Chapter 31

The chrysanthemum banquet was held in Yanbei Hall, which was not far from Prince Gong’s mansion. This was a banquet personally set up by the empress of the Ming Qi. This mansion was originally an exquisite garden that was constructed by the previous dynasty. It covered thousands of acres and was built in a grand and exquisite manner. If not for the fact that it was too far from the capital, the empress would even want to make it a royal garden.

However, this place was surrounded by mountains and rivers. Although it was far, it was a good place to admire the scenery. Especially in October, all kinds of chrysanthemums would bloom in unison, making the whole place look like a paradise.

It took about two hours to get to Yanbei Hall by carriage, so some snacks would normally be prepared.

Gu Yu opened the basket given by Nanny Gui and asked Shen Miao, “Miss, why don’t you eat something? It’s a long journey. You’ll only have energy after eating.”

Shen Miao looked at the things in the basket.

Ice goat cheese, spring onions roll, spicy drumstick… At first glance, they looked tempting. The color was bright, and it smelled delicious.

Unfortunately, the smell of these things was too strong. For example, ice cheese and spicy drumsticks were more likely to stain one’s mouth. If one was not careful, they would even dirty their clothes. Nanny Gui really “carefully” prepared these foods.

The battle between the women in a big family was all about setting up traps that looked innocuous on the surface. However, when Shen Miao was in the palace of Ming Qi, she faced traps and tricks ten times more vicious than this. She shook her head and asked Gu Yu to close the basket, saying, “No need, Jingzhe has prepared some.”

Jingzhe carefully took out a small cloth bag from behind her. The cloth bag was filled with small and exquisite pastries. Shen Miao couldn’t trust the kitchen of the Shen family, so she got Jingzhe to ask the butler to buy some from outside. The butler thought that Jingzhe just wanted to taste some sweet food and didn’t think too much. He was just a little surprised that a maid like Jingzhe was willing to spend so much to buy pastries from Guangfu Restaurant.

Guangfu Restaurant was one of the top pastry shops in the capital. It was also frequently visited by the concubines in the palace. In her previous life, Shen Miao was not very interested in the pastries in Guangfu Restaurant, but Wanyu liked them very much.

The pastry Shen Miao was holding was only the size of her finger and looked like a flower. Shen Miao gave some to Gu Yu and Jingzhe to eat. At first, the two girls did not dare to eat it, but when they saw that Shen Miao insisted, they could not decline. They carefully took it and took a bite. Then, they said in surprise, “Miss, this snack is really delicious.”

Shen Miao smiled. In fact, the pastries weren’t all that delicious. They were just made cute and exquisite, so it gave girls a feeling that they were delicious. When Wanyu was engaged, Shen Miao even spent a lot of money to hire a pastry chef from Guangfu Restaurant to go with her, hoping that in the bitter cold land of the Xiongnu, Wanyu could still eat the pastries she liked.

Who knew… who knew that halfway through, Wanyu would get murdered.

......

Shen Miao closed her eyes.

Consort Mei was the one who instigated the marriage. Chen Ruoqiu and her family colluded, but the one who gave the order was Fu Xiuyi. In this life, none of these people could escape. Shen Muao wanted them to pay back a thousand times for killing Wanyu!

Gu Yu was eating snacks with relish when she looked up and saw Shen Miao’s cold gaze. In an instant, Gu Yu seemed to see the shadow of Shen Xin. Shen Xin was someone who had killed people on the battlefield and had seen blood. When he was angry, he was fierce. At this moment, Shen Miao’s gaze was exactly the same as Shen Xin’s.

She almost choked on the dessert and tried her best to swallow it. She asked carefully, “Miss, are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m not.” Shen Miao lowered her eyes. “I was just thinking about something.”

Fu Xiuyi would also be present at the chrysanthemum banquet today. Not only Fu Xiuyi, but also a few of his brothers. Now that the nine princes each had grown up, they naturally divided into camps. Fu Xiuyi acted the most harmless and was on good terms with the crown prince.

Who knew that in the end, the crown prince would be deposed and Fu Xiuyi would become the crown prince? She did not plan to help the crown prince. These people from the Ming Qi Royal Family were the most heartless. They looked at these families who had helped their ancestors build their empire as if they were looking at an old dog. These hounds were the ones who helped them catch the hare back then. Now that the hare was in their hands, they were still worried that the hounds would bite them to death. Therefore, they squeezed out the last drop of blood from the hounds and then killed them and cooked them.

What right did the heartless and cruel royal family have to ask everyone to be loyal?

Why don’t I just watch the hounds fight each other first? Shen Miao thought with a smile.

...

At this moment, many noble families had arrived at Yanbei hall.

Although the test was for both male and female students, the banquet hall was still divided in male and female sections. The young boys and their father were busy getting to know each other. They naturally wanted to use this opportunity to seek some alliances. Moreover, these boys would one day take over the family from their father, so it was good to make more friends.

In the women’s section, it wasn’t as full of activity. The girls just chatted with each other, talking about who they were into and wanted to marry.

Yi Peilan fiddled with the flowers on the table and said, “Are you confident about today’s test?”

“I am not.” The girl beside her smiled and said, “There are so many people here today, and I’m really nervous. I just hope that no one will pick me and challenge me. I’ll be happy if I can leave today without making a fool of myself.”

Yi Peilan curled her lips. “At least give it a try. You have to know that Prince Ding will be here today. Besides, the young master of the Li family you like is here too. Young Master Li is so outstanding. He will definitely go on stage. Why don’t you seize this opportunity to perform well?”

The girl nudged Yi Peilan and said shyly, “Nonsense.”

Hearing that, Jiang Xiaoxuan said with a smile, “That’s right. Bai Wei, don’t be afraid. As long as Shen Miao is here, you won’t have a chance to make a fool of yourself.”

“That’s right.” Yi Peilan also smiled brightly. “Isn’t Shen Miao responsible for making people laugh? I wonder why she still has the courage to come. At the thought of what happened last year, I want to laugh. I wonder what kind of clothes she will wear this year. A bright red dress like last year’s?”

A few girls giggled.

“Enough.” Feng Anning suddenly said, “Is it funny?”

Yi Peilan was stunned for a moment before saying, “Feng Anning, you seem to be very strange recently. Why? Have you become friends with that fool?”

Feng Anning looked angry. Just as she was about to speak, she heard someone on the other side say, “Hey, the Shen family is here.”