Originally, Huang Qiong wanted to stay with her mother and other girls as long as possible. Unfortunately, before they had even had a few bites of the meal, Gao Wuyong, sent by the emperor to encourage them, broke the warmth of this moment. Under Gao Wuyong's urging, even if Huang Qiong was reluctant and the girls were reluctant to leave, he could only comfort the girls with his eyes again before changing into court clothes and heading to Guangshou Hall.
By the time Huang Qiong arrived, all the brothers and sisters had already arrived, except for himself and Shouyang, who stayed in Tingxuexuan and did not participate. These dragon and phoenix girls were all wearing court clothes and sitting there neatly. Even the younger brothers and sisters were sitting quietly, accompanied by wet nurses and personal eunuchs.
On the emperor's left hand side, except for the first seat, which was empty, the rest were all princes. On the right are the princesses headed by Princess Jincheng, the oldest among the princesses. Originally, Shouyang, as the only daughter of Queen Daxing and the only legitimate princess among the princesses, should also come to participate.
It's just that Shouyang refused to come because he was clinging to his mother, and besides Princess Jincheng, he was not close to any of the other princes or princesses among his brothers and sisters. The emperor felt sorry for his youngest daughter, and his mother also spoke up, so he didn't force it. As a result, such a strange scene appeared in Guangshou Hall.
The first position on the emperor's left and the second position on the right are both empty. Shouyang is the only direct princess of Queen Daxing, although she is the youngest among the princes and princesses. But in terms of status, among the princesses, in this age where direct descendants are respected, she is the most noble. Therefore, she ranked second to the emperor's right hand, second only to Princess Jincheng, who had the highest prestige among the princes.
Shouyang should have been ranked first, but she was too young. The emperor did not want this young daughter to be in a high position at a young age, which would weaken her blessings. In addition, Princess Jincheng, as the emperor's eldest daughter, had made great achievements in her early years, and she was also extremely favored by the emperor. That's why Shouyang's position was placed behind Princess Jincheng.
Shouyang did not come, and the emperor did not arrange any other princesses as substitutes. This resulted in the second spot on the Emperor's right hand side being now empty. As for whether the first position on the emperor's left was reserved for himself, Huang Qiong didn't know. However, except for the princes and princesses, Huang Qiong did not see the princesses, grandsons, and consorts that should have appeared in the palace as Lin Hanyan said.
None of the concubines in the palace showed up. In the entire Guangshou Palace, apart from the prince, there are also princesses. And the prince, who had been imprisoned in a separate courtyard since the two kings openly rebelled, was actually very rarely present. It's just that the position is not only the last one on the emperor's left, where he might roll out of the main hall, but there are also two more guards with swords beside him than others.
Seeing Huang Qiong come in, the emperor pointed to the first empty seat on his left and asked Huang Qiong to sit there. But unlike other princes, they were not seated according to their age and ranking. And when Huang Qiong, who had no doubt about him in her heart, walked to the seat designated by the emperor after the ceremony, all the princes and princesses present almost unanimously took a breath.
Huang Qiong didn't know, but all the princes and princesses present knew that the seat assigned by the emperor to Huang Qiong had been occupied by the prince in previous years. In addition, almost everyone here already knows that Huang Qiong replaced the emperor and offered sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple. The two things were connected together, and almost everyone understood it. They were sitting on the throne with a calm expression on their faces.
For a while, the princesses were feeling better. But the princes present looked at Huang Qiong with mixed feelings. Some are jealous, some are angry, some are unwilling, some are very calm and don't see anything unusual, and some are even gloating about others' misfortune. In the face of all kinds of looks, Huang Qiong seemed quite calm, as if the person being looked at was someone else.
Not only did the kings look at Huang Qiong with mixed feelings, but the older ones also looked at the prince, who was sitting in the last seat, with pity. At this time, the prince was unshaven and looked extremely haggard. I also felt the eyes looking at me with different thoughts, but I just lowered my head and looked at the gold bricks on the ground of Guangshou Hall, not knowing what I was thinking.
After Huang Qiong entered Guangshou Hall, he saw that his son and daughter had already arrived. Although he kept his spirits up, he saw that there were a few fewer princes below than last year. The emperor couldn't hide his loss and fatigue in his eyes. He just said a few words indifferently and ordered to go down and serve the dishes. . Even Prince Ji and Prince Teng, whom Huang Qiong met for the first time, were not introduced to Huang Qiong.
The family banquet was very boring. Apart from the princes and princesses taking turns toasting to the emperor, and some occasionally whispering in low voices, almost no one said anything. The prince was over there, pouring himself one drink after another. Looking at the prince who seemed to be intoxicated by alcohol, Huang Qiong just sighed slightly and said nothing.
In response to the emperor's gaze, he just shook his head slightly. But Huang Qiong didn't want to talk, but it didn't mean that others didn't want to talk either. He doesn't want to cause trouble at this time, but it doesn't mean that others don't want to cause trouble for him. Just as the family banquet was coming to an end, Huang Qiong, who had not moved his chopsticks at all, and Yong Wang, who ran to his side, were whispering something.
Today was the first time he met Sixth Brother, Prince Teng, who had just returned to the capital with his family in accordance with the imperial edict, and walked up to him with wine in hand. His face was red, and he couldn't stop drinking. At this moment, Huang Qiong frowned as Prince Teng stood in front of him holding a drink, smelling of alcohol. It's just that he is an elder brother. No matter how much I don't like him, I can only stand up with the wine in hand.
Seeing Huang Qiong standing up with the wine glass, Prince Teng raised the wine glass in front of him and said: "Today, this is the first time I heard that there is a king of England among our brothers? Now I look at it, there is nothing special about it. ? Come on, I, the sixth brother, will toast you with a glass of wine. Lest you, the King of England, think that you, the sixth brother, are ignorant and were trying to put on my little shoes that day."
Huang Qiong frowned slightly when he heard Prince Teng's rude and even insulting words. Putting down the wine glass in his hand, he said calmly: "Brother Six, you've had a little too much to drink today. I think it's better to go back and rest early. If Brother Six has anything to say to me, it's better to wait until he wakes up." For the best."
Seeing that Huang Qiong ignored him and fawned over the boring Prince Teng, he did not give up. On the contrary, he became more and more arrogant: "Why, your Royal Highness, you feel that your status is different now, so I look down on you." Sixth brother? You think you are great because you made your eldest brother look like a human and a ghost now?"
"Who do you think you are? You're just a bastard born of Huaiyang's sins. You just relied on some dirty tricks to deceive the old man, flatter him, and send you to sacrifice to the Ancestral Temple. You’re so crazy that you don’t even know who you are. Let me tell you, I’m toasting you to give you face, don’t you fucking understand the courtesy?”
After King Teng said these words, among the princes and princesses present, except for those who were too young and some were ignorant. The elder's face couldn't help but change slightly, and he stared at the two people in shock. The prince, who was already pale, turned even more ashen after Prince Teng finished speaking.
He scolded and even publicly insulted King Teng. Huang Qiong met his provocative gaze very calmly, and said in a calm tone, with no trace of emotion, anger or sorrow at all: "Brother Six, I told you that you drank too much today, so it's better to go back and rest. . If you have anything to say, it’s better to wait until you sober up before saying it. As for those words you just said, I can treat them as unintentional words. "
Huang Qiong's concession did not lead to Prince Teng's restraint. Seeing that Huang Qiong did not accept the move at all and threw away King Yong who came up to try to grab him, King Teng said extremely arrogantly and unwillingly: "Don't you fucking pretend to be a prince and pretend to be a prince?" Who do you want to teach me a lesson? He is just a bastard born of Huaiyang’s sins. He dares to peek at the position of the crown prince, and he doesn’t even look at you to see if you are worthy?"
Huang Qiong's eyes couldn't help but turn cold after hearing King Teng's words that repeatedly insulted his mother. The wine glass in his hand was almost crushed by him. But Huang Qiong, who was about to get angry, suddenly saw Queen Song standing behind King Teng and King Yong, with a proud smile on her lips. He understood the cause and effect of the matter and calmed down in an instant.
Huang Qiong once heard Jia Quan's evaluation of this sixth brother. He was ambitious, but simple-minded, and was often taken advantage of without even realizing it. Although on the surface he is the only one among the brothers who is a die-hard supporter of the prince. But in fact, everyone could see what he was thinking, and the prince knew it very well. He wanted to support the prince, but he only wanted to use the prince's power to develop his own power.
But he was often used by the prince as his thug against his brothers. Not only did the emperor dislike him extremely, but no one among his brothers had any good impressions of him. Since the banquet started, this man passed by King Yong and was whispering something to King Song who was sitting next to him. Ninety-nine percent of the trouble he made today was caused by his drunkenness and the influence of the King of Song.
Huang Qiong was really angry that Prince Teng had repeatedly insulted his mother. But Huang Qiong knew that at least in this Guangshou Palace, in front of the emperor, he could not be angry no matter what. The King of Song encouraged him to make trouble in front of the emperor today for two purposes. One is to reveal one's life experience and embarrass oneself in front of brothers and sisters.
Second, I am afraid that I hope that I can quarrel with Prince Teng in front of the emperor, and subtly and subtly make the emperor's favor towards me weaken. This kind of thing is probably not the case. King Song, who is not much smarter than King Teng, can figure it out on his own. There should be an expert behind him to give guidance. Consciously provoke conflicts between himself and other princes in front of the emperor.
At this moment, although the emperor's face was very gloomy because of the trouble caused by Prince Teng. But he sat in his position, just watching the chaos below quietly, without saying anything. In other words, the emperor also planned to take this opportunity to taste his magnanimity. The most important thing was his tolerance for his brothers.
Huang Qiong was extremely disgusted with these things done by King Song. Just as Jia Quan said, this King of Song Dynasty has no great ability. Like her mother, she often resorts to these unsavory tricks, which is really annoying. Huang Qiong, who was well aware of King Song's thoughts, could barely suppress his anger, but it was impossible for him to be kind to King Teng.
He looked coldly at Prince Teng who had a provocative look on his face like "I'll scold you." Huang Qiong said in a cold tone: "Sixth brother, I think you really drank too much and dared to talk nonsense in front of my father. As for who I am, my father naturally knows it in his heart, and everyone in the world also knows it. , it’s not your turn to comment yet.”
