The prince is hard to serve

Tonight, even though the situation outside was tense, the palace compound inside the high wall was still very lively.

Emperor Yan's birthday banquet was not interrupted because of Duke Huai's plot to rebel, but continued as usual.

But all the officials of the third rank and above in the imperial court brought their wives into the palace, and some even brought their daughters who had not left the cabinet, and specially asked them to dress up, thinking that if they could fall into the eyes of some prince , will be able to leap to the sky from now on.

As a matter of course, most of these ministers set their minds on Yan Wenhao and Yan Wenyuan.

After all, now it seems that Yan Wenhao and Yan Wenyuan are the candidates who have the best chance to be canonized as the crown prince.

After arriving at the imperial garden, the servants arranged the positions for each official one by one according to their ranks, and the position of the female relatives was arranged after the concubines in the harem.

Mu Jiyan came neither early nor late. As soon as he arrived, many officials bowed their hands and saluted him, and he nodded their heads one by one.

He was the prime minister on the left, so he was naturally placed at the top of the civil servants, and the prime minister on the right, Lu Yanming, was behind him, ranking second.

As for the military commander, the first position was Yun Chen, but Yun Chen had never appeared in these years, so it was all empty, but Emperor Yan just acquiesced.

When Yan Wenyuan arrived, many officials stopped talking, rushed forward, saluted him with smiles, and then started chatting with him again.

Yan Wenyuan was always smiling, patiently exchanging greetings with them. After a long while, he finally walked out from the siege of the officials, and then went straight to his seat and sat down.

His seat was in front of Mu Jiyan, and he was very close to Mu Jiyan, so after taking his seat, he turned his head, nodded towards Mu Jiyan, and then asked, "Master Mu, why are you alone?" , where is Mrs. Mu?"

Hearing this, Mu Jiyan raised his eyes to look at him, raised his hand and made a bow to him, and replied: "My wife had a cold a few days ago, and I still feel a little unwell. Come."

In fact, Mu Jiyan hadn't seen Xu Ziqi for a long time since he was punished to think behind closed doors. She stayed in the house all day, very quiet, and rarely appeared. This time, she also rejected Mu Jiyan. , on the pretext of being sick and unwilling to enter the palace.

After several incidents, Mu Jiyan seemed to have become suspicious of Xu Ziqi, and became indifferent day by day. Naturally, he could no longer be the same as before, so after hearing her excuses, he didn't say much, but ordered the doctor in the mansion to go After treating her, he took Mu Yan and went out.

"It turned out to be sick. No wonder Mrs. Mu has not been seen in the palace for several days."

Smiling, Yan Wenyuan thought for a while, and then said: "Concubine Mu, she misses Mrs. Mu very much. When I entered the palace the day before yesterday, she mentioned to me that Mrs. Mu didn't even enter the palace to see her. My sister is gone, and she is still worried that it is because of what she did that made Mrs. Mu angry..."

"However, I heard Master Mu say this today. If my concubine mentions it again, I will be able to explain it to my concubine. It will also prevent her from worrying and worrying and affecting her mood."

Picking up the wine glass, Mu Jiyan took a sip of the wine, and after listening to the words, he responded in a low voice: "Thank you, the imperial concubine, I thank you on behalf of my wife. After I go back, I will tell my wife to let her recover. Afterwards, enter the palace to meet your empress."

"..."

Yan Wenyuan originally wanted to use this topic to spread out, talk to Mu Jiyan more, and establish a good relationship with him, but now he looks at Mu Jiyan with a cold expression, a look of refusal His appearance and attitude gradually turned cold, he squinted his eyes, nodded slightly and said: "This is very good." After that, he looked away and stopped talking.

He could tell that Mu Jiyan didn't want to have too much contact with him, and since that was the case, it was useless for him to force it.

Just at this time, with the eunuch's shrill voice, Emperor Yan and Concubine Degui walked in together slowly.

After the bright yellow figure appeared, the officials who were greeting each other all knelt down, lowered their heads, and saluted loudly.When Emperor Yan and Concubine Degui walked up to the upper seat and sat down, they turned around and shouted long live again.

Raising his arms, Emperor Yan said majesticly: "Excuse me, all the gentlemen will live in peace."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Yan's eyes swept over every minister in the next seat one by one, and after taking their expressions into his eyes, he suddenly asked aloud: "Everyone knows, why do I persist in such a critical moment?" Must hold this birthday banquet?"

When the officials heard the words, they looked at each other in blank dismay, but no one came forward to answer.

After fiddling with the jade finger on the thumb, Emperor Yan looked at them, then set his eyes on Lu Yanming, and asked, "Does Lu Aiqing know?"

Standing up, Lu Yanming thought for a moment, then whispered: "This... I don't know."

He waved his hand and signaled Lu Yanming to sit down. Afterwards, Emperor Yan glanced at him and looked at the crowd. He said coldly, "I know that many of you are in collusion with Duke Huai, but But it was not on the list, and I escaped this catastrophe by chance, and if I don’t mention it, it doesn’t mean that I let you go—”

When everyone heard this, they all bent their knees, knelt down with a plop, and lowered their heads deeply.

When the emperor was angry, he buried a million corpses.

Even if they are innocent people, they are like ants in front of the emperor who holds the power of life and death in the world, and their lives are not worth mentioning. Whether they live or die depends on the emperor's thought.

And Emperor Yan had a suspicious nature, and would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let go of one who dared to spy on his imperial power. lost his life.

Among all the ministers, the few ministers sitting at the end reacted the most severely. They all turned pale and trembled unconsciously.

They have ghosts in their hearts.

Looking at them, Emperor Yan's eyes flashed a dark color, he pondered for a while, and then continued in a calm voice: "I insist on holding this birthday banquet, just to let you all take a good look, my country, my country No one can shake my throne, and likewise, I will not be afraid!"

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and confessed to Fuxi: "Go and escort King Huai up."

"Yes."

In response, Fuxi took the order to retreat, and after a while, he brought up Duke Huai, who was in shackles on his hands and feet.

At this time, Duke Huai has long since lost the suave and elegant appearance of the young master in the past. The few days of imprisonment have left him sloppy and haggard, but when he looked up at Emperor Yan, his eyes were full Still fierce and vicious.

With a expressionless face, Emperor Yan lowered his head to look at King Huai who was forced to kneel on the ground, his eyes seemed to be looking at a dead object, and he said coldly: "After a stick of incense, it will be the agreement between you and your subordinates. It's time, I will let you take a good look today, you have plotted for more than ten years, raised [-] troops, can you break into the capital and force me to abdicate!"

Duke Huai was still extremely confident in his heart, he raised his head and laughed three times, and then said harshly: "Okay, I hope that when the time comes, Brother Huang will not turn around and beg my younger brother to spare you!"

His tone was loud, but Emperor Yan didn't even look at him.

Turning her head to look at Emperor Yan's expression, Concubine Degui gave the imperial guards a wink and signaled them to take Duke Huai aside first, then she smiled and said softly: "Your Majesty, today is your birthday, Be happy, don't let these unlucky things ruin your mood, you see, all the adults are here now, I see, this banquet, let's begin."

Gently patted the back of Concubine Degui's hand, and after a while, Emperor Yan finally recovered his smile, nodded and said: "That's right, we shouldn't let idle people delay the time, then let's start."

As soon as Emperor Yan's voice fell, Yan Wenyuan stood up, walked to the middle and stood up, and took out a "Splendid Mountains and Rivers Picture" from the brocade box of the little eunuch behind him, and said with a smile: "It is rumored that Mr. Moji traveled around After conquering the world, he drew a picture of mountains and rivers. Even the mountains and mountains in the picture are exactly the same as the reality. , I wish you, father, great blessings and longevity!"

Signaling Fuxi to bring up the painting, Emperor Yan looked down carefully, then nodded repeatedly, and said "yes" a few times, obviously very satisfied with this gift.

Afterwards, the other princes and princesses also presented their well-prepared congratulatory gifts one by one.

After all the princes and princesses sent congratulatory gifts, Fuxi walked to the side of Emperor Yan, leaned over and reported softly: "Your Majesty, the second prince, the fourth prince, and General Yun are leading the imperial guards to guard At the city gate, I couldn't enter the palace to congratulate you in person, just now, they sent people to send gifts, would you like to have a look?"

Nodding his head, Emperor Yan smiled and said, "Well, bring them all up for me to see."

The gift Yan Wenhao gave was the "Hundred Years Picture" drawn by himself, which was quite satisfactory, but it contained his heart.

Yan Wenjin, on the other hand, gave him a dress he sewed himself. He is the most out-of-the-box thinking, and has never acted according to common sense.

However, after all, Yan Wenjin did not learn female red since she was a child. The needle and thread on the clothes are twisted and twisted, and the patterns on them are even more horrible. But after seeing it, Emperor Yan liked it very much, and immediately sent Fuxi to the bedroom. .

Seeing this, Yan Wenyuan couldn't help but frowned, feeling a little unwilling.

And although Concubine De Gui, who was sitting beside Emperor Yan, still had a smile on her face, and praised Yan Wenjin a few words according to Emperor Yan's wishes, but the hands hidden under her body were also clenched tightly. One embroidered handkerchief, the bottom of my heart was distorted.

After giving the birthday gift, the birthday banquet officially began.

Between drinking and drinking, the initial tense atmosphere has all dissipated. The ministers laughed and laughed, and there were singing and dancing to add to the fun. It was very lively.

And the fact that King Huai's soldiers and horses had already approached the city seemed to have been forgotten by everyone in a corner.

In the middle of the banquet, when the wine was half drunk, Lu Xi, who was covered in blood and dusty, but in good spirits, suddenly strode into the imperial garden. He walked straight past the dancers, went to the steps, knelt down, and looked up at Emperor Yan. The report said: "Your Majesty, the fifty thousand soldiers and horses of King Huai outside the city have all bowed their heads. None of Xue Yi, Concubine Liang, etc. escaped. They were all captured by General Yun and His Royal Highness, and they are about to be taken into the palace now—"