Chapter 134: Palace Night Banquet

Chapter 134: Palace Night Banquet

Chapter 134: Palace Night Banquet (Part )

At this time, Han Wang Yang Liang stepped forward, smiled and patted Xiao Xia on the shoulder and said, "Brother, don't you think Xiao Qilang looks a lot like Xiao Sanlang?"

Yang Yong laughed, "No wonder I felt Qi Lang was familiar, as if I had seen him somewhere before. It turns out he looks like Lao San. Lao San, come here!"

Yang Yong waved to his second son Yang Yu, and a young grandson of the emperor walked over quickly. Xiao Xia's heart suddenly skipped a beat when she saw a large red mole between his eyebrows.

Li Min told him that the person who presided over the assassination attempt on him in Jiangdu at the beginning of last year was the prince's second son Yang Yu. His biggest characteristic was a red mole on his forehead that was slightly larger than a soybean.

This person is shrewd, decisive, and ruthless. Li Min told herself to be careful of him in the future.

Yang Yu stepped forward, and Yang Yong introduced him, "This is the third child of your second uncle's family, the seventh among the emperor's grandchildren, and your brother!"

"It's Xiao Qilang, I've heard of you for a long time!"

Yang Yu saluted with a big smile on his face and said, "I heard that Xiao Qilang was able to take Yuwen Chengdu's sword. We are so envious!"

"Third brother, you flatter me too much. General Yuwen only gave a brief instruction. How could he possibly exert his full strength in front of my grandfather? I am actually very weak and have just broken through the barrier."

"Seventh brother is too modest!"

Yang Yong looked at the two people and felt that they did not look alike. He wondered where that familiar feeling came from.
At this time, the sound of the cloud board rang, which was a reminder that the emperor was about to arrive, and everyone returned to their seats.

Xiao Xia glanced at Han King Yang Liang and saw that he was looking at her with a smile on his face. Although she didn't understand what this look meant, one thing was certain: this look was definitely not friendly.

Yang Zhao waved to Xiao Xia and arranged Xiao Xia to sit next to him.

After everyone sat down, Xiao Xia could see the seating arrangement clearly. Opposite him were five princes and princesses, but the one sitting first was not the crown prince, but the eldest princess Yang Lihua.

Yang Lihua had a high status not only because she was the eldest daughter, but also because she had been the empress of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and her parents and brothers had all been her subjects.

Under Han Wang Yang Liang there are three other princesses, Princess Lanling, Princess Xiangguo and Princess Guangping and their husbands.

Across the street are a bunch of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Their seating arrangement was not so strict. They sat according to family order. The four children of Prince Jin sat together. Yang Ling should have been on Xiao Xia's right, but Yang Zhao switched seats with him. This was the idea of ​​his father Yang Guang, who wanted the eldest son to take care of the third brother for fear that Xiao Xia would be disrespectful.

On Xiao Xia’s left is her elder sister Yang Feiyan, who is one year older than Xiao Xia.

Yang Feiyan smiled quietly and said, "Third brother, you can eat some snacks now to fill your stomach. The snacks will be taken away later, it's okay."

"Thank you, sister!"

Xiao Xia also had a good impression of Sister Yang Feiyan, who always smiled at him, unlike Yang Ling who always had a cold face towards him.

Seeing that many people were eating snacks, Xiao Xia picked up a piece of cake and put it in his mouth. The cake was very delicate and melted in his mouth.

Yang Feiyan waved to a palace maid again, and the maid stepped forward and bowed. Yang Feiyan pointed to Xiao Xia's table and said, "Give him some hot tea!"

The maid immediately went back to serve tea.

Xiao Xia felt very warm in his heart. This elder sister was really nice. He remembered that in history, Yang Feiyan married Yuwen Shu's second son Yuwen Shiji and gave birth to a son, Yuwen Zen Master. Later, Yuwen Shiji surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and the two divorced. Yang Feiyan later became a nun.

But it is impossible for her to marry Yuwen Shiji now. I wonder who Yang Feiyan will marry?
The maid quickly brought hot tea. Xiao Xia took two sips of the tea. Then an eunuch shouted, "The emperor has arrived!"

Everyone stood up and saw Emperor Yang Jian walking in quickly in casual clothes, followed by three concubines, Lady Xuanhua Chen Guiren, Lady Ronghua Cai, and Lady Hongzheng Xiao Chen.

Yang Jian waved his hand and smiled, "Today is a family reunion, no need to be polite, just don't get drunk, everyone raise a toast!"

Everyone raised their glasses and said loudly, "I wish my father good health and longevity!"

The grandchildren also shouted, "I wish Grandpa Royal good health and longevity!"

Everyone toasted together, and groups of palace maids began to flit like butterflies, serving dishes. The sound of stringed instruments rang out, and a group of dancers ran in and danced gracefully.

Everyone started eating and tasting the delicious dishes.

Xiao Xia suddenly saw Li Min, his grandson-in-law. Li Min smiled and raised his glass to him.

Xiao Xia also smiled and raised his glass. Yang Zhao beside him laughed softly and said, "There will be quite a few people coming over in a while. You can go over and have a drink with Li Min."

"Who else is coming?"

"There are other royal families. They eat in the Shenlong Hall and Anren Hall. After dinner, they come over to drink tea, write poems and paint. Maybe there will be a martial arts competition to liven up the atmosphere!"

.........

After dinner, Emperor Yang Jian took his family for a slow walk on Heng Street, admiring the dazzling lanterns on both sides. Heng Street was still crowded with people, and the palace maids and eunuchs stepped aside and bowed their heads when they saw the emperor coming.

Yuwen Chengdu followed behind the emperor, vigilantly observing the palace maids and eunuchs around him. If there were assassins mixed in with the palace maids, now would indeed be a good opportunity to assassinate them.

Therefore, Yuwen Chengdu did not dare to be careless at all. He raised his barrier-breaking ability to the highest level, and not a single movement around him could escape his perception.

Emperor Yang Jian was in high spirits. He smiled and said to his family, "I am in a very good mood today. Everyone should write a poem about family reunion. It doesn't matter if you don't write well, but if you write well, I will reward you handsomely!"

He glanced at Xiao Xia meaningfully again and continued, "The subject matter is not limited. Poems, fu, and lyrics are all fine. Just write what you are good at."

The emperor made a request, and everyone fell into deep thought.

After walking around the side street, everyone headed towards the Ganlu Temple.

At this time, all the food and drinks in the hall were removed and replaced with more than 300 small tables, on which were pens, ink, paper, inkstones, snacks and hot tea.

Other members of the royal family had also arrived and were shooting arrows for fun in the square below the main hall. This is a traditional form of entertainment. There were many wooden stakes in the distance with many small wooden animals standing on top of the stakes. Various prizes were also hung on the stakes. If you shot down a small animal, you would get the corresponding prize on the stake.

The square was brightly lit, and many women from the royal family were drawing bows and shooting arrows. This was the martial spirit of the Sui Dynasty, and women were also able to ride horses and shoot arrows.

At this time, Yang Jian saw a small red dot in the distance, so he pointed at it and asked, "What is that?"

"Reporting to your majesty, that is the incense head fire. The farthest wooden stake is three hundred steps away. There is an incense stick stuck on it. The reward is also the highest, ten taels of gold."

"Did anyone get shot?"

"not yet!"

Yang Jian turned around and saw a group of his grandchildren shooting arrows, so he waved and called them all up.

He pointed at a distant incense fire and said with a smile: "There is an incense fire three hundred steps away. I will offer a hundred taels of gold. Let's see who can shoot it down."

Everyone was eager to try it out, even Yang Feiyan wanted to join in. One hundred taels of gold! How could anyone not be tempted?

"Everyone line up and each shoot an arrow!"

The incense fire is three hundred steps away, but the shooting range of ordinary bows is not enough, so a two-stone or three-stone hard bow must be used. There is only one three-stone hard bow on the scene.

No wonder no one hit the target. It is not easy to shoot with a three-stone hard bow.

In the martial arts examination, this is the standard for the seventh rank.

Xiao Xia did not participate. He stood aside and watched. He wanted to keep a low profile. In the royal family, he was very cautious. If he competed for favor with the princes, even if he won, he would not get any benefits. Instead, he would make a large group of people hate him.

Yuwen Chengdu slowly walked to Xiao Xia and asked with a smile, "Why doesn't Qilang participate?"

Xiao Xia smiled and shook his head, "I'm not very proficient in archery, I haven't practiced much!"

"You can give it a try. If you can perform well in front of the emperor, other people's dissatisfaction is actually not important."

Yuwen Chengdu hit the nail on the head; he saw through Xiao Xia's thoughts.

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "General Yuwen shooting the incense head fire shouldn't be a problem!"

Yuwen Chengdu shook his head. "My duty is to protect the emperor. I would be derelict in my duty if I went to shoot arrows!"

Yuwen Chengdu hesitated for a moment and said, "A scoundrel reported a crime at noon today. Someone cut off one of his ears last night. What do you think, Qilang?"

Xiao Xia's heart skipped a beat. There was something else behind Yuwen Chengdu's words!
"This has nothing to do with me, right?"

"That person said he was a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a Jianghuai accent and holding a short sword. For some reason, I immediately thought of Qi Lang, but it didn't make sense when I thought about it. There are so many people in Jianghuai."

Xiao Xia nodded gently, "It's because you know too few Jianghuai boys that you thought of me. In fact, I didn't go out at all last night."

"Right! It's right not to go out."

Yuwen Chengdu said calmly, "It was not safe last night. Yun Shitai was killed. The man who killed him had at least seventh-grade internal energy. More than fifty scoundrels were stabbed. The government believed that it was done by two groups of people, but I know very well that it was done by the same person. The depth of the wounds of more than fifty people was exactly the same. This kind of precise control is not something that ordinary people can do."

Xiao Xia was secretly shocked. This Yuwen Chengdu was indeed very powerful.

At this time, Yang Guang waved to Xiao Xia, "Qilang, come over here!"

(End of this chapter)