Chapter 87: Palace Banquet, Prince Yu

The senior maid, Shanhu, said anxiously, “Mistress, the Emperor favors you, the whole palace can see it. Why do you have to deliberately anger him?”

“I don’t want to anger him either, but it’s hard not to feel bad when he doesn’t believe what I say.” Empress Zhuang lowered her eyes, a hint of disappointment flashing in them.

“Mistress, if you argue with the Emperor, won’t you be giving others a chance?” Shanhu worried.

A touch of melancholy appeared in Empress Zhuang’s eyes, “Who he likes has nothing to do with whether I give someone a chance or not. Even if I do everything right, he will like who he likes. If he has me in his heart, even if I argue with him, he will naturally protect me.”

“Like today…?” Shanhu asked.

Empress Zhuang was startled, her anger instantly subsided.

She no longer mentioned the Emperor, instead, she instructed Shanhu, “Tell Ping the Nanny, be extra careful with the Princess’s diet from now on.”

“Yes.” Shanhu accepted the order, sighing, “Mistress, you usually seem to dislike the Princess, but today you were so angry that you beat Concubine Shu, it turns out you care about the Princess very much…”

“When did I ever care about her!” Empress Zhuang retorted coldly.

But because of the Princess’s poisoning, she didn’t feel like attending the palace banquet tonight, so she asked for sick leave.

…

Concubine Shu returned to Jingxi Palace.

The imperial physician took her pulse and prescribed medicine. Her injuries were serious, she should rest in bed for a few days.

But there was a palace banquet tonight, Concubine Shu took her medicine and then forced herself to wash and prepare.

“Mistress, that Empress Zhuang is truly lawless…” Pearl said angrily.

Concubine Shu sneered, “That fool, if the Emperor didn’t protect her, she would have died eight hundred times over. I didn’t attack her before, it was just to keep the Emperor at ease. Since she’s seeking her own death, this concubine will send her on her way.”

Empress Zhuang was not a threat, the real trouble was the Emperor.

She needed to do it cleanly, leaving no trace, so the Emperor wouldn’t notice.

She needed to think about this carefully and make good arrangements.

“Is everything arranged for tonight’s palace banquet?” Concubine Shu asked.

The palace hadn’t held a banquet in three years because the Emperor was in mourning.

This Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet was the first imperial family banquet since the Emperor ascended the throne. Concubine Shu, as the one in charge of the six palaces, naturally needed to make sure everything was perfect, leaving no room for fault.

The imperial clan would all know that she was the true empress without the crown.

(The Longevity Festival was organized by the Ministry of Rites)

“Everything is ready, most of the imperial clan has arrived, but… Prince Yu hasn’t come yet.” Pearl replied.

Prince Yu…

Concubine Shu’s eyes flickered.

Among the late Emperor’s sons, besides the Crown Prince and Prince Ying, there were other princes of noble status.

The Third Prince, Prince Yu, was one of them.

His mother was the late Emperor’s Consort De, and his wife was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Xue’s family – the younger sister of the late Crown Princess.

He was the brother-in-law of the late Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince’s right-hand man.

If the current Emperor hadn’t ascended the throne, he would have been the most powerful prince in the imperial clan.

Even without the late Crown Prince, Prince Yu’s status was originally higher than Helian Qi’s.

Speaking of which, most of the late Emperor’s sons were of better birth than Helian Qi.

Prince Yu had always followed the late Crown Prince’s lead, and he had always looked down on Helian Qi. He was the most dissatisfied with Helian Qi’s ascension to the throne.

During the last Longevity Festival, he was out of the capital, inspecting the border, so he wasn’t there.

He had just returned to the capital a few days ago.

There might be a good show tonight.

Thinking about this, Concubine Shu felt much better.

She was even more looking forward to tonight’s palace banquet.

…

The bell rang, and the imperial clan took their seats.

But the seat at the head of the imperial clan’s table was still empty.

“Who is this? They dare to be late?” Tang Miaoling curiously looked around.

She was sitting behind Ning Wanyin.

Xiao Guizi, seeing that it was his master’s cousin who was asking, immediately lowered his voice and reminded her, “This is Prince Yu’s seat.”

Ning Wanyin recognized the absent person at a glance.

The person who could sit at the head of the table was the eldest in the imperial clan.

The late Crown Prince was the eldest son, Prince Ying was the second, Prince Yu was the third, the Emperor was the fourth, and Prince Fu was the fifth. These princes were all close in age.

The Sixth Prince, Prince Yihe, and the others below him were all under twenty, not yet of age.

Three years ago, after the Emperor ascended the throne.

Ning Wanyin had specifically investigated the backgrounds of these princes.

Prince Yu was a member of the Crown Prince’s faction, Prince Fu was a member of Prince Ying’s faction, and the current Emperor was a compromise choice between the two dukes.

“Dang, dang, dang—”

The bell rang nine times.

The eunuch announced, “The Emperor has arrived! The Empress Dowager has arrived!”

Helian Qi and Empress Dowager Xue arrived together.

Everyone stood up and bowed, “Greetings to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor! Greetings to the Empress Dowager, may the Empress Dowager live long and prosper!”

“Rise.” Helian Qi sat down on the main seat.

Everyone stood up and took their seats, the empty seat was particularly conspicuous.

At this moment…

A young man in a four-clawed dragon robe entered the hall, bowed to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, “This minister greets the Emperor and the Empress Dowager! Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a night of reunion, this minister, thinking of his elder brother, the late Crown Prince, drank a little too much, and accidentally got drunk. When he woke up, he had missed the banquet time, please punish this minister, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager!”

This person was Prince Yu.

The entire hall was silent.

You say you were drunk and missed the time? You clearly deliberately arrived late, losing face for the Emperor.

And you deliberately mentioned the late Crown Prince.

Empress Dowager Xue said with a look of relief, “You miss your brother, you are a good brother, what crime is there? Come and take your seat.”

“This son thanks the Empress Dowager for her grace!” Prince Yu lifted his robe and stood up, returning to his seat.

Helian Qi didn’t have time to say a word, Empress Dowager Xue and Prince Yu had already given him a warning.

On the day of his first grand banquet for the imperial clan.

“When my elder brother was still alive, he had the best relationship with Prince Yu. Prince Yu has reminded me, tomorrow I will ask Prince Yu to go to the imperial mausoleum to guard the tomb of the late Crown Prince for three months, to comfort their brotherhood.” Helian Qi said calmly with a gentle expression.

The smile on Prince Yu’s face instantly froze.

“There’s no need to do that…” Empress Dowager Xue spoke up to help.

Helian Qi looked at Empress Dowager Xue, “Mother, do you think it’s too troublesome to go back and forth for just three months?”

You think three months is too short?

The Emperor left room for maneuver.

Three months wasn’t a long time, the Xue family could accept it, it wouldn’t cause a major conflict with the Emperor.

If they continued to argue, both sides would suffer.

“The Emperor’s arrangement is very good.” Empress Dowager Xue swallowed her words back.

Prince Yu was unhappy, but he didn’t show it, he stood up and said, “This minister obeys the decree!”

After this exchange, the banquet began.

After three rounds of drinking, the cups clinked, the music and dancing were lively, and the music was pleasant.

Prince Yu suddenly asked loudly, “I wonder who organized tonight’s palace banquet?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, this concubine is the one who organized tonight’s palace banquet.” Concubine Shu didn’t expect him to ask that suddenly.

Prince Yu glanced at Concubine Shu and sneered, “No wonder it’s so poorly organized, it turns out you arranged it.”

“Brother Yu, what are you saying? This brother thinks this palace banquet is perfect.” Prince Fu smoothed things over.

“This wine is no good, this king doesn’t like drinking this sweet wine—” Prince Yu casually swept his hand, knocking over his wine cup, “When my Prince’s Mansion holds a banquet, my Princess Consort  will prepare wine according to the guests’ preferences, so everyone is happy. But Concubine Shu can’t even prepare the wine properly…”

“But it’s not Concubine Shu’s fault. After all, Concubine Shu is from a humble background, she hasn’t seen much of the world, asking Concubine Shu to organize a palace banquet is just pretending to be competent.”

“Please have Your Majesty quickly establish a noble lady as Empress, to prevent those who are not worthy of their position from tarnishing the royal family’s reputation.”