The Mighty General saw Tong Huaqiong as soon as he entered the banquet hall.
He couldn’t very well greet her in front of so many people, so he just sneaked a glance, then another.
Tong Huaqiong was busy chatting with Mrs. Min and gossiping with Huang Jingshan, left and right.
In the emperor’s mind, her image was that of a straightforward and bold country merchant woman, free from the constraints of etiquette, hence when she was happy, Tong Huaqiong wouldn’t hesitate to let out a hearty laugh.
That laughter reached the ears of the Mighty General, bringing him back to the days of laughter with Tong Dajiao in their youth.
When Tong Huaqiong caught the Mighty General’s gaze, she felt that looking away might make her seem guilty, so she inexplicably smiled back at him.
With that smile, the Mighty General instantly recalled his past with Tong Dajiao in the countryside, and his eyes couldn’t help but redden.
Tong Huaqiong: "..."
She didn’t even know she had inadvertently bullied the old man from a distance.
In reality, she smiled at him purely out of courtesy.
Mrs. Min watched her son’s interaction with Tong Huaqiong and was delighted.
Her mind was full of excitement at the potential romance between the two.
At the same time, she cast a disdainful look at her son.
See, Tong Dajiao is so open and straightforward, yet you are too embarrassed to meet her alone.
In fact, her son had been taking a detour past Tong Huaqiong’s house on his way to the Jiangbei Camp every morning lately.
She thought all these coy actions were useless, circling around Tong Dajiao’s house without even a coincidental meeting was pointless, it would be more effective to simply send Tong Dajiao Silver or a shop directly to win her heart.
As the dishes were served one by one, when Tong Huaqiong was eating the third dish, the music and dance paused.
The Old Emperor delivered a significant speech, first warmly welcoming the Grand Prince back to the court, then nostalgically mentioning the Crown Prince and reprimanding the treacherous court ministers who had damaged their father-son relationship and had already been executed.
Historically, emperors have always been like this, blaming all wrongs on treacherous ministers while presenting themselves as innocent flowers.
Tong Huaqiong mused how those treacherous ministers came into being, wasn’t it because the person sitting in the highest seat indulged them?
The evil of the treacherous ministers was magnified because there was soil nurturing evil.
In the midst of Tong Huaqiong’s silent sarcasm, the emperor finally praised Su Chengmin and others for fighting to protect the Grand Prince.
Of course, Tong Huaqiong and Chen Sufen were also singled out for commendation.
The words "loyal and protective" were attached to Tong Huaqiong.
For someone with a modern mind like Tong Huaqiong, hearing the word "protective" felt entirely foreign.
These two words not only affirmed Tong Huaqiong’s and the others’ achievements but also tied them firmly to the Grand Prince’s faction.
All eyes were on Su Chengmin, Tong Huaqiong, and the other Grand Prince supporters.
Especially the Grand Prince’s several uncles, whose eyes were probing and scrutinizing.
Tong Huaqiong did not know what kind of resistance and disaster these uncles might bring to the Grand Prince in the struggle for power, but ultimately, it would be the Grand Prince who ascended.
Momentarily lost in thought, Tong Huaqiong saw the so-called "loyal protectors," including Su Chengmin, step forward to kneel and express gratitude, and she naturally followed, kneeling down, with Chen Sufen, Gu Dashu, and others following her lead.
They kneeled densely packed on the floor.
After a series of cumbersome rituals, Tong Huaqiong felt her knees were about to swell from kneeling, and the word to rise from the superior sounded to her like heavenly music.
After getting up, Tong Huaqiong returned to her seat and quickly took a sip of hot soup.
"Why didn’t Taohua come?" Mrs. Min had wanted to ask for a while.
Tong Huaqiong swallowed her hot soup and whispered, "Her third sister-in-law is pregnant and alone at home, so she stayed behind because she was worried."
"Taohua is a good girl, I like her."
Mrs. Min was increasingly satisfied with Gu Taohua.
A girl from a modest family, unmarried, wouldn’t refuse an invitation to a palace banquet.
If you were to reach for higher connections, naturally, it would be within the Imperial Palace.
It was full of young nobles and promising young ministers, and there were light-minded girls who came to palace banquets mainly to catch a golden husband.
Just like the niece by the side of Su Shihang’s original wife, Lu’s family, her eyes darting around, intentions all too clear.
Especially as her eyes frequently glanced at Su Chengmin.
Mrs. Min compared that girl to Gu Taohua, feeling frustrated and suffocated.
Last time, Su Shihang called Su Chengmin home and attempted to assign him as a husband to Lu’s family niece, and Mrs. Min, furious, blocked him on the way to court, berating him.
"Shameless thing," Mrs. Min muttered under her breath on the Jinluan Palace floor.
Tong Huaqiong, surprised, asked, "Aunt Min, who are you cursing?"
Before Mrs. Min could answer, someone stood up to plea with the emperor for a marriage grant for their son.
Tong Huaqiong watched this minister, who among the old ministers of the court was quite the handsome elder, striking even in middle age, hinting at his youthful dashing appearance.
But this man looked so familiar, like an older version of Su Chengmin.
Just as Tong Huaqiong was about to ask Mrs. Min who this handsome uncle was, Mrs. Min slapped the table, stood up, and yelled, "Su Shihang, you scoundrel, Chengmin has been raised in the Min family since he was eight, and you’ve made no effort. How dare you request a marriage grant for him from the emperor?"
"Don’t think I don’t know your intentions. You’ve only remembered you have a son now that Chengmin has caught the emperor’s eye. Besides shaking those two times, what have you ever contributed? Where do you find the face to pretend to be his father now?"
Tong Huaqiong wanted to give Mrs. Min a thumbs up.
To curse without restraint in front of the emperor, was she not afraid of angering him?
The surrounding people seemed accustomed to Mrs. Min’s outburst.
However, when they heard her mention "shaking," they tactically lifted their wine or tea cups to hide their smiles.
Tong Huaqiong noticed a wry smile at the emperor’s lips, as if accustomed to Mrs. Min’s audacity, with no sign of reproach for her.
Su Shihang’s face turned iron blue with embarrassment.
He hadn’t even mentioned which family’s girl, and his former mother-in-law was already berating him.
He had thought Mrs. Min might hold back a bit in front of the court ministers, but she was totally unbridled.
"Heartless rotten scoundrel, shameless thing, having tasted the sweetness of trading pants for a future, now that you’re old and unable to trade for yourself, you’ve set your sights on Chengmin."
Mrs. Min decided to fully showcase her shrew-like style.
Tong Huaqiong listened to Mrs. Min’s filthy curses, while observing the emperor’s reaction.
She realized that the emperor was exceptionally lenient with Mrs. Min, showing no anger at all.
The reason Mrs. Min dared to be so brazen before the emperor was she had the means to do so, and her audacity was never directed at the emperor but at others, hence the Old Emperor sometimes found it amusing.
Due to Mrs. Min’s persona as a countrywoman who understands nothing and speaks freely, she once dispelled the previous emperor’s suspicions about the Empress Dowager and the emperor, leading the Empress Dowager to regard her as a confidante.
Mrs. Min’s status in the emperor’s mind was akin to that of an aunt.
"If you want to trade your son’s marriage for benefits, don’t you already have an existing son at home? You claimed your son at home is so close to you; since that’s the case, he can manage one-sided consumption, right?"
"Or is the son you have at home really Old Wang from next door, someone you can’t quite control?"
Mrs. Min continued to hurl insults at Su Shihang relentlessly.