Chapter 290

The annual banquet was held in the Tai Chi hall.

The Taiping hall is located in the middle of the rear palace of the great Xia Dynasty. The halls and pavilions are surrounded by interesting cloisters. Through the cloisters, there is a huge open space in the middle. The ground is covered with carpets, which are beautifully woven and dazzling. Whenever there are large gatherings in the harem, they will be held here. Sometimes, a delegation from a neighboring country with a princess will visit, and the queen will come forward to entertain guests here.

In front of the open space of the main hall is a nine step high platform, on which is the main seat of the emperor and empress. There is an excellent view and can see all the guests in the main hall. There is also a spacious seat under the high platform, where is the position of the four imperial concubines. It is said that the four imperial concubines were originally sitting below with other concubines, but after taking charge of the harem, the virtuous imperial concubine often came forward to entertain guests. It was not very decent to sit below, so she thought of such a compromise with the Ministry of rites and built a half high platform here.

Xia Houyu and Zhong Liqing did not arrive early. Seats were arranged in the main hall, which was full of 7788.

The concubines' seats are on the left. They are crowded. One table is next to another. Yingyan is not lively. The seats of the prince and his concubine are on the right. The seats should be much more spacious, and the layout and decoration in front of the table should be more grand and luxurious.

Although Xia Houyu was not favored by the emperor, on this occasion, the third prince ranked first and sat first on the right hand nearest to the emperor.

When Xia Houyu appeared, all eyes turned around. After seeing his still impersonal cheeks and rickety and vain steps, everyone was no longer interested and immediately turned away.

The four concubines of De, Xian, Shu and GUI have been in place. Chen Jia looked up while serving Xia Hou Yu to take his seat.

The four concubines should be about the same age. The emperor was old, and the imperial concubine and the imperial concubine had no children at their knees, but they could make a living in the palace by relying on the power of their mother's family. The eldest prince born to the German Princess died young. Now he is devoted to taking care of the little princess and living in seclusion. Chen Jia's eyes stayed on the princess for a moment.

Princess de doesn't look old in her facial features, but her temples are stained with gray. I'm afraid it's caused by excessive mourning for the loss of her son in middle age. The scorching sun Princess sat next to her. Her pink and tender clothes made her particularly cute. Her big eyes rolled around. She even matched Chen Jia without advice.

Chen Jia quickly lowered her head, but the little princess seemed to have found something interesting and kept staring at him.

Soon after Xia Hou Yu took his seat, the other three princes also attended the scene. The seventh prince saw Xia Houyu sitting on his head from a distance. He was not happy. He snorted contemptuously and sat down in his own position. The ninth Prince has always been his follower. After sitting down with the seventh prince, he has been chatting with him without words. It seems that he is persuading the seventh prince to be more open.

What makes Xia Houyu and Chen Jia nervous is the fifth prince.

The position of the fifth Prince Xia Houjie was next to them, but it was only a step away. After taking his seat, he kept staring at Xia Houyu, which made both of them feel a little hairy. For fear that the fifth prince might see something wrong.

After a few breaths, he saw the fifth Prince pick up the wine glass, take the initiative to raise a glass to the third prince, and said, "third brother, I heard that you were resting in the Qianyi hall, and my brother didn't dare to disturb. Today, I finally had a chance to meet again. I hope the third brother won't refuse my wine."

Although Xia Houyu wondered why his younger brother, who had not been in contact for thousands of years, came to chat up, he still took the wine glass of the fifth prince. His face changed into the former coldness. Even facing his younger brother, he said politely and alienated, "I like peace and quiet on weekdays, and I don't have to worry about the fifth brother." after that, the glass of wine was only put on his table next, No drink.

The fifth Prince is probably used to the strange temper of the third prince. If the third prince suddenly treats him kindly, he will think it's a ghost. Seeing that the third prince didn't drink his wine, he was not angry. He just found a new topic and chatted with the third prince.

Xia Houyu's face was stiff. The fifth prince said ten words, and he wouldn't answer a word.

This strange occasion did not end until the emperor and empress appeared.

In the cry of long live again and again, the old emperor and Queen walked up the platform side by side. Fortunately, the princes only need to bow their hands and do not need to kneel down. Otherwise, Chen Jia will worry that Xia Houyu's knees will suffer from the cold ground.

After the emperor sat down, Chen Jia had the opportunity to meet the mysterious queen who ate fast and chanted Buddhism all day and hid in the deep palace for the first time.

The Queen looks about fifty years old. She looks much older than the virtuous imperial concubine. It's said that the Queen's family background is not prominent. She's just a high-ranking female. As the biological mother of the third prince, Chen Jia had a very bad impression of her. Her own son is so hard to survive in the palace, but she, as a mother, never cares. It can be seen that she has no feelings for this son from her heart.

In this age when mother and son are expensive, the third prince is terminally ill, has a strange temper and has no future. The queen is obviously very angry because she lost her fertility because of giving birth to him. She must have secretly cursed the injustice of heaven. Even giving her a princess is a bit better than a son like a loser.

After the queen took her seat, she didn't even glance at her. She just sat on the high platform like a doll and fulfilled her obligations as a queen. How many concubines under the high platform hate that seat, but the queen can't see how happy she is in it.

Chen Jia took another look at the silent Xia Houyu and sighed slightly in her heart.

The salute gun rang three times, and the salute officer announced that the annual banquet officially began.

According to the rules, there are 108 dishes for the middle-aged festival in the Imperial Palace, but the weight of each dish is very small. It is delicately placed in small plates. Ten dishes are distributed in each round. After the second round of dishes comes up, one round of dishes will be removed whether they are eaten or not. Otherwise, there are so many plates and the table can't fit.

This year, due to the holding of the heaven worship ceremony, the State Treasury is tight, and the ceremony of the Hougong New Year Festival is reduced by all parties. Therefore, tonight's dish is 9981.

The little eunuchs were nimble and stood in line to present the dishes. The names of each dish were auspicious and long. I didn't know how the big eunuch recited the names of the dishes.

Chen Jia lowered her head and put plates of food on Xia Hou Yu's table. He has been closed in the Qianyi hall for a long time. It is the first time that he has had the opportunity to see the cooking of the ancient imperial dining room. Things are really exquisite. Just looking at the knife work, it is much higher than his level.

The hall was full of bells and food, and the atmosphere was lively and peaceful. Chen Jia's mind was temporarily attracted by the delicious food on the table. He looked at Xia Houyu and saw that the three princes still had no appetite, but the table next to the five princes was very lively. He was surrounded by a positive imperial concubine and a side imperial concubine, and the two women served him dinner skillfully and politely.

The seventh prince was even more lively. The ninth prince was praising him all night. They were really a good scene of brotherhood and brotherhood.

On the other hand, Xia Houyu sat alone at the big table... Chen Jia sighed in her heart, squatted down and gave him some dishes: "the third prince, how much to eat." when she finished the dishes, Chen Jia was about to get up, but felt that her sleeves were gently pressed.

He looked down and saw his clothes. He didn't know when Xia Houyu was sitting under his ass.

——Content from [Migu reading]