It is the custom in the palace that banquets are held in Wenyao Palace during the four festivals of Cold Food, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival.
Wenyao Palace is in the former dynasty, but for the convenience of the concubines, there is a special corridor connecting it. It is usually heavily locked, but during festivals, it is opened layer by layer.
The corridor is long, narrow and deep, with high palace walls on both sides. Every ten steps, there is a pair of chest-high pottery jars filled with water to prevent fire.
On this day, two more pots of osmanthus bonsai were placed beside the water tank to suit the season.
The elegant cinnamon fragrance filled the air, suppressing the incense of all the palace concubines. It smelled sweet and mixed with a trace of water vapor, which diluted the coldness and depression of the corridor that had not seen the sun all year round.
When the corridor is gone, a door emerges, and the outside suddenly becomes clear, which is the back courtyard of Wenyao Palace.
In order to prevent assassination, no vegetation is allowed to grow near the houses in the palaces, especially those in the former dynasty. The guards stand in the corridor, clearly visible, so it is safe.
Therefore, the windows of Wenyao Palace can already be seen here.
In the vast courtyard, there are many bonsais placed on the white marble floor tiles carved with intertwining patterns, mainly osmanthus and chrysanthemums. They are surrounded by other flowers that bloom at this time. The fragrance is so fragrant that it even attracted a few bees that had disappeared. Surrounded by butterflies.
If it weren't for the rustling west wind, it would be as straight as a spring day.
"Our true concubine." The concubine who got off the chariot looked around and raised her eyebrows. Jia Chungyuan, who came up from behind to hold her hand, muttered, "She is really good at spreading money! In previous years, the empress The empress is hosting the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and the back courtyard never moves. It is so extravagant even in a place where no one comes."
After all, this place is reserved for the concubines and concubines, so who dares to enter by mistake
Empress Ji was born into a wealthy family, but she didn't like to spend money, so she always made fuss at the front and didn't move at all here.
The cluster of flowers that catches the eye now is probably the meaning of Yun Fenghuang.
"You say that now." Concubine Zheng allowed Jia Chongyuan to support her. There was no smile in her eyes, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. "When she went to visit the patients in Huaqing Palace, she was very attentive!"
"Empress..." Jia Chongyuan explained nonchalantly, "Isn't that... isn't it that you want to find out what the real concubine is?"
At the beginning, Yun Fenghuang suddenly claimed to be ill in order to act with the emperor. Wei Hengyan misunderstood and took advantage of the situation to force the empress. The imperial concubine Yingfei Yue Xiuyuan had enough backing, so she could not be moved.
Lu Chongyi, Jia Chongyuan and Xue Jieyu didn't hold on, and finally followed Wei Hengyan to Xuanqing Palace.
For this reason, Jia Chongyuan has been trying her best to please Concubine Zheng in the past few days, hoping that she will be able to ignore the faults of others and forgive herself, but she can't help but feel the pressure.
It's just that the imperial concubine has always been calm, neither saying that she forgives her nor saying that she won't forgive her. In short, she accepts it diligently. When Jia Chongyuan is happy, she suddenly stabs her with a few words, making her panic again.
Jia Chongyuan was worried for a few days, but now she is getting used to it...
At this moment, he saw that the imperial concubine was smiling but not smiling, and continued to hold her arm with a look on her face: "Your Majesty, watch your steps carefully."
Compared to her who lowered her face and acted as a palace maid to please Concubine Zheng, Lu Chongyi was much colder towards Concubine Ying. She just walked in the queue in an orderly manner without even blinking at Concubine Ying.
It's no wonder that although Jia Chongyuan's father and brother have high official positions, they were all promoted by Zheng Ju and belong to Zheng Ju's direct lineage. She naturally can't stand upright in front of Zheng Guifei; Lu Chongyi's adoptive father Qingpinghou is the regent. The king's current father-in-law is still above Uncle Zhaowu in terms of title, but he does not need to be too flattering to the concubine Ying.
She even resented Concubine Ying for not supporting her, so she had no choice but to give in to Concubine Zhen...
A group of concubines walked into the main hall with different thoughts.
Wenyao Palace was probably built specifically for banquets. Its construction was different from other palaces. It was modeled on the layout of the ancient times: the upper part is a high platform with a roof and four pillars for support; the high platform faces north and south, with east and west sides. The second corridor is said to be a corridor, but it is actually a place where guests sit; facing the middle of the high platform, there is an open space. The original floor tiles are covered with a layer of azurite bottoms with gold wire entwined with chrysanthemums, which are used as ritual instruments. A place where people perform vaudeville and the like.
The cloister connecting the east and west corridors in the south is where the palace residents and the attendants accompanying the ministers who enter the palace for banquets wait.
Due to such a season, the elders of the clan had to attend the meeting, and the east and west corridors were very wide apart. There were probably people blocking the view in the middle. There were no curtains in the corridors, and the seats were only arranged according to men on the left and women on the right.
When the imperial concubine took the lead and led the concubines into the long corridor on the right and took their seats, many officials were already sitting in the corridor opposite. Judging from their positions, they probably didn't have very high official positions. Otherwise, they would be waiting for the regent and Zheng Zheng at the entrance of the palace. Ju, Cui Wan and others arrived surrounded by them.
"Who are the ones at the bottom?" Concubine Zheng was not interested in these officials, but she looked at the seats near the south corridor, raised her chin, and asked in a low voice, "Can you please tell me clearly? They are all talented and beautiful and have never been married. of?"
He nodded his head: "My family specially arranged for someone to see him. The worst thing about him is that he has a straight face and eyes. Although he is a little short, he is a talented man from Shu. He is even known as 'Little Lingshan'."
Mr. Lingshan Wei Changkong, no matter how the world evaluates his behavior of abandoning Xiaozong, this man's talent and learning are beyond words.
Being from Sichuan, he was nicknamed "Xiao Lingshan", which shows that he is talented.
The imperial concubine said "Yes": "Xiao Lingshan? It seems that the person who gave him this nickname is not just jealous of him, but he is really capable."
Everyone knew the emperor's purpose of opening Enke. At this time, a scholar was called Xiao Lingshan. He couldn't explain it. Chunjia heard it and thought of Wei Changkong. As long as there was the slightest taboo, the future of this scholar could be imagined!
This clearly shows that they are afraid of other people's talents and deliberately use this method to ruin their future.
Concubine Zheng chuckled lightly and didn't ask any more questions. She just picked up the tea and sipped it slowly.
She was quite angry at the moment. The reason why she brought the concubines here now was because she followed the time given by Yun Fenghuang - she originally thought that Yun Fenghuang should be here instead of joining the others at Yanlan Palace. Greet her personally and accompany her to the table.
In this way, the status, superiority and inferiority of superiors and inferiors can be shown.
As a result, they came, but the real concubine was nowhere to be seen? !
Only when Concubine Zheng arrived at the main hall did she realize that Yun Fenghuang had done it on purpose: she was hosting the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and Empress Ji had already slapped her in the face, but the real concubine was not satisfied yet, so she arranged for the concubine to arrive early, and she was 80% sure Go to Queen Mother Yuan or simply follow the emperor and come back later.
In this way, everyone in the palace saw that the responsibilities and powers that originally belonged to the queen were handed over to the true concubine. Not only did the royal concubine and the noble concubine have to arrive in advance to wait for the true concubine!
... Even if the concubine is waiting for the Queen Mother and Chunjia, anyone who cares will understand that the queen and concubine are unable to compete with the rise of the real concubine, but the trend of the Sixth Palace is about to change.
Since Chunjia ascended the throne, the tacit understanding that family background determines status will be replaced by the emperor's favor determining dignity.
This meant a victory for the imperial power.
During this period, Concubine Zheng was tripped up by Yun Fenghuang openly and covertly more than once or twice, so much so that she regretted having an alliance with Yun Fenghuang in the first place - even though her pregnancy could not be saved, she had already decided to take advantage of this. To drag a high-ranking concubine into the trap, if Concubine Shu had not been chosen in the first place, if Concubine Shu had been there, even if Empress Dowager Yuan and Chun Jia wanted to support their trusted concubine, how could they have gotten Yun Fenghuang in their turn
It should be Concubine Shu after all!
Although Concubine Shu was not an economical lamp, she was accustomed to being a virtuous and virtuous person, and her behavior was always gentler than that of Yun Fenghuang, who was so ruthless.
Her mind was full of mixed feelings, and she didn't know how long it had been before she was pushed from left to right, and then she followed everyone in the palace and left the table to prostrate herself to greet her loving mother, the Empress Dowager, and Emperor Chunjia.
Chunjia went to Chunhuang Palace specifically to accompany Empress Dowager Yuan. Yun Fenghuang stayed in Chunhuo Palace early in the morning on the pretext of helping the Queen Mother's adviser to dress up, so it was natural for him to accompany her here.
Everyone worshiped the Queen Mother and the Emperor. Although she was two steps behind, those who moved slower actually knelt down.
Not to mention the mood of these people, Chunjia took a seat on the high platform with Empress Dowager Yuan, and whispered that Yun Fenghuang would be given a seat below him. Someone below asked in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother and the Queen Mother Why hasn’t the empress come yet?”
"Uncle, please ask." Chunjia glanced at the person asking the question and said calmly, "Empress Qu has been recuperating for many years and doesn't like making noise, so I sent someone to tell Empress Yuan this morning that I won't be coming over today. "As for the queen, her old illness relapsed in the past two days, so the banquet is being hosted by Zhenfei and Kunze. Naturally, she cannot be present today."
The regent said: "Princess Kunze has grown up and can share your majesty's worries."
Without mentioning Yun Fenghuang's contribution, he went on to say, "Besides the throne of the emperor, there has always been only..."
"Your Majesty." Before she finished speaking, Queen Mother Yuan suddenly spoke with a smile, pointed at Yun Fenghuang, and said warmly, "The Ai family is not doing well these days. This child has always served. Today is a festive banquet for the Ai family. I was so happy that I came here so I wanted to take care of this child..."
"Since it is the Queen Mother's wish, I have nothing to say." The Regent frowned. He originally did not want Yun Fenghuang to replace the Queen and sit beside the throne.
This was not only because he learned that Yun Fenghuang was bullying Concubine Ying and Lu Chongyi in the palace, but also because he had previously decided to take advantage of this feast to give Chunjia a hard beating.
Of course, given that Chunjia is not a soft persimmon now, the regent does not want to do things too seriously, lest the relationship between the two parties becomes tense and there is no room for mediation. By then, the one who is cheaper will not be an outsider
So he planned to start with Yun Fenghuang, the real concubine who has been in hot demand recently, and let her take the seat under the corridor. If Chunjia refuted, he had already prepared many words, but he didn't expect that Queen Mother Yuan would interrupt and mentioned It was because of her poor health that she needed to be taken care of by the concubine who had been waiting for her.
The regent knew the status of Queen Mother Yuan in Chunjia's mind, so it was hard for him to say anything.
After all, Chunjia was his nephew in terms of seniority, so it was okay for him to rely on his elders and act a bit older. However, Queen Mother Yuan was his equal and a female family member. It would be inappropriate for him to argue with the Queen Mother again and again in full view of the public.
It is also easy to be hated by Chunjia.
Therefore, the regent could only cease his activities.
Yun Fenghuang glanced at him and sat back down, curled his lips, sat down on the seat that was quickly added by the palace servants, and turned to Empress Dowager Yuan with a sweet smile.
...Actually, she had no intention of sitting on the high platform before.
The main reason is that during this period, the Queen Mother and the Emperor have been flattering enough and have already gained momentum. Today, they even designed to step on the imperial concubine, so there is no need to continue to cause hatred.
The queen was still there, so she took the seat that only the queen could sit in. She would be rumored to be an adulterous concubine.
But she didn't expect that Chunjia would take the initiative to arrange a banquet for her, and Queen Mother Yuan even helped out.
Yun Fenghuang, who sat down, looked grateful on his face, but he didn't feel much joy in his heart. Instead, he wondered whether Chunjia and his wife had any conspiracy behind doing this.
Just as he was thinking about it, the regent sat down. Before the other ministers could speak to ease the cold atmosphere, they approached the gate. Suddenly, a figure who could not be seen clearly on the high platform stood up and left the table. He walked to the middle and bowed down. He prostrated himself and said loudly: "Students think that what the regent said is very reasonable! The real concubine has a flawed background and a bad family tradition, so she cannot be a concubine, let alone a companion?!"
The whole hall fell silent for a moment, and almost everyone looked at the Regent.
The regent looked confused. Immediately, he thought of something and glared at Zheng Ju and Cui Wan who were looking down.