Chapter 16: The Palace Banquet
The carriage drove to the gate of the palace and stopped, and many ministers had already arrived in advance, and they were greeting each other, and when they saw the carriage of the Prime Minister's Mansion coming, some people came around.
Shen Qingyun couldn't avoid this, she knew how many dark waves were hidden in this seemingly harmonious palace banquet.
Some ministers with different political views can't help but play some tricks at the palace banquet, and those with lower official positions use the palace banquet to observe the wind direction in the palace, and it is best to form a family with a high and powerful person, and at the very least, find some officials with the same rank to support each other, so that they can go longer and farther in the treacherous court.
As soon as Shen Qingwen got out of the car, she was pulled away by a group of official ladies, and Shen Qingwen seemed to be very used to this, but she never knew that how many of those people were sincere to her. It is only because she has been carrying the name of Miss Prime Minister's Mansion for so many years that she has become the object of the nobles' scramble.
Shen Qingyun didn't step forward, she had always disliked such meaningless communication. So she lowered her head and silently stepped aside, she didn't want to be too conspicuous and become the center of attention, and there would be more troubles to be found. Having Xiahou Yuanzhi is enough to annoy her, and she really doesn't want to mess with others.
These days, in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Shen Qingwen has been suppressed by Shen Qingyun, and now that it is a familiar occasion, how could Shen Qingwen let go of a good opportunity for revenge. Anyway, Shen Qingyun has never participated in any banquets, and she is the one who shines the most on such occasions.
Shen Qingyun saw Shen Qingyun retreating to the side alone, and she knew that the opportunity had come, so she walked towards Shen Qingyun.
"Miss, Second Miss, they're here with us." Shurui whispered in Shen Qingyun's ear to remind.
As soon as Shen Qingyun looked up, she saw Shen Qingwen and a group of fancy ladies behind her coming, so she frowned, why do these people always come to provoke her, does she look like a bully?
In a moment, a group of people had already arrived in front of Shen Qingyun, only to see Shen Qingyun laughing sweetly, and naturally and affectionately took Shen Qingyun's hand. "Sister, why are you here alone? You've been looking for you for a long time. ”
Shen Qingyun looked at Shen Qingyun's hypocritical appearance and felt sick to her stomach, goosebumps rose, she withdrew her hand back, and did not forget to wipe her hands with a handkerchief.
Shen Qingwen felt a little embarrassed, but she still hid her emotions well and didn't say anything.
"Sister-in-law, when did you have a sister?" As soon as Shen Qingwen's words fell, a noble girl behind her raised questions. Although there is more than one young lady in the Prime Minister's Mansion, the others are younger than Shen Qing's daughter-in-law, and they have all seen it, and they have never heard that Shen Qing's wife has a sister.
"Ah...... I've always had a sister. It's just that my sister didn't like to go out before, and she didn't want to have personal contact, so she stayed in the yard alone every day, so everyone didn't know her.
Today I want to reintroduce to you, this is my sister Shen Qingyun, the eldest lady of the Shen family. Shen Qingyun observed Shen Qingyun's face for a moment before answering cautiously.
In the eyes of outsiders, Shen Qingyun is a tricky and eccentric person, which makes her sister so embarrassed.
"It turns out that this is the eldest lady of the Shen family, didn't Qing Wu say a few days ago that there is a young lady in your family and Nan Wuyue, the owner of the gambling house...... It can't be your sister. One of them looked at Shen Qingyun with a sneer.
"That's just a misunderstanding, don't listen to the rumors." Shen Qingwen lowered her eyes slightly, as if she was deliberately hiding something.
"Sister, although this is your first time attending a banquet, it doesn't matter if you don't understand anything, just ask your daughter-in-law, and your sister-in-law will help you.
And there will be a lot of dignitaries at today's banquet, so you must not rush into others like at home. My sister just needs to follow her sister-in-law. Shen Qingyun's every sentence deliberately lowered her posture, which seemed to be for Shen Qingyun's sake, but in fact, it was to say that Shen Qingyun was neither favored nor understood the rules in the mansion, and the Prime Minister's Mansion deliberately hid her.
"Sister-in-law, I didn't expect you to be so kind and so kind to your sister. It's really a beautiful person, no wonder everyone likes you. One of the noble ladies looked at Shen Qingwen with exaggerated admiration.
"It's nothing, after all, we're sisters. But everyone should also take care of my sister more, don't let her get into trouble and go back to be scolded by her father. Shen Qingwen continued to speak, deducing the deep sisterhood.
"Sister-in-law, go play by yourself, I'm really not interested, just walk by yourself." Shen Qingyun disdains to worry about Shen Qingwen, not to mention that there will be more exciting scenes at the palace banquet for a while, so let Shen Qingyun be arrogant now.
Shen Qingwen saw that she was going to leave, how could she be willing, she quickly lowered her head and bit her lip lightly with a very embarrassed look, "Then how can it be done, my father specially told me not to let my sister alone." ”
"Miss Shen, you haven't participated in the palace banquet or stay with us, if there is really any unintentional mistake, I am afraid of embarrassing the Prime Minister." A noble girl looked at Shen Qing's embarrassed appearance and hurriedly helped.
Shen Qingyun was helpless, she had already paid attention to grasping the proportions, and she was wronged so much for the sake of tonight's play, but now she was a little impatient.
Before Shen Qingyun could speak, the two of them left, and a deep voice came from behind them. "Yun'er, what are you doing here, I'm looking for you everywhere."
Everyone followed the sound and looked at it, and the person who came was Xiahou Yuanzhi. The ladies all looked at Xiahou Yuanzhi with affection, after all, Xiahou Yuanzhi was their dream lover.
"Don't wait outside, come in with me first." Xiahou Yuanzhi directly ignored the people around him, and spoke softly to Shen Qingyun.
"No, my sister said that I often get into trouble and it's the first time to attend a palace banquet, so I can't leave her." Shen Qingyun was playful and said deliberately.
"Well, you often get into trouble, but it doesn't matter if you follow me, you can get into trouble as much as you want, and I'll be responsible for accidents." Xiahou Yuanzhi looked at Shen Qingyun and smiled and doted on him, and then took Shen Qingyun away directly.
Everyone watched the two leave, and the atmosphere became delicate, originally thinking that Shen Qingyun was not favored, so they wanted to see the joke and please Shen Qingwen by the way. But she didn't expect His Royal Highness to be so good to her, so they weren't on the wrong side now.
"You really saved them, and they should thank you so much." Shen Qingyun followed Xiahou Yuanzhi into the palace, and couldn't help but speak on the way.
"I think I helped you out, so you should thank me." Xiahou Yuanzhi thought for a moment.
Shen Qingyun glanced at Xiahou Yuanzhi, "Do you have any plans today that you need me to cooperate with?" ”
"No, I just think the palace banquet is really boring, but I have to participate, so I let you come to relieve your boredom." Xiahou Yuanzhi spoke lightly, but Shen Qingyun always felt that he was a little weak-hearted.
"Brother Yuanzhi, why did you come, Ning'er has been waiting for you for a long time." Not long after the words fell, a woman came running, her voice was crisp and her appearance was very innocent, and she liked it when she saw it.
Shen Qingyun looked at the person running opposite, and guessed something, she called Xiahou Yuanzhi her brother, and called herself Ning'er, presumably this is the Princess Yuning mentioned by Xiahou Yuanzhi two days ago. I didn't expect a person as cold as Xiahou Yuanzhi to have such a lovely sister.
"Slow down, don't fall. I'm not here, what's the hurry. Xiahou Yuanzhi looked at Yu Ning with a smile on his face, with tenderness between his eyebrows.
"Who called Brother Yuanzhi, I didn't come to see Ning'er for a long time, and Ning'er was very bored." Yu Ning hugged Xiahou Yuanzhi's arm and coquettishly.
"You girl, you don't follow the teacher all day long to learn female workers, you know how to play every day, and you can't get married in the future." Xiahou Yuanzhi looked at his sister in front of him and spoke, but he rubbed her hair dotingly, without blaming her.
"How come, Yu Ning has a brother who is not afraid of anything." Yu Ning is still young, Xu is queen and the emperor are too fond of her, and there is always childishness between words.
"Who is this sister?" Princess Yu Ning looked at Shen Qingyun beside Xiahou Yuanzhi now and spoke, she had never seen this person, and besides, she appeared next to her brother, how could she not be curious.
"This is the eldest lady of the Xiangfu mentioned to you a few days ago, Shen Qingyun." Xiahou Yuanzhi introduced the people around him to Princess Yuning.
Princess Yu Ning looked at Shen Qingyun before she smiled and said, "It turns out that you are the eldest lady of the Shen family." ”
"I've seen the princess." Shen Qingyun spoke according to the rules, and somehow, she felt that this princess didn't seem to like her very much.
"Lord Wang, the emperor is looking for you." Soon, Xiahou Yuanzhi's personal guard interrupted the conversation between the three of them.
"Brother Yuanzhi go find his father, I'll take Miss Shen around to have a look." As soon as Yu Ning heard that his father was looking for his brother, he quickly pulled Shen Qingyun to his side and urged Xiahou Yuanzhi to find the emperor.
Xiahou Yuanzhi knew what bad ideas his sister was thinking, but he thought that Shen Qingyun could deal with it, and maybe he could become friends with this girl who couldn't be controlled by anyone, so he turned around and left without saying anything.
In the long palace alley, only Princess Yu Ning and Shen Qingyun and their respective maids remained. Princess Yu Ning turned to look at Shen Qingyun, and Shen Qingyun didn't open her mouth and let her look at Yu Ning, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.
"There's nothing interesting in the palace at this time, so why don't you go to the imperial garden with this princess." In the end, it was Princess Yu Ning who spoke first.
"Listen to the princess." Shen Qingyun nodded and followed Yu Ning's side.
Neither of them spoke along the way, and Princess Yuning also accepted the coquettish appearance of Xiahou Yuanzhi just now, and walked in front with a straight face, frowning slightly as if she was thinking about something.
Shen Qingyun only thought it was funny when she looked at her, when she was still a demon, those old demons who turned into human form told her that mortals have the most complex emotions, she had never understood it before, but since she became Shen Qingyun, she understood this feeling more and more.