Chapter 26 Family Banquet

Lijie County Prince Xue Chongjian is Xue Chongxun's younger brother. He was born to a parent, but his relationship was not close. Especially after Lijie County Prince lived in his hometown in Hedong, it was rare to see each other a year.

He was wrong in his previous political struggles. Although Princess Taiping was not as fierce as Wu Zetian and did not force him to death, he was very distant from him in his heart.

There are some differences between the royal family and the people, and not all mistakes can be tolerated. It is not uncommon for a prince to be executed because he poses a threat to his parents' power.

Even if my younger brother is like this, the two sisters of the Xue family are not very close to Xue Chongxun. They are rare to meet each other after they got married at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

The same is true for the four younger siblings of the Wu family. If Princess Taiping was not here, it would be hard to say whether Xue Chongxun would really treat them as brothers and sisters, even the surnames were different.

After the Wu Zetian regime lost its power, the only time when the Wu family could appear in the palace was the Wu Sansi brothers. It was just that the Emperor Li Tang at that time thought that he was too weak and wanted to win over a group of allies.

Now the Wu brothers have already withdrawn from the power field and enjoy peace and wealth with the official titles and titles granted by Cute. Princess Taiping still has no worries about life. In fact, the personal relationship between the second Wu brothers and Xue Chongxun is also pretty good. Obviously, they have accidentally found a good retreat for themselves before.

As for the two daughters of the Wu family, Xue Chongxun doesn't even remember what she looks like, after all, women change every time they grow up.

Moreover, they are different from the Xue family girls, which is also the reason why the Xue family girls were named princesses and they were still named county lords.

However, she still seemed very happy that Princess Taiping's children could get together to greet her, but she was not yet reunited, and there was no one.

There is one less son, and it may be enough to have these three sons in Princess Taiping's eyes. Although the Wu brothers did not help her, they are obedient and loyal.

Of course, Xue Chongxun is the most special to her. The mother and son joined hands with each other in life and death.

This is indeed a family dinner. Apart from the relatives of Xue and Li families, only a few civil officials from the Hanlin Academy who were known as famous scholars were accompanying him, and there were no ministers from the outside dynasty and no envoys.

However, the seats are divided into high and low orders, which is very different from the situation where the people sit around a table. These etiquettes are probably one of the reasons why the royal family is weaker.

The seats on the platform where Princess Taiping sat were all present in the hall; Xue Chongxun also belonged to the younger generation, but he was the emperor. The tradition of family, country and the world made him completely different from his brothers and sisters. He also sat side by side in the main seat in the middle with Princess Taiping, and the queen Li Yan'er was sitting next to him.

Relatives of peers should claim to be subordinates or kneel down, which is almost the same as the etiquette for elders.

Originally, there was a laugh in the hall, and as soon as Xue Chongxun came to sit on it, everyone gradually calmed down.

At first, it seemed that the second sister of the Wu family, the county lord Yonghe, was the most lively woman. The Wu brothers were joking with her, and now it became much quieter.

The Wu brothers used to be familiar with Xue Chongxun, but now they maintain a respectful attitude.

Princess Taiping smiled when she saw this: It seems that everyone doesn’t like Chongxun, and you won’t speak any longer.

Xue Chongxun was also a little disappointed, but he could not make frivolous jokes in front of his family at will. Maintaining authority is equally important.

He said: Everyone comes to ask your mother for good health and is here to respect the elders.I saw that they were all doing well for my brother, so there was no need to say much.

The brothers and sisters all bowed to the top seriously: They are all thanks to the emperor's brother.

At this moment, the county lord Wu Yonghe smiled and said: I have so many sisters-in-laws, don’t neglect me. Give me a hug for my sister... Sister-in-law, why didn’t our Xue Xiazhou come here?

This joke is a bit cold, and no one makes a fuss. Wu Yonghe, who is more lively, said this, and he didn't know anything about it, saying "Our family."

Li Yan'er said with a word: Xiaoxia asked the wet nurse to take her in Penglai Palace. I also want to bring her here. My aunt said that it was too noisy here, so there was no one.

Li Yan'er has a gentle and cute personality. Although she sometimes has to behave like a person, she doesn't have the power to suppress others.

When everyone heard her words, they felt more friendly and looked at her with a friendly look.

When Xue Chongxun heard someone start to talk about family matters easily, he felt a little relieved, so he said to Yonghe with kind words: You stay in the palace for a few more days to spend with your mother. His sister likes Xiazhou (his daughter has only one name Xia, and she was named Xiazhou when she was born, and sometimes she also called her Xiazhou) to play with her tomorrow.

He looked at the county lord Yonghe with kindness and saw her round face, probably less than 20 years old, but after marrying for several years, he was already a mother.

Yonghe looked happy and clapped his hands and said: OK!Brother, do you remember that when I was a child, you held me and played with me so much, but now of course I love my niece.

This sentence may have been a bit too frivolous, and everyone couldn't help laughing at her, but with kindness.

At this time, a woman said in a sore voice: Yonghe has one brother on the left and one on the right and one on the right. It means that your Wu family is closer than us. The emperor has become your brother alone.

Xue Chongxun turned around and saw that he was his little sister, Princess Hezhong. She hadn't seen her for a long time and still had some impression. She was born to her parents. Her face was indeed similar to Xue Chongxun compared to the martial arts brothers and sisters. Her forehead was smooth and plump, her eyebrows were thick, her eyes were big and bright, and her nose was high, but her face was not very rosy.

In fact, Princess Hezhong still feels very unfamiliar to Xue Chongxun, even if she is her own sister.

However, he heard the girl's words a little unsuitable. He thought it would be fine if his family members scolded him, which would be better than making people in the Wu family feel unhappy.

After he thought about it, he scolded: Mom is here, and the brothers and sisters present are all their own people. How can you speak like this?

This time, Princess Hezhong talked to Xue Chongxun for the first time, but she was scolded. She looked aggrieved and a few tears came out of her big eyes after a moment.

Seeing this, Princess Taiping scolded Xue Chongxun: What kind of brother are you? They came from the river from afar to see my mother, and you would cry when you met her.

After saying that, he lowered his voice and said to Xue Chongxun, the son-in-law of Xue Ermei's family, was seriously ill two years ago, and he was cured... he was not in good health.She didn't have a good time, please speak softly.

The county lord Yonghe hurriedly said: Just talking about it, why did my brother be so arrogant? Everyone still thinks that I was bullying my sister.

Princess Taiping said majesticly: Let the musicians of the Jiaofangsi come up, you are all happy, and don’t be sad, Xue Ermei.

Xue Chongxun remained silent. He suddenly had the illusion that he and his relatives seemed not to be with him, and his mind was still filled with modern memories of relatives.

As for the relatives here...

His father was abused by his grandmother and died. Then he killed several cousins, put his younger brother in Hedong, and his uncle in Sanqing Hall. He seemed to be dying and did not ask about it. The two half-brothers and mothers below were full of awe for themselves.

It seems that there is no family affection in this world, and even the biological mother is not a pure family relationship. If Xue Chongxun and Princess Taiping had not been able to reach the current relationship for a long time, Xue Erlang would not have been able to reach the current relationship.

Perhaps he was not a smooth person at first, but at this moment he remembered the scene of his wife and concubines having dinner together. They were so excited that they could chat Xue Chongxun could not get into the mouth.

This is true for people who share the same bed, let alone these younger siblings who are rarely seen.

Soon, the dancer of the Jiaofangsi also sang and danced on the wooden platform with a spring breeze and a smile. Against the backdrop of the music, the atmosphere in the hall became harmonious, and it was a scene of family joy.

After a while, the princess in Hezhong got up and went to the side hall to make up.

The lady always wore a big red and purple dress when attending this kind of palace dinner, and carefully painted the rouge and water on her face. She destroyed her delicate makeup when she cried just now. Now she felt better and was afraid that she would lose her image and make up for it.

Princess Taiping seemed to like her very much, and she accompanied her to the side hall at this time.

Xue Chongxun watched the dance for a while, thinking about what happened just now, so he said he wanted to change his clothes, hoping to take this opportunity to go over and comfort the girl in private.

Xue Chongxun and the eunuch Yu Liben walked to the gate of the side hall and were listening to Taipingzheng talking to the Princess in the Hezhong.

Princess Taiping said: There is not only the prince-in-law, the prince-in-law, what's so angry about?You might as well stay in Chang'an and don't go back. I will give you a house outside the palace to live in. Who dares to interfere with you as a princess?You can enjoy it as much as you like. If you come to the palace occasionally, will you be free?

Isn't this good? I'm afraid that my brother will scold me for being unfaithful. What kind of face will I have to meet people then?

Princess Hezhong said, Besides, I don’t like to interact with those exaggerated people. If my mother doesn’t mind, I might as well stay in the Daming Palace to accompany you.

Princess Taiping smiled and said: It’s really boring that your brother Chongshou is the only man in the palace.I said I wouldn’t think you were going to live in Chang'an City, you don’t understand?

Princess Hezhong said with some shame: I have received my kindness from my mother. I either go home or stay with my mother. I don’t want to live outside the palace, otherwise my brother will definitely hate me.

What do he do? Princess Taiping said.

At this time, Xue Chongxun had already walked into the side hall. Princess Hezhong found that he stopped talking quickly and lowered her head and said nothing.

Xue Chongxun pretended to have a kind expression, but it was very ugly. He looked at Princess Hezhong and said kindly: I was not deliberately scolding my sister just now. Although the Wu family, Li family, and Xue family are all their own people, you are my own sister. I can only scold you, don’t be disgusted.

The princess in the river lowered her head and said yes.

Taiping lowered his face and said: But you can't be in front of everyone.She wants to stay in the palace to accompany me, but Chengxiang Palace is quite boring on weekdays, and she doesn't believe in Taoism... I heard that you asked that Bai Qimei to criticize the memorials?It would be better to let your sister help you, and you have something to do, not an outsider.

Let Princess Hezhong participate in government affairs?Xue Chongxun was a little surprised and frowned.