Chapter 213 Palace Banquet
"Who is your woman?" The eldest princess of Xixia was furious when she heard this and glared at Zhao Xing.
“Aren’t you here to get married? Is Xixia playing tricks on me, the Song Dynasty?” Zhao Xing said lightly.
"The emperor just has this intention. Whether we want to get married or not depends on my own wishes. Also, the name of my country is Xia, not Xixia!" the eldest princess of Xixia shouted.
"That's right. That's Gu's misunderstanding, but I don't like a Gu like you, so it's okay if we don't get married." Zhao Xing shrugged and said, "Let's go to the city!"
"You..." The eldest princess of Xixia glared at Zhao Xing and gritted her teeth.
If she hadn't had some sense, she would have wanted to hit Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing ignored her and asked Zhui Feng to be led over, and he got on his horse.
Huang Song hurriedly went up to smooth things over, and Xixia's envoys also whispered persuasion. The eldest princess of Xixia snorted coldly, turned around and walked towards the carriage.
Zhao Xing was riding on the horse, with a hint of amusement at the corner of his mouth.
Just now he asked the eldest princess of Xixia whether Xixia was playing tricks on the Song Dynasty.
The eldest princess of Xixia was very angry and did not reply immediately.
But the ministers of Xixia did not deny it, indicating that the order they received was to make peace with the Song Dynasty.
But this is just his guess, and the details will be known soon.
He is so arrogant and a bit humiliating. If it is really up to the eldest princess of Xixia to decide whether to get married, then she may not choose to get married.
If the Xixia envoy still proposed a marriage later, it would mean that the Xixia emperor wanted a marriage.
It may seem like this kind of temptation is meaningless, but it actually means a lot.
There must be some conditions for the marriage between Xixia and Song Dynasty. If you test Xixia's attitude, you can take the initiative during negotiations.
Sending the Princess of Xixia and the envoys to Honglu Temple, Zhao Xing left after saying that his father would host a banquet for them in the palace in the evening.
After leaving, Zhao Xing did not return to the East Palace. Instead, he went to the palace and told his father the results of his testing.
.........
In the evening, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen took a carriage to the palace.
"Your Highness, I heard that the eldest princess of Xixia is as beautiful as a flower. Is it true?" Zhang Guifen asked.
"Haha, she is wearing a veil, and I can't even see her face. Why are you jealous?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
“No way, I am just curious.” Zhang Guifen denied.
Zhao Xing held her hand and said, "Even if there is a marriage, she, the princess, must abide by the rules of the Song Dynasty."
If there is a marriage, the eldest princess of Xixia will be equivalent to a concubine.
Such a concubine is very difficult for the main wife to handle.
"Concubine..." Zhang Guifen opened her mouth. She was indeed worried about this, but she didn't expect Zhao Xing to see through it.
"If you have anything to say to Guzhi from now on, that's fine. We are husband and wife, there is nothing we can't talk about." Zhao Xing squeezed her hand and said.
It's normal for Zhang Guifen to be jealous. In other words, it's not jealousy, it's just a worry.
"Yes." Zhang Guifen nodded and said with a smile: "By the way, Miss Sheng Liu's health is almost healed. The Ministry of Rites has sent someone to the Sheng family to teach them the rules. In more than one month, Yue, it’s time for them to enter the East Palace.”
As for Zhao Xing’s concubines, she, as the principal wife, naturally knows about the regulations.
She arranged the courtyard where Ru Lan lived after entering the East Palace.
“Time flies so fast.” Zhao Xing sighed.
Unknowingly, Rulan and Minglan also reached the age of hairpin.
Zhang Guifen didn't know why Zhao Xing sighed, so she smiled and said: "Your Highness, that Jiang Liangdi is quite interesting."
"Huh?" Zhao Xing was startled and asked: "What's so interesting about it? "
Jiang Liangdi is indeed interesting. Among all his women, even Yu Yanran and Sheng Shulan, who were the first to enter the palace, have been together for a year and the other for more than half a year.
Including them, all the women were a little shy when serving her.
Only Jiang Liangdi was different. She didn't seem to know what shyness was. She was willing to cooperate with whatever Zhao Xing said.
It's not that the others didn't cooperate. Those who entered the palace later were willing to cooperate in order to please him.
However, they are always a little shy, with a feeling of wanting to refuse but welcome.
Jiang Liangdi is different. Zhao Xing can feel that she is not trying to please him, but is letting go.
When the love is strong, she will become the guest, but after that, she doesn’t want to be as clingy as other women.
Such a woman is a special case among all his women, so she is naturally very interesting.
But Zhao Xing never told Zhang Guifen about what happened between bed and bed, and no one should dare to talk nonsense. How did Zhang Guifen know that she was interesting.
“Jiang Liangdi rarely goes out. She stays at home every day, reading and drawing. I went to her place to read several boxes of drawing books. I remembered that she brought more than a dozen of them with her when she entered the palace. I heard that half of the box is composed of story books and her paintings." Zhang Guifen said.
Hearing this, Zhao Xing said curiously: "I know she likes to read stories, but I really don't know she likes to draw. Have you seen her paintings? What are they?"
"That's it. She drew some of the stories in the storybook." Zhang Guifen said with a smile: "Don't tell me, it looks quite interesting."
"Yeah, I'll have to take a look later." Zhao Xing became interested after hearing this.
In his opinion, Jiang Liangdi is very much like the two-dimensional girl of later generations, immersed in her own world.
Of course, there are no such things as comics in this era. What she is obsessed with is story books.
That’s why her character is so different.
While talking, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the palace, and the two got off the carriage and entered the palace.
He took a chariot to the outside of Zichen Hall and walked into Zichen Hall.
Under the guidance of the chamberlain, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen came to the top position on the left and sat down.
Not long after they sat down, the Xixia eldest princess and the Xixia envoy were led in by the chamberlain.
The Xixia group sat on the right side, and the eldest princess of Xixia was facing Zhao Xing.
Tonight is a banquet for the officials of the Song Dynasty. Naturally, the eldest princess of Xixia cannot continue to wear a veil. Zhao Xing finally saw the face of the eldest princess of Xixia. The eldest princess of Xixia is indeed very beautiful, with an oval face, three-dimensional facial features, and some exotic charm.
Seeing Zhao Xing look at her, she gave Zhao Xing a fierce look.
Zhao Xing was not angry either, and smiled at her.
"Isn't it that the Han people are very observant of etiquette? Why does this prince act like a scoundrel?" the eldest princess of Xixia said in a low voice.
When encountering such a scoundrel, she had no choice but to glare hard and turn her head away from Zhao Xing.
"Your Highness, don't lose your etiquette." Zhang Guifen pulled Zhao Xing.
"Haha, I am just teasing her."
Zhao Xing smiled and did not go to see the eldest princess of Xixia, but talked to Zhang Guifen in a low voice.
Some important officials from the DPRK arrived one after another, saluted Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen and took their seats.
“Your Majesty, the Queen is here!”
After about a stick of incense, the waiter sang and shouted. Everyone looked solemn, stood up, and stood with their heads bowed.
After a while, there was a sound of footsteps. The official and Empress Cao walked into the hall from the side door and sat down on the high platform.
"My sons and ministers pay homage to my father, the emperor and my mother!"
"I pay homage to your majesty, the empress!"
"My foreign ministers pay homage to your majesty, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, the empress!"
Everyone saluted.
"No courtesy!"
The official's elegant voice came, and everyone thanked them and sat down.
"The Princess Xia and her envoys have come all the way today. I am hosting a banquet for you, so you don't have to be restrained."
After the official finished speaking, he turned to look at Eunuch Liu and said, "Pass the banquet! ”
"Yes!" Eunuch Liu responded and shouted: "Pass the banquet!"
As soon as the words fell, a group of palace maids filed in carrying dishes.
The maid in front presented the dishes, then bowed and left.
The serving lasted for nearly a stick of incense, and there were hundreds of maids presenting the dishes. Although there were many people, they were orderly and not chaotic at all.
The royal style can be seen at a glance.
The eldest princess of Xixia opened her mouth slightly. She was a princess and had a distinguished status, but she had never seen such a majestic scene in Xixia.
Although Xixia is also a country, it only has a few million people, but hundreds of thousands of people join the army.
The land it occupies is also relatively barren, even for the royal family.
In terms of style, even some of the princes and nobles of the Song Dynasty may not be able to compare with him.
While the dishes were being served, music sounded and a group of dancers walked into the hall and danced.
Everyone at the banquet raised a toast to the official and the queen, and the banquet officially began.
The dishes at the royal banquet were sumptuous and delicious, but in Zhao Xing’s opinion, that was all.
After the dishes are prepared, they are not presented immediately, but the person who wants to test the poison waits for a certain period of time to make sure it is not poisonous before they are presented.
After all, the taste was quite different when it was first made.
I never tire of fine food, and I never tire of fine food.
In the Han Dynasty, the princes and nobles were very particular about food since ancient times.
Even the ministers who attend the banquet may not eat much worse than those in the palace, and they also eat less at the banquet in the palace, which is very bland.
On the contrary, it was the first time for the Xixia Princess and the Xixia envoy to eat such delicious food.
Although he tried his best to restrain himself, he could not hide his greedy attitude.
The officials of the Song Dynasty looked on with smiles, with a trace of pride and sarcasm in their eyes, full of a sense of superiority.
Since ancient times, except for the Han people, all other surrounding countries have been regarded as barbarians.
The people sitting here are all important officials in the court. In the eyes of many of them, the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms are just barbarians.
Zhao Xing saw all this in his eyes and frowned slightly.
From a cultural perspective, the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms were indeed barbarians.
But precisely because they are barbarians, they have been trying to invade the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times.
If the country is great and the people are proud, there is no problem.
But if the country is weak and the people are arrogant, that is a big problem.
The Song Dynasty was weak. Although it was because of the emperor, didn’t these ministers have anything to do with it?
They looked down on Xixia, the Liao Kingdom, as barbarians. Even if they couldn't defeat them, they looked down on them from the bottom of their hearts.
I think these barbarians are ignorant and can be influenced by gentleness. If they can't do it, just give them some benefits.
Just like the original Tan Yuan Alliance.
Although Emperor Zhenzong insisted on peace, how many people really opposed it?
My father implemented the New Deal, but within a few years he had to give up due to too much pressure.
If all the officials were so united when the Tan Yuan Alliance was signed, could Emperor Zhenzong still be able to sign it?
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing felt very unhappy and couldn't help but drink a few more drinks.
(End of this chapter)