82 The Banquet 3 (1/2)
Princess Lingchen giggled as she looked at Mingyue's reddened cheek.
Jiang Mingyue bit her lips. ”Your Highness, please don't tease me.”
The smile on the Crown Princess' face widened. She looked at the Emperor as he chatted with one of the princes in the hall. The prince said something that made the Emperor happy, so the Emperor bestowed him with food and drinks. Princess Lingchen smiled faintly as the prince turned to her direction.
”That is Prince Qin of Sui Country,” Ah Zhen whispered.
The princess silently observed the princes from the corner of her eyes. The princes were eager to please the Emperor and attract her attention. Princess Lingchen would usually pay no attention to the others, but this time, she knew that she had to marry one of the princes to strengthen her position as the Crown Princess.
One of the princes proposed to recite a poem to brighten up the atmosphere. The loser will be penalized with a jar of wine. As a host, Princess Lingchen joined them with their activities. One by one, the princes began to recite the poem. Some princes choose a poem that compliments a lady's beauty to try to win the princess' attention.
Soon, it was the princess' turn to recite a poem. Once she finished, the princes clapped and praised her knowledge in literature. In the end, Prince Jing Xuan lost the game and was forced to drink a jar of wine.
As the banquet goes on, a palace maidservant walked up to her table carrying a tray of food. ”You don't need to serve me more food.”
”Your Highness,” the maidservant bowed. ”Her Majesty sent you these.”
Only then that Princess Lingchen realized that the maidservant was one of her mother's person. She turned to look at her mother and saw her gentle smiled. The princess bowed from her position to thank her mother.
With the princess' permission, the maidservant placed the food on the table and spoke, ”Her Majesty also said that if you're feeling unwell, you are permitted to return to your palace. Her Majesty will find an excuse for you.”
Princess Lingchen jolted. Her lips curved up at her mother's worry. ”Tell Imperial Mother not to worry too much.”