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The emperor's enthronement ceremony has always been complicated and lengthy, and even though some steps were streamlined, this coronation ceremony still lasted for most of the day.

After the ceremony was officially completed, the new emperor, Empress Zhaoping, issued her first oral order: "Today, the palace will hold a banquet for all the ministers. My dear ministers, please follow me to the table."

All the ministers bowed in agreement.

There were about 300 civil and military officials who attended the coronation ceremony today. Two people sat at a table, and the solemn and spacious main hall was filled with tables.

Those who were qualified to sit in the front row were all the most important officials in the court. The two seats closest to the new emperor were occupied by four people, one side was Shangshu Dong and Zhang, and the other side was General Bao and General Zuo. These were also the highest-ranking civil and military officials in the court.

Chen Changshi and Commander Song, the two people whom Her Majesty trusts the most, did not take the table today, but stood behind her.

Jiang Shaohua was wearing a dragon robe, looking majestic and domineering. She raised her wine glass with a smile and said, "I cannot drink alcohol, so today I will use tea instead of wine. I would like to offer you three cups."

Jiang Shaohua's alcohol tolerance was not good to begin with, and now that she was pregnant, she couldn't drink at all.

None of the ministers dared to challenge this, and they all stood up and raised their glasses to join in the conversation.

Jiang Shaohua drank three cups of tea in a row, then put down his wine glass and slowly started eating with his chopsticks.

The banquets held by the emperor have always been solemn. Such occasions are mostly for singing praises, and few people really focus on eating and drinking.

But her Majesty the Empress neither drank nor had any interest in listening to the ministers' flattery. Instead, she ate with concentration and joy.

The ministers also picked up their chopsticks, their eyes secretly drifting over from time to time.

"Our new emperor has a really good appetite!"

"Isn't it? Once you pick up the chopsticks, you never put them down."

"Hey, our emperor has unparalleled power and extraordinary skills, and he has never had an opponent. During the coup that day, he killed countless people with his spear. He is so powerful, so his appetite is naturally much better than that of ordinary people."

"That's right, how can you get the power if you don't eat enough?"

Some of the ministers complained in their hearts, while others leaned their heads together and whispered quietly. The atmosphere of the palace banquet was unexpectedly harmonious.

The main thing is that everyone enjoyed the meal! This is also a rare scene for the ministers.

Emperor Taihe had been buried for just over a month, and Lu Junma from the Nanyang Palace had also been buried not long ago. Empress Zhaoping had to observe two levels of mourning, so naturally there was no singing and dancing or stringed instruments to entertain the palace banquet. The palace banquet lasted for about an hour, and it ended as soon as it got dark.

The ministers left the palace in the night. Afterwards, many of them gathered in twos and threes to find a place to "drink and chat".

Jiang Shaohua also had no time to rest. After the palace banquet, he went to Jingyang Palace.

Today is the emperor's coronation ceremony, and the harem also has a palace banquet to celebrate the new emperor's coronation. Empress Dowager Zheng deliberately postponed the time just to wait for Jiang Shaohua to come.

Empress Dowager Li, who had been confined to the palace to recuperate, also showed up today. The pain of losing her son completely took away Empress Dowager Li's smile. Her hair was completely white, and her thin face was full of wrinkles. She looked not much younger than Empress Dowager Zheng.

Empress Dowager Li's neck was still wrapped in heavy gauze. Her trachea was injured, and she was being carefully cared for. She was not allowed to talk, and she mostly ate liquid food. She was willing to attend the palace banquet today to show her support for the new emperor.

Jiang Shaohua would naturally accept this favor.

Jiang Shaohua walked forward with a smile and bowed to Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Li as a junior.

Empress Dowager Zheng smiled lovingly and said, "Get up quickly. You are now the emperor, and all the ministers kneel down to you and the people admire you. You can't just bow down and salute casually." Empress Dowager Li also tried her best to say, "You are pregnant, so don't be so polite."

Jiang Shaohua responded with a smile, walked forward and sat down next to King Ping.

Originally, this was the seat of Concubine Fan Gui. However, Concubine Fan Gui was "unwell" a few days ago and is now confined to the palace to recuperate. She was unable to come out to see people today. The eight-year-old Prince Ping sat alone, looking a little lonely.

Jiang Shaohua sat beside Prince Ping, who was very happy and called Shaohua "cousin" several times. Jiang Shaohua responded patiently and took the handkerchief to wipe Prince Ping's hands.

Even if it was just a show, this gesture was enough to make Empress Dowager Zheng relax her brows.

Originally, Prince Ping was supposed to attend the palace banquet with all the ministers. However, in view of Prince Ping's repeated embarrassing behavior in front of others, the Queen Mother Zheng simply did not allow Prince Ping to embarrass this person.

"There are only a few people in the harem now," Empress Dowager Zheng said with a smile, "It is indeed a bit lonely. In a few months, when the baby in your belly is born, the palace will be more lively."

Prince Ping understood what he said, and looked down at Cousin Shaohua's increasingly obvious belly: "Is Cousin Shaohua going to have a baby?"

Jiang Shaohua smiled and hummed: "When the child is born, he will call you second uncle."

King Ping laughed out loud with joy.

His world is small and simple, full of happiness.

In the past, his biggest annoyance came from his own mother, Concubine Fan Gui, who always kept whispering things in his ear that he couldn't understand. Since he moved into Jingyang Palace, no one has been nagging him anymore. He can eat, drink and have fun as much as he wants every day, and he can throw a tantrum whenever he's unhappy. So, Prince Ping has gained weight recently.

When she smiles, her chubby face trembles, which is quite cute.

Such happiness can easily infect those around him. Jiang Shaohua curved his eyebrows and picked up some food for King Ping. King Ping happily ate it all.

The toffees also gradually relaxed, chatting and laughing in low voices while eating.

Emperor Taihe had not yet married before he passed away. The women in the harem were all concubines of Emperor Taikang, and now they are all concubines... Emperor Taikang was weak and not suitable for indulging in women, so there were only eight or nine concubines in total. One of them died of illness in the past few years.

From this, we can imagine that there are only a few people in front of us, even less than the number of people at an ordinary family dinner.

Empress Dowager Li barely moved her chopsticks, and after a while she managed to ask, "Why didn't the Earl of Changning come?"

Empress Dowager Zheng glanced at Empress Dowager Li and said, "There is a difference between men and women. This is the harem. It is inconvenient for Earl Changning to come."

Although the concubines were older and not young, they were not allowed to have contact with men outside the family according to the palace rules. Even for the Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Li, if they wanted to meet their father and brothers from their mother's family, they had to make careful arrangements. How could they meet whenever they wanted?

Jiang Shaohua also knew the taboo. In the past month, he had never brought Cui Du to Jingyang Palace.

Empress Dowager Li knew the reason. She mentioned it deliberately to show her favor to Jiang Shaohua. She pretended not to see the displeasure in Empress Dowager Zheng's eyes and said to Jiang Shaohua, "Now that we are a family, it's time for him to recognize his elders."

Jiang Shaohua smiled and said, "Then I will take him to Ning'an Palace tomorrow to pay my respects to my aunt."

Empress Dowager Li smiled and nodded.

Empress Dowager Zheng was so frustrated that she had no choice but to smile and say, "Why are you waiting for tomorrow? Let's invite Lord Changning over now!" (End of this chapter)