murong Qi's words were to relieve the siege of Zhaoling and give Emperor Hengde a step down, and it also showed the attitude of Nanxiang State in the diplomatic relations with Zhaoling.

Nanxiangguo and Zhaoling have a relationship of cold lips and teeth, and they will not fall into the trap of Zhaoling when Zhaoling is in a weak position.

Murong Qi raised his glass, and all the envoys of the Southern Xiang Kingdom followed suit, Han Chen glanced at the people of the Beiling Kingdom, and raised his glass elegantly, and the people of the Beiling Kingdom were not ambiguous, and immediately followed.

Three of the four neighboring countries raised their glasses, but the people of the western country did not move.

Everyone's eyes fell on Hu Xuan, who calmly raised his wine glass, did not repeat the congratulatory message, but only looked at Emperor Hengde meaningfully and said: "Your Majesty, you, like me, have a good son who is filial." ”

Hu Xuan and Emperor Hengde were about the same age, and they did not use honorific titles for Emperor Hengde.

Although he didn't say a congratulatory message, this sentence was also praising Zhao Che, and the hundred officials didn't feel anything, but Shen Bai sat in the banquet and subconsciously clenched his fists.

The good son in Hu Xuan's mouth is Hu Blazing.

In the previous life, Hu Chilie became famous for killing Gu Tingge in the battle of Yuanfeng County, and later he and Gu Hengzhou fought on the battlefield many times, each with a victory or defeat, and it was difficult to distinguish between the superior and the inferior.

Shen Bai didn't know much about the things on the battlefield, and he didn't know how to use the art of war, only that in the first year of Zhaoming, Gu Hengzhou recaptured Yuanfeng County, and Hu Chilie led his troops from Yuanfeng County to withdraw to Yuexi, and took hundreds of women and children from the city.

He led his troops to retreat beyond the range of the bow and crossbow, and ordered the generals in the camp to insult those women in public, and then killed them and those children to take revenge on Gu Hengzhou.

In the first year of Zhaoming, Zhao Che succeeded to the throne for one year, and the forces in the DPRK and China were complicated, Zhao Che could not trust others, and ordered Shen Bai to personally be responsible for escorting grain and grass.

So after that battle, Shen Bai and Gu Hengzhou stood on top of the tower of Yuanfeng County together and witnessed the ruthless slaughter of the innocent people of Zhaoling by the enemy army in western Yue.

In order to recapture Yuanfeng County, most of the soldiers and horses in Gu Hengzhou's hands were broken, and he was determined that Gu Hengzhou would not dare to lead the troops out to save people, so he dared to be so unscrupulous.

Until now, Shen Bai's ears almost echoed the bitter and desperate cries of those women and the sharp and helpless cries of children.

Hu Chilie may be a good son of Hu Xuan, but he is definitely not a good person!

The envoys all raised their glasses, and the hundred officials also raised their glasses, congratulating Emperor Hengde on his birthday.

Emperor Hengde drank the first glass of wine, and the birthday banquet finally began smoothly.

When everyone was drinking, the Gong E who handed the lamp was pulled away by two palace people covering her mouth.

Today is a big matter, Shen Bai's mouth was hurt again, he only took a symbolic sip, took the time to glance at that Gong'e, and then felt Zhao Che's cold gaze fall on him through the candlelight.

Let Zhao Che personally write the word longevity on the Kong Ming lantern, and then send it to Yunshan Temple to let the monks chant the suggestion is Shen Baiti, she said at the time that it seems more sincere, Emperor Hengde will also be happy, and it can also make Wei Ruzhao have a sense of participation, and can give Emperor Hengde a surprise.

Unexpectedly, today's sky lantern went out, and the surprise turned into a feat to turn the tide.

Zhao Che looked at Shen Bai's eyes meaningfully, and he also looked into three points, he was wondering if Shen Bai's proposal was a coincidence or if he had already known something.

Shen Bai knew what Zhao Che was thinking, and didn't care about his gaze, the events of the previous life were only in her mind, and there was no evidence to prove that everything she did was not a coincidence, so she naturally wouldn't tell anyone about her rebirth.

Shen Bai put down the wine glass casually, she and Zhou Jue sat at a table, there was tea white, and only one palace lady was left at their table to serve.

After everyone put down their wine glasses, the banquet officially began, and the master of ceremonies couldn't wait to let the palace people of the music bureau play music, completely dissipating the previous unpleasant atmosphere.

After the music sounded, the palace mermaids rushed in, serving the food in an orderly manner, and a group of graceful servants wore thin dresses and rushed to the round platform on tiptoe.

In winter, the weather is already very cold, these girls are all wearing very little, their blouses and skirts are separated, revealing a small soft and tender white waist in the middle, all of them are not wearing shoes, their small white feet are just stepping on the cold ground, and each of them wears a string of bells on their ankles, making a crisp jingling sound.

These singers are different from the geisha of Lanyue Pavilion, they are all official children, and some even have relatively rich families, and they have practiced their dancing skills hard since childhood and were selected to become servants in the Sile Bureau, and they only perform at palace banquets on weekdays, and they are all innocent good girls, and their status is higher than that of the palace ladies who serve people.

But it's just some, in this kind of occasion, after all, it's just for people's enjoyment, and you can't even wear a thick and warm clothes.

There are many good and bad things in Zhaoling, and Shen Bai feels that the worst thing is that the status of men and women is too different, and women can only become accessories of men.

Shen Bai looked at those servants for a while, and Zhou Jue deliberately lowered his voice to remind him: "The wine is full, still pour?" ”

Shen Bai came back to his senses and found that Cha Bai was squatting next to her to help her refill the cup, and the wine in the cup had overflowed.

Shen Bai raised his hand to hold the wine jug, and also held Cha Bai's hand.

Chabai's hand was very cold, touching Shen Bai's warm palm, and suddenly came back to his senses, Shen Bai grabbed her hand slightly, so that Chabai would not be too panicked.

Shen Bai's eyes were slightly bent, and he gave Cha Bai a reassuring look, Cha Bai calmed down, and hurriedly wiped the wine that had spilled on the table with a handkerchief.

Zhou Jue saw it clearly from the side, and couldn't help muttering: "You dare to be distracted on such an important occasion, it's really fatal." ”

Shen Baimian did not change color, and sandwiched a piece of pastry and stuffed it directly into Zhou Jue's mouth.

Eat your stuff and don't care what the master does!

Zhou Jue was caught off guard, was gagged, and glared at Shen Bai, but he didn't dare to spit out the things in his mouth.

No one noticed the small movements of the two, and the dance performed by the servants had reached the climax, and Emperor Hengde's eyes flashed with appreciation, and the officials who had good eyes took the lead in applauding, and applauded.

This dance was deliberately rehearsed for Emperor Hengde's birthday for half a year, both the arrangement and the choreography are very attentive, the music is majestic, the dance is also atmospheric, and the performance effect is very good.

A group of servants knelt on the ground after jumping to congratulate Emperor Hengde on his birthday, Emperor Hengde was in a good mood and ordered the palace people to offer rewards.

The servant took the reward and retreated, and the palace people of the Music Bureau began to play music again, preparing to go on the next program, and Hu Yuelan, who was sitting next to Hu Xuan, suddenly stood up and walked to the round platform.

The palace people who were originally going to play all stopped, and everyone at the banquet also put down the chopsticks in their hands and looked at Hu Yuelan curiously.

Hu Yuelan was wearing Zhaoling's dress, combing the Zhaoling woman's hair bun, covered with tulle, folding her hands on her chest, saluting Emperor Hengde according to the etiquette system of Yuexi, and said in a clear voice: "Yuexi Huyuelan, I wish Your Majesty a long life, I wish Zhaoling a prosperous country, and I am willing to dance for Your Majesty." ”

Hu Yuelan is the princess of Yuexi Kingdom, and it is naturally an excellent thing to be willing to dance for Emperor Hengde in person.

Emperor Hengde immediately agreed, and the people of the Music Bureau did not know how to play the music, so the people of the Yuexi envoys took out the special instruments of Yuexi and played them.

Everyone: "......"

Come to the state banquet, Her Royal Highness the princess will dance in person, and the envoys will also bring their own musical instruments, and you Yuexi people will be too polite.

The hierarchy of Zhaoling is very clear, and the daughters of the family will not perform on such occasions casually, let alone the princess of a country, and the people present have some thoughts of watching jokes, and feel that Yuexi is really a barbarian land, and they actually do such a thing to surrender their identity.

However, soon everyone couldn't laugh, just because the Yuexi people played the requiem in the Zhaoling army, and the princess Hu Yuelan danced the Hu Xuan dance of the deceased Queen Shuxian before becoming the crown princess.

The requiem is for the soldiers who died in the army, and it is played at the birthday banquet of Emperor Hengde, which is too unlucky, but the Hu Xuan dance of the blue moon is very good, and at first glance it even has the charm of Queen Shuxian's youth.

Not to mention Emperor Hengde, even Wei Ruzhao lost his mind.

The Yuexi envoys adapted the requiem a little faster, and the whole piece became more and more brisk, which matched the dance steps of Hu Yuelan just right.

Zhen Guogong is responsible for dispatching the Praetorian Guards outside Huayi Palace to ensure the order of the entire palace, and Gu Hengzhou is responsible for the safety of the nobles in Huayi Palace.

Knowing that he couldn't see Gu Hengzhou, at the moment when the requiem sounded, Shen Bai still subconsciously raised his head and looked towards the main hall of Huayi Palace.

When the officers and men in the army died in battle, the generals ordered the battlefield to be cleaned up and buried, and let people play a requiem.

In the previous life, Gu Hengzhou died, and there were no bones left, and there was no one to rest his soul.

The scene I saw in the dream of Yingze Palace that night came to mind again, the cheerful and lively requiem turned into the battle of the golden iron horse constantly echoed in my ears, and the staggered banquet in front of me became the corpses of countless soldiers, and there seemed to be a strong smell of blood in the air.

Shen Bai's throat was choked, and he was about to sink deeper and deeper into the dream, the music stopped abruptly, and Su Yuelan squatted on the ground with a beautiful twist, and her skirt was like a blooming petal on the ground, which was thrillingly beautiful.

Emperor Hengde couldn't help but be a little excited, after ten years, he finally saw someone dancing again.

Every gesture is very similar to his Shuxian, but Shuxian is more beautiful when she is young, her eyebrows and eyes are crooked, and when she laughs, her eyes will reflect the brilliant light of fine stars, no matter when, with how many noble ladies of the family, she can attract everyone's attention at the first time.

Emperor Hengde's mind was in the memories of the former empress, and he didn't notice any soundtrack used by the Yuexi envoys at all.

This dance consumed a lot of physical strength, and Hu Yuelan squatted on the ground and couldn't stop panting, and a gentle voice sounded suddenly: "Dare to ask Her Royal Highness the princess, but the envoys of your country used the soundtrack of the requiem in my Zhaoling army?" ”

As soon as this question came out, everyone turned their heads curiously to see who the person who spoke was.

At this time, the opening was to disturb the interest of Emperor Hengde, and the others were afraid of being implicated, so they spontaneously avoided their sights, and Li Wei, who was sitting in the corner, appeared in front of everyone.

He is now the deputy Wei of the Hanjing Lieutenant Battalion, from the official position of the sixth grade, just enough to be qualified to participate in tonight's birthday banquet, and the palace people arranged him in the outermost position, separated from Emperor Hengde by a long distance, which is really inconspicuous.

Emperor Hengde also followed everyone's gaze, Li Wei simply stood up, bowed his hand, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Your Majesty, the music of the envoys to the west of the country sounds very familiar, and Weichen suspects that they are using the requiem of our army, and it happens that the music division of the music bureau is also there, so you might as well ask the music department to judge." ”

Most of the people present had never heard of this song, but the people of the Music Bureau specialized in music and rhythm, and they should have memorized the music scores for hundreds of years in Zhaoling, and it was really fast to check a song.

The Requiem is played for the deceased soldiers, with the aim of appeasing their souls so that their souls can rest in peace as soon as possible, and there will be no more wars and pains.

The piece should be gentle and soothing, but it should also be solemn and not allowed to be played by anyone.

The Yuexi envoys used this song to congratulate Emperor Hengde on his birthday, is this to let the dead soldiers and souls of the deceased soldiers in the past hundred years in Zhaoling come to congratulate together?

Is this a birthday celebration or a period of death?

There are not many people in the court who have heard the Requiem, but there are many people who know what the Requiem is for, after Li Wei finished speaking, these people all looked at Hu Xuan with complicated expressions.

If the prince of Zhenguo was here, I am afraid that he would have lifted the table long ago and smashed the musical instruments in the hands of those envoys, so that the princess of Yuexi would not be able to dance.

After Li Wei finished speaking, he bowed respectfully, waiting for the music of the music bureau to give an answer.

The four were quiet, and the moon lan, who was kneeling on the ground, spoke softly: "It turns out that this song is a requiem in the army?" Lan Er didn't mean to be offended, but she heard it once when she was a child and thought the melody was good, so she deliberately asked people to speed up the rhythm and rehearsed this dance to congratulate Your Majesty on her birthday, and asked Your Majesty to forgive her sins. ”

Hu Yuelan's tone was innocent, as if she really didn't know anything, it was just an unintentional move.

But even if it was an unintentional move, it was also an offense to the souls of those heroic martyrs, Li Wei wanted to say something more, Jiang Dean spoke: "Vice Li Wei, the most important thing today is to congratulate Your Majesty on her birthday, since Her Royal Highness the Princess has already said that she was unintentional, do you still want to continue to make trouble for Your Majesty?" ”

Jiang De'an's voice was gentle, but his words were full of warnings, warning Li Wei to accept it when he saw it, and not to delve into this issue.

There are many generals who participated in the banquet today, but Zhenguo Gong and Zhou Deshan, who have really been on the battlefield, have tasks on their bodies, and they are not here, except for Li Wei, no one speaks for those deceased soldiers, so Jiang De'an dares to warn Li Wei like this.

Li Wei's eyebrows furrowed slightly, originally he planned to live a mediocre life in the military department, but after Shen Bai and Gu Hengzhou talked to him in the carriage that night, his upright and eager heart couldn't help beating again.

Moreover, when he entered the Hanjing Lieutenant Camp, he had a lot of contact with Zhou Deshan, and his behavior was unconsciously influenced by the concept of protecting the family and defending the country in the army.

Those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country did not live to pay homage to the prime minister, and they did not return to their hometowns after death, and now even the only requiem is used for birthday celebrations, what else can they get?

Li Wei hesitated, and was about to refute Jiang De'an's words, when a cracking sound came.

Everyone's eyes suddenly gathered on Zhou Jue, Zhou Jue was defenseless and suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention, gritted his teeth and glanced at Shen Bai fiercely, and then got up and said to Jiang De'an: "Taiwei's words are wrong, the requiem in our Zhaoling army was set down by Emperor Wuzong during his reign, and the requiem of Zhaoling soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country for a hundred years is the soul, although Her Royal Highness the princess is unintentional, it does disturb those deceased soldiers." ”

Li Wei has a low official rank, and he directly confronts Jiang De'an, not only Jiang De'an is offended, but also his power in the court, I am afraid that the situation of the school captain camp will not be better in the future, Zhou Jue is different, he is still young, he has not yet entered the ranks, no matter what he says, he only represents his own personal opinions, and he does not have so many worries and taboos as Li Wei.

And in terms of eloquence, Shen Bai and Zhou Jue quarreled in the court for nearly ten years in his last life, but Li Wei's temperament was still too upright, and Zhou Jue could not say it at all.

After Zhou Jue finished speaking, he continued without waiting for Jiang De'an to refute: "The younger generation knows that people die like lights going out, even if the dead people can't care, if someone like my father who follows Zhenguo Gong for Zhaoling lacks arms and legs, he will definitely not have a good time in his heart." ”

Zhou Jue moved his father and Gu Tingge out, one of them represented the Hanjing Captain's Battalion, and the other represented all the soldiers of Zhaoling, they were all powerful shields to protect Zhaoling from war, and no one would want to chill them.

Jiang Dean choked, but he didn't expect Zhou Deshan to be able to beat a fart with a stick, and he actually raised a son like Zhou Jue who can speak well.

"That's it!" Emperor Hengde spoke in a deep voice, stopped the two from continuing to argue, and said to Hu Yuelan, "Since this song is a requiem in the Zhaoling army, it is strict and cold and does not allow anyone to infringe, although you are unintentional, but if you are wrong, you are wrong." ”

Hu Yuelan didn't defend herself, she slammed her head on the ground, and said sincerely: "Lan'er knows her mistake and is willing to accept any punishment!" ”

Hu Yuelan is only sixteen this year, it is the age of Ruhua, she is not as tall and strong as the Yuexi woman, kneeling on the ground only a delicate and weak group, looking very weak.

is such a little girl, how else can you punish her?

Because of that Hu Xuan Dance, Emperor Hengde felt more pity for Hu Yuelan, and said softly: "There is a volume of scriptures dedicated to transcending the dead in the library of the palace, and from tomorrow, the princess will copy that volume of scriptures by hand, and atone for the sins of the soldiers who died in my Zhaoling battle!" ”

For the daughter of the family of Zhaoling, being reprimanded by Emperor Hengde in public and copied a volume of scriptures is already a very heavy punishment, but Hu Yuelan represents the Yuexi royal family, and the Yuexi royal family offended the heroes of Zhaoling, but Emperor Hengde only punished the culprit for copying a volume of scriptures, and this punishment is not painful.

Hu Yuelan answered, and obediently retreated to Hu Xuan's side and sat down.

Shen Bai's gaze turned around on her and Hu Xuan, and he picked up the wine glass and lowered his head to taste it, lowering his eyes to hide the emotions in his eyes.

This time it was similar to the birthday banquet of Emperor Hengde in the previous life, but when Hu Yuelan danced in the previous life, Shen Bai had never heard the requiem, and he didn't know that the requiem used by the Yuexi envoys was accompanied by Hu Yuelan, and at this time in the previous life, Zhou Deshan had been killed, and Li Wei was still living in the military department, no one dared to take the risk of disturbing Emperor Hengde's interest, so no one raised this point in public, let alone let Hu Yuelan admit his mistake and apologize.

Yuexi is always intruding on the Zhaoling border pass, and it is impossible for Hu Xuan not to know that this song is a requiem in the Zhaoling army.

Hu Yuelan deliberately arranged this program to test the importance of Emperor Zhaoling to these troops under him and his tolerance for Yuexi.

Yuexi is the weakest of the neighboring countries, if Zhaoling even has to be afraid of them, can the national strength be as strong as a few years ago?

However, Yuexi has been suppressed by Zhaoling for so many years, even if he cultivates such a powerful person as Hu Chilie, he is completely incapable of confronting Zhaoling's troops, where did they find out that the Zhaoling royal family does not care much about the situation of the border soldiers?

Until now, Shen Bai still feels that the death of the previous Zhenguo Gong is very strange.

Zhen Guogong has been brave and good at fighting all his life, even if he is older, not as brave as Blazing Fierce, just using the art of war can play Blazing Blaze in the palm of his hand, how can he not die under Blazing Horse like this.

Unless, there is a traitor above the court!