"The emperor has arrived ~ the empress dowager has arrived ~"
Following the eunuch's shrill voice, Kaiser and the empress dowager both walked out of everyone's line of sight. Kaiser saw Yun Jiao Rong from afar, still sitting in an inconspicuous position.
But she did not look in his direction, only rose from her seat with the others to greet the Emperor and the Empress.
"Esteemed officials, please do not be courteous."
As Yan Shuo sat down, his gaze quietly withdrew from Yun Jiao Rong's face. Recalling the smile on Yun Jiao Rong's face just now, his heart felt slightly bitter.
Even if he spread the news that she would become his concubine, it still wouldn't affect her. What more could he hope for?
He was even more attractive than the girl beside her.
Yan Shuo was a little jealous, because Yun Jiao Rong was smiling foolishly at the girl beside her.
His gaze landed on the girl. Very good, she was still stealing food.
Yan Shuo frowned, and retracted his gaze without batting an eyelid.
"Today is the New Year's Eve banquet, please do not be restrained. We, the monarchs, will have a happy New Year together."
"Thank you, your majesty!"
Everyone sat down and expressed their thanks in unison. They sent their wishes. Basically, they didn't change the soup, only the flattery.
Yan Yuan placed some dishes into Liu Ruo Qing's bowl, and seeing that she was staring at a certain seat, he smiled, and asked: What are you looking at so funny?
"Who is that person?"
Liu Ruo Qing pointed to the girl sitting beside Yun Jiao Rong. Yan Yuan followed her gaze and looked over, a look of understanding on his face.
"You're talking about Meng Hui?"
"Meng Hui? "Who is it?"
Liu Ruo Qing couldn't help but become curious. After all, there weren't many girls that could make Yan Yuan remember their names.
"The daughter of the late General Meng Chang Xiong. When General Meng died, she was only two years old."
knew that the Great General Meng Chang Xiong had used the wrong medicine to poison Meng Chang Xiong to death, which was why he was sent to the Emperor Prison to be beheaded. It could be seen that General Meng was very simple in the Emperor's heart back then.
Who would have thought that this was the daughter of General Meng? She was such a carefree woman, and she really did have the bearing of a general.
Liu Ruo Qing pursed her lips and laughed, then continued: "I haven't seen her at the palace banquet in the past."
"After General Meng passed away, Madam Meng sacrificed her life for him. Royal brother pitied her because she was young and had no parents, so he took her to the palace to raise her by royal sister-in-law's side. However, when she was ten years old, she went to the border with the General Zheng and would occasionally return to the capital."
"General Zheng was General Meng's sworn brother. After General Meng and Madam Meng left, he wanted to bring Meng Hui along to raise her by his side. Royal brother was worried that she was too young at the border, so he did not agree.
Hearing Yan Yuan's narration, Liu Ruo Qing finally understood. She didn't think that Meng Hui was actually raised under the royal sister-in-law's tutelage, and that she was a childhood friend of the Emperor.
In that case, if the Emperor really plans to set up the future, Meng Hui has a higher chance than anyone else.
Liu Ruo Qing sighed, and looked towards Yun Jiao Rong, who was beside Meng Hui. This person was too stubborn, to the point that it made one's head hurt. She obviously liked the emperor, but was unwilling to marry the emperor.
If the emperor really did stand at the back, then she really would cry.
Although Liu Ruo Qing was anxious for him in her heart, this was still Yun Jiao Rong's private affairs. She could not interfere too much with it, since she was unwilling to marry, could it be that she was forcing her?
Although today was not an official talent show, everyone knew that this was an excellent opportunity, so they didn't want to miss it. They wanted to leave a good impression on the Kaiser and the empress dowager before the official talent show began.
Some of the women present wanted to enter the palace tried their best to curry favor with them, while the women who were not interested in entering the palace sat quietly to the side and watched their performance, too embarrassed to ignore them. Only one person, other than eating her, was not interested in anything else.
The empress dowager was still satisfied with the performance of the female servants. She looked at Kaiser's son beside her and saw that he was not in the mood to admire him.
However, after her son was able to loosen his throat and start standing, she could finally feel some comfort in her heart.
After he married his wife and made her a wife, he would then choose a wife. It was about time that this child accepted his heart.
The empress dowager thought about it and sighed in her heart, her gaze subconsciously searching for Yun Jiao Rong's figure. Finally, in a rather remote location, she found Yun Jiao Rong.
Her Majesty's eyes brightened as she called out, "Fennel."
Meng Hui never thought that the empress dowager would call out to her when she stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and didn't even have time to chew it.
At this moment, it didn't make sense for her to swallow, it didn't make sense for her to continue eating, and she completely ignored the empress dowager. She frowned in distress, and the instant she stood up, she secretly wiped the grease off her mouth with a handkerchief and swallowed the mouthful of meat that hadn't been chewed on yet.
Her face was flushed red and it took a lot of effort before she managed to swallow the meat.
But it almost made me choke to death.
"Empress Dowager."
She rose from the table and bowed to the Empress.
Hearing the empress dowager's call, everyone who knew Meng Hui was surprised. They did not expect that the young miss of the Meng family who had stayed at the border for so many years would actually return.
They were actually a little worried in their hearts. Meng Hui's existence was no less of a threat than Yun Jiao Rong.
Yun Jiao Rong loved him, but Meng Hui was Meng Chang Xiong's daughter. If Kaiser really didn't want to marry Yun Jiao Rong, Meng Hui was the strongest contender for the position of Empress.
Just because her father was Meng Chang Xiong, even if Meng Hui had no parents, the empress dowager had more intentions to take Meng Hui as her successor than anyone else, furthermore, even though Meng Chang Xiong was dead, there was still Zheng Qing Feng behind him, the Great Marshal of the army guarding the border, and that old man was not someone to be trifled with. With him as his backer, Meng Hui would not be worse than anyone else.
Therefore, when everyone thought that they had gotten rid of Yun Jiao Rong with much difficulty, and got closer to the Empress's seat, they did not expect that Meng Chang Xiong's daughter would return.
Could it be that this girl also rushed back after hearing that the Kaiser was going to be established?
But when he thought about it, it was impossible.
The border region was thousands of miles away from the capital city, and even if she rode a horse she would still need more than a month to reach there. However, the news that the emperor had promised him an appointment was spread over half a month, so even if Meng Hui knew about it immediately, she wouldn't be able to make it back in time.
But this wouldn't let them relax, unless Meng Hui directly said that she didn't want to be the Queen anymore.