Chapter 215
Love (1)
The emperor was fond of fancy occasions, so the New Year’s Eve banquet was really grand.
Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang were sitting next to the emperor, and they were very eye-catching. The emperor and the empress paid more attention to the two of them by repeatedly greeting, talking and commanding maids to serve food. In this way, more eyes were looking at Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang.
Many old officials were invited by the emperor today, and Zhu Yang Hong was one of them. The Zhu family members also came to the banquet, but their position was much behind Xie Xuanchen’s. If they raised their heads and looked up, they could see Xie Xuanchen and others.
Many officials in different ranks toasted Xie Xuanchen in turns, and the princes and princesses in the harem also came down with their mothers. Prime Minister Song also was among them. In front of the emperor ,queen, and other royal family members, he apologized to Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang for the unfilial son who ran into Princess An’s car a few days ago.
Prime Minister Song said: “That our family dog is stupid, and he went crazy after drinking alcohol that day and accidentally offended King An and the princess. When this minister returned to the mansion and learned about the incident, that dog was beaten severely by me and is still locked in the ancestral hall[1] to this day. This small official humble servant wanted to come to king An’s palace but didn’t dare to disturb the prince and princess. Today in front of everyone, this small official humble servant will apologized to His Royal Highness and the princess, and asked King An to forgive that dog.”
In fact, Prime Minister Song was also arrogant as his son, but the literato wanted to save face, not to mention that he was an official, and had to set an example for the scholars in the kingdom. Now, in front of many colleagues and subordinates, how can Prime Minister Song’s face be decent?
But no matter how embarra.s.sed he was, he had to finish the task. If it was someone else, Prime Minister Song would have sent someone to send an apology gift and scold his son, that’s all. But that person was Xie Xuanchen.
Prime Minister Song didn’t dare to let it go, but he didn’t even dare to come to the door to make amends. First, he thought of sending a generous gift to Prince An’s mansion, but he was afraid that it would fall in the eyes of the emperor and be overwhelmed by the emperor. Prime Minister Song thought about it and decided to speak up in public on New Year’s Eve.
The only problem is probably the shame. But what to do?
Prime Minister Song knew that he would be ridiculed by his political opponents, but after all, his life was more important than anything. So when he finished speaking, the emperor couldn’t help asking what was wrong. Prime Minister Song did not dare to let Xie Xuanchen describe the scene of that day, so he could only shame himself again and repeat the incident.
After listening to this, the emperor stroked his knees and said, “Song Xiang is an important official of the country, and Prince An has also made great contributions to the country. In my heart, it is far more important than parent and child. If the two of you have a conflict, it will be my loss. Let’s make a toast, and the three of us will drink together, when the wine is over, and the past grievances will not be mentioned again.”
Song Zailian quickly thanked, Xie Xuanchen picked up the wine cup, and gestured to the emperor and Prime Minister Song from a distance, and drank it all. After Xie Xuanchen put down the cup, the queen judged the situation, and picked up the wine gla.s.s and said, “Prince An and Prime Minister Song are the pillars of the country. The official family and Prince An have a cup of wine, and this palace also respects Princess An for a cup.”
Mu Mingtang sighed inwardly, she could only pick up the wine gla.s.s and answer the queen’s words. However, the toast was endless at the beginning, and Xie Xuanji also raised a gla.s.s to Xie Xuanchen when he saw it.
The emperor sat at the top and saw that there were young couples on the left and the right, all of them were in full bloom and beautiful, and he was happy, and said: “Your brother is still recovering. A cup may be considered as a toast by your husband and wife. It just so happens that Xuanji and Xuanchen are married this year, and you two newlyweds should have a drink together.”
Jiang Mingwei heard it and quickly picked up the wine gla.s.s and said, “This concubine respects the brother and sister-in-law.”
When Mu Mingtang was about to pick up the wine cup, suddenly, her hand was pressed by Xie Xuanchen.
“She can’t drink, so I will drink this cup for her.” After speaking, he drank all the wine in his gla.s.s, took Mu Mingtang’s wine gla.s.s, and emptied it all as soon as he raised his head.
Xie Xuanchen moved too fast, and Mu Mingtang didn’t have time to remind him.
After watching him finish drinking, what Mu Mingtang was about to say slowly climbed to her lips.
That’s… my cup.
The emperor laughed, and even the empress laughed, saying, “Prince An used to be ignorant of anyone, but now he feels sorry for his daughter-in-law.”
1.Ancestral hall- An ancestral shrine, hall or temple (Chinese: 祠堂; pinyin: Cítáng or Chinese: 宗祠; pinyin: Zōng Cí, Vietnamese: Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestral temples are closely linked to Confucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety. ↵