Princess Lingchen giggled as she looked at Mingyue"s reddened cheek.Jiang Mingyue bit her lips. "Your Highness, please don"t tease me."
The smile on the Crown Princess" face widened. She looked at the Emperor as he chatted with one of the princes in the hall. The prince said something that made the Emperor happy, so the Emperor bestowed him with food and drinks. Princess Lingchen smiled faintly as the prince turned to her direction.
"That is Prince Qin of Sui Country," Ah Zhen whispered.
The princess silently observed the princes from the corner of her eyes. The princes were eager to please the Emperor and attract her attention. Princess Lingchen would usually pay no attention to the others, but this time, she knew that she had to marry one of the princes to strengthen her position as the Crown Princess.
One of the princes proposed to recite a poem to brighten up the atmosphere. The loser will be penalized with a jar of wine. As a host, Princess Lingchen joined them with their activities. One by one, the princes began to recite the poem. Some princes choose a poem that compliments a lady"s beauty to try to win the princess" attention.
Soon, it was the princess" turn to recite a poem. Once she finished, the princes clapped and praised her knowledge in literature. In the end, Prince Jing Xuan lost the game and was forced to drink a jar of wine.
As the banquet goes on, a palace maidservant walked up to her table carrying a tray of food. "You don"t need to serve me more food."
"Your Highness," the maidservant bowed. "Her Majesty sent you these."
Only then that Princess Lingchen realized that the maidservant was one of her mother"s person. She turned to look at her mother and saw her gentle smiled. The princess bowed from her position to thank her mother.
With the princess" permission, the maidservant placed the food on the table and spoke, "Her Majesty also said that if you"re feeling unwell, you are permitted to return to your palace. Her Majesty will find an excuse for you."
Princess Lingchen jolted. Her lips curved up at her mother"s worry. "Tell Imperial Mother not to worry too much."
The maidservant bowed and retreated to the Empress" side. Princess Lingchen watched as the maidservant whispered something to her mother and the Empress" expression softened.
The princess took a bite of the delicacies sent by her mother and leaned towards Mingyue. "You tell me. Among the seven princes, which one is your favorite?"
"Your Highness must be joking. We"re here to pick up a husband for you; why are you asking which of the princes is my favorite?" Mingyue gave her a playful smile. "Besides, I am married."
Princess Lingchen chuckled at her words. "As my cousin, is it not your job to help me to decide on something like this?"
"Then, what do you think about the princes?"
The Crown Princess glanced at the princes seated in the hall. Among the seven princes, Prince Yu of Eastern Zhou is the most good looking. His skin was slightly tanned, but his face was the most handsome. Prince Huo Yuan is the most charismatic. Prince Lu Wei of Qian Rong is the most silent and had an aura of mystery around him.
"In terms of look, I can only say that each of them has their charm." she continued and commented on her first impression of the princes. "Prince Fei Cui talk and drink too much. Prince Qin of Sui country is good with his words. But these are my opinion based on my observation now. I might learn something more about them during the Spring Hunt. What do you think?"
Mingyue pondered for a moment and spoke, "Did I not tell you that according to the profile, prince number five seemed to be your taste? I thought he is good looking as compared to the portrait they sent you." Mingyue did not tell the princess that she had met prince number five outside the hall.
The princess turned around to look at her cousin. "Which one of them is prince number five?"
Mingyue smiled. "Your Highness, why don"t we make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"You try to figure out which of the princes is prince number five by the end of the Spring Hunt," Mingyue said. "If you guess correctly, then I will grant you a wish."