So what if I traveled through time? I'll continue to roll in another place

Since she had received the guarantee from Zhou Yao and Xiao Yueshan, Shen left the Zhou Mansion immediately.

On the carriage back to the palace, Shen asked softly to the young woman beside her who was also dressed as a palace maid, "Did you see clearly?"

The young woman replied, "Madam, look carefully. Zhou Yao is a senior from our research group. He majors in water conservancy and hydropower engineering. His research interests include hydraulic structures, hydraulics and fluid dynamics, and water conservancy engineering technology. He has participated in several large projects before. He is also good at drawing and can determine the location of explosives."

"That's good. I hope they can keep their promise and stay out of this. It won't be too late for me to use them after the Chu Changning incident is over." Shen was thinking, and Wang Huai'en outside the car heard it clearly.

Seeing Shen leave, Zhou Yao looked jealous, "What does the father-in-law next to that woman mean? His eyes kept looking at you sweetly?"

Hearing the sourness in his words, Xiao Yueshan smiled, "When I was in the palace before, it was this Madam Shen who summoned me. I stayed in her palace for a while, so I just knew her. He has big eyes, and he looks at people with that look. I am immune to it. You are too nervous."

"Oh!" This explanation did not relieve Zhou Yao's jealousy at all, "Anyway, I can't stand him looking at you like that." The puppy was angry and pouted.

"Okay, okay." Xiao Yueshan rubbed his face with a smile.

"By the way, why do you directly stand on the side of this emperor?" Zhou Yao was a little puzzled.

"Actually, it's not really about siding with the emperor. I'm just glad that the Shen family came to visit us, saving us a lot of trouble." After meeting Wang Huai'en today, Xiao Yueshan felt a lot more relieved. At least Chu Yuanming didn't directly assign them to Chu Changning's faction.

"That Wang Huai'en you don't like," Xiao Yueshan said as she sat next to Zhou Yao, "he's actually a man of Jin Prince Chu Yuanming, so Chu Yuanming already knows that Chu Changning wants to rebel, so Chu Changning doesn't stand a chance of winning."

"I see." Zhou Yao understood the reason, "Then all we have to do now is sit back and watch the fight."

"That's right." Xiao Yueshan nodded slightly, "But we can't completely let our guard down. We've been dragged into this. If we're not careful, we may not be able to escape unscathed."

After Shen returned to the palace, Wang Huai'en took the time to tell Chu Yuanming what he had seen and heard in Zhou's mansion.

"It seems that Zhou Yao does have some abilities." Chu Yuanming said thoughtfully.

"Your Highness, this man is indeed useful." Wang Huai'en said, "The most useful woman under the Shen family also said that he has some abilities."

Chu Yuanming was silent for a moment and said, "This matter is not urgent, let's observe it for a while. The most urgent task now is to resolve Chu Changning's rebellion. You continue to lurk in the Shen family and keep a close eye on what they do behind Wangyue Mountain."

Wang Huai'en naturally agreed, and returned to Shou'an Palace to work without anyone noticing.

Things could not go according to Xiao Yueshan's will. Although she promised Shen that she would no longer have any contact with Chu Changning, she could not resist the other party's insistence on inviting her.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin, the capital was restless. Mid-autumn had passed, and Chu Changning's birthday had arrived. As usual, the Grand Princess's residence was going to hold a banquet. Even the Yueyun earthquake and the displacement of the Fengshan stone tablet this year could not stop Chu Changning's determination to celebrate her birthday. She just told the steward to keep it simple.

"I am Xu Rong, the steward of Grand Princess Changying's residence. I'm here on the orders of the Grand Princess to deliver an invitation to the Thousand Years Old Chrysanthemum Viewing Banquet to your lord and his wife. Please be sure to attend the banquet." Xu Rong was dressed in luxurious clothes and brought three or five servants to Xiao Yueshan's residence to deliver the invitation, acting as if they were meeting for the first time.

With the Grand Princess's solemn order, the ministers in the court who received the invitations could not refuse and could only politely accept the invitations and promise to attend the banquet.

After seeing off the steward Xu Rong, the couple looked at the gold-embossed invitation and began to worry.

Just as Madam Ji had warned Xiao Yueshan before he left, the capital was full of twists and turns, with all parties' forces intertwined. In just a few months, they had become entangled with the Prince of Jin, the Prime Minister, the Duke of Dingguo, and many other forces.

Now the most honorable woman in the court, Princess Changying, wants to promote them, which really makes the two of them nervous, fearing that they will be involved in some dispute again.

The Thousand Years Old Chrysanthemum Viewing Banquet was just three days away, and Xiao Yueshan went back to her parents' home to confirm that neither Xiao Zheng nor Madam Yu had received the invitation from Princess Changying.

The Grand Princess's Mansion has a very high threshold. In previous years, only noble families and important officials in the court were invited to the banquet. This time, they actually invited him, a minor official of the sixth rank. It can be seen that at the last autumn banquet, they were also in Chu Changning's eyes. It's just that no one knows what this proud girl of heaven is up to.

The ministers in the court had different moods, but they still arrived at the Grand Princess's Mansion on time for the banquet with nervousness.

There were no separate seats for male and female guests at the table. Couples sat together and were arranged in order. Xiao Yueshan and Zhou Yao naturally sat at the last seat.

Although it was also a flower-viewing banquet, this one was much more restrained than the previous lotus-viewing banquet at the Gongshun Marquis Mansion. There were no entertainment activities either. The banquet was only held in a grand lobby, with many precious and beautiful chrysanthemums placed on the table to suit the occasion.

The two seats at the top, the host seat was naturally occupied by the Grand Princess Chu Changning and the hereditary Duke of Yi and the first-rank General Xuanwei Gao Wei, while the guest of honor seat was occupied by Prince of Jin Chu Yuanming and the princess and daughter of the Duke of Qi Shu Rongxue.

The eldest princess was of high generation and respected status, and almost all the noble families in the court came to her parties.

The royal family included Chu Changning's half brother, Prince Yi Chu Changyi; then there were Chu Yuanming's peers, Prince Zhuang Chu Yuanlang, Prince Rui Chu Yuanhong, and the two eldest princesses Chu Yiwei and Chu Yixiu; then there was the little emperor's sister, Princess Zhichun Chu Yuxuan, the wife of General Dingyuan Shou Junchou. Prince An Chu Zhaonan and Princess Jingshu Chu Yuyan were only two years old, so they did not attend the banquet.

On the side of dukes and marquises, the first one is naturally the hereditary Duke Dingguo, the wife of the first-rank Mingwei General Shou Yue Henghe, and Qin Xi, the daughter of the Duke Hongguo.

The Duke of Qi and the Duke of Hong were both hereditary dukes appointed by the State of Chu, but one of their fathers and brothers voluntarily resigned from their titles and retired from the army; the other father and brother died in battle, leaving the family without descendants. As a result, the former hereditary Duke of Qi and Duke of Hong no longer existed.

The other dukes and marquises currently in the court include Duke of Wei Wu Zhenshan, Duke of Rong Liu Chongshan, Duke of Yi Lu Fan, Duke of Xin Chen Shixian, Duke of Qing Wei Xun and Duke of Gu Yue Chang. All six of them have children serving in the court, making them the second most powerful noble families after the Shou and Gao families.

In addition to the royal family, all the ministers above the third rank in the court also came with their families, regardless of whether they had any grudges against each other. Prime Minister Song Pu also came with his wife, and even Ji Shu, who was the least fond of crowds, came, which showed the face of the Grand Princess Chu Changning.

Before the guests were seated and the banquet began, there was some music, singing and dancing in the center of the hall. When the banquet officially began and the eldest princess wanted to give a speech, the singing and dancing subsided, and even the music stopped.

The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. It was the first time for Zhou Yao and Xiao Yueshan to attend a gathering with such a terrifying and serious atmosphere.