"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is arriving." Not long after everyone had taken their seats, the protagonist of tonight's event made her entrance.
"Greetings to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager."
"All of you may rise and take your seats."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Mei Qingxue was a bit excited inside. This was the first time she had seen an ancient emperor in person, something she had only seen on TV! If there was a camera, she would definitely record this historical moment and title it: My First Intimate Encounter with an Ancient Emperor!
The emperor of the Fengxi Kingdom was a tall and burly man with distinct facial features and eyes as sharp as an eagle's. As soon as he sat down on his throne, a natural aura of majesty emanated from him, making people not dare to act rashly. The empress wearing a phoenix crown was a dignified and elegant beauty. There wasn't a single wrinkle on her face, though it might be because she had put on too much powder.
After the emperor said a few official words to everyone, the banquet officially began.
The dishes served by the royal family to entertain guests were all delicate and rare. Looking at the food on the table, Mei Qingxue secretly swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva. But seeing that everyone else was just pecking at their food like chicks and then putting down their chopsticks, she didn't dare to be too different.
"I heard that a few days ago, a small border country paid tribute to several Western beauties. Their dances are said to be unparalleled in the world. I wonder if I'll have the chance to see them today?" After three rounds of the banquet, looking at the singing girls who had just left the stage, a powerful military general with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath said to the emperor, Du Gu Xing, who was sitting on the dragon throne.
Hearing this, the banquet hall fell silent. Everyone held their breaths. You should know that once these women were sent into the palace as tribute and the emperor hadn't bestowed them to anyone, they were the emperor's women. This guy actually wanted to watch the emperor's women dance... He was really courting death!
"I've heard that the second young lady of the prime minister's mansion is extremely skilled in dancing. Your Majesty, why don't you ask the second young lady to dance a dance for you?" Just as everyone was holding their breaths, waiting for the emperor to get angry, a voice brought the nervous people back from hell to the world.
To avoid the emperor's anger and being implicated, the ministers all echoed the suggestion one after another.
Mei Qingxue rolled her eyes in her heart! She even wanted to go up and kick that little girl! She was just one bite away, just one bite away from finishing that plate of roasted chicken! But at such a sacred and crucial moment, she became the target of everyone's attention! She couldn't remember when she had offended that unreasonable little girl.
Yes, the one who had pushed Mei Qingxue out was Su Shangqing, the youngest daughter of the Minister of War!
Now she was like an arrow on a fully drawn bow; she had to be shot out.
The prime minister and his wife looked at Mei Qingxue, who was already standing in the middle of the banquet hall, with great worry. Although they had invited many top - notch teachers to teach her this year, they still worried about their daughter, because no one could fathom the emperor's mind.
Mei Qingxue took a deep breath. She had learned ethnic dances before, so she still had the dancing skills. And when the TV drama Empresses in the Palace was extremely popular, she had fallen in love with the Jinhong Dance in it and had practiced it seriously for some time. Since that dance had charmed so many people, the effect of her dancing it here today shouldn't be too bad! She hoped people wouldn't blame her for plagiarizing, because she really loved that dance!
With the accompaniment of the court musicians, the deep and serene sound of the guqin gradually rang out, leading people into an artistic conception of falling flowers. Mei Qingxue was wearing a light - blue long dress with wide sleeves. The wide sleeves fluttered as she spun around, and the skirt flapped like a gorgeous rose in full bloom. Her slender waist swayed gracefully, and her steps were as light as a pink butterfly flitting among the flowers. After she finished a Jinhong Dance that was three parts more spiritual and three parts more playful than the original, everyone on the scene held their breaths and stared in disbelief, as if they were in a garden full of flying flower petals and were deeply immersed in it, unable to extricate themselves for a long time.
"Bravo! This dance is even more beautiful than that of the fairies in the Jade Lake. As expected of the second young lady of the prime minister's mansion. She not only has a beautiful face but also a charming figure!" Someone who came back to his senses immediately stood up and clapped his hands, sparing no praise. His loud voice brought everyone back to their senses, and they all began to praise her one after another.
While some people were happy, others were sad. The concubines sitting at the table looked at the slightly dazed emperor, and the jealousy in their eyes gradually burned. Maybe three years later, there would be one more powerful competitor for the emperor's favor!
"The youngest daughter of Prime Minister Mei is truly a delicate beauty. I will bestow a reward."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
At this time, the most jealous one was Su Shangqing, who had made Mei Qingxue steal the show. She gritted her teeth tightly and wished she could go up and tear Mei Qingxue's beautiful face to pieces. When Mei Qingxue took her seat, she stared at her fiercely with her eyes, as if she wanted to devour her alive.
Mei Qingxue could feel all kinds of eyes gradually focusing on herself, but she didn't care. She didn't know what these people were up to and didn't want to bother. As long as she was happy, that was enough. As for that little kid who had caused trouble for her, she wasn't going to argue with her.
The banquet continued. After having eaten and drunk enough, Mei Qingxue felt really bored, so she found an excuse to leave and planned to take a walk outside to get some fresh air.
The light outside the banquet hall was much dimmer than that inside, but this didn't prevent her from admiring the scenery in the palace. Walking along the rare plants and flowers, her mood became much more relaxed.
Just as Mei Qingxue passed by a flower bed and was about to walk towards the lake view not far away, her foot seemed to be tripped by something. She staggered and fell into the flower bed.
"Damn it! There's such a big stone in the imperial garden of the palace to trip people! It's really too much!" Mei Qingxue, whose knees were hurting badly from the fall, angrily kicked the "stone" that had tripped her a few times. But even so, she still felt angry and planned to throw this harmful "stone" into the lake.
But when she saw clearly what the "stone" was, she was really greatly surprised!
It turned out that what had tripped her wasn't a big stone but a real person!
In the dim light, Mei Qingxue frowned slightly and sized up the person. The person was dressed like a eunuch. He was curled up in the flower bed. His face looked extremely painful, and his complexion was frighteningly pale. He had fainted.
Mei Qingxue thought he was a eunuch in the palace. Maybe he had fainted in the flower bed because he was too tired. Her kind - heartedness that had been accumulated for nine lifetimes began to act up again. If she didn't save this person, her conscience would be extremely troubled. But if she saved him, would she be unlucky again like before? But if she just let him die, her conscience would be condemned for a lifetime! Forget it, if she was going to die, then so be it!
After thinking like this for a while, she didn't hesitate anymore and directly lifted the person on the ground.
But as soon as she touched the person's skin, her hands suddenly retracted. A chill penetrated into her heart from her palms, making her shiver involuntarily.
It seemed that this little eunuch was suffering from a very serious cold syndrome. The most important thing at this time was to make his body temperature return to normal. But what should she do?
She remembered that Mei Haoxuan had once told her that there was a hot - spring pool in the palace, especially for favored concubines to take baths. It was also known as the Green Water Pool. If they went there, he might be saved.
Before coming to the palace, her mother had told her the layout of the whole palace, for fear that she would go to the wrong place by mistake and cause trouble. So she knew that the Green Water Pool was in a courtyard far from the banquet garden.
There was no time to lose. She used all her strength to lift the person onto her thin shoulders. Enduring the cold air that was slowly spreading to her body, she walked forward with difficulty.