The Virtuous Wife

Chapter 21: First encounter with Long Wei!

The next evening, Jingyi and Gu took a carriage to the palace. Jingwei took the same carriage with the old lady.

Along the way, Gu reminded Jingyi to abide by the rules and not to run around, so as not to bump into the emperor and other nobles.

Jingyi nodded obediently, and Gu was relieved.

Jingyi was still thinking about Yuanxi's matter yesterday. Would an unpopular sixth prince also get in the way of others? Did someone dislike him and deliberately hurt him; or did he block the way of others?

Yesterday, Yuanxi did not tell her these things, but only told her that she had to be extra careful at the banquet tonight and must not leave Gu's side.

Jingyi blinked. She was just a seven-year-old girl. Who in the palace disliked her? Or did the matter of saving people that day finally become a thorn in the eyes of the queen and the Duke of Huguo?

Jingyi shook her head. It was just a small matter. For people like the Queen and the Protector of the Country who were plotting big things, shouldn't they be treated like this?

Jingyi couldn't figure it out, and didn't pay much attention. From time to time, there were a few chirping sounds of sparrows outside. Jingyi smiled slightly. Today, she had to take a lot of good things to bribe this little guy! Thinking that she still had this little sparrow, Jingyi's heart calmed down a lot.

When they arrived at the palace gate, many carriages of dignitaries had already stopped here. Jingyi and others got off the car. Su Wei, Su Qing, and Su Mingzao were waiting at the palace gate and hurriedly took everyone in.

Along the way, the majesty and solemnity of the palace deeply stimulated Jingyi. In the eyes of outsiders, perhaps this place is magnificent and majestic, but in her eyes, this is just an expensive cage! But there are countless women jumping in, and they are even proud of it! Jingyi thought of the miserable concubines and heirs of the harem that she had seen in books in her previous life, sighed lightly, and shook her head.

But this magnificent palace deeply attracted Su Jingwei. She was a concubine's daughter. If she wanted to be proud, she could only marry a good family! But no matter how good she was, could she be better than the legitimate daughter Su Jingyi? The only chance for her to turn over was to marry into the royal family! Once she married into the royal family, although she could not be the main wife with her status, she could be a concubine. The concubine of the prince was different from the concubine of an ordinary family. If she could give birth to a son earlier, it was not impossible for her to be the main wife.

The more Jingwei thought about it, the more she felt that she should marry into the royal family and marry a prince, even if he was an unpopular prince, it would be much better than marrying an ordinary family. At least, there was a possibility of winning over Su Jingyi!

The group arrived at Chongwen Hall with their own thoughts. This is a palace specially used to entertain ministers.

When everyone entered the Chongwen Hall, they saw that many dignitaries and noble ladies were already sitting in the hall.

The hall was divided into two seats, men and women, on the left and right. Su Wei and others went to the men's seat, while the old lady and Gu were led to the designated seats by the eunuchs.

Gu sat below the old lady, Jingyi sat above Gu, and Jingwei sat next.

As soon as they sat down, someone said, "I heard that the emperor recently promoted a new concubine, who seems to be of humble origin. They said they would choose a day to hold the ceremony of conferring the title?"

Another gorgeously dressed noblewoman curled her lips and said, "What's new about this! I heard that the emperor doted on her so much that he even renamed the palace where she lived as Xinlan Palace! He decorated it all over again, and replaced all the ornaments with new ones."

"Lanxin Palace? What a strange name!"

The gorgeous noblewoman said again, "Tsk tsk, do you really not know, or are you pretending? Who doesn't know that the emperor's new favorite has a word Lan in her maiden name! Even her title is Lan Fei!"

Gu and Jingyi seemed to have heard nothing, and they still bowed their heads and said nothing. Jingwei, however, could not sit still, and her face was a little excited.

Jingyi looked at Jingwei, who looked a little happy, and shook her head disapprovingly. Obviously, her sister-in-law had the idea of ​​marrying into the royal family, and even as a concubine, she was proud of it!

Jingyi secretly thought that with Jingwei's impulsive temperament and stupid brain, she would not live more than half a year if she really married into the royal family.

Everyone was still whispering, and then they heard the eunuchs singing loudly outside: "The emperor has arrived! The queen mother has arrived! The queen has arrived!"

Everyone knelt and said: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live the emperor! Long live the queen mother, a thousand years, a thousand years! Queen, good health!"

Jingyi lowered her head, her palms were sweating a little. It would be a lie to say that she was not nervous. After all, he was the most powerful man in the world, and the lives of the people in the world depended on this man's thoughts. She was meeting the emperor as a mere servant, how could she not be afraid?

The emperor called everyone to stand up, asked everyone to sit down, and said some words praising General Weiyuan, and then officially started the banquet.

During the banquet, people toasted Gu Wen and Su Wei from time to time. Coupled with the singing and dancing in the center of the hall, it was very lively for a while!

Jingyi looked up and sideways at the emperor. The current emperor, named Kangzheng, is the third son of the late emperor and the empress.

The emperor was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe. Because it was midsummer, he tied a jade belt around his waist to cool down. There were three dragons on his chest, in the shape of flying. Jingyi had seen this dragon robe in a book. There were nine dragons on the dragon robe, three on the chest and back, and one on each shoulder. So there were five dragons from the front and back, and the ninth was embroidered inside the lapel, which was difficult to see from the outside.

Now seeing a real person wearing this magnificent dragon robe, it really gives people a sense of sacredness and majesty. Looking closely at the dragon robe worn by the emperor, in addition to the embroidered dragon, it is also interspersed with embroidered twelve chapters and five-color clouds. The bottom is a water foot, and on the water are mountain and stone treasures, which means eight treasures standing on water, indicating the unification of mountains and rivers.

Jingyi was watching intently when she saw the emperor turn his head and look over. His eyes, as deep as Yuanxi's, made her feel a little dazed, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

Gu tugged at Jingyi's sleeve, and Jingyi came back to her senses and looked at Gu in confusion.

Seeing Gu's worried face and the mixed feelings in the old lady's eyes when she looked at her, Jingyi realized that she had been staring at the emperor for too long. She was shocked and felt a chill on her back. It was the dog days of summer, but she felt a chill that penetrated her heart.

Gu and Jingyi both left their seats and knelt in the center of the hall, not daring to say a word.

At some point, the singing and dancing in the hall stopped, and no one congratulated. For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall was so quiet that it seemed weird!

Su Wei's left hand tightly grasped the wine glass, and his right hand was clenched into his knees under the table, looking at the emperor with a worried look.

Gu Wen also frowned, holding the wine glass tightly in his left hand, as if he wanted to crush it.

Jingwei was worried, but her eyes were full of gloating. She had a smile on her lips. She felt the old lady's cold eyes looking at her, so she lowered her head and dared not move any more.

The emperor still looked at Jingyi, his face showed no joy or anger. He stroked his beard and smiled, "Are you Su Jingyi?"

Jingyi had already calmed down and reorganized her thoughts. She lowered her head and said, "Your Majesty, I am Su Jingyi!"

The emperor saw that she was calm and her voice was clear. Although she had a childish feeling, she was calm and smart that children of the same age did not have. It only took a moment for her to recover from the panic just now, and she could answer his questions so generously and calmly. It seems that this girl is really smart!

The emperor's eyes flashed, and he said sternly: "How dare you! Do you know your crime?"

Jingyi was not frightened by the emperor's words. Yuanxi told her last night that although the emperor had a strange personality, sometimes the more angry he was, the more he was testing her.

Before Jingyi could answer, Su Wei and the old lady knelt down, "Your Majesty, it's all because I didn't teach my daughter well. Please punish me for her young age!"

The emperor sneered: "Lord Su, so you want to take the blame for your daughter?"

After the words fell, everyone felt cold in their hearts. The emperor had a strange personality and was moody. This time, I'm afraid that Pingnan Houfu will suffer!