The eunuchs and maids in the palace may put on airs with foreign ministers, but they never dare to offend the prince or princess. After all, who knows which one will become a real dragon in the future?
Besides, today’s palace banquet was organized by Concubine Su, and most of the people present at the scene were the palace servants arranged by her. Even though Princess Ke’s request was strange, the palace servants quickly fetched the bamboo chips for her to draw lots.
The culture of drawing lots has a long history, and feudal emperors even associated it with the divine selection of divination. "Shangshu Dayu Mo" records that Shun wanted to pass the throne to Yu, and Dayu replied: "Those who have made great contributions to divination can only be followed by good luck." This method of selecting talents through divination had a great influence on later generations, and the late emperor also imitated it.
After the late emperor succeeded to the throne, he was very worried about the choice of prime minister. The court officials recommended several candidates, but he was not sure about their talents and conduct, so he "Naiju wrote down the names of several high-ranking officials in Qingwang at that time, put them into colored glaze, and burned incense on a moonlit night. I prayed to heaven, and when Xu Dan held it with chopsticks, I got the name of prime minister."
Emperor Xuanwu was different from his father. He was a pragmatist and had never engaged in such ridiculous methods of selecting officials. However, he did not prohibit the people below from having fun. Therefore, the palace treasury always had relevant equipment, and now they would not violate taboos when drawing lots.
The palace attendants respectfully brought the tribute glass bottles, jade ornaments and bamboo sticks of different lengths. Princess Ke glanced at the palace attendant, looked at Princess Wei with a smile on her lips, and said with a smile: "Fourth sister-in-law, let's compare the length and the length." When it comes to winning or losing, the one with the upper hand is the winner and has the priority to solve the puzzle, what do you think?"
Princess Wei had no objection and nodded in agreement.
The smile on Princess Ke's face widened even more, and she looked at the palace people casually, and said in a nonchalant voice: "Let's invest."
The palace attendant put the bamboo chips on the jade plate into the narrow-necked glass vase one by one, held the bottom of the bottle with one hand, covered the mouth of the bottle with the other and shook it from side to side - there was fine sand in the glass vase, and the bamboo chips were It sank into the fine sand under the shaking, and the heights were different, so it was difficult to tell the length.
After a while, he respectfully walked up to Princess Ke, bent his knees slightly, held up the glass bottle high, and said: "Your Highness, please explore the money."
Another palace official presented the jade ornament with both hands.
Princess Ke looked towards the palace attendant, her eyes fixed in the direction where her little finger was raised, a smile appeared on her lips, and her book pointed towards the mouth of the glass bottle.
"Wait!"
At this moment, a clear and crisp female voice suddenly sounded. Everyone looked towards the source of the sound, with different expressions and speculations for a moment.
Princess Ke's face was filled with sullenness and her voice was tight: "Ningyang, what's the matter with you? If you think it's unfair for me to explore first, you can let the fourth sister-in-law go first."
He is really powerful when he comes up to plant accusations against others.
Princess Ningyang smiled disdainfully. The treatment of the princess in this dynasty is comparable to that of the prince, or even worse. As long as she does not rebel and rebel, she can enjoy a lifetime of prosperity without worries, not to mention that she is the most favored princess. She is pampered, luxurious, and very proud, and she doesn't even pay attention to the likes of Princess Ke.
So she didn't give the imperial sister-in-law any face, and said bluntly: "Seventh sister-in-law is too worried. Fourth sister-in-law is generous, so naturally she doesn't care about who strikes first. It's just that my princess has itchy hands and wants to take the responsibility herself." The person who draws the lots, how can a mere palace maid give you the right to draw the lots? Sister-in-law Qi, do you think so or not?"
The palace man immediately lowered his head, and Princess Ke's face changed again and again. She looked at Princess Ningyang in confusion, wondering if she had seen something. If not, why did she suddenly ask for a signature?