usatvline Chapter 366 Birthday
Chapter 366 Birthday
Shen Jingchuan narrowed his eyes, looked at her and asked, "Did you have any affair with him?"
Shen Jingzhen was stunned for a moment, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she lowered her eyes and said, "I saved him before, and he promised to marry me."
This was not considered a lie, but as for the other things, Shen Jingzhen would never admit it even if she was beaten to death.
"Really?" Shen Jingchuan asked again.
"Of course, otherwise, what else does father think we can have!" Shen Jingzhen was a little anxious.
Hearing this, Shen Jingchuan was silent for a moment, then looked at Shen Jingzhen and asked again: "Did Feng Bochang really promise to marry you?"
"It's absolutely true. I wouldn't dare lie to my father about this. He just said that he would send someone to propose marriage after the autumn hunt." Shen Jingzhen's eyes showed a glimmer of hope. She thought it was good that her father knew about it. Otherwise, what would she do if the matchmaker from Brother Feng's family was rejected after visiting her?
After that, Shen Jingzhen looked at Shen Jingchuan and asked tentatively: "Dad, will you agree?"
Shen Jingchuan glanced at her and said in a deep voice: "No matter what, you should restrain yourself in front of everyone! Don't bring shame to the Shen family!"
Although she was scolded, Shen Jingzhen felt that she was being tacitly approved when she heard these words, and even a hint of joy appeared on her face.
Shen Shuyi watched this scene from afar and felt that his father would probably run into a snag in the Feng family.
After all, the words that Feng Bochang used to coax women, how could they represent the Feng family’s intentions, and how could they count?
*
At three quarters past the hour of Wei, music and drum beats began.
The court musicians and the dancers in the palace played a song of grand joy together. The colorful silks and graceful beauties opened the birthday celebration of the empress dowager.
Then, the singing and dancing faded away, and the young men performed a powerful sword dance. Their dashing and heroic posture, unlike the charm of women, only aroused great passion in people's hearts.
"Your Majesty has arrived! The Queen Mother has arrived!"
The eunuch's shrill voice sounded, and Emperor Qianwu appeared with the empress dowager, wearing a black dragon robe and a golden crown on his head.
"May your majesty be blessed with good health! May the Queen Mother live as long as the heavens and enjoy the happiness of her family forever!"
For a moment, everyone in the field bowed and greeted each other.
As Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager took their seats, the ministers and their families below relaxed a lot. Many of them quietly looked at Emperor Qianwu's injuries. After all, Emperor Qianwu was furious about the assassination during the morning hunt, and almost everyone knew about it.
If it weren't for the fact that the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration had been prepared for a long time, more people would have been unable to withstand the bloody storm of the Emperor's wrath.
According to royal custom, Emperor Qianwu, as the Son of Heaven, first prayed to God for good weather, peace and prosperity in the coming year, and then sent his blessings to the empress dowager first.
Immediately afterwards, the royal descendants presented gifts one after another.
The first one to come was Prince Duan. The gifts sent by Prince Fu and Prince Shun were naturally gorgeous enough, but they did not contain much thought.
Prince Duan gave a golden peach made of red gold, Prince Fu gave a thousand-year-old ginseng, Prince Shun gave a pair of beautiful parrots with colorful tails, and Prince An gave a jade screen...
Although this process is boring, it can open the eyes of many people.
The queen mother sat at the main seat and responded with a smile: "You are thoughtful, but to be honest, I am most looking forward to the gift for my return. This girl has whetted my appetite. She has been teasing me with the secrets since a month ago. It really makes me feel itchy."
Princess Guining wore a bright red skirt and her hair was adorned with pearls and jade, looking ostentatious and domineering.
"If the queen doesn't like it, I'm afraid I'll be embarrassed."
As she spoke, Princess Guining clapped her hands, and a maid brought up a heavy golden nanmu box.
The aunt next to the Queen Mother took it and opened it.
The Queen Mother took out the pagoda, and for a moment, many people stood on tiptoe to look at it.
What came into view was a red-gold pagoda more than ten inches in size held in the Queen Mother's hand. She turned it around in her palm and soon understood the mystery behind it.
"The Sutra of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?" The Queen Mother spoke slowly.
Princess Guining looked at the Queen Mother's expression and said, "That's right. I had someone copy the Ksitigarbha Sutra and then carved it on the inner wall of the pagoda in Jade Chopstick Seal."
As soon as these words came out, Emperor Qianwu on the side could not help but praise: "This is indeed what my mother likes. It seems that the Jade Chopstick Seal has not been lost."
Princess Guining smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this jade chopstick seal was written by the second young lady of the Shen family. At that time, the second young lady Shen was practicing in the Jade Buddha Temple. It happened that she was proficient in this art, so I asked her for a favor. Speaking of which, the second young lady was dressed simply and looked pale and thin. I thought some daring servant dared to fool me."
When these words came out, no one knew what other people's expressions were, but Shen Jingchuan's face instantly turned red.
Many people around him looked at him with ridicule and mockery.
Shen Jingchuan certainly did not forget that when Shen Shuyi just returned home, she didn't even have a set of suitable clothes. Now such a shameful thing was exposed in front of Princess Guining, which was really hateful!
Qin Xuerong, this narrow-minded and vicious woman, is more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything!
Emperor Qianwu glanced in the direction of Shen Jingchuan and said slowly: "Oh? This is true."
Princess Guining smiled and said, "That's right, but I didn't expect to find out later that Miss Shen Er has indeed learned to write very well. I have also heard that she is also very good at painting."
It wasn't that Princess Guining wanted to please Shen Shuyi, but the Queen Mother already knew about this matter, so she might as well do her a favor and vent her anger for her.
After all, she was a female member of the royal family and did not participate in court affairs. Her son was a little mentally retarded, so she could only hope that the empress dowager and the emperor would give her some favor.
The Queen Mother nodded. She was quite moved because she hadn't seen such jade chopstick seal script in years. "It's really good."
This sentence is good, but I don’t know whether it is praising Princess Guining or Shen Shuyi.
But everyone understood that Princess Guining's gift touched the Empress Dowager's heart.
Shen Jingyu was still sitting beside Concubine Jing. Watching this scene, her throat tightened and her fingers curled up uncontrollably.
This Shen Shuyi is even more annoying than she imagined!
Looking at Princess Guining in front of her, Shen Jingyu's thoughts raced, and a hint of calculation flashed in her eyes.
Concubine Jing glanced at her and said slowly, "You should get along better with your sister. Although you are not born from the same mother, you are still sisters. If you can learn some of her skills, you may not be afraid that the Queen Mother will not be kind to you."
"Your Majesty, that's a good suggestion." Shen Jingyu spoke humbly, and her words and actions were all calm and graceful.
Concubine Jing smiled and changed the subject: "But your gift is very thoughtful. I spent a lot of time to present it to the Queen Mother. Don't worry, I will not let your sister overshadow you."
Hearing this, Shen Jingyu remained neither humble nor arrogant, and there was no sign of joy on her face.
Concubine Jing was now somewhat satisfied, and she took her hand and said slowly, "You know I like you the most, but only if you fight for more for Yuncheng, your future life will be better. Now is an opportunity, remember, you must please the Queen Mother."
"Yes, Jingyu will follow the Majesty's instructions."