The little dark guard who travels between two lives

It was called a palace banquet, but in fact only a few officials were invited, all of whom were important officials that the emperor valued. The reason was to congratulate Qin Mingxuan on the recovery of his daughter.

This was originally a palace banquet specially arranged by the emperor and empress to show the royal favor. Qin Mingxuan, as a minister valued by the emperor, missed his wife's delivery because he was out of the capital for the emperor's business, which led to someone with ulterior motives taking advantage of the opportunity to steal the child.

The emperor still felt a little guilty about this, because it was his favorite concubine who did such a wicked thing.

The Emperor felt relieved that the Qin family was able to successfully find their child this time. The Empress was happy for Ji Wanran and Xinhe. The Emperor and Empress could not leave the palace casually to visit the ministers' houses for congratulations, so they held such a palace banquet to express their care for the Qin family and to demonstrate the royal grace.

Those who attended the palace banquet were several concubines in the palace, as well as a few close ministers who had close relations with the Qin family, such as Yu Huaian and his son. Others did not have the honor of attending the palace banquet.

Qin Mingxuan and Ji Wanran brought their two daughters into the palace. Qin Mingxuan naturally had to meet the emperor first, while Ji Wanran took her two daughters to pay their respects to the empress first.

In Kunning Palace, all the concubines who were going to attend the palace banquet today had already arrived. The Queen had also specially permitted the princes and princesses to attend this banquet.

The princes all followed the emperor to meet the ministers attending the palace banquet today. Only the princesses followed their mothers to Kunning Palace to pay their respects to the queen.

When Ji Wanran, her mother and her two daughters entered the main hall of Kunning Palace under the leadership of Zi Qi, the crowd in the hall immediately looked at them with curious eyes.

The look that came over contained relief and joy from the bottom of the heart, as well as envy, jealousy and hatred hidden within.

Kunning Palace was familiar to Xinhe, and she had seen all the ladies in the palace before. Therefore, Xinhe was not nervous.

But for Qingyan, even though she had prepared herself mentally in advance, she couldn't help feeling nervous and uneasy facing so many inquiring and curious eyes.

Qingyan's legs became weak involuntarily due to the tension. She moved closer to Ji Wanran, hoping to seek comfort and support from her mother.

Unexpectedly, she stepped on her skirt in a panic and fell to the ground. Everyone in the hall was caught off guard by her disrespectful behavior in public.

Then, someone in the crowd couldn't help laughing. Although the Queen immediately stopped him with a glance, the laughter was still quite harsh in the quiet palace.

The sneer made Qin Qingyan, who fell to the ground, even more embarrassed. She had wanted to make a stunning appearance and make everyone like her and envy her.

But she didn't expect that she would be so stage-frightened. She also knew that it was disrespectful to be inappropriate in front of the emperor. As the daughter of the prime minister, she was so embarrassed to show her face in front of the queen for the first time.

Qin Qingyan's fall startled Ji Wanran, who was also stunned. Xinhe rushed forward to help Qin Qingyan up.

Xin He helped her sister up and glared at the third princess who had just laughed. She saw clearly that it was the third princess who was laughing at her sister.

The third princess was the daughter of Concubine Xi. She had never gotten along with Xinhe before. However, seeing that Xinhe was favored, the third princess, who always flattered the weak and looked down on the powerful, was only secretly dissatisfied with Xinhe and complained about her.

Ever since Concubine Shen got into trouble, Shen Yining felt that she had failed the emperor's grace, so she devoted herself to practicing Buddhism in her own palace and no longer cared about palace affairs.

In this way, Xibin became a high-ranking concubine in the palace besides the Empress and Consort Shu. In addition, the Second Prince worked very well with the Emperor and the Crown Prince and was praised by the Emperor and court officials several times. For a time, Xibin and her daughter felt superior to others in the palace, and they lost their previous restrained appearance and became more and more ostentatious.

This time, she actually laughed at Qin Qingyan in public in front of all the ladies and noble ladies in the palace, not giving the Qin family any face at all. Xinhe secretly remembered this Third Princess in her heart and would settle the score with her later.

Qin Qingyan's face flushed with shame, and tears welled up in her eyes. Xin He whispered to her, "Sister, don't cry easily in front of the Emperor and Empress."

Seeing that Qingyan had taken her words to heart, Xinhe pulled her sister to kneel down in the palace, kowtowed to the empress, and apologized loudly: "Please forgive my sister for her impoliteness in front of the palace. It was my sister's first time meeting the empress, and she saw that the empress was dignified and elegant, so she was impolite."

At this point, Xin He looked up at the Queen and smiled sweetly: "Just like when Xin Er first met the Queen, she was also stunned by her beautiful appearance. But I am fat because I have eaten enough food, so I can stand steadily!"

When she talked about how she got fat when she was a child, all the concubines present remembered that chubby little girl and couldn't help laughing. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the palace became relaxed again.

The queen smiled and pointed at her: "Okay, you're the only one who's talking nonsense. Who told you to bring up your childhood again? You've finally grown into a pretty girl, but you have to remind me of your image as a little foodie!"

Then, the Queen motioned Ziqi to go forward and help the two sisters up, and said to Qingyan: "Hurry up, it's not a big deal. Come, come forward, let me take a good look at you two sisters."

Xin He stood up quickly without waiting for Aunt Ziqi to come forward, and thanked Ziqi with a smile on her face: "Thank you, Aunt Ziqi, I dare not trouble you anymore."

Then Xin He reached out and pulled her sister up, and then took Qing Yan's hand and came to the Queen together. She tilted her head and smiled at the Queen: "Your Majesty, please take a good look, do we two sisters look alike?"

The Queen looked at the two of them carefully, then tapped Xin He's forehead with her finger and said, "You look quite similar, but I can still recognize you, the crazy girl, at a glance."

The Queen turned her head and looked at Ji Wanran: "You are a quiet and well-behaved girl, with a gentle temperament and look more like Madam Qin. As for this crazy girl, forget it!"

Ji Wanran quickly bowed to the Queen: "Your Majesty, thank you for the compliment!" However, Xin He pulled the Queen and acted coquettishly: "What's wrong with Xin'er? Xin'er is also very well behaved."

The concubines in the palace looked at the two sisters and felt that it was just as the Queen Mother said. Although the two sisters were very similar, their temperaments were very different, just as the Queen Mother said, and they were still easy to recognize.

Concubine Shu always treated Xin He with kindness, and borrowed the Queen's words and said with a smile: "I see that Xin Er has been practicing martial arts with Lord Yu for the past few years. She has become more heroic and more like a female general. I like girls like Xin Er!"

Lady Shufei also came from a military family, so she naturally liked the heroic Xinhe. She did not hide her love for Xiner in front of all the other concubines.

The other concubines and ladies present were not as high-ranking as Concubine Shu, so they naturally would not refute Concubine Shu's words. They all knew that Xinhe was the Queen's favorite, more favored than the princesses present.

Therefore, they all echoed Concubine Shu's words and praised Xin He. Qing Yan stood beside Xin He, listening to everyone praising Xin He again, and felt even more embarrassed today. She secretly hated her sister for stepping on her to get attention.

She stood aside awkwardly, clenching her teeth, looking somewhat at a loss. Xin He noticed Qing Yan's embarrassment and said to the Queen, "Your Majesty, what delicious food have you and the other ladies prepared for Xin Er and Sister today?"

The queen laughed again: "Why can't you forget to eat? Go, take your sister to greet the ladies."

Xin He received the Queen's order and took her sister's hand to greet all the concubines present, starting with Concubine Shu. Naturally, the concubines would not neglect the daughter of this important official.

Many concubines were friendly to the Xinhe sisters, but they were jealous in their hearts. Ji Wanran was really lucky. She married a husband who loved her wholeheartedly, and her daughter was loved by the emperor and the queen, and was even named a princess.

She was unlucky, she lost a daughter, and she was found back smoothly. Although I heard that the daughter was raised in the countryside, I heard from the ladies who went to the Qin Mansion to congratulate that the young lady was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and had the demeanor of a woman of her age. How could Mrs. Qin be so blessed?

The Queen saw that Xinhe had taken Qingyan to pay respects to all the concubines, and the two sisters returned to her side. Then the Queen ordered Ziqi to bring her reward to Qingyan.

Just now, all the concubines also gave gifts, but what they gave was naturally not as good as the rewards from the Queen. Qingyan was already overwhelmed by the various rewards.

Now that she had entered the palace, she finally understood why the furnishings in Xinhe's room were better than those in her own room. The rewards in the palace were naturally all exquisite items that could not be bought outside.

Looking at the rewards that were brought over one by one and thinking about the life he had lived before, he realized the huge difference between the two. At the same time, a trace of regret arose in his heart. If he had not been taken away at a young age, how rich and powerful he would have been in Beijing!