My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chang An and Gu Li looked at each other, and then the maid turned sideways, making way for a carriage behind them.

"The eldest princess also said that you are distinguished guests chosen by His Majesty. Since you are distinguished guests, you naturally cannot be treated with ordinary etiquette. So the two princesses prepared a carriage and asked you to take it to Qujiang Restaurant." The maid stretched out her hand and made a gesture of invitation.

"Please don't refuse. Wang Lecheng and Director Gao can also ride together."

Chang An looked at the carriage and said with a smile: "Thank you very much, princesses. We will obey your orders."

After saying that, Chang An took them into the carriage.

……

In Qujiang Restaurant, Li Ke'er and Li Siqing were arranging the venue. Not long after, Li Ke'er's maid came in and said, "Princess, someone is here."

"Have Marquis Dingkang and Lady Duchess arrived?"

"Princess, yes," the maid replied.

"Please come in quickly, and don't keep them waiting outside for too long." Princess Changfen Li Siqing urged.

"Yes, eldest princess."

The maid turned and left, and then brought Chang An, Gu Li and others in. After Chang An and others saw Li Ke'er and Li Siqing, they raised their hands and bowed, saying:

"Greetings to the two princesses."

"Everyone, please stand up." Li Ke'er said, then walked forward and said to Chang An:

"Meet Marquis Dingkang and his wife."

"This morning, our father ordered us two sisters to hold a grand banquet in Qujiang, and personally selected Marquis Dingkang and his wife, asking you two to participate."

Chang An bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I hope the princess will thank you on my behalf."

"Marquis Dingkang, if I really tell my father this, I am sure he will punish you." Li Siqing said with a smile.

Chang An was stunned for a moment, and Gu Li nervously grabbed Chang An's hand. Then he heard Li Siqing say:

"Father specifically said today that Marquis Dingkang and his wife are forbidden to perform formalities. Anyone who violates this rule will be charged with treason."

"So just now, you two have already committed the crime of treason. Please don't say such things again."

Li Keer smiled and pulled Li Siqing, then said, "Well, Marquis Dingkang is also a loyal and good man. If other ministers received such an honor, they would probably have become greedy."

Afterwards, Li Keer looked around and pointed to the seat to the left of the main seat, saying, "Marquis Dingkang and his wife can sit here. Wang Lecheng and the other two can sit behind them, and Chief Gao can sit next to Wang Lecheng."

Chang An and Gu Li did not salute at this time. Only Wang Wei, Cui Yu and Gao Shi were saluting.

Under the guidance of the palace maids, several people took their seats one by one. Li Ke'er and Li Siqing also sat on the main seats. The former said to Chang An:

"Marquis Dingkang, besides the two of you, there will be some other people coming back to the Qujiang Banquet today."

Chang An nodded, then asked, "Were all of you invited by His Majesty?"

Li Ke'er shook her head and said, "That's not the case. Except for Marquis Dingkang and his wife, everyone else, including Wang Lecheng and Gao Zhushi, came here voluntarily."

"Today's Qujiang Banquet is nothing more than scholars competing with each other in their writings. I find it boring. After all, Marquis Dingkang can outshine all of them."

Chang An laughed awkwardly twice, then turned slightly, pointed at Wang Wei and said, "In fact, Brother Mo Jie is also a great talent, and his talent is no less than mine."

But Wang Wei said at this time: "Princess, you have misunderstood. I am far inferior to Brother Yonghe. I have competed with Marquis Dingkang in poetry several times, and I always lost."

Li Siqing smiled and looked at Chang An, and asked, "Marquis Dingkang, is what Wang Lecheng said true?"

Chang An was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect to be stabbed in the back like this. He could only smile and say to Li Siqing: "Princess Chang Fen, although I win every time, it's only by a tiny margin, plus the face given by others."

"That means what Wang Lecheng said is true?" Li Siqing said again.

"Yes."

"That's right. Even Wang Lecheng, who is second only to Marquis Dingkang, has been defeated over and over again. Can't we confirm Marquis Dingkang's status among the talented people?" Li Siqing said.

Li Ke'er came out to smooth things over, and said with a smile, "Okay, sister, don't say anything more. Marquis Dingkang must have achieved such great success by studying hard behind closed doors."

"Madam, you are the wife of Marquis Dingkang and you are the most familiar with him. I wonder if Marquis Dingkang often stays at home reading books?"

Gu Li thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and then said, "Your Highness, that's true."

"But seriously, can you give me an example?"

"Seriously, I'm being too serious. Even my son Changlang doesn't know some of the festival customs." Gu Li said.

"You don't even know the customs of celebrating festivals? Then how did Marquis Dingkang pass the time during festivals in the past?" Li Siqing was a little surprised at this time and asked quickly.

Chang An scratched his head a little embarrassedly and said, "Your Highness, during previous festivals, I would just read at home or go to a restaurant to drink."

"After we got married, my wife disciplined me well, so I learned to celebrate festivals and no longer went to Pingkangfang so often."

Gu Li felt a little embarrassed by this compliment and lowered his head slightly to avoid being seen blushing.

"Of course it is so. Otherwise, how could the Lady of the County have such a noble status?" Li Siqing said.

At this time, Chang An and Gu Li didn't know how to respond. After all, the other party was not Li Ying, and without the identity of a "pigeon", it was not easy to speak casually. Then, Gu Li pulled the corner of Chang An's clothes under the table to attract his attention.

Then Chang An saw Gu Li's finger pointing downwards, and his eyes naturally looked down - two boxes of mooncakes were lying quietly on the ground.

Chang An suddenly realized what was going on, and then he picked up two boxes of mooncakes, stood up and said, "Your Highnesses, I made a dish called mooncakes some time ago. Today, I am grateful for your grace, and I am willing to present this delicacy to your Majesty and the princesses."

"Mooncake? What is this?" Li Ke'er and Li Siqing were a little curious, but they both knew that this might be some new delicacy that Chang An had concocted.

Then Li Ke'er made a gesture, and a palace maid came forward, took two boxes of mooncakes, and placed them in front of Li Ke'er and Li Siqing. Li Ke'er opened the box, and there were eight mooncakes in each box, four steamed and four baked.

Li Siqing sniffed it gently - it smelled good. Then a palace maid reached out, picked up a piece of mooncake and put it in her mouth to "test for poison", then nodded. Li Ke'er and Li Siqing each took a piece to eat, and nodded like the palace maid.

"Marquis Dingkang is not only a brilliant writer, but his cooking skills are also in no way inferior to those of the palace kitchen. For a moment, I don't know if this is a waste of his talent." Li Siqing said with a smile.

After chatting for a while, a few more people came in. They were Song Jing and Yuan Qianyao. The two of them walked in, talking and laughing. After seeing the princess, they saluted first, and then they found Chang An and others sitting in the upper seats.

I can’t salute the royal family, so I can’t salute my own teachers?

Chang An and Gu Li stood up and saluted Song Jing first, saying:

"Meet Mr. Song."

The second one is Yuan Qianyao: "Hello, Master Yuan."

"Yonghe, long time no see."

"My dear Chang, how are you these days?"

The two old guys also accepted the greetings from Chang An and Gu Li with a smile.

"Thank you both elders for your concern. I am in good health, but my wife has been suffering recently." Chang An helped Gu Li sit down.

"I know, I know."

Song Jing nodded with a smile, and then sat opposite Chang An, sitting at the same table with Yuan Qianyao. Later, many officials and talented people came in and were also entertained - and Zhang Jiazhen wanted to join in the fun, but after seeing Chang An and Yuan Qianyao, he turned around and left.

Seeing that quite a lot of people had come, Li Ke'er called a palace maid over and whispered a few words in her ear. Then the palace maid left. She also said to the guests in the audience:

"Today's Qujiang Banquet was specially organized by His Majesty. In addition to entertaining all the talented scholars, he also wanted to see the splendor of our Tang Dynasty."

After saying that, two large red silks fell on both sides of Li Ke'er and Li Siqing, with the words written on them:

The bright moon shines on the past and present, and poetry praises the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Li Siqing explained: "Today's Qujiang Banquet can be understood as a poetry gathering with the theme of Mid-Autumn Festival. The rhyme and embedded characters are all determined by drawing lots."

"Moreover, the winner will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold as an encouragement."

As he spoke, Li Siqing clapped his hands, and soon, two rows of palace maids came out from the back, each carrying a pot of wine. A pot was placed on each table, but the one on Chang'an's table was replaced with tea.

After the wine maids, it was the dishes maids who served the food. After several rounds, the wine and dishes were finally served. Then, Li Keer asked:

"I wonder if there is any talented person who would like to come up and give it a try?"

After this was said, except for Chang An and Gu Li, everyone else looked at each other, wondering who was going to go up first. Li Ke'er and Li Siqing at the same time glanced at Chang An and Gu Li, and couldn't help but feel a little surprised -

The couple actually ignored everyone else and served each other food, looking very intimate. Not only that, they also seemed a bit out of place with the officials and scholars around them who were thinking hard.

Li Ke'er was speechless at this time, and smiled slightly, and Li Siqing asked: "Sister, is it true that Dingkang Hou is not interested in the hundred taels of gold? Or is he very confident in himself?"

"Perhaps, our Marquis Dingkang has no intention of participating in this poetry meeting at all." Li Keer said with a smile.

Li Siqing was a little confused: "Why?"

"Sister, think about it carefully. You have heard about Chang An's poetry competitions so many times. How could he have ever lost?"