For the family banquet for the whole palace, Ji Ruoyu left home early and went to the Forbidden City. According to the rules, all servants could not follow into the Forbidden City, so Ji Ruoyu did not bring Qiuyu and Dongmei.
Dongmei, the big fool, was afraid that Ji Ruoyu would be hungry, so she asked Qiuyu to make some plum cakes for Ji Ruoyu to eat before leaving.
Ji Ruoyu felt a little bloated until she got on the carriage. Ji Pingchuan saw that his daughter was very full, and said with a smile: "You are full now, but you have to wait for His Majesty to arrive before you can slowly eat. By then, you will have almost digested it."
Ji Ruoyu nodded. Gao Xinman looked at her daughter and was a little worried, so she repeatedly reminded Ji Ruoyu: "Ayu, when you get to the palace, you must stay close to your father and mother, don't be like when you were a child."
"When you were a child?" Ji Ruoyu was puzzled, why didn't she remember what happened?
Ji Pingchuan was also stunned for a moment, and then he remembered what happened at that time. He smiled and explained: "Madam, you are talking about the time when you took Ayu to Chuxiu Palace when you were a child?"
Gao Xinman nodded, and Ji Ruoyu was even more confused. She didn't understand what her parents were talking about?
Gao Xinman smiled softly and explained to Ji Ruoyu: "It happened when you were five years old. At that time, your mother took you to Chuxiu Palace alone to pay respects to Concubine Shu. Who would have thought that you disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was so anxious that I couldn't speak. Fortunately, Concubine Shu sent a palace maid to look for you. In the end, you were found by the back lake."
As Gao Xinman spoke, she remembered something: "Oh, by the way, you were holding a wet handkerchief tightly in your hand at that time."
"Wet handkerchief?" Ji Ruoyu didn't understand why she had no memory of it at all.
"Yes, I asked you at that time, and you had stopped sobbing at that time. You just said that you accidentally fell into the lake and a brother helped you pick it up." Gao Xinman laughed when she remembered the scene of Ji Ruoyu crying at that time.
"But why don't I remember it?" Ji Ruoyu still had no memory of it at all.
"It's been ten years since then, right? It's normal that you don't have any memory." Ji Pingchuan explained. Seeing that they were almost at the Forbidden City, the three stopped talking.
Ji Ruoyu adjusted her sleeves and got off the carriage. When she looked up, she saw that the carriage was full. There were also many ladies in luxurious clothes in front.
Ji Ruoyu followed his parents into the palace, and did not forget to greet the ladies passing by along the way.
At the banquet, Ji Pingchuan brought his wife and daughter to the seats belonging to their family. Ji Pingchuan's seat was below the left and right prime ministers. The left prime minister sat on the left, the right prime minister sat on the right, and Ji Pingchuan's family sat next to the left prime minister.
The seats in the front belonged to the concubines, and the seats above belonged to the emperor and the empress dowager. There was a chair engraved with dragon patterns in the middle, and a chair engraved with phoenixes on the left.
Ji Ruoyu couldn't help but be a little suspicious when she saw this scene. Didn't they say that the empress dowager was dying? Why was there a phoenix chair today?
Just then someone interrupted Ji Ruoyu's thoughts. "Madam Ji." Ji Ruoyu took a look and found that it was Chen, the second wife of the Minister of Justice.
"Madam of the Minister of Justice." Gao Xinman also said in return. But Gao Xinman did not show enthusiasm, because the woman in front of her was once the personal maid of the original wife of the Minister of Justice. After the original wife died of a dystocia, this maid somehow managed to climb onto the bed of the Minister of Justice and successfully made him make her his legal wife.
Chen was not annoyed, she turned her head and looked at Ji Ruoyu: "Is this the second young lady? She is really good-looking." Ji Ruoyu called her politely because she was an elder.
"Hey, this daughter is so good. Unlike my boy, he is still missing." Just as Chen was pretending to blame her son, someone suddenly called her.
"Mother." Chen saw that it was her precious son, she smiled and introduced her son to Gao Xinman and Ji Ruoyu. "Come, this is my son, Youke. Come, Youke, meet Madam Ji and the second young lady."
Zheng Youke was not good-looking, with dark skin: "Hello, Madam Ji, hello, the second young lady." Especially Zheng Youke's eyes lit up after seeing Ji Ruoyu, and he stared at Ji Ruoyu with a lustful look.
Ji Ruoyu felt a little disgusted and scared. Gao Xinman also knew her daughter's disgust and was about to speak out to stop them, but Ji Pingchuan walked over quickly and blocked Gao Xinman and Ji Ruoyu.
"Why don't you all return to your seats earlier?" When Chen saw that Ji Pingchuan had discovered them, she wanted to quickly pull her son away. Before leaving, Ji Pingchuan stared at Zheng Youke's eyes and said word by word: "If anyone dares to make my wife and daughter feel uncomfortable again, it will not be as simple as it is now. Especially you... If I meet someone like you again, I will dig out your eyes and feed them to the wolves."
Chen and Zheng Youke were unhappy after hearing this. They were about to retort but were interrupted by the left prime minister: Minister of Justice, Zheng Tianyou, right? Tell him to be careful, and your whole family too. "
When Chen saw that it was the left prime minister who said this, she swallowed the curse that she was about to say. A left prime minister and a general with a large army, no matter which one they were, they, the minister of the Ministry of Justice, could not afford to offend.
Chen's mother and son could only glare at them fiercely and left unwillingly.
Chapter 11: A Family Banquet for the Entire Palace (II)
After Chen's mother and son left, Ji Pingchuan cast a grateful look at the left prime minister Lu Zhichuan. He clenched his fists and thanked Lu Zhichuan: "Thank you for your help, sir."
Lu Zhichuan waved his hand to indicate that it was okay. He looked at Gao Xinman and said: "Instead, I have to thank Madam Ji."
Gao Xinman was puzzled: "But I haven't met you, sir?" Lu Zhichuan raised his eyebrows and smiled: "I have never met Madam Ji, but my wife has."
Ji Pingchuan and Ji Ruoyu looked at Gao Xinman, as if asking her when she had met him. Gao Xinman herself couldn't remember it. Seeing this, Lu Zhichuan's smile deepened: "My wife went to the temple to pray two months ago and was unfortunately assassinated. At that time, thanks to Madam Ji who gave up her carriage for my wife to give birth, they were saved."
After listening to Lu Zhichuan's words, Gao Xinman remembered it and exclaimed: "So the woman I saved that day was actually the wife of the left prime minister? How is your wife recently?"
"Thanks to Madam Ji's help, everything is fine. It's just that my wife gave birth prematurely and the child is still weak. I can't go to the Ji Mansion to thank Madam Ji in person. When my wife is better, I will definitely bring my wife and children to thank her in person." After that, Lu Zhichuan bowed respectfully to Gao Xinman.
Ji Pingchuan and his wife quickly pulled Lu Zhichuan up, saying, "You're too polite. As long as he's okay, that's fine."
Lu Zhichuan looked at the three Ji family members with gratitude, and he said, "I'm grateful for your kindness, and I'll repay you one day."
Gao Xinman wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from outside the door: "Your Majesty has arrived! The Queen Mother has arrived!"
Everyone got up and knelt down immediately after hearing this, and even all the concubines knelt down together: "Your Majesty, long live the emperor! Long live the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years!"
After everyone finished speaking, Teng Chengping carefully supported the Queen Mother and appeared at the banquet. It was not until the Queen Mother sat down that Teng Chengping waved his hand to let everyone stand up. "Everyone, stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone slowly stood up and returned to their seats. Ji Ruoyu realized that the concubines' seats were full, and she looked around for the figure of Rou Zhaoyi. But there were not many concubines that he recognized, and he just couldn't recognize which one was Rou Zhaoyi.
"Don't be shy, everyone, let's eat!" After Teng Chengping spoke, everyone started to eat, but they didn't eat freely.
The Queen Mother, who had been silent all the time, also spoke at this time: "I have been ill for the past few months, and I have been much better these days. Don't be shy, if you have any talents to perform, just come up, I have been ill for a long time and want to see something exciting."
Before the Shufei, who had the highest position, spoke, she was snatched away by Xian Zhaoyi: "We are old, and we also like to see something exciting. Why don't we let the daughters of each family perform a talent?" After saying that, she looked at Ren Yin and said: "What do you think, Sister Shufei?"
Ren Yin said with a fake smile: "Sister, you make the decision." Xian Zhaoyi laughed even louder after hearing this.
Fang Peixuan, the daughter of the right prime minister who always loved to perform and steal the limelight, spoke first: "Then let me start. I'm going to show you my ugly face." After that, she walked to the stage and started dancing.
After the dance, everyone applauded. It must be said that Fang Peixuan's dancing skills are indeed good, but not to the point of being excellent.
"It's really good. The right prime minister is good at teaching his daughter." Concubine Xian's generous praise made the right prime minister and his daughter the focus of everyone's attention.
"Thank you for your compliments, Your Majesty. It's your turn, Ruoyu." Fang Peixuan suddenly called Ji Ruoyu, which scared Ji Ruoyu.
She didn't want to be in the limelight, but many eyes were staring at her. She was afraid that if she didn't perform, the news that the Ji Mansion despised the imperial power would be spread tomorrow.
She walked to the middle of the hall and bowed, saying: "I am best at playing the piano, I'm going to show you my ugly face." The eunuch brought a piano, and Ji Ruoyu sat over it, closed her eyes and began to immerse herself in her own world and play the piano.
After the song was over, Ji Ruoyu opened her eyes carefully, showing a surprised expression, and then everyone applauded. Even the Queen Mother couldn't help but say: "Miss Ji played really well."
After thanking her, Ji Ruoyu returned to her seat. When she looked up, she saw Fang Peixuan staring at her. Ji Ruoyu knew that she was resenting that she had stolen her limelight.
Until the unmarried women finished their performances, there was no big wave. Fang Peixuan couldn't help but feel a little proud, after all, no one present had better dancing skills than her.
Just then, Chu Zijing, who had been silent all the time, spoke: "Your Majesty, Queen Mother. I am also good at dancing. Please allow me to dance for today's banquet, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother."
Teng Chengping looked at Chu Zijing gently and said: "If Concubine Rou likes it, go." Then he gave her an affirmative look, and even the Queen Mother looked at Chu Zijing kindly.
Ji Ruoyu was shocked. It turned out that this woman was Consort Rou. It seemed that His Majesty and the Queen Mother liked her very much.
Chu Zijing walked to the center of the hall and began to dance. Her dancing posture was light and graceful. As she stopped, the scene was still silent.
Teng Chengping took the lead in applauding, his eyes full of appreciation and deep love. The Queen Mother also said: "Zi Han really didn't disappoint me."
Teng Chengping raised the corner of his mouth and drew an ambiguous smile: "Consort Rou really surprised me, and also made me..." He didn't finish his words. No one understood what he meant. Only Chu Zijing knew the meaning of his unfinished words.
Chu Zijing returned to her seat and asked, "Who was the first woman to perform the dance?"
Fang Peixuan's eyes showed some dissatisfaction with Chu Zijing, but she still endured it: "It's your servant, what can I do for you, Your Majesty?"
As soon as Fang Peixuan said this, Teng Chengping, who doted on his wife, was already a little dissatisfied. Although Fang Peixuan's eyes were well hidden, they still couldn't escape being discovered by the emperor.
"Your dancing skills..." Chu Zijing smiled and covered her mouth, and then said, "You should practice more, don't show off all your appearances, but you said it well."
Fang Peixuan's face was already livid, and even the Right Prime Minister was not surprised. He glared at Chu Zijing fiercely, and just opened his mouth: "Rou Zhaoyi you!" But he was interrupted by Teng Chengping: "Right Prime Minister, what's wrong with you? Do you want to rebel?"
The Right Prime Minister suppressed his anger and said: "I dare not, but Rou Zhaoyi is really too much!" Before Teng Chengping could speak, the Queen Mother took the lead: "Oh? Right Prime Minister means that Rou Zhaoyi spoke inappropriately? Rou Zhaoyi represents me and the emperor, you mean that I and the emperor spoke inappropriately? Disobeyed your daughter, the Right Prime Minister?!"
The Right Prime Minister said with a pale face: "I dare not." The Queen Mother snorted coldly: "I think your daughter's character is not good. The Right Prime Minister should discipline her more when you have time, so as not to embarrass herself."
The Right Prime Minister was so angry that he almost bit his back teeth, and now he could only agree obediently. Fang Peixuan's face was as ugly as swallowing a hundred flies.