The chrysanthemum banquet was set in the Goose North Hall, not far from the Gongqin Wangfu. This was originally a hall established by Emperor Mingqi himself. The original mansion was a delicate flower garden of the previous dynasty, covering several thousand acres, with grand and exquisite buildings. If it were not too far from the city center, the emperor even wanted to turn it into a corner of the palace.

  However, this place is surrounded by mountains and water, although it's far away, it's a great place to appreciate the scenery. Especially in October every year, various chrysanthemums bloom competitively, because there are special people taking care of the precious chrysanthemum seeds, once they bloom, it seems like being in a fairyland. And verifying here is also quite elegant.

  It takes about an hour to hurry to the Yanbeiting in Shenfu, so some snacks and food are prepared on the carriage to avoid hunger.

  Gu Yu opened the basket given by Gui's mother and asked Shen Miao, "Miss, why not eat something? The journey is long, eating will give you energy."

  Shen Miao looked at the things in the basket.

  Ice sheep's milk cheese, scallion rolls, spicy oil legs... At first glance, it also makes people's fingers move, the color is bright and fresh, and it smells fragrant.

  Unfortunately, these things all have too strong flavors, such as ice cream and spicy oil legs, which are more likely to get lipstick flowers. If you're not careful, you'll even stain your own clothes. Gu Yehui really "carefully" prepared these foods.

  The struggle of the women in the back house is roughly to secretly set up obstacles, but Shen Miao had faced the competition for favor among the concubines in Ming Qi's harem at the beginning, and the number of tricks would only be higher. These small tricks are not worth mentioning on the surface. She shook her head and let Gu Yu cover the box, asking Jing Xiu: "No need, Jing Xiu is here."

  Jing Zhen carefully took out a small cloth package from behind her back, which contained delicate pastries. Shen Miao Xin had not come from the Shen household's kitchen, but Jing Zhen had bribed the purchasing manager to bring some outside pastries. The manager thought Jing Zhen was just craving sweets and didn't suspect anything, only feeling slightly surprised that a young maid like Jing Zhen could afford to buy pastries from Guangfu Alley.

  Guangfu Zhai is one of the top pastry shops in Beijing, even the imperial concubines love to eat there. In her past life, Shen Miao wasn't particularly interested in Guangfu Zhai's pastries, but Yuwen Yuxi loved them so much that she felt unwell if she didn't have some every day.

  At this moment, the pastry was only the size of Shen Miao's thumb, shaped like a flower, pitiful and lovely. Shen Miao shared some with Gu Yu and Jing Zhan, who were initially hesitant but eventually accepted them after seeing Shen Miao's persistence. After taking a bite, they exclaimed in surprise: "Miss, this pastry is really delicious."

  Shen Miao smiled slightly, but in fact, how delicious can pastries be? They're just made to be cute and delicate, and girls always like things that look good. When Yuanyu was with her husband, she even spent a lot of money to hire a pastry chef from Guangfu Temple, just so she could eat her favorite pastries in the harsh and cold land of Xiongnu.

  Who knows... Who knows that halfway through, Yu Wei suddenly died, and she didn't even see her body.

  Shen Miao closed her eyes.

  Wanyu's death was instigated by Mrs. Meng, colluded with Chen Ruoqiu and his family, but the order was given by Fu Xiuyi. In this life, not one of these people will be allowed to escape. Those who harmed Wanyu so much, she wants them to pay back a thousand times, a hundred times!

  Gǔ Yǔ was savoring the snacks, when he looked up to see Shěn Miào's eyes gleaming with a cold light, as if she were a noble lady on high, decisive and ruthless. In an instant, Gǔ Yǔ seemed to have seen Shěn Xìn's shadow. Shěn Xìn was someone who had killed people and seen blood on the battlefield, and when he got angry, his bones would exude a fierce aura. Shěn Miào's eyes at this moment were exactly the same as Shěn Xìn's.

  She almost choked on a pastry and swallowed hard, asking carefully: "Miss, are you uncomfortable somewhere?"

  "Nothing," Shen Miao lowered her eyelids: "Just thinking about some things."

  Today's chrysanthemum banquet and inspection, Fu Xiuyi will also be present. Not only Fu Xiuyi, but also several of Fu Xiuyi's brothers. Now nine princes, each with their own strengths, naturally each has their own camp. While Fu Xiuyi appears to be harmless, he is on good terms with the Crown Prince's faction.

  Who would have thought that in the end, the crown prince would be deposed and Fu Xiuyi would be established as the new heir? She had no intention of helping the crown prince. The people of the Ming Qi imperial family were heartless. They saw these families who had helped their ancestors conquer the world as nothing more than an old dog that was no longer useful. In the beginning, it was these hunting dogs that had helped them catch the rabbits, but now that they had the rabbits in their pockets, they still worried that the dogs would bite them to death. So they squeezed out the last drop of blood from the dogs and then killed and cooked them.

  When the world is unkind and the ruler is unjust, what right does he have to demand loyalty from everyone?

  Why don't we see how dog eats dog first? Shen Miao's lips curled slightly.

  ……

  Yanbeidang has already been visited by many noble families at this moment.

  Although today's verification does not distinguish between men and women, the banquet hall still separates guests into male seats and female seats. On the side of the male seat, young boys are busy getting to know each other with their fathers, and it is also natural for noble families to pull relationships and support each other. Moreover, these young people will eventually take over from their fathers and carry the entire family on their shoulders one day, so it's good to make more friends.

  The ladies do not often go to the men's side, and the women are often chatting with each other about family matters. It is said that all the young ladies have fixed friends. Three or five people who are familiar with each other gather together to chat, and today's chrysanthemum banquet is both tense and expected. Occasionally, they will also glance at the young man opposite them who is in their heart.

  Yi Peilan fiddled with the fresh flowers on the small table and said: "Today's test, are you confident?"

  "I'm not going to make it." The woman beside her laughed and said, "With so many people, I'm really afraid. My talent is mediocre, I just hope that later on, I won't be picked by lottery, nor will anyone choose me to go on stage. I don't seek to stand out, as long as I don't make a fool of myself, that's all."

  Yi Peilan rolled her eyes: "At least you should try your best, don't forget that today's Ding Wang is also here, and isn't the young master of the Li family who you have a crush on also here? The young master of the Li family has such outstanding literary talent, he will definitely go on stage, aren't you going to seize this opportunity to show off?"

  That girl pushed Yipai Lan and her face showed some shyness: "Nonsense."

  Jiang Xiao Xuan smiled and said, "Exactly, Bai Wei, don't be afraid. If we're talking about being shameless, isn't Shen family's old fifth still backing you up? How is it that you can't even compare to her?"

  "Not bad." Yipai Lan also smiled with a trembling flower branch: "Every year's inspection, Shen Wu isn't always in charge of entertaining, it's hard for her to have the face to come every year. Just thinking about her coming to perform those tricks again this year makes me want to laugh. I wonder what kind of clothes she'll wear, like last year's terrifying bright red with purple and gold hairpins?"

  Several girls burst out laughing "hehehe".

  "Alright, enough." But suddenly Feng Anning spoke up: "Very funny?"

  Yi Peilan was taken aback, then said: "Feng Anning, you seem to be acting strange lately, what's going on? Have you become friends with that idiot?"

  Feng Anning's face turned red with anger, just as she was about to speak, when someone from the other side said: "Ah, Madame Shen has arrived."