80 Banque (1/2)

A week later was The Chrysanthemum Banquet which was held in one of the large Imperial Gardens.

The garden had manmade fountains and small hills throughout and the Chrysanthemums were blooming at every turn.

The Chrysanthemum Banquet was a flower viewing tradition passed down from the for Father's and everyone in the dynasty followed it almost religiously.

On this day, the imperial family would view the flower with various first and second-tier families in the imperial capital and many distant imperial clan members were asked to observe the banquets in their own fiefs as well.

During the banquet, various young unmarried girls would showcase their talents because the banquet was treated as a preliminary test by the Imperial family to choose their daughters-in-law.

The younger boys and men would also showcase their talents in the hopes that they would catch the eye of one of the civil or military officials which would help them in their official carriers.

At this time, most of the officials had already arrived along with their legal first wives and di children.

The unmarried girls were dressed to the nines - jewellery, make-up, bright clothes and their long, lush hairs settle into various hair-dos and the younger men had also taken some pains to dress carefully today and not to shame their families.

The Imperial clan members had also arrived and everyone was just waiting for the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to arrive.

Since the late emperor's death, this was the first festival being celebrated by the imperial family and as such even the official's had not celebrated anything in the past year or so.

Hence, there was much anticipation regarding the banquet and the subsequent festivities.

When the eunuch announced that both the exalted existences had arrived, the crowd knelt to pay homage.

His Majesty smiled at everyone present and said, ”Rise. Today is the Chrysanthemum viewing banquet, Zhen hopes everyone enjoys the festivities. No need to be so restrained.”

Everyone gave their thanks and sat down very quickly while The Empress Dowager and the Emperor sat on the seats placed on a raised platform.

Very quickly, everybody started talking about the blooming flowers around them and giving compliments to each other and the imperial family.

Meanwhile, Su Li watched this farce while smiling to herself.

She realised that the modern-day high-class parties and the celebration going on in front of her were no different in essence.

Everyone was wearing their business smiles on their faces while sharpening their knives to plunge into others behind their backs.

She didn't have the heart to wet her feet in these murky waters, so she kept quiet and whenever someone proposed a toast to her, she simply drank from her wine cup - in which her drinking choice had been already changed from wine to water by The Head Commander of the Shadow Guards.

Once the viewing ceremony was over, the entertainment side of the evening began - with dancers and singers abound.

The Head Eunuch gestured at one of the palace eunuchs and immediately music filtered across the gardens.

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A few female dancers with light and graceful dance steps started dancing. The alluring figures and charming features not only attracted the men, but even the females also present admired them.