unclear

Chapter 34
Hong Tao was not used to this kind of cold kindness. After knowing who he was, the only thing he cared about was not to be killed. He had no hope of getting the kind of treatment that a normal person would have in this overly majestic and extremely perverted building complex. Some family affection.

After becoming the prince, he left the harem and entered the East Palace. He basically cut off contact with those so-called relatives.But the trouble lies here, the most ruthless royal family sometimes has to deliberately show special affection.

In addition to a few fixed important festivals every year, the royal family also has some days that require gatherings, such as the birthdays of the empress dowager, empress, and emperor.

万历皇帝出生于嘉靖42年八月十七日（1563年9月4日），李太后出生于嘉靖24年十一月十九日（1546年12月22日），王皇后出生于嘉靖43年三月七日（1564年4月17日）。

Similar to the birthdays of later generations, on these days every year, the emperor would give banquets to ministers at the Meridian Gate, and the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty would send congratulatory gifts to the birthday stars.But Emperor Wanli was really tired of his courtiers. He refused to meet them if they could, and changed the banquet to a congratulatory form.

Civil and military officials can just write a congratulatory message and hand it over to express their feelings. If they are willing to send something, they will not be stopped, and if they are unwilling to send it, they will not be forced.But there are still banquets, which are limited to the royal family, that is, family members have a meal to celebrate.

The Queen of Spring celebrates her birthday, and the banquet is held in Qianqing Palace.Every year, preparations begin as soon as the palace enters the third month of the lunar calendar. Wanshou lanterns more than ten meters high stand on both sides of Danbi. They are all lit up as soon as it gets dark and stay on all night.

At midnight on the afternoon of March [-]th, the emperor and empress in full attire appeared first, and drums and drums started to sound. Then the empress dowager, princes, and concubines entered in order of rank.

In the front of the Palace of Qianqing is a large dragon case. The emperor sits alone. Under the dragon case, to the east is the empress and to the west is the empress dowager.To the east are the princes and princes, and to the west are the princesses.Further down is the table for the imperial concubines, concubines, concubines, nobles, talented people, and selected attendants.Different levels have different types of dishes on each table.

When you sit down, you have to wait for the music to play and kneel down; when the emperor raises his glass to announce the start of the banquet, he still has to play music, and then kneels down; after eating, when the music starts, the emperor and the emperor leave first, and everyone else still has to kneel down.

Don't be embarrassed to eat every meal with fear. Unlike other princes and princesses, Hong Tao disliked participating in such activities since he was a child.In addition to the low status and neglect of her biological mother, Princess Wang Gong, she also hated this complicated set of etiquette, and she was not willing to kowtow a lot just to eat a few bites.

It's even more annoying now. Others may still be eager to compose poems, lyrics, and calligraphy during the banquet, or talk about embarrassing things to please the emperor and improve their status.He is already a prince. Unless the emperor dies, no matter how outstanding he is, he will still be a prince, with no room for improvement.

"If you don't listen, you're a bastard chanting sutras; if you don't watch, you're a bastard laying eggs..." Hong Tao sat behind the table, looking at the dishes that changed every moment without any appetite.With his eyelids lowered and the sixteen-character mantra silently recited in his mind, he put himself into a dreamlike listening mode so that time could pass faster.

As an experienced veteran, I had already had a hearty meal of beef noodles in the East Palace before coming to the Qianqing Palace. Except for the emperor and the queen who had to drink from the toast, I didn't want to eat any more.

"Prince..." But the more he wanted to hide, the more he chased him. As the banquet came to an end, the emperor suddenly thought of him. "Father, my eldest son Chang Luo is here!" Hearing the emperor's call in a daze, Hong Tao quickly walked out of his dream, stood up from the table and knelt down to agree.

"My son Chang Xun is getting married in autumn. As an elder brother, you also have the convenience of a glass kiln. All you have to do is pick out exquisite and gorgeous items for the wedding and bake them." Emperor Wanli didn't have any big plans. He just wanted to give the last The beloved third son made the marriage more glamorous.

He liked the transparent glass tea set presented by the East Palace. He heard that the prince hired craftsmen to make it and he didn't intend to criticize it. However, the prince had to provide the utensils and furnishings required for the wedding.

As for the fact that Concubine Zheng only gave a very ordinary coral ornament and some bolts of silk as a gift during the prince's wedding, we don't care whether it is equivalent to ask for so many precious transparent glassware now.Golden words and exports are the rule, let alone some finished products. If I ask you to donate the whole glass kiln, who dares to say no and try it!
"I obey the order, and I will do it as soon as I get back without delay!" Hong Tao really didn't dare to say no, even if he felt very disgusted, he had to agree without hesitation.

The glass kiln can hide it from others, but it can never hide it from the emperor. Even if they don't deliberately keep an eye on themselves, Dongchang and Jinyiwei are not just decorations. They will know after a little investigation.In addition, Chen Ju obviously would not keep it secret from the emperor in order to keep the prince's secret. Maybe the emperor would tell the truth just as he was about to ask him.

In fact, Hong Tao had no intention of hiding anything from the emperor, otherwise he would not have offered transparent glass products, including clocks and telescopes, and he had no intention of hiding anything. He even hoped that the emperor would see some opportunities for him to show off his talents.It's a pity that after working hard for more than half a year, people don't appreciate it.

But when it comes to his third half-brother, Concubine Zheng's eldest son, Zhu Changxun, who was canonized as King Fu, Hong Tao is still a little bored.You said that it doesn’t matter that you have been favored since childhood. If your life is good, no one can do anything about it.

But getting married doesn't require such a huge fanfare. Even at a young age, you don't know how to restrain yourself. You have to rely on being favored to get more aggressive, which makes the harem and courtiers sincerely disgusted.

Sometimes Hong Tao really can't figure out what's going on in the brains of such people, and whether they have any brain cells.Your father can pamper you for ten or twenty years, but sooner or later he will die.Then what?Now that we are making enemies everywhere because of trivial matters, don’t we have to pay this debt in the future?

There was almost a quarrel in the court over his marriage. Emperor Wanli asked the Ministry of Household Affairs for money every day, at least tens of thousands of taels.Not only did the wedding cost hundreds of thousands of taels, but the Prince Fu's Palace in Luoyang also had to be built. The scale was several times the size of other palaces, and it took a while to calculate the cost.

Now I plan to provide him with a full set of glassware, which sounds like the quantity is indispensable.But they didn’t say who paid for it, so it looked like it was going to be in vain.Concubine Zheng and Prince Fu didn't mean to be polite at all. They accepted it calmly. They were truly a family.

What made Hong Tao most uncomfortable was the red approval he saw in the cabinet a few days ago. It was an official document from the Fujian General Military Report.After reading it, the emperor made a large number of instructions and sent them back to the cabinet and forwarded them to the Fujian General Soldier to handle accordingly.

(End of this chapter)