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Qin Mu and his ministers could not think of a solution to the problem of bad money driving out good money, but no matter what, the Mid-Autumn Festival still had to be celebrated.
Since the Song Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival, princes, nobles, and wealthy families would all climb up to the dangerous towers to admire the moon from the porch, or build a large pavilion, set out banquets with tortoise shells, play zithers and Chinese harps, drink wine and sing to predict how happy they would be throughout the night.
Even families who sell food would go up to the small moon platform to arrange a family feast and gather their children to celebrate the festival. On this night, the streets of Tian Street were busy with business until the fifth drum, and moon-watching tourists danced in the market until late at night.
In the Ming Dynasty, people gave mooncakes to relatives and friends to symbolize reunion. Mooncakes vary in size, with fruit fillings and unique shapes. Some mooncakes are worth hundreds of coins. The mooncakes used in the Beijing Imperial Palace are more than a foot in diameter from bottom to top and weigh two kilograms.
The custom had already been established, and Emperor Qin Mu could not be stingy. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, all officials had a day off, and were given moon cakes, candies, osmanthus wine and other festive items to celebrate the festival together.
In Nanjing, people like to plant osmanthus trees in their homes. They are everywhere in front of and behind houses, and on both sides of the streets, osmanthus trees are also used for greening. The arrival of Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with the cool breeze and the fragrance of osmanthus.
Walking on the streets of Nanjing, the fragrance of osmanthus fills the air and drifts across the city in the wind.
Nanjing has another custom. Many families with daughters collect osmanthus flowers during the Mid-Autumn Festival to make wine, which they bury under osmanthus trees. When their daughters grow up and get married, they take out the osmanthus wine for relatives and friends to drink, and it also serves as an important dowry.
Nowadays, the birth rate in Daqin has increased significantly, so much so that every family in the city is busy collecting osmanthus flowers.
The hardworking housewife, with her clever hands, was picking osmanthus flowers in the backyard. She saw her neighbors doing the same thing in their yards. They could not help but compare whose osmanthus flowers were more abundant and fragrant, and exchanged their winemaking experiences. If you don't have enough osmanthus flowers, come to my house to pick them. The laughter was full of joy.
The streets were noisy and crowded with people. Luxury cars and luxury cars were constantly passing by. Women who rarely went out on weekdays also came out of their homes to visit relatives and friends, and gave each other mooncakes they made by hand.
In the palace of Daqin, lanterns and decorations were hung everywhere, dragonfly wings were offered as jerky, catfish of the autumn wind was served, Yuanshuang wine was drunk, lamb of the Huayue was eaten, and the atmosphere was full of joy.
Little Princess Mingyue, with two pigtails, held a mooncake, took a small bite herself, then broke off half to feed her beloved pets: two furry giant pandas.
Seeing that the panda inside didn't even look at her mooncake, she shouted in a childish voice: "Good bear, come here quickly, come here quickly. The mooncake is delicious, if you don't believe me, try it..."
Bian Yujing was as beautiful as a fairy, and Mingyue inherited her genes and was very beautiful. She was also well-behaved and was loved by everyone in the palace.
She held up half a mooncake and kept shouting, "Good boy bear, come here quickly. Do you think it's too little? Then I'll ask them to get a few more and give you enough to eat..."
The maids in charge of guarding beside him chuckled. Some of them squatted down and advised: "Princess, Guaiguai Bear only likes to eat bamboo, not moon cakes."
"No way, mooncakes are so delicious... why don't they eat them?" The little girl, who was two or three years old, was full of curiosity about everything, and the palace women laughed non-stop.
On the large green lawn in the Imperial Garden, Qin Mu was playing football with his wife and children. The sidelines were surrounded by beautiful girls, and the field was divided into the "Emperor Team" and the "Queen Team".
The members of the "Emperor Team" include Qin Mu, Qin Ye, Qin Jing, Qin Polu (who mainly launches attacks without distinguishing friend or foe by crawling), Yun Qiaoer, Li Xiangjun, Meng Guqing, etc.
The members of the "Queen's Team" are all extremely beautiful women, including Queen Yang Zhi, Katerina, Haina, Gu Hanyan, Bian Yujing, Momo, Ruoruo, Lady Tang, Lady Song, Li Zhiyin, Qin Mingyue (who had run away to feed the pandas), Qin Biyao (who was also good at crawling attacks and was on par with Qin Polu from the Emperor's Team), etc.
Xu Ruoshi was pregnant and could not go, and Dong Xiaowan was too delicate, like a willow in the wind, so she also did not participate in the battle.
Laughter and joyful cheers echoed throughout the garden on the green grass. After Qin Mu passed the ball to his eldest son Qin Ye, Qin Ye kicked the ball and it rolled towards the goal. Yang Zhi, who was in charge of the goalkeeping, was obviously letting her son go. The ball was so slow that she couldn't block it.
"Queen, stop it quickly..."
"My lady, left, left..."
"well!"
The ball went in, and everyone cried out in grief.
Seeing her son Qin Ye jumping and shouting with joy, Yang Zhi was happier than anything else.
Alas, this ball cannot be kicked.
Qin Polu and Qin Biyao were still young, they didn't know who was their enemy, and they only threw the ball towards their own goal, but now this mother deliberately let her son win, and she did it so obviously...
Bian Yujing was close by and stamped her feet, saying, "Empress, you are really in Cao's camp but your heart is with Han."
The girls laughed after hearing this. Yang Zhi was also laughing. She neither denied nor admitted her act of "betraying the enemy". For the sake of her son, she was willing to do everything.
Qin Mu laughed and walked over to her, took her hand and went back to the sidelines, leaving the green grass for Qiao'er and the others to play with.
After leaning back on the recliner and taking a sip of the tea handed to him by the palace maid, Qin Mu realized that Mingyue was gone. He quickly asked, "Where is Mingyue? Have you seen Mingyue?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Mingyue remembered that her panda was not fed, so she escaped. Hehe... a female official went with her, so it's okay."
Dong Xiaowan answered gently. She had a similar background to Bian Yujing, and she had no children of her own. She had always treated Mingyue as her own daughter and loved her very much.
Knowing where his precious daughter had gone, Qin Mu felt relieved. He took a white towel from the tray carried by the palace maid, turned around and wiped the sweat from Yang Zhi's forehead.
When Yang Zhi saw him holding the white towel, she thought he was going to wipe her face, but she didn't expect him to turn around and wipe hers, and his movements were so delicate and natural.
"Your Majesty, how can this be done? I can do it myself." This small action made Yang Zhi inexplicably moved, and she quickly raised her jade hand to grab the handkerchief.
"Don't move, you, what's the problem?"
"Your Majesty..."
"No, no, no, come on, it's your turn to help me wipe it, and then we'll be even."
Qin Mu saw that she was moved by such a small thing, and he laughed, but he felt a little touched. The queens of all dynasties were often used as "decorations", and there were not many who could really get the emperor's favor;
They have to be the "mothers of the country" and their words and deeds must be strict, proper and in accordance with etiquette. However, after a busy day of state affairs, the emperor returns to the harem and the last thing he wants to see is a serious woman.
Over time, the emperor and the empress usually become more distant.
Compared with other queens, Yang Zhi has done a very good job. She abides by her duties but never asks Qin Mu for anything. For example, when Qin Mu sometimes runs around the garden with Qiao'er on his back, she will never come out like other queens to draw his attention to her status as a monarch.
She managed the harem not by restraining everyone with strict laws or authority, but entirely through her own words and deeds, as well as her care for everyone, which won everyone's respect and kept the harem in order.
Qin Mu felt a little emotional. There were more and more women in the palace, and he cared less and less about her, but she was so selfless and always maintained her gentle and virtuous qualities.
"Queen, are you tired? Why don't you walk with me and let's go see the bright moon."
Yang Zhi smiled gently and stood up with him. Qin Mu instructed the palace maids, "Just watch here. There's no need to follow." Then he took Yang Zhi's hand and walked along the cobblestone path.
"Your Majesty, do you have something to say to me?" Yang Zhi asked softly after turning the path and arriving at the deserted pavilion. Although she let Qin Mu hold her hand, she always kept half a step behind him.
"No." Qin Mu turned around, took her fingers and kissed them gently, "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, and I just want to take a walk alone with my wife. You don't need to say anything, I believe you understand."
Yang Zhi couldn't help but blink twice with her beautiful eyes, tears welling up in them. She took a step forward, hugged Qin Mu's waist and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."
"Call me husband."
"Husband..."
In the imperial garden in the afternoon, bluebirds were singing among the branches, and the faint laughter of Qiao'er and the others could be heard from the other side of the green grass. There was tranquility beside the waterside pavilion. Qin Mu held Yang Zhi in his arms, standing by the water, their reflections gently rippling in the water.
"Thank you for your hard work over the years..."
Yang Zhi immediately reached out and pressed her hand on his lips, saying gently, "My husband said, don't say anything."
"Okay, I won't say anything." Qin Mu really said nothing, but he never let go of her hand... (To be continued...)
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