The Empire and the Kingdom

Although Pan is confused, she can still understand what she said after being the prime minister's wife for so long.She broke out in a cold sweat after realizing it, "Fortunately, the master gave me some pointers, otherwise I would have made a mistake."

Xue Xiangxin said that this is not the first time you made a mistake.A poor wife does not go to court, and the two shared weal and woe when they were poor. Even though Mrs. Pan was no longer sensible, Xiang Xue still never left her. "It's good for Madam to understand. After entering the palace, Madam must take good care of Ai'er. She must not make a fool of her, otherwise it will be difficult for the Queen to explain."

Fortunately, there is a sensible father, and Xue Ai's attire is not rude, but it is an extravagant hope for Pan to treat her well.

The location of the palace banquet was arranged at Qinyue Pavilion on the west side of the palace. When the Xue family's mother and daughter arrived here, many official family members had already arrived.At this time, the queen and concubines and princesses had not yet arrived, and the officials' wives chatted with their acquaintances.Most of the ladies don't want to be with the wives, so they all went to chat with their girlfriends.

Because she was afraid that Xue Ai would make a fool of herself, Pan asked Xue Ying to take Xue Ai with her. Xue Ying's boss was reluctant, but she still had to pretend to be a daughter of Xue Ai, and took Xue Ai to chat with the ladies she knew well.Xue Ai has been following the eldest sister, not interrupting, and even unwilling to give an expression.This looks a bit dull in the eyes of outsiders.

"Xue Ying, why is your third younger sister staring blankly?" Liu Jingnan, the daughter of the left servant of the Ministry of Punishment, asked in a low voice.

Xue Ying smiled, "My third younger sister rarely attends palace banquets, so it's inevitable that I'm a little nervous."

Liu Jingnan opened her mouth exaggeratedly, "Miss Xue San, you will be the prince's side concubine in the future, that is, a member of the royal family. You will face this kind of occasion almost every day. Why are you so nervous? What if you are called by the queen for a while? When the empress sees it, don't you think that you can't stand the big world, what if you get involved in the marriage?" He covered his mouth and laughed, as if he had made a joke.

Xue Ai finally gave a little reaction, "Thank you, Ms. Liu, for your concern, I will take note."

care?Is this caring?Xue Ai was accused of marrying as the prince's side concubine a year ago, which aroused a lot of jealousy.It's obviously just a vase with a better appearance, without talent or means, why did she become a prince and side concubine?At that time, because Xue Ai was young, she was not married, so many beauties in Beijing hoped that Xue Ai's reputation would be damaged and the marriage would be ruined.However, Xue Ai seldom went out, so everyone just knew that it was an idiot vase, and they couldn't see what was wrong with her for a while.

Xue Ai's attitude of accepting everything, regardless of good or bad, also confused Liu Jingnan.She left Xue Ai and only chatted with Xue Ying, deliberately leaving Xue Ai aside.

At this time, Feng Jingsu was in her palace, looking at the roster of officials and family members in Beijing brought by Cuidie.Cuidie took it from Concubine De, and Cuidie would explain some things Feng Jingsu didn't understand.

"Why is the third lady of Xue Xiang's family obviously not favored, but she is still accused of being married to the prince as a side concubine? It is clear that Xue Xiang's family has a eldest daughter who is a descendant and is more favored." Feng Jingsu has always been very strange about this matter.

Cuidie said: "Because it is the relationship between the crown prince's side concubine. At the beginning, the empress had a crush on the Xue family, and she really wanted to marry the eldest lady of the Xue family, Xue Ying, but Mrs. Xue disagreed, saying that the first daughter of the Xue family must be the main wife. But the empress refused to marry the concubine for the prince. After a compromise between the two sides, she married Miss Xue San Xue Ai. Anyway, Miss Xue San is not favored, and the queen just needs to win over Xue Xiang for the prince. Girl, it doesn't matter if it's the Eldest Miss or the Third Miss, and the Third Miss is prettier and easier to deal with." These were of course analyzed by Concubine De.

Feng Jingsu nodded, and suddenly laughed for some reason, inexplicably.

"Ms. Xue San is not favored or is it because of her birth?" She continued to ask.

Cuidie nodded. "Princess also heard. Mrs. Xue had no children. Mrs. Xue was pregnant with a pair of twins. Unfortunately, only a girl survived after giving birth. She was Miss Xue San. The boy died less than a day after birth. Mrs. Xue had twins." The body of the child was damaged, and he could no longer have children, so he blamed all the faults on Miss Xue San. Always talking about why it was not Miss Xue San who died, but that son?" Cuidie couldn't help sighing when he said this , "This is really a bit embarrassing, I really don't know how Miss Xue San came here all these years?"

"Yeah, how did she come here?" Feng Jingsu rubbed the word Xue Ai on the booklet with her fingers, and the thin, but cunning little girl like a fox appeared in front of her eyes.

"Princess, it's almost time. This servant will help you change your clothes and make up."

When the lights were on, the concubines in the palace began to appear one after another, and the princesses also came with their biological mothers.Although there are differences between monarchs and ministers, the princesses still have some friends, such as the cousins ​​of the biological mother's natal family, they are all their own support and help, and they should have a good chat.These young girls have to learn to live in these intricate relationships at a young age, knowing who to win, who to avoid, and who to suppress.

After the concubines and princesses appeared, the wives and ladies stopped chatting together.One by one, they walked to their positions very well-behaved. Although they would whisper, their voices and movements were much smaller.

Xue Ai followed Xue Ying back to her place, and Pan was very satisfied to see that Xue Ai hadn't made a fool of himself. "Ai'er, there's nothing wrong with following your elder sister. Don't you think so?"

Xue Ai lowered her eyes, "What mother said is true."

Pan couldn't help but praise Xue Ying for being sensible and taking good care of Xue Ai.

Xue Zhi, Xue Ruo, and Xue Yi are also back.Pan Shi didn't treat them very well, but she didn't treat them too harshly.In addition, these three people are all protected by their own mothers, so Xue Ai is the only one who is really in dire straits in Xue's family.

After waiting for another half an hour, the queen brought Princess Hejia and Princess Yunyi to appear.Officials, wives, concubines and princesses stood up one after another to salute.The queen's makeup is dignified and grand, completely different from the dolled-up concubines. This is the grace of the central palace.

After everyone got up and took their seats, the queen introduced Feng Jingsu to everyone. "This is Princess Yunyi who has been studying abroad. She just returned to the palace a few days ago. Today's palace banquet is for the princess to clean up the dust and let all the ladies and ladies meet the princess."

Feng Jingsu's etiquette was very considerate, she bowed slightly, counting it as a salute to everyone, and they saluted Feng Jingsu again.After some etiquette, the queen gave way to the banquet.

Feng Jingsu returned to the princess's seat at this time, her eyes narrowed, and she happened to see the Xue family diagonally opposite.At this time, the beautiful girl over there also looked over, and seeing her looking at him, Xue Ai quickly lowered her head, but her ears turned slightly red.

"Yun Yi, what are you looking at?" Princess Wen Chun, who was closest to her, asked.She was born by Chen Chongyi, because Chen Chongyi and Feng Jingsu's biological mother Li Jieyu had a good relationship, so the relationship between the two is closer than other princesses.

"I'm identifying people. It's really difficult to recognize these many people at once." Feng Jingsu looked distressed.

"Actually, you don't have to realize it all. We don't have many chances to leave the palace, and most of them won't let us meet when they come to the palace, so there's no need to bother." When she said this, Princess Wen Chun felt a little helpless.The princesses of the royal family are golden branches and jade leaves, but it's a pity that they are still a little boring, not a little more free than these young ladies.

"That's true." Feng Jingsu withdrew her gaze.

There is no essential difference between palace banquets and other official banquets.The purpose of holding the banquet is nothing more than to give the ladies of each family a chance to show themselves, so after the banquet, the ladies of each family came out to show their talents.

Those who dared to come out were obviously talented, but Feng Jingsu looked drowsy.This level of talent is too common in Feiyejin.Others don't talk about it, just talk about her junior sister, Gu Li, who can play the pipa with one hand, even if all the girls present are tied together, it can't match Gu Li's one finger.In the past, there was no comparison but she couldn't tell what was good about Gu Li's pipa. Now that she made such a comparison, she felt that these were all damages to her ears.In order not to really fall asleep, she had no choice but to quietly leave the table and go outside to get some air.

In the weather in July, the heat fades away at night, but it is much cooler than the brightly lit room.She was squatting on a pillar, and there was no way to get down here. The guards on the roof would not find her, and neither would the people who came out and went in below.

When she was in Feiyejin, her unreliable master always liked to squat on the pillars, and the master always said that the master was like a hairless monkey, with such disgust on his face.Of course she also disliked it, but as she disliked it, she also began to get used to squatting on the pillar.So how important it is to have a reliable master. You can see that Yi Jiachenxu, the disciple in charge of the academy, has never squatted on a pillar.

While she was in a daze, someone talking in the corner next to her caught her attention.

"Miss Xue San is getting more and more beautiful. It's a pity that Miss Xue San didn't dare to show up tonight when the ladies showed their talents. It's really disappointing." The woman who spoke was dressed up, but she was very young.Feng Jingsu looked at it twice, and felt that it looked familiar, but couldn't remember it for a while.

Xue Aili saluted thoughtfully, "My daughter has seen the crown prince's side concubine."

Feng Jingsu raised her eyebrows, the crown prince side concubine?The prince has only one side concubine who has passed through the door, and that is Zhuang Ruoshui.

Zhuang Ruoshui, the eldest daughter of a prominent family in the capital, married the crown prince two years ago as a side concubine.Zhuang Ruoshui's grandfather, Zhuang Yuejiang, and the queen's biological mother, Zhuang Yuehu, are brothers and sisters. From this point of view, the current queen is Zhuang Ruoshui's cousin.This is why the prince has not yet married the main concubine, but the side concubine has already passed through the door first.