The Duke of Zhao's Mansion did not specifically publicize the news of the Queen Mother's visit, and of course, they did not deliberately conceal it - otherwise, Qin, the mother, daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who regarded herself as Zhu Tingfang's aunt, would never have been able to come out of Xuanji Courtyard intact just because they had offended the Queen Mother.
However, even if Qin didn't want to publicize this matter, after all, it was embarrassing for her, but it added icing on the cake to the already prosperous and lively Zhaoguo Mansion. But she didn't say it because there were too many ladies who had seen the empress dowager in Qing'an Hall before.
When the servant informed Zhu Jing and his two sons, he did not avoid the people sitting at the same table. For a while, the news that the Queen Mother was in person at the wedding banquet spread everywhere, and countless people were envious.
Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang, who had originally planned to go in and pay their respects to the empress dowager, learned that the empress dowager had gone to the bridal chamber and that she was going to see the bride. It would be inappropriate for them to chase after her at this time, so after discussing it, they decided to wait until the empress dowager returned to Qing'an Hall from the bridal chamber before paying their respects. Zhu Jing was a little worried about whether his eldest daughter-in-law would be too nervous or cautious when facing the empress dowager, but Zhu Tingfang was very calm.
Just based on what Zhang said when he left, it was enough to show that Zhang was smart and decent, and would not make mistakes because of the tension of a new marriage. In this case, even if the queen mother was a picky person, she would not be picky about this grandson's nephew's wife.
However, just as everyone at the wedding banquet was discussing the Empress Dowager's presence, another piece of news suddenly came, which was a gift from the palace. The person who came to present the gift on behalf of the emperor was not someone from the Imperial Household Department, but Chen Yongshou, the manager of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The gifts he brought were a pair of vases with the pattern of wealth and honor, written in the handwriting of the emperor, and the last item was unexpected.
Because it was a bag of food. Facing the confused groom, Chen Yongshou smiled and repeated the emperor's words: "This bag contains red dates, longans, lotus seeds, etc. The emperor personally ordered the imperial kitchen to carefully select them and specially give them to the newlyweds. He said it would bring good luck."
Everyone knew that the Duke of Zhao's mansion would not be short of such things, so they were all confused as to what the emperor meant by this reward. When Zhang Shou saw Zhu Tingfang solemnly accept it, and then because he had to personally send Chen Yongshou off, he handed the bag to Zhu Er next to him, he couldn't help but touch his chin thoughtfully, and then his face became very strange.
Seeing that everyone was talking about it, he asked, "Besides red dates, longans and lotus seeds, what else is in this bag? Are there any peanuts?"
"Uh..." Zhu Er was slightly stunned, stretched out his hand to take a look in the small bag, and then immediately raised his head, "There are indeed quite a lot of peanuts. It seems that this thing is not grown in the capital. The existing ones should be brought back from Shandong. They are more precious than red dates, longans and lotus seeds. By the way, how did you know there were peanuts? Did the emperor discuss this reward with you in advance?"
Zhang Shou pretended not to notice the suspicious looks around him and laughed, "Your Majesty doesn't need to inform me. I just heard Eunuch Chen say to ask for a good omen, and I also heard that there were red dates, longans and lotus seeds in the bag, so I guessed what your Majesty meant."
"Red dates, peanuts, longans, lotus seeds... put together, wouldn't that mean having a baby sooner rather than later?"