I was flattered after crossing

As night fell, I followed Xiao Zhengxuan to attend the dinner. Countless lanterns were lit outside the tent.

After Xiao Zhengxuan sat down, I stood behind him and continued to act as a servant.

Looking to the side, I saw that the seat should belong to Xiao Zhengchen, but he hasn't arrived yet.

Opposite them were the prime minister and his wife, who were talking back and forth, but Lei Lei was nowhere to be seen.

The seats at the banquet were soon filled, and the eunuch announced loudly, "The Emperor has arrived, the Empress has arrived, and the Second Prince has arrived." All the guests who had already taken their seats stood up and greeted, and of course we, the servants, followed behind and saluted.

Xiao Zhengchen came to the seat next to us and stood. I tilted my head to look at him. Wow, his mouth was so pouty that a pot could be hung on it. His eyes were red, and it seemed that he had gone to complain to the emperor and the empress. This child is really interesting.

"No need to be polite, everyone please take your seats. I heard that everyone had a good harvest today?" The emperor turned to look at Xiao Zhengxuan and asked with great interest: "Xuan'er~ I heard from Chen'er that you hunted that tiger?"

"Your Majesty, it was actually Chen'er who contributed the most. He had already trapped the tiger until it had no strength left. I arrived late, but... because the princess had always wanted a tiger skin, I had no choice but to steal Chen'er's tiger." After Xiao Zhengxuan finished speaking, he looked at the emperor and smiled.

He turned around, picked up a glass of wine and said to Xiao Zhengchen: "Brother, I'm sorry for you today. I will make it up to you later."

Xiao Zhengchen was stuck there, and he had no choice but to forgive: "Humph, forget it, since it's what my sister-in-law wants..."

Xiao Zhengchen glanced behind Xiao Zhengxuan and continued: "Consider it as my filial piety to my sister-in-law!" He raised his head and drank the wine with Xiao Zhengxuan.

The emperor watched the two brothers shake hands and make peace, and nodded in satisfaction. He thought, is this enough? In front of everyone, Xuan'er also admitted that it was Chen'er's credit, and he had no intention of taking credit. Now Chen'er won't cry and say that we are biased...

"Hahahaha, I didn't expect Xuan'er to love the princess so much." The queen also helped to change the subject.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Father and Mother. I'd like to offer you a drink." Xiao Zhengxuan raised his glass.

The banquet started, and soon, everyone's table was filled with exquisite dishes, all of which were mainly based on the animals hunted today, including roasted venison and roasted whole lamb. When the roasted whole lamb was served, the meat was sizzling! I stood in the back, smelling the fragrance but unable to eat, my mouth was watering~

Xiao Zhengxuan picked up a piece of roasted lamb with chopsticks, turned his body and glanced at me, put the fragrant lamb into his mouth, and chewed it with big mouthfuls. Then he said to himself: "The taste is mellow, the roasted fat and spices blend together to form a wonderful taste, which is really unforgettable."

After seeing me swallowing my saliva, he smiled with satisfaction, turned around and continued eating.

When I return to the Imperial City, I will go to Fenglelou to eat roasted lamb every day! I will eat it for a month! I will make you bankrupt! I am so mad! No, I am so greedy!

As the music started, several graceful women came in. I knew that the talent show that was popular in ancient palace banquets was coming.

The woman surrounded in the middle had her head buried under her long sleeves. When the music started, the sleeves were suddenly swung away, and her pretty face appeared in front of everyone. She took a few steps back and spun quickly. The hibiscus-colored sleeves danced with her body, and she slowly flew up while spinning, and was frozen in the air like a fairy, intoxicating everyone.

Wow! They're hanging by wires~ Which department produced this program? It's really expensive!

No, no, that's not the point. The one dancing in the middle is Lei Lei~ It was hard for her to dance before, but now she has an extra talent~ The words of the fourth uncle echoed in her mind: "How many surprises do you have that I don't know about!"

No! Fourth Master! He immediately turned his head and saw a look of surprise in the emperor's eyes. In the depths of his eyes, there was an unnoticeable emotion hidden.

Obviously Xiao Zhengxuan had also noticed this situation. I took a quick look and found that no one was watching Lei Lei dancing. There were only me, Xiao Zhengxuan and the Prime Minister.

Xiao Zhengxuan looked back at me, and I nodded at him. I was sure that the prime minister was here for the emperor today.

I looked at the queen again. She was still shocked at how the dancer was flying and kept looking up.

Apparently the queen didn't know that a bad old man was planning to give her husband a concubine.

After the dance, the dancers bowed and left. Only Lei Lei did not leave. She walked from the side behind the Prime Minister's wife and called her sister softly.

The emperor asked the prime minister anxiously: "Prime Minister, this woman..."

"Your Majesty, this girl is named Zhao Zhongling, a close friend of yours who is much older than you. She has been staying with your madam in the mansion recently. I heard that she is good at dancing, so I brought her here." The prime minister looked at the emperor sincerely and answered.

This is fine. If the emperor doesn't ask, then everything will be fine. But this question attracted everyone's attention to Zhao Zhongling.

Of course the Queen was also looking at her, but I couldn't see any expression on her face.

Generally speaking, when encountering such a situation, even if one has to consider the overall situation and maintain the queen's dignity, her expression will not look good.

As if it had nothing to do with him, he listened to the prime minister introducing the concubine to the emperor.

The Queen remained calm, could it be that she was going to deal with Zhao Zhongling tonight?

I have to hurry up...

"The stunning silhouette under the moonlight looks like a fairy in a painting." The emperor looked at Zhao Zhongling and said.

The prime minister smiled and picked up the wine glass to toast the emperor.

He has to live. Now everyone present knows that the emperor has taken a fancy to this person.

Then I have to call her Leilei or something, she is wearing something that is younger than her generation...

After finishing our meal with trepidation, we dispersed and on the way back I quickly asked Xiao Zhengxuan what to do.

"Princess, don't worry. Since your father made it so clear at the banquet, her life is saved for the time being." Xiao Zhengxuan turned his head and said to me.

"Ah, why is it temporary?" I was curious.

"She is still a member of the Prime Minister's Mansion now. Once she enters the palace, she will be..."

I asked again: "How many concubines does your father have in his harem?"

"In my father's harem, besides my mother, there are two concubines, three Zhaoyi and some Jieyushi, but I'm not sure." Xiao Zhengxuan said as he thought.

"Is the fighting in the harem intense?" I regretted asking this question as soon as I asked it. Isn't this just nonsense?

He looked at me with a hint of sympathy in his eyes. "I know very little about the affairs of the harem."

After a while, she continued, "Besides me and Chen'er, Concubine Shu has a daughter, Concubine De has a daughter, and Concubine Zhao gave birth to a son two years ago, but he is weak and often sick. But I know that my mother did nothing."

"No wonder the Queen Mother looked as if it had nothing to do with her just now..." It turned out that she didn't need to do anything at all.

"For an emperor, offspring is still a little rare, huh?" I stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear.

I continued to ask after returning to the tent: "How can I see her? I want to ask what the Prime Minister wants her to do. If I rush into the palace, I will definitely suffer! I might even lose my life!"

"Does the princess think that the prime minister will tell the plan to a woman of unknown origin?"

"How is that possible? We definitely can't tell her. But we can still deduce some details. For example, why did we ask Lei Lei to learn dancing when she didn't know how to dance before? And did you see the look in the emperor's eyes when he saw her just now? I felt like the emperor was looking at someone through her? Your Highness, don't you have any impression at all?" I looked at Xiao Zhengxuan and asked seriously.

Xiao Zhengxuan's pupils suddenly trembled, and he looked at me and said, "When I first saw the portrait, I felt that it looked familiar. I just remembered that when I went to the Imperial Study to see my father a few years ago, he was staring at a portrait of a woman in a trance. Now that I think about it, the portrait of that woman is very similar to your best friend!"

"What a lovely girl! Does Your Majesty know who the woman in the painting is?" I asked curiously.

Xiao Zhengxuan shook his head: "I really don't know. In the past, all the people in the palace followed my father into the palace, and those who should be canonized have been canonized. Those who were selected later did not look like this. When I return to the imperial city, I will go to the palace to see my mother and ask her. Maybe she knows something."

Seeing that I didn't reply, he continued, "She is relatively safe now, so Princess, you don't have to worry. You must be hungry just now, right?" He walked to a low table nearby and sat down, waving for me to come over.

"Tell me, were you deliberately trying to make me jealous just now? You ate the roasted meat that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!" I walked over and sat down opposite him, watching him open the lunch box on the table.

The aroma of barbecue immediately entered my nose as soon as the food box was opened~

"Roasted whole lamb! Oh! And venison~ and rabbit legs!" I reached out to take the rabbit legs. "Wow, how did you get all these dishes? I thought they were all gone!"

Xiao Zhengxuan looked at my greasy face and said, "I am a great prince, how difficult is it for me to prepare some food for my people? How is it? Is the food cold?"

"Haha, it smells so good~"

Kitchen Servant A: "Hey! Hey! You said that King Rui sent someone to ask us to leave an extra portion of food for the princess. But I heard that the princess didn't come?"

Kitchen Servant B: "You don't know this, right? I heard that the prince and the princess have a very good relationship. Maybe he wants to bring some back for the princess to taste tomorrow. After all, these game meats are not common in the imperial city!"

Kitchen Servant A: "That's right! Hey~ The prince and the princess have such a good relationship!"

Kitchen Boy C: "I'm back! What were you talking about?"

Kitchen Servant B: "We were just saying that it was very thoughtful of the prince to bring game back for the princess!"

Kitchen Boy C: "I'm telling you, I don't think so!"

"What! Tell me quickly! What did you see?" A and B asked in surprise.

Kitchen Servant C: "Just when I put down the food box and walked out of the tent, I saw the prince coming back, followed by a servant. The servant was handsome and got very close to the prince when he spoke. He didn't look like a servant who could serve others..."

Kitchen servant A leaned closer and said, "Is it true, as the rumors say, that the prince likes men..."

B and C said in unison: "Shut up! Are you going to die?"

King Rui's Camp

Xiao Zhengxuan: “A-choo!”

"Hmm? Has Your Majesty caught a cold?" I asked him after taking a bite of the roast lamb.

"I don't feel cold~" Xiao Zhengxuan rubbed his nose as if he wanted to sneeze.

"Maybe you didn't notice it. Just take a hot bath before going to bed to drive away the cold." I pointed at the plate of venison with my chopsticks and said, "This roasted venison is delicious. I've only eaten it in hot pot before, but I didn't expect it to be even better when roasted."

"What is shabu-shabu hotpot?" Xiao Zhengxuan looked at me and asked.

"It's just to light a charcoal fire in a copper stove. There is a circle of water at the waist of the copper stove. Boil water in it. When the water in the pot boils, you can put meat slices, vegetables, etc. in it to cook, and then dip them in some of your favorite sauces! It's so delicious. I like to eat it on cloudy and rainy days, or when the weather is very cold. It feels warm and cozy, hehe~"

Xiao Zhengxuan thought: "Oh? Then it is similar to the method of Boxiagong. If the princess likes it, we can eat it often in the palace in the future."

"Master." Seventeen's voice came from outside the tent.

"Enter."

"After Zhao Zhongling followed the Prime Minister and his wife back, she went into a tent by herself. There were many guards around her, more than the Prime Minister's main tent." Seventeen reported truthfully.

It turns out that Seventeen is not here at the moment. Is he out to get some information? Xiao Zhengxuan is really thoughtful.

He turned his head and saw me looking at him with admiration. He was stunned for a moment, and then said, "From now until she enters the palace, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the princess to meet her again."

I lowered my head and thought, it seemed that this was the only way for now, so I said helplessly: "Then let's wait until the prince meets the queen and understands the situation before we make plans."

"Your Highness, please sit down first. I will go out and find Xiao Cui to get you some hot water for a bath."

After that, I got up and went out to relax. This feeling of not being able to control how things were going was too unsettling for me.

When I went out, I saw Xiao Cui warming herself by the fire, so I walked over and squatted beside her.

"Xiao Cui, have you had dinner?" I asked.

Xiao Cui looked around and whispered, "Thank you, Princess, for your concern. I've finished eating~"

"I want to get hot water for the prince to bathe. Where can I get it, or should we boil the water ourselves?"

Xiao Cui laughed out loud, then covered her mouth: "Hahahaha, these have been taken care of by the servants, there is no need to trouble the princess to boil water herself. Someone will bring the water when it's ready~"

"Well, that's right..." I said with emotion.

"Princess, please come in quickly. It's a bit cold at night in autumn." Xiao Cui pushed me.

"It's okay. I'll go for a walk over there after I've eaten. Do you want to come?" I looked up and nodded towards the back of our tent.

"Okay!" Xiao Cui got up, patted her butt and followed me.

Under the moonlight, the grass here seems to be covered by a layer of silver gauze, which looks so mysterious and beautiful. The stars in the night sky are like shining gems inlaid on the black sky, adding a touch of fantasy to this beautiful night scene.

"Xiao Cui, let's rest here for a while!" I suddenly didn't want to leave.

I pulled her to lie down side by side and looked at the sky. The same Milky Way and the same moon, but there was no light pollution here, so it was very clear. It seemed as if I could reach out and grab a star.

Thinking back, the last time we watched the stars like this was because Lei Lei was heartbroken. In order to accompany him to relax, we signed up for a tour group and went to the prairie to watch the stars. It was also the same scene where we lay side by side and stared at the mysterious and vast universe in a daze.