The prince's personal bodyguard

The lanterns are on.

The royal family held a lavish banquet at the palace.

After the dinner, kings and envoys from various countries will say goodbye and return to their respective countries.

The scene was beautifully arranged. The hall was filled with exquisite tables and chairs, and the tables were filled with all kinds of food and drinks. The gold and silver tableware sparkled with dazzling light, setting off the attractive colors of the food.

The royal musicians were playing music, and the melodious music echoed in the air, adding a romantic atmosphere to the dinner.

The people at the banquet were dressed in gorgeous clothes and precious jewelry. The men were dressed in brocade clothes, looking majestic and handsome. The ladies were dressed in long skirts and wore gorgeous headdresses, showing a noble and elegant temperament.

The dishes at the palace banquet were rich and varied, with delicious colors and aromas, and all kinds of exquisite snacks and fruits that made people salivate. There were many waiters, who shuttled around in an orderly manner, constantly pouring various fine wines for kings and envoys from various countries, making people intoxicated.

The palace dinner is not only a feast of food, but also a feast of culture.

At the banquet, people can enjoy various wonderful performances, such as dancing, singing, juggling, etc. These performances are wonderful and dazzling.

In addition, there are various cultural activities, such as poetry recitation, calligraphy performances, etc., which make people feel the charm of court culture.

At the dinner, the emperor, his ministers and envoys were in order and the atmosphere was just right.

Bai Xinyin arrived not too late. He sat in his seat, savored the food, tasted the delicacies, watched the singing and dancing, listened to the officials reciting ancient poems, and looked at the various beauties...Except that his seat was not the best, he felt almost like the emperor. It was comfortable! Cool!

But there are always some gazes, intentionally or unintentionally, staying on me, which sometimes makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Mu Yunxiao also noticed it, and finally chose to walk over from his seat with a glass of wine and sit down next to Bai Xinyin.

"There are so many people here, can we two men sit together?" Bai Xinyin was a little annoyed by Mu Yunxiao's behavior of not caring about other people's opinions, and said in a low voice.

"After the Emperor granted us the marriage today, we are now engaged. It is only natural that we cultivate our relationship first."

"How do you know that the marriage will be granted to you? Didn't the Eighth Princess say that she likes you? Besides, in everyone's eyes, I am a man!" Bai Xinyin was a little doubtful.

"Don't worry about this, Ah Si. Just wait." Mu Yunxiao smiled, looking mysterious.

Bai Xinyin looked at his "evil" face, swallowed a mouthful of water, and did not ask any more questions. He had his own rules for doing things, so just wait and see.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

As expected, the emperor stood up and everyone fell silent.

The emperor said, "I am hosting a banquet for you today, firstly to celebrate the friendly relations between our country and other countries, and secondly to celebrate the marriages of several young generals."

Lin Wan'er, who was standing beside Mrs. Lin, felt a tightness in her heart. She knew what this meant.

Sure enough, the emperor continued, "After some consideration, I have decided to marry the seventh princess to..."

"Your Majesty!" At this time, a clear voice interrupted the emperor's voice.

"How dare you interrupt the emperor's order." Eunuch Gao scolded harshly.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have something to report. The outcome of the pot-tossing competition today has not yet been determined. I heard that Your Majesty is going to add a test. I would like to give it a try to see if I can be lucky enough to win first place. Please grant Wan'er a marriage." Lin Wan'er was afraid that the result would be difficult to change once the emperor announced it, so she decided to take the risk of stopping the emperor and seize the opportunity.

Seeing Lin Wan'er's bold pursuit for her own happiness, Bai Xinyin admired her courage, but she didn't know what Mu Yunxiao was thinking.

Even Huangfu Yan looked at her with admiration.

"Oh? It's Wan'er? I actually forgot about this. Bring out the questions prepared by the Royal Concubine, and others can also participate and have fun together." The emperor was not angry.

"I'll start now!" the imperial concubine agreed.

"Tonight's extra test is a literary competition, writing couplets. Here is a couplet, and you are to write the second couplet. Whoever writes it neatly and with good artistic conception will win the first place. Others can also participate to add to the fun." The Imperial Concubine said as she ordered the palace maids to take out the couplets.

A palace maid unfolded the first line of a couplet, on which was written: "Smoke locks the willows in the pond."

At first glance, everyone thinks "Smoke Locks the Willows in the Pond" is very simple, but if you think about it carefully, it is not simple.

These five characters respectively include the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth. It is a five-element couplet with profound artistic conception and endless aftertaste.

A quiet pond, surrounded by green willows and shrouded in a layer of mist, the beautiful scenery seems to be right in front of you.

It's almost an absolute.

Everyone looked at it and pondered deeply.

"Rotten peaches... rotten peaches make a lot of money!" someone shouted, and when they looked over, it was Feng Jiu who was a little drunk.

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter. This person was probably drunk again. He didn't pick stars anymore, but rotten peaches instead.

"It does have gold, wood, water, fire and earth, but the artistic conception is a little weak." A civil servant shook his head and said.

“Although it is not worthy of being presented in a formal ceremony, it does meet the requirements.” The emperor commented with a smile. He has always been partial to Fengjiu.

……

Everyone talked at once, but no one could come up with a better second line in a short time.

"The temple bell of Dengshen Village." Lin Wan'er thought for a while and said it out.

"She is indeed a talented woman!" a minister praised.

"It's natural and fluent, and its artistic conception and charm are comparable to the original sentence." The Grand Tutor nodded.

"Yes, yes, it's really enjoyable!"

…………

Everyone praised him again.

Lin Wan'er was very happy to hear everyone's praise, because this couplet was really difficult to match, and she felt that she would definitely get first place tonight.

So he bowed to Huangfu Yan to express his apology, which meant, "I'm sorry, I'm going to win."

Bai Xinyin saw all of this.

Huangfu Yan was a soldier in his previous life and had little contact with couplets. He took part in the competition with a glimmer of hope. If he failed, he would look for other ways.

Seeing that couplets were not his strong point, he began to consider giving up.

Just when he was about to admit defeat, a note was secretly slipped into his hand.

He lowered his head and opened it, and there was a couplet: "Peach blossoms burn on the embankment of Jinjiang River". He looked up and saw Bai Xinyin smiling at him, nodding at him, and making a cheering gesture with his right fist.

Huangfu Yan immediately understood and responded with an “ok” gesture.

"Peach blossoms are burning on the embankment of Jinjiang River." Huangfu Yan said it slowly, wrote it on rice paper and showed it to everyone.

There was silence in the room, and then there was a sound of clapping of the table.

"Absolutely! Reward!" The emperor laughed and the decision was made.

"It has both rhythm and artistic conception, especially the word 'burning' is used cleverly. The artistic conception and momentum are not inferior to the previous couplet. Good! Good! Good!" The Grand Master said "good" three times in a row, perfectly filling in the gap between this sentence and the previous one.

Lin Wan'er felt a little embarrassed, but she still magnanimously cupped her fists to Huangfu Yan and said, "Sir, you are both a man of letters and martial arts. I am willing to admit that you are better than me!"

Huangfu Yan returned the gift: "Thank you!"

There is no doubt that Huangfu Yan won first place.

The emperor asked him: "Do you need any reward?"

Official positions, money, beauties...all are available to choose from.

Huangfu Yan shook his head. He was not interested in these.

"My son has been ill for so many years, must he have become stupid?" The Minister of War Huangfu whispered beside him.

Huangfu Yan slowly took off his mask, revealing a very handsome man.

He bowed his head and knelt down, saying word by word: "I am Huangfu Yan, the eldest son of Minister Huangfu. I ask the emperor to make a decision for me."

"Oh, is there any injustice?" The emperor said with a smile.

"My mother died many years ago under strange circumstances, but I was too young to find out the reason. But my mother has been appearing in my dreams recently, and I beg the emperor to order Lord Shangguan Qing of the Dali Temple to personally investigate the cause of my mother's death to comfort her spirit in heaven."

After saying this, he knelt down for a long time and couldn't get up.