When Mu Rufeng arrived at the imperial palace, a crowd had already gathered in front of the palace gates, consisting of some ministers and some palace maids and eunuchs.
There were too many people coming to attend the birthday banquet.
Upon entering the main gate of the palace, there was a huge square, and the location of the banquet was right on this square.
As for other places, they were still under martial law, protected by powerful guards and arrays.
To be honest, they weren’t worried about anyone daring to cause trouble here.
The array was constantly activated, and even a God Realm expert could only die upon it.
Even those above the God Realm could be trapped for a while.
If the array was controlled by an ancestor above the God Realm, then those above the God Realm coming here would also perish.
After getting off the carriage, Mu Rufeng walked straight to the main gate.
Even with the palace gate wide open, there were still guards checking the entry orders of those entering.
As the Ninth Prince, Mu Rufeng, although recognized, still had his order checked.
After the check was complete, Mu Rufeng, along with Xiaocui and others, entered the imperial palace.
The originally empty vast area was already filled with tables, and a high platform had been set up in front of the palace.
This high platform was extremely luxurious and extravagant, clearly the seating area for the royal family members.
A large number of palace maids and guards were busy here, and the seats were expected to be filled once the banquet started.
"Greetings, Ninth Your Highness!"
"Greetings, Ninth Your Highness!"
As Mu Rufeng walked along, the palace maids and guards all saluted him.
Mu Rufeng didn’t seem to have any other place to go, so the only person he could think of was the Seventh Princess.
In no time, Mu Rufeng arrived in front of the Seventh Princess’s palace.
"Ninth Your Highness, please wait a moment. The Princess has not yet risen; I will go wake Her Highness." Chun Ling led Mu Rufeng to the reception hall, then excused herself and quickly headed to the bedroom.
A quarter of an hour later, the Seventh Princess, Mu Wuxia, arrived in the reception hall.
"Xiao Jiu, you came quite early?" Mu Wuxia said with a smile.
"Not early; don’t we need to go pay respects to Grandmother?" Mu Rufeng replied.
"Of course not; you don’t know, Grandmother hasn’t been well lately, has insomnia at night, goes to bed late, and wakes up way past dawn every day." Mu Wuxia explained.
"By the way, what’s the program for the banquet?" Mu Rufeng asked again.
"The program, ah, I don’t know either. From my guess, it should just be a speech, offering gifts, and then meals, and then perhaps a bout." Mu Wuxia said.
"Speech, gifts, meals, a bout? Are you sure, Seventh Sister? Didn’t Eldest Brother say anything?"
The Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet was organized by the Eldest Prince, and he certainly knew all about the program.
"No, Eldest Brother didn’t tell me." Mu Wuxia shook her head.
"Never mind, it doesn’t matter, I’ll just follow you today, and I’m sure the Empress will have someone inform you." Mu Rufeng said with a smile.
As the dear daughter of the Empress, any significant event would be shared with her.
"No problem, just follow me; I’ll cover you." Mu Wuxia patted Mu Rufeng’s shoulder reassuringly.
The palace gates transitioned from being closed to routinely open.
A large number of people entered the imperial palace; of course, upon entry, they had to present their invitations to the guards, and were then guided to their designated seats by the palace maids.
Also, before entering through the palace gate, there was a specialized gift reception platform.
Guests would hand over their gifts here, and then a eunuch would announce their names loudly.
The announcing could almost continue until the official start of the banquet.
However, those arriving earlier were mostly minor figures; the real dignitaries would arrive last.
At eleven o’clock, a palace maid from the Empress’s side came to inform Mu Rufeng and Mu Wuxia to prepare to enter the grand hall square for the banquet.
Mu Rufeng immediately headed to the grand hall square with Mu Wuxia.
When Mu Rufeng arrived here, he was slightly taken aback.
At that moment, the square was already full of people, exceptionally lively and noisy, presenting a grand scene.
Most strikingly, in one corner of the square, a large number of foreign faces sat.
Contractors, many foreign Contractors, as Mu Rufeng recognized some familiar faces among them.
They, too, saw Mu Rufeng, and those familiar faces immediately showed a slight surprise in their eyes, not expecting Mu Rufeng to have become the Ninth Prince.
These Contractors had come along with their elders, or even some came alone.
No Level 9 Divine Realm expert was seen.
Mu Rufeng didn’t observe for long; he directly walked to the VIP area of the high platform and then took his seat.
The seating was arranged; the seats for Princes and Princesses were according to age, and Mu Rufeng was in the seventh position.
The second and fifth positions were vacant since those people were deceased.
On Mu Rufeng’s left was the Eighth Prince, and on his right was the Tenth Princess.
The Eighth Prince hadn’t arrived yet, whereas the Tenth Princess had already been seated and arrived before Mu Rufeng.
This was the VIP section; all Level 9 Divine Realm experts sat in this area, accompanied by their distinguished disciples or juniors.
"Ninth Brother, Ninth Brother, you haven’t come to see me in a long time." The Tenth Princess rose from her seat, approached Mu Rufeng, and sat beside him, holding his left arm affectionately.