Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

When Zhen Luo and Fang Jiawei returned to the banquet, several young men were already standing in the hall and competing in poetry.

When the emperor saw that only the two of them came back, he turned around and said something to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch came to Zhen Luo and said a few words to her. She also said a few words in reply, and the eunuch left and returned to the emperor.

"how?"

The emperor asked in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, Miss Zhen said that the Imperial Concubine was not feeling well, so she went to bed."

The emperor nodded.

"Then send someone to deliver some supplements to Concubine Yun."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Although a poetry contest was going on, some people noticed the emperor's movements. No one knew what the emperor wanted to talk to Zhen Luo about, but it was certain that the Zhen family had shown up in front of the emperor this time.

"it is good!"

The sudden applause from the audience drew the emperor's attention back. It turned out that the young master of the Jin family won this group.

"You are..."

The emperor had no idea who the young men in this group were.

"Your Majesty, my name is Jin Zerun, and I am the son of Jin Hang, a reader at the Imperial Academy."

"No wonder he is well-read, he is the son of the Jin family, great!"

The emperor was just about to ask Mu Yi to give the reward to Young Master Jin, but the Third Prince suddenly spoke at this time.

"Father, those young ladies haven't competed in poetry yet~"

When the Third Prince said this, everyone was stunned, and even the Emperor turned to look at him. It wasn't that the Third Prince said anything outrageous, but the contest of poetry and skills had always been tacitly accepted by the young men, and the young ladies were responsible for performing songs and dances. Although this was not a rule in the palace, it had always been tacitly accepted.

The Third Prince did not notice that everyone was stunned, and continued talking to himself.

"I have heard that Baili Zhao is very talented and has made great achievements in poetry and songs, and is not inferior to other men."

"Oh? Seriously?"

The emperor raised his lips into an ambiguous smile and looked at the third prince and asked.

"I swear!"

The third prince's affirmative tone caused the people in the audience to whisper.

"What does the Third Prince mean? Could it be that the Third Prince and the Grand Tutor's granddaughter have fallen in love?"

"Don't talk nonsense. The granddaughter of the Grand Tutor is naturally sensible and knows how to act. How could she fall for the Third Prince?"

"Look at what you said. The Third Prince is not that bad."

"I think it's probably the third prince's unrequited love!"

"But isn't Zuo Xin the concubine that the emperor has chosen for the third prince?"

"The daughter of the Zuo family? That status is indeed high enough to be the consort of the Third Prince."

......

Everyone was talking at once, and the topic shifted to Zuo Xin again. Zuo Xin twisted her handkerchief and looked at the third prince on the stage with a gloomy face.

Xiao Zuoqing next to the Third Prince and Xiao Zuochen opposite looked at each other, both with helpless smiles on their faces, while Master Baili in the audience shook his head helplessly. The person involved, Baili Zhao, drank the tea in the cup with a blank expression, as if everyone was not talking about her.

"Master, what do you think?"

The emperor turned his head to look at Master Baili, who stroked his white beard twice, pouted his lips and looked at Baili Zhao standing beside him.

"What do you think, Zhao Er?"

The Grand Tutor passed the words to Baili Zhao, and she stood up and replied without any stage fright.

"Your Majesty, I have been taught by my grandfather since I was young, and I can indeed read and write. But I have never written a poem, and I don't know where the Third Prince heard this nonsense from."

"That day I..."

"Brother Emperor!"

Xiao Zuochen suddenly stood up, raised his glass, and called the Third Prince, which really frightened the Third Prince. But then he turned around and looked at the Emperor.

"Father, I had an argument with my brother today. He said that the poetry contests at Zhizuifang have been won by men in recent days, and there are only a few women participating. My third brother retorted that there are many talented women in Tai'an, and he was anxious at the moment, so he wanted to let the daughter of the Grand Tutor compete."

"I..."

The third prince was confused. When did they say these words?

The eldest prince, who was standing by, saw Xiao Zuochen come out to smooth things over, and he also grabbed the third prince and secretly pulled him to sit down.

"Third brother, you are drunk."

The third prince was even more confused. The eldest prince usually avoided him, so why was he pulling his sleeve now?

"Okay, I hope there is no rule in the palace that women cannot compete in poetry, but we can't force them. It's settled. The eldest son of the Jin family wins the poetry competition! Receive the reward!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The emperor chatted with everyone for a while, and after they finished eating, he let them go.

As soon as the emperor left, all the ministers came to congratulate Lord Zuo.

"It seems that the emperor wants to choose the daughter of the Zuo family as the third prince's consort~"

After hearing this, Lord Zuo smiled and waved his hand.

"Ah~ My daughter is so young and pretty that she barely caught the emperor's eye."

"Master Zuo, what are you talking about? Everyone knows that your daughter is an expert in playing the zither and chess!"

Zuo Lin still just smiled and waved his hands, looking humble.

Xiao Zuochen greeted his elder brother the moment the banquet ended, saying that he was going to Yunyuan. Xiao Zuoqing also said that he was going to the Buddhist temple, and the two agreed to meet at the palace gate.

Seeing this, the third prince grabbed Xiao Zuochen's sleeve.

"Are you trying to make things difficult for me again today?!"

Xiao Zuochen just glanced at him with disdain, knocked off the Third Prince's hand, and walked out of the palace. Xiao Zuoming was unwilling to give up, and trotted over to Xiao Zuochen to stop him.

"You can't leave until you explain clearly!"

Xiao Zuochen felt a little helpless. Seeing that there were only a few people left around, he started talking to him.

"This isn't your first time attending the Qiqiao Palace Banquet. Why did you suddenly say something so abrupt today?"

"Abrupt words? What did I say that was abrupt?"

The third prince looked innocent and had no idea what he had said wrong.

"At the Qiqiao Palace Banquet, women have always performed and men have competed in poetry. It has been like this for many years. Even if there is no explicit rule, why are you doing this without the emperor's order?"

The third prince frowned.

"I just..."

"You just saw that your father gave the queen's prize to Zuo Xin, and you were worried that he would decide on Zuo Xin as your imperial concubine, so you were eager to let Baili Zhao show off."

The third prince nodded obediently.

"Let's not talk about whether Baili Zhao likes you or not. Just your behavior will make some people think that you two have a secret relationship. Otherwise, how can you know her so well?"

"Nonsense! There is nothing wrong with us. It's just that a few days ago when I was out of the palace for fun, I heard a woman writing a wonderful poem in the private room next door. After asking around, I found out that she was the granddaughter of the Baili family."

"But other people don't know about this, so if you do this you're going to get him into trouble.

Besides, Baili Zhao is the granddaughter of the Grand Tutor. People taught by the Grand Tutor must be pure and have few desires. Look at your silly look, how could someone like you? The Grand Tutor would not agree to her granddaughter marrying into the royal family. "

"Why? What's wrong with the royal family? Isn't it good to have food and drink?"

"You are already such a grown-up, you know what is good and what is not. Besides, the emperor has already chosen someone for you. Even if the emperor agrees that you can marry someone from the Baili family, it will be at most as a concubine."

"Why? In terms of family background and knowledge, she is definitely better than Zuo Xin..."

"Stop it! Don't say this in front of outsiders. I have something else to do, so I won't talk to you anymore."

"Eh? Eh—"

After saying that, Xiao Zuochen walked outside regardless of Xiao Zuoming's shouting.