Seeing that Jiang Changning couldn't afford it, the Prince of Jin became curious and asked, "Princess, what cards do you have? Why can't you afford it?"
"I won't tell you." Jiang Changning clenched the cards in his hand.
The cards were so bad that Jiang Changning only played two cards and never had a chance to play any more cards, so he lost of course.
"Please tell a joke, Princess." Prince Jin said with a smile.
Jiang Changning first offered a cup of tea to the concubine, "Mother, if what your daughter-in-law said is not funny, please do me the honor of smiling."
"That's funny. Mother has a red envelope." The concubine said with a smile.
Jiang Changning thought for a moment, picked a joke and said, "Once upon a time, there was a stingy man who invited his friends to dinner. His servant asked him if he would provide wine, but he was too embarrassed to say it directly, so he said: 'Outside the door, there are mountains on the mountain, and at the waterside at the hour of You.' He said: 'One stroke and one stroke, evening on evening.' The meaning is that there are too many people, so no wine."
Her cards were sometimes good and sometimes bad, so she would win and lose. This simple way of playing actually made it quite fun.
At midnight, the bells rang and the new year arrived.
The maid brought in the dumplings, and Mrs. Qiao attentively placed the bowl in front of the imperial concubine, "Mother, this is vegetarian stuffing."
"It's New Year's Day, who wants to eat vegetarian food?" The concubine said unhappily.
Mrs. Qiao was dumbfounded. Last year, the concubine said that meat filling was too greasy and wanted vegetarian filling. This year, she complained that vegetarian filling was not good. Why was this old lady so difficult to please
Just at this moment, Fu Cui came in with a lunch box.
Jiang Changning didn't like vegetarian dumplings. Knowing that Mrs. Qiao had asked the kitchen to prepare vegetarian dumplings, he asked Madam Cui to prepare meat and shrimp dumplings.
"Mother, give me two of each of the meat dumplings and shrimp dumplings to try." Jiang Changning scooped the dumplings from the large bowl into a small bowl and placed it in front of the concubine.
The dumplings are not big, but small and crystal clear. You can see the stuffing inside. The meat stuffing is okay, but the shrimps are vaguely visible and look delicious.
The appearance was so good that the Toffee was hungry. She took a bite and found the meat was full of juice and tasted great. "These dumplings are really exquisitely made. Which chef made them?"
"This was made by a cook brought in by my daughter-in-law. She is best at cooking some home-cooked dishes." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
"Home-cooked food is hard to come by." The concubine ate another shrimp dumpling and said, "Give her a big red envelope as a reward."
"I'll thank my mother for the reward on her behalf." Jiang Changning bowed.
Prince Jin did not touch the vegetarian dumplings. He took a small bowl and scooped four meat dumplings and two shrimp dumplings to eat.
The only ones who ate vegetarian dumplings were the Qiao mother and daughter.
Princess Kangren ate dumplings quietly, while Qiao glared at Jiang Changning several times with resentful eyes.
Jiang Changning didn't care and ate dumplings calmly.
The King of Jin's brows were frowned and relaxed, relaxed and frowned again.
After eating dumplings, I rinsed my mouth.
Chang Youzhong came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Heaven and Earth Table has been set up."
The maid brought cloaks and helped the masters put them on.
Walking into the yard, King Jin began the ceremony of welcoming the gods according to the rules.
The burning pine and cypress branches made a crackling sound.
After welcoming the gods and stepping on the New Year's Eve, a series of fireworks were set off.
The concubine said, "Go back to the courtyard and have a good rest. You have to go to the palace early tomorrow morning."
"Mother, your daughter-in-law and I will take you back to the yard." Prince Jin said with a smile.
"No need. Aren't there enough servants? Hurry up and take your wife back to the yard. She has been yawning secretly for several times. I think she has never stayed up all night like this before and can't stand it anymore."
When the Toffee decided to be nice to someone, she was quite considerate.
There is another reason why the Toffee did this.
It was Qiao's actions today that disgusted her, and she intentionally promoted Jiang Changning and slapped Qiao in the face, not because she liked Jiang Changning as her daughter-in-law.
Seeing that Jiang Changning was exhausted, the Prince of Jin followed the Queen Mother's advice. After the Queen Mother got on the sedan chair, he half-embraced Jiang Changning and said, "Hold her steadily, don't disturb the Princess."
Seeing the couple leave so intimately, the jealousy in Qiao's eyes was so strong that it almost became tangible.
"Mother, Mother." Princess Kang Ren looked at Qiao, who was emitting a hostile aura, and called out timidly.
The mother and daughter each got into their sedan chairs and returned to their respective courtyards.
I got up so early in the morning, didn’t take a nap at noon, and stayed up all night to celebrate the New Year.
Jiang Changning was so sleepy that she fell asleep while walking. Before she even reached Ruyi Courtyard, she had already fallen asleep in Prince Jin's arms.
"Ningning." King Jin called softly.
Jiang Changning was sleeping soundly, her little face was rosy and rosy, she looked less cold and more cute.
Prince Jin couldn't bear to let her go, so he picked her up and carried her into the room, carefully placing her on the bed. He ordered a maid to bring some warm water, and personally wiped Jiang Changning's face and combed her hair.
After serving the little princess, Prince Jin came out to wash.
On the first day of the New Year, one must go to the palace to pay homage.
After sleeping for more than an hour, the couple was awakened.
Jiang Changning supported her head with one hand, her eyes half closed. Fortunately, it was only during the two days of the New Year. If it was like this every day, she would really collapse.
As the Princess of Jin, Jiang Changning wore more than just the phoenix crown she wore yesterday. Today she was wearing another phoenix crown.
This is made by pinching patterns with fine gold wires and welding them onto gold sheets, forming a circle to make a crown shape. Gems are inlaid on the pinched patterns and the base is embellished with fine small gold beads.
Although there are no dragons and phoenixes on this phoenix crown, its exquisiteness and weight are comparable to the phoenix crown from yesterday.
When I went out, it started snowing.
"I promised to take you to walk in the snow and look for plum blossoms, but I never went. Ningning, are you angry?" asked King Jin.
Jiang Changning took the oil-paper umbrella with a white background and a painting of red plum blossoms handed to him by the maid. Under the umbrella hung a white jade plaque engraved with the words "safe travel" that read "Follow my steps".
"It's not too late to go this winter even if it snows. There's nothing to be angry about." Jiang Changning had long forgotten what he had said about walking in the snow to look for plum blossoms.
King Jin smiled, "Well, we have a long way to go."
When they arrived at the ceremonial gate, Qiao and Princess Kangren had already arrived.
"Happy New Year, Kang Ren." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
"Happy New Year, uncle. Happy New Year, aunt. Your niece wishes you a happy new year and best wishes for you all the best and peace every year." Princess Kangren knelt down and saluted.
"Good girl." Jiang Changning gave her a red envelope, "I wish you peace and happiness too."
"Thank you, Auntie."
After a few words, the concubine arrived.
The family got on the carriage and headed for the palace.
Snowflakes fluttered and fell from the sky, and the snow on the road became deeper.
"It's the eighth day of the first lunar month and it's snowing so heavily." Jiang Changning lifted a corner of the curtain and looked out.
"If winter snow continues into spring snow, there will be fewer mosquitoes in summer." King Jin said with a smile.
"Is there such a saying?" This was the first time Jiang Changning heard of it.
"Yes, it's a farmer's proverb." Prince Jin coaxed his little princess without any guilt.
After a few words of casual conversation, they arrived at the palace gate, got off the carriage and changed to a sedan chair.
When you arrive at Fushou Palace, please ask the gatekeeper to report inside.
The emperor and the empress, along with the eldest prince, sat beside the empress dowager.
Concubines were not qualified to accept congratulations from ministers and other ladies of state.
(End of this chapter)