Among the five islands in Taiye Pool, Xiaofanghu and Xiaoyingzhou are the largest. However, the scenery of the former is circuitous and secluded. It is extremely bumpy and has almost no open space, so it is not suitable for large-scale banquets. drink.
In comparison, there is a natural flat land in Dongxiaoyingzhou, which is enough to accommodate everyone participating in the summer banquet.
The group of people followed the Empress Dowager to the pier not far from Yanfu Palace. Several painted boats had been waiting for a long time. It was obvious that they had not been used for a long time and were temporarily sorted out. They were painted brightly and were covered up. The smell had to be smoked with a lot of spices. No one came near at that time, but they could already smell the strong aroma.
The Empress Dowager was still young after all, so she frowned slightly when she saw this.
Queen Mother Ji also covered her nose with a handkerchief, looked at the queen reproachfully, and said: "Even if the summer banquet was held unexpectedly, since we had already decided to stay on the island, why didn't we pack up the boat in advance? It was so smoked at that time, It’s hard to go, Ai Jia already feels dizzy.”
"When I return to my mother, my daughter-in-law has had the boat ready since she received the mission to the east." Empress Ji even went to apologize and explained, "If the palace has not visited the lake for a long time, and the people of Didong have also slacked off, so As for except for the small boat that Ming Hui and the others use to play, there are no boats in need of repair... Could you please have that small boat brought over?"
"Nonsense!" Empress Dowager Ji said displeased, "How many people can fit in the small boat that Minghui and the others often use? They are young and can withstand the bumps, but the people of the Ai family can't bear it."
The Empress Dowager sighed and said, "That's all. The Ai family's whims will make it difficult for the Queen. Let's just ask them to put out the incense on the boat, open the curtains to let some air, and let's go again."
Empress Ji breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Grandma Huang. My wife, I will tell someone to do it."
After being delayed at the dock for a while, the group of people landed in Xiaoyingzhou one after another.
Xiaoyingzhou has lush vegetation, and a slope was built in the northeast corner. Because it was planted with pines, it was called Songling.
Although the rest of the place is not flat, the terrain is flat. As you look around, you can see amazing flowers and green branches and leaves. The streams that come from nowhere are winding and gurgling. The paths are wide and low. Occasionally, you need to go to the east. Step by step. Probably because the royal family has not visited for a long time, there are many birds and small animals living in that place. They are not afraid when people come, they look around curiously, and from time to time they lean into nearby branches to observe.
The Empress Dowager looked at it with some emotion. She supported the palace attendant's legs and tilted her head half a step behind her. Empress Dowager Ji said: "When the late emperor was very much alive, he liked Xiaoyingzhou the most, and he often brought the Ai family here to have a rest... In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.”
The late emperor she was talking about was not Xiaozong, but Emperor Shenzong, Bidong.
Empress Dowager Ji listened and sighed: "My wife remembers very well that at that time you liked Shi Cuixuan in front of you the most. That time the queen held a banquet and placed it in front of Shi Cuixuan for us."
"No?" The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, saying that the Empress Dowager and the Empress were concerned, and then asked, "Has Hengyun Pavilion been cleaned?"
"Then is it the place where the late emperor visited most often when he came to Xiaoyingzhou? Where can I miss it?" Queen Mother Ji said, "It's all packed up. Do you want to go there later? Will my wife accompany you?"
The Empress Dowager felt sad for a while and said, "Let's talk about it. Is there anything serious to do tomorrow?"
As soon as I shut up, I arrived at Shi Cuixuan, a small courtyard rising at the foot of Songling Mountain. The surrounding area was all different shades of green, with no trace of bright purple and red. There is a small, liquid waterfall beside the waterfall. The height is about two people high. The water is clear and refreshing, and the summer heat has disappeared. In the small pool to the east of the waterfall, many deep and shallow green leaves have fallen, and there are probably more than a dozen of them. Koi float and swim.
The red and green colors look very beautiful.
The carps were not surprised when they saw people coming. Instead, they gathered on the shore with their heads peeping out, as if they were begging for food.
The Empress Dowager stood by the pool for a while, then leaned over and picked up a pebble that had been washed clean and round by the waterfall. She said that when she was young, she came to the island with Emperor Shenzong, and she would pick out various stones there and pick them up every time. People who show off their beauty are not happy, and they would show it off to Shenzong and Xiaozong... As she spoke, the smile in the corner of her eyes faded away: "Later, there were more and more beautiful people, and they all wanted to be dazzled, and then I realized But the palace people wanted to please me, so they secretly replaced the stone with thousands of choices from outside, and then they found it boring."
Seeing this, Empress Dowager Ji changed the topic and coaxed the Empress Dowager to say something else, and then she entered Shi Cuixuan in a crowd.
... Well, what do you mean by entering Shicuixuan? The Empress Dowager, the three Empress Dowagers, the Empresses, the principals, the Three Wei Dynasties, a princess, and their attendants all entered.
Everyone else is waiting outside.
For fear of disturbing the bosses inside, although the palace concubines who stayed at the door did not line up neatly and silently, they did not dare to be too presumptuous. They walked around briefly and occasionally talked quietly.
Yun Fenghuang looked around and went to find Yun Qingman. Unexpectedly, Yun Qingman, who was not far away just now, was nowhere to be seen. Xue Xiaoge looked at her and asked, "He just saw Qingman." Sister Man is here, she doesn’t seem to be feeling well, so she asked the palace maid to support her and went over there, maybe she wants to find a place where no one is around to catch her breath."
"Then what happened?" Yun Fenghuang thanked her and chased her in the direction pointed. Sure enough, he didn't go far when he saw Yun Qingman behind a tall camphor tree. Most of his body was hanging on The palace maid was there, clutching her chest and vomiting repeatedly.
The sour smell of jellyfish lingered around the master and servant, and when he looked again, he had vomited a lot of undigested filth.
Yun Fenghuang went forward to help the palace maid support the person, and asked in surprise, "Did you eat something bad?"
"... It's not good to be on the ship." Yun Qingman raised her blushing face, her forehead covered with fine beads of sweat, and said feebly, "The palace servant in front of my sister kept pinching him until he got through it. On the shore, if the Empress Dowager had not come in later, he might have been disobedient... It seems that she was seasick."
Although she was of high birth, as a concubine who was destined to seek marriage, she was raised in a boudoir where no one knew her. She had never been on a boat before, so she had no idea that she had such a problem.
At that time, I was dying. Do I regret it, "If I had known that I would ask my sister to help me ask for leave, I didn't know that he would not be able to survive the trip to pick up Donglai."
"Who would have thought of that?" Yun Fenghuang and the palace maid helped her to the nearby clean grass and walked eastward, comforting her, "Don't worry, there are so many people in the palace, maybe the queen has arrangements. , and while I was resting there, he asked someone to ask and collect my vomited things first, in case others wandered by and saw something bad. Then he looked for any seasickness medicine... If it didn't work, he quietly sent it to me. go back."
Yun Qingman asked worriedly: "Is it possible? It will be so lively tomorrow, the Empress Dowager and the three empress dowagers are all here... "
"It's easy to do things when there are many people, and you don't have much time to pay attention to us." Yun Fenghuang didn't think this was a difficult thing to handle. After all, neither she nor Yun Qingman could have a summer party. Who cares about missing characters, whether they are absent or not
I sent Xile to run errands, and sure enough, he brought two waiters with brooms and dustpans to clean up soon. He also brought back the Queen's words, saying that the Queen didn't expect anyone to get seasick. The key is not to be too liquid. Even though Yun Qingman was so dizzy even though she was so small, there is no seasickness medicine on the old island. Please tell Yun Qingman that she can't bear it, so someone can send her back to Tongxia Palace to rest first.
Yun Qingman hesitated for a while and decided not to go back yet. Firstly, she felt much better after vomiting. Secondly, Mingyue was an opportunity to get together with her parents' family, and she didn't want to miss it.
So Yun Fenghuang walked with her under the tree for a while, until Xile came over and reminded her that there was an open space in front of Shi Cuixuan, and the banquet furnishings such as tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks had been arranged and spread out. All the concubines gathered there. They were afraid that the Empress Dowager and the others were about to come out, so they all went over to join them.
After they passed by, they saw that the empty space that had just been empty and could accommodate the ceremonial procession of the Empress Dowager and others was already covered with colorful mats, seats one after another, and screens one after another. They lined up in a meandering manner, dividing the entire banquet venue into two parts.
Judging from the style and color of tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks, they are arranged according to men on the left and women on the right. As for the female relatives, the married woman is on the left and the married woman is on the right.
In the center of the banquet, there is a medium-sized open space with a platform as high as one person, which can be used for singing and dancing with silk and bamboo.
The foreign ministers must have landed on the island by then, but they did not show up. They were probably detained elsewhere to avoid suspicion and were waiting.
Not long after, a waiter with a whisk on his leg came out of Shicuixuan and hurried away. Soon another person came out, beckoning the concubines to line up and be silent, and filed into the table.
Soon, the foreign waiters who had left before also came out of the forest with a large group of foreign women wearing jingle bells, and walked into the banquet one by one.
The two parties finished the ceremony in a hurry, and they barely exchanged a few words about whether they were relatives or old friends. The waiter in charge coughed and reminded everyone not to say anything.
Immediately, from the gauze and carved gaps of the screen, I saw that the courtiers invited to the summer banquet were lined up according to their status, walking slowly from the path behind Shi Cuixuan.
The position where they were seated was blocked by a screen, and the silhouettes of shadows could be seen from the women's seat. Yun Fenghuang took a few glances and picked up the glass cup in front of him without interest, sipping the rose water in small sips.
It was not that Yun Qingman looked at her without blinking, then suddenly leaned next to her ear and whispered: "He saw daddy and the others."
Yun Fenghuang said "hmm" without raising his head: "We should have a chance to meet him later."
Yun Qingman begged to shut up, and he caught a glimpse of his aunt making a "hush" gesture with her legs towards him, and walked away, pretending that she was very demure and ladylike.
After all the ministers greeted each other in low voices and sat down, someone went into Shicuixuan to inform. After a while, everyone came out surrounded by the Empress Dowager. The people at the table got up from their seats and knelt down to welcome Feng Jia.
The Empress Dowager called after entering the table and asked everyone to go back. She exchanged a few words with the important officials of the clan, and also expressed her condolences to several older and loyal ministers. Seeing that the time was about the same, she ordered the banquet to begin.
The dishes for the banquet came in at the same time as the singing and dancing, and Lin Dong, who was originally quiet, suddenly became lively.
After three rounds of drinking, the Queen Mother and others excused themselves to change their clothes and left, leaving the place to the juniors.
Seeing this, Wei Hengyan immediately came over and pulled Yun Fenghuang and Yun Qingman, saying why don't we all go for a walk together
When she said that, she winked at Yun Fenghuang.
Yun Fenghuang understood and said: "Qingman just saw her father and brother. Can I also ask for someone from my family? There are so many people there. They are scattered and I don't know if we can get together later. Please, no Just look for it together?"
Wei Hengyan immediately agreed to come to the east. She couldn't go directly to Deng Chengzhai, who was neither a relative nor an acquaintance. However, Yun Qike, the brother of the Yun sisters, and Deng Chengzhai were both students of the emperor. They had been classmates for eight years, so Buchenghu introduced Deng Chengzhai privately. With his personality, he would be an excellent candidate if he could be recommended by Deng Chengzhai in person.
Otherwise, she would not have seen Yun Fenghuang and Yun Qingman come over as soon as the Empress Dowager and the others left.
However, at this moment, a maid walked up to them. She bowed to them, looked at Yun Qingman and said, "Fourth Miss, Madam, please go over and shut up."