Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 59 Spring Flower Banquet
After coming out of Shou'an Courtyard, Tianshu went to Lixiang Courtyard to see Mingger.

Tianshu brought Yuheng with him today, and he also wanted to hear her opinion on the poison that Mingger was poisoned with.

Yuheng is the best at "controlling poison" among the thirteen disciples of the three elders who guard the corpses in the Old Mausoleum Swamp.

It is said that medicine and poison have the same origin, but when broken down into details they are quite different.

The thirteen disciples all learned the ten arts, but each had his own strengths.

Compared with his twelve senior brothers and sisters who are experts in their own fields, Xue Sui himself is actually the most mediocre one - he knows everything, but is not the best at anything.

Yuheng is five years older than Yaoguang. She is calm and thoughtful, and usually looks like an old-fashioned senior sister. However, no matter who she is, she will automatically become obedient in front of Tianshu, which makes her look a bit girlish.

She asked Mingge to stick out his tongue.

After repeating it several times, Mingger finally completed this action with the help of Xue Sui.

Yuheng used a silver needle to pierce the acupoint under his tongue.

Xue Sui asked: "Is it serious?"

Yuheng took out the silver needle and placed it in a porcelain bowl mixed with medicine.

After a long while, a lingering black mist rose from the silver needles in the bowl.

Yu Heng said: "It has been a long time, I am afraid it will be difficult to cure it completely."

Her view was the same as Tianshu's. They had to slowly improve the body's functions through herbal medicine and acupuncture, and then see if there was a chance to regain some clarity for the child...

The three of them sat down to discuss for a while and came up with a prescription. Tianshu gave Mingger another acupuncture treatment. After the wet nurse took the child away to rest, he asked Xue Sui.

"If the prince really wants to kill, what will you do?"

Xue Sui pursed his lips and looked at Yu Heng beside him with a smile.

"For this matter, we still have to rely on Fifth Senior Sister."

"Me?" Yu Heng was slightly stunned, then smiled, "You and I are sisters, we have been through thick and thin, just give me your orders."

Xue Sui smiled gently.

"There's no need for a mountain of swords and a pot of oil. I just want to borrow something from Fifth Senior Sister."
-
On the second day of March, the wind is gentle and the sky is bright, making it a great day for a spring outing.

The custom of spring outings is very popular in this dynasty, and there is a traditional love of flower competition in spring. Women like to put flowers on their bodies or pin them on their hair. Whoever has the most unique and beautiful flowers will be admired.

From high-ranking officials to ordinary people, everyone is enthusiastic about traveling in spring.

For this reason, many wealthy families even spend huge sums of money to buy famous flowers in order to win the flower competition.

Today, Empress Xie personally hosted a spring flower banquet in the Imperial Garden, which was a grand event.

At dawn, the invited ladies in the city had already dressed up carefully, brought their daughters and rare flowers, and headed for the imperial garden in a grand procession.

Along the way, the whole city is full of flower arrangers.

Xiao Zhao came from the old mausoleum swamp and seldom saw such a magnificent scene. He was filled with amazement and pointed from time to time.

Xue Sui watched with a smile until the carriage stopped outside the gate of the Imperial Garden.

They did not travel with Fu, but rented a donkey cart from a cart shop.

The donkey cart was a bit shabby, and it looked somewhat ridiculous when squeezed in front of the magnificent carriages and sedan chairs of the various families and mansions outside the Imperial Garden.

"Madams, ladies and girls, please get off the car here..."

Fu was helped down from the carriage by Nanny Liu. When she turned around, she saw Xue Sui and immediately frowned.

Xue Yueman followed and muttered, "She looks stingy. What is she doing here?"

Xue Yue'e also asked: "Why is Xue Liu here too?"

The Shangshu Mansion received the invitation from Empress Xie, so Fu had no choice but to bring the eighth and ninth girls with her.

The Xue family did not want to form an alliance with the Eastern Palace, and Empress Xie naturally would not look for the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion to be her daughter-in-law. However, all women of the fifth rank and above received invitations to the Empress' banquet. If they were not invited, or if they did not come, it would cause gossip.

Just give each other face.

Of course, the eighth and ninth daughters were both concubines' daughters, so it was absolutely impossible for them to be the Crown Princess. Fu didn't worry about it at all. She glanced at Xue Sui and lowered her head to give him instructions.

"You haven't forgotten the rules, have you? Be smart when you meet people later."

Xue Yue'e and Xue Yueman usually stayed at home and often went out to make friends with young ladies, so they all agreed and were not too nervous.

The group walked inside, ignoring Xue Sui and pretending not to see her.

There were two ladies talking in the front.

One said, "It's just to look respectable, isn't it just to carry a concubine's daughter to the palace?"

One said, "If you can't give birth to a legitimate son, what else can you do if you don't take him to the palace?"

One of them said, "The Xue family doesn't have many men, but they have many girls. If we have both, we can always have enough food..."

Fu was already in a bad mood, and she walked past them with a sullen face, humming heavily without even looking at them.

The two ladies looked at each other knowingly, put on a smile and greeted her.

"Sister Xuehong..."

Fu pretended to pause, then turned around and put on an impeccable smile.

"Xiu Wan, Duan Yi. You are here too."

Fu, Su Xiuwan and Zhao Duanyi were close friends and could confide in each other when they were young girls. Later, the three of them got married and had children, and their status changed, and they gradually became estranged. Fu's family was prominent and married well, so she looked down on the two of them. Su Xiuwan and Zhao Duanyi often poked her in the back in private, especially since the Xue family had been in constant trouble recently, and the two of them treated it as a joke.

However, once they met, they were still friendly and talked and laughed.

It was at this time that Xue Sui spoke up—

"Make way, please, the carriage in front, please make way."

A horse-drawn carriage from an unknown family was blocking the entrance to the Imperial Garden, halfway across the road. The donkey-cart driver had never seen such a big scene before, and was panicked. He kept saying "drive" in his mouth for a long time but couldn't get the donkey-cart out...

The scene was awkward at first glance, but Xue Sui remained expressionless and helped the driver get on the carriage.

Fu looked at him with a frown, tightly clenching the handkerchief in her hand.

Xue Yue'e snorted in dissatisfaction: "Sixth sister is really embarrassing. Mother didn't ask her to come, but she came uninvited. What is a woman who has already been engaged doing here at the Spring Flower Banquet? Could it be that she is dreaming of becoming the Crown Princess?"

Xue Yueman also said: "We came here with our mother, why did she come? And she even hired a donkey cart. I feel ashamed to follow her..."

Both of them felt that Xue Liu had lost the Xue family, but Fu turned cold and scolded him.

"No nonsense!"

The rumors about the prince's selection of a concubine were spread in private. On the surface, it was just a spring flower banquet.

Fighting flower-throwing pots, playing chess and guessing riddles, playing the piano and composing music are held every year. Everyone gets together and has fun. It's not an exception. It would be a joke if you talk about it.

Mrs. Su and Mrs. Zhao were in a good mood when they saw that Mrs. Fu was unhappy.

"Sister Xuehong, is this the sixth young lady that the mansion has just found?"

"She's so pretty!"

"If I had a daughter like this, I would laugh out loud in my dreams. How could I bear to lose her..."

Otherwise, why do we call it handkerchief friendship? We understand each other.

The more Fu didn't want to hear something, the more Su Xiuwan and Zhao Duanyi said it.

The sarcasm and ridicule in those words made Fu furious.

"Xue Liu." She called softly.

Xue Sui turned around and smiled, as if he had just seen her, and walked over slowly.

She did not dress up today, but it was not appropriate for her to be too rude at the Queen's flower-viewing banquet. She wore a lilac-colored silk long skirt that had been made this spring, a light shawl on the outside, a ribbon of the same color tied around her waist, a jade hairpin on her head, and a blooming iris on her temples. She looked more fresh and lively than usual.

"I've met the eldest lady."

Fu's throat tightened, and she was furious: "Who asked you to come to the Imperial Garden? What kind of place is this? How can you come and go as you please? It's fine if you embarrass yourself in the mansion, but don't embarrass yourself outside."

The voice behind her was very quiet, with a warning: "Go back quickly!"

Xue Sui laughed when he heard it, and gently covered his face with a round fan.

"This lady has no control over it."

"you……"

Before Fu finished speaking, a familiar and clear voice was heard.

"Mother, I asked my sixth sister to come and accompany me. She has been away from Beijing for ten years and has never seen such a lively scene."

It was no secret that the Sixth Miss was about to marry into Prince Duan's Mansion. The title of "Ruren" had already sealed Xue Liu's life, so her coming to the flower-viewing banquet was different from other girls of marriageable age, but Xue Yuechen didn't mind this.

Fu's face darkened, she pulled her aside and asked in a low voice:

"Did you get blinded by the incense oil when you burned incense at the Puji Temple? Is she worthy of Empress Xie's Spring Banquet? Do you have to give her respect and embarrass your parents?"

"Mother." Xue Yuechen shook his head disapprovingly.

"So many people are watching."

She motioned for Fu to calm down and winked.

What she didn't say in her heart was that she was uneasy and afraid of bad luck again because Xue Liu was not by her side.

Especially in an important occasion like the Spring Banquet, nothing can go wrong, and she especially needs Xue Liu as her "amulet".

Fu made her so angry that her chest ached, "You will regret it sooner or later."

Xue Yuechen seemed to be blind to Fu's expression and turned around to smile at Xue Sui.

"Come on, Sixth Sister, let's go in first."

Xue Sui responded and bowed to Madam Su and Madam Zhao, then walked inside holding Xue Yuechen's arm. He turned back intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Fu with a playful look, and had a clear smile.

Perhaps it was because her gaze was too warm that Fu Shi felt a chill in her heart.

"Little evil!"

The farce was over, and only Fu was furious.

No one noticed that a carriage quietly approached outside the imperial garden and a corner of the curtain was lifted.

It was the East Palace’s carriage.

Li Zhao sat in the car, with a corner of the silver dragon pattern embroidered on his sleeves slightly exposed. His cold eyes were like frost and snow, complementing the coldness emanating from his body. At a glance, they were so sharp that they seemed to pierce Xue Sui's back...

Xue Sui: I told you, the prince wants to kill me!
Li Zhao: Well said, next time don't say it! Just do it!
Xiao Zhao: Okay!