Informal banquets were usually held in the palace courtyards, which were more like private banquets between the emperor and his close ministers and concubines, while formal and grand banquets were held in the palace banquet halls, with larger attendees, more elaborate etiquette, and more formal dishes.

The grandmother, dressed in a plain palace dress, slowly led An Xi forward in front, and she was looking around at this time.

Although the original owner has the memory of entering the palace a few times, there are only images of the side door to the Cheng'an Palace. And the night when he broke into the palace was only worthy of visiting a few palaces, and the road that Mama led him to walk was very unfamiliar.

The pillars of the cloister are blackened and red, and the corridor is inlaid with glazed tiles. There is a bench between every two pillars for people to sit and rest – like a modern park.

The snake-like corridor that twists and turns around the rockery is not very long, but it is very wide, just a corridor of ornamental rest is already more majestic than the long street.

The top of the cloister hangs down a lot of glass beads to cover and reflect, there is the effect of shading and sheltering from the rain, every dozen steps can see a small dry incense burner is embedded in the pillars, very elegant.

But An Xi had no time to simply appreciate the beautiful scenery built by the power of the country in the palace, because she found a problem.

There was no sound of silk bamboo orchestras.

Since this grandmother took her into the palace, the two of them have been walking for nearly two quarters of an hour.

According to Yu Yi'an, the banquet will be held in the banquet hall behind the Cheng'an Palace, so according to An Xi's memory, entering the palace from the East Qi Gate to the Cheng'an Palace, even if it is a slow and leisurely walk for two quarters of an hour, it should be there.

This gathering is more than a feast, and the banquet begins with a program carefully rehearsed by the palace dancers.

So if they were already near the banquet hall at this time, they would have heard the sound of music.

The two of them are not slow, An Xi is already late, and Mama has no reason to deliberately take her around.

Seeing the grandmother in front of her folded her hands in front of her according to the etiquette of the palace maid, walking forward quietly without raising her head step by step, An Xi was a little more vigilant in her heart.

An Yong slipped from his forearm and fell into An Xi's right hand, the crimson snake hyacinth was hidden under An Xi's wide sleeves, and many tiny thorns slowly poked out of the silver-white scales at the tail, shining with a strange light in the shadows.

Helping the longest garnet on the side of his bun and determining the position of the hairpin needle, An Xi calmed down and kept a certain distance behind Mama.

If this mama calculates against herself, then An Yong's venom and her own golden needle will teach her to be a human being.

Yu Yi'an had already arrived at the banquet hall, and after greeting the emperor and empress one by one, he sat at the end of the prince's seat.

His eyes swept the female seat opposite, but he found that there was no red-clothed figure, his eyebrows moved slightly, and he glanced at the seat of the concubine with his residual vision.

Concubine Mei is not there either.

Yu Yi'an's eyes flashed slightly, and he was looking for an excuse to leave the table, but he saw An Xi, who had a calm face, slowly walking into the gate of the banquet hall with Concubine Mei.

Concubine Mei also put her mind on it today.

Dressed in a peach-colored palace dress, the skirt is woven with dyed feathers, and the gauze coat adds a fairy spirit to the whole person, with a jujube embroidered blue cloud shoulder, and the long tassel hangs straight to the chest. There is an ingots bun on the high plate, a hairpin comb of pink glass, with a few green hairpin nails, the fairy spirit is fluttering and otherworldly, swaying.

Concubine Mei's appearance is gentle and bland, although she is older, but after all, she is nourished in the palace and is very well maintained, and she is very perfect when she is less than thirty years old.

But she shouldn't be standing by Anxi's side.

An Xi is dressed in a red dress and a golden hairpin, just the materials on the long skirt are much more upscale than Concubine Mei's pretense of being light, not to mention that An Xi's appearance is too aggressive, the corners of her eyes are tall and raised, and Li Furong's suggestion is taken at the end of her eyes, and a diamond is pasted on each of them, with gold hairpins and garnets, her face is very bright, and the red lipstick is different from the gentle style of all the ladies present.

The whole body is full of flamboyance and rudeness, but people can't find out the specific places that should be singled out for guilt.

Concubine Mei, who was no longer young, stood beside An Xi, who was not yet in time, and the dignity and gentleness on her face gradually began to be unbearable, and she bowed to the emperor and returned to her seat.

An Xi saw his mother glaring anxiously at him, nodded slightly, stepped forward, and stood in front of the chair of the emperor and empress.

"The little girl is late, and she asks the emperor to forgive her sins and the queen's mother to forgive her sins."

As the words came to mind, An Xi gently bowed down and made a standard aristocratic greeting to the emperor and empress.

Without waiting for the emperor to reply, An Xi followed his words and said: "I haven't seen you for many years, the little girl asked the emperor Sheng'an and the queen's mother Rong'an." ”

After that, An Xi didn't wait for someone to speak, she straightened up without being humble or arrogant, and her steps collided with her movements, and the crisp and beautiful voice echoed in An Xi's ears.

Seeing the undisguised glint of satisfaction in the queen's expression, An Xi knew that she had made the right bet from beginning to end.

It's just that...

Looking at the string of white jade beads around the queen's neck, An Xi remembered the words she had heard.

An Xi was led by the grandmother in the huge palace in a daze, just when she had murderous intent towards the grandmother, the old female official who was old but had a good face suddenly suffered a leg disease, leaned on the bench and could not get up again.

An Xi had no choice but to follow the old lady's instructions and walk through the imperial garden to the banquet hall.

Just as she walked behind the rockery in the Imperial Garden, she suddenly heard a conversation between two female voices.

"You have to make sure that the poisoned wine will not cause an accident, and that it will be poured into her cup."

"Don't worry, Manager Li has always been reliable."

As soon as An Xi heard this, he wanted to dodge, not wanting to be involved in some palace dispute that had nothing to do with him.

However, the soul of gossip was burning, and An Xi couldn't control his curiosity.

She didn't expect this incident to make her listen to it in such detail and make her regret it so much.

So on the way to the banquet hall, she kept thinking about one thing, whether she should blindly act chivalrous or indifferent to death.

The two women discussed how to use a cup of tea and a string of beads at the banquet to unwittingly poison Qi Buruo, the founding queen of the dynasty.

Before An Xi could think of her exact answer, she was interrupted by a sharp voice.

"Which little girl are you from, and you didn't even salute when you saw Concubine Mei?"

The person who reprimanded was a palace maid, dressed and jewelled, and seemed to be the big palace maid beside Concubine Mei.

"It's okay, it must be the official lady who enters the palace for the first time, so you don't have to be so strict."

An Xi, who was about to argue with the girl, suddenly exploded her cold hair.

The owner of this gentle and soft voice, Concubine Mei, is one of the people who conspired behind the rockery.

Looking at Concubine Mei's upright appearance, her eyebrows and eyes were full of gentleness and easy-going.

Thinking of the terrible effect of the fusion of the tea and the medicine in the string of white jade beads that he had just heard behind the rockery, An Xi couldn't help but shudder.

The light and shadow in Concubine Mei's eyes flowed, and the seductive look looked even more moving on her blandly face.

"Miss An, let's go to the banquet together."