dognovel Chapter 553: King Jin's Exploration
Chapter 553: King Jin's Exploration
Then, the emperor looked at the Fourth Prince who was being held by the wet nurse beside Shen Zhinian, and his features softened a lot.
He walked to the high dragon throne and sat down, saying calmly: "Stand up!"
Everyone then stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Shen Zhinian's gaze fell on the person who was at the front among the royal family members.
It belongs to the King of Jin.
But the chair is still empty.
The King of Jin seemed gentle and polite, and loyal to the emperor. But on such a big day as the New Year's Eve Palace Banquet, he arrived later than the emperor. Tsk...
Sure enough, Nangong Xuanyu's gaze swept across the chair, and a dark color flashed in his eyes.
According to the rules, only those who are related to the royal family are qualified to attend tonight's family dinner.
But Shen Zhinian had heard before that because Gu Jinxiao and Zhou Yuxi had made outstanding contributions in the plan to eradicate the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, both of them were granted the qualification to attend the banquet by the emperor as an exception.
Shen Zhinian sat in his seat and looked around carefully. Sure enough, he saw Zhao Yungui sitting next to Zhou Yuxi on the other side.
Seeing Shen Zhinian looking over, Zhao Yungui smiled generously and greeted her.
A long time ago, Shen Zhinian wanted to ask his good friend about the hundreds of years old ginseng, but he never found the opportunity.
Tonight's palace banquet is a good opportunity.
Just as the banquet was about to begin, the eunuch's voice finally came from the door: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has arrived--!!!"
The young man who walked in from outside the hall was tall and handsome.
He was dressed in a cloud satin brocade robe, with a pair of black eyes like cold stars in the midnight. His demeanor was dignified, revealing a unique temperament of a noble family.
Looking closely, the Prince of Jin's eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to those of the emperor on the dragon throne. Both of them have inherited the handsome facial features of the previous emperor.
The noble ladies who were eligible to attend the palace banquet were all royal relatives and were related to the King of Jin, so naturally nothing could happen to them. But this did not affect their appreciation of handsome men!
The Prince of Jin still has no principal wife. There is no telling how many young ladies from aristocratic families in the capital are eyeing the position of the Prince of Jin's wife.
His outstanding appearance when he returns to Beijing this time will probably arouse their fantasies even more.
The King of Jin walked to the center of the hall and stood still. He bowed respectfully to the emperor on the main seat, and his deep voice slowly rang out: "Your humble servant pays respect to my brother. May my brother live long and long!"
"Tonight is the New Year's Eve palace banquet. I specially prepared a gift for you, my brother. That's why I'm late. I hope you'll forgive me!"
The previous emperor had a total of ten princes, but only the two of them survived. For the sake of his own reputation, Nangong Xuanyu could not blame his only brother.
"Brother, we haven't seen each other for several years. Why do we need to go through all this formality? Stand up."
The King of Jin did not stand up. His young and handsome face was filled with fear. "Your Majesty is the monarch, and I am the minister. You and I should first discuss the monarchy and ministership, and then discuss the brotherhood. Without your forgiveness, I dare not stand up."
Many royal relatives nodded with satisfaction after hearing these words.
The previous emperor was incompetent and indulged in wine and women, which drained his body, resulting in many of his heirs being born with congenital deficiencies.
Among the ten princes, five died before the age of ten, and the remaining three died in the fight for the throne.
They were very happy to see that Prince Jin was so respectful to Your Majesty and the two of them were so friendly and respectful to each other!
I believe that the late emperor in heaven would know about this and be happy to see this scene.
Nangong Xuanyu said in a gentle tone: "After so many years, you are still the same."
"Okay, I forgive you, get up now."
The King of Jin then revealed a smile: "Thank you, my brother!"
When he sat down, Prince Jin's eyes swept over Shen Zhinian subtly.
The doctor said that Xiao Yueying's body had already reached the end of its strength, and it was a miracle that she could hold on until now. She would die in the next few days.
Fortunately, he had already learned from Xiao Yueying where the huge amount of money left by the Fang family was hidden.
In order to dig out this news from Xiao Yueying these days, King Jin had a lot of contact with her. Naturally, he also knew about the grievances between Xiao Yueying and Shen Zhinian.
Xiao Yueying's scheming and calculations were truly outstanding among all the women he had ever met! Even he, when dealing with her, almost fell into her traps several times.
Such a scheming woman ended up being defeated miserably by Concubine Xian!
Even his cold-blooded brother, the Emperor, was said to be extremely fond of Concubine Xian and made exceptions for her countless times.
As a result, Prince Jin was full of curiosity and interest in this virtuous concubine who doted on all six palaces before he even met Shen Zhinian!
When he saw her today, he was not disappointed.
This woman's appearance was only 70% perfect, but her incomparable charm made her look very beautiful even if she was just sitting there.
So graceful and charming!
It doesn't feel weird at all to say that she is a stunning beauty.
But her charming and attractive temperament also carries a bit of the majesty of a favored concubine. When balanced out, she does not appear frivolous, but rather makes people feel graceful and elegant!
Without this solemnity, with such appearance and temperament, she would be a natural evil concubine who would bring disaster to the country!
Shen Zhinian put down the wine glass in her hand, her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
Although Prince Jin's gaze only flashed across her, his inquiring look made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
In her previous life, after she became a first-rank lady, she had dealt with Prince Jin on many important occasions.
But this was the first time they met in this life, so why did he look at her like that?
Shen Zhinian temporarily suppressed the doubts in his heart and did not let anyone notice any clues.
According to the rules of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the emperor's daughter was a princess, his sister was an eldest princess, and his aunt was a great eldest princess.
The late emperor had four surviving daughters.
In addition to Princess Jingle who was married off to a foreign country, there were three other unmarried women, namely Princess Yun'an, Princess Qingyang and Princess Wenshu.
They all have their own princess residences outside the palace. Since entering the palace, Shen Zhinian has not interacted with the three of them very often and has only met them at a few palace banquets.
Among them, Princess Qingyang is the most lively.
She winked at the King of Jin playfully and asked curiously, "My dear brother just said that he prepared a gift for you, my brother. What is it? If it's not precious enough, it won't be enough to make up for your lateness!"
Prince Jin shook his head helplessly and smiled gently at Princess Qingyang: "You, you, after not seeing you for several years, your personality really hasn't changed at all."
"You will only be happy if you see me being punished by my brother, right?"
Princess Qingyang stuck out her tongue and said, "I didn't say that. I was just curious about the gift from mynah bird."
Princess Yun'an was the oldest of the three and the most spoiled. She immediately glanced at Prince Jin and said, "My dear brother, I think Qingyang is right."
"We haven't seen each other for several years, yet you are late on New Year's Eve. If the gift you present to your brother is not impressive enough, we will not agree!"