pdf-ebookys Chapter 218 The Show Begins
Chapter 218 The Show Begins
The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet was still held in the evening. When Lu Lingxi and a group of concubines arrived, Queen Gu and others had already been waiting there.
As soon as Lu Lingxi arrived, Queen Gu's laughter could be heard: "Hahaha, Lingxi, you are here, come to the macaque quickly, I haven't seen you for a long time, your mother misses you so much."
Lu Lingxi thought to himself: Forget it, today we are going to act out the drama of loving mother and filial son.
So he immediately forced a smile, stepped forward and saluted, saying: "Hail, mother! Your daughter-in-law and all the concubines in the Crown Prince's Mansion greet you!"
Everyone behind Yan Bi also greeted him: "Hail, Queen!"
Queen Gu smiled and helped Lu Lingxi up, scolding her: "Why are you so reserved, child? You don't need to be so polite in front of your mother." But her eyes were not on Lu Lingxi, but on the people behind her.
Then she let go of Lu Lingxi's hand and said to the other concubines in the Prince's Mansion: "You have been in the mansion for so many years, but this is the first time I see you. You are all really pretty and beautiful."
After Queen Gu looked at them one by one, she said, "Oh, I am old now and my memory is not so good. I almost forgot that I prepared a gift for you. Madam Li, please take out the gift I prepared. I will personally give it to my daughters-in-law."
When Queen Gu gave gifts, she deliberately asked the attendants to raise the gift boxes higher, so that when everyone came to receive the gifts, they had to raise their hands high to receive them. The result of this was that every time they reached out to receive the gifts, the sleeves on their arms would naturally slide down, revealing their fair and delicate wrists.
At first, Lu Lingxi was very confused by Queen Gu's move and had no idea what it meant. However, as time went by, she saw several people wearing bright red coral bracelets on their wrists, and she gradually got some clues.
Queen Gu first looked at the people wearing the bracelets calmly, then showed satisfaction on her face and nodded slightly. Then, she praised them generously. At this point, Lu Lingxi finally realized that Queen Gu used this method to secretly observe who among the people present had flattering intentions and wanted to please her, and then judge who could be recruited by her.
Thinking of this, Lu Lingxi couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "After all, Jiang Lao is really smart! Just a small red coral bracelet can not only be used as a cruel means to sterilize people, but it can also be cleverly used to distinguish the relationship between enemies and friends. Such thoughts and strategies are really impressive!"
After all the gifts were given, Queen Gu smiled happily and said, "Today, thanks to the prince, I have a feast for the eyes. I also suddenly thought of asking the princess to bring you to the palace to meet her, otherwise you might not be in the prince's mansion that day, and I'm afraid I won't even know that I have such a relationship with you." When she said this, Queen Gu deliberately glanced at Lu Lingxi. The meaning was already very clear, she was afraid that these people who were not suddenly driven out of the prince's mansion by Lu Lingxi for some inexplicable reason.
Everyone understood what Queen Gu meant, but no one dared to speak. This was not said to Lu Lingxi, and Lu Lingxi did not want to pay attention to her.
But the scene was not awkward, because Gu Yan'er just came. She bowed and apologized, "Queen, please forgive me. I am late."
Queen Gu stepped forward and supported Gu Yan'er affectionately: "Yan'er is here. You are in a heavy body, so it is normal for you to go slowly. There is no need to apologize. Stop bowing."
Gu Yan'er stood up and thanked her: "Thank you, Queen!"
Empress Gu scolded, "How come Yan'er has become estranged from her aunt after getting married? She used to follow me around and call me 'Aunt' all the time, but now she's called 'Queen'? How come I'm not your aunt anymore after getting married?"
Gu Yan'er quickly said: "You will always be Yan'er's aunt."
It had been a year since we last met. Last year, at the Mid-Autumn Festival, she was engaged to the King of Qi and almost became the daughter-in-law of Queen Gu. But now, she was married to the Marquis of Zhenguo Mansion and was pregnant with someone else's child. The King of Qi also married another woman and had a child. The two of them tacitly did not mention the twists and turns in this.
After the greetings, Queen Gu asked everyone to take their seats.
In addition to the concubines of the Crown Prince's Mansion, the concubines of the Emperor Nan Zheng were also present at the palace banquet. There were fewer unmarried ladies, but there were quite a few wives of officials.
Not far away, Su Zhou smiled and nodded to Lu Lingxi as a greeting. But at this moment, Lu Lingxi felt mixed emotions and had no idea how to face the person in front of him.
Thinking back to the beginning, Lu Lingxi naturally felt a little bit of intimacy with Su Zhou because he heard that Su Zhou was an old friend of his mother. However, he later unexpectedly discovered that Su Zhou and Su Yun had a close relationship, which made Lu Lingxi wary and a little hostile to her. After all, Su Yun was a concubine of the prince's mansion at that time, with a respected status, and there would inevitably be some potential competition or conflict between him and her.
But now, the situation has changed, Su Yun is no longer the concubine of the prince's mansion, so the conflict between the two seems to have disappeared. So, at this moment, how should I get along with Su Zhou? This question is like a tangled mess in Lu Lingxi's mind, making her more confused the more she thinks about it.
After thinking it over, Lu Lingxi, who still couldn't figure it out, decided not to dwell on it anymore. She thought to herself, "Forget it, anyway, the highlight of the day will definitely not fall on Su Zhou, so why should I spend too much energy on this?" Thinking of this, Lu Lingxi raised her head slightly, nodded lightly at Su Zhou in response, and then quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere, as if she was afraid of having any more contact with the other party.
Soon Lu Lingxi found the first key person of the day, Gu Ying'er. She was busy watching the guests take their seats, serving dishes, drinks, singing and dancing, and mobilizing the palace maids. Queen Gu looked at her and nodded with satisfaction, praising her from time to time. The guests followed suit and modestly said that she was old and had many things that were not well thought out. It was Gu Ying'er who helped her with ideas and was more capable and more capable of taking on important responsibilities than she was when she was young.
Lu Lingxi was too lazy to listen to all this and enjoyed the food. The others were secretly wondering if Queen Gu was trying to push the Princess of Qi to compete with the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess's flower-viewing banquet was okay, but the Princess of Qi's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the palace was even worse. Wasn't she trying to suppress the Crown Princess?
Lu Lingxi knew what Queen Gu was thinking, but she didn't care. It was just a banquet. It was too subjective and useless to say who was better. It wasn't like whoever won the banquet would get the position of queen. In the end, it would depend on who was better between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi.