Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 415 Attending the Banquet

The eldest princess's family was the first to arrive, followed by the Fang family.

Just as everyone sat down, several more families arrived, all of whom Yunyi knew.

There was the third branch of the Duke of Zhenguo, the wife of Zhuang Xiaozhou, the Left Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and their daughter Zhuang Xiuxiu.

There was Liu Junhao, the youngest son of Duke Dingguo Liu Shan, and his wife, along with their youngest daughter Liu Yuanyuan, who was the younger half-sister of Concubine Liu Lingling, and was the ninth in line in the household.

Also present was Minister of Revenue Chen Guodong and his wife, who brought a girl with them. It was said that the girl was the newly adopted granddaughter of the Chen family, born to his eldest son Chen Xuefei's mistress. As a result, Chen Xuefei's wife, He Yunyun, fell ill. Otherwise, they would not have brought a granddaughter born to a mistress to the palace banquet.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, He Jiuzhao, and his wife brought their illegitimate youngest daughter, He Mianmian, who was also Fang Yunduo's best friend.

……

In short, there were about seven or eight families who came, all from noble and aristocratic families in the capital. The only thing they had in common was that they all brought their unmarried daughters with them.

Although Yunyi couldn't guess why for the time being, her intuition told her that this matter was interesting, so she took out the peach wood pendant: "Chunni, you can wander around later, but be careful. After all, this is the palace, a place where dragon energy gathers. Don't get hurt."

"Okay." Yang Chunni floated out of the peach wood pendant excitedly.

The peach wood pendant nourishes her soul, so she feels better now.

Just then, Chief Eunuch Zhong walked in: "His Majesty has some business to attend to temporarily. Please have some tea and wait a moment."

As they were speaking, palace maids and eunuchs began to serve tea and snacks.

Ning Wushuang winked at Yun Yi, then said something to the Princess before getting up and taking Nongqi out.

Yunyi waited for a while, told Sun Qingli to go to the outhouse, and then got up and took Yunlu out.

In the past, banquets in the palace were held at the Liuguang Water Pavilion, which was within the Imperial Garden. People could enjoy the scenery and flowers as soon as they came out. However, the Shangjing Pavilion was behind the Imperial Study. There was little scenery there, and in order to avoid hiding people, there were no trees or flower bushes around it. It was all bare.

The outhouse was on the outskirts, because if it were too close, the smell would be too strong.

Yunyi wandered around outside the outhouse for a while, then went behind the artificial hill next to it.

"You've finally arrived." Ning Wushuang grabbed Yun Yi's wrist as soon as she saw her and pulled her into the artificial hill. There was a recess there that you might not notice even if you were just passing by and didn't look for it.

Yunyi looked around and found a rock to sit on. After all, the groove was quite low, only a little over 1.5 meters high, and she had to bend over, which was too tiring.

Ning Wushuang sat down as well. Feeling a bit hot, she took off the veil she always wore, revealing the fake scar on her face: "I really want to take it off, but my mother won't let me. Let me tell you, ever since my face healed, I've been thinking about becoming the Third Prince's principal wife so I can deal with Han Lian'er. But my mother won't let me. Not only will she not let me take off the veil, but she's also made a fake scar on me again."

"Just listen to your mother, she won't hurt you."

“I know,” Ning Wushuang nodded.

"Is there something fishy about this banquet? Do you know anything about it?" Yunyi came here specifically to find out what was going on.

"I really don't know, but my mother told me to be careful with my words and actions, and also told me to tell you not to be alone."

Yunyi frowned.

“My mother probably doesn’t know much either. My uncle, the emperor, has changed a lot lately and doesn’t trust my mother much anymore. So, my mother doesn’t dare to ask too many questions and basically won’t come to the palace unless she’s summoned.”

"I understand." Yun Yi narrowed her eyes slightly. Thinking of Fang Tang's behavior, she was now certain that this banquet was aimed at her.

"By the way, I heard that the Imperial Advisor is in the Taiji Pavilion across the street. My mother said that person is very strange, so you should be careful."

Yunyi nodded again.

Then the two of them left the artificial hill one after the other.

After Ning Wushuang returned to Shangjing Pavilion, Yunyi even went to the outhouse before coming out.

However, they hadn't gone far when they encountered a man dressed as a Taoist priest.

Yunyi tried to avoid him, but he walked straight over and said, "Amitabha Buddha."

"Why aren't you paying your respects to the Imperial Preceptor?" The little eunuch following behind shouted sharply at Yun Yi.

"Greetings, Imperial Preceptor." Yun Yi didn't mind and obediently curtsied.

"Are you Fang Yunyi, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Chengen's mansion?" Master Taichu asked knowingly.

"Yes." Yunyi nodded. "Does the Imperial Advisor know me?"

"Of course we've met once before."

"The banquet is about to begin, farewell." Yunyi nodded and then took her leave.

Master Taichu did not stop her; instead, he stepped aside and watched her leave.

"Miss, that old Taoist priest has been watching you the whole time," Yunlu whispered to Yunyi.

“Hmm.” Yunyi nodded. “We can’t gouge his eyes out, so go ahead and look. It’s not like I can’t look at your young lady.”

Yunlu clenched her fist: "Gou out his eyes if you get the chance."

"Don't move." Yunyi glanced at Yunlu. "You're no match for him."

"what?"

“He has magical powers; you mere mortals cannot defeat him.”

Yunlu fell silent.

"So, I warned you before that if anything happens, you must protect yourself first. Fight if you can, otherwise run away as fast as you can."

"Okay." Yunlu's only burden was gone.

When Yunyi returned to Shangjing Pavilion, the Emperor had not yet arrived, so she went over and sat down.

"Where have you been? How dare you run around in the palace?" Fang Yunduo couldn't help but glance at Yun Yi. "You have no manners at all."

"You went to the outhouse?" Yunyi turned her head and looked over. "You have manners, so you mustn't go to the outhouse. If you do, you're not well-mannered either."

"you……"

Fang Tang suddenly turned around and glared at the two of them.

Fang Yunduo could only shut up.

Just then, Eunuch Zhong's voice rang out: "His Majesty has arrived, and the Imperial Preceptor has arrived."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly stood up.

After Emperor Zhou Shun led Daoist Taichu to the head seat, everyone stepped forward, knelt down, and paid their respects.

"Rise, sit down." Emperor Zhou Shun raised his hand and then sat down.

Master Taichu took his seat next to Emperor Zhou Shun.

Yunyi felt Emperor Zhou Shundi's gaze sweep over her face several times, which made her very uncomfortable, but she could only pretend not to notice.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let everyone come in and have some fun with me." Emperor Zhou Shun raised his wine cup. "Come on, everyone, let's drink to that."

Everyone hurriedly raised their cups, but they were full of doubts, wondering what the emperor was up to.