PFC Chapter 221 Palace Banquet
Chapter 221 Palace Banquet
The sun had already set when he emerged from Yuehua Palace. Xu Qingzhao walked distraught along the palace path, his thoughts growing increasingly hazy.
Her parents became her grandparents.
Her sister became her biological mother.
This is a joke and a scandal.
It's not fair to Xu Xingwan. It's not fair to her either.
Did the Fourth Prince's matter come to fruition? Today is already the tenth day of the first lunar month.
On the Lantern Festival, perhaps all the truth will be revealed.
The Fourth Prince's condition at the time was that she enter the palace and stay there until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. He wanted her because he accidentally learned that the Emperor was looking for Xu Qinglan. He also learned that she was the Emperor's daughter.
So at that time, we would call her Royal Sister in the snow.
According to him, the Fourteenth Prince Qi was arrested for attempting to rebel, but the Emperor, considering that they were brothers from the same mother, only imprisoned him in prison and did not execute him.
Furthermore, the Queen Mother was still alive and could not bear to see brothers killing each other. After all, the Emperor was a well-known filial son, so he naturally had to obey the Queen Mother's wishes.
But if the chess king repeatedly challenges the imperial power, the emperor will definitely no longer care about the brotherhood.
So the Lantern Festival is the time for the chess king to counterattack.
The Fourth Prince, on the other hand, wanted to take advantage of the situation and push his rivals, the Second Prince and the Third Prince, to the center of this conspiracy.
The Second Prince was the mastermind behind the previous assassination in Donglin. But he still remembers the fact that he harmed people under the banner of the Fourth Prince.
Moreover, the Fourth Prince's biological mother has passed away, and he has been raised by Concubine Zhen all these years. Concubine Zhen is also the biological mother of the Sixth Prince. How could she be sincere to him?
Therefore, the Fourth Prince had not had a very good life in recent years, especially under the pressure from his two older brothers.
Xu Qingzhao's appearance this time was indeed a pleasant surprise. With her appearance, the emperor would definitely meet her, after all, he had been looking for his daughter for many years.
With her around, the second and third princes would definitely take action, so the emperor would most likely keep her in the palace.
Everything is really as he said, and things are really developing in that direction, but will things really go so smoothly?
The most important part of the plan was to become seriously ill and distract the emperor.
The bet is about the emperor's love for her and whether the emperor has the heart.
But now she felt that the emperor had neither of these.
She also felt that the emperor was also going along with the Fourth Prince's plan.
She understood all these things. After being in the palace for so long, they had only been using each other. There was no sincerity at all.
There are intrigues and deceptions, brothers fighting each other, fathers and sons being suspicious of each other, and even the person next to you is full of calculations.
What were these people chasing? Power or desire? She didn't understand, nor did she want to understand.
That night, news came from the Qinzheng Hall that the emperor had a sudden emergency. All the doctors in the Imperial Hospital were in the Qinzheng Hall to see the patient, casting a shadow over the entire palace.
Just after the New Year, the emperor suddenly fell seriously ill.
At this time, news came from the border that the Tartars in the north broke through the border and burned, killed and looted in several border cities, killing more than a hundred villagers. Several surrounding cities were in danger and were caught off guard and unable to save themselves.
Ning'an Prefecture submitted three urgent memorials in a row, one asking for help and the other asking for food and fodder.
For a while, there were external and internal troubles.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, God is really helping me. Now that the Tartars are causing trouble, Chu Ye has no generals to use. Only I can deal with the Tartars in the north. Now I can finally get out of this broken place!"
The yamen runner beside him said with a flattering smile:
"Your Highness Prince Qi is so majestic! The Third Prince has already arranged everything. Your Highness only needs to take charge and achieve immediate success!"
The chess king smiled sideways as he looked at the yamen runner beside him. He had followed this man for several years. The third prince put him in jail simply because he wanted cooperation.
If this plan succeeds, he can also become the regent. And the third prince... can only be his puppet emperor.
Last time, I was ambushed and my plan was leaked, causing me to fail. If it weren't for my mother's plea, I would have been beheaded by now.
But Chu Ye's personality would not let him go easily. Sooner or later, he would die anyway, so why not fight for it before he died? Anyway, the world belonged to the Chu family, so what he was called was not that important.
The imperial physicians in the palace changed several times before they confirmed that the emperor had only caught a cold. After several days of treatment, he gradually recovered.
On the first night of the Lantern Festival, Emperor Jinyang, despite his illness, held a Lantern Festival banquet in the "Feng San Wu Si Hall".
The ladies in the palace were all dressed up, trying to attract the emperor's attention. Even the empress dowager, who had not left the palace for a long time, came out to celebrate the festival with everyone.
The one closest to the emperor is Concubine Zhen, and on the right is the empress dowager.
The closer the concubine is to the emperor, the higher her status.
But Ming Zhaoyi was an exception. She sat below Concubine Zhen and looked at her provocatively.
Concubine Zhen just looked at her with a smile and then began to enjoy the singing and dancing in the palace.
Because it was a family banquet, the emperor only invited officials of the second rank and above to attend. The others were royal relatives and the well-dressed Prince Qi.
At this time, Xu Qingzhao was lowering her head, playing the role of a palace maid pouring wine beside Emperor Jinyang.
Looking up, I saw several princes not far below, observing the situation around them with different expressions.
The emperor had just recovered from a serious illness. His face showed fatigue, his complexion was pale, his lips were black, and he looked much thinner than a few days ago.
The third prince smiled slightly, which was caught by the fourth prince.
He picked up his wine glass and looked at the singing and dancing in the hall. It was the same every year. There was really no novelty at all.
All the first and second rank officials are here today, except for one person.
And since this person is not here, tonight's farce is destined to be a joke.
After three rounds of wine, the singing and dancing were over.
The Second Prince Chu Jin stood up and said:
"As the moon is full and families are reunited, and on this Lantern Festival, I, your son, would like to wish you good health, good fortune, and a long life. May your grace, like the light of a full moon, illuminate all the people of Jinyang!"
At this time, Concubine Zhen seemed to have thought of something and pushed the Sixth Prince who was acting coquettishly in her arms.
The Sixth Prince Chu Feng, Concubine Zhen’s biological son, is six years old this year.
After receiving the message from his mother, he immediately ran to the front of Emperor Jinyang, knelt down and said:
"Your Highness wishes Father and Grandmother a happy Lantern Festival. May our country enjoy peace and prosperity, a good harvest, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. May this full moon bring endless auspiciousness and good fortune, making Father's rule more stable and the future of the Jinyang Dynasty even more brilliant and glorious!"
"Okay! Well said! Feng'er, come here, father~"
The Sixth Prince stood up and walked before Emperor Jinyang. Emperor Jinyang took his son's hand with satisfaction and gave him the jade pendant he was carrying for him to admire.
Seeing this, the second prince was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.
Why didn't his father react at all when he said that? He looked at his mother, but his mother didn't even give him a glance.
"Noble Concubine Zhen, where is Yi'er? Is his illness getting better?"
Concubine Zhen smiled and replied:
"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince is weak. I've sent someone from the palace to inform him that he won't be coming today..."
"Alright...it's late at night and the dew is heavy. I'll go back and send all the blood swallows from the warehouse to his house. Her mother passed away young, so please help me take care of her."
"Yes, even if Your Majesty doesn't say it, I will still treat the children as my own."
A young eunuch suddenly appeared beside Prince Qi below, and accidentally almost spilled tea on him.
The chess king almost lost his temper, but when he saw the young eunuch's face, he sat down steadily, with an expression of uncontrollable excitement on his lips.