Chapter 304: I Want to Dance
Song Shao sat in his seat under the guidance of his father-in-law. He looked at Xie Lingxiao and Shen Jingxuan and nodded slightly.
Song Yi was sensitive to his movements and looked across following his gaze.
The moment he saw Shen Jingxuan, he was slightly stunned, then the corners of his mouth curled up in an instant.
He had never seen such a beautiful woman, but in his eyes, she was just beautiful.
Song Yi turned his head to glance at Song Shao, looked at him deeply, and then looked away.
He felt that something was not right, and he even didn't believe that even if he sent so many people, he still couldn't take Song Shao's life.
Now seeing the way he looked at Xie Lingxiao just now, he felt that his survival must be related to Xie Lingxiao.
Before he could think any further, the eunuch's voice sounded again, followed by the second prince of Dongling Kingdom and the envoy, as well as the crown prince of Nanling Kingdom, Xiao Jianhui, and the seventh princess, Xiao Yao, entered the palace together.
After the emperor exchanged greetings with them one by one, everyone took their seats.
Shen Jingxuan looked at the people in the hall and breathed a sigh of relief.
Now that princes and princesses from various countries have entered the palace, the palace banquet has just begun. However, looking at the people in front of her, Shen Jingxuan felt inexplicably irritated.
Xie Lingxiao noticed her strangeness, held her hand slightly harder, and they smiled at each other.
Under the emperor's instruction, Eunuch Deng ordered the palace servants to serve the meal, and at once the palace servants entered the hall one after another.
After they left, the emperor raised his wine cup and continued to greet the envoys from various countries, princes and princesses.
Shen Jingxuan glanced at everyone. Song Shao was sitting lazily opposite her. When he saw her looking at him, he winked at her slightly.
Song Yi, who was beside Song Shao, looked at Shen Jingxuan with interest, the smile on his face growing bigger and bigger.
Next to it was the Nanling Kingdom. When Shen Jingxuan saw the seventh princess of the Nanling Kingdom, Xiao Yao, she immediately looked away.
Thinking of the gaze she had just seen from Xiao Yao and the expression on her face, Shen Jingxuan narrowed her eyes slightly.
She knew that the countries coming here must have their own plans, but she didn't expect that Nanling Country would actually set its sights on Xie Lingxiao?
Shen Jingxuan looked up at Xie Lingxiao and saw that he was staring at her intently. She knew that he already knew about this.
She seemed not to notice and turned her gaze away.
Xie Lingxiao moved closer to Shen Jingxuan: "Don't worry too much, I'm here for you."
Shen Jingxuan nodded slightly, then lowered her head to eat the food on the table without saying a word.
The queen saw everything, her brows gradually curved, and she looked at Xiao Yao with more and more satisfaction.
"Your Majesty..."
"Father..."
The voices of the Queen and the Fifth Princess sounded at the same time, and everyone looked at them.
Xie Shiyin looked at the Queen: "Mother..."
She didn't expect that her mother also wanted to say something to the emperor. Now looking at the queen's gloomy face, she didn't know how to start.
The emperor said, "Yin'er, if you have anything to say, wait until your mother finishes speaking before you tell me."
Today is the palace banquet to welcome the envoys, and he doesn't want any other trouble to arise because of the two of them.
If it were an ordinary day, he would have more or less tolerated what the Fifth Princess did.
But it is different now. The other three countries are here, and no matter how big the matter is, it will not bring shame to Beiling Kingdom.
After hearing what the emperor said, the queen's expression improved slightly: "Your Majesty, today another country is visiting, why don't we let the officials' families perform their talents?"
The emperor glanced at her lightly, and a little anger grew in his heart.
In the past, at every palace banquet, the Queen would ask the officials' families to perform their talents, but trouble always occurred.
If we were to behave as we did in the past today in front of the princes and princesses of the other three kingdoms, wouldn't it be a disgrace to Beiling Kingdom?
"In the past, I watched their performances at the palace banquets. They were nothing more than the same talents. Let's forget about it today."
After thinking for a moment, the emperor continued, "If you want to watch it, it's okay to perform it at the palace banquet in the future."
Now that envoys from other countries are here, he has to consider the queen's face.
The Queen smiled and said, "If the Emperor is going to keep his word, I will wait and see at the palace banquet in the future."
She knew the emperor's concerns, but was afraid that if she insisted on doing so, she would make the emperor angry.
Looking at Shen Jingxuan who was sitting quietly beside Xie Lingxiao, the queen felt more and more depressed.
The Fifth Princess stood up hurriedly and said, "Father, since officials' families are not allowed to perform, why don't you let Yin'er perform a dance?"
The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and she looked at the emperor with curved eyebrows, her eyes full of expectation.
Xie Shiyin glanced in the direction of Xie Lingxiao from the corner of her eye and saw that he was standing close to Shen Jingxuan, putting food in front of her from time to time. The smile on her lips froze.
The queen followed her gaze, and when her eyes fell on Xie Lingxiao, she looked at Xie Shiyin with sharp eyes.
In any case, she never thought that her beloved daughter would have other thoughts.
Thinking of her two children, one obsessed with Shen Jingxuan and the other admiring Xie Lingxiao, the queen wanted to bite her teeth to pieces.
"Yin'er, stop making trouble and sit down obediently." The queen scolded.
When the emperor heard what Xie Shiyin said, his expression instantly became even uglier than before.
His words had been so clear that even the Queen knew that this was not the time to play around, yet his good princess had humiliated him in public.
Xie Shiyin said, "Mother, I have never participated in previous palace banquets. Can you let me dance for you today?"
She disdained to attend previous palace banquets because she knew that Xie Lingxiao did not like such occasions and he would not attend most of them.
But she had to attend the palace banquet when envoys visited every year, just because she could see Xie Lingxiao.
"Nonsense, what day is today? Why are you making trouble again?"
After the queen finished speaking, she turned to look at the envoys from other countries and said, "The Fifth Princess' words and actions today have made everyone laugh."
"It's because the emperor and I dote on her too much, which makes her a little arrogant."
Although the envoys were worried, they all praised Xie Shiyin for her innocent nature and her ability to do whatever she wanted.
Ling Xuan, the second prince of Dongling, said: "The fifth princess's personality is indeed different from others."
"Given the customs of Beiling Country, if it were a noble lady from another mansion, I don't think she would do such a thing."
She looked at Shen Jingxuan opposite her and saw her sitting there silently with a blank expression. She looked at her even more differently.
Although other noble ladies were somewhat disappointed or excited after hearing the emperor's words, Shen Jingxuan acted as if everything had nothing to do with her.
Although she is the Regent Princess, if she can give an amazing performance, she can at least earn face for the Regent's Palace.
Shen Jingxuan didn't know what he was thinking. If she knew, she would definitely mock him.
In which country had he seen married women having to perform talents?
Is she performing for others to see, so that her husband can divorce her in a hurry?
What's more, even if she didn't get married, she would not bother to use her talents to attract attention, and she couldn't hide from it.
Song Yi, the third prince of Xiling, said: "I think the fifth princess's idea is good."
"Instead of just sitting there doing nothing, why not take a look at some talent and appreciate it?"
Song Yi looked at Xie Shiyin with interest and did not miss the look she just gave Shen Jingxuan and Xie Lingxiao.