Jiang Changning had no idea how the dancers stopped Chao Yun as she was having a bad temper with Emperor Xuanzhi.
"Don't joke, don't joke, Your Majesty." Jiang Changning was almost torn apart by the man. She still had a lot of things to do tomorrow.
She just couldn't understand it. She didn't starve him, so why did this man hold on to the meat so tightly after eating it? It really puzzled her.
"At this moment, I am not a king, but Ningning's man. Husband and wife should enjoy the joy of love." Emperor Xuanzhi said confidently.
"I'm going to sleep." Jiang Changning turned sideways with his back to him.
Emperor Xuanzhi came over, hugged her, and whispered in her ear: "Okay, okay, I won't bother you tonight, go to sleep."
"Then should I kowtow to express my gratitude to the Emperor?" Jiang Changning asked with a teasing smile.
"Ningning, you know I don't like your verbal thanks." Emperor Xuanzhi said with a wicked smile.
Hearing this, Jiang Changning quickly closed his eyes and said, "I fell asleep."
Emperor Xuanzhi burst into laughter, then fell asleep holding her in his arms.
The Spring Festival Gala was quiet and I had a good night’s sleep.
Two days later, it was the seventh day of February.
Everyone in the palace was on high alert and no one dared to make the slightest mistake. If they violated the taboo today, they would be severely punished even if they did not die.
The departments that serve the royal family, such as the Imperial Household Department and the Palace Slave House, were extremely busy.
The Zhaoyang Hall, where the Wanshou Banquet was held, was scrubbed many times inside and out. The Han jade steps outside were spotless and radiated a lustrous glow under the sunlight.
"Empress, do you think this is okay?" Fang Ju held the mirror and placed it behind Jiang Changning's head.
Jiang Changning looked at the bright and beautiful woman in the silver mirror and said with a smile, "Fangju's cooking skills are getting better and better."
Xiulan brought the phoenix crown. The crown that Jiang Changning was going to wear today was the Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenixes crown.
This phoenix crown is of new manufacture, and its style is quite different from the one Jiang Changning wore at the ceremony of being crowned queen. On the crown there are not only dragons and phoenixes, but also floating fairies.
When seeing the phoenix crown, Jiang Changning laughed for a long time. This was not enough to have the auspicious combination of dragon and phoenix, it also meant ascending to the sky and becoming an immortal!
Jiang Changning put on the phoenix crown, stood up and said, "It's getting late. Let's go to the main hall to meet His Majesty."
Emperor Xuanzhi had already changed into his dragon robe. When he heard the sound of people paying respects to the empress outside, he had someone bring her in directly.
Jiang Changning looked Emperor Xuanzhi up and down and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is indeed extraordinary, worthy of being called a pile of stones like jade and a row of pines like emerald. You are so beautiful and unique, there is no other like you in the world."
Emperor Xuanzhi reached out his hand and pulled Jiang Changning closer, saying with a smile: "There is a beautiful person, pure and graceful. It is my wish to meet you by chance."
After exchanging a few words, the couple walked out of the palace hand in hand, sitting in a brand new dragon and phoenix chariot, to go to Ciren Palace to pick up the empress dowager.
In the Zhaoyang Palace, royal relatives, civil and military ministers took their seats according to their ranks.
The musicians in the music hall played melodious music, and the large copper charcoal stoves placed in the four corners of the hall were emitting steam.
As the eunuch said, "The Emperor has arrived, the Empress Dowager has arrived, and the Empress has arrived." Everyone in the hall immediately came up and knelt down to welcome the three masters of the palace.
Someone sang: "The majesty of heaven is magnificent, the mountain dragon is shining. The courtyard is full of hundreds of people, and the lord is offering wine.
She bowed to the queens, and wore a long robe. "May you live forever and have a long life."
After singing it three times in a row, the Queen Mother sat in the middle, with the Emperor and the Empress sitting on either side of her.
Emperor Xuanzhi glanced at all the ministers and said, "It's just my birthday. I am very grateful to you for mobilizing so many troops."
"Your Majesty, your words are serious. This is the duty of our subjects." The ministers kowtowed to show their loyalty.
The Qin Dynasty had more than a hundred vassal states, but Emperor Xuanzhi only issued an edict to these vassal states after he seized the throne in May last year and officially ascended the throne.
However, the journey was long, and it would take more than half a year for these vassal states to receive the imperial edict and then send envoys to express congratulations.
The only ones who came to congratulate Emperor Xuanzhi on his birthday were the eight nearby vassal states.
I don't know if someone had warned them, but the envoys from the vassal states were all very well behaved. They presented their birthday gifts in an orderly manner and then returned to their seats.
The palace maid came in with food boxes and delivered delicious dishes carefully prepared by the imperial kitchen.
On the dragon and phoenix table, the first dishes served were the Eight Immortals Duck and the pot-roasted carp.
Next came the steamed white fungus, gourd-cooked lucky shark’s fin, longevity duck soup, and braised fish bones.
While everyone was enjoying the food, the show began.
The opening is a very lively group dance: the Fairies of the Yao Chi performing the Longevity Dance.
A group of dancers in flowing gauze skirts danced gracefully in the mist, their long sleeves rising and falling. In a trance, it seemed as if fairies had really been banished to the human world to celebrate the birthday of the emperor.
"Queen, you were the one who created this smoke." Emperor Xuanzhi said with a smile.
Jiang Changning smiled, "I thought the space was too big and the smoke would become thinner, but now it seems that the effect is quite good."
"Very good, thank you for your hard work, Queen." Emperor Xuanzhi signaled Chang Youzhong to pass the bowl of shiitake mushroom and chicken in front of him to Jiang Changning.
He saw that Jiang Changning liked it very much and had finished a whole bowl.
After the court dancers left, the second group to come on stage was a folk magic troupe.
Today is the Emperor's Birthday, to celebrate his birthday. All the things performed by magicians are auspicious objects.
Big peach, jade ruyi, ruby flower.
He also conjured up a pair of cranes holding a birthday couplet: May heaven and earth live together, and the sun and moon shine together.
"It's hard for you to come up with so many ideas. Come here and take a look," said the Queen Mother.
The maid held the prepared tray and delivered two gold ingots to the magicians, who were so happy that they knelt down and kowtowed, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for the reward."
After the magician retreated, the dance resumed.
As the performances continued, the style of the music suddenly changed, becoming more exotic.
Jiang Changning, who was struggling with a peanut with his head down, looked up and saw six masked dancers in sleeveless green gauze skirts walking onto the stage with their enchanting waists twisted.
The dancers' exposed arms were as white and tender as lotus roots, and their seductive eyes were extremely alluring.
The six people bent their legs and leaned forward, sometimes raising their hands to shake the silver bells on their wrists, sometimes lowering their hands to simulate flowing water, swaying gently, sometimes spreading out, and sometimes forming a row.
Although the dancers danced seductively, everyone present behaved very reservedly, and no one dared to reveal any lustful look.
The six people formed a circle, threw the gauze draped over their bodies to the middle, paused for a moment, tore the gauze apart, and a woman in red, who was wearing cooler clothes, came out from inside.
She had a graceful figure and wore a red embroidered short top with her skirt tied below her belly button, revealing her snow-white belly.
What's even more alluring is that her skirt is piece by piece, and as she dances, her long and beautiful legs are looming, which is really very tempting.
Xiulan took a step forward and reported in a low voice: "Madam, she is Chaoyun."
(End of this chapter)