Reborn to marry, the short-lived prince lived a hundred years

As night fell, the Meng Mansion was brightly lit. People who came to celebrate the birthday came in an endless stream, filling the banquet hall that Lord Meng had carefully prepared. As a last resort, he had to hastily add tables and chairs to cope with the overwhelming number of people.

By the time the moon was above the willows and the hour of Xu had passed, the guests finally settled down in their seats, laughing and chatting, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Lord Meng, dressed in gorgeous clothes, stood in front of the palace gate, his eyes looking through the bustling crowd, waiting for the emperor's arrival with great anticipation.

However, time passed by minute by minute, and not only did he not see the emperor's face, he did not even hear the sound of the wind.

Just as Lord Meng was secretly anxious and speculating, a sedan chair slowly came from a distance. Its shape was luxurious and extraordinary, but it was plain and had no insignia of identity, making it impossible to guess who the owner of the sedan chair was.

Lord Meng hurriedly took the guest list from the attendant, and carefully checked it by the light of the lamp to confirm that all his colleagues in the court had attended the banquet one by one as listed on the list.

Therefore, the person sitting in this sedan chair is most likely the emperor.

He guessed that the emperor did not want to make too much noise, so he did not come on the dragon chariot.

After the carriage slowly stopped, he waited for a while and found that the person in the carriage had not gotten off. He became more and more certain that the person sitting inside was the current emperor.

He lifted his coat slightly and hurried down the stone steps until he reached the carriage. He bowed and saluted, his words filled with respect: "I am honored to welcome Your Majesty in person."

As soon as he finished speaking, a casual chuckle came from the sedan chair.

"Master Meng is too polite."

As this familiar and gentle voice fell, the curtain of the carriage was slightly lifted, and the person inside slowly walked out.

Lord Meng's gaze involuntarily rose to that man, a glint of disbelief flashing in his eyes, "Why didn't you send anyone to inform me when my brother-in-law came?"

Seeing that he was still pretending, a hint of sarcasm flashed across Xiao Huaifeng's eyes. He then turned around, extended his arm gracefully, and helped Old Man Xiao walk down slowly.

"My father-in-law is here too." There was an imperceptible stiffness hidden in Lord Meng's smile, and his words were a little stiff.

"I cannot bear the thought of Lord Meng addressing me as 'father-in-law' lightly." Old Master Xiao's tone was cold, his expression showing no sign of softening. "If Tingyue hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have known that today was Lord Meng's birthday."

Lord Meng forced himself to maintain a smile and said, "I think a servant in the mansion was negligent and forgot to send the invitation. I will punish the person responsible for this dereliction of duty and serve as a warning to others."

"Lord Meng, it's not the servants who should be punished. The list in the gift book was drawn up by Jiang Qingrou. We didn't receive the invitation. If she didn't do it on purpose, it means that Lord Meng Ci doesn't want to see us." Old Master Xiao tapped the ground lightly with his cane.

Lord Meng's expression became even worse.

Xiao Huaifeng looked at Lord Meng with a subtle hint of irony in his eyes. "We all know that Lord Meng never cares about vulgar things like money, so we didn't prepare any mundane gifts."

"On the contrary, we have carefully prepared a unique gift for Lord Meng. Unfortunately, it is quite large and is still traveling slowly. It will take some time for it to arrive."

Upon hearing this, Lord Meng's face stiffened slightly, and he reluctantly nodded in response. He understood the sarcasm in their words and just wanted to quickly lead them into the mansion.

Xiao Huaifeng and Old Man Xiao seemed to have come only for the banquet and did not stay for too long. They walked side by side into the depths of the mansion. Seeing this, Lord Meng slowly exhaled and looked a little relaxed.

In fact, he did not instruct his servants to deliver the invitation to the Xiao family.

However, he never expected that his eldest daughter would take the initiative to bring the Xiao family here.

Ever since the Xiao family came to Beijing and became the imperial merchant, Lord Meng has never shown any intention of visiting them. The inexplicable alienation and disdain in his heart has always been difficult to eliminate.

In his eyes, how could a merchant of humble origin become the number one imperial merchant of the Great Zhou Dynasty? What's more, that merchant was from the Xiao family. If the Xiao family knew what he had done, how could they let him go?

Lord Meng covered his twitching right eye and prayed in his heart that the two men were not here to cause trouble.

If these two people really came to cause trouble, then don't blame him for being rude.

Thinking of this, he slowly looked around and confirmed that there was no more noise of carriages and horses. The expectation in his heart caused by the rumor of "His Majesty's personal visit" gradually cooled and turned into a slight sense of loss.

However, on second thought, this year's banquet was packed with guests, all of whom came here because of its reputation. This honor and excitement was enough to fill his heart with joy and add a bit of radiance to his face.

"Look, am I dressed neatly?" He turned to the servant beside him and asked softly, with a hint of self-reflection and expectation in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, the servant hurriedly took a close look at Master Meng's appearance and said flatteringly, "Don't worry, Master. There is nothing wrong with your appearance."

Lord Meng walked into the reception room with a beaming face.

Shen Yunheng sat on one side of Meng Tingyue, and Princess Luo Jia sat on the other side.

And directly opposite them, King Qing sat upright.

"Imperial sister-in-law," Princess Luo Jia gently tilted her head, leaned close to Meng Tingyue's ear, and whispered in a voice only she could hear, "Why is the Fifth Imperial Sister-in-law so late today?"

Meng Tingyue shook her head slightly, a hint of confusion and doubt in her eyes, and replied softly: "It is said that he caught a cold and couldn't come."

Despite this explanation, she was still secretly thinking about it in her heart and her doubts were hard to dispel.

Even the frail Prince Lian Qing was able to force himself to attend the event. Meng Qingjiao is usually in good health. How could she miss such an important occasion just because of a cold?

Besides, summer is coming soon and the weather is getting hotter. How can you catch a cold?

Princess Luo Jia opened her rosy lips slightly, her voice filled with confusion and bewilderment. "Fifth Imperial Sister-in-law has always been in good health, even Fifth Imperial Brother feels inferior to her. How could she suddenly fall ill, even before Fifth Imperial Brother? I've been thinking about it, and it seems this illness isn't just a simple cold. It seems to be caused by the incident with those shops."

Meng Tingyue had long been aware of Princess Luojia's dissatisfaction with Meng Qingjiao, so she was not at all surprised to hear her say this.

After all, in the Qing Palace, most of the shops that originally sold all kinds of goods have now changed their business and started selling the once popular Ningxiang Pills and Ningxiang Paste.

The Ningxiang Pill incident arose, but Meng Qingjiao failed to give a convincing explanation, which led the noble ladies and wives in the capital to take the lead and vow not to buy any items sold by the Qing Palace.

Although ordinary people have a special liking for Ningxiang Pills, firstly, the dosage is not large, and secondly, it is not a necessity.

Meng Qingjiao must have a lot of inventory on her hands. If these goods cannot be sold, they will eventually rot in her hands. By then, she might really be so angry that she will fall ill.

Meng Tingyue shook her head gently, trying to dispel these chaotic thoughts from her mind.

She picked up the teacup and took a sip. Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes falling on her quietly, which made her raise her eyes slightly to follow the source of the gaze.