While the second concubine was speaking, someone outside announced in a long voice that the emperor had arrived with the phoenix of the great empress dowager.
The two empress dowagers did not attend as usual today because they claimed to be ill.
At this moment, Chunjia and Gu Zhen were accompanying the Empress Dowager to the entrance.
According to the tacit agreement, the emperor should support the empress dowager as a sign of filial piety and closeness. However, since the empress dowager and the regent joined forces, even if they and Chunjia were at odds in private, they no longer pretended to be harmonious between ancestors and grandson in public. The meaning is that everyone goes his own way.
After these three people came in, they sat down at the head of the table under the worship of everyone. The Empress Dowager ordered no ceremony. Chunjia briefly talked with a few important ministers, exchanged greetings with Wei He's envoy, and then began to set the table.
The Queen Mother had been expressionless since she came in. She didn't even look at Chun Jia, but she looked at Gu Zhen, probably because Gu Zhen was a concubine who had been in the palace for these years, so she still gave her some face. When he turned his head to talk to her with a smile, he would occasionally reply.
In this situation, the seats in the harem are relatively dull, because I am afraid that I will offend this person, and then I will have a public outburst, which will be very embarrassing.
On the other hand, the ministers and envoys were far away, so it was still quite lively.
Yun Fenghuang chatted with Concubine De and Concubine Rui for a few words. Then he looked down and saw that Princess Roukun was no longer at her seat. She was counting the time to prepare for the dance.
Sure enough, after the Jiaofang Secretary had finished performing a music and dance that symbolized a prosperous and peaceful age, someone from the envoys below stood up and complimented the singing and dancing skills of the imperial court fluently, and then logically suggested that their princess also intended to serve as a member of the imperial court. The emperor and the empress dowager performed dances to add to the fun.
Of course, it was necessary to praise Princess Roukun for her noble status and superb dancing skills, and Chunjia also gave a few compliments to save face.
After talking like this for a while, the venue was changed to an exotic stage. Princess Roukun was dressed in Wei He's attire, with a veil covering her face, and golden bells hanging from her wrists and ankles. She stepped out from behind the screen with a sound. .
Wei He was good at singing and dancing, so Princess Roukun had the confidence to dare to perform in public.
Moreover, Hu dance generally has a cheerful and fast rhythm, which is not as soothing and melodious as that of Middle-earth dance, but it can more invigorate the atmosphere.
At this moment, the hem of the princess's skirt swirled sharply, and the bells all over her body vibrated, attracting the attention of the entire audience in an instant.
Even Yun Fenghuang, who had no good impression of her, couldn't help but stop drinking for a moment and stare... He happened to see Princess Roukun looking towards Chunjia on the throne. The young emperor was also crowned today. At this moment, she raised her hand slightly and gathered up a few strings of crowns so that she could enjoy Princess Roukun's dancing posture.
This also reveals the beauty of the sky. Under the bright lights, the already handsome emperor becomes even more majestic and majestic.
Before Princess Roukun came, she had heard that the Emperor of Central Plains was young, talented and beautiful, but he was married to a foreign country and could not be his wife. She couldn't help but feel a little angry, and she was dubious about this.
Just now, Chunjia and Gu Zhen were escorting the Empress Dowager in, but they were blocked by the crown. Even if she peeped quietly among the crowd, she could not clearly see the appearance of the emperor.
When I saw it at this moment, I couldn't help but be overjoyed, and danced harder and harder.
She didn't even notice that except for the queen, all the concubines looked at her completely unkindly.
After the dance, no one spoke for a moment in the palace. It wasn't until Chunjia gently raised her hands and shouted "Hello" that praises began to flow one after another. The feast was like a tidal wave, and the banquet became very lively for a while.
Princess Roukun panted slightly and walked off the stage, but did not go to the back to change clothes. Instead, she took a glass of wine from the seat and walked gracefully to the foot of the Danqi, expressing that she wanted to toast Chunjia.
This move is not in line with the etiquette of the Central Plains, but it is more tolerant towards foreign countries. Chunjia was talking to Gu Zhen in a low voice when Yan Yin reminded her, turned around and looked at him, smiled, and ordered her to go up.
He saw the princess holding a cup full of wine in front of him. Chunjia was about to pick up the golden cup in front of him, but Princess Roukun did not drink it immediately. Instead, she exhaled and sang a little song. Most of the people in the palace didn't understand Wei He's language. Chunjia's eyes flashed, but he smiled and drank down the golden cup in front of him. He said slowly: "I understand, the princess is lively and cute, and I like the princess very much."
Princess Roukun was quite surprised and said: "Can the emperor understand our Wei He's ditty?"
"... Someone in the palace also sang such a song in the early years." Chunjia smiled, "So I know a little bit about it."
Originally, the words were enough, but Princess Roukun turned her head to look at Yun Fenghuang and asked: "But Concubine Xian sang it? I heard that in the current harem, Concubine Xian is the only one who was born and raised in the North. That's close to me Wei He should also know our song."
Yun Fenghuang glanced at Chunjia, then looked at Princess Roukun, and said with a half-smile, "Princess guessed wrong, it's not me. However, I do know a few of the popular ditties in the North. Maybe another day Just sing it privately and listen to His Majesty."
Princess Roukun raised her eyebrows and said: "I heard that there is a saying in the Central Plains that it is better to choose a day than to hit it. Why don't you sing it now so that Your Majesty can..."
"Princess, be careful, you drank too much." Chunjia suddenly cut off her words and asked Yanyin with an unchanged smile, "Send the princess back to the table."
Princess Roukun curled her lips and was about to say something, but when Chunjia looked at her gently, she didn't say anything. She stamped her feet and retreated with the geese.
Chunjia then looked at Yun Fenghuang and sighed with a smile: "This princess is young, why do you bother with her?"
"Yes, I am getting old now." Yun Fenghuang rolled his eyes at him angrily, "Is it time to give way to her in two days?"
"What are you saying? I'm not afraid that you might spoil your mood." Chunjia leaned towards her slightly and coaxed, "By the way, how come you haven't sung the little song you just mentioned before? It wasn't Princess Roukun who mentioned it. Have you been hiding it all this time?"
Yun Fenghuang shook the wine cup in front of him and said with a smile: "It was only when the princess mentioned it that I suddenly thought of it. Your Majesty also knows that I was born in the Northland and had fought with Wei He in his early years. It's a little song that's popular in this hometown... Although I haven't studied it seriously, I can still hum a few lines."
Chunjia sighed: "I knew it would not be easy for you to say this at this time. Fortunately, I persuaded him to leave."
I also knew that the Xiaoquer Yun Fenghuang was talking about was probably the kind who was not very friendly to Wei He.
Although Chunjia may not be sincerely on good terms with Wei He, but now that they have taken the initiative to make things right and made the princess their concubine, they still have to show some dignity and not appear too mean.
"Is this not simple for me?" Yun Fenghuang curled his lips and said, "You also said that Princess Roukun is young? From my perspective, this is just like a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, so he doesn't care about people like me at all. ! If she comes to the palace tomorrow, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait for her to show off her power!”
Chunjia smiled, but before she could speak, the Empress Dowager over there was a little impatient and said calmly: "Concubine Xian, you have so many things to say to the emperor before and after. Now, please take the emperor and sit with you." , why don’t you ask the Queen to make way for you?”
"...I know that I was wrong." Yun Fenghuang could only bow his head and plead guilty, "Please punish me, the Queen Mother."
The Empress Dowager ignored her and just said to Gu Zhen: "Now that you have become a queen, you should behave like a queen. If the people below you are not following the rules, you should take care of them. Otherwise, when the rules are relaxed and something goes wrong, it will not be the case." The fault lies with you, the head of the palace? Besides, there are so many decorations in the palace, and you are like a wooden man who turns a blind eye and doesn't hear anything, so what do you want to do?"
Gu Zhen was quite depressed, wondering if he could handle the emperor talking to his beloved concubine.
He could only lower his head in aggrieved tone and said: "What the Imperial Grandmother taught me was that it was my grandson-in-law's fault."
Because of these two words from the Empress Dowager, the Empress and the high-ranking concubines remained silent.
The next banquet passed in an uneventful manner. After the banquet, the emperor sent the empress dowager back to the palace again, while the concubines went their separate ways.
Because Xie Meng and Xie Kuo were young, they couldn't help but fell asleep in the arms of the palace maid. At this moment, Yun Fenghuang asked someone to carry them onto the chariot to avoid catching a cold. He asked Qingdu to carry a palace lantern. Walking slowly beside the chariot.
Firstly, the Wenyao Palace is not far from the harem, and secondly, she had just eaten some more wine, and it was just a good time to dispel the alcohol while walking.
A group of people were filing through the long and narrow corridor when a burst of messy footsteps came from behind, mixed with a man's voice.
Yun Fenghuang frowned slightly, stood still, turned around and saw several palace servants holding lamps, escorting a master and a servant.
Seeing the honor guard of the wise concubine, she hurriedly bowed and saluted from a distance, and said: "I've disturbed the empress. The Empress Dowager took pity on the regent's Crown Prince being drunk, so she kept him in the palace temporarily. Tomorrow he will go to the Ancestral Temple with His Majesty... Because the Crown Prince was drunk. It's so powerful, so the slaves dared to take a shortcut, not wanting to hit the empress."
"It's okay." Yun Fenghuang glanced at Gong Xiangxiao. He was being supported by Dou Su and was unsteady. He could smell the smell of alcohol on his body even if he didn't get close, so she stepped aside. , said lightly, "The prince is indeed very drunk, please send him to rest as soon as possible."
When the group of people passed by, she glanced at Chen Jing, who quickly came over and said, "Your Majesty?"
"May I ask where the Empress Dowager has arranged for the eldest son to live?" Yun Fenghuang said, "This eldest son is also strange. The regent obviously doesn't care about him, but the Empress Dowager will summon him to the palace from time to time to talk. Today I might as well stay overnight in the palace."
Chen Jing did not move when he heard the words, and said with a chuckle: "I have heard this matter before. It seems that when the late Emperor Xiaozong was still alive, because he had no children, he loved the regent and his son very much, and summoned him into the palace from time to time. He stayed overnight and was raised as a prince for a time. At that time, the Empress Dowager Xu had no biological grandchildren, and she doted on the Prince Regent. When the Prince Regent was young, the late emperor and the Empress Dowager hugged him many times... Even when the late Emperor stayed as regent, The reason the king used to discuss matters in the palace was that the regent's son was young and could not live without his biological father."
It is said that the regent was already married and had children at the time. According to the rules, it was not allowed to live in the harem. However, it was not very convenient to live in the former dynasty. Xiaozong finally chose the island in Taiye Pond. "Earlier, the regent had always lived in a small house." It belongs to Daiyu, and the prince is probably staying there this time. It seems that no one has mentioned this place for many years, and I don’t know if it’s too late to clean it up now.”
Yun Fenghuang thought to himself: Why is it too late? When I first entered the palace and was forced to jump into the lake to escape by that bastard Chun Jia, he ordered me to stop him on the island.
I am afraid that no matter whether he enters the palace or not, those places are always ready for his visit.
However, if she remembered correctly, Gong Xiangxiao had a residence in the palace city. When he was a reading companion for Chun Jia, he had a private courtyard in the former palace. And the Wenyao Palace is in the previous dynasty. If the Empress Dowager just feels sorry for her cheap grandson who drinks too much and is afraid that he will be troubled on the way back, she plans to keep someone in the palace for one night. It would be more convenient to send someone to the courtyard over there, but she has to go to war. He was taken to the harem and rowed to the island at night. What was the purpose of this
It's never just a whim.
Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and returned to Xuanqing Palace.
It was already very late at this time, and she had no intention of saying anything to the concubines, so she waved her hand and let them make arrangements for themselves.
He asked someone to serve Xie Meng and Xie Kuo to sleep, and went to see a pair of children in person before going back to the bedroom to rest.
We couldn't rest for long, it was time to pay our respects.
The greetings on the first day of the first lunar month are particularly grand, and you must get up earlier to have time to dress up.
When Yun Fenghuang was dressing up, he hesitated for a moment, and finally asked someone to call his two nieces: "Get them dressed up, and we will go to say hello later. After all, after living in the palace these days, we have to go to the New Year. Say hello to the Queen Mother."
Although the Empress Dowager might be embarrassed by this, if they were not brought along, it would appear that the Xie daughter did not understand the rules.
But when they actually arrived at Qingci Palace, the Empress Dowager, who came from a noble family, was much more grand than Empress Dowager Yuan. She didn't care much about Xie Meng and Xie Kuo, so when Yun Fenghuang ordered his two nieces to go to the palace to kowtow and salute, he shouted lightly , after asking the servant to reward him with something, he just pretended that it didn't happen.
Not even a single word was struck.
This is definitely not to be more tolerant to Yun Fenghuang for the sake of the Chinese New Year, but just because he is too lazy to care about the children.
On this day, although the emperor's heirs were all still young, they were brought here. The Empress Dowager was not very interested in these unrelated great-grandsons. Only the eldest prince, as the eldest son of Chunjia, was asked to be embraced by her. I came to see him once and said a few auspicious words in a lukewarm tone. There was also Princess Zhaoqing, the eldest daughter of the emperor was so cute that the Empress Dowager couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
The other imperial heirs, including the Empress Dowager, simply did not step forward.
... The main reason is that these royal heirs have basically never been to Qingci Palace, and there are so many people today. One crying caused everyone to cry, one after another. The Queen Mother had a headache and felt dizzy, so she took back her eyes to see Princess Zhaoqing. After looking at each other, he let everyone disperse: "Queen, stay here for a moment."
Gu Zhen gritted his teeth and stayed, praying in his heart that it would not be an embarrassing thing.
When I was a concubine, when I went to Qingci Palace to pay my respects to Mianfu Palace, Ji's phoenix masters had the same attitude. They were indifferent or cold to the concubines, and only let the queen stay to discuss business matters with them.
At that time, Gu Zhen was not envious of this special treatment.
But now it's her turn to be treated like this, and she doesn't want it...
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to say something. She was not Yun Fenghuang, and she could not do anything that was contrary to orders or even blatantly disobeyed her orders. She could only ask with a forced smile after the concubines left, "What are your orders from the Imperial Grandmother?"
The Empress Dowager did not bother her, and brought up Princess Minghui's marriage straight to the point: "Commoner Ji Sheng was abandoned, and Jade Disk was removed. In this case, it is not appropriate for Minghui to keep her filial piety according to the rules. Sorry. The meaning of family is that everything will be fine as long as the father is still alive."
When Gu Zhen heard this, he thought that was all. He was secretly relieved and hurriedly expressed his support.
And she tactfully promised that no one would talk about the eldest princess being unfilial.
"In this case, she will pay filial piety in a few months after the spring begins." The Queen Mother followed, "Then it's time to think about marriage. The Ai family heard that your brothers and nephews are very honest and honest?"
Gu Zhen: "..."
If Concubine Xian were here, she would probably be able to give dozens of reasons for rejection.
However, the former Mrs. Yaoning found that the queen was not so articulate. She was dumbfounded for a while and then said dryly: "The emperor's grandmother is so complimentary. The brothers and nephews in my granddaughter-in-law's family are all unworthy."
"It's good if you don't live up to expectations." The Empress Dowager said calmly, "Ming Hui has a valuable status, and the prince-in-law does not need to be too capable. People like you, the Queen, just live a down-to-earth life."
Gu Zhen said bravely: "My granddaughter-in-law dare not hide anything from the emperor's grandmother. Her brothers and nephews are quite naughty..."
The Empress Dowager glanced at her and suddenly said: "If Concubine Xian were here, not only would she not decline like this, but she would immediately agree to the matter, and she would even kneel down to thank the Ai family. Do you believe it?"