Hao Jiaojiao finally stood up slowly with the help of the maid. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief. When the maid wiped the dust off her skirt, she accidentally stepped on the hem of her skirt and was pinched by her.
Holding the soft flesh in his arm: "Are you stupid? You can't do such a small thing well!"
It was the girl who was close to Hao Jiaojiao who said good things, and Hao Jiaojiao let go of her hand: "I don't care about you, let's go quickly, and we have to change into clean clothes!"
The maid lowered her head and followed Hao Jiaojiao, walking forward cautiously.
By the time they arrived at the banquet, Hao Jiaojiao had already changed into clean clothes. Hao Jiaojiao was sitting there, looking dignified and frail, looking like a lady. She raised her head slightly and looked at someone not far away.
Su Xubai, who was talking to Xu Ziqing, had the tenderness of a young girl in Huaichun in her eyes.
If the Chengchun incident hadn't happened, others would have thought that Su Xubai was ignorant and had wasted Hao Jiaojiao's friendship. There would also have been a few self-righteous young literati who would have spoken out for Hao Jiaojiao.
A few cries of dissatisfaction.
But after something happened to Chengchun, the Marquis of Wuchang was not willing to suffer the disadvantage of being dumb again. Chengchun almost died after taking a bowl of anti-pregnancy medicine from Hao Jiaojiao. The doctors tried their best to save her life, but in the end they failed.
The matter that made her unable to conceive for the rest of her life was told to everyone everywhere. Suddenly, Hao Jiaojiao's reputation for being deep-minded, jealous and vicious spread throughout the capital unknowingly.
You know, most of the literati in the capital talk about benevolence, justice and morality, but secretly they admire those men who can tame women and enjoy the blessings of everyone the most. What they hate the most is this kind of evil thoughts and jealousy.
She has become a vicious woman.
If it weren't for the fact that Hao Jiaojiao was the daughter of Prime Minister Hao, the fact that Chengchun was forced to jump into the river by her would have been enough to expose her to all kinds of criticism.
Although Hao Jiaojiao is unruly and willful, she is also a smart person. She naturally knows that because of the Chengchun incident, most of her reputation in the capital has been ruined, so she was particularly cautious when attending this banquet.
Although she knew that people were looking at her with a bit of scrutiny, she was smiling from beginning to end, as if nothing had happened.
"...Isn't that Jiaojiao? I'm going to go talk to her!"
"Don't go! Look at the things she did. If you still go to get close to her, aren't you afraid that she will secretly stumble you?"
Meng Shaoqing, who was discussing with Xu Ziqing what kind of performance there would be today, happened to overhear it. He turned around and saw a twelve or thirteen year old girl talking to her mother.
Meng Shaoqing couldn't help laughing: "Su Xubai's men are really evil! Knowing that what scholars care about most is reputation, he just threw the reputation of the Prime Minister's Mansion to the ground, and at the same time, he went up and brutally
Stepped on it!"
"I'm just telling the truth!" Su Xubai on the side said calmly, his eyes were deep, making it difficult to see his emotions.
Meng Shaoqing raised his eyebrows slightly: "Su Xubai, are you really planning to break up with the Hao family?"
"I have nothing to do with their family!" Su Xubai didn't even raise his eyes. "My father replied to the letter. He said that marriages between men and women should be joyful. Such resentment will only cause misfortune to the family in the end.
!”
Xu Ziqing frowned: "What does Marquis Wuchang mean? Do you want you to continue fighting with him like this?"
"Why not?" Su Xubai slowly raised his eyes, "After all, for me, it doesn't matter whether I get married or not, and it doesn't matter who I marry. I can afford it, and she can afford it.
?"
If it were anyone else, Xu Ziqing would have pulled him and cursed him. After all, how could a woman's marriage be delayed like this? This would have just delayed the girl's life for nothing. But when it came to Su Xubai, Xu Ziqing felt that
, such consequences can be regarded as Hao Jiaojiao’s own fault.
In fact, they also don't understand. Although it doesn't sound very nice, it is reasonable for a girl from her daughter's family to be pregnant and not marry Fei Qing. However, Prime Minister Hao clearly knows that this marriage will not be good in the end.
In the end, he didn't know how to dissuade his daughter, but he also helped others to do evil. If he ended up with a bad ending, he couldn't blame others.
After a while, the emperor came in with the queen and the prince.
Everyone in the banquet hall knelt on the floor. The person walking beside the emperor was not the Queen, but the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was kind and deeply loved by all officials, both civil and military. Everyone's kneeling was sincere.
The Queen Mother smiled and sat down. After everyone sat down, the Emperor still said the same long and cumbersome old words from last year. They were nothing more than reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future. These words come and go every year, which is quite boring.
mean.
By the time the Queen Mother spoke, a quarter of an hour had passed. The Queen Mother glanced at the Emperor with a bit of disgust, and then said with a smile: "People who are celebrating the New Year, eat and drink well, don't pay so much attention!"
As soon as the words fell, the palace servants began to serve the dishes one after another.
There are many rules for a royal banquet, but the meal is also famously good, and everyone enjoyed it very much.
The singing and dancing on the side were also carefully rehearsed, and the singing and dancing were in order. Meng Shaoqing was not interested in these meal and dance music in the palace, but he really liked the wine in the palace, and would always be half drunk before going back.
Mrs. Meng was also a generous person. From time to time she would pick up her wine glass and touch it with Mr. Marquis, smiling with crooked eyebrows.
Just when everyone was quite happy, it was time for the younger generation of girls to perform. At every palace banquet, these girls from powerful families would always come out to perform in order to earn face in front of others.
, find a way out for your future marriage.
Meng Shaoqing has never been very fond of this kind of thing. After all, the only thing that comes and goes from these girls’ families is the music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and most of the women in their family are not good at these. Both the old marquis and the old lady said
, Marry a wife and marry a virtuous person, and cultivate your sentiments by being able to play chess, calligraphy, and painting. There is no need to learn too much. After all, this thing is only useful in peaceful times. When it comes to troubled times, you won't even be able to earn a living.
However, it is precisely because of this idea that people think that most people from the Wuhou family are barbaric and ignorant of etiquette.
The first thing that came on stage was a dance that was not spectacular. It was said to be a dance performed by a favorite concubine of the previous dynasty. Meng Shaoqing looked at it and saw that the solo dancer was from an unknown girl's family. It was obvious that she was not as good as the previous dancer.