Hou Kun

Chapter 43 The Night Banquet in the Hall of Preserving Harmony

It's also New Year's Eve, the New Year's Eve dinner in the palace is grand, but the atmosphere is much worse.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the concubines and concubines of Shou'an Palace arrived at the Palace of Compassion and Ning early.The empress dowager doesn't like to be lively on weekdays, and the concubines don't come often.During the New Year's Eve, everyone winked, waiting for no greetings, and all the fun-loving people arrived.

The concubines were led by the queen to greet the queen mother and the concubine, and then led by the queen mother, they waited neatly for the emperor to come to Chonghua Palace for breakfast.When the emperor finished his work outside, it was almost time for the New Year's Eve meal.

When the emperor came, the queen brought the harem concubines to accompany the queen mother and the concubines talking happily and eating snacks.Seeing him coming, the empress dowager said with a smile, "The emperor has worked hard for a year, and today he is the only one who can put aside his political affairs and accompany us for a reunion dinner."

The emperor didn't go to the harem very often, and some concubines only saw him once or twice a year from a distance, and they couldn't even talk to him.Now that he came, it was lively and lively just now, and the whispers of the whole house suddenly became quieter.

The queen is a very smart person, and it is the queen's ability to get along well with the concubines, and the queen's virtuous name will come from this.She knew very well that the emperor had a cold temper, so it was up to her to ease the atmosphere at this time.

"Just now, Huang E Nie mentioned that this year, the sea is clear and the river is smooth, and there is no trouble in the river. The slave and the sisters in the harem have thought about it. This year, the master will reward us with something special. Woolen cloth."

The emperor's expression was indifferent, as if he didn't notice the desertedness in the seat. After greeting the empress dowagers and concubines, he sat down, looked around, and his eyes fell on Concubine He Gui, nodded slightly, took a mouthful of steamed crisp cheese and said , "This year is a good year with good weather and plenty of things. Speaking of river workers, the concubine's brothers have contributed a lot this year, and the dredging and governance are very good. I also hope that the front and rear palaces will work together to make them more harmonious. Taiping, this is the blessing of Great Xia."

The queen gritted her teeth, and stood up in embarrassment, saying "嗻".She didn't expect that a casual compliment from herself would lead to the credit of the noble concubine's brothers.The emperor is always like this now, favoring the noble concubine, and she is the only one in his eyes and mouth.Whose concubine in the harem did not contribute to the emperor in the previous dynasty, so there is no reason to look at someone and praise.Harmony and peace?Instead, she thought that the only one who could see him in the harem now was the new imperial concubine, and even she only saw him twice a month on the first day of the fifteenth day according to the rules.The harem is full of mourners, how can she comfort her?
The empress dowager is used to smooth things over, "I am busy all year round, and there are a lot of trivial matters in the harem. The empress takes care of it very well. It would be even better if I have another heir for the emperor next year." Turning to the concubines in the palace, " This is also where you devote yourself to the emperor. The most important thing for the royal family is to spread its branches and leaves."

The queen came over and pulled the concubine's hand affectionately, and led all the concubines to stand up to answer.

Concubine Gong Shun smiled and said, "I have been meditating for many years and rarely come out to see people. When I see you today, there is such a complete child. Come," she pointed at the concubine, "let me take a closer look. , this fleshy skin is so juicy."

The queen got up and took the concubine with her, took her hand and sent it to Concubine Gongsun herself, "What the concubine said is that sister Caiping is a good one, and we sisters love her very much when we see her. She has only been in the palace for three months, strange way You haven't seen it. Next year, it will all be pointed at my sister."

The noble concubine's cheeks were flushed, and she stole a glance at the emperor, seeing him smiling at her, her face turned even redder.

After a while, the banquet was ready, and everyone went to the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

Concubine Empress Dowager smiled and helped the Queen Mother to lead the way, and said wistfully, "In the blink of an eye, we have been in the palace for more than 20 years. Seeing these children today reminds me of the time when we first entered the palace. Son, I don't know anything."

The empress dowager was also a little perplexed, "No, this counts, it's not that the palace has been in the palace for [-] years... Every year, the food is placed in the Qianqing Palace. This year, the emperor suddenly said that he would move the place, and I'm still a little unhappy. Well. I was thinking, maybe it’s because I’m old, I’m still nostalgic... You bring up the old saying, I really remember that when the concubine entered the palace, she was like a hibiscus flower like Caiping. man."

The two have their own emotions.

The empress dowager also welcomed the imperial concubine in the same way.The first emperor was a concubine whom he met when he was a prince. The two of them almost didn't make a private decision for life. Later, the empress dowager was the master, saying that the empress dowager had a precious life and was more suitable for a concubine.For this reason, the concubine was forced to marry someone.

The heart that moves when you are young is the same as the brewed wine.If the Empress Dowager didn't stop her, she might not be able to do anything, but this was something she couldn't get, and it was engraved in her heart in the end.The concubine married someone who was not a human being, and soon became a widow. The emperor found out about it, so she entered the palace like this.

Fortunately, the empress dowager had already had a son at that time, so although the empress dowager favored her only after entering the palace, she soon gave birth to the second prince, Guanglu, but she failed to shake the empress dowager's position after all.

Concubine Gong Shun heard the word hibiscus and said awkwardly, "Queen, stop making fun of me, these children are peony and hibiscus."

In the end, the peony will eventually overwhelm the crowd, and the hibiscus will eventually fall into the ditch.

The empress dowager won the grievance.When she was young, she also resented the concubine in her heart, but since she became the middle palace, she knew that this was something she could do nothing about. If there were no hibiscus, there would be begonias, magnolias, and cloves. Care about.Winners have the attitude of winners, not to mention that there is an empress dowager who can't get around.

Since the death of the first emperor, the Empress Dowager has been in poor health, and now she has moved to the Old Summer Palace to recuperate.In these years, I don't ask about anything, and I don't even come out to meet people during the New Year. I call myself a "Qingyun Layman", and I chant scriptures and worship Buddha every day.

This year's banquet was held in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, which was larger than in previous years, so six tables were set up to accompany the guests.The prince Baylor who was in Beijing was called here, the emperor wanted it, and this made it obvious that the royal family was very affectionate.

New Year's meals follow the old calendar, and the first dish is soup.The soup is served in a pair of lacquer boxes, which means "auspicious in pairs".One box contains bird's nest red and white duck loin hot meal and japonica rice meal, and the other box contains a bird's nest duck waist soup and duck tofu soup.The queen mother, empress and emperor share the same rules, and the concubines only have japonica rice porridge and mutton egg powder soup.

Concubine Gongshun is the same as the concubines in front of her, only one copy.This is the rule.She didn't mind either, and used japonica rice porridge casually, fearing that it would not be digestible, so she only took a bite.Anyway, the big banquet is just a show, and you can't get enough to eat.

The imperial concubine was placed by the emperor's side by the empress herself. She didn't like mutton and only ate some japonica rice porridge.After a while, the eunuch took another cup of bird's nest and quietly handed it to her, which was a reward from the emperor.Knowing that she doesn't like mutton, I specially asked someone to bring it to her.The imperial concubine blushed, but her heart was like drinking honey.

Such is the grace, since the emperor ascended the throne, he has been No.1.

Concubine Concubine Gongshun was close, and the corner of her eyes narrowed.But a few years ago, there was always an extra cup of soup on her dining table, and the emperor would give her a cup of other soup. At that time, she was the only person the emperor cared about.Feng Shui turns, the curtain restarts, and now the tender and sweet emperor is no longer her and him.

After the banquet, the emperor drank a glass of wine first, and everyone sang together and said auspiciously, and the banquet broke up.

The new year's meal application has just begun, and it is still early when it is over.Same as when he came here, there was no word of mouth, and the concubine respectfully still supported Lan Xi's hand and walked slowly towards Ningshou Palace.

"Master, do you feel that Concubine He looks very much like a person?" Lanxi Sister suddenly asked.

(End of this chapter)