Today, Emperor Li went down to the morning of the court, as soon as he returned to the harem, he came to the queen's place, took a nap after lunch, went to the Zichen Hall in the afternoon and approved a few tight pieces and returned to the Yongyang Palace, and when the banquet was arranged in the evening, the queen accompanied him to the banquet hall, at this time, the virtuous concubine had already arrived at the queen's will, so she accompanied Emperor Li at the first place, laughing and chatting with some refreshments; the queen sat beside the emperor, and sometimes said a few words, and her face was also smiling; and the prince sat in front of his table, although his position was very close to Emperor Li, but he only maintained a decent and humble expression, and did not seem to participate in the chat between the three of them。 At this time, the guests who participated in the family banquet also arrived one after another, most of them were the children of the clan and the important ministers of the court, everyone was used to entering the palace, and after seeing the emperor and the crown prince, they all sat down, but everyone's eyes always seemed to drift to the door of the banquet hall, as if waiting for someone to arrive.

Li Yao, like everyone else, also glanced at the door from time to time, until Lin Yuebai arrived, he finally showed a gentle smile, and the emperor at the top seemed to be very happy, Lin Yuebai's salute was not finished, he opened his mouth to let her sit next to the prince. As soon as these words came out, everyone in the banquet hall and Lin Yuebai himself were stunned, Mrs. Jiao was the first to come out and knelt down respectfully to thank her, and then said that Lin Yuebai was just the daughter of the official eunuch, and there were arrangements for banquets and drinking seats in the palace. The queen didn't speak, but Concubine Wei Xian glanced at Lin Yuebai lightly, and said that this seemed to be inconsistent. Lin Yuebai had to stand on the spot, and for a while she didn't know whether to thank her for obeying the order or retreating silently, or which seat to go, but the emperor saw her embarrassment very lovingly, and cordially instructed Li Nan to invite her to the prince's side, help her to take a seat, and Li Nan personally laid out the table on the table in front of her. Li Nan is the great eunuch beside the emperor, and he is the one who only serves the emperor, since he is allowed to serve in person, it must be intentional by the emperor. Seeing that Emperor Li valued Lin Yuebai so much, the joy on Li Yao's face was also overflowing, so she said happily: "Today is a family banquet, and we will all be a family in the future, but I really don't need to talk too much about those rules and regulations-Concubine Xian, you say?"

Wei Nanyan's face was slightly gloomy, but in just a moment, she turned her face and smiled coquettishly at the emperor and queen: "What the queen mother said is very true, sooner or later they will be a family." ”

At this time, Lin Yuebai had already sat down, and seeing that everyone, especially the official ladies who had not left the cabinet, were staring at her with jealousy and red eyes, she was really a little embarrassed, so she lowered her head and looked directly at the wine glass in front of her. Suddenly, a warm hand clenched her small fist hidden in the sleeve cage, Lin Yuebai was startled, and looked at Li Yao next to her, but saw him nodding at her with a smile in his eyes, like encouragement, like approval, and more, but it was the same joy as her heart. Lin Yuebai's happiness slowly overflowed in his heart, so he also smiled in return. Her smile is extremely beautiful but gentle as water, and her smile is like the light of the night pearl sprinkled all over the sky and the earth at once, but there is no scorching feeling. At this point, although all the women in the palace were carefully dressed up today, they were all dim under her smile, and Wei Nanyan's face was even more gray to the extreme.

After half of the wine, Emperor Li was a little drunk at the moment because he had drunk a lot today, holding his head in one hand and holding the wine glass in the other, and raised his eyes slightly to see the Qibao peony hairpin held by Lin Yue in the candlelight, and said to the queen: "The queen appreciated the hairpin of the Lin family last time, and she is very worthy of her." ”

"How dare the concubines take credit, this Qibao peony hairpin was carefully brought to Yongyang Hall by Gonggong Nan, and it is His Majesty's vision that is excellent. ”

"The peony is the crown of flowers, and it has always been only worn in the main room, and this child of the Lin family is going to be the crown prince and concubine in the future, so he naturally wears a suitable instrument," Emperor Li glanced at Wei Nanyan intentionally or unintentionally, and asked casually: "Concubine Xian, does this hairpin deserve the child of the Lin family?"

Wei Nanyan's hand holding the wine glass at this time unconsciously became harder, as if she wanted to smash the glass, but her face was still smiling as always, and she nodded: "Your Majesty's reward is naturally worthy." ”

"Speaking of which, this child of the Lin family is a few years younger than Concubine Xian, right? But it looks similar, in the end, the widow's concubine is well-maintained, her appearance is radiant, a concubine in the deep palace, compared to the young girl who has not left the pavilion, it is not much different. ”

Emperor Li's words seemed to be said casually, but they pierced Wei Nanyan's heart like a sharp knife, she tried her best to stabilize the expression on her face, gently raised her wine glass and said: "The concubine's appearance is not old, and it is also because of Your Majesty's favor - the concubine respects Your Majesty!"

"Well, good!" The corners of Emperor Li's mouth raised slightly, he drank the contents of the cup, glanced at the wine jug on Wei Nanyan's banquet, and called to Li Nan: "Concubine Xian's wine is gone, go, take another pot of drunken flowers." ”

The queen on the side squinted slightly, and said with a smile: "Concubine Xian has such a big face today, there are so many people at the family banquet, only Concubine Xian, your wine is specially rewarded by His Majesty, and even the prince does not have this treatment!"

"Yes, by the way, the prince-" Emperor Li's gaze turned to Li Yao, and raised his voice and said: "You were busy with the affairs of the Yuan family a while ago, and it must be rare to see Miss Lin. ”

Li Yao stood up and saluted, and said respectfully: "The sons and daughters obey the teachings of their father. ”

Lin Yuebai also got up and saluted, and replied, "The courtiers obey the order." ”

At this time, the queen looked at the two of them standing side by side, and suddenly appeared in front of her when Li Zheng and Li Jiaoqian were married by the emperor that year, and they were also such a couple, and they were also at the dinner party-but time has changed, everything is different! The queen wiped the moistness from the corners of her eyes, and hurriedly asked her aunt to give Lin Yuebai a papaya blood swallow in front of her: "This papaya blood swallow is excellent, Yuebai, you can taste it." ”

This is the first time that the queen calls her "Yuebai", such an intimate title makes Lin Yuebai a little uncomfortable for a while, and hurriedly goes to the steps to thank her, when she takes the dessert, she only feels that the knife-like gaze around her is scraping around her, and her heart is a little unsteady, until she returns to the banquet, Li Yao holds her hand again, and she is a little relieved.

"Today they are happy, you follow them, and you don't need to care about the others. While drinking, Li Yao whispered to Lin Yuebai, "If you feel tired, find an opportunity to change your clothes for a while, take a turn outside and come back, I will let the singing and dancing team come over, and they will not stare at you." ”

"Hmm. Lin Yuebai responded softly, just about to taste the papaya blood swallow, but saw the virtuous concubine on the opposite side suddenly get up, said a few words to the emperor and left the table, when she left, she smiled at her very kindly, and Lin Yuebai also hurriedly responded with a smile. However, Li Yao, who was next to her, frowned, and after a while, he also got up and said to change his clothes.