The Return of the Marquis's Daughter

The palace banquet in the evening was held in the Qingliang Palace, and people went directly to the Qingliang Palace one after another.

Gu Changan and Qin Wenlan met several princes including King Cheng, King Li, King Ning and King Yu halfway through their journey, and of course, a hypocrite like Gu Yunzhou was also there.

So several princes walked in front, talking and laughing, a scene of brothers getting along harmoniously.

Qin Wenlan glanced at the princes in front of him. They seemed to be in harmony, but in fact, each of them wished that the other would disappear immediately!

This is the royal family's way of survival. Even if you don't like the other person in your heart, you still have to do your outward work perfectly.

Otherwise, the current emperor would be eliminated directly in this round.

Take Gu Yunzhou, for example, a villain in secret and a hypocrite in public. He clearly hated Gu Changan to the core, but he also walked forward, acting like a good brother, and walked arm in arm with Gu Changan into the Qingliang Palace.

Looking at the noble ladies around him, they were all candidates for future princesses, including Princess Cheng, Princess Li, Princess Ning and Princess Yu. Qin Shu was not among them at this moment.

None of them were in the mood to joke, and it was already a great achievement for them to even try hard to make their faces look less ugly.

Who among these noble ladies is not a shrewd person? After all, they are in different camps. As long as they appear to be okay on the surface, there is no need to be so close to each other.

Only Princess Ning was able to get along with everyone. She would talk to Princess Li for a few words, and then run over to say a word or two to Princess Cheng.

Otherwise, he would chat with Princess Yu about clothes, jewelry and so on. Qin Wenlan felt very tired just watching them.

Fortunately, since Qin Wenlan was brought back from the Qin family manor, he has had very little contact with these noble ladies, so he has had some free time!

Outside, the sky was filled with sunset glow and the night was getting darker, but the entire Qingliang Palace was brightly lit.

The palace maids were busy coming and going, and when they saw the princes and ladies, they hurried forward and knelt to greet them.

Li Wangcai, who was beside Queen Wen, looked at everyone coming over, but he did not put on airs as a chief steward. Instead, he greeted them with a smile.

"This servant greets the princes and ladies."

"Get up." Prince Li said in a friendly manner.

Li Wangcai stood up and bowed again to lead everyone into the hall. Empress Wen had not yet appeared, and Nanny Xiong and a group of palace servants were busy at work.

Several princes and noble ladies could only go to a side hall to drink tea and chat.

After entering the side hall, palace servants came over and used a screen to separate the princes and the noble ladies!

Qin Wenlan followed silently behind several noble ladies. As soon as she sat down, Princess Cheng stood up and sat in a new seat next to Princess Li.

Princess Li:......

She was a little confused about the situation.

Qin Wenlan thought that he had no grudges against Princess Cheng, but he didn't know why she had some inexplicable hostility towards him.

Could it be because of the incident when the Imperial Concubine and Empress Wen joined forces last time? If so, then I should be hostile to them.

However, she didn't care at all and smiled at Princess Li. Princess Li responded with a bright smile to Qin Wenlan.

No one knew what Princess Yu and Princess Ning were talking about. Although they had smiles on their faces and pretended to be getting along harmoniously, there was actually coldness in their eyes.

Qin Wenlan knew that even in the palace, these noble ladies would never be able to truly live in harmony, and he snorted in his heart.

Then she scanned the entire crowd in Qingliang Palace, and she actually found Wen Ruyu and the wife of Duke Dingguo inside.

Could it be that the dinner was not a family dinner? This gave Qin Wenlan a headache. Wen Ruyu had failed to succeed during the day, and he was afraid that he would come with bad intentions in the evening.

No wonder I didn’t see Qin Shu following these noble ladies just now!

It seems that they have something else in store for her! It's true that the tree wants to be still but the wind doesn't stop!

The hall gradually became quiet. Prince An opposite was always the man of few words, with a face as cold as an iceberg, and he looked unpleasant at all.

Although King Cheng and King Li both had smiles on their faces, they didn't really want to talk about anything, so they just laughed it off.

Gu Yunzhou was so immersed in the joy of becoming a father that he didn't pay attention to the feelings of his other brothers.

But I still feel a little bit of mockery towards these brothers in my heart!

Mocking them all for not having a ancestral temple yet, he, Gu Yunzhou, was probably the first one to do so, so he had already taken the initiative!

After all, the first element of inheriting the throne is to have a son, and a son is also required. He heard from Qin Shu that this baby must be a son.

So he is now immersed in joy.

Prince Yu has always been a well-behaved person, and at this moment he became even quieter than a chicken.

Prince Ning glanced around, saw that everyone was pretending, and simply closed his eyes to rest.

The entire side hall was silent. Qin Wenlan took a sip of tea and then put it down again. He felt that the tea was really not very good and it was better not to drink it.

*

As the lights came on, the entire palace became increasingly lively, especially in the imperial kitchen where the palace servants were preparing all the food for the dinner.

Everyone was so busy that they wished they had two more legs, and among them there was a little palace servant who was even more so. He looked very strenuous as he was dragging a large bundle of firewood.

Even with such hard work, there was no slackness at all, "How do you do things? It takes you so long to get firewood?

If you delay the time because of your firewood, the steward will come and skin you alive. What, you still don't accept it? Why don't you hurry up and get some more."

"Yes." The little palace servant was pushed and staggered, almost falling to the ground. He lowered his head, his eyes were red, and he responded in a low voice, turned around and left.

Those busy palace servants were obviously accustomed to this scene. After all, there were hundreds of palace servants, big and small, in the entire imperial kitchen!

Just like these low-level palace maids, no one would care about them. Beating and scolding are normal things. No one would come forward to say a word and help.

When the little palace maid left the kitchen, she quickly stuffed something into a corner.

As the time for the banquet drew closer, the noises in the imperial kitchen became louder and louder. The head chef was like a wealthy landlord, with his hands on his hips, shouting everywhere, fearing that something unexpected would happen during the meal.

The little palace maid came back again dragging a bundle of firewood, only to see him huddled in a corner.

As the food was served, the palace servants from the imperial kitchen carried the meal boxes and went directly to the Qingliang Palace.

The palace maid who had scolded the little palace maid before was also carrying a meal box and following the meal delivery team.

As the group of people delivering the meal boxes left the imperial kitchen, it seemed that there were not enough people in the entire imperial kitchen, and the little palace maid was called to light the fire.

After just lighting the fire for a while, he was ordered to wash and organize the vegetables. He was as busy as a top, and his thin figure kept shuttling back and forth among the crowd.

Even so, he didn't dare to pause for a moment, for fear that he would do something wrong. Being scolded was a small matter, and being beaten to death was the most normal thing.

Now he was in the area under the charge of the palace servant who had scolded him before. He took out the small bottle he had hidden before.

At this time, the Qingliang Palace was bustling with activity. The Emperor and Empress sat at the top, while the concubines and the princes and princesses sat at the bottom.