The side hall of Cheng'en Hall.
Several imperial doctors were nervously looking at Qian Duo's injuries. Concubine Qian looked at the shocking bruises and felt extremely distressed, "With such a beautiful face, even a hard-hearted person cannot bear such a heavy hand! That fool is really It’s so cruel and inhumane!”
Wei Guansun looked full of remorse, "Auntie, it was Guansun who failed to protect Duoniang and she was beaten and humiliated by King Zhong for no reason. Please punish me."
Concubine Qian glanced at him, knowing that he was faking it, but she didn't expose it, "I can't blame you for this. You are also seriously injured. Let the doctor take a look quickly. You will have to pay tribute later, so don't miss the business."
"Aunt, you have to seek justice for Duo Niang. My slap will never be in vain, even if he is a loyal king. I have never suffered such injustice since I was a child!" Qian Duo said bitterly.
"Don't worry, our daughter-in-law of the Qian family will not be bullied by others." Concubine Qian suppressed her anger, "After today's birthday party, I will definitely make that fool pay the price!"
"Auntie, King Zhong looks a lot different today than before. Guan Sun can't figure out the reason. You should pay more attention." Wei Guansun reminded.
Concubine Qian had heard Qian Guozhong talk about it before, and she thought it was someone suggesting how to act loyal to the king, but she didn't think deeply about it, "Well, I already know about this."
…
Zhao Mengqi originally did not plan to attend Concubine Qian's birthday banquet, but after being persuaded repeatedly by Mrs. Huang, he decided to go.
Logically speaking, Huang and Zhao Yu should also be present, but they seemed to have been forgotten and were not invited. Fortunately, Zhao Mengqi had no intention of letting them go, so he left a few servants to take care of them.
When he brought Huang Gou to the Cheng'en Hall, people kept saluting Zhao Mengqi. Without thinking too much, Zhao Mengqi also knew that these people didn't have much sincerity, so he didn't bother to pay attention. He walked to the seat next to King Rong with a wooden face and sat down. Down.
When King Rong saw him coming, he planned to greet him. Seeing him like this, he opened his mouth, but in the end he just sighed and said nothing more.
Those civil servants were originally dissatisfied because of Zhao Mengqi's attitude. Seeing this scene, many of them wanted to use the topic as an excuse. It's fine for you, the loyal king, to ignore us, but you actually dare not to salute your own father. This is a great act of unfilial piety and disrespect. !
But after thinking about it, in terms of status, Prince Rong and Prince Zhong are both princes, which means they are equal. Moreover, regardless of whether they admit it or not, Prince Zhong is now the de facto crown prince. In terms of status, his status is definitely higher than that of Prince Rong, and his reputation is also high. In fact, King Rong is just the uncle of King Zhong now, and King Rong didn't say anything, so he had to give up the idea and just keep it in his heart. When he meets the king, he can talk about it. Give Prince Zhong some bad reputation.
After Zhao Mengqi sat down, he looked around and saw that the area of Cheng'en Hall seemed to be larger than that of Chongzheng Hall, and it was much different in terms of etiquette and height. Otherwise, it would be overstepping. It also shows that Zhao Guan's family was very kind to his family. .
There were almost two hundred tables in the hall, and there were also many outside the hall. Including several side halls, there were at least five or six hundred guests, not counting the banquet for the female family members in the back hall.
Zhao Mengqi secretly curled his lips, but for a thirty-fifth-year-old birthday, such a big lavish event was planned, tens of thousands of dollars were spent. It was indeed a wealthy family's stinking of wine and meat.
A few bells rang, and the birthday banquet began, with dancing and music, and fine wine and delicacies being passed around like a flowing stream of flowers and butterflies by the maids.
As a country of etiquette, a banquet like this has rules to follow. Every drink and every peck is guided by the master of ceremonies singing. For Zhao Mengqi, in addition to the novelty, he also feels quite constrained. There are so many things to do with rice.
So Zhao Mengqi simply pretended to be stupid, kept his head down, and picked the vegetables to eat. Not to mention, the taste was no worse than the ones in the palace.
Less than half an hour later, the red tape-style congratulations and programmed toasts were basically over. What followed was a relatively free banquet, and Zhao Mengqi was almost full.
Because at this time, it is usually a separate table system, that is, one person is seated at a table, so at large banquets, people toast to each other from a distance. They toast to each other from a distance, and then drink together. Many people intend to toast to Zhao Mengqi. But he basically lowered his head and couldn't see at all, so these people had no choice but to give up.
But people with ulterior motives were naturally unwilling to give in, so a group of Yameni left the banquet with wine glasses and swarmed to Zhao Mengqi's banquet.
"His Royal Highness, we are young and naughty, and we have offended many people just now. At this moment, we are very frightened. Therefore, I borrow a glass of wine to apologize to Your Highness. With Your Highness's magnanimity and generosity, I will not refuse."
Oh, are you taking action?
Zhao Mengqi raised his eyes and looked at these second-generation ancestors with interest. He had been frightened by him before, but he didn't expect them to come back so soon.
His slender fingers were twirling on the rim of the cup, and there was no sadness or joy in his mouth, "What do you mean, if Gu Ruo refuses, he will become a chicken?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare. We sincerely apologize, so how can we slander him without permission? As for what the world will say about His Highness, it has nothing to do with us."
The one who spoke on behalf of the yamen was none other than Qu Yanei, who had a noble father. He seemed to have a well-educated family, a sharp tongue, and a lot of courage.
"Haha, the world's opinions? Do you care?" Zhao Mengqi straightened his back and straightened up, "Go away! Toast me, you are not qualified!"
"this……"
All the officials were shocked. They had no idea that King Zhong had no etiquette at all. Not only did he refuse outright, he even openly despised them. He simply gave them a slap in the face in front of everyone.
"We are the ones who have reached a higher position. Scholars cannot be killed but cannot be humiliated. Farewell!" Qu Yanei, with a livid face, forced his respect and took the lead to leave.
The officials returned to their seats in disgrace, feeling that the eyes around them were full of ridicule, and they couldn't help but look at the instigator, Wei Guansun, with resentment.
Wei Guansun couldn't stand the many accusing looks, so he had to bite the bullet and said, "Then I will go there in person and I will definitely save face for you brothers!"
