In the peony garden hall, young girls were sitting together chatting lively.
Probably because of the lessons learned from the past, whether it is the fifth princess, the second daughter of the Jiang family, or other women with thoughts, they are all very calm today, and all they talk about are light and interesting topics, and no one dares to start a dispute easily.
The emperor and the princes arrived and quickly called back the queens who were walking in the garden. The princesses and ladies who were drinking tea and chatting in the pavilion also stood up and saluted.
"Why is the emperor here?" The queen walked up to the emperor, with a relaxed smile on her face, "I haven't been so happy for a long time, and suddenly I feel like I am several years younger."
"I have long said that you should go out for a walk more often. The air outside is so fresh." Emperor Mu sighed with a smile, and then turned to look at his sons. "The peonies bloom early this year. You guys can pick a few." Giving peonies to the girls present is a sign of youth and frivolity."
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of those present, whether they were the three married princesses or the unmarried ladies, moved in unison and subconsciously looked towards the five princes.
But only they know who they are looking at.
Today's flower-viewing banquet is hosted by the queen. Although it is for the prince to choose a concubine, the queen has always been careful and considerate in everything she does. She must not only strive to achieve the goal, but also take into account the girls' face. Therefore, the flower-viewing banquet is just a flower-viewing banquet. It will not become a concubine selection banquet, and there will be no such thing as someone "losing the election" that will harm the girl's face.
Of course Emperor Mu also understood this truth, so he asked all the princes to pick flowers, not just the princes who needed to choose concubines.
In this way, picking flowers becomes a purely arty thing with no other special purpose.
As for whether the final result will be special, everyone naturally knows it in their hearts.
The emperor took the empress and the concubines to the flower hall and sat down, waiting for the five princes to return. The other women sat in their respective seats cautiously, looking a little nervous and a little expectant.
"Sitting like this is boring. Why don't you guess how many flowers they will pick?" Emperor Mu said, first looking at the Queen, "Queen, guess first?"
"I guess Prince Yu must have picked more than one flower." The queen picked up the tea cup and took a sip, with a relaxed expression and a smile that was a bit joking, "Concubine De is sitting here. Prince Yu is a filial man, so why not He must give one to his mother and concubine first, and then his princess must have at least one. As for whether he will give it to other girls, I am not sure."
When Concubine De heard this, there was a bit of a smile on her face: "I don't know what the princes are thinking in their hearts."
"Rong Cang should only be able to pick one." When Emperor Mu said this, his tone was slightly annoyed, "He is just a stubborn donkey, and I am really impressed by him."
The queen was about to say something, but she turned around and saw that the princes had come back from picking flowers. She immediately smiled and said, "Your Majesty guessed wrong. This stubborn donkey picked four peonies, and they were all different colors."
Rong Cang did have four peonies in his hand, red peony, pink peony, purple peony and yellow peony.
The other princes also have four, five or six flowers in their hands, each of which is different.
Everyone in the flower hall was a little nervous for a moment, especially the little girls who looked innocent and cheerful. The burning luster in their eyes did not know whether they wanted peonies or were anxious to watch the fun.
"Emperor Father, Queen Mother, Concubine Mother." Prince Yu quickly arrived at the flower hall and saluted respectfully, "My sons and ministers have already picked the flowers."
He is holding four peonies, all of the bright red variety.
Emperor Mu hummed, with a calm expression: "Give it to whomever you want, just think of it as adding a bit of liveliness to the flower-viewing banquet."
"yes."
As expected, King Yu walked up to Concubine De and gave the first flower to his mother-in-law: "Please accept it with a smile."
Concubine De was happy but embarrassed: "The Queen asked you to give it to the girls. What did you give it to me?"
"The mother-in-law will always be the most beautiful woman in the son's heart." King Yu said sincerely, "A peony flower cannot represent anything, but it is the son's heart."
Concubine De nodded slowly: "Yes."
Prince Yu turned to look at his princess, and under her shy eyes, he gave her the second flower: "I wish Ling'er will always be beautiful, gentle, and generous."
Zhao Yunling replied softly: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
King Yu took a step back, turned around and looked around in the flower hall. He quickly walked to Xie Danshu and placed the third flower on the table in front of her: "Please accept it, Miss Xie."
Xie Danshu was dignified and gentle, her expression unchanged: "Thank you, His Highness Prince Yu."
Emperor Mu and the Queen watched his movements without saying a word, with calm and unpredictable expressions.
King Yu’s fourth flower was given to Qin Zhilan.
Qin Zhilan was dignified and reserved: "Thank you, King Yu."
After sending the four flowers in his hand, King Yu walked to the center of the flower hall and saluted the emperor, then stood aside to make way for King Chen.
King Chen picked six flowers and gave the first flower to his princess Jiang Ying. His tone was gentle and tolerant: "I wish Ying'er beauty and gentleness, and husband and wife harmony."
Jiang Ying pursed her lips and smiled gently: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"His Royal Highness King Chen and the princess have a really good relationship." A girl in the flower hall said with her face in her hands, "It's very enviable."
Fifth Princess Rong Jinyue nodded reservedly: "Brother Sixth Emperor and Sister-in-law Sixth Emperor have always been a model royal couple. The husband sings and the wife follows them, and the harp and harp play in harmony."
Emperor Mu and the Queen were both present, so she naturally did not dare to belittle others, but the fifth princess, who had always liked King Chen and his wife, naturally would not let go of this opportunity to compliment them.
But as soon as she said these words, the women stared at the five peonies left in King Chen's hand, with subtle expressions for a moment.
I wonder who King Chen, who has a deep relationship with Princess Chen, will give the remaining five flowers to?
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, King Chen calmly turned around and walked to Qin Zhilan, placing a red peony and a pink peony on the table in front of her: "Miss Qin, please accept it."
Jiang Ying's expression froze slightly, and the flower branch in her hand suddenly became extremely hot to the touch, and she almost fell on the table. Fortunately, she recovered in time and did not lose her composure in front of everyone.
With her eyes downcast, Jiang Ying looked at the solitary flower in her hand, feeling sour and embarrassing emotions surge up uncontrollably in her heart.
It was true that she agreed to let Qin Zhilan enter the palace as a concubine, but shouldn't the prince take her face as the main concubine into consideration?
The main concubine only got one flower, but the side concubine got two.
Did he not take her seriously, or did he deliberately put her face under his feet?
"Thank you, Your Highness, King Chen." Qin Zhilan picked up the pink one, "I like it very much."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was another silence in the flower hall.
A look of clarity gradually appeared on the faces of the women. It turned out that King Chen was interested in the girl from the Qin family, and Qin Zhilan also liked King Chen.
Is this considered mutual love?
If they were really in love, where would they put Princess Chen?
Jiang Qian frowned slightly, looking at her sister calmly, and then at Qin Zhilan, who was holding a pink peony in her hand, with a trace of anger flashing in her eyes.
Emperor Mu remained silent and the queen looked calm.
Only Concubine De's face looked a little ugly.
