The Queen Mother followed his gaze and noticed Ruan Tang again.
She couldn't help but sigh.
As expected of mother and son, they all like the same people.
During the dinner, while everyone was changing cups and watching the show, she got closer to Chu Mu and asked softly: "Has Mu'er also fallen in love with the eldest girl of the Ruan family?"
Chu Mu was originally immersed in observing Ruan Tang's every move, but he was slightly startled when he heard the Queen Mother's words.
Then he looked at her doubtfully, "What does this mean, mother?"
The Empress Dowager chuckled softly, "I know you better than your mother. What's more, your thoughts are written on your face. How can your mother not see it?"
This was the first time she had seen her son interested in a woman.
From then on, he kept a straight face and kept his thoughts in his heart. Even though she was his mother, he rarely showed any other emotions in front of her.
He has always been calm and collected.
And it was rare to stare at a little girl like he just did.
"The Queen Mother also likes Miss Ruan very much. She is beautiful and has a nice name. I felt friendly at the first sight when I saw her and wanted to pull her to get close to her, but it's a pity..."
Chu Mu didn't expect that the queen mother, who always had eyes above her head and no one could see her, would look at Ruan Tang differently.
"What's the pity?"
"It's a pity that she is engaged, otherwise the queen mother would directly issue a decree to bring her into your palace and make her your princess."
"Princess?" Chu Mu rubbed the blood jade finger on his thumb.
In the past, her status was so low that she was not even qualified to be his concubine, but now, as the daughter of the Marquis of Jing'an Mansion, she was quite qualified.
Chu Mu's lips curled up into a smile, and his eyes sparkled when he looked at Ruan Tang.
"So what if there is an engagement? Aren't you still unmarried? Even if you are married, what I want..."
"Don't do this nonsense!" Before he could finish speaking, the Empress Dowager scolded him, "What is your status now? If you do something to rob your ministers and women, do you still want the face of our great Zhou Dynasty? Don't do it. Confused."
"It's just a woman. There are so many girls at the banquet, why can't you find another one?"
As she spoke, the Empress Dowager raised her chin and pointed to the second position on the left side of her lower head.
"Look, that's the second daughter of Shang Shulang's family. She's dignified and gentle, so she'll be a good match for you. There's also the only daughter over there, the only daughter of General Cheng's family. She's good at literature and martial arts, and she's cute and lively, so she's good too. And …”
The Empress Dowager was still talking about the introduction, but Chu Mu didn't listen. His eyes fell on Ruan Tang again.
At this moment, Ruan Tang was eating the new snacks with relish and drinking the fruity fruit wine.
At first, she thought Chu Mu's eyes were always on her and felt uncomfortable. In the end, she simply ignored it and started eating and drinking.
Especially after drinking that fruit wine, I was even more out of control.
As expected, it was exclusively for the nobles of the palace. Even the wine was mellow and silky, and it tasted exciting.
Even though she doesn't like drinking, she is not a greedy drinker, so she can't help but drink one cup after another.
Mrs. Ruan had a droopy face all night because of Ruan Changhuan's incident, and she had no time to pay attention to Ruan Tang.
Therefore, she was so drunk that her face was flushed, and she was even a little drunk, and she was not noticed by Mrs. Ruan.
Only Xia Zhu on the side reminds Ruan Tang from time to time.
But Ruan Tang just smiled and said it was okay, and then continued eating and drinking.
The banquet gradually reached its climax, and after everyone drank several glasses of wine, the ladies who wanted to take advantage of the banquet to favor the Empress Dowager and Prince Ning became bold and went to propose toasts to them one after another.
Chu Mu was not interested in this, but the Empress Dowager would not allow him to leave, so he had to deal with it coldly.
Those noble ladies were full of enthusiasm at first, but when they came into contact with Chu Mu's cold eyes, they all shrank back in fear.
Coupled with the obstruction of Princess Jingning, every time they toasted, Jingning intercepted them. She drank them all for Chu Mu, and gradually the noble ladies lost interest.
Either he returned to his seat and stayed there, or he started chatting enthusiastically with other young men.
Taking advantage of the lively scene, Shen Qianyi also came to Ruan Tang's table.
He first saluted Mrs. Ruan, and then said, "Auntie, I wonder if my nephew can take his eldest cousin for a walk?"
Mrs. Ruan had always been unhappy because of Ruan Changhuan's incident.
She suspected that Ruan Changhuan was deceived by Shen Qianyi into having a tryst with him at the rockery.
Now that I see him, I feel even more angry.
It can be seen that he invited Ruan Tang sincerely again, and he couldn't help but feel a little relaxed, wondering if he was thinking too much.
Is it true that Ruan Changhuan said that he was looking for Gongfang and got lost?
But what's the explanation for Ruan Changhuan's red and swollen lips?
For a moment, she felt that she couldn't see through the cousin in front of her.
But she knew she couldn't let him destroy her granddaughter.
Therefore, she nodded and said, "Go ahead and let the two of you get in touch with each other."
Ruan Tang, who was already a little drunk at this moment, was confused.
When Mrs. Ruan asked her and Shen Qianyi to go, she just nodded vaguely.
Then Shen Qianyi took his hand and pulled him up from his seat.
Ruan Changhuan on the side was originally unhappy because of what happened just now. Now Shen Qianyi came to ask out Ruan Tang in front of her, and she almost couldn't help but explode on the spot.
At the rockery just now, he said that he left her and ran away for the sake of her reputation. But she was a weak woman who didn't know martial arts, so she could only stay there and wait to die.
If she hadn't come out quickly, those guards would have charged in with their swords.
It feels aggrieved to think about it now.
Fortunately for him, he acted like a normal person the whole time after he came back, and he never even looked at himself.
Now she is just asking Ruan Tang away. Is she really blind? Shen Qianyi doesn't like herself at all?
But when she thought about how he just kissed her and touched her for a long time, she couldn't sit still even more.
Her innocence was given to him, how could he do this to herself?
And Ruan Tang, who had clearly agreed to give up Shen Qianyi to her, was going to regret it now?
Just as she stared angrily at the backs of Shen Qianyi and Ruan Tang leaving, Mrs. Ruan shook her hand that was placed under the table.
"Xiu'er, Shen Qianyi is not your good match. Don't worry about him anymore."
"Why? Grandma, why? Why can Ruan Tang do it but I can't?" Ruan Changhuan finally couldn't help but accuse.
"Grandma is doing it for your own good anyway, but he is not suitable for you."
Ruan Changhuan turned her head and started to cry again. She just couldn't figure out why her grandmother was so firmly opposed to Shen Qianyi being with her.
She and Ruan Tang are both daughters of the Ruan family. Does it matter who gets married?
But how could she possibly figure it out?
The person in the top position was already sitting upright when Shen Qianyi walked to Ruan Tang's table.
When she saw him reaching out to her and holding her little hand in his, his dark eyes wanted to burst out with an ice knife and cut Shen Qianyi into pieces.
