Here in the lotus garden, the banquet has just begun.
The palace maiden with high hair on her temples swung her long sleeves and twirled and danced on the thickly carpeted venue, and the sound of silk and bamboo lingered in people's ears.
Beautiful people, beautiful music, a warm spring-like interior, and snow flying all over the sky. Everyone in the palace was already drunk before they even touched the wine.
King Xiu picked up the wine glass and raised it in several directions: "Thank you for your donations. On behalf of my father and the victims of the Dingbei disaster, I would like to toast everyone."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Highness King Xiu." Everyone responded.
"Don't be restrained, just be at home."
King Xiu has a dignified appearance and a calm temperament, without any airs of a prince. People who were originally anxious and nervous gradually relaxed and the atmosphere became lively.
Xiu Wang came to Xin You holding the wine glass: "Xiao Wang has admired Miss Kou for a long time, and today I finally have the opportunity to toast Miss Kou with a glass of wine. I hope Miss Kou will appreciate her."
Everyone toasted to each other and glanced here from the corner of their eyes.
They haven't forgotten how King Qing asked Miss Kou to have a drink with her at Princess Zhaoyang's birthday party a few days ago. Will King Xiu ask Miss Kou to have a drink with her today?
Tsk tsk, let’s not talk about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. At that time, there were a total of two princes who left the palace and opened a mansion. They all toasted to Miss Kou. Miss Kou was the only one among the women in the capital.
Everyone was holding their wine glasses as if nothing had happened, but in fact they couldn't wait to see how Miss Kou would respond.
He Qingxiao looked at this scene and thought of that day.
After that day, everyone said that Miss Kou could drink a thousand cups, but he knew that she was drunk.
Her drunken words are still in her ears: Mr. He, why do you look better than usual today?
Thinking of this, He Qingxiao curled her lips unconsciously.
It was also because of Miss Kou's words that he returned to the Changle Marquis Mansion that day and looked carefully in the mirror for the first time.
The memory of looking in the mirror and being discovered by Aunt Gui was not a good one. He Qingxiao retracted her thoughts and tightened her hand slightly on the wine glass.
King Xiu has always kept a low profile, why is he so warm to Miss Kou today?
It is true that Miss Kou donated the most among the people present, but she is a young girl, and as a show king, this seems a bit excessive.
But looking at Xiu Wang's expression, he was calm.
He Qingxiao pursed her thin lips slightly and watched the changes.
Xin You's eyes swept across the tray held by Gong E, and she picked up the wine glass placed in front of her.
The seats for the banquet had been reserved long ago, and the first thing served at her table was fruit wine.
"Your Majesty King Xiu, you're welcome." Xin You raised his glass, lowered his eyes and drank the fruit wine.
King Xiu drank the wine from the glass happily and said in a gentle tone: "Miss Kou, eat more vegetables. This honey-glazed deer breast is the specialty dish of the royal chef in the palace. Miss Kou can try it."
"Thank you, His Highness King Xiu." Xin You thanked you generously.
She had little contact with King Xiu. It was unclear whether it was because she donated the most that King Xiu looked at her differently, or whether King Xiu was already gentle and polite to others.
No matter what it was, it didn't matter to her.
King Xiu nodded to Xin You and walked to the next table.
Seeing the excitement, everyone quietly withdrew their attention.
"Miss Kou, let me toast you." A girl at the same table raised her glass to Xin You.
The girl has long eyebrows and a kind of heroic beauty. She showed no shyness when introducing herself: "My name is Bai Ying. I came to the banquet on behalf of my mother. My mother was once a general under General Xu..."
Upon hearing this, Xin You knew the girl's identity.
During the years when Emperor Xingyuan was conquering the world, Empress Xin always walked hand in hand with him. This set an example for many women. There were several famous female generals in the troubled times. Unfortunately, these female generals either died in the war or were injured. He retired, or got married and had children, and was no longer seen in the court. Among them, General Bai is the most famous and has the highest military exploits.
Nowadays, although General Bai is rarely mentioned among the people, Xin You has heard about it.
After the founding of the Xia Dynasty, General Bai lived in seclusion due to old injuries. Later, he suddenly gave birth to a daughter, but General Bai was not married at that time. This caused an uproar at the time. Many courtiers wrote angrily and petitioned to deprive General Bai of his canonization, but Emperor Xingyuan refused.
It is said that Empress Xin slapped the dagger in front of Emperor Xingyuan and threatened that anyone who mentioned depriving General Bai of his achievements would have his house destroyed.
It is also said that in the years before Queen Xin ran away, few noble officials took concubines. Firstly, they did not want to make a bad impression on the Queen, and secondly, the fierce women in the family really dared to carry swords...
Bai Ying looks like she is twenty years old, but she still looks like a girl who has not left the court.
Xin You raised his glass and said, "My name is Kou Qingqing, and here's to Miss Bai."
Thinking back to the fact that Miss Bai's mother also had a pleasant conversation over wine, Xin You couldn't help but feel good about the girl in front of her.
Feeling Xin You's kindness, Bai Ying drank the wine in one gulp.
In fact, she didn't look so carefree, and she was worried about the embarrassment of being rejected when she picked up the wine glass.
She has an unknown father. Growing up, people were polite on the surface, but despised her in their hearts. Many people even said unpleasant things to her face.
She just thought that Miss Kou, who donated 50,000 taels of silver, was great. She could sit at the same table with him. It would be a pity if she didn't even say a word.
"What does Miss Bai do on weekdays? If you have free time, you can often come to Qingsong Bookstore to play..."
Bai Ying couldn't help but nod.
She was not a person who liked reading story books, but she decided to buy all the story books published by Qingsong Bookstore and take a good look at them later.
He Qingxiao looked away and couldn't help but raise his lips.
Miss Kou seems to have made a new friend.
After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere was in full swing, when suddenly an announcement sounded: "The Emperor has arrived——"
Everyone in the hall moved for a moment, and many people dropped the kuaizi in their hands in shock. Then they hurriedly knelt down and called "Your Majesty."
Emperor Xingyuan was surrounded and walked into the hall. The heat that hit his face made him squint. The splendid cloak with a lot of snow on it was taken off by the eunuch Sun Yan and handed to the chamberlain on the side.
King Xiu came over and said, "Father."
Emperor Xingyuan nodded slightly, his eyes slowly swept across the people in the hall, and he saw the back of Wu Yaya's head.
"Dingbei earthquake, I can't sleep at night thinking about the suffering of the people. Fortunately, you have done some good deeds to help the victims of Dingbei tide over the difficulties. Everyone, get up. I came here this time to see with my own eyes the kind people in our capital. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Many people quietly wiped their eyes when they stood up, and some were even trembling with excitement.
Oh my god, I can actually see the emperor by donating some money. I will donate again next time I have such an opportunity!
When Emperor Xingyuan saw the expressions of these people, he guessed their general thoughts, and there was a faint smile in his eyes.
He came here because he was curious about Miss Kou. It would be an unexpected surprise if he could inspire these wealthy households to donate enthusiastically in the future.
"I heard that the person who donated the most to the disaster area was Miss Kou, the owner of Qingsong Bookstore."
As soon as Emperor Xingyuan said this, some wealthy businessmen with extremely rich families regretted it.
If I had known that donating 50,000 taels would be called upon by the emperor, it would not have been impossible for me to donate.
Why didn't you tell me earlier?
But Duan Shaoqing had a different mood: Why didn't the emperor say that she was Duan Wensong's niece, but the owner of Qingsong Bookstore?
Regardless of everyone's thoughts, Xin You stood up and saluted when the emperor asked him to respond: "Kou Qingqing, a civilian girl, has met your majesty."
