diskusbooks Chapter 92 Mid-Autumn Festival, Palace Banquet
Chapter 92 Mid-Autumn Festival, Palace Banquet
In the blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival has arrived.
Su Mowan further refined the painting that was to be sent to the palace as a congratulatory gift.
Given that Murong Jing had been coming to Huangfeng Garden every night to "serve the emperor" for the past few days, Su Mowan was given several eye rolls by Shen Muyue.
This was in the 108th year of the Yunmo Kingdom.
The Yunmo Kingdom has been established for a long time, and its court is vast, with more than thirty officials of the third rank or above.
According to the past rules of Yunmo Kingdom, when the palace held a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, officials of the third rank and above could bring their wives to attend, while officials of the fifth rank and below could only attend alone.
Those below the fifth rank are not qualified at all.
Since Su Mowan and Shen Muyue are essentially equal wives, they are naturally allowed to attend the event with Murong Jing.
Especially the imperial edict that was not proclaimed, in which the emperor specifically requested Su Mowan to come to the palace to join in the festivities.
Just thinking about all the people she would have to meet at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet gave Su Mowan a headache. It wasn't that she was afraid of being provoked; she just found it annoying.
The banquet was scheduled for around 7 p.m., but Murong Jing had them leave much earlier. Su Mowan had no objections, but Shen Muyue was overjoyed.
As for why she was so happy, it was naturally because she could go to the palace early to "catch up" with her aunt.
When we arrived at the palace gate, we stopped the carriage and entered on foot, as usual.
Murong Jing naturally went to the Imperial Study, while Su Mowan and Shen Muyue only had Jingyang Palace to go to. However, before they even reached Jingyang Palace, Shen Muyue was stopped by someone sent by Consort Shen.
Su Mowan had no choice but to take Qinghe Yinshuang to Jingyang Palace by herself.
Just as she arrived outside Jingyang Palace, a palace maid led her into the palace, while another palace maid ran ahead to report.
When she reached the front of the hall, she heard laughter and voices coming from inside, and she immediately frowned.
Su Huayue was also there.
Before she could even step inside, Consort Xiao's voice came over.
"Oh dear, Consort Su is here! Come here quickly, she was just talking about you with the Empress!"
Su Mowan looked up, her steps unwavering, a smile playing on her lips as she looked over.
The Empress happened to be looking at her, her experienced yet shrewd gaze sweeping straight over her.
I wasn't looking at her face, but at her lower abdomen.
Su Mowan suddenly got goosebumps.
The Emperor and Empress now believe she really did *that* thing. If they find out in a few months that it's not true, then things will get interesting.
With these thoughts in mind, Su Mowan maintained a proper smile and gently moved to the Empress's seat.
She bowed respectfully.
"I've met the Queen."
The Empress gave a lukewarm but not indifferent "hmm," and Su Mowan also bowed to Consort Xiao, who was seated next to the Empress.
Compared to the Empress, Consort Xiao's attitude was quite warm.
"We're all family, no need for formalities, get up, get up!"
The Empress then calmly instructed the head maid beside her, "Hurry up and invite Consort Su to take a seat."
Su Mowan then sat down.
Consort Xiao still had a bright smile on her face, and she was much more eye-catching than the dignified Empress.
After Su Mowan sat down, she didn't know what to say for a moment, so she just looked up and smiled. Seeing that the atmosphere was rather somber, the Empress casually asked, "Where is the Prince of Qin?"
"His Highness the Prince of Qin has gone to the Imperial Study."
Su Mowan gave a standard answer.
Consort Xiao, who was standing to the side, seemed to remember something and suddenly asked, "Where is Consort Shen? Why didn't she come with you?"
Seeing that Consort Xiao's expression indicated she was about to do something, Su Mowan readily agreed, saying, "Consort Shen was originally going to come with me to pay her respects to Her Majesty the Empress, but Consort Shen sent someone to summon her halfway there."
Consort Xiao frowned, slapped the armrest of the chair next to her, her face filled with extreme anger and righteous indignation.
"This Consort Shen is so ill-mannered! She came to the palace and didn't even come to pay her respects to the Empress first. Instead, she went to Consort Shen's palace. Isn't that showing no respect for the Empress?!"
Su Mowan glanced at the Empress without leaving a trace and, sure enough, saw that her expression suddenly turned somewhat unpleasant.
However, Su Huayue suddenly spoke up to defend Shen Muyue.
"Mother, please don't be angry. Consort Shen is probably just missing her aunt too much. After all, they only see each other a few times a year, so she might have been a little careless..."
Consort Xiao was in the middle of her performance when she heard her daughter-in-law's sudden remark, so she gave Su Huayue a cold look.
"You have a relationship with that Consort Shen?"
Su Huayue felt a pang of regret after being coldly glanced at by Consort Xiao. She immediately regretted her impulsive words in favor of Shen Muyue.
"No, Mother Consort."
After she finished speaking, she shrank her neck slightly.
This subtle movement caught Su Mowan's eye, and she immediately found it amusing.
It seems that Su Huayue is somewhat afraid of her mother-in-law, Consort Xiao.
Seeing Su Huayue shut up and admit defeat, Consort Xiao then said to the Empress with dissatisfaction, "Sister, isn't Consort Shen deliberately trying to make you unhappy and upset? Fine, Consort Shen is young and can be said to be ignorant, but Consort Shen is old and still ignorant?"
The Empress's expression darkened further, but she still smiled and said, "Today is a special day, everyone is happy, so this little thing is no problem."
"How can it be a small matter?"
Consort Xiao had finally found fault with Consort Shen, so naturally she wanted to make full use of it.
“It’s one thing for Consort Shen to be unruly on ordinary days, but what kind of day is today? There’s a palace banquet later. Sister, you may not mind, but what if she does something inappropriate later—”
"Alright, she's not that unreasonable."
After the Empress finished speaking, she glanced at Consort Xiao indifferently, then looked at Su Huayue and Su Mowan below the steps, her meaning self-evident.
Consort Xiao had no choice but to shut up, but then smiled and steered the conversation back to Su Mowan.
"If my sister doesn't want me to talk about it, then let's not talk about it. Let's talk about something happy. I heard that His Highness Prince Qin is very fond of Consort Su. Look at Consort Su's complexion, it's much better than when she entered the palace a month ago."
The Empress's complexion improved somewhat.
Following up on that, she said, "Of course, I've sent quite a few tonics. If you don't look well, His Majesty will scold you again tonight."
This statement was quite skillful. On the one hand, it did not directly acknowledge that the King of Qin liked Su Mowan, but on the other hand, it showed that Emperor Moyao treated Su Mowan exceptionally well.
Su Mowan saw right through the Empress's thoughts and was immediately filled with emotion.
As the empress was the head of the harem, she couldn't help but suppress Consort Xiao's ambitions in various ways.
Although the sentence just now was ostensibly about Su Mowan, it actually meant that Emperor Moyao favored the Qin Prince's Mansion.
In contrast, in the Chu Prince's mansion, Su Huayue, who married into the royal family on the same day as Su Mowan and was also the Chu Prince's principal wife, did not receive much attention from Emperor Moyao. Instead, he treated Su Mowan, who was a concubine, differently.
Consort Xiao naturally understood the deeper meaning behind these words, and immediately chuckled before giving instructions to Su Huayue below the steps.
"Huayue, did you hear that? We're sisters, after all. You should learn from your sister and make sure you have children too!"