novelraw Chapter 140 - 41: The Feast at Hong Gate
Chapter 140 - 41: The Feast at Hong Gate
Chapter 140: Chapter 41: The Feast at Hong GateThe Shang Kingdom is small, with only a dozen or so cities. As the only beloved daughter of the current King of Shang Kingdom, the elder Princess’s birthday is naturally a major event celebrated throughout the nation.
For this occasion, King Fa Xiaoyun had people set up porridge tents outside Little Shang Palace, offering free porridge for ten days.
On the day of the elder Princess’s birthday, a family banquet was held in the palace, inviting over a hundred people. Those who attended the banquet in the Inner Court were all Imperial Relatives.
After receiving the Empress Dowager’s instructions, Lie Rou thought it over for a few days at home and felt that she should take advantage of the palace banquet to understand her daughter’s thoughts.
The day before the banquet, she reminded Yue Jinghua of the etiquette for entering the palace, and also prepared the veil, skirts, and several pieces of jewelry that "Yue Jinghua" always needed when entering the palace.
"Her face has already grown to be so noticeable; trying to conceal it will only draw more attention. No matter how she dresses up, she’s just becoming a backdrop for others," Yue Jinghua simply made an ordinary appearance, neither applying makeup nor dressing up elaborately. She only wore a simple armor skirt and casually swept up her long hair, securing it with a cat’s eye yellow jade hairpin before entering the palace.
Lie Rou was relieved to know that Yue Jinghua was willing to attend the banquet; she dared not demand more from her daughter. Instead, she arranged Yue Chen’s attire, and the four of them entered the palace together.
Outside Little Shang Palace, palaces stood in clusters. The crowd waiting for porridge formed long lines, and upon seeing the noble people, the commoners all tiptoed, eager to get a glimpse.
Lie Rou, along with her servants, rode in a carriage that mingled with the train of high-headed horses with fluttering banners belonging to the families, appearing quite unremarkable.
As the carriage stopped, the officials’ daughters in their dazzling five-colored pomegranate skirts and clinking jewelry blinded the onlookers’ eyes.
"Miss Lie Sisi has arrived," upon hearing that the city’s number one beauty, Lie Sisi, had arrived, everyone saw her in a magnolia white flared gauze dress embroidered with cotton-red brocade flowers, neither too plain nor too festive. Her beautiful appearance and the warm smile on her lips won effusive praise.
No sooner had Lie Sisi stepped out of the carriage than several female students from Xuanji Academy’s Inner Court gathered around her, entering the inner palace like a flock of peacocks.
Yue Jinghua chuckled silently; without even entering the palace, she could already smell the scent of hypocrisy and power-hunger.
This palace banquet was, in essence, just a place for the various families to flaunt their influence.
Today’s family banquet was set in the Jinghua Garden of Little Shang Palace.
Jinghua Garden is a Royal Family’s garden designed like a small mountain landscape, ascending from low to high. In autumn, all the spiritual flowers race against the upcoming winter to catch the last glimmers of autumn, with pink and red, bright, and elegant blooms, creating a lively display.
From King Fa Xiaoyun, to the Empress Dowager, Empress, concubines, down to the Prince, high officials, and relatives, all were seated in order. The Fa Family was thin in numbers, with only King Fa Xiao Yun and Prince Fa Xiaoyi remaining of the late Emperor’s lineage.
No sooner had the Lie Family Head and servants entered than Lie Rou was called over by the Empress Dowager.
Hongling followed closely, while Yue Jinghua took Yue Chen for a walk around Jinghua Garden, not detecting even the slightest scent of the Gold Eater Worm.
Because
The direction indicated by the eunuch had an empty table.
There sat a person, hair as dark as ink, crowned with jade, clad in a moon-white deep-colored robe trimmed with light gold cloud patterns, which enhanced his ethereal appearance and made him look even more nobly elegant.
Prince Xiao Yi, Fa Xiaoyi, still had a cold expression on his face. He looked past the crowd and was the first to see Lie Sisi, who was dressed like a lotus emerging from water. No matter the occasion, she always managed to capture the most attention. Such a woman was the only one worthy of standing by his side.
When he turned his gaze to Yue Jinghua, he frowned.