Seeing Han Yunxi enter, Long Fei Ye didn't say a word. Chu Xifeng withdrew to one side as well.
Han Yunxi could tell that they were discussing business, but her matters were more urgent. She wanted to explain everything to Long Fei Ye immediately.
"Your Highness, there's something I need to discuss with you, right?" she said seriously.
Su Xiaoyu returned to Leisurely Cloud Pavilion. Zhao mama couldn't stop worrying, so she followed closely behind, afraid that her mistress would do something stupid after being provoked.
Hearing this, she grew nervous and secretly tugged at Han Yunxi's robes.
Although Zhao mama really wanted to tell His Highness Duke of Qin about Mu Liuyue's humiliation of esteemed wangfei, she didn't dare!
She knew His Highness liked esteemed wangfei, but how much? Where was his bottom line? She wasn't sure, either.
She only knew that His Highness and esteemed wangfei were no longer 100 paces apart, but they weren't very close, either.
Their marriage had been arranged by the empress dowager while Emperor Tianhui had urged them on. Back then, the wedding had been a form of humiliation to His Highness Duke of Qin.
If esteemed wangfei came to haggle over the wedding and betrothal gifts now, His Highness Duke of Qin might not be happy, much less compensate her.
"What is it?" Long Fei Ye asked. In his impression, this woman rarely took the initiative to discuss matters with him, much less be in such a rush.
Allowing Zhao mama to tug at her robes from behind, Han Yunxi said seriously, "Your Highness, chenqie wants to hold a birthday banquet for mufei."
Urk …
Zhao mama was stunned. How could this be?
Long Fei Ye and the rest were surprised as well. Why would this woman suddenly have such an idea?
"Why?" Long Fei Ye asked.
Han Yunxi's eyes flashed with craftiness before she suddenly drew close. Long Fei Ye was surprised, but he didn't avoid her.
Han Yunxi grinned and leaned close to Long Feiye's ear. She whispered something, but Long Feiye only nodded his head in amusement.
The few people present were confused. They wanted to ask, but they didn't dare to interrupt.
Han Yunxi spoke in detail for a long time. Her breath unintentionally tickled Long Fei Ye's ears. When she finished speaking and stood up, Long Fei Ye actually felt that she hadn't had enough.
However, Han Yunxi had no idea how intimate the scene was. She asked seriously, "Your Highness, what do you think?"
Long Fei Ye casually pinched his ears and said, "Let's do as you say."
Han Yunxi was overjoyed. "Will His Highness participate?"
Long Fei Ye chuckled. "Yes!"
The two of them seemed to be in a good mood, but Tang Li and the others were confused. What did they talk about? Were they really going to hold a birthday banquet for Grand Concubine Yi?
After Han Yunxi left, Tang Li asked in bewilderment, "Big bro, it shouldn't be appropriate for Grand Concubine Yi to show her face again, right?"
Ever since Mama Su's incident, the two people in the palace had been investigating Long Fei Ye's origins in secret. Grand Concubine Yi was the most dangerous person. Once she fell into their hands, things would be troublesome.
Long Fei Ye only replied with three words. "It's fine."
That very day, Han Yunxi began to prepare for Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet.
The first thing she did was write out invitations to all the members of the imperial clan, nobles, and officials. Whether they were on Long Feiye's side, Emperor Tianhui's, or even neutral parties, she invited all of them.
Of course, she had Long Fei Ye's permission to do so. She was using Long Fei Ye's name to invite them.
Once the invitations were sent out, it stirred up much discussion.
Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet was only a few days away from the crown prince's wedding. What did the Duke of Qin's estate mean by this?
"Heheh, they're trying to steal the limelight. I'd like to see how many people will go! It's unwise to do so at a time like this! "
"The Duke of Qin's men will naturally go, but …"
"But they can only sing their own one-man show! Haha, as I see it, the Duke of Qin's men must have turned traitor. Perhaps there'll be a good show to watch this time. "
"I never expected the Great General to stand on the crown prince's side. Aye, the Duke of Qin is in danger!"
… …
If the crown prince wasn't marrying General Mu's daughter, perhaps Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet would be very lively. But under these circumstances, the Duke of Qin's estate was sending out invitations on such short notice. Even General Baili was puzzled. Wasn't His Highness Duke of Qin just asking for a snub?
Long Fei Ye didn't offer any explanations.
While everyone was pessimistic about the birthday banquet, many of them even announced that they wouldn't attend, Han Yunxi suddenly used Long Fei Ye's name to make another announcement.
The gist of the announcement was that Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet would be a vegetarian one. Because Grand Concubine Yi was a vegetarian, and because of the severe famine, she advocated frugality and rejected extravagance and extravagance.
Most importantly, she wouldn't accept any congratulatory gifts, but would hold an auction for precious medicinal plants during the banquet. All proceeds would be used to donate to the disaster areas.
Once the announcement was made, it caused a huge uproar. None of the supporters of the Duke of Qin's estate had any objections, but all of them were full of praise and support. Even Emperor Tianhui's side and the neutral factions couldn't refuse. After all, this was a good thing for the sake of the people. Even if they didn't like it, they had to show their support on the surface.
Han Yunxi really was naughty!
Instead of making things clear all at once, she sent out invitations first, followed by an announcement. How many cynical people had slapped themselves in the face?
Long Fei Ye stood in his study, watching the busy figure by the window of the Leisurely Cloud Pavilion. His gaze grew doting.
Emperor Tianhui stared at the invitation for the empress dowager with a gloomy face!
"Buying the hearts of the people, what a hypocrite!"
"I'll go take a look and see what kind of tricks they're playing!" the empress dowager still disapproved.
But Han Yunxi sent people to spread the news. Within two days, the news had spread to the capital and the surrounding cities, even spreading throughout the country.
In a flash, the news overshadowed the news of the crown prince's wedding. Everyone was talking about Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet and singing praises of His Highness Duke of Qin's love for the people. No one mentioned the crown prince or Mu Liuyue again.
Before the banquet even started, Han Yunxi had already built up the momentum. By now, both the empress dowager and Emperor Tianhui were growing anxious.
Of course, outsiders had no idea that this was Han Yunxi's idea. Everyone assumed it was the Duke of Qin's handiwork.
There were only a few days between Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet and the crown prince's wedding. How could the crown prince dare to hold a grand wedding at this critical juncture? Even the betrothal gifts couldn't be excessive!
But the list of betrothal gifts had already been made public. It wouldn't be right to refuse now.
"Imperial father, as erchen sees it, why don't we donate all the betrothal gifts? Donate all the silver for the wedding preparations, too? Let's keep it simple. "
Long Tianmo admired His Highness Duke of Qin's methods. Marrying Mu Liuyue was only for the sake of the general's estate. He didn't care about the wedding. To him, the simpler it was, the easier it was.
He never thought he'd marry Mu Liuyue. The more lively the wedding, the more depressed he'd feel.
Before Emperor Tianhui could speak, the empress dowager raged, "That won't do! How could the grand crown prince's wedding be simple? The Duke of Qin is waiting to see you do it simple! Are you really going to let them have their way? "
"Imperial grandmother, the hearts of the people are more important than anything else! Erchen didn't want to be extravagant in the first place, "the crown prince said seriously.
Of course the empress dowager understood this as well, but she couldn't accept it. How much effort had she put into arranging her grandson's wedding?
After all, most of the silver for the wedding preparations and betrothal gifts had come from the imperial uncle's estate. In other words, he was using the crown prince's wedding as an opportunity to bribe General Mu's estate!
Although the wedding was already set and Mu Qingwu was on good terms with the crown prince, the imperial uncle still couldn't set his heart at ease!
He was a shrewd old fox. He knew that the general's estate might not do anything even if they formed an alliance through marriage. But once he took the money, he'd have no choice but to do things.
If this was any other day, General Mu and Mu Qingwu might not accept a large sum of silver directly. But if he used this chance to send it over as betrothal gifts and let everyone know that it wasn't a small sum, then General Mu would accept it. Even if he wanted to refuse the crown prince in the future, he wouldn't have the face to do so!
If he donated the silver just like that, how was he supposed to explain things to the imperial uncle?
The crown prince was too lazy to pay attention to the empress dowager. His expression was serious as he spoke to Emperor Tianhui. "Imperial father, the current situation is a good chance for us to win over the hearts of the people. Erchen wants to personally attend the birthday banquet auction and use all of the funds from the wedding for the auction."
Emperor Tianhui knew better than anyone else that the crown prince had to attend Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet. Moreover, he had to bring the silver with him to steal back the limelight.
He'd rather fight against the imperial uncle's estate in the future than give Long Fei Ye a chance to fight for power now. He'd agreed to attend the wedding banquet precisely because he wanted to use the crown prince's faction to rise to power to deal with Long Fei Ye.
Originally, he was planning to wait until the wedding banquet was over and the imperial uncle's estate and the general's estate were officially allied. Then he'd make a move against Long Fei Ye. But who knew that the Long Fei Ye would play such a trick at a time like this?!
It had to be said that Emperor Tianhui admired this move.
Of course, he knew what the imperial uncle's intentions were as well.
After some hesitation, he stroked his beard and said, "Tianmo, you can decide for yourself on this matter."
"Emperor!" the empress dowager panicked.
"Muhou, there's still plenty of time in the future," Emperor Tianhui said, before adding, "Muhou, you can't let Grand Concubine Yi win over the hearts of the people."
These words reminded the empress dowager that this was Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet. If they held it like this, Grand Concubine Yi's reputation would spread far and wide. Perhaps she'd even surpass the empress dowager in the hearts of the people.
No, she had to bring the silver with her to steal back the limelight!
Mu Liuyue was oblivious to all that was going on in the palace. The general's estate had received an invitation as well, so she naturally wanted to attend.
She knew that the famine was a way to win over the hearts of the people, but she didn't think it was that serious. She didn't link it to the wedding banquet.
She figured that this would be her first time showing her face in public before the wedding banquet. No matter what, she had to show off a bit. Thus, she prepared quite a bit of silver as well.
Just like that, all of the major powers in the capital prepared their silver to wait for Grand Concubine Yi's birthday banquet.
If everyone found out that the Duke of Qin hadn't planned this banquet at all, but that Mu Liuyue had provoked Qin Wangfei so she could teach her a lesson, how would they react? But that was a story for another time …
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