Ten days later, October 21, was not only an ordinary day for the Great Wei monarchs, but also the birthday of its actual supreme ruler, the Empress Dowager Hu Ying.

Because the world is restless, and it is not a whole life, the queen mother specially instructed not to do it in a big way, and only need to invite the Yuan clan and the Hu family to gather together for a light meal. However, the officials who do the specific work can always change the law to please the queen mother's heart, and several days in advance the birthday banquet is decorated in the Baisha Palace, the gold tile and silver pillar, the bead curtain jade wall, the poor work is extremely ingenious, extremely luxurious, the birthday banquet day in front of the Baisha Palace is a forest of guards, the palace people are busy, a grand and festive scene.

Yuan Rui had just passed the day this day, so he hurriedly urged Sun Qian: "Hurry up and change into a set of decent clothes, we should also enter the palace to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday!" ”

Sun Qian looked surprised: "It's still early for the dinner party at this moment!" Brother Rui, you're too anxious, aren't you? ”

Yuan Rui: "You don't understand this, like this occasion, it is a moment to be able to arrive early, if the Queen Mother is in high spirits and has a banquet in advance, do you want her old man to wait for us?" ”

Sun Qian squinted at Yuan Rui: "Having said that, but now that the morning has just passed, no matter how high the Queen Mother's interest is, she won't eat lunch and dinner together, right?" ”

Yuan Rui: "You have a lot of opinions!" Didn't you always say that you were bored in the palace all day long, wouldn't it be good to take you into the palace to see and see earlier? I heard that they invited more than a dozen of the most popular singers from more than a dozen states to sing songs to cheer up, and maybe I would have been lucky enough to listen to them sing a few more songs earlier! With so many celebrities gathered together, even if you have a lot of money on weekdays, it is not something that you can do casually. ”

Sun Qian finally smiled: "I'll go and prepare!" He just ran two steps and turned his head to look at Yuan Rui suspiciously, "That's not right!" The Queen Mother said that she would simply have a light meal, how could it be so grand? ”

Yuan Rui laughed: "Do you believe the Queen Mother's words?" If she really doesn't want to be extravagant, she either doesn't hold this birthday banquet, or explicitly prohibits all kinds of expenses, as if she doesn't want to say "everyone can get together casually, and you don't have to do it in a big way." 'Who will take the people down there seriously?' Who would dare to take it seriously? ”

Sun Qian: "You ducible guys...... suddenly seemed to think of something, "In that case, the congratulatory gift to the Queen Mother can't be too shabby?" Brother Rui, what have you prepared? ”

Yuan Rui smiled dumbly: "If you don't wake up until this moment, how can you have time?" Just rest assured! I prepared a one-to-one identical jade flute, although the jade is not very precious, but it is rare that the two flutes are exactly the same, the score is exactly the same, and it is not bad to find this in a hurry. Although we don't deliberately welcome the Queen Mother, we can't lose the face of our Changle Palace, right? ”

Sun Qian pinched Yuan Rui's face: "Brother Rui is the most reliable!" Then he jumped up and down to the bedroom.

After a long while, Yuan Rui was waiting a little impatiently, Sun Qian finally came out of the bedroom and appeared in front of Yuan Rui again, only to see her change into a bright red dress, the already snow-white skin looked even more tender against the background of the dress, a green silk obliquely inserted butterfly golden step, the placket was open to the pink shoulder, the delicate collarbone loomed, and the long skirt dragged the floor more and more to highlight its graceful temperament. Yuan Rui looked at her blankly as if he had been hooked away, unable to say a word for a long time.

Sun Qian seemed to enjoy Yuan Rui's expression very much, and said with a smile: "Quickly wipe your saliva, don't you have to rush into the palace?" ”

As soon as the words fell, Uncle Chen came to report, saying that the carriage sent by the palace was already waiting at the door.

Yuan Rui glanced at Sun Qian proudly: "I'm right, right?" ”

Sun Qian seemed to coax a child: "Yes! Be! Brother Rui is the wisest! He took Yuan Rui's arm and walked out of the mansion gate and got into the carriage that took them into the palace.

As soon as he stepped into the Baisha Palace, Yuan Rui heard the noise of children. Following the prestige, I saw two children of the same age, about seven or eight years old, who didn't know what they were fighting for, and they didn't give in to each other and quarreled loudly. One of them, Yuan Rui, recognized that it was Hu Jingxian, the young son of the great general Hu Shen, who was pointing at another child and scolding at the moment: "Hillbilly! How dare you rob me of something? ”

The kid didn't give in: "Whoever you scold, I'll let my sister cut off your head!" ”

Hu Jingxian: "Those who come from the countryside are hillbillies, how to scold?" ”

The two of you come and go, and when they were about to do it, a middle-aged man came out in time to stop it, pulled the child away and said, "Shen Yan, I forgot that my father told you that our Hu family is a family and wants to get along with my brothers and sisters?" Although your sister is a queen, compared to your aunts and uncles, it is nothing remarkable! ”

It turned out to be Bingzhou assassin Shi Hu Mo and his son Hu Shenyan, who were specially invited to the banquet from Bingzhou this time, and it seems that they were stained with the light of Queen Hu Bizhu. Since seeing their father and son for the first time, Yuan Rui couldn't help but take a few more looks. Although the two children were separated, their faces were full of disbelieving. Looking at the faces of the two children who were flushed with anger, Yuan Rui suddenly couldn't help laughing, the name given by the Hu family is really interesting, called Jingxian scolded his uncle for being a hillbilly, and called Shen Yan to threaten to cut off people's heads.

Soon the Empress Dowager and other ceremonial guards arrived one after another, and no one dared to make a noise.

After the greetings, everyone offered birthday gifts one after another, and time passed imperceptibly in this pleasant atmosphere. Bells and drums rang out in unison, and the dinner officially began. The Queen Mother held high the jasper and drank with everyone. Then all kinds of delicacies were served in front of each person's table in turn, and Sun Qian had never even heard of many dishes, let alone eaten them, although she didn't make a sound, the surprised look on her face was like the clear stream, which was unobstructed by others, far more "hillbilly" than Hu Jingxian's Hu Mo father and son.

Everyone toasted to the Queen Mother in turn, wishing her the sun and moon to be prosperous and pine cranes and long years. The Queen Mother was also very interested, and a few glasses of amber wine were in her stomach, and she was already a little drunk. At this moment, he is talking and laughing with the Hu family. When the conversation came up, Hu Mo even told the queen mother about the dispute between the two children as a joke.

Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother's face sank when she heard this: "Hu Mo, it is you who are too indulgent to the children on weekdays, so that they can develop such a disrespectful and selfish personality, if you can't invite a good gentleman, find one for you another day, and bring it back to teach this child well." ”

I wanted the Empress Dowager Bo to smile, but she was reprimanded, and Hu Mo nodded awkwardly and said yes. In a blink of an eye, seeing Hu Shenzheng pursing his lips and snickering, the Queen Mother turned the gun and reprimanded him again: "What are you laughing at?" You're not much better, so it's better to give your family a gentleman first. ”

Hu Shen hurriedly put away his smile and accepted criticism with an open mind.

Talking about the children, the Queen Mother asked Hu Yuan by the way: "How old is your Yurui this year?" ”

Hu Yuan: "With the concern of Empress Dowager Lao, Yurui has just turned eight years old. ”

Queen Mother: "Eight years old, it's a carefree age, have you ever promised someone?" ”

Hu Yuan: "No. ”

Queen Mother: "Don't allow people easily, you must find someone worthy of our Hu family, marry into the major high gates, or the family of the Three Princes and Nine Qings, that is the minimum, if there is a chance to enter the palace in the future, it is unknown." ”

Hu Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly got up to thank him.

Hu Bizhu has not said a word since the beginning of the birthday banquet, and she can't bear it anymore at the moment, she thinks that the Queen Mother's words are deliberately said to her, so she got up and gave a slight salute, "Queen Mother, Your Majesty, the concubine has drunk a little too much, so she will retire first." Without waiting for the approval of the Queen Mother, he left.

Looking at her distant back, the Queen Mother suddenly burst into smoke and slammed the wine glass to the ground. Yuan Rui and the others were chatting with themselves in the side seats, but they were suddenly so shocked by this change that they stopped talking, and even the artists who were playing and singing stopped their work one after another, not daring to make a sound, and looked at the Queen Mother to see what was going on. I only heard the Queen Mother angrily scolding Hu Mo and said: "This is the daughter you taught, and now she doesn't even bother to find an excuse!" Drink like a fish? Did she drink anything other than the cup of mourning? Although the voice was not loud, at this moment, the Baisha Hall was so quiet that it could be heard when a needle fell, and her words still reached the ears of everyone in the hall word for word.

Hu Mo kept accompanying Hu Bizhu, hoping that the Queen Mother would have a lot of knowledge and not be like juniors.

Seeing that the atmosphere was suddenly embarrassing, Hu Yuan hurriedly shouted at those servants: "Keep singing!" Are you here to sing or to come to see the play? ”

The melodious sound of silk and bamboo sounded again, and the tactful singing voice drifted into everyone's ears again, and the royal relatives in the field continued to put on smiling faces and took turns to wish the Queen Mother her birthday, as if the unpleasant scene just now had never happened at all.

Others didn't dare to sweep the queen mother's happiness, but she didn't need to hide her unhappiness, not to mention that she felt the most unhappy was herself, so she reluctantly drank a few more glasses of longevity wine, and suddenly dropped the wine glass again and brushed her sleeves away. After she left, everyone was in no mood to continue drinking, and the dinner ended hastily.