On November 5, 1908, the fourth year of Kaihong (1908), in the golden Western-style hall of Xinhua Palace, Zhongnanhai Annex, was full of old and young men and women dressed in luxurious costumes.

They are in groups of threes and twos, holding wine glasses, shaking velvet folding fans, wearing seemingly noble masks and making innocuous jokes, waiting for the protagonist's appearance.

The noise froze in an instant.

Behind the diagonal curtain at the front of the hall, a delicate flower is blooming.

Her Royal Highness Princess Yuelan, a girl who has just turned seventeen today, at this moment, her mature and slender figure is wearing a soft white silk long skirt - from the corners of the skirt to the crow, dark green vines grow from the corners of the skirt, and the tender green vine leaves reflect the purple and red petals and goose yellow stamens, and the green and purple buds that are shy to bloom. The tip of the vine grows to the girl's waist, and the white silk dress is tightened from the waist until it is pierced with two bright purple flowers in bloom below the chest, and there is an unadorned monochrome field.

A light pink silk ribbon with a white nine-petal moon orchid tattooed with a white moon orchid is tied below the chest, and the embroidered ribbon is tied into a double-looped knot under the left breast, and the part below the knot is forked into two, which gently flutters with the movement of the girl's steps, and the bottom end just touches the ground when it is stationary.

When the girl approached the crowd, the pure natural ruddy color on the face with thin powder but no rouge further condensed her gaze, and although the small mouth with a little red paper was not to the extent of bright red fire, it was moist and fresh, delicate and lovely. The long, silky hair was tied in a bundle of pink silk and purple gemstone hairpins around the ears and fell to the waist, while the long hair at the back was naturally draped and swayed back and forth like waves as the girl walked.

There are already countless young boys below who have entered a fluttering unrealistic state.

The girl's hand was in the crook of her twin brother's arm, His Royal Highness Liu Ping, the Prince of Wu Rui, and if the girl was a flower like an orchid blooming on the moon, then the young Prince Wu Rui was a gorgeous and heroic sword—a sword that protected the flowers.

The straight black Praetorian Guard captain's uniform and eye-catching red ground cadet cadet epaulettes, the white gold dragon emblem collar flower, the tall feathered boat-shaped hat, the golden tassel belt worn on the chest and the red ground silver-edged ribbon all make Liu Ping's image of a sunny and beautiful young man more visually impactful, and there are already countless daydreaming ladies below who subconsciously reach out to cover their hot and red faces.

"Your Majesty the Emperor and the Empress have arrived." The master of ceremonies announced respectfully over the loudspeaker.

Following the princess and prince, the old but still majestic emperor and the charming queen walked out from behind the curtain hand in hand, and thousands of men and women on the scene immediately knelt down on one knee or bowed down to salute him, and the cries of "long live my emperor" and "thousand years old queen" resounded throughout the hall.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Wuhe has arrived."

In the announcement that the master of ceremonies stretched the tone, the beautiful crown prince Liu Qianhua in a white dress and the fifteen-year-old prince Liu Fan in a black tuxedo appeared in front of everyone one after another, and all the royal family members of the current Liu dynasty were all present at this point - no matter how you look at it, they are all overly thin royal families.

Needless to say, today is the birthday of Princess Yuelan and Prince Wu Rui, and this luxurious banquet in Xinhua Palace exists for this pair of twin brothers and sisters of Flower and Sword.

The people invited to the scene tonight were naturally all distinguished people, the older ones were all knights and honors, and the younger ones were well-bred noble sons and young ladies - almost all of the pillars of the new dynasty and their children were here.

"Today, I am glad that all of you guests are here to attend the birthday party of my beloved son and daughter, and I sincerely hope that every guest can spend a wonderful evening."

Liu Yun simply read out the opening remarks into the microphone, and then took a brocade box from the hand of the attendant and held it in front of Princess Liu Yuchun of Yuelan.

"Yuchun, my father wishes you a happy birthday - you are so beautiful today."

"Xie Lu, Xie Father." The princess's smile when she received the gift suddenly caused more innocent little boys to ascend to immortality and more perverts.

Yuchun opened the gift box on the spot with great anticipation, and a bright golden key was held on the red silk cloth.

"This is the key to the newly completed Guangyu Palace in the annex, and from now on, the Guangyu Palace will be yours." Needless to say, at this time, Liu Yun's face was overflowing with his father's pride, and even if Mars hit the earth, it would not be erased.

"Xie Lu, Father, Emperor!" The excited little princess didn't care about the thirty-seven twenty-one, hugged her father's neck and kissed it - in front of thousands of personable guests.

"You...... It's the age of getting married, and you haven't grown up yet......" Liu Yun smiled and pinched his daughter's nose, family fun, isn't that it? What more could you ask for?

At the same time, the whispers of the guests below echoed in the hall like ripples.

"So, it's really a concubine selection conference?"

"Needless to say, the female official Yang in the palace told me in person, Zhun Bao is right."

"Isn't the marriage of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still unresolved?"

"I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is determined to be the Queen of China's Eliza White, and if she wants to marry, she will marry the empire, and the emperor probably doesn't have hope for her marriage, so that the continuation of the royal family's bloodline can only count on the three young princes and princesses behind."

"Look at His Royal Highness Prince Wu Rui, that appearance, that temperament, isn't it more suitable to be the crown prince? There is an eldest man and no prince, and the eldest princess who has to be killed halfway has to be established, I really don't know what the Emperor of Lu Dao thinks. ”

"It's better to say less of this kind ......"

The slender middle-aged baron who said this immediately turned to a young naval lieutenant and said, "Zhaoming, you have to work hard at the ball. ”

The handsome naval lieutenant who wore the short sword of the Imperial Navy Officer smiled and said, "Brother is laughing......"

Countless young men suddenly flashed jealous, resentful, and fierce eyes next to him - this little lieutenant was too handsome! The battle with the goal of becoming the fast son-in-law of the dragon has not officially begun, and it has already filled the air with a faint, utilitarian smell of fire......

The ceremony on the stage was still going on, the emperor gave Prince Wu Rui a birthday gift, a gorgeous sword inlaid with the jade royal coat of arms, and then the queen mother, His Royal Highness the crown prince and His Royal Highness Prince Wu He also presented gifts in court, and the royal family performed a perfect repertoire with the theme of harmony and affection.

In the center of the hall has been set up a seven-tiered cake decorated with cream, ice cream and various fruits, and on the top of the top squatting is a pair of lively white rabbits - the zodiac signs of the two little birthday stars.

"Please light candles with Your Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess."

The prince and princess, who attracted countless envious and admiring eyes, came to the cake together, holding the same fire rod, lighting the lead above the white rabbit's head, and suddenly flashed a burst of colorful fireworks, at the same time, the sky was full of colorful rose petals falling from the ceiling, gorgeous fairy tales, romantic nights, suitable for the love that was about to move from the cocoon of the reserved elegant shell.

The fireworks flashed out, the flowers danced, and the master of ceremonies announced the next procedure: "Please invite Her Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess to meet with foreign dignitaries." ”

The first guest of honor was Crown Prince Kahito of allied Japan, the third prince of the Meiji Emperor, who had been ill since childhood, and even suffered from severe meningitis, but because the other four princes all died young, the crown prince's seat fell helplessly on his head.

The twenty-nine-year-old Crown Prince Kahito was a mad admirer of the West, especially Germany, and wore not only Kaiser Wilhelm's horned mustache, which was covered with oily Vaseline, but also the German cavalry uniform given to him by Kaiser Wilhelm and the feathered military cap of the German cavalryman, which is said to have ridden through the Tokyo Imperial Palace on a tall horse imported from Germany.

"I wish His Royal Highness the Prince and Princess a happy birthday, and if I have the opportunity, I hope that the two noble Highnesses will come to Japan as guests." Crown Prince Kahito uttered the above greetings in an astonishing fluency in Chinese, and although the crown prince himself admired the West, he still had a great knowledge of Sinology and the Chinese language under the strict teachings of Emperor Meiji and the general trend of revival of Han culture in Japan.

"Thank you very much, if you have the chance, I will definitely go." Liu Ping smiled cheerfully.

"I heard that Japan has very beautiful scenery, and I really wanted to see it." Yuchun winked cutely.

Gifts included a Japanese sword for Prince Wu Rui and a traditional Japanese court Tang costume for Princess Yuelan, as well as two Chinese poems written by Crown Prince Kahito himself, engraved on a Japanese-style folding fan made of white gold sheets.

The next guests were His Royal Highness Praun Joe, the son of King Rama V of Siam, and His Royal Highness Prince Mun Joe, the former named Pattanatit, the son of King Rama V of Siam, and the latter named Krisada, the grandson of the late King Rama IV and the cousin of His Royal Highness Praen Joe.

The two of them are both sixteen years old, and since last year, they have entered the junior high school of Longyun Academy, where the children of the imperial nobility gather, and they happen to be in the same class as Liu Fan, the prince of Wuhe, and the three of them quickly became good friends, and the two princes naturally became frequent visitors to the palace, and the royal family had a good impression of them.

"Long time no see, how are you lately?"

Since they are acquaintances, there is no need for too procedural greetings, Liu Ping greeted the two princes first with such an idea.

"Thanks to you, everything is fine...... Happy birthday, Your Royal Highness the Prince, Princess. "His Royal Highness Praon Joe's Chinese has a strong Beijing flavor.

"I'm glad you're here...... Klee, where's your ring? Didn't you wear that special jade ring all the time? Yuchun called Prince Klisada's nickname.

"I disappeared two days ago, and I haven't found it yet." Prince Krisada's face was sad, it turned out that he had already made a marriage contract with the sister of His Royal Highness Praan Jo, and he would return to China to get married as soon as he finished studying abroad, and the ring that Yuchun said was a token of love between the two.

"Klee, I'll definitely find it, change my mood, let's go to the Imperial Theater another day to watch a play, haven't you always wanted to see what Peking Opera is like? Well, Joe Phi will go with him. Yuchun called out the nickname of His Royal Highness Prada Joe again.

In the eyes of Prince Krisada, Her Royal Highness Princess Yuelan at this time is simply the embodiment of a certain great bodhisattva of supreme light.

The gifts presented by the two princes included jade and gold Buddha statues, richly decorated daggers, rings and necklaces set with precious stones, and Chinese-Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures made of gold leaf.