The little dark guard who travels between two lives

The emperor and his ministers all knew the purpose of today's banquet. The girls of the ministers' families were carefully educated since childhood, hoping to marry into a high-ranking family to win glory for their families, and there is no greater honor in the world than marrying into the royal family.

Therefore, after the banquet started, the young ladies of each family used all their skills to show off their skills in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, vying to dance, paint, recite poems and play the piano for the emperor and the empress. They all wanted to win the favor of a certain prince and get what they wanted.

At the banquet, all the beauties competed with each other in beauty, making the whole family dazzled. When their daughters were performing, the masters and wives of each family nervously looked at the emperor, empress and princes, hoping to see from the expressions of the royal family whether their daughters had a chance to be selected and ascend to the top.

However, the Emperor and the Empress always appreciated the talents of the young ladies with smiles on their faces, and all those who performed talents received rewards from the Empress.

The expressions of the princes were intriguing. The crown prince was the eldest among the princes, and his face was as calm as water, with no expression on his face. The ministers were amazed that the crown prince was so calm and sophisticated at such a young age, and he was worthy of being the crown prince of a country.

Compared with the Crown Prince, the Second Prince had a more gloomy expression on his face. His eyes were looking at the noble ladies performing in the hall, but the ministers could see that the Second Prince was obviously absent-minded and had no interest. Such an expression inevitably made the ministers disappointed.

The usually lively Third and Fourth Princes seemed much more lively. They watched the talent shows of the ladies with great interest. They would gather together and whisper to each other from time to time, as if commenting on the talents of the ladies.

Only when the daughter of the Left Censor-in-Chief, who was also the elder brother of Concubine Shu, came up, did the Fourth Prince poke the Third Prince in the waist and make faces at him. The Third Prince's ears turned red, and he punched the Fourth Prince. Only then did the Fourth Prince behave himself.

The wise elders in the audience understood immediately that the Third Prince's wife might have been reserved for the niece of Shu Fei's family. It was also normal for Shu Fei to make such a close relationship.

All the old adults sighed, turned around and saw the Fourth Prince and couldn't help but sigh again. The Fourth Prince was originally of the highest birth, but since the Shen Tuo incident, the Shen family has declined. Although there are still the old queen mother and Shen concubine in the palace, the prince whose mother's family has declined will not have a great future. None of the adults are willing to let their carefully cultivated daughter become the Fourth Prince's consort and live a dull life in the future. Even if the emperor remembers the sins of the Shen family and wants to settle the accounts, wouldn't it be a loss for their own daughter as well?

All the ministers stared at the situation in the hall closely, their hearts were filled with mixed feelings. After much consideration, only the Crown Prince and the Second Prince could still be fought for.

In comparison, the prince is naturally more popular. As the crown prince of a country, if you cannot be the crown princess, even if you become a concubine of the crown prince, you will at least be a concubine in the future, and your whole family will rise to prominence.

Therefore, all the lords and ladies closely watched the every move of the emperor, the empress and the prince, trying to see a little bit of the royal family's thoughts from the three most honorable people in the hall, such as which noble lady the emperor and the empress favored, and which noble lady's talent the prince was interested in.

Ji Wanran was in a different mood from the other ladies. She had naturally been told by her husband that their Qin family would not participate in the selection of the concubine this time.

Ji Wanran also agreed with her husband's opinion. It would be more comfortable for a good girl to marry an ordinary official's son outside than to enter the palace.

Their Qin family is already the prime minister of the current dynasty, and there is no need to marry any prince to compete for greater wealth. In Qin Mingxuan's words, their Qin family is always loyal only to the emperor.

Therefore, Ji Wanran came to the banquet in a relaxed mood, but when she saw the anxious looks of the ladies, she couldn't help but think of her two daughters who were also of marriageable age.

She looked up at Xinhe and Qingyan. Xinhe and her brother were talking about what was delicious at the palace banquet and which young lady was talented and pretty. The two of them were commenting while eating, looking heartless.

Ji Wanran looked at Xin He and thought to herself that her daughter was a princess appointed by the emperor himself and had a title, so her marriage would not be too difficult. Moreover, the Empress in the palace was worried about Xin He.

Ji Wanran remembered that her husband had told her not to rush to find someone for Xinhe. The implication was that Xinhe's marriage was not just a matter between them, and it seemed that the Empress in the palace would have the final say.

Thinking of this, Ji Wanran felt a little sour in her heart. Qingyan had told her that Xinhe seemed to be closer to the Empress than to her own mother!

Ji Wanran couldn't help but smile bitterly. In fact, she also knew that since Qingyan came back, she, as a mother, had indeed paid less attention to Xinhe and Xinnan.

She also felt that Xinhe's attitude towards her was a little more distant than before. Although she said that Qingyan was as kind as her, she always felt sorry for Qingyan because she had suffered a lot in her childhood, and she couldn't help but pay more attention to her.

But Xinhe is a sensible child, I believe she will understand.

Ji Wanran looked at Qingyan who was sitting next to her. She was worried about her daughter. Although Qingyan was the eldest daughter of the Qin family, she lived among the common people when she was young. The wealthy families in Beijing still looked down on Qingyan for her past.

It was all my fault as a mother that I failed to protect my daughter, causing her to suffer so much. Now she is being disliked because of the past.

As she thought about it, Ji Wanran felt sad again. Qingyan, who was sitting next to her, knew nothing about her mother's thoughts, or she didn't care at all.

Because, at this moment, her focus is on the prince. She has followed Xin He into the palace several times and met His Royal Highness the Prince. His Royal Highness the Prince is warm and gentle, just the type that Qing Yan likes.

Moreover, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince would always look down on him and ignore him whenever they saw him. Only the Crown Prince and the Second Prince would always talk to him with a smile.

The second prince's affection for her was very obvious, and Qingyan was very clear about it. But the second prince's mother was only a concubine, and it was said that she had never been favored in the palace. How could she compare with the future prince who would be the ruler of a country?

Even if King Cheng had not offered to help her take the position of Crown Princess, she herself had long fantasized about marrying the Crown Prince and becoming the future Crown Princess.

She had heard some gossipy ladies in the capital say that the prince seemed to like Xinhe very much. As soon as the banquet started today, Qingyan had been secretly observing the prince.

Sure enough, the prince looked calm and watched the performance of the ladies in the hall with little interest, but Qingyan keenly noticed that the prince had actually been secretly looking at Xinhe.

Sometimes when the prince saw Xinhe and Xinnan making greedy movements for a bite of food, he would even lower his head and smile.