The stunning beauty of Qing Dynasty

Chapter 354 Prelude to the Palace Banquet

Along with a letter sent from the State of Chu to Dongwei, a group of soldiers in exotic costumes with impressive appearance also arrived in Dongwei.

—

Dongwei, Tian'e Palace, Qin Heng, the current emperor of Dongwei, although he is not young anymore, he still looks to be in his thirties, handsome and majestic.

He frowned and looked at the letter sent from the Emperor of Dongwei Kingdom in confusion.

Just like a few years ago, he didn't understand why the State of Chu sent its favorite candidate for the crown prince to his State of Dongwei as a hostage, so he neither dared to treat him lightly nor let that foreign prince do as he pleased in his State of Dongwei, so he had been keeping him under surveillance in the palace.

Now the Emperor of He Chu wants to take her back and choose a concubine from Dongwei. What is this for? Is there any other plan for He Chu?

Qin Heng couldn't figure it out, but as a politician, he naturally thought of it in a dirty way. As an emperor, even if he was crazy, he would not believe that Chu Zhen would just choose a lady from Dongwei to be the imperial concubine of their fifth prince!

"Su Xin, what do you think this and the Chu State want to do?"

Su Xin is Qin Heng's chief eunuch and one of his confidants.

Su Xin had an honest face that always smiled at people, looking harmonious and amiable. However, as a personal eunuch who had followed Emperor Dongwei since he was a prince and was still a eunuch trusted by Qin Heng, no one dared to look down on this honest eunuch.

Su Xin glanced at His Majesty's expression from the corner of his eye, and when he saw Qin Heng's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, he knew that His Majesty was suspicious again. As one of His Majesty's confidants and the person who had been with His Majesty the longest, Su Xin dared to say that he knew His Majesty better than anyone else.

Knowing that His Majesty was suspicious of the purpose of the letter from the State of Chu, Su Xin carefully thought over his words in his mind and said, "Your Majesty, since the State of Chu wants to take back the hostage Xie Ping, and Xie Ping is not easy to deal with, it is just right to take him back. Why don't we just go along with their wishes? No matter what their intentions are, we can..."

Su Xin didn't say anything else, and Qin Heng understood his intention.

His frown relaxed, "You... are right."

"Wait a minute, call Duke Xu, General Wu...them over."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Su Xin bowed respectfully, turned around and walked out quietly.

Half an hour later, Duke Xu, General Wu and others were summoned to the imperial court to discuss state affairs. No one knew what was discussed in Tian'e Palace, but they only knew that the current emperor's expression became noticeably happier for several days afterwards.

……

Dongwei State, located inside the capital city.

A group of extremely tall foreign men wearing exotic costumes walked curiously in the capital.

The men's unusually tall stature, deep facial features, and distinctive foreign clothing obviously attracted the attention of many people in the city.

They all looked at these young men who were obviously from other ethnic groups with curiosity.

These foreigners were not nervous when being stared at. They noticed that a pretty woman was staring at them. Several younger and lively-looking young men even waved to the young woman in a polite manner or smiled brightly.

This caused the young women who were peeking at him to blush and dare not look anymore.

The handsome young man in the leading group noticed the movements of the group. He frowned slightly and gave them a warning look. He then said again in their native language, "Rusha, Keqi...behave yourself. This is not the Chu State. Be careful with your words and actions."

As the man finished speaking, the atmosphere suddenly became solemn, and several lively young people became a little listless.

Seeing this, the handsome young man with a round face in the lead tried to smooth things over, "I see, General. This is also the first time for Rusha and the others to visit another country. We are curious, very curious!"

Hearing this, Mu Bai looked at the nervous young soldiers who were secretly looking at him. Thinking of these young soldiers who had never seen or enjoyed anything good since they followed him, Mu Bai's serious and handsome face relaxed a little helplessly. "Okay, just this once, I'll buy whatever you want... Also, be more restrained and don't scare people."

Upon hearing the general's words, the group of young soldiers couldn't wait to cheer and didn't hear the second half of their general's words at all.

The second half of Mu Bai's warning was drowned out by the cheers of several excited young people.

Mu Bai was not angry at all, but there was a hint of helplessness between his brows.

After all, they are just a group of children.

General Mu Bai, who became famous at a young age, muttered to himself, but he didn't realize that he was not much older than the soldiers under his command.

The round-faced handsome young man who had just been trying to smooth things over knew, looking at his general's expression, that his friend had automatically started to act like a mature father again.

Jiang Qing patted him on the shoulder comfortably. As Mu Bai's childhood friend and deputy general, he smiled and said, "Okay, General Mu, we are just here to pick up our fifth prince and future imperial concubine, not to fight a war. Why do you look so serious? Just treat it as a trip to Dongwei for fun."

Mu Bai glanced at his friend disapprovingly, "Even if we're not fighting, we still have to be careful about what we say and do. After all, it's not between us and Chu."

Jiang Qing smiled and said, "You are just too serious. How come you are exactly like my old man?"

"Jiang Qing, General Jiang is doing this for your own good."

"Hey, stop... stop, don't say anymore, my general. Look how happy these young people are having. Don't spoil their fun." Jiang Qing blinked and pointed to a few young soldiers in the distance who were smiling happily as they excitedly bought a bunch of snacks.

Mu Bai looked at the happy people in the distance and fell silent.

Jiang Qing, who had mastered Mu Bai, raised his eyebrows easily, and in the blink of an eye, changed the subject, "I don't know what our fifth prince looks like now. So many years have passed, and I remember that our fifth prince was still very good-looking. Now that he has come to Dongwei, I hope he has grown up a lot, right?"

Mu Bai frowned and said solemnly: "How is it possible? The Fifth Prince is the only prince of our Majesty and the Queen. How dare the Dongwei Kingdom neglect him!"

Jiang Qing nodded, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "That's right, don't mention it, the fifth prince was also an ice cube at that time, and you were also an ice cube who loved to frown. Don't you two still look alike now?"

Mu Bai became more serious, "Jiang Qing!"

Jiang Qing cleared his throat. Oh no, he had been disrespectful to the Fifth Prince and had offended this old-fashioned man again.

But the fifth prince was indeed an ice cube. Jiang Qing recalled a boy with red lips and white teeth who he saw in his childhood standing next to Queen Gong and gave him a cold look. That look was without any warmth and was so cold that it was terrifying.

With this comparison, it is impossible for the friend who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside to be like the inhuman Fifth Prince. Jiang Qing felt a little puzzled. He wondered how such a gentle person like Queen Gong could give birth to someone like the Fifth Prince?

"Okay, I won't say anything more, okay?"

After a while, Jiang Qing opened his mouth again and asked excitedly: "Tell me, why did His Majesty ask the Fifth Prince to choose a concubine in Dongwei?"

Mu Bai said nothing, just rolled his eyes at his friend.

Jiang Qing opened his mouth, then closed it painfully: "..." It was too painful for the chatterbox to be forced to remain silent and not be able to gossip.

The officials guarding the capital also led this special group of foreigners to the post station and then returned to the palace to report on their work.

—

As the people from the State of Chu arrived, the State of Dongwei also held a palace banquet to welcome the guests, ostensibly to welcome the foreign guests but in fact to select a concubine for Xie Ping.

All the important officials in the court and all the unmarried daughters of the emperor who are sixteen years old or above must attend this palace banquet.

After all, it was not a good idea to choose a princess for the prince of another country, so Qin Heng also knew how to cover it up by asking the court officials who attended the palace banquet to bring their legitimate sons and wives. In this way, the purpose seemed unclear.

Upon receiving the news, Minister Lin also took the palace banquet seriously, thinking that it was simply a banquet in the palace to entertain envoys from the State of Chu.

He also complained to his wife about this palace banquet.

Father Lin didn't think too much about it, but although the experienced Prime Minister Bai Zuo was not summoned by His Majesty, he felt that something was wrong, especially when he thought of the captivating face of his granddaughter Qingqing, his heart couldn't help but tighten.

"Chen Wang, go to the Shangshu Mansion and give Qing'er a letter, saying that she has to wear a veil to attend the banquet. Use the excuse that you are sick or something like that, and tell her not to worry, because her grandfather will support her."

"Yes, master." Chen Wang was one of the old man's confidants and someone who had seen Miss Lin's true face. He also understood his master's intention. If Miss Lin Qingqing's face was revealed, it would be easy to cause trouble. If it happened in the early days, when the several countries had not yet been established, she would be a beauty who could cause national disasters and wars. After thinking about it, the expression on Chen Wang's face became more serious and his steps became faster.

—

Lin Shangshu's Mansion, Yunjin Pavilion.

"Miss, someone from the Left Prime Minister's Mansion is here to deliver a message." Xiang Lian ran over breathlessly.

Hearing this, the beautiful girl with graceful figure who was lying on the chaise longue raised her eyes lazily. That glance, her eyes were full of ripples, and there was a breathtaking beauty in it.

Xiang Lian took a deep breath. She never knew when she would feel tired of looking at this stunning face of the young lady. On the contrary, every time she looked at her, she felt that the person in front of her was so beautiful that no one dared to approach her. She was so beautiful that made people tremble.

Xiang Lian did not dare to delay, for fear of looking at the extremely beautiful face of the young lady, she forgot the words that came from the Left Prime Minister's Mansion earlier, and said quickly: "Young lady, the Left Prime Minister said that if you attend the banquet tomorrow, you must wear a veil. You can use the excuse of being sick. If anyone asks, don't be afraid, just say it's the order and concern of the Left Prime Minister."

Qingyin nodded in understanding. Her grandfather always did things with propriety, which was much better than Lin's father. At least Lin's father had not yet thought of the potential danger of her face.

"Well, I understand. You can talk to the man in the Left Prime Minister's Mansion and give him some silver. Then tell him that I understand."

"Yes, miss." Xiang Lian came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

She knew, which was different from she understood. Qingyin believed that her grandfather should understand what she meant.

This was indeed the case. After receiving Qingyin's reply, Bai Zuoxiang's wrinkled face relaxed a lot and he even showed a happier smile.

His granddaughter is very smart. Being smart is good. Only when a smart person has such a face will he not be a disaster.

Mr. Bai smiled, and Chen Wang, who was delivering the message, no longer felt so stressed.

I think the wise Prime Minister Bai Zuo and Miss Lin Qingqing have already figured out how to deal with the matter.

—

Outside the palace, in several fine courtyards, several young men of outstanding appearance could not help but have a bad premonition.

With a face like Qingqing's, is it really safe for her to attend the banquet?

No matter how worried they were, they could not overcome the supreme imperial power and could only attend tomorrow's palace banquet in anxious anticipation.