The third day of the first lunar month is Wanshou Festival, the birthday of Emperor Xiao Ge.

Although the undercurrent of the struggle for the right to inherit the throne was surging, on the surface the Jin Dynasty was still in peace and prosperity. Not only was the Wanshou Festival held as a national celebration, the palace also held a grand banquet, and many relatives of the emperor were invited to the banquet.

Xiao Ge had a wish. He wanted to take advantage of his birthday to have his sons sit together to have a good talk and keep in touch with each other.

The relationship between the brothers was good when they were young. He hoped that even if they could not be as harmonious as they were when they were young, they would at least have some brotherly love, more courtesy and less fighting.

Although he was dissatisfied with the prince, he still did not depose the prince. Because of the third prince's preparations in the past two years, he weakened a lot of the third prince's power.

The second prince has always been suppressed by him; the fourth prince has always had little sense of existence and does not have much power in his hands; the fifth prince has no desire to win the heir. He has tried his best to keep his sons in balance.

He himself is in good health and will live for at least another dozen or twenty years. He really doesn't understand why these sons are so eager to fight for power and wealth now.

There was a grand banquet held in the palace, and Zhao Ruxi, the quasi-Qi princess, was naturally invited.

The old lady is the Duke's wife, with a royal title, and is now the grandmother of King Qi's fiancée; although Zhu is not of high rank, she is also the future mother-in-law of King Qi. The two of them are also invited.

Zhao Ruxi was worried about their safety, so she arranged for Luo to follow the old lady and Lu Yun to follow Zhu. She herself took Ma Ling'er with her.

Ma Ling'er is the daughter of Ma Sheng and Luo Shi, and she also practiced martial arts with them. Although she is a little behind Luo Shi and Lu Yun, she is still better than Qing Feng and Dian Jiang who don't understand martial arts at all.

In fact, today's coup will not affect the female relatives. The reason why Zhao Ruxi made this arrangement is because she is worried that someone will fish in troubled waters and want to harm them. With Luo Shi and Lu Yun here, she doesn't have to worry so much about the old lady and Zhu Shi. After all, she can't follow them all the time.

beside them.

On the emperor's birthday, Concubine Cen, who presides over the palace and organizes banquets, is naturally also present.

She was very enthusiastic when meeting the old lady and Mr. Zhu, which made the old lady and Mr. Zhu less worried about the marriage.

Concubine Cen exchanged greetings with the old lady and Mrs. Zhu for a while, then turned to Zhao Ruxi and smiled: "Your second sister-in-law is feeling heavy. I'm worried that she is tired, so I asked her to rest in my palace. I won't be here for a while. Pregnant person

Sometimes she has a bad temper, so please be more tolerant of her."

Zhao Ruxi naturally understood that Concubine Cen was referring to the fact that Cen Peixuan called her into Prince An's Mansion and taught her a lesson.

She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, your words are serious. Your Majesty, Princess An, is a lady of the family. She is well-educated and knows the rules best. How can there be any inappropriate words or deeds that I need to forgive?"

She was generally satisfied with Concubine Cen's behavior. At least she did not call her into the palace to scold her after Cen Peixuan taught her a lesson, and she could still say such words now.

No matter what Concubine Cen thinks, she will be satisfied if they can generally live in peace with each other.

She does not force Concubine Cen to treat Xiao Lingyan better than Xiao Lingpu, or to treat her better than Cen Peixuan. Is Cen Peixuan her biological niece? Are close friends from far and near shown here? She can't ask for too much.

Zhao Ruxi did not tell the old lady and Mrs. Zhu about the anger she suffered at Prince An's Mansion.

Her words were soft but tough. On the surface, she was praising Cen Peixuan? But in fact, she was trying to express her attitude to Concubine Cen? She didn't want to be the one who humbled herself.

Why should she tolerate Cen Peixuan? Is it because of the Cen family or because of the piece of meat in her belly?

But the old lady didn’t know? She answered politely and humbly: “Our sister Xi has a stubborn temper and is not sweet-tongued. If there is anything she doesn’t do well in her usual life? I would like to ask you and Princess An to be more tolerant.

yes."

Are these words perfect? ​​Zhao Ruxi could not wait to give her grandmother a round of applause.

When the old lady said this, it would be hard for Concubine Cen to mention what happened that day again.

She smiled and said, "Xiao Xi is a good girl. You don't know how happy I was when I heard that Xiao Wu wanted to marry her."

The old lady naturally has to be modest.

Mrs. Zhu could hear the agility in what Zhao Ruxi and Concubine Cen said just now. Seeing Concubine Cen's attitude was very good? She was also willing to show her kindness in return.

Is the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law good? It is better for Zhao Ruxi than having a bad relationship.

She smiled and said: "I heard that your Majesty doesn't sleep well. Sister Xi asked someone to brew some wine in Nanyang. That wine is most suitable for women. When the wine is ready, I will ask her to bring some to your Majesty. Your Majesty comes every day.

Drinking a small cup before going to bed is of great benefit to improving sleep and improving beauty.”

Concubine Cen has been rich and prosperous throughout her life, but she has no hobbies. She only cares about her appearance.

As soon as she heard this, she became very interested. She turned around and asked Zhao Ruxi, "What kind of wine? Do you know how to make wine?"

"Is it a recipe I asked someone to sort out when I was in Nanyang? It is brewed with improvements and is called Fengtan Liquor." Zhao Ruxi said, "Because it is new, the taste is not very good. It needs to be buried for another two years to get the best flavor.

good."

The old lady smiled beside her and said: "This wine is indeed good. I passed by Nanyang when I returned to Beijing? How many days did I stay in Nanyang? Sister Xi gave me some newly brewed wine. The wine didn't taste good because of the time.

? But the effect is quite good. I feel much better when I sleep after drinking it. I usually have to get up until the middle of the night, and then I can’t fall asleep for half the night. After drinking that wine, I slept until dawn."

Concubine Cen, who had been troubled by insomnia, was overjoyed when she heard this. She quickly said to Zhao Ruxi: "Don't wait for the taste to be better. I have drank many bitter medicines, and they still taste like this. If you still have them, just give me some

Send me some to try."

"Okay." Zhao Ruxi nodded.

"Concubine, what are you talking about so happily?" Suddenly a faint voice sounded from the side.

Zhao Ruxi turned around and saw that it was Cen Peixuan with a big belly.

"Sister Xuan is here? Come and sit down quickly." Concubine Cen waved to her.

Cen Peixuan glanced at the three members of the Zhao family who had already stood up and saluted him, nodded slightly, and sat down with his belly in his hands, without smiling or speaking.

Concubine Cen frowned when she saw it.

This was the first time that Mrs. Zhu met Cen Peixuan. When she saw her attitude, her expression calmed down and she said to Concubine Cen: "Your Majesty, you are busy. Let's go over there to rest."

Concubine Cen said with a smile: "That's okay. The banquet will start in a moment. I'm also busy, so I won't ask you to talk. I'll have plenty of time in the future."

Zhao Ruxi said goodbye to Concubine Cen, and found another place to sit down with her grandmother and mother.

"Empress, what do you think their attitude is? Even you dare to show off your face." Cen Peixuan's face didn't look good.

Before she came, she was told by her husband to reconcile with Zhao Ruxi.

She didn't look down for a moment just now.

She was planning to put on airs and say a few nice words, but she didn't expect that Zhao Ruxi's family would immediately lose face and leave. She couldn't help but worry about Concubine Cen blaming her, so she simply made a provocation.

Concubine Cen looked at her ignorant niece and sighed softly: "You have to know that in this marriage, Zhao Zhiwei is not begging to marry into the royal family, but our Xiaowu is begging to marry Zhao Zhiwei. The emperor persuaded Mr. Kumu to agree.

This is the marriage."
Chapter completed!