Chapter 426: Taking a Seat
Editor: Atlas Studios
How could Li Jinghua agree? Those who were older than her and weaker than her weren’t even asking for a carriage. How could she dare to request such a thing when she had only been in the capital for a few days and still did not know her way around here? Hence, she smiled and rejected him.
Qi Haoran looked at her stomach worriedly. This was his big brother’s first son.
Mu Yangling smiled and held Li Jinghua’s hand. “Sister-in-law, let me help you.”
Li Jinghua didn’t know how Mu Yangling did it, but her body suddenly felt light, as if all her weight had been transferred to the latter. Her swollen calf felt a little better.
Seeing that Li Jinghua’s expression suddenly relaxed, Qi Haoran glanced at Mu Yangling’s arm. Although he was worried, he did not say anything. He nodded and strode forward.
The Eternal Joy Palace had long been set up. Probably so that everyone could admire the moon, the palace banquet was held in the open space with screens covering all four sides to block out the wind. Coupled with the braziers placed beside each seat, it was not cold at all.
Held in an extremely spacious venue, the seats were placed opposite each other in the east and west, and there was a passage about ten meters wide in the middle. When the time came, the singing and dancing would be performed in the passage. To the north were the dragon and phoenix seats, which were where the Emperor and the Empress were seated. Closely behind the dragon and phoenix seats, to the west were the seats of the princes, and opposite them were the seats of the concubines.
Not all the princes and concubines could attend the palace banquet. Other than the adult princes, only some favored little princes could attend under the lead of their mother. Their seats were arranged beside their mother.
Behind the princes and concubines, officials were seated according to their ranks. Civil officials were seated in the east, and generals in the west.
Although Qi Feng was a civil servant, he was attending only because of Qi Xiuyuan. Hence, his family was arranged to sit in the third seat on the west side, followed closely by General Yuan’s family. The first seat was taken by Li Zhengye’s family.
Qi Feng was secretly delighted, but Qi Haoran’s heart sank slightly. Even if Big Brother had advanced to the second rank and was indeed the person in charge of the most territories in Great Zhou other than General Yuan, in terms of qualifications and age, he could at most be ranked sixth. If the Emperor directly raised Big Brother’s position to third place, would that be flattering Big Brother or drawing hatred for him?
Qi Haoran thought for a long time but could not figure it out. So, he tossed it to the back of his mind and stopped thinking about it.
Qi Haoran led everyone to their seats.
Qi Feng hesitated for a moment and realized that they were all boorish people. He was the imperial censor and usually did not interact with these generals. After thinking for a moment, he said to Qi Haoran, “Bring them along. I’ll go talk to a few colleagues.”
After saying that, he slowly headed east. Qi Haoran really wanted to remind his father to sit obediently and not embarrass himself over there.
Other people’s sons had the honor of attending the palace banquet because of their father. There were some sons who were more capable than their father, but the father usually only chose to attend if he himself were qualified to attend in the first place. If the father wasn’t qualified himself, he would choose not to come and simply spend New Year at home. The only one who took advantage of his son to attend was Qi Feng. Shouldn’t he keep a low profile at this time?
However, at the thought of his father’s temper, Qi Haoran swallowed his words and brought Mu Yangling and the rest to the seats, and let them sit at the back.
There were some seats that had two rows and some that had three rows. The men usually sat in the first row, and behind them were the seats of their families. Because some families brought more people, three rows were arranged for them.
Madam Wu quickly took the first seat in the second row because Qi Feng would definitely sit in the front seat. This way, she would be facing Qi Feng’s back.
Mu Yangling thought for a moment and let Li Jinghua sit inside while she sat behind her. This way, she could better protect Li Jinghua.
Li Jinghua chuckled softly. “Why are you so careful?”
However, she did not reject Mu Yangling’s good intentions. Previously, Mu Yangling did not allow her to get close to Madam Wu, but now, she was not hindered. Even if Madam Wu was an idiot, she couldn’t possibly cause trouble in the palace. Therefore, she just had to be wary of the people outside the Qi family.
Mu Yangling knelt on the mat and fiddled with the fruits on the low table. She complained in a low voice, “Why is it a sitting banquet? Won’t my legs go numb after a night?”
Li Jinghua was also worried, but she still said, “These are the rules.”
After Madam Wu sat down for a while, her nervousness dissipated. She saw that everyone present was gathered in groups of twos and threes to talk, and that there were some wives of officials that she was briefly acquainted with. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Sit and rest.” With that, she didn’t say anything else and rushed over to the people she knew.
The three of them did not mind her leaving at all. With Madam Wu gone, they would be much more at ease.
Li Jinghua looked up at the people in the garden. Before she came, Qi Xiuyuan had given her a notebook containing information about the officials in the capital. It was just the most basic information, such as who was of the same clan, what rank they were in, which family their wife belonged to, how many legitimate sons and daughters they had, and some simple comments.
These were the most ordinary things that everyone knew, but these ordinary things that everyone knew were very precious to her. This was because whether she could integrate into the capital and live here depended on the information in this book at the start.
Seeing that his sister-in-law’s mind was elsewhere, Qi Haoran used his body to block others’ gazes and pulled Mu Yangling’s arm. He rubbed it gently and asked in a low voice, “Is it numb?”
Mu Yangling blushed and looked around. Seeing that no one was looking over, she nodded slightly. “My arm is a little sore.”
Qi Haoran immediately started massaging her arm.
The two of them were very close to each other, so they did not see a woman looking at them gently from the side.
“Bijun, what are you looking at?” A white-haired matriarch followed her gaze in confusion, only to find a pile of generals there.
Madam Shen smiled and held her arm. She said affectionately, “Mother, look at the Qi family. Those two children are really loving.”
Matriarch Yuan followed her gaze and looked over. Seeing that Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling were leaning their heads against each other and the young man was even massaging the girl’s arm, a smile appeared on her face. Smiling, she said, “Considering they’re newlyweds, it’s perfectly normal for them to be more intimate. Let’s go over, too.”
She swept her gaze across the venue and quickly found Qi Feng and Madam Wu. She raised her eyebrows slightly and said, “Considering those two children just entered the capital, I’m afraid they don’t know many people. Since it’s not convenient for Qi Haoran to bring them to meet the women, you should bring them to meet the matriarchs of the various families.”
Not only was Matriarch Yuan of high status, but she was also of high seniority. She would not have known people like Qi Feng and Madam Wu, but who asked them to have a good son?
A few years ago, she had heard her son praise Qi Xiuyuan’s ability. Based on the principle of military officials taking care of each other and helping her son establish ties with the Qis, she had specially gone to get to know Madam Wu and taken the time to meet Qi Feng. However, these two people were really not to her liking. After the meeting, she had simply thrown them to the back of her mind.
At this moment, she saw that Qi Feng was blindly mixing with the civil servants while Madam Wu had left her two daughters-in-law alone and didn’t even have the intention to introduce them to others and broaden their connections. Seeing this, her despise for the two of them further deepened.