frightfiction Chapter 1042 Gu Jinxiao was plotted against
Chapter 1042 Gu Jinxiao was plotted against
The first birthday gift given to the fourth prince is also known as the "Xiupan gift".
The royal family members and concubines in the harem presented their gifts one by one.
Someone presented a longevity lock made of gold and silver, with auspicious words such as "long life" and "good fortune and longevity" engraved on the lock body, and inlaid with rubies, jadeite, etc.
Some people presented fine horses and furs as a gift, implying that the Fourth Prince would dominate the world in the future.
Some people also presented precious four treasures of the study, such as the Duan inkstone and the Hu brush. The inkstone was engraved with auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes, and the pen holder was made of ivory and red sandalwood, expressing the hope that the fourth prince would have outstanding literary talent.
Handan and Fuqiu accepted the gifts in an orderly manner and recorded them one by one so that they could be rewarded or returned in the future.
Most of the things were checked by Tang Luochuan as usual, and only put into the warehouse of Zhongcui Palace after they were checked and found to be ok.
As for horses and the like, it was naturally impossible to bring them to the scene, so other people were responsible for them.
Finally, there was the dinner.
The palace maids filed in carrying food boxes and presented the banquet carefully prepared by the imperial kitchen.
August 26th is a clear and cool autumn day, a perfect time to eat hotpot.
The first thing served was the steaming venison hotpot. The soup base was made with wild mushrooms, and the venison slices were as thin as cicada wings, tender and juicy.
Someone inappropriately recalled that there was no hot pot in the Zhou Dynasty before, and it was invented by Jiang Shuren.
Although Jiang Shuren was imprisoned by His Majesty and was no longer active in everyone's sight, there were always legends about her in the harem...
The second dish is steamed roe deer meat with a secret sauce, which has a delicate taste.
There are also auspicious dragons and phoenixes made with chicken and fish, which are lifelike in shape.
The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea Soup is made with eight kinds of precious ingredients including sea cucumbers, abalone, shark fins, etc., and the soup is rich and fragrant.
Each dish comes with an exquisite menu that indicates the source of the ingredients and the cooking methods.
The banquet was very lively with clinking of glasses.
Princess Qingyang's eyes flashed with calculation, and then she regained her lively look and raised her glass to Princess Yun'an: "Third sister, come, I'll toast you a glass."
Princess Yun'an also picked up the wine glass on the table and reminded him: "Although these are fruit wines, they can make you drunk if you drink too much. Drink less."
Princess Qingyang's hand holding the wine glass tightened slightly, and a trace of guilt surged in her heart...
But when she thought of the person she was thinking about, she hardened her heart again.
If a person does not serve himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth.
So, Third Sister, don't blame her...
Princess Qingyang didn't show any abnormality on her face. She smiled at Princess Yun'an and said, "Third sister, I know!"
Nangong Xuanyu looked at Shen Zhinian, gave her a glass of wine and asked Li Changde to bring it to her, and said in a gentle voice: "Niannian, you not only gave birth to the fourth prince for me, but also raised him so well. You are a meritorious official of the Great Zhou!"
Shen Zhinian took the wine from Li Changde and stood up and said, "As a concubine, it is my duty to help your majesty to have children and raise royal heirs. Your majesty, thank you for your praise."
Seeing how much His Majesty loves Concubine Chen, many people looked at her with envy.
After three rounds of drinks, the dancers and musicians walked into the imperial garden in an orderly manner and performed beautiful dances!
The guests either appreciated the performance quietly or chatted in low voices, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Suddenly, a little palace maid accidentally spilled wine on Gu Jinxiao's official robe. She was so frightened that her face turned pale and she knelt down to beg for mercy: "This servant didn't mean it. Please spare my life, sir! Please spare my life!"
Although Gu Jinxiao has a cold temper and is ruthless when handling political affairs, he will never make things difficult for the weak.
Looking at the wine stains on his clothes, he frowned but did not blame the little maid: "It's okay, get up."
The little maid was as if she had been pardoned, and she thanked him gratefully: "Thank you, sir!"
"My Lord's clothes are dirty. I will take you to change."
When attending an important banquet, everyone would ask their entourage to bring an extra set of clothes to avoid similar accidents.
In such an important occasion, it is impossible to ignore the wine stains on clothes. If someone finds out, it will be considered a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor.
Gu Jinxiao got up and left the Imperial Garden.
The Gu family's carriage was waiting outside the Shenwu Gate. He instructed a young eunuch to get clothes from his followers.
However, when passing by a rockery, Gu Jinxiao's body suddenly felt hot and his consciousness became blurred...
……
Royal Garden.
There were bursts of pleasant string and bamboo sounds in my ears.
In such a lively occasion, naturally no one noticed the little incident during the meal.
But Princess Yun'an had been paying attention to Gu Jinxiao, and of course she saw him leave.
However, because they were far away and it was too noisy all around, Princess Yun'an didn't know what exactly happened.
But for her, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Time waits for no one, and she has decided to express her feelings to Minister Gu. However, there are so many people in the Imperial Garden, and even if Princess Yun'an is generous, it is impossible for her to approach Gu Jinxiao and say that she likes him in such an occasion.
Minister Gu is out, so she can seize this opportunity!
Thinking of this, Princess Yun'an's heartbeat began to accelerate.
"Fourth sister, fifth sister, I'm going out for some fresh air."
After saying this, Princess Yun'an stood up and chased in the direction Gu Jinxiao left.
Seeing that everything was developing as she expected, Princess Qingyang's lips curled up slightly.
She didn't show any abnormality on her face, and said to Princess Wenshu, "Fifth sister, Third sister just drank a few more cups and went out to get some fresh air. I'm a little worried, so I'll go over and take a look."
Many people at the palace banquet left temporarily, either to change clothes or to get some fresh air.
Princess Wenshu didn't think much about it. She watched the dancers' wonderful performance and nodded, "Fourth sister, you go."
At this time, Xiao Zhouzi walked quietly to Shen Zhinian and whispered a few words in his ear.
After listening, Shen Zhinian's eyes suddenly narrowed, and a cold light flashed in his eyes!
What the princesses do on weekdays has nothing to do with her, but today is Axu's first birthday, and she will not allow anything to go wrong, let alone anyone to make a fool of themselves!
Shen Zhinian didn't want to make a big deal out of it and have the Fourth Prince's first birthday ceremony not end successfully, so he gave little Zhouzi a few instructions.
He left immediately after obeying the order.
Then, Shen Zhinian stood up, bowed to Nangong Xuanyu, and said with a faint smile: "Your Majesty, I am drunk, so I will go outside to get some fresh air."
Although the Imperial Garden is open-air, there are so many people at the banquet that they naturally go to other places to get some fresh air.
Nangong Xuanyu nodded, looked at Handan and Fuqiu, and instructed: "Take good care of Concubine Chen."
"Yes."
After Shen Zhinian left the Imperial Garden, Xiao Mingzi came up to her and whispered, "Your Majesty, Lord Gu is now next to a rockery. Princess Yun'an has already gone there, and Princess Qingyang is following closely behind..."
Shen Zhinian's face was terribly cold!