The Enrong Banquet was held in Lumingyuan. The participating ministers were seated according to their positions, and the new imperial examination candidates were seated according to their rankings. The seats for men and women were separated, and the queen presided over the inner courtyard to receive the female family members.
Once every three years, when a new scholar enters the palace for a banquet, the seats for the male guests are not yet full, but the seats for the female guests are already full. Even the two little princesses of the royal family came to watch the fun.
"Princess Yueqiong, Princess Simin, come here quickly, I brought you some gadgets."
Shen Moran took out a jade medal from his sleeve like a magic trick, dipped it in cinnabar, and placed a five-petal flower rosette between their foreheads, which matched their makeup very well today.
The queen looked amused and joked: "Our two little princesses are now really like sisters from the same mother."
The little girl thanked her happily.
"Thank you, Sister-in-law Seven."
Although Shen Moran didn't go to the palace many times, she would bring small gadgets to them every time. The little girl liked her sister-in-law very much and stood by her side and refused to leave.
"A little gadget makes you so happy! Every time Princess Zhan enters the palace, even the nanny next to Amin can breathe a sigh of relief. Amin, stay well by your seventh sister-in-law and don't go to the front yard. go!"
A banquet was held in the front yard for this year’s new scholars, and they secretly discussed coming here just to see the top scholar!
"But mother-in-law, my daughter wants to see what this year's new top scorer looks like!"
Zhou Simin is two years younger than Zhou Yueqiong. As soon as Zhou Yueqiong said this, Zhou Yueqiong winked at her desperately. She hurriedly covered her mouth, waved her hands and said, "I didn't say anything!"
Afraid of being punished by her mother and concubine, Zhou Simin plunged her head into Shen Moran's arms, causing a burst of laughter.
This scene was very dazzling in Shen Mingshu's eyes. According to her age, she was half a year younger than Shen Moran and half a year later than she entered the family. But according to her seniority, she was the bride of the fifth prince. Why didn't the queen take the initiative to talk to her except for the most basic courtesy? Said something?
"I also have a gift for the two princesses."
She was not prepared at first, but she couldn't stand being ignored, so she made an impromptu decision and pulled out two gold hairpins from her head.
The atmosphere suddenly stagnated. The two princesses looked at their mothers and concubines' expressions and stepped forward to salute generously.
"Thank you, Sister-in-law Five."
After taking the golden hairpin and handing it to the nanny behind her, the two princesses were called to them by Concubine Zhao and Concubine Shun.
There was a sound of music playing from the front yard, it was "Deer Ming".
"Hey, the deer roars, the apple of the eating field, I have a guest, the drums, the harp and the sheng..."
"The party has begun."
The two princesses looked out, and Chang Jinchan couldn't sit still. When no one was paying attention, she whispered: "Princess, do you want to go to the front and have a look? I will take you there!"
Zhou Yueqiong and Zhou Simin looked at each other with hesitation.
"Don't worry, every time I make a mistake, my parents are not willing to punish me..." After all, she has not been restricted by the boudoir. She saw that the two princesses were still hesitating, "I will take care of you if anything happens!"
Zhou Yueqiong nodded happily, and Zhou Simin always liked to play behind her. The two of them clasped their little hands and slipped out quietly while no one was paying attention at the table.
Chang Jinchan moved the ladder by herself, climbed up the ladder to the roof, and shouted to the two of them: "Come up and take a look!"
Zhou Simin shook her head timidly.
"I don't dare!"
Chang Jinchan jumped down from the roof and climbed up with her on his back. Going up to the roof was commonplace for her, but it was a novelty for the two princesses.
Zhou Yueqiong gritted her teeth and climbed up with her eyes closed.
The three of them clung to the eaves and looked down. The seats in the front yard were very close together, and they could vaguely see the guards standing under the eaves holding swords.
"Which one is the new top scholar?"
Zhou Simin looked down and saw so many people for the first time. She was dazzled for a moment, "I saw fifth brother! And seventh brother!"
Hearing her mention Zhou Yu first, Chang Jinchan asked curiously: "Does Princess Simin like your fifth brother very much?"
Zhou Simin smiled and said: "Of course. Among the brothers, only the fifth brother often plays with us and often brings us novel things. I like the fifth brother very much!"
Chang Jinchan sighed in her heart, she couldn't help it, she was going to plot against Zhou Yu today...
"Who else do you like?"
Zhou Yueqiong answered: "I still like Sister-in-law Seven!"
Children's minds are very simple, but they can feel sincerity. They know very well who is really good to them and who is just complimenting them.
Zhou Simin pouted.
"But I don't like the current fifth sister-in-law."
Chang Jinchan asked while observing the situation below: "Why?"
But Zhou Simin couldn't explain, and angrily emphasized: "I just don't like it!"
I guess not many people like Shen Mingshu. Didn’t you see that no one talked to her among the female guests?
Chang Jinchan pointed to the three young men in brocade clothes in the middle and said, "Did you see those three men in red clothes? The one in the middle is Zhang Jin, this year's top pick."
Before she finished speaking, she heard the little girl next to her murmur.
"So ugly."
Chang Jinchan blinked her eyes, covered her mouth and did not dare to laugh out loud. She pointed to the other two and introduced: "The one on her left is this year's second place winner Zhou Yuan. The other one... I haven't seen it before, but it's only among the top three."
He can only wear red clothes, so he is probably Tanhua Lang Jiang Tong."
Zhou Yueqiong looked at the man with her chin in her hands and said: "This one is a little prettier, better looking than the other two. If I were the father, I would definitely choose him as the number one pick!"
The little girl's childish words are unscrupulous, but her words are reasonable. Zhang Jin looks just like the soldiers in his father's camp, while Zhou Yuan is as thin as a firewood stick. In comparison, Jiang Tong next to him is fair and clean, and looks very upright, which is very eye-catching.
The three of them were directly above their heads. Si Yiluo raised his head and glanced at the roof to see Wei Heyan.
He had already noticed the movement above his head. Several kittens were hiding on the roof and peeking, but he didn't bother to care.
During the banquet, Zhang Jin was quarreling with the Confucian scholars, and the atmosphere was tense.
"The Yi people in the southwest were enemies in ancient times. Now all the provinces in the southwest are the land of our Great Zhou Dynasty, and the Yi people are naturally the subjects of our Great Zhou Dynasty. Why use force to treat your own subjects? The barbarians are difficult to tame.
In the final analysis, they are uncivilized and resist foreigners because the imperial system harms their interests."
"Compared with sending troops to attack, educating the people is certainly more time-consuming and laborious, but it is still the benevolence of the king."
Someone immediately stood up to refute.
"The purpose of sending troops to attack is to implement the court's benevolent government faster and more smoothly. If we leave it alone, once they are allowed to unite to fight against the court, it will not be that simple, and more manpower and financial resources will be spent..."
"There are many ethnic groups in the southwest, and they do not intermarry or interact with each other. The so-called ethnic groups who are not ours must have different minds. As long as the imperial court does not push them to a dead end, how can they unite to fight against the imperial court if they have no time to take care of themselves?"
"This is wrong..."
The new scholars who were just starting out, in order to leave an impression in front of Emperor Yao, and in order to win the game, made allusions and arguments everywhere.
Si Yiluo had a headache just looking at it. This scene was similar to what happened every morning. The literati looked down on each other, and all the allusions in books and folk models from ancient times to the present were used as material, and they argued for a long time.
Nothing can be done.
If there is really an important matter, it would be better to leave it to her or Wei Heyan, and in a day or two, the troubles that bother Emperor Yao can be sorted out.
It’s better to seize the time and get down to business.
Chang Jinchan broke off half a tile and held it in her hand, climbed over the eaves and sat on the roof. Seeing her being so bold, Zhou Simin felt itchy and climbed over too.
It was the first time to watch men quarrel, it was so interesting!