Chapter 199 - Concubine Selection Banquet
Chapter 199 – Concubine Selection Banquet
After a while, Qiao Jinniang and Lu Chen came out of the palace together.
The noble girls who had been waiting for a long time hurriedly saluted Lu Chen and Qiao Jinniang. Although they didn’t dare to look around when they saluted, out of the corner of their eye, they saw the hands of the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess clasped together.
They had turbulent feelings in their hearts.
The Crown Prince got up so late with the Crown Princess…
Qiao Jinniang said, “Arise, it’s spring now, and the flowers in the backyard of the East Palace are all in full bloom, so I invite you to come over and enjoy the flowers together with me.
“I just didn’t expect you to come so early.”
The girls all said their thanks.
After that, Qiao Jinniang asked imperial maids to bring them into the garden.
The garden of the East Palace covered an area of about 100 acres, and there were all kinds of flowers, some of which were planted for the Crown Prince’s wedding and were blooming beautifully.
Walking beside Qiao Jinniang, Lu Chen picked a light pink peony flower and put it on Qiao Jinniang’s bun. “You look really beautiful wearing a peony.”
Qiao Jinniang chuckled and asked, “So I don’t look beautiful when I’m not wearing a peony?”
Lu Chen smiled. “You’re always beautiful. When you don’t wear peony flowers, you’re as beautiful as Xi Shi, and when wearing peony flowers, you look like a goddess descended from heaven.”
Qiao Jinniang stepped on Lu Chen’s foot. “Glib-tongued.”
The girls who were close to them all shivered for fear that Lu Chen would be angry when they heard their conversation and saw Qiao Jinniang step on Lu Chen’s feet.
But Lu Chen said, “I really didn’t lie to you. If you don’t believe me, ask these young ladies if the Crown Princess looks like a goddess descended from heaven?”
The girls: “…”
They were not Tong Yingying. Did they dare say no?
They could only rack their brains to praise Qiao Jinniang’s beauty!
Among them, some girls had already wanted to back down. The rumor was not true at all that the Crown Prince married the Crown Princess merely for the sake of the Qiao family’s power.
Since the two left the palace, their hands had always been clasped together except for when the Crown Prince was picking flowers for the Crown Princess.
There was only Qiao Jinniang in the Crown Prince’s eyes.
This was not the Crown Prince’s concubine selection banquet, but an occasion for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to play lovey-dovey.
The Queen’s palace.
Hearing that Duchess Wu and Zhou Sisi came to visit her, the Queen quickly let them in.
Duchess Wu said to the Queen, “Your Majesty, we came today because Sisi heard that a banquet would be held in the East Palace today but she didn’t receive an invitation, so she wanted to join the fun in the East Palace.”
The Queen smiled and said, “I suggest you not. You know the Crown Princess doesn’t like concubines. How can it be a concubine selection banquet?”
With this in mind, Queen Zhou didn’t intend to go to the banquet at all.
Duchess Wu asked the Queen, “Your Majesty, don’t you mind that Her Highness refuses to choose concubines for His Royal Highness?”
“Why should I mind? Sister-in-law, as the saying goes, don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you. I don’t allow His Majesty to have other women after me. How can I have a different standard for my daughter-in-law?”
Duchess Wu smiled and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty. Your words gave me a sort of epiphany.”
“Is it about Siming?”
Duchess Wu replied, “Yes, I only learned a few days ago that Siming likes Tong Yingying, my niece, and I had thought Tong Yingying was not worthy of Siming in family background, but you are right, my mother-in-law didn’t despise me because of my family background back then, how can I despise my own niece?”
Queen Zhou asked in surprise, “Is it the concubine-born daughter of that dismissed imperial censor who falsely took the credit of the Crown Princess’ deeds a few days ago? She is really not worthy of Siming, not just in family background.
“Sister-in-law, Siming will be the next Duke Wu. No matter what kind of family his wife is from, you have to make sure she is well-conducted.”
Duchess Wu entered the imperial palace today because firstly her daughter clamored to go to the East Palace to play, and secondly she wanted to hear the Queen’s opinions on Siming’s marriage.
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If the Queen didn’t agree, she had to separate Zhou Siming and Tong Yingying even if she would be hated by her natal family.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Auntie, I want to go to the East Palace to play with Imperial Cousin.”
Queen Zhou smiled. “Okay, then go ahead.”
…
In the East Palace, many noble girls were already uneasy as if there were ants in their pants.
The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were too much!
The Crown Princess went to pick the thorny roses, and before her finger even bled, the Crown Prince had already put her finger in his mouth to help her “stop the bleeding”.
And he even called an imperial doctor over. If the imperial doctor came a little late, the “wound” might have healed up…
What did they do wrong to be punished like this?
After the imperial doctor bandaged Qiao Jinniang’s finger, Qiao Jinniang whispered to Lu Chen, “You are acting a little too much.”
Lu Chen frowned and looked at Qiao Jinniang, “Why do you think I’m acting?”
He was really worried about her just now, afraid that she would hurt her hand, but she thought he was acting.
Qiao Jinniang caught Lu Chen’s gaze. She had planned to show off how much Lu Chen loved her at today’s banquet.
There were only three types of women who wanted to be Lu Chen’s concubines. The first type was like the former Consort Mediocre, who had been educated to marry into the imperial palace since she was a child. Marrying into the imperial palace was her life goal.
The second type was like Tong Yingying, who wanted to climb to a high position and make her family look at her with admiration.
The third type was the girls who had a yearning for the East Palace but it would be fine if they couldn’t marry into it, just like Fulu used to be.
She and Lu Chen were showing off their affection, which would definitely make most of the girls dispel the idea of marrying into the East Palace.
After all, if the Crown Prince loved the Crown Princess this much, why did they have to forcibly step in between them?
For those who still didn’t give up, she would think of other ways.
She had thought they were acting in front of these noble girls from the very beginning, but Lu Chen actually said no…
Qiao Jinniang withdrew her gaze. Then she heard an eunuch announce that the Queen had arrived, and everyone went to the gate of the garden to greet the Queen.
When some noble girls heard that the Queen arrived, their hearts stirred.
The Queen had come. It seemed that the banquet today was really a concubine selection banquet.
The Queen came in and walked up to Qiao Jinniang. “Arise, I heard that your finger is injured? Be careful with the rose thorns.”
“Thank you for your concern, Mother, I’m fine.” Qiao Jinniang quickly withdrew her hand, fearing that others would see that her wound had already healed.
The Queen said to the girls. “I heard that you are arranging flowers here. I’m also very interested in flower arrangement. Let’s hold a flower arrangement competition and select a winner today, okay?”
Zhou Sisi said with a smile. “Okay, Auntie, I want to join the competition too!”
The girls were thinking, were flower arrangement skills one of the criteria for the concubine selection?
Thus, they all tried their best to win the competition, arranging flowers in the porcelain vase.
There was a flower arrangement style of many colorful flowers and an artistic style of a single flower. All kinds of flower arrangement works were dazzlingly beautiful.
Everyone looked at the flower arrangement work of the Crown Princess and couldn’t help but frown. The Crown Princess picked flowers of different colors just now, but why were there only bare branches left now?
Could it be that she never learned flower arrangement in the countryside?
No, the flower arrangements in Myriad Taste and Tasty Pavilion were very beautiful. Even if they weren’t done by Qiao Jinniang herself, she shouldn’t have arranged the flowers so terribly.