Family Has a Concubine

The news of Qinghui Garden soon reached the emperor's ears.

Emperor Zhengxuan was in his bedroom, and he had already made preparations, but it was impossible for him to appear so early at this time.

After all, he is the emperor of Daqi, and it just so happened that the subordinate countries like Beiyan came, so he couldn't make an early appearance. He had to accept Beiyan and other court audiences before he could have a drink and talk with the dependent countries.

Now they heard that Bei Yan came to set up a chess game in Qinghui Garden, but they lost all of them, and even lost two games in a row.

Emperor Zhengxuan was so angry that his beard was about to stand up: "What does that Beiyan mean? He even said to borrow food!"

Emperor Zhengxuan had seriously thought about the issue of borrowing food, but let alone borrowing food from them now, before he even opened his mouth, they had already stepped on their own door to show off their might! If one fails, they will be ridiculed by others. If Da Qi shows weakness to Bei Yan again, they will be checked and balanced by Bei Yan.

They are not as big as this!

Cai Jie on the side said with a livid face, "Your Majesty, it's almost time for the banquet."

Emperor Zhengxuan stood up with a sullen face.

...

In Qinghui Garden, because of the two chess games that Liao Jueyao lost, the atmosphere became a little weird.

The people of Daqi, who are concerned about state affairs, stood aside gloomily. Don't be overly concerned, or just think about yourself, and play happily.

The envoys from Beiyan and the other two vassal states had a good time, and occasionally laughed out loud at some funny things.

At this time, there was a loud "bang", but it was the gong in the palace being struck, which meant that the state banquet had begun and everyone was allowed to enter the palace.

For this kind of state banquet, the banquet is held in a solemn hall.

Ye Tangcai, Zhao Yingqi and the others were watching fish in a gazebo. Hearing the sound, they hurriedly followed a group to the main hall.

A few people left Qinghui Garden, but they saw Chu Congke walking over, looking at Yuan Nanying affectionately: "Ying'er!"

The corners of Ye Tangcai's mouth twitched, and Yuan Nanying was so disgusted that she wanted to vomit, and said twice: "What are you, please don't come here to disgust me, okay?"

Chu Congke's expression changed: "Yinger, we have been engaged for many years..."

"Didn't you call off your engagement for many years?" Yuan Nanying looked contemptuous.

Well, a quick kill! This aura! If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Ye Tangcai would have thought that Yuan Nanying had been dropped! Sure enough, identity is the foundation of words and deeds.

Chu Congke's face turned blue and then pale, and seeing Ye Tangcai looking at him with mocking eyes, he didn't have the face to stay here, so he immediately turned and left.

Ye Tangcai was speechless, her thick skin was as thick as a city wall! It really deserves to be born by Aunt Fei.

"Let's go!" Shangguan Yun said.

A few people walked along the wide avenue paved with white jade, turned left and right, and finally came to the main hall. A group of eunuchs stood at the door, seeing them, they hurried forward to ask them considerately, and then led them to the seats they should sit on.

Ye Tangcai and Zhao Yingqi were separated and led into the main hall.

Ye Tangcai looked up, and saw the dragon chair and the dragon table carved with golden dragons taking off, and the silk cloth with dragon and phoenix embroidered on it.

There are desk seats on the left and right sides, and the long desks are also covered with dragon patterns. This is the seat of the queen mother and prince.

After going down the three steps, there are the princes and princesses of King Liang and King Lu, the lower heads and the nobles of the royal family behind.

On the right are Liao Shoufu, Liubu Shangshu and other powerful officials, and then there are other officials and nobles, and there are several rows of nobles sitting behind.

The center of the main hall is empty, reserved for audiences and appreciation of singing and dancing.

There is no distinction between men and women at the banquet, and they are all seated according to the family.

The Chu family was arranged in the row of three long cases on the right back.

In the case of Uncle Chu and the Qin family, and the case of Chu Congke and Chu Miaoshu, Ye Tangcai sat down with Chu Miaohua.

Chu Feiyang and Jiang Xinxue never liked these occasions, so they didn't declare to come at the beginning, and naturally they didn't have their seats.

Ye Tangcai looked up, and saw that Zhao Yingqi was sitting with King Liang over there. The big circle head was so recognizable that he could spot it at a glance.

Why do you have to comb such two big circles on top of your head?

Could it be because it is conspicuous? And Zhao Yingqi always likes to be a demon, so can he be seen from a distance?

Thinking about it, the corners of Ye Tangcai's mouth twitched, well, she felt that she seemed to be the truth.

Ye Tangcai suddenly saw Liao Jueyao again, sitting with Chu Pingfeng behind Liao Shoufu. At this moment, Liao Jueyao looked gloomy and unhappy.

"The emperor is here!" The eunuch's sharp voice sounded.

Everyone stood up, bowed and saluted, and after shouting long live three times, Emperor Zhengxuan allowed Ping Shenhe to sit down.

Emperor Zhengxuan and Empress Zheng sat at the top, with the Empress Dowager and the Prince and his wife on the left and right sides.

A burst of silk and bamboo pipe music sounded, the sound was thin, pleasant and soft, not noisy, but warm and lively.

"Northern Yan Kingdom comes to court! North Lin Kingdom comes to court! Dong'an Comes to court!" The high-pitched voice of the eunuch outside rang out.

Then I saw a group of people in different clothes walking in one after another, and the one walking in front was Bei Yan.

The leader was a man in his thirties, wearing a green-gold robe with slanted buttons, he looked rather handsome. Behind him were three or two women in black, followed by more than a dozen officials.

Among the three women in black, two were the ones who played chess with Liao Jueyao in Qinghui Garden.

The leading young man stepped forward and bowed his hands in salute: "Prince Hu Mo of Northern Yan and his envoys came to congratulate him."

While talking, two big men in red coats with their chests exposed behind them carried a huge thing in, and covered it with a red silk cloth of a strange totem.

Hu Mo, Prince of Northern Yan, tore away the red cloth, and saw that it was a sandalwood dragon carving, with a bead spitting out from the dragon's mouth. The bead exuded a faint fragrance, but it was a piece of agarwood.

Seeing this birthday gift, Emperor Zhengxuan let out a light snort, still as petty as ever!

They have a lot of this kind of sandalwood, and the agarwood in their mouth and their carving skills are a little bit worth seeing. But that's all!

Donglin and Dong'an each had a young man and a middle-aged man coming forward: "The third prince of Donglin (Eldest Prince of Dong'an) came to congratulate you."

Someone from the back also brought in birthday gifts, one was a huge blood jade porcelain vase holding peaches in Jiushou, and the other actually gave a monkey that could dance to the music and even dance to the rhythm!

Emperor Zhengxuan was amused and laughed.

In previous years, he didn't care about being expensive or not, he only cared about novelty and joy, but this year is different. In the past few years of continuous wars, the treasury is empty, so there is no mood to enjoy things.

Moreover, you have to give them a gift in return.

In the past, Daqi relied on himself as a great country, and when he saw their shabby gifts, he laughed in his heart, and he would return double the gifts in return, to show his financial strength and the magnanimity of the upper kingdom.

But now, the national treasury is empty, and even the food and grass at Yu'anguan has become a problem, so there is still more to pay back.

Thinking of this, Emperor Zhengxuan's heart sank, but with a smile on his face, he said with a smile: "Not bad. Put away all the congratulatory gifts and give me a seat."

The three countries Beiyan, Beilin and Dong'an immediately returned their salutes: "Xie Daqi Emperor."

As he spoke, he was led to his seat by the eunuch.

After everyone was seated, the eunuch called out to start the banquet, and then, delicious food and wine were served on the table in turn.

The sound of silk and bamboo sounded, and a group of dancers entered the venue to dance. After drinking for three rounds, another dance subsided, leaving only the soft music beside it.

At this moment, a woman in black stood up from where Beiyan was sitting. Holding a wine glass, she cupped her hands towards Emperor Zhengxuan: "Emperor Daqi! My princess wishes you a long life like Nanshan and happiness like the East China Sea."

After the dragon case, Emperor Zhengxuan was startled, only to see a woman in her twenties, with ordinary clothes and ordinary appearance, who could only be regarded as delicate: "This is..."

Hu Mo, the prince of Beiyan, said: "This is the fifth younger sister of this prince, Hu Naduo."

Ye Tangcai was taken aback. Just now, these two women in black were playing chess with Liao Jueyao in Qinghui Garden. The most powerful one was a girl who was sixteen or seventeen years old.

This woman in her twenties came later, her appearance is not very good, her bearing is not very good, and her chess ability is not as good as that of the sixteen or seventeen year old girl in front.

She had always believed that among the two women, the one who was the most important was the sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, but she never expected that this unremarkable woman in black was actually Princess Beiyan.

Hu Naduo, the princess of Beiyan, said: "I heard that the eldest granddaughter of the head of all officials in your Daqi is the most talented woman in your Daqi. She is famous for her chess skills and is called the number one female chess player in Daqi. I am also a person who loves chess, and I have admired your number one female chess player in Daqi for a long time, and today, taking advantage of Emperor Daqi's Longevity Day, let me ask for advice."

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall fell silent.

Everyone in Daqi's face froze.

The envoys from the Three Kingdoms came, and Da Qi naturally paid attention to their every move. Liao Jueyao had just played chess with two women in Qinghui Garden, and she lost in the end, which soon spread to the ears of all the officials of Da Qi.

Now Princess Beiyan actually said that she still wants to ask for advice from the number one talented woman and the number one female chess player of their Daqi, but you know, they lost to them just now!

I really don't know if they really didn't recognize Liao Jueyao or did it on purpose.

Maybe, that's on purpose! But even so, they couldn't tell the fact that their number one female chess player in Daqi had lost to Beiyan.

If there is no Qinghui Garden losing chess. It's only now that they competed, and they lost on the spot, but they can say with a good manner that they admit defeat when they lose their chess strength, and they fall down with a magnanimous demeanor.

Now the representatives of Daqi lost silently first, and then they were brought up "unknowingly". If they admit defeat before fighting, their momentum will be dwarfed!

Emperor Zhengxuan was so angry that his face turned blue and white.

Liao Shoufu's face was ashen, and he secretly hated Liao Jueyao for being too ostentatious. He always brought a chessboard to play chess with others no matter where he went.

If you are among these aristocratic families, it will be fine, and you will lose if you lose, but you will lose to another country. Knowing that today is the emperor's birthday, there will be dependent countries coming over, but she still brought the chessboard to show off, and ended up in this appearance.

The prince sneered: "You Beiyan are always so aggressive, you often come here to fight this one and that one. A few years ago, you were beaten to death by our young master Tianshu when you played the piano, aren't you afraid of losing?"

Da Qi's courtiers twitched their mouths, thinking of Miao Ji and his final reputation... moreover, it was still a stain related to Da Zi! Some lowered their heads and touched their noses silently.

Ye Tangcai: Go away, go away, I want to pretend!