The Imperial City of the Eastern Capital, Yongshou Palace, Xuzheng

Yongshou Palace is located on the west side of the imperial city of the eastern capital, close to the Huaguang Hall where Emperor Chu listens to and appreciates singing and dancing on weekdays, and on the right side is the Holy Cadre Hall of Emperor Chu in the upper court, adjacent to the West Garden that leans on the back mountain, covers a vast area, and is the best place for the environment on the west side, therefore, the birthday banquet or festival day of the royal family of Chu State will be held in Yongshou Palace or the Fengyi Pavilion of "high-rise building looking at the world".

Today, the queen's birthday banquet, in addition to the emperor's relatives and relatives, Emperor Chu specially allowed the ministers and hundreds of officials to come to participate, of course, not all officials can come to join in the fun, must be officials above the third grade.

Therefore, this is not only a feast of celebration, but also a gathering of the highest authorities of all levels in the Chu State.

In the Yongshou Palace, the red carpet is laid out with embroidered gold, the red curtain is hung, the red lantern is lit, the long table with vermilion lacquer and the cushion of the goose down embroidered crane are placed on the left and right, according to the royal family to the hundred officials, according to the order close to the main seat, from top to bottom, and the main seat is placed with two benches and a spacious table, which is only for the emperor and the queen of Chu to sit.

At this time, the palace was already full of people, because the main seat did not start, Emperor Chu and the queen did not arrive, only a palace song and dance was arranged to help the fun, so everyone talked without scruples.

The crown prince Song Yu sat at the head of the right guest seat, and looked coldly at the five empty seats, which were arranged for Song Miao, Song Qi, Song Lin, Princess Mingyue Song Wan'er and Prime Minister Liang Ziqing.

Now, he and Song Mian arrived late at the same time, and the two of them got together to plan something. But no matter what they wanted to do, Song Yu believed that his plans had been leaked to Song Mo by Song Qi.

As the best brother, Song Yu knows very well that Song Qi is kind and affectionate. I think that at the beginning, Song Qi supported himself without hesitation, precisely because he valued his brother's affection very much.

Therefore, even if Song Qi had "betrayed" and told Song Mo about his plot, he would not blame him.

Anyway, they can't change anything, in the face of the prince who is the prince and the prince who is powerless, Song Yu believes that Zhao Yuheng will make the right choice.

As the saying goes, "the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker", even if Miss Zhao really has affection for her fifth brother Song Miao, she will not dare to disobey her father's order at that time.

It's a pity that Zhao Yuheng was sick today and couldn't attend the queen's birthday banquet, so he only asked someone to send some congratulatory gifts to the palace, otherwise, he had to talk to the "future father-in-law" today.

Thinking that he would be able to get the support of Zhao Yuheng in the future, Song Yu couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth a little proudly.

There is also that Song Lin, who was confined by his father, and it is normal that he did not come. Now that he has lost the favor of his father, he has given himself a good opportunity to bring down King Shin's henchmen.

As for her thirteenth sister, she either went to see her mother in the harem first, or she was playing crazy outside, and she missed the last family banquet when she went to play with the young lady of the Sheng family. But today's big day is the queen mother's birthday, and she shouldn't be so presumptuous anymore.

However, Liang Ziqing didn't understand it when he was late, it stands to reason that he should have come first, why is it slower than the third-grade official?

"Prime Minister Liang has arrived!"

Just when Song Yu was thinking about it in his heart, there was a sharp and loud call from the eunuch guarding the palace outside, and everyone in Yongshou Palace looked in the direction of the palace gate when they heard the words, only to see Liang Ziqing, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, walked in slowly with a straight chest and a serious expression.

"I've seen the Prime Minister!"

All the officials and the royal family stood up and saluted, including the prince's cronies, they didn't want to do this, but because of the number of court salutes, they had to do so, and they only gave a slight salute with a blank face.

Only Song Yu sat upright in his position, didn't look at it, and drank a glass of wine by himself.

"Hello adults."

Liang Ziqing saluted back to the ministers and the imperial relatives who got up, and seeing that the prince ignored his arrival, he didn't mind and sat in the second seat of the right guest.

"King Ning, King Huai have arrived!"

Liang Ziqing's buttocks had just touched the seat and it was not hot, and the eunuch guarding the palace called again, only to see Song Mo and Song Qi hurrying over with panicked and panting, and Song Qi said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "I finally caught up, fortunately, the father and the queen mother have not yet come." ”

"I've seen King Ning and King Huai!"

The ministers and royal relatives stood up again and saluted, and only some high-ranking people sat with their hands crossed, such as the prime minister and the crown prince.

"Hello adults!"

Song Mo and Song Qi also returned the salute, and then returned to the two positions under the crown prince and sat down.

Now in this embarrassing situation, Song Mo and the others didn't want such a seating arrangement, but all the arrangements for the birthday banquet were decided by the Ministry of Rites and could not be changed at will.

"Brother Eleven, where did you go to play just now?" Song Yu said knowingly.

Song Qi pretended to smile and said: "No, I just went out with the fifth brother to buy some birthday gifts, but unfortunately those rare things of the people are nothing in our palace, so we can only send them over according to the birthday gifts prepared before." ”

Song Yu drank a glass of wine and asked again, "You didn't talk about anything on the road that shouldn't be said, right?" ”

"Brother Huang, don't worry, don't say what you shouldn't say, don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Song Qi nodded.

Song Mo didn't speak all the time, he only thought that Song Yu was thinking about marrying Zhao Shuyue, and he felt that he had nothing to say to this big brother.

At this moment, the great eunuch Li Quan walked from the inner hall of the Yongshou Palace to the main hall and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty and the queen have arrived!" ”

When everyone heard this, they immediately stood up and bowed in advance. As soon as Li Quan's voice fell, Emperor Chu carried Empress Jiang, who was wearing a red and gold embroidered phoenix robe, and came to the main seat from the inner hall and sat down.

Everyone immediately knelt down and worshipped the mountain and shouted: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

"I wish the queen and the phoenix body eternal peace, the same age as the sun and the moon, and a long life!"

"Excuse me." Emperor Chu said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, the Queen Mother!"

When they had finished saluting, they sat down in their seats.

Emperor Chu noticed that Princess Mingyue did not come at this time, so he asked Empress Jiang in a low voice, "Where is Wan'er's girl?" How dare you slack off on such an important day? ”

Jiang Hou smiled: "That girl has already come to my dormitory first, and she wants to change into a beautiful set of clothes, and she will come late." ”

"This kid really doesn't have any courtesy, which of her clothes wasn't chosen by thousands of people? You, just spoil her. Emperor Chu shook his head and said.

Jiang Hou said coquettishly: "Your Majesty, Wan'er is young, I will naturally spoil it, besides, Wan'er is particular about clothes now, and when she picks a horse by herself in the future, it will naturally not be bad." ”

"Okay, good, your birthday today, you're right." Emperor Chu said with a smile.

At this moment, Empress Jiang also paid attention to an empty seat - it was Song Lin, the king of letters.

"Your Majesty, why didn't Lin'er come?" Jiang Hou asked.

When Emperor Chu heard this, he snorted coldly and said: "This Song Lin injured Yu'er and Qi'er, and was grounded by me for three days, and now the deadline has not yet arrived." ”

Empress Jiang pursed her lips, and then said: "Your Majesty, I think Lin'er didn't mean to hurt Yu'er and Qi'er, but he just missed it for a while, Your Majesty, you can spare him this time." ”

Emperor Chu's face was still serious: "What I hate most in my life is that my brothers are not harmonious, unkind and unfilial. Lin'er is so rude, how can I spare it? ”

After a pause, Emperor Chu asked suspiciously: "Yu'er and Qi'er were brought up by you, why don't you feel sorry for your own son, but help Lin'er speak?" ”

Jiang Hou said from the bottom of his heart: "How can I not feel sorry for Yu'er and Qi'er? It's just that as soon as I see Lin'er, I think of Sister Mingfei······"

It turned out that Song Lin's mother was Concubine Ming, and she was often bullied by other concubines because of her humble background, and it was Empress Jiang who had been protecting her, but because of some misunderstandings, the two had a gap and often fought against each other.

Later, Concubine Ming unfortunately suffered from thirst and could not be cured, and when she was dying, she reconciled with Empress Jiang, and asked her to help her take care of Song Lin, after Empress Jiang agreed, Concubine Ming died with a smile, at the age of only twenty-eight and Song Lin was only ten years old.

Originally, Empress Jiang wanted to take him with her, but was rejected by Song Lin, who was young at the time, saying that he just wanted to stay in the Hui'an Palace before his mother's death.

Although Empress Jiang did not take Song Lin with her, she would reward him with more treasures and delicacies in the monthly Yulu, also in order to fulfill the promise of the year, as if he was his own son.

When Emperor Chu heard this, he sighed: "I know that you are soft-hearted, how can I not miss Concubine Ming, but the royal family has rules, no matter who violates it, they must be punished, and my son is no exception." Besides, I also allowed the 'congratulatory gift' that Lin'er gave you to enter the palace, which is already a great favor, otherwise, ordinary juggling civilians, I will let them into the palace? ”

Seeing that Empress Jiang was still depressed, Emperor Chu finally relented and said: "That's it, after the banquet is over in a while, I will go with you to visit Lin'er, if he knows to repent, how about I let him go?" ”

Empress Jiang immediately said happily: "The concubine knows that His Majesty loves me, Your Majesty's kindness, and the concubine must be unforgettable." ”

Emperor Chu smiled: "What kind is not kind, who can compare the love between you and my husband and wife?" ”

Dongdu, Dongshi, Jingkangfang, Tiweifu, Xuzheng

Xiao Chongguang and others gathered in the hall and showed the deployment map of the plan to Ji Yun and Guo Ting.

"Brother Xiao, how did you expect that assassin to do it tonight?" Ji Yun asked.

Xiao Chongguang said: "As far as I know, the forces on the assassin side have distributed many hidden stakes to hide in various palaces and official offices of the imperial court, so as to facilitate espionage information. I have been ordered by His Majesty to ensure that nothing disturbs the Queen's birthday banquet tonight, otherwise, I will be severely blamed for the Guardian Mansion. Presumably, those Assassins have already learned about this, and they have long hated us and assassinated me and Yunsheng many times, so they will definitely carry out a high-profile murder tonight in order to trap our Tiwei Mansion and destroy it at the hands of Your Majesty. ”

Ji Yun said angrily: "Sure enough, it's a group of thieves!" Brother Xiao, do you know who instructed these assassins? If, as you said, these outlaws commit crimes in such a planned and arranged manner, it is by no means something that a small person can do, and behind it, there must be a secret organization with very large power and financial resources. ”