Chapter 254: Imprint Deviation
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the largest palace in the imperial palace and occupies the largest area, but is rarely used.
To climb up to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, one needs to climb the ninety-nine steps in the square in front of the hall. These ninety-nine steps are divided into three levels, with thirty-three steps on each level.
Stepping up step by step, Mei Cheng'an lagged behind the Second Prince by half a step and followed him into the main hall where today's dinner was held.
In the main hall, seats were now neatly arranged on both sides where the court officials originally stood, and next to each seat was a square palace lantern with a base.
Mei Chengan's eyes swept over.
From north to south, there is a dragon-carved throne on the high platform in the middle. That is the seat of Emperor Qing. Emperor Qing will appear last, so it is currently empty, and there is a relief screen behind it.
On a slightly lower platform below the dragon-carved throne, there are two seats on the left and right sides respectively.
Except for the seat on the left side near the throne where the eldest princess sat, the other three seats were currently vacant.
One of the seats was for the second prince, and the remaining two were for the crown prince and Zhuang Mohan who had not yet arrived.
Further down were the seats for the ministers. The first row was separated by columns that were so large that one person could not embrace them, and were carved with dragons and phoenixes and painted with imperial seals. There were two seats between every two columns, and the rest followed the same routine.
The first two seats on the right side under the high platform belong to the Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi and the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple Xin Qiwu.
Mei Chengan's seat was at the second hole, which was also the first row, and it was his and Fan Xian's.
Most of the officials in the hall were already in place. Most of them were from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple. They were all familiar faces. They waved or nodded along the way, and Mei Chengan greeted them all the time.
"You have good relationships with people."
The second prince made a joke upon seeing this.
Mei Chengan kept greeting him and replied casually:
"It's far worse than your highness."
The second prince snorted.
After sending the second prince to the stage, Mei Cheng'an did not rush to sit down. Instead, he took the initiative to greet Guo Youzhi.
"Shibo."
Guo Youzhi looked at him with a smile.
"Cheng'an is here, please take a seat quickly."
"Yes."
Mei Cheng'an nodded in response, then reached out to respond to Guo Baokun who was waving at him frantically, and went straight back to his seat and sat down.
He could sense that ever since he entered the palace, the eldest princess was always looking at him vaguely, except when she was greeting the second prince.
Mei Cheng'an didn't intend to respond, so he just ignored it.
The banquet had not yet started. There was nothing else on the table except a pot of wine, a wine glass, a jade bowl, and a pair of ivory chopsticks.
The wine jug and wine glass are golden. I weighed them and they are not very heavy. They are probably just coated with gold powder. But they look pretty good.
After stroking the exquisitely and lifelike dragon head at the junction of the handle and the body of the wine jug for a while, Mei Cheng'an was about to pour himself a glass of wine when suddenly a person appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw that it was Lanxiang.
After glancing at her indifferently, Mei Chengan continued pouring the wine.
"Is something wrong?"
Although Lanxiang was reluctant, she bowed and nodded.
"The princess wants you to come over. She has something to tell you."
Mei Cheng'an raised his eyebrows and looked at the eldest princess, only to find that the eldest princess was not looking at him at this moment.
Mei Cheng'an curled the corners of his mouth and drank the wine in the glass. A cold malt and fruity aroma filled his mouth and went down his throat.
There was a hint of surprise in Mei Cheng'an's eyes. How come this taste and mouthfeel were so similar to the high-end version of the burping wine in his Mei family cafeteria, Cao Mu Ren Jian, exactly the same.
The wine for a dinner of this level was actually from his house? Are you kidding?
This thought flashed through Mei Chengan's mind for a moment, and he put down his wine glass and stood up.
"Let's go."
Lan Xiang turned around decisively, and Mei Cheng'an walked behind her, stepping onto the steps and going up to the platform. After shrugging at the Second Prince who was looking at him with a puzzled look, Mei Cheng'an turned around and bowed to the eldest princess.
"Your Highness, Mei Cheng'an, is here to greet Her Royal Highness the Princess. I wonder why Her Royal Highness wants to call me?"
The eldest princess looked up at him with a smile on her face and her red lips slightly parted.
"I haven't seen you for a long time. You look more handsome than ever. Come closer and talk."
The second prince knew that his aunt had wanted to marry Mei Cheng'an as her son-in-law, so he was not surprised to hear that. He just thought that she still admired him and wanted to say hello, so he no longer paid attention to that.
Mei Cheng'an was also curious about what the princess wanted to say to him, so he followed the princess's instructions and walked to the back of the table and squatted down beside her.
Looking at the beautiful face so close to him, Mei Cheng'an subconsciously glanced at the eldest princess's red lips, and then looked into her eyes.
"What are your orders, Your Highness?"
The person with whom she had an intimate relationship was so close to her again after more than half a year. The eldest princess' breathing became a little rapid for a moment, but she quickly suppressed it.
The eldest princess, who had been staring at Mei Cheng'an, naturally noticed his fleeting look and couldn't help biting her lip.
After taking a deep breath and suppressing the urge in her heart, the princess looked at Mei Chengan.
"I heard that you and Fan Xian are good friends?"
Mei Cheng'an blinked and spoke briefly.
"Yes!"
The eldest princess asked immediately.
"How good is it?"
Mei Chengan tilted his head slightly.
"What does Your Highness want to say?"
The eldest princess smiled and said softly.
"I won't beat around the bush with you. I'm going to deal with Fan Xian tonight, so you'd better not interfere."
Mei Cheng'an stared into her eyes for a moment and suddenly smiled.
“Is this a warning?”
The eldest princess smiled and shook her head.
“This is a reminder!”
After a pause, the eldest princess added with a smile.
"I'm doing this for your own good. I don't want your reputation to be damaged."
Mei Chengan smiled even more happily and nodded.
"Then I have to thank Your Highness for your kindness." The eldest princess frowned slightly.
"Aren't you going to take my advice?"
Mei Cheng'an curled his lips and slowly stood up, saying at the same time.
"On the contrary, since Your Highness is so considerate of me, I cannot be ungrateful. I will listen to Your Highness."
After he finished speaking, Mei Cheng'an stood up straight, walked around the table again and bowed to the princess.
"If there is nothing else to tell you, I will return to my seat."
The eldest princess looked at him with a hint of doubt in her eyes. He agreed so readily, but she always felt something was not right.
The eldest princess moved her red lips and was about to say something when a commotion in the palace attracted her attention.
Turning around, they saw that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince entering the palace, and all the ministers stood up to greet him.
The princess only took a glance and then looked away. When she looked forward again, she found that Mei Cheng'an had slipped back to his seat.
"???"
Did I let you go?
The eldest princess gave Mei Chengan a blank look from a distance.
Mei Cheng'an had no idea of the eldest princess's thoughts, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He also followed her in paying his respects to the prince.
The prince did not react to the court officials on either side. When he reached Mei Cheng'an's seat, he stopped and greeted him with a smile.
"Cheng'an, how many times have I told you that there is no need for formalities between you and me? Have you arrived a long time ago?"
Mei Chengan straightened up and smiled back.
"I just arrived too, not much earlier than Your Highness."
The prince nodded.
"You have done a good job in the Honglu Temple. His Majesty specially held this dinner for you. You must have a few more drinks later."
Mei Chengan smiled and nodded.
"it is good."
The prince hummed and said nothing more, then walked towards his seat on the stage.
Mei Cheng'an just sat down, shaking his sleeves, when Guo Baokun came over with a glass of wine.
"Mr. Mei."
Mei Chengan glanced at him, then glanced at the wine glass in his hand and asked with a smile.
"What's the matter, Mr. Guo? You want to drink with me?"
Guo Baokun chuckled.
"It will be inconvenient to move around when the banquet starts, so I came here in advance to toast you."
"Okay!"
Mei Chengan readily agreed, picked up the wine jug and filled the golden cup, clinked glasses with Guo Baokun, and both of them drank it all in one gulp.
Guo Baokun wiped the corner of his mouth after drinking.
"Good wine, good fun. Mei Shao, you don't know, I've been feeling suffocated staying at home these days."
Mei Cheng'an picked up the wine jug and filled it up for him, then poured some for himself as well.
"Are you feeling pent up? When you came to see me before, I didn't hear you mention that your uncle restricted you from going out."
Guo Baokun took the initiative to clink glasses with Mei Chengan, glanced at what was happening over there with Guo Youzhi, and said in a low voice.
"Don't mention it. My dad won't let me go anywhere except to see you. He's afraid that I'll get into trouble. Tell me, am I the kind of person who stirs up trouble? My dad doesn't understand me at all."
After saying that, he drank the wine in the glass with a bitter look on his face.
Mei Cheng'an's mouth twitched. "Mr. Guo, your impression of yourself seems to be somewhat different from that of others."
After finishing the wine in the glass, Mei Chengan comforted him.
"Uncle is worried about you too, afraid that you might get into another accident."
Guo Baokun waved his hand.
"My father is just too timid. It's broad daylight, under the feet of the emperor. What kind of accident could happen? Kyoto is not full of lunatics like Fan Xian. Do you think he dares to attack me?"
"..."
From this perspective, there seems to be nothing wrong with it.
Speaking of Fan Xian, Guo Baokun thought of what happened tonight, and he felt it necessary to remind Mei Shao.
"By the way, Mr. Mei, tonight..."
Mei Chengan raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
Guo Baokun looked around and came closer and whispered.
"No matter what happens to Fan Xian tonight, you must not intervene rashly. Just watch quietly. This is for your own good.
Hey, Mr. Mei, don’t ask me what the specific matter is. My father won’t let me tell you. Anyway, you will know it soon.
I can only say that it is not a good thing, and it is not a small matter. If you intervene rashly, it will be very disadvantageous to you!"
Mei Cheng'an cooperated very well. He pretended to be stunned at first, then curious, and finally nodded solemnly and thoughtfully.
"I see. Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Guo."
Guo Baokun grinned.
"What are you thanking me for? You said before that there's no need for that between us. It's too formal. Have you forgotten it?"
Mei Chengan laughed.
"alright."
As he spoke, he noticed the situation at the store entrance out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw Fan Xian and Xin Qiwu arrived.
Guo Baokun followed his gaze and narrowed his eyes when he saw Fan Xian.
When Fan Xian entered the hall, he actually saw his fellow villager at first sight. As for who the man next to him, who was wearing an official uniform and had his back to him, was, he had no interest in him.
Seeing that the two were chatting happily, Fan Xian shifted his gaze to the platform and waved to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince from a distance.
……
(End of this chapter)
