In front of the gate, the guards opened the palace gate, allowing a group of officials who participated in the palace banquet outside the palace gate to enter one after another. Z.br>

Enter from this gate, walk about 200 steps, is in front of the car door, and then pass through this gate, at the end of the left and right sides, one is the Zhongshu Province, and the other is the newly established Menxia Province by the Shizhong Temple.

Walk another 200 steps, is the end gate, through the end gate, is the palace courtyard in front of the Taiji Palace, and then walk 600 steps, then go up the front steps of the hall, arrive at the Taiji Palace.

And today's palace banquet was held here.

Along the way, Huazhi followed behind Lu Zhaoyi, because it was the first time he had followed into the palace, so he was extremely curious about the environment in the palace, and he couldn't help but be a little apprehensive.

Ying Xue, who was traveling with her, also followed, and when she was so fussed, she couldn't help frowning, and couldn't help but remind Lu Zhaoyi.

However, when Lu Zhaoyi saw this, he couldn't help but hook the corners of his mouth, took Huazhi's hand, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, everything has me."

"It's not that I'm afraid." Hua Zhi leaned close to her ear and whispered vigilantly, "It's the first time I've entered the palace to be so big, I didn't expect it to look like this inside the palace?"

Lu Zhaoyi was amused by her and said with a smile: "There will be a chance to see it in the future, let's go, let's hurry up."

Holding the flower branch in one hand and the shadow snow in the other, she took a step forward and walked towards the door of the Taiji Hall.

It just so happened that the two of them passed by Lu Chengye's father and son, and the father and son also happened to look at her at this time.

Three months ago, since Qu Zhiyun left Jingzhou, Lu Zhaoyi sent someone to send Lu Fuchang back to the Nanyang Hou Mansion and found someone to send him to Taixue.

For a few months in a row, she occasionally went back to the Hou Mansion to visit the princess, and taught Lu Fuchang by the way, which also made her relationship with the Lu family gradually ease.

They looked at each other, smiled at each other, and then staggered.

On the high platform, Xia Pei looked at the crowded crowd underground, and saw Lu Zhaoyi's figure at a glance, his eyes narrowed, and his eyes flashed with essence.

Behind him, a man of about forty years of age walked slowly and stood behind the emperor.

The man was dressed in a dark blue python brocade robe, wearing a sword at his waist, his face was handsome, his momentum was extraordinary, his eyebrows and eyes were crooked, and he said with a smile: "Tonight's palace banquet, Your Majesty wants to arrange her in the front hall?"

Xia Pei was speechless.

"You have already made Lu Qiniang a courtier, causing the dissatisfaction of the court and the opposition, if the palace banquet allows her to enter the front hall again, I am afraid that it will cause criticism, this year, are you still doing well?" The man continued, with concern in his words.

"I know, Uncle Huang should remind me." Xia Pei looked back, and his voice was gentle.

Seeing this, the man sighed: "That's it, since Your Majesty has decided, then I don't want to say more, but I hope that Your Majesty will put the overall situation first, and don't act willfully, don't lose your sense of proportion because of a woman!"

As he spoke, he patted Xia Pei on the shoulder.

Xia Pei hummed lightly, "I understand, thank you Uncle Huang for your concern!"

With that, he raised his eyes again and stared at Lu Zhaoyi in the distance.

It didn't take long for Lu Zhaoyi to arrive in front of the Taiji Palace, the crowd was surging and crowded, she looked at the crowd in front of her, and frowned slightly.

Until they entered the temple, according to the size of the official rank, everyone found a seat and took a seat.

And in the hall, in addition to the important ministers of the court, there are several princes and nobles, as well as princes and princes and uncles came one after another, when Lu Zhaoyi saw several of them, his eyes lit up, and he saw his familiar figure on one of them.

And the man, when he saw her, was also stunned.

"I haven't seen you for a few months, how is everything okay with Mrs. Lu?" The man asked with a smile.

Seeing this person, Lu Zhaoyi couldn't help but be alert in her heart, and she replied with a smile, "Thank you for your concern, everything is fine!"

"Hahaha, that's good, that's good!" When Du Yan heard this, he smiled heartily, and then, a chill flashed in his eyes, and a touch of surprise crossed his eyes, "Today's night banquet, I hope that Lu Niangzi can also be as beautiful as in the past!"

Lu Zhaoyi's heart sank, and it seemed that there was something in his words

Speech.

In the face of such an old fox, she couldn't reveal much, she could only respond lightly, but she kept a smile on her face, "Qi Niang must live up to the trust of the right minister!"

A few months ago, Du Yan was grounded because of the incident in Huainan County, and now that she is back in charge of important affairs in the DPRK and China, she will not be spared easily.

However, Lu Zhaoyi was not afraid, after all, this right minister did not dare to do anything to her.

"That's good, that's good!" Du Yan smiled heartily, and then, his eyes flashed with essence, he glanced at Lu Zhaoyi, and then turned his head to look at Xia Pei, who was entering the hall.

He immediately greeted him and bowed to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the minister has already arranged the banquet in the palace according to your will, please show the emperor!"

Xia Pei didn't look at him, but stared at Lu Zhaoyi with burning eyes, and after not seeing him for many days, his heart suddenly throbbed.

Seeing this, Du Yan also understood the emperor's thoughts, a smile appeared on his face, and he lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, the minister will retire first."

It was Lu Zhaoyi's turn, she didn't want to have any entanglement with the emperor in front of everyone, so she smiled and greeted the emperor, and then turned to her seat.

Her place was arranged in the second row on the right, and after Lu Zhaoyi sat down, Huazhi and Yingxue knelt on both sides, ready to serve at any time.

Yuan Qi, Situ Lulin, Sikong Wu Chong, Jiuqing and his adjutants, Cai Yu and Qiu Quzi of Yushitai; There are also important ministers of the imperial court such as Wei Dan and Lu Chengye of Zhongshu and Shangshu provinces, and Yin Liqian of Henan Province have all sat down.

In the middle of the banquet, the only man in a python robe with a sword attracted everyone's attention.

He was dressed in a python robe, his face was cold and solemn, and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk falcon, and the whole person gave people a feeling of not being angry but threatening.

The moment everyone saw this man in a python robe, they couldn't help but be stunned.

"Who is this?"

Lu Zhaoyi turned his head and asked Qiu Quzi, who was closest to him.

"This is, Xia Candle, the king of Puyang, the younger brother of the first king, has been stationed in Puyang City, the capital of Yanzhou Prefecture, since the beginning of the dynasty, and has only recently returned to Luojing, His Majesty has specially given the king of Puyang, praise and worship is unknown, the court is not tending, and the sword is on the palace."

"King Puyang?" After hearing this, Lu Zhaoyi frowned slightly, and then suddenly realized.

It turns out that he is the king of Puyang!

Praise and worship is not named, the dynasty is not tending, and the sword is on the temple, can have such an honor, it can be seen that the status of Puyang King Xia Zhu in the court, under one person, above ten thousand people.

At the beginning, in the previous dynasty, Wu Gong had this honor, he could go to the palace with a sword, and the power leaned towards the government and the opposition, which finally laid the foundation for the creation of the Dayuan Dynasty.

However, King Puyang is different from the previous king, after all, he is the younger brother of the first king, His Majesty's own uncle, no matter what, he is still the emperor's elder, and he is not easy to neglect.

Moreover, although the king of Puyang is the brother of the former king, he has no real power in the court, and it is just a false name.

The sky gradually darkened, the lights on the hall were lit one by one, the palace lights were lit, and everyone in the hall gradually quieted down.

The wine is sweet and the atmosphere is lively.

During the banquet, Lu Zhaoyi didn't speak much, she lowered her eyes, and only occasionally raised a glass to drink tea.

Her eyes swept over the audience, and for some reason, she always felt that the atmosphere of this banquet was very weird, which made her feel creepy.

She couldn't help but look at Du Yan on the side.

This Du Yan was talking very closely with Lu Lin at the moment, and looked at her from time to time, as if he was holding back some bad thoughts. Seeing this, Lu Zhaoyi's heart rolled for a while, she had to prepare early, otherwise, if he attacked her, it would be troublesome.

However, how should she cope with such a banquet?

"Mrs. Lu."

Suddenly, Qiu Quzi, who was closest to her, spoke softly, "Today, Du Xiang and Lu Situ are afraid that they will target you, and Qiu will settle it for you later, but you agree to a certain condition for Qiu!"

Hearing this, Lu Zhaoyi raised his eyes, and the light fell on his face.

When Qiu Quzi saw her looking at him, he smiled and said, "I heard that you plan to recruit Shi Zuoden, and this person Qiu is here

Xinye has already paid attention to it, and plans to introduce it to Shangshutai, and also asks Lu Niangzi not to compete with Qiu."

Lu Zhaoyi raised his eyebrows.

When she first returned to Beijing from Jiangzuo, she noticed that Shi Zuoden of Xinye Thorn Yang and asked Lu Chengye to pay attention to this person, but for several months, this person never took the initiative to go to Shangshutai, and she could not contact this person.

Now that I think about it, it should be Qiu Quzi who deliberately hid this person and didn't get it from her, I can't help but be dumbfounded, Qiu Quzi has such a mind, fortunately, it is still an alliance at the moment, if it is an enemy, I am afraid that it will be difficult to deal with.

And today, he can't wait to stand up and fight with her.

She hooked her lips and sneered, her eyes were deep, "Qiu Zhongcheng, Shi Zuoden is Xinye's good material and beauty, and Qi Niang has also heard of it a little, since this is the case, it is inconvenient for Qi Niang to take Qiu Zhongcheng's favor."

As soon as the words fell, Qiu Quzi nodded with satisfaction.

Just then, there was some movement outside, and then the attendant shouted, "The Queen Mother is coming!"

Hearing this, everyone stood up and bowed down in the direction of the door.

Lu Zhaoyi also quickly knelt down.

After a while, the Queen Mother slowly walked into the main hall with a group of palace maids, and when she saw a scene in the main hall, the expression on her face stiffened, and then, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she walked towards the emperor, "Emperor, it's too late!"

"The Queen Mother." Xia Pei got up and hurriedly ran to the door of the hall to greet him.

The people in the hall bowed down and bowed, and the mountain shouted:

"Queen Mother Qianqiu!"

The Queen Mother was dressed in a golden phoenix robe, graceful and luxurious, and slowly walked into the hall under the support of Xia Sheng, and saw the appearance of everyone kneeling down, and the smile on the corner of her mouth was even bigger, "Get up quickly, all are exempt!"

"Empress Dowager Xie." The crowd saluted again.

The Queen Mother looked at the people in the center of the hall, and then, her eyes fell on a woman dressed in red, with a beautiful face and a beautiful temperament, and she was slightly stunned, and then, the smile on her mouth became even stronger.

She walked slowly towards the only female guest in the hall until she came to a standstill.

Xia Pei, as well as Xia Sheng, who came with the Queen Mother, suddenly looked nervous, and looked at Lu Zhaoyi with their eyes.

Lu Zhaoyi felt the gaze of everyone, his heart tightened, and he didn't know what to do.

She couldn't help but glance at the Queen Mother with a serious face, and silently thought in her heart: Today, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to escape the doom!