The most beautiful lady in the harem

Chapter 172 Autumn Eve Banquet

The family dinner for the Mid-Autumn Festival is held in the evening, simply because of the so-called "the moon is above the treetops, and people make appointments after dusk" kind of artistic conception.

On the 15th of August, one must definitely look at the moon.

Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was not held in the daytime. After the afternoon, royal relatives came in from outside the palace one after another.

Qin Liuse was extremely busy that day.

The palace had been decorated since the beginning of August, with colorful lights hung on every tree.

In the evening, the maids and eunuchs lit candles, and the palace became as beautiful as the Milky Way, with lights and decorations everywhere, as bright as day.

When Qin Liuse had free time, she drank herbal tea and felt the autumn breeze, and her mind involuntarily replayed the scenes of the past two years in the harem.

Time passed as fast as flowing water. It was only at this time two years ago that she won the favor of Emperor Yongjia.

In the blink of an eye, so much time has passed.

Qin Liuse thought that at this time every year, Emperor Yongjia seemed to be alone and would not invite anyone to sleep with him, so today, he was thinking of taking a day off.

Although it was not certain that her name would be picked, since Emperor Yongjia did not ask anyone to sleep with him, she would be free.

However, Qin Liuse was just expressing his feelings for a moment. He also had to take care of the Autumn Eve Banquet and did not have the leisure time to lament the passing of time and the moon.

When Qin Liuse led his people to Chaoyang Palace, the palace was already bustling with people inside and outside.

The maids stood in line respectfully, waiting to be served, busying themselves introducing the distinguished guests to their seats.

Someone brought the prince into the palace. Qin Liuse was clever and asked someone to prepare some paper lantern patterns in advance, making them into little rabbits, little fish and other animals, which would be just right for deceiving the baby.

Since there are royal relatives attending this Autumn Eve banquet, the scene is much larger than an ordinary family banquet, and of course it is more solemn.

Qin Liuse walked towards the inner hall with her skirt lifted up, and Qingqing came up to her and whispered in her ear, "Zhaoyi, that Thirteenth Prince keeps staring at you. His eyes are really... unmannered and uneducated."

Qingqing was embarrassed to say that the Thirteenth Prince's eyes were lustful.

Qin Liuse felt a pain on his forehead and looked in the direction Qingqing said.

Sure enough, he saw the Thirteenth Prince looking at him from across several tables, and his eyes were really not polite.

Qin Liuse knew that the Thirteenth Prince had some mental problems, but she didn't expect him to be so rude in such a public place with so many people.

But on second thought, since he is mentally ill, it is not surprising that he would do such a thing.

Qin Liuse also knew that the Thirteenth Prince had countless women in his backyard, and for a moment, he was confused.

Although the Thirteenth Prince's behavior was inappropriate, in fact, it was not the first time she met the Thirteenth Prince, and she didn't know why he was so rude today.

But today is the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and with so many people here, I think he won't do anything inappropriate.

Qin Liuse tried his best to avoid getting too close to her, but he still had something on his mind. "You keep an eye on him for me."

Qingqing nodded and turned to tell Aunt Mingyue, Zijin and Xiaobaoer.

Since Qin Liuse was the manager and was not bound by rules, she brought all the trusted servants to work for her and run errands for her.

Unlike other concubines, she could only bring her personal maids to such a large banquet.

After giving instructions to Qingqing Zijin and the others, Qin Liuse went to busy himself with the preparations.

After a long while, when almost everyone was seated, Qin Liuse took a quick look but did not see the Thirteenth Prince.

Then he turned around and asked Qingqing in a low voice, "Have you seen the Thirteenth Prince? Where is he?"

Upon hearing this, Qingqing lowered her head and pretended to go out to do something, but in fact she went to say hello to Xiaobaoer who was waiting outside.

Xiao Baoer stood in the dark. There were many people in Chaoyang Palace at that time, so no one noticed him.

After hearing Xiao Bao'er's message, Qing Qing returned to the hall and whispered to Qin Liuse, "Xiao Bao'er said that he saw Miss Zhao Yuzhu lighting lanterns with the Thirteenth Prince just now. They were talking and laughing, and seemed to be chatting very enthusiastically."

This gave Qin Liuse some ideas.

How did Zhao Yuzhu end up playing with the Thirteenth Prince?

However, the Fourth Prince is her brother-in-law, and Zhao Yuzhu and the Thirteenth Prince are only a few years older than each other and they know each other, so it is normal for them to get along well.

And that Zhao Yuzhu was also quite good at dealing with people. With the intelligence of a child like the Thirteenth Prince, lanterns were indeed very suitable for him.

However, Qin Liuse always felt that something was not right here.

Then he said to Qingqing, "Go tell Xiaobaoer not to alert the enemy, but keep a close eye on everyone. If there is anything unusual, come and tell me."

Qingqing whispered "yes" in Qin Liuse's ear.

Aunt Mingyue pondered for a moment and whispered in Qin Liuse's ear, "Now the lights are on everywhere. There is a banquet in the palace. Although there are many people, it is still dark. If something unexpected happens, it is not impossible."

Qin Liuse nodded. This was what she was thinking.

She knew that Zhao Yuzhu and Lady Wen had been getting close recently. As a girl, she couldn't hide her emotions, and she could feel that Zhao Yuzhu didn't like her very much, even though she tried her best to hide it.

However, for a moment, I couldn't think of what they were going to do.

Because he couldn't get along with Miss Wen, the first target Qin Liuse thought of was himself.

She was not suffering from paranoia, but these people really had reasons to target her.

Now that she dotes on him so much, Qin Liuse would believe it if someone said that everyone wanted to harm him.

Qin Liuse thought about it and realized that others were in the dark while he was in the light. There was nothing he could do, so he could only wait and see and be on guard.

When the auspicious time arrived, Emperor Yongjia ascended the Chaoyang Palace with the two empress dowagers.

For a moment, there was silence in front of the hall. The originally lively scene suddenly became quiet. When the three people sat down, they all greeted each other.

Emperor Yongjia raised his hand, and Zhu Wanxi shouted loudly, "Stand up."

Everyone stood up and sat down.

Emperor Yongjia said a few routine words and officially started the dinner.

The reason why Chaoyang Hall is called Chaoyang is because it faces south and is located north. The hall is very shallow and the doors are wide open, so that the king can sit inside the hall and clearly see the people sitting in front of the hall.

The location here is excellent. There is a large open space in front of the temple, and further ahead is a clear pond.

The bright moonlight rose from the top of the mountain and was reflected in the pool. Everyone sitting in front of the temple could enjoy this beautiful scene.

There was no platform in the open space in front of the hall, just a carpet, and the dancers danced on the ground.

Bells and drums sounded, musicians played music, dancers danced gracefully, and eunuchs and maids held lotus lanterns with lit candles and placed them one by one in the pond.

From a distance, with the moon reflected in the pond, the lotus lanterns really look like stars.

While the scene was pleasing to the eyes, people from the Shangshi Bureau also came one after another carrying lacquer trays to serve dishes.

Qin Liuse was busy admiring the moon and the beautiful scenery. She saw the layers of rotating ribbons and colorful satin. The dancers were like fairies in the moon, and they kept throwing seductive glances at the steps where Emperor Yongjia was sitting.

She probably hoped that Emperor Yongjia would treat her as a fairy from the Moon Palace and take her in tonight.

Qin Liuse found it funny and she felt a heat on her leg without paying attention. When she came to her senses, she found that the maid who served the dishes was careless and spilled soup on her.

"Please forgive me, Zhaoyi, please forgive me!" The maid looked terrified and took a handkerchief to wipe Qin Liuse's face.

But the soup was oily and couldn't be wiped off, so the maid said in panic, "I'll help Zhaoyi change into a clean set of clothes!"