771 Empress Xiao Qiang’s Banquet (1)

The tea party finally arrived.

Xiao Yun and Mu Yan were working diligently to dress Nan Hua up. Since the main protagonist of this tea party was Empress Xiao, they had to make sure that Nan Hua would not look too eye catching and steal the limelight.

If she did, there was no doubt that others would hate her very easily.

Battles between women started from the very simple, which was their dress and etiquette, until the more complicated ones such as their words.

Dressed in light peach colored clothes and only wearing a few hairpins, Nan Hua would not attract much attention. That was, as long as she wore her veil. Her features alone were more than enough to catch attention from miles away.

"Miss, it's done."

Nan Hua looked at her reflection in the bronze mirror and nodded faintly. There was no need for her to add anything. Her servants were very well trained and knew that they would have to make sure that Nan Hua didn't attract too much attention.

With the veil on, no one would pay her much attention.

'But my status is at the forefront.'

Above grand duke was only the princes. Since Nan Hua was the granddaughter of a grand duke, it was only normal that her status would be much higher than the other women. This might prove to be quite complicated.

Pushing all thoughts to the back of her mind, Nan Hua headed to the palace.

Empress Xiao's palace was located not far from the main palace. It was also a grand palace with a lot of maidservants. They were all being careful in attending the Empress because not many people understood Emperor Yang Zhou's intention.

Would he favor this Empress?

Would he favor one of the concubines instead?

So far, Emperor Yang Zhou had already spent a few nights in the Empress palace, so the servants were very respectful. They knew that the person who obtained the favor from the Emperor would be the one with the most power in the palace.

So what if you're beautiful?

So what if you have rich background?

As long as you have no favor, you would be reduced to be nothing more than a mere background decoration.

That was the harsh battle for women.

Nan Hua walked unhurriedly towards the direction of the tea party. She noticed that almost all of the girls and women whom Empress Xiao invited were from the nobles who had higher nobility titles. Those from lower nobility titles were naturally not invited here.

"The Empress had arrived."

There was no one who dared to delay as they quickly curtsied and bowed in accordance to etiquette.

Empress Xiao Qiang walked into the hall. She was dressed in the Empress robe with phoenix hairpin on her hair. Her makeup was light, but it accentuated her features as much as possible.

"Please rise."

Everyone raised their head and looked at the Empress in front of them. Even though Empress Xiao had only become an Empress not long ago, it was undeniable that she was also the most honorable woman in the entire Fei Yang Kingdom.

No one dared to go against her.

The Empress took her seat first. Her chin was raised at the right angle and there was trace of arrogance along with indifference. Her every movement was filled with elegance that could leave people in shock and awe.

She's the most respected women in the palace.

There was no doubt about that.

Even though Empress Xiao had only taken her seat as the Empress for a short period of time, the aura around her had changed. Many years ago, who would notice her when she didn't purposely attract attention to herself?

She had been staying low, doing everything appropriately.

But it didn't mean that she could be bullied. When it came to trade blows, there was no doubt that no one would be able to go against the Empress at all. She was indeed the most suitable person to be sitting in the Empress seat.

Was it called the Heaven's Will?

Nan Hua didn't know.

"Ben Gong* thank everyone for coming today. It was Ben Gong joyful day a few days ago and Ben Gong wishes to be able to interact more with all of you through this banquet," Xiao Qiang started smoothly.

The way she spoke was in line with etiquette and at the same time, it stressed her status as the Empress.

The nobles began to express their willingness to come and that the Empress was too kind. There were a lot of people there, some of them were already married while many others were still unmarried.

Empress Xiao Qiang looked around her and chuckled lightly. "Ben Gong would like to apologize in advance because His Majesty is busy and thus unable to come."

"Your Highness is too polite."

"His Majesty had a lot of work. It's only natural for him not to be able to come. Please don't blame yourself, Your Highness."

The nobles started to praise Empress Xiao Qiang and also told her not to blame herself. The Emperor must be busy because of the matter of the nation. How could they possibly disturb him for this banquet?

They naturally wouldn't.

Only some unmarried girls were a bit disappointed, but they didn't show it outwards and kept a smile. Some of them were not actually invited but their mother was the one who was invited. However, they still come.

Why?

Naturally it was for the chance to become the Emperor's Imperial Concubine. Even though becoming an Imperial Concubine meant that they couldn't enter the family register, it was still an honorable position.

And if they could get favored, their rank would certainly rise.

So, many of them were disappointed.

Nan Hua was looking at the servants behind Empress Xiao Qiang and silently looked at the tea in front of her. What a cunning Empress. In just one banquet, she would be able to distinguish between those who were tactful enough and those who wanted to climb on her.