Today’s banquet was not a so-called celebration banquet. It was definitely extremely dangerous. The capable ones had laid their chess pieces, waiting for others to fall into the trap. They all wanted to gain the upper hand in this competition.
Of course, to Shen Miao, it meant something different. She had finally returned to the palace where she had been imprisoned for her entire life and where her children and family were buried.
Meeting Emperor Wen Hui, the Fu family, and her old friends in the palace again, it was still unknown who would win. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and in the depths of her clear eyes, there was a storm in the making.
… .
The palace was majestic. The tiles were glazed and carved with red paint. Patterns of coiling golden and burning phoenixes could be seen everywhere. It was golden and dazzling, but it was also cold and bleak.
Glamor was always on the surface, just like the flowers on the soil. Countless men and women were buried in the depths of the palace, but in the end, the bones withered. The more glamorous the palace looked, the more dangerous it was.
In the garden, a palace maid and a eunuch were watering the flowers. These boring tasks were done by the new eunuchs and maids. The two of them looked to be no more than 16 or 17 years old.
The little palace maid said, “A lot of people came to the front hall today. If it weren’t for the fact that I made a mistake and was demoted, I would have been able to go to the front hall to serve those nobles. You probably don’t know but if you get tipped by them, you can live comfortably without working for a year.”
“The royal banquet…” The eunuch looked forward to it. “Do they really tip that much?”
“You are clearly very ignorant.” The palace maid curled her lips. “You really haven’t seen the world. The royal banquet is specially held by His Majesty for the mighty general. The people who come are all high-ranking officials, so they’re naturally generous. If you wait a few more years and are lucky, you might be able to see it once. At that time, you will know that the tip given by those nobles is generous.”
The young eunuch said enviously, “The mighty general is really something. His Majesty even specially held a banquet for him. He must be in the limelight.”
“What’s the point of being in the limelight when you have that kind of idiotic daughter?” The palace maid said with disdain.
“Idiotic daughter?” The eunuch asked, “Are you talking about the general’s daughter?”
“Let me tell you something.” The palace maid said mysteriously, “General Shen is invencible, and Mrs. Shen too. Deputy General Shen is also brave and good at fighting, but the daughter of the mighty general is a complete idiot. Not only is she not good at the four arts, but she also had a vulgar taste in clothes. Every time General Shen brings her to the royal banquet, she will make a fool of herself. I served her at the royal banquet last year. Can you believe she didn’t even know the basic etiquette. She even stepped on her dress and rolled down the stairs. Those ladies love to mock her the most. Even with the Shen family protecting her, everyone still looks down on her.”
“I didn’t expect that…” The eunuch sighed.” She really let her parents down.”
“That’s right.” The palace maid continued, “She is a failure of the Shen family. However, her two cousin sisters are both better than her. General Shen was embarrassed by his daughter every time. Moreover, She was infatuated with Prince Ding previously. Everyone in the court knows about it.”
“What a vulgar woman.” The little eunuch also looked disgusted.
That palace maid stayed in the palace every day, so she only knew what happened in the palace. She had no clue that Shen Miao had impressed everyone at the test