On the eve of the Chongming Festival celebration, Qingling returned to Lingxiao City, the capital of Emperor Chaoyan.

The Chongming Festival is set up to commemorate the founding of the country, and this year's turn coincides with another thousand years, so even if the war is repeated and the treasury is lost, and various celebrations in recent years have been turned into small events, this year's Chongming Festival is bound to be grand and extravagant.

The golden door of the Zhuzhu in the Vermilion Bird Palace is freshly washed, showing the most dazzling color, and the colorful lanterns bloom between the layers of palace buildings, reflecting the most noble and magnificent scenery of the Dongzhou Continent. The decoration in the garden is no longer as beautiful as the centennial festival, and the glazed lanterns and floating lanterns in the canal have all been removed and replaced with tall and extravagant golden lotus standing lamps.

Emperor Hao and his family and courtiers went to the top of the sun and moon to worship.

Qing Ling was already married at this time, so he no longer followed Emperor Hao to the top to worship, but stood with Luo Yao in the most conspicuous place on the viewing platform, looking at the royal relatives who slowly climbed to the top on the Baimin stone steps.

Mu Chen, the eldest prince of Chaoyan, is undoubtedly the most eye-catching person on the stone steps, dressed in a luxurious white brocade robe, with a cold atmosphere, picturesque eyebrows, calm steps, a solemn expression, and his demeanor is as noble and elegant as ever.

Standing on the other side of Qingling, the eldest emperor leaned over slightly and whispered to her, "Among the children of your father and king, only your eldest brother is the most like him. Although his appearance is mostly with his mother, his temperament and demeanor are exactly the same as when His Majesty was young! ”

Qingling had to dress up to attend today, and between her hair she pulled a gorgeous nine phoenix wrapped around the pearl red gold silk hairpin, and when she turned her head sideways, she pulled the beads and jingle lin, reflecting the vividness of her bright eyes and red lips.

"Really?"

She replied to her aunt's daughter-in-law, "When I first met Brother Wang, I thought he was a bit like my master. But the master and the father are completely different personalities. ”

Shu Yan smiled and said, "Maybe you haven't seen Your Majesty when he was young, so you think so, right?" ”

After a pause, he seemed to have an epiphany, and added, "I mean, why did you get so close to the eldest prince from the beginning, it turned out that you thought he was like the Holy Monarch of Moqian." ”

Qing Ling didn't say anything, and subconsciously glanced at Luo Yao on the other side of him, seeing that he looked calm, as if he hadn't heard anything, he smiled at Shu Yan, "Maybe." ”

After the long worship ceremony, everyone moved to the Suzaku Hall for a feast.

Qing Ling and Luo Yao sat on the lower left side of the emperor, looking at Mu Chen opposite. An Huaiyu, the side concubine beside Mu Chen, was quite courteous because she was pregnant, and the dishes given by the emperor were more sumptuous than those of others, which caused An Huaiyu to be flattered and got up again and again to thank her.

Emperor Hao seems to be in a good mood today, and he has issued an order so that everyone does not need to be too formal, and they can drink to their heart's content. During the banquet, there were people who were good at welcoming them, so they continued to toast in front of the emperor, and sang praises of virtue like a river. For a time, the huge Vermilion Bird main hall was full of laughter and laughter, gold and silver glowing, and the palace beauties of Jin Cui Luoqi walked through it, stirring up the intoxicating fragrance of lilies.

Qing Ling held a silk fan with silk and gold embroidered fire lotus, covered his face and said to Luo Yao: "Now in addition to Jiuqiu, the Eastern Continent is all Chaoyan, and the people of Lieyang who were deceived by you have also run away, although there are still some internal troubles that have not been eliminated, but my father must be in a good mood today." Why don't we go and toast later? ”

Luo Yao raised his glass and took a sip of wine, staring sideways at Qing Ling, "Senior sister means that I want this 'internal trouble' to show my face in front of His Majesty, so that his mood today will change from good to bad?" ”

Qing Ling frowned, glared at him very angrily, and said in a suppressed voice: "You fool! We sat so close to him, couldn't he see you? Now you can make up some excuse in public, and beg him to withdraw the forbidden troops who follow you all day, so that he can be freer at best! ”

Luo Yao's lustrous eyes stared at Qing Ling's face for a moment, the corners of his lips were gently raised, and then he turned his head back, raising his glass and sipping wine without saying a word.

Your Majesty wants to weaken Daze's heart, how can it be easily shaken? He is not a stupid person, and he naturally knows the mysteries.

It's just that Baili's has been inherited to this day, and its status cannot be shaken overnight. When it comes to confrontation, he is confident that there are thousands of ways to play a game and defend Daze's rights and interests......

Luo Yao drank the wine slowly, and his eyes fell on Mu Han diagonally opposite.

Today's Mu Han is particularly tense, and the hand holding the wine cup keeps raising and lowering, but there is not much wine in the stomach. Luo Yao had already thoroughly touched the temperament of this prince of Chaoyan, knowing that he was a person who couldn't hide his emotions, and now seeing that he seemed to be sitting on pins and needles, he didn't feel more and more suspicious in his heart, and secretly stored a sense of vigilance.

After Qing Ling finished "teaching" Luo Yao here, he couldn't wait for a reply, so he had to withdraw his gaze stupidly, and when he looked forward to it, he actually bumped into the sight cast by Mu Chen on the opposite side, and froze for a moment, both of them lost their minds for a moment.

She hid behind the silk fan and whispered to Luo Yao, others couldn't see her expression clearly, only saw the prince of Daze staring at the emperor's eyes with deep affection, and the smile on his lips was gentle and doting, so he naturally guessed that the two were talking about the love of husband and wife, and how could they know the twists and turns behind it?

Qing Ling looked at Mu Chen from afar, and saw that his eyes were deep and his expression was light, and he didn't seem to be able to see any emotion, so he hesitated for a moment, lowered his silk fan, bowed his head slightly, and saluted the other party from a distance.

Mu Chen stared at Qing Ling quietly for a moment, then looked away, turned his head sideways and said a few words to An Huaiyu on the side.

Qing Ling was slightly stunned, his gaze retracted from his wandering, and suddenly he saw Luo Yao beside him staring intently at Ah Jing and Mu Han's seats.

She put down the silk fan, raised her hand to push back the palace maid who was serving on her side, poured herself a glass of wine, raised her head and drank it all, but she was almost choked, and it took her chest for a long time to suppress the violent ups and downs.

Luo Yao saw the abnormality, and hurriedly raised his hand to caress Qingling's back and smooth her breath, "Drunk in a hurry?" If you feel stuffy, cough a few times, don't hold back. ”

Qing Ling turned to avoid his touch, "Don't worry about it. ”

Luo Yao's hand fell into the air, but he was not annoyed, and still smiled gently: "Everyone is watching, Your Majesty is even closer, doesn't Senior Sister want to be kind to me and pretend to be a husband and wife?" ”

Qing Ling snorted, "Do you think my father wants to see you and me friendly?" If I'm really nice to you, he should be worried! ”

When the words came out, he immediately regretted it, picked up the flask and added a glass of wine to himself, and drank in silence.

Luo Yao also calmed down and said no more.

After a while, a palace lady who served An Huaiyu personally walked over with a tray and knelt near Qingling, "Your Highness, Concubine An sent a slave to send a plate of snacks." Niangniang said that His Royal Highness the Emperor has always liked this jade hibiscus cake, and today His Majesty happened to give it again, so he thought of sending it over to share with the Emperor. ”

Hearing this, Qing Ling looked up at the opposite side of the main hall and saw An Huaiyu smiling at herself, while Mu Chen beside her lowered her eyes, as if she didn't know anything about what was happening.

Qingling really didn't have much resistance to food, so she asked Gong'e to convey her gratitude for herself, and then took a piece of dim sum and ate it.

This taste......

It's like putting more fruit powder......

She ate a few pieces in a row, only to feel that her mouth was astringent, and it must have been because the imperial chef had misplaced too many condiments.

Could it be that An Huaiyu felt that it was not delicious and did not dare to waste the delicacies given by the emperor, so he simply borrowed flowers to offer Buddha?

Qing Ling put down the jade chopstick, sinisterly glanced at Luo Yao beside him, pushed the plate in front of him, and said with a smile: "It's really delicious!" You can eat a few pieces too. Worried about being rejected by him, he emphasized: "This is a royal gift, a royal gift!" ”

After a while, the palace was another round of wine and food.

Chun Yufu, the patriarch of the Chun Yu clan, led the second son Chun Yuyan, walked to the throne of the Emperor, raised a toast, and said something about the scenes of the Yan Empire for thousands of generations and generations, and then the conversation changed, and began to talk about the pursuit of justice and the thorough investigation of the real murderer behind the death of the eldest son and his wife.

Emperor Hao was in a good mood today, and he chatted very happily with the important ministers and nobles who came to greet him before, although he occasionally mentioned political affairs, but he faded away from his usual serious and harsh edge, and did not hesitate.

At present, Chun Yufu is sad and sad, taking out the things that have been repeatedly mentioned in the past few months and nagging, and in front of the clan relatives and courtiers who participated in the celebration, no matter how much Emperor Hao doesn't want to be angry, he can't help it.

On the side, Chun Yuyan tried to appease his father and persuade him to return to the seat with him, but Chun Yufu still refused to give up, chattering while turning his resentful gaze to Luo Yao from time to time.

Chun Yuyan glanced at his father's line of sight, and saw that Luo Yao was calm and calm, lowering his eyes and drinking silently, but the Qing Ling beside him looked up at him, looking helpless and worried.

Both of them had insight into the truth of the incident, but they couldn't say it explicitly, so they could only watch each other's fathers mourn and be angry, and gradually fall into a stalemate, and the complex emotions in their hearts were actually similar to the same end.

Qing Ling understood Emperor Hao's temper, and saw that Queen Fangshan beside him always looked happy to see her success, so she had to stand up and open her mouth to say, "Father, ......"

As soon as she spoke, an exclamation suddenly came from the opposite side of the hall.

"Your Highness!"

An Huaiyu lost color in fear, supported Mu Chen, who was crooked, and called out in a lost voice: "Your Highness! ”

I saw that Mu Chen's face was pale, his eyes were closed, and the placket of his chest was soaked red with blood, followed by a cough and wheezing, spurting out a mouthful of blood!

Everyone in the hall was stunned by this sudden scene.

Even Chun Yufu, who was about to burst into tears, stopped in a daze and looked at the fallen prince in amazement.

Chun Yuyan, who was the closest, stepped forward quickly, protecting Mu Chen's heart with divine power, and at the same time probing the reason and speculating: "The eldest prince seems to have been poisoned!" ”

Qing Ling came back to her senses, hurriedly lifted her skirt and stepped out, almost knocking over her own drinking case. She ran to Mu Chen, knelt down to hold his wrist, and anxiously asked Chun Yuyan: "Is it the Red Soul Bead ......?"

Halfway through speaking, he swallowed it back.

If the fatal weakness is heard by others, isn't it a gift of a knife to the enemy?

She calmed down and was about to open her mouth to ask Chun Yuyan in a different way, but suddenly felt him quietly pinch her fingertips.

Chun Yuyan pretended to investigate Mu Chen's injury, leaned over to Qing Ling, and said solemnly in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Find an excuse and leave the palace immediately!" Xun is just outside the temple, and he will take someone to escort you to Chongwu. ”