Wanshou Festival is the emperor's birthday, and according to the rules, there is a three-day holiday before and after. The celebrations on the official day are even more lively. In an important sense, it ranks before the Queen Mother's birthday, the Holy Birthday Festival, and the Queen's birthday, the Qianqiu Festival.
However, the emperor of this dynasty has been making decorations for a long time, and he does not like to show his face more and more. In addition, the Wanshou Festival happens to be summer vacation in Dizi Mountain, and the scale of the palace is not as good as that of the palace in Beijing, so many pomps cannot be displayed. Therefore, every year the emperor would issue a "compassionate" edict, saying that he could just live with it.
Of course... it doesn't matter what he said.
Not to mention that this year happens to be the emperor's 40th birthday, so rushing to catch up with the topic of establishing a prince will not make the emperor "sympathetic".
Everyone knows that King Qi and King Yan have been working hard to prepare birthday gifts a long time ago - how can the atmosphere of celebration not match this moment of showing filial piety
Therefore, the Wanshou Festival this time is so huge that it cannot compare with the previous ones combined!
As soon as I left Fangfei Pavilion, the mountain breeze blew over me, and the thick fragrance of jasmine flowers came over me.
Entering the palace is more like stepping into a sea of flowers. In addition to countless seasonal flowers, there are also a dazzling array of rich utensils, royal ceremonial guards and decorations. If there were no palace people to guide the way, the palace would be closed to the public in the past. For someone who can walk around here casually, it looks like a maze.
Princess Yang led everyone into the hall where the banquet was being held today. Many people had already arrived.
Because they were entering the palace to celebrate, everyone was dressed in gorgeous and bright colors. It was so colorful and beautiful as far as the eye could see!
After sitting down, Qiu Yilan looked around and immediately noticed several very unfriendly glances - it was Princess Shou'an and others. She shrugged, waited for a while, and waited for a while... Princess Yang had already greeted several ladies nearby, but no Gu family members came to look for trouble. Looking again, Gu Weina and the others were already talking to themselves. .
After a moment's thought, he understood that the other party definitely didn't want to come over to stir up trouble. He was definitely afraid of Empress Jiang.
"Having a strong backer saves you worries!" Qiu Yilan sighed secretly. She finally understood where Jiang Yadan's careless confidence came from when he talked in the court.
Just then when she thought of Jiang Yadan, she saw Jiang Qizheng walking towards here accompanied by a woman in green. Princess Yang quickly reminded her: "The one in green is Tao Qianbin, the eighth young lady of the Jiang family. They should be here." Looking for you."
This is the eldest daughter-in-law of the fourth room of the Jiang family. Qiu Yilan will not neglect her. When they arrived not far away, she confirmed that they were here to see her and hurriedly stood up to greet them: "Your Highness, are you here to see me? This is ?”
"This is our eighth sister-in-law." Jiang Qizheng said with a smile, "She hasn't seen you yet, so she asked me to come with her to have a look while there was no news from the fourth sister-in-law!"
Qiu Yilan lowered her head slightly to express shyness. She remembered Qiu Jinglan and Ruan Ciyi's instructions and did not change her words before they walked through the door. She just smiled and called "Sister Tao" and asked them to sit down. After that, she looked well-behaved. Pouring tea and serving snacks - this appearance made little Tao a little surprised, thinking: "Didn't she say that she is so powerful that even Shiba was so angry that she jumped? Why doesn't she look like her now?"
Princess Yang cursed secretly: "You bitch, you are so good at pretending!" But she had to say something to cheer up the atmosphere, "I haven't seen the Eighth Young Madam in a few days. The Eighth Young Madam looks good lately?"
Little Mrs. Tao smiled gently: "Princess Lao is thinking about it. The mung bean and lily soup made by the cook recently is very appetizing. Maybe it's because she drinks it often."
"Indeed, mung beans and lily both have the effect of clearing away heat and calming the mind. Drinking this in midsummer is the most nourishing..."
Both of them are senior ladies, and they are very skilled at conversation in the scene, and they can talk lively in a short time.
Taking this opportunity, Jiang Qizheng pulled Qiu Yilan aside: "Aren't you asking who has beautiful flowers these days? Would you like to exchange a few for planting in Green Snow Villa? Today is the Longevity Festival, and there are all kinds of flowers in the palace. Yes! After everyone walks around casually during the banquet, look for Mengtao in front of me and ask her to take you to choose two pots and carry them directly to the carriage when you leave the palace! "
Qiu Yilan said blankly: "Can it still be like this?!"
"Anyway, if you don't take it later, you will have to move it away." Jiang Qizheng said disapprovingly, "It's hard to walk with so many flowers every day! Don't worry, this matter has been cleared up in front of Fourth Gu, and it's also It’s not just you who has to carry it, it’s not easy to carry so many flowers down the mountain. It’s common for some to be damaged due to bumps.”
It’s just a few pots of flowers and only a few dollars, so there’s no need to dig into this corner...
Qiu Yilan wanted to refuse, but when she saw Jiang Qizheng's expression "See how much I care about you and take care of you", she hesitated for a while and nodded knowingly: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"It's just a small matter." After Jiang Qizheng finished speaking, she returned to little Tao. Seeing this, little Tao ended the conversation with Princess Yang by saying a few words and left.
Princess Yang and others looked at Qiu Yilan - the Jiang family's aunt obviously came here to talk to her in private. Everyone was curious about what she said, but they just thought about Qiu Yilan's temper... Seeing that she didn't say anything of her own. Meaning, everyone had no choice but to remain silent.
Not long after, someone from the palace came in and told everyone that the Queen Mother, the Emperor, and the Queen were coming soon. Everyone hurriedly checked each other's appearance, stopped chatting, and prepared to welcome the guests.
After a while, the chamberlain announced in a long tone that the emperor had arrived on the Queen Mother's carriage. Everyone hurriedly left their seats and prostrated, and in unison kowtowed to the Queen Mother, the Emperor and the Empress. When all three of them came to the palace and took their seats, the emperor ordered them to stand down. After everyone stood up, they knelt down again - this time it was a birthday gift, with a total of thirty-three bows, which made Qiu Yilan feel depressed.
After hearing the emperor speak out again, he died. After the ceremony, Prime Minister Xue Chang went to the palace on behalf of the ministers and wished the emperor a long life. The emperor gave tea... After these ceremonies were completed, everyone could return to the table.
Only then did Qiu Yilan notice that in fact there were not only the emperor and the queen mother in the palace today, but also several concubines.
But not much. The first lady under the phoenix throne, the gorgeously dressed woman, looks like the older Princess Gu Wenna of Shouan. Without asking, you know she must be the noble concubine of the Gu family - Princess Shouan can be called a beauty. This noble concubine Gu has a beautiful appearance. She has a good temperament and has stayed in the palace for many years, cultivating a graceful and luxurious demeanor. Although Queen Jiang has a strong aura that suppresses the whole palace, she lives quietly and dignifiedly under the queen, but she still has the appearance of a noble concubine.
It's just that Concubine Gu has a hint of resentment between her eyebrows, which inevitably seems a bit inappropriate on an occasion like today.
"I wonder if you have been bullied by Queen Jiang again recently?" Queen Mother Gu couldn't do anything about Queen Jiang, not to mention the concubines in the harem. They were all as good as little white rabbits in front of the Queen. Qiu Yilan thought about what was about to happen right now. The unveiling of the battle for the crown prince, speculation, "The queen couldn't deal with Queen Yan's supporter Queen Mother Gu, so she took out her anger on King Yan's biological mother Gu Guifei first..."
Next to Concubine Gu is a woman who is only sixteen or seventeen years old, but has already done her hair in a palace bun. She has an oval face, fresh cheeks, and eyes like autumn water. In terms of appearance alone, she is even better than Empress Jiang and Concubine Gu. , actually on par with Qiu Yilan!
Qiu Yilan also knew that this concubine was the new concubine - yes, the previous concubine was the one who made the cowardly emperor beg the queen for four months. Because she had an affair with Jiang Yadan, even though it was After finding out, the queen helped her nephew to get through, but the queen mother knew it well... so she "died violently" two years ago.
Because of this, the emperor was sad for a long time. Finally, Empress Jiang became impatient and asked people to find the current Yin family. As expected, Yin family, who was not as beautiful as the concubine Shu, quickly comforted the emperor. In less than two years, she was promoted to the position of fourth concubine.
In addition to these two, there were three other concubines present. Qiu Yilan speculated that if the queen brought people out according to their positions, they would be Concubine De, Concubine Xian, and Lady Zhen.
However, none of these people were able to accept the courtesy from the courtiers, and she didn't know if that was the case.
At this time, the Queen Mother Gu, as the representative of the royal family, had finished her opening remarks with Xue Chang, the representative of the courtiers, and entered the gift-giving process - the things the Queen Mother gave to the emperor, and the birthday gifts presented to the emperor by the Queen were still the same as in previous years, and neither of them needed them anyway. To please the emperor, just show it.
I don’t know if it was the intention of the Queen Mother or the Empress, but the etiquette of concubines was not mentioned at all. It was the turn of the princes and princesses directly—the first one was King Qi!
The atmosphere in the palace suddenly became solemn!
Even Queen Mother Gu seemed to be listening attentively to the reading of the gift list.
"The King of Qi presented thirty-three crystal mirrors, thirty-three bronze mirrors, three pairs of white deer, a pair of jade trees with seven-foot-high coral beads, two pairs of jade boxes, and ten pairs of red-crowned cranes..." the chamberlain who was responsible for reading out the gift list said loudly. Reciting, the palace was still listening quietly at first, but seeing that he hadn’t finished reading for a long time, gradually there were whispers -
"King Qi is such a big deal!"
"After all, it's the person the Queen has chosen... the auspicious beast White Deer can actually gather three pairs..."
"His Royal Highness Prince Qi will probably take the lead in this birthday ceremony!"
"Hush, the next one is His Royal Highness King Yan, don't speak too early!"
"That's right... I've been reading this gift list for a long time, right? I wonder how long it will take to finish reading it?"
"I don't know what His Highness Prince Yan will give you?"
"I'm afraid he is not under His Royal Highness King Qi. Otherwise, how can King Yan look dignified but not worried at this moment?"
... Amidst the whispers, the waiter had finished reading the long gift list. When he read the last few items, the poor waiter's voice was obviously a little hoarse.
When it was King Yan's turn, he had to replace a chamberlain. As expected, King Qi's birthday gift was ferocious, and King Yan was not to be outdone. In addition to the familiar objects, there were also fire cicadas, clear hearts, and silk. Cold Curtain... A lot of stuff that most people don't realize is coming out.
Qiu Yilan listened to the discussion, and everyone had different opinions on whether the birthday gifts of King Qi or King Yan were higher or lower - she thought to herself, weren't they the same? Otherwise, how can we fight for it
The birthday gifts for these two royal highnesses are quite satisfactory - we are not fools. This year's Longevity Festival seems to be the beginning of the competition for the crown prince. Who dares to steal the limelight of the future crown prince
Finally, the gifts were presented, the scene had been discussed, the kabuki actors came in, and the banquet officially began - with the cover of singing and dancing, the atmosphere was relaxed, and everyone became more bold to speak.
Qiu Jinzhu asked Princess Yang in a low voice: "Your Highnesses' congratulatory gift... can your Majesty's inner treasury accommodate it?"
"What are you talking about?" Princess Yang said with a mixture of laughter and laughter, "You are so short-sighted. Is there any room for the Tian Family to collect this little thing?"
Qiu Yilan was not interested in the congratulatory gifts, but interrupted and asked: "Auntie, why are all the concubines here just now?"
"The Empress does not like people mentioning them." Princess Yang lowered her voice, "When the Empress is around, treat any concubine you see as if she is just a decoration, especially don't talk to her!"
"...This is the Lord of the Sixth Palace!" Qiu Yilan twitched the corner of her mouth, "If the Jiang family fails to seize the throne, it would be strange if they don't get trampled to death in the future!" This is not a concubine, she is simply an ordinary person. The concubine I bought with money!
Although the Jiang family now has only one choice to go all the way to the end, Qiu Yilan doesn't care. Wealth is sought in danger - is there anything in this world that can be obtained without hard work
Seeing that she was thoughtful, Princess Yang was about to seize the opportunity of her asking questions to brush up her feelings. Unexpectedly, a maid in pink clothes suddenly came over from behind, gently pulled Qiu Yilan's sleeve, and called out : "Princess Princess!"
Qiu Yilan turned around and saw that it was Jiang Qizheng's maid Mengtao. She couldn't help but be stunned: "Now is it considered a feast?"
She has been to few banquets, but she also knows that at least a few dishes must be removed from the banquet to be considered good, right? Now she has just picked up the chopsticks!