Since Ye Jun entered the imperial court until the family banquet on the 15th, only Concubine Wang and Concubine Xia met the emperor.
On the Lantern Festival, the banquet was held in Fengqi Palace.
It has been a long time since we last saw the emperor, so everyone dressed up as best they could.
Yao Xiang, who usually doesn't show much, puts a lot of thought into her outfit.
Of course the few who are not short of money wear different clothes and jewelry during the Chinese New Year. However, the few who are not favored and have no one to take care of them have worn the same clothes several times and are no longer new.
Zhang Baolin had changed her clothes today. She was wearing a lake blue palace dress, with her hair in a bun, and she was wearing a white jade hairpin of decent quality and a few silver hairpins. She looked elegant and pleasant.
This is consistent with her usual style of being a little white flower.
"Oh, Zhang Baolin, are you finally willing to change your clothes? I thought you would wear that purple skirt a few more times." Concubine Zhao said maliciously.
Although she herself was not rich, she was following the Queen after all and had saved some money over the years, so she would not have to wear the same clothes during the first month of the year.
Even Yang Baolin had new clothes every day as arranged by the Queen.
Zhang blushed slightly and bowed, "You are joking, Concubine, I think that after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Chinese New Year is over, so we should change into something bright and fresh."
"It was my fault that I was so careless that I forgot to give you more fabrics to make new clothes during the New Year," the Queen said at the right time.
This is just a pretense. Even if they give more, it would only be three or two pieces. It is not enough to wear for the first month of the year.
Yan Xiuyi raised her eyebrows slightly and continued with a smile, "Your Majesty, you really don't have to worry too much. I saw Zhang Baolin often go to the palace of the Concubine Shu. I believe the Concubine Shu also gave him gifts. I'm afraid Zhang Baolin cherishes the items and doesn't wear them."
"Yes, I live close to Xiuyi, so I get a lot of care. I think the Empress Shufei will definitely not be stingy with this." Li Wanrong quickly replied.
But what they said was right. Concubine Shu had not thought of this and did not give anything at all.
The main reason was that her servants didn't think of this and didn't remind her.
Seeing Yan Xiuyi and Li Wanrong singing the same tune at this moment, it was inevitable that he felt awkward.
Zhang was a very cautious person, and fearing that she would offend her only supporter, she quickly asked Concubine Shu to excuse herself.
"I get along well with Madam Shufei and often go to chat with her. Naturally, she gave me these clothes and jewelry, but I don't like to dress up, so I didn't wear them."
Yan Xiuyi and Li Wanrong wanted to continue exposing the secrets, but were stopped by the Queen.
"Seeing you two getting along so harmoniously, I feel relieved. Please take a seat, the Emperor is coming soon."
The Queen was naturally not trying to smooth things over for Zhang and Concubine Shu, she just didn't want the Emperor to see them arguing as soon as he arrived.
Everyone likes harmony in the backyard, especially at the rare family dinners. If there is noise, it would make her, the queen, appear incompetent and unable to control others.
When it comes to the emperor, everyone is still very concerned. They all straightened their clothes and sat down.
Ye Jun breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that she would be made a target today. No one is in the mood to argue every day.
Fortunately, Zhang Baolin stepped in front today and stopped the topic in time, so it didn't affect her.
Not long after, Ning Chen arrived, along with the Queen Mother and the unmarried second princess Ning Lin.
Neither the Grand Concubine nor the Grand Concubine De came.
After all, no one present has anything to do with them, so what are they doing here
In fact, Ning Lin didn't want to come, but Concubine Dowager De told her that her marriage in the future would most likely be decided by the Emperor and the Empress. In order to avoid being married off hastily, she had to be closer to her brother and sister-in-law.
Everyone stood up and saluted.
"No, no, today is a family dinner, you don't have to be so restrained. The hairpin the Queen is wearing today is very nice. It reminds me that I have a nine-tailed gilded phoenix hairpin in my palace, which was left over from the previous dynasty. I am old and don't like these. Fuzhi, go back and get it for me and give it to the Queen."
The Queen Mother looked particularly kind today. She personally helped the Queen up and said these words.
This must be a show. No one believes that the Queen Mother would suddenly become so nice to the Queen.
Normally, he only has his niece Chen Wanrong in his eyes.
A strange look flashed in the Queen's eyes, and she quickly responded by helping the Queen Mother to her seat herself.
"How can I give such a valuable thing to my son? It's better for you to keep it, mother."
"You are the queen, the mother of the country, and Chen'er's legitimate wife. I just want to give this thing to you, so wear it well!"
The Queen Mother sat down and took the Queen's hand and patted it.
It looks like the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are living in harmony.
When the dishes were served, he personally picked up two more pieces of food for Ning Chen with his chopsticks, "The emperor has lost weight these days, so he should eat more."
"I understand, son. Thank you mother for your concern." Ning Chen smiled, but his eyes were still cold.
Although the concubines below looked a little confused, they were not completely stupid. They all kept silent and just smiled.
At the following banquet, the Queen Mother seemed to be free of charge in her praises for all the favored and important people.
He also personally held the eldest princess in his arms for a while, and gave some gifts to Concubine Wende and the eldest prince on the spot.
Needless to say, the two pregnant ones are also the focus.
Xia Cairen's belly is now almost eight months pregnant, and looks bigger than that of an ordinary pregnant woman. Wang Jieyu is five months pregnant. She is thin, and it seems that she is pregnant from behind, so her waist is not very noticeable.
With the incident of Concubine Wende giving birth prematurely before, Ning Chen was more concerned about these two people. He asked about their situation and gave them some gifts.
No matter what, after today's meal, everyone looked very happy.
It was Ning Lin. Although she was there, her presence was really low and she didn’t even say a word.
In the evening, Ning Chen personally sent the empress dowager back to Cining Palace, and then returned to Fengqi Palace to live.
The Queen was naturally happy. Although it was an ancestral rule that one had to stay in the Central Palace on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, rules were dead, but people were alive, and she was also afraid that Ning Chen would not come.
On the other side, Ye Jun received a fan embroidered by Zhou Baolin himself as soon as he left Fengqi Palace.
Although it was a thank-you gift, the scarf would definitely not be returned to her. She had already worn it before, and even if she gave it to Ye Jun again, Ye Jun would not accept it.
"Zhou Baolin's craftsmanship is quite good. This is double-sided embroidery." Ye Jun took it and liked it very much.
Huiyue nodded and smiled again, "It's just that I can't use it for a while."
"Yeah, let's put it aside for now. It will come in handy someday." Ye Jun smiled meaningfully, then thought of something else and said, "Oh, by the way, send a message to the outside world to find out what happened outside. Why did the Queen Mother suddenly behave out of character?"
Huiyue was also present today, so she naturally noticed something was wrong and nodded in agreement, thinking that this matter would not only be investigated outside, but also in the palace.
The master and servant walked back, chatting all the way.
"I think Xia Cairen's belly seems a little too big. This is her first child, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to give birth."
"That's what I think. If things continue like this, the baby will suffer during birth."
"Forget it, forget it. It's not my fault. Anyway, I won't suffer."
After this family dinner, everyone had different thoughts.