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Chapter 65
Imperial Palace, Qionglin Banquet.
In March, the grass grows and the warblers fly, and the royal garden is already bustling and blossoming, which is very beautiful.
In addition to a group of new scholars, the guests attending the banquet were the Empress Zhou Xie, Princess Anguo, the two princes, and six ministers.
The empress sat at the same table with Princess Anguo and the two princes. On the two tables next to each other, on the left were the six ministers, and on the right were the top three candidates for the imperial examination.
The number one scholar, Qiu Jinning, and Tanhua Qiu Shouan are all still young, only Cheng Bangyan from Liuping Mansion, who is nearly forty years old, is slightly older.
Various cakes were served first. Qiu Jinning tasted a piece of cool mint cake and stopped moving her chopsticks. When the empress looked at their table and asked the three of them to come forward, she felt a sense of dust settled in her heart., what should come is finally here.
"I greet Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live."
The three of them knelt down in front of the table, waiting for the queen to speak.
There was a sudden silence at the banquet, and they all looked this way.
Everyone kept silent tacitly. During the silence, the queen took a sip of scented tea leisurely. The taste was slightly sweet and the fragrance of flowers was tangy.
She put down her teacup and looked at the three people kneeling on the ground: "The three lovers are the pillars of the country in the future, so don't be too polite, get up and answer."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live your majesty, long live, long live."
When they got up, the empress said calmly: "Cheng Aiqing is the oldest, and she has a good wife at home."
Cheng Bang was stunned, he was not sure what the empress meant, he was asking about a private matter, now the empress only has three sons, and no princess, besides, he is already thirty-eight years old, so why would he not propose marriage to him?Truthfully said: "I have a virtuous wife, Mrs. Lu, in my family, and now I have both children."
The queen nodded lightly, and looked at Qiu Shouan and Qiu Jinning: "Where are the two Qiu Aiqings? Is there a marriage in the family?"
Qiu Shouan: "The minister already has a wife, Gu Shi, and the younger sister is not yet married."
Qiu Jinning: "The subject is already married."
The two people's words were spoken at the same time, but the answers were different.
Seeing that they had different answers, the empress said in a deep voice: "You two lovers, do you know where this place is. If you dare to deceive the emperor, you will be punished."
"I don't dare." Qiu Jinning and Qiu Shouan knelt down again, under the gaze of the empress, they didn't even look at each other.
"Then tell me, is Qiu Zhuangyuan married or not? Qiu Shou'an, you are the elder brother, so tell me." The queen's hand touched the teacup, her expression turned cold.
No matter if it is the phoenix girl or the prince, if they dare to bully the emperor, they will not be lightly forgiven.
She can keep Qiu Jinning for the Baiyue Zhou family's prophecy that lasts for thousands of years, but she will never allow Qiu Jinning to fool her just because of her status as a phoenix girl.
Princess Anguo and the third prince couldn't help but glanced at Qiu Jinning who was kneeling with downcast eyes worriedly. It's not easy to lie at this time.
On the other hand, the eldest prince looked like he was enjoying the show, and he guessed the queen's intention in his heart. Did the queen mother want to marry Qiu Jinning?So in the end, do you prefer him or the third brother?
Qiu Jin quietly lowered her head, waiting for Qiu Shouan to reply first. She didn't tell her elder brother that she was engaged to Qin Chu, because she didn't expect that both siblings would win the first prize.
Although the elder brother is talented and learned, he is still far away from the first class. Unexpectedly, the world is unpredictable, but Qiu Shouan won the Tanhua.
Because of the matter of the Gu family and the second prince, the two brothers and sisters hadn't had any contact in recent days, so she didn't take the initiative to explain it, so as not to cause more trouble.
Unexpectedly, after thousands of calculations, God's will is inevitable, and the worst thing happened.
Kneeling on the ground, Qiu Shouan said with a look of panic: "I dare not lie to Your Majesty, I am indeed married, and my younger sister is not yet married."
Does the empress want to propose marriage to him or to the younger sister?
Ask him to marry him, he is already married, and there is no princess in the royal family, there is only one Pingle Princess of the right age, but that one is missing a leg, how can he match him?
If you propose marriage to a younger sister, no matter who you refer to, it is a good thing. The best destination is for a woman to be a good wife and a good mother.Dare to deceive the saint about this kind of thing, isn't this courting death?
After all, the younger sister is too young, she is too messy.
Qiu Shou'an's heart was complicated, he knew that he should worry about his sister's safety at this moment, but for some reason, a gleam of joy flashed across his heart.
As soon as his words fell, the queen looked at Qiu Jinning: "Qiu Jinning, do you have something to say?"
The one who wins the huang girl wins the world. How dare this huang girl go over her princes to marry other men? For the future of the Baiyue Zhou family, no matter who that man is, she cannot stay.
In the prophecy, the empress has always preferred to believe what she has or not to believe what she has not, especially when it comes to Baiyue Jiangshan.
Qiu Jinning raised her head, and without being in a hurry to speak, she took out a few pages of documents from her sleeves, and offered them with both hands: "Your Majesty is holy, I dare not deceive you in any way. Not long ago, there was news from my family that my father and mother have ordered a book for me.Because of the rush of the exam, in order not to disturb my elder brother to concentrate on preparing for the exam, I didn't have time to inform you, this is my letter of engagement."
Time passed slowly, and there was silence at the Qionglin banquet. Everyone's eyes were on the female number one scholar who was neither humble nor overbearing holding the letter of engagement, with different thoughts.
The queen stared at Qiu Jinning for a moment: "Submit it."
According to Baiyue's practice, in ordinary marriages, the marriage will be engaged first, and the engagement letter will be made, and then the marriage date will be negotiated, and the marriage letter will be signed.
Among these two items, the engagement letter is generally drafted in private, while the marriage letter must be signed by the government, backed up and sealed.
Qiu Jinning's situation was different. She used the engagement letter as a trump card, and her father was the county magistrate of Jiuqu County, so even the engagement letter was affixed with the official official seal to prepare for today's troubles.
The engagement letter recorded in detail the identities of both parties, the date of the engagement, and the date of the ceremony, which was a few months ago.
As for the other person on the engagement letter, the empress also has an impression, daughter of the Qin family: Qin Chu.
The engagement letter is real, it cannot be faked, and the Queen dared not make fake ones.
After closing the engagement paperwork, her chest seemed to be constricted, and she was not happy at all.
"Magistrate Qiu promised you to a woman?"
"Exactly, I dare not disobey the order of my parents and the words of the matchmaker, and I yearn for the daughter of the Qin family."
Qiu Jinning's brows were calm and her expression was calm, as if she was telling everyone that it was her parents' order and she was happy to do so.
The queen looked at her faintly, without saying a word for a long time, a woman, the woman who got the phoenix was an ordinary merchant woman, if she remembered correctly, she was still lame.
A thought flashed through her mind, so fast that she missed it.
Everyone was even more angry and did not dare to breathe. They became nervous for no reason. The Sacred Heart is unpredictable. What does His Majesty mean?
The empress stared at Qiu Jinning for a long while, then sighed suddenly: "Qiu Zhuangyuan is the world's top scholar. Wouldn't it be a pity to be matched with a woman? It's better to look at the men in the capital and have children. Qiu Jinning, what do you think?"
As soon as the Queen's voice fell, there was a movement on the table, and someone put down the cup heavily.
When everyone looked around, they saw Princess Anguo with a gloomy face and said indifferently: "It's a pity to match a man with a woman if you are not the one you want. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
She is a woman, and her wife Wei Ziwan is also a woman. They love each other, love each other, and live up to this life, what a pity.
"Sister Huang, I-you know I don't mean that." Qiu Jinning is a phoenix girl, so how can she be the same.
The empress sighed for a moment, after so many years, the empress is still so innocent and sincere, and she did not hide her emotions at this Qionglin banquet.
"What do you mean? I am not a woman? Qiu Zhuangyuan is not a woman? Our sweetheart is not a woman? I am dull and do not understand what His Majesty means."
After asking several times in a row, he turned the point of attack, so that Qiu Jinning didn't have to think about how to respond, and the empress was speechless.
She can reprimand anyone, and she can find a reason to punish anyone, except that she should not show any disrespect to Miss Huang, whom the people adore.
Not only because the throne was abdicated by the emperor's sister, but also because she admired the emperor's concern for the country and the people from the bottom of her heart, and admired her contribution to the work of farming and mulberry with half her life.
The empress calmly handed the engagement letter to the head steward beside her, motioning him to return it to Qiu Jinning.
"My loves are all ministers of my Baiyue's humerus. In the future, you still need to work hard to manage your affairs, live up to my expectations, and live up to the trust of the people. Come and drink this cup with me."
The matter of the phoenix girl remains to be seen, but it is better to promise to a woman than to marry a man outside the royal family, so the empress had to temporarily stop pointing Qiu Jinning to her son.
The topic was dismissed lightly, and the Qionglin banquet returned to the calm at the beginning.
Qiu Jinning carefully put away the engagement letter, knowing that today's catastrophe is over, but the situation ahead is still not optimistic.
There is no other reason, because the queen did not assign positions to the first and third.
According to the usual practice, Yijia is personally appointed by the emperor, and most of them enter the Hanlin Acade. Throughout the ages, nine of the ten ministers came from the Imperial Acade, but the empress did not give any instructions abnormally, and don't know if there are other arrangements.
At the end of the Qionglin Banquet, the Empress seemed to have remembered this matter, and said lightly: "The Imperial Academy now has a large number of editors and editors, and there are no vacancies for official positions. The three love ministers should go to the Sixth Department to serve, so that they can serve the court as soon as possible..”
They told people to go to six movies, but they didn't specify which one to go to. They even asked them to go back and think for themselves, and then report it if they liked one.
As soon as this remark came out, everyone had delicate thoughts, what exactly did His Majesty want to do?
After Xi San, Qiu Jinning glanced at Princess Anguo and the third prince from afar before turning around and leaving the palace.
Out of the palace gate is Yujie, at the end of Yujie, Qin Chu stood in front of the carriage, seeing Qiu Jinning approaching, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.
"Little sister stay here."
Before Qin Chu could meet him, Qiu Shouan, who was following Qiu Jinning, reached out to block the way.
Qiu Jinning nodded slightly to Qin Chu, signaling her to rest assured, then looked at Qiu Shouan, and responded lightly: "Brother."
Qiu Shouan glanced at Qin Chu who was not far away, and said coldly: "I don't know when my father and mother pointed you to that cripple."
How can a merchant girl be matched with the prosperous Qiu family? Her father is a parental official of a family.
"Brother, her name is Qin Chu." Qiu Jinning's expression also turned cold. He was her sweetheart, famous and famous, and he couldn't be referred to by the word 'cripple'.
Qiu Shouan snorted coldly: "An idiot bag is also worthy..."
"Brother, if nothing happens, I'll go back first." Qiu Jinning interrupted Qiu Shouan's words, and his expression turned completely cold.
Qiu Shouan stretched out his hand to stop him again: "Little sister, you are foolish. Choose a good husband and have children. He is a good match. You are so reckless, do your parents know?"
"If father and mother don't know, elder brother thinks I'm lying to the Holy Majesty?"
"to speak"
See you tomorrow~?