Zhumen Chunshen

Chapter 351 New Year's Eve (Part [-])

Not wanting to take a bite, Lu Shi let out a soft cry of "Aiya" and spat out the copper coins in his mouth, and everyone smiled and congratulated her.

Although Lu Shi was also looking forward to winning the grand prize to win the first prize, but she, who was used to keeping a low profile, suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention, and felt a little embarrassing.

Old Madam Shen looked at her and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, today this first blessing belongs to you!" Saying this, she ordered her close maid Xiaoxi to shake a phoenix with wings spread on six sides, inlaid with jade and inlaid with seven treasures. Gave it to Lu Shi.

Xue, Duan and others couldn't help being moved when they saw this, this step was a gift from the imperial court many years ago, the workmanship is exquisite, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is priceless.

Surprised and delighted, Lu hurriedly got up to take it, and thanked the old lady with a smile.

"Come, come! Let's continue eating!" Mrs. Shen smiled and picked up the chopsticks again, and everyone followed.

This time, it was Yao Cunhui who was in the middle. The old lady Shen was very happy, and said with a smile: "This is very good! You are a princess, and you are always lucky!" As she spoke, she rewarded a pair of emerald butterflies and green emerald bamboo leaves. The rice beads are stringed with pollen stamens and golden hairpins, and Yao Cunhui hurriedly stepped forward and thanked them with a smile.

Nanny Qi, who was beside Old Madam Shen, laughed and said, "Fourth Madame won the first prize, and the princess won the lottery again. Maybe there will be good news in the beginning of the new year!"

Mrs. Shen laughed loudly after hearing this, nodded again and again and said: "Nurse Qi is right, this is very true! Granddaughter-in-law, my old lady is waiting for your good news! Hehe, and daughter-in-law Zhen too!" Mrs. Xiao also said Very happy, smiling from ear to ear, everyone joked and laughed.

Yao Cunhui's face flushed all of a sudden, and she lowered her head with a sneer.Lu Ying glanced at Shen Zhen, full of disgust, and couldn't help but sneak a sideways glance at Shen Quan, seeing that he was smiling and looking at Yao Cunhui tenderly, something seemed to be blocked in her heart, and she felt very uncomfortable , subconsciously clenched his fist tightly, and the long nails dug straight into the palm of his hand.

After eating the dumplings, everyone watched the fireworks on the corridor again, and then dispersed back.

Before dawn the next day, Yao Cunhui got busy. The lights in the Xihe hall were brightly lit, the maids passed the hot water, and those who took the clothes and jewelry were very busy.

As a princess, Yao Cunhui is going to enter the palace today to greet the Queen Mother and Queen.

The clothes of the princesses with different surnames are six Zhai and four phoenix crowns. The big shirts, Xia Pei, and Yanju adornments are similar to those worn by princes and concubines. The green Zhai clothes, jade-colored singles, red-collared skirts and knee covers of the same color are intricately outlined. Embroidery, very beautiful and rich, the pattern on the clothes is Yunxia Zhai pattern instead of the prince's treasure Xianghua Zhaiwen, and the crown is three Zhai and two phoenixes less than the prince's concubine.

After Yao Cunhui got up to take a bath, it took more than an hour just to put on the whole set. The candles were blown out, and it was already dawn before tidying up.Yan Shunju, who went first, greeted Mrs. Xiao, and after hearing Mrs. Xiao's instructions, she went to say goodbye to Mrs. Shen. Mrs. Shen felt relieved when she saw that Madam Li was with her, and comforted her with kind words. Tell her not to be nervous, just follow the crowd and salute, so she is ordered to go.

Mrs. Xiao also had an imperial order, and she should have entered the palace to greet the New Year and congratulate her on the New Year, but Mrs. Xiao is now a widow and cannot enter the palace, so she just went to the palace to congratulate her, and she didn't have to go in person.

When Yao Cunhui, Mama Li, and Hong Liao came out of Cixin Residence, Mrs. Xue, Mrs. Meng, Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Lu happened to be coming to greet the old lady, so they stopped to say hello.

Mrs. Xue bumped into Yao Cunhui dressed up early in the morning, and felt bad luck in her heart, as if Yao Cunhui was here specially waiting to scare her off.Lu Ying felt even more sour, wishing to step forward and strip Yao Cunhui off, she couldn't help but think of the first day of the previous year, when would she not enter the palace to kowtow to her aunt for New Year greetings?I don't want to become a relative now, but lose this qualification!

Lu Shi greeted Yao Cunhui politely with a smile, and praised her with a smile.Seeing this, Mrs. Xue couldn't help but sneered slightly - no wonder she was holding that little girl's stinky feet!The third room is a concubine, and she is not qualified for this title even if it is said that the grape is sour!
Yao Cunhui and his party went out the second door and got into the carriage. Li's mother smiled and told Yao Cunhui carefully about the details, and Yao Cunhui listened to them one by one.

After checking in front of the palace gate, he continued to drive in, but the speed of the carriage was much slower, and the driver also sat up solemnly and solemnly.After getting off the carriage at the Longzong gate between the front and back palaces, a young eunuch who was waiting there came up to lead the way silently saluting.

Li's mother is experienced, she smiled and took two steps faster, and said with a smile, "Father-in-law has worked hard" and calmly followed the silver ticket to the little father-in-law. The ticket slipped into his sleeve, and he glanced back at Yao Cunhui, his face softened, and he still led the way.

Yao Cunhui supported Polygonum's arm and walked forward with eyes, nose, nose and heart in mind. After a while, he came to the wide green brick field in front of Changchun Palace, where many people were already waiting.People who are familiar with each other will smile and nod to each other, or chat with the people next to them in a low voice from time to time. Overall, it is very quiet.

The little eunuch led Yao Cunhui to her place that had been predetermined in advance, and asked her to stand. One person could be left to serve, while the other person had to go to a side hall outside to wait.Naturally, Mother Li stayed behind, and Hong Liao went with the little eunuch.

All the wives were middle-aged, the youngest was in his thirties, Yao Cunhui was not yet eighteen, and with that eye-catching attire, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.Everyone couldn't help asking the people around them in low voices. After hearing it clearly, they suddenly realized that they were a little curious, so they just looked at her quietly.

Yao Cunhui swept his eyes lightly, smiled at everyone, then lowered his eyelids slightly, stood there waiting calmly, and let everyone look at them casually.

Seeing that she had an extraordinary bearing and a generous demeanor at a young age, it was no fun to stare at her, so they gradually withdrew their gazes.A rich lady standing next to Yao Cunhui smiled and chatted up with her, and Yao Cunhui also made some polite remarks with a smile.

The number of people gradually increased, and after a short while, female officials and eunuchs came out of the hall, stood on the high platform porch, and watched everyone.

So the little eunuchs and court ladies who had been standing on both sides with their hands bowed and bowed their heads came over to inspect, and when they saw someone standing in a biased position or a little disheveled in their clothes, they made gestures and winked.Everyone lowered their eyes to check, and then stood respectfully with their hands down and their breath held, not daring to vent their breath.

After about a quarter of an hour, only the sound of trampling footsteps could be heard from the top, following the eunuch's chanting, all the people knelt down together, ringing with pearls and emerald rings.

Yao Cunhui knelt down and bowed his head along with the crowd, and he heard a high-pitched and clear voice reciting a long four-six parallel prose with no meaning.After reading for a while, following the guidance of the eunuch, I kowtowed and kowtowed again and again, and got up after the matter was over.Afterwards, a highly respected woman came forward to bless the queen mother on behalf of the people, said a lot of auspicious words, and led the people to kneel down and kowtow.

Everyone kowtowed and stood up.

So far, the whole ceremony has been successfully completed.

Next, it is time to go to Kunning Palace to salute the Queen and congratulate the New Year.As usual, the queen sent the eunuch in charge to pass on Yi's decree, saying that it was inconvenient for her to meet everyone because she was eating vegetarian food and praying to Buddha.

Everyone knew it well, bowed their heads and said "yes", and those who were summoned by the queen mother or invited by the palaces to speak would be led away by the palace people of each palace, and the rest would follow the little eunuch who led the way out of the palace.

Yao Cunhui thought she had nothing to do, and was about to leave with the crowd, but unexpectedly, a female historian in a begonia red palace dress came and said that the Queen Mother had summoned her.

Yao Cunhui had no choice but to accompany her with a smile, and she and Li's mother went with the female history.

This was Yao Cunhui's second meeting with Empress Dowager Lu, recalling the tense scene of the first time, she couldn't help feeling like a dream.

Today's Empress Dowager Lu is all dressed up, beaming with joy, and her pair of phoenix eyes are brilliant and bright, especially energetic.Seeing Yao Cunhui's attitude was much calmer than last time, and he didn't say anything else, just asked a few homework questions with a smile, and after hearing Yao Cunhui's answers one by one, he smiled and retreated.A pair of red gold bracelets inlaid with jewels were rewarded.

When Yao Cunhui and Li Mama came out of Changchun Palace, all the wives outside had already left, so a young eunuch from Changchun Palace sent them out and told them that the girl who came with them was already waiting outside the Longzong Gate.

Yao Cunhui thanked the little eunuch with a smile, and Li's mother stepped forward and gave the reward with a smile.

Unexpectedly, when walking across the Yudai Bridge, there were three or five people in front of them, surrounded by maidservants and two beauties in mink fur cloaks.

Yao Cunhui was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but slow down.

"Princess, that's Lu Xiang's wife and the Lu family's second master Taichang Temple Qing Lu Mu's wife. They must have come to pay respects to the queen mother!" Li's mother leaned forward and whispered.

From the Lu family?Yao Cunhui's heart "thumped" and he suddenly remembered what Mrs. Xiao told her years ago, and couldn't help but look at Li's mother worriedly.

Now that they met face to face, it was obviously unavoidable, so the two had no choice but to step forward.

"Hey, isn't this Princess Zhenxi? What a coincidence!" Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Lu didn't stop on their feet, and they stopped and laughed when they got close.

"Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Lu!" Yao Cunhui smiled and nodded to them.

"My concubine is very polite!" Mrs. Lu hurriedly raised her hand.

After a few gossips, Mrs. Lv Er took a closer look at Yao Cunhui and smiled at her sister-in-law: "I heard that Princess Zhenxi has a good appearance, elegant manners, dignified and virtuous, and she is really good at first glance. Sister-in-law, it is in front of you. I also want to say that it is much better than our Ah Ying!"

Mrs. Lu showed no signs of displeasure on her face, she also nodded and smiled and sighed: "Sure enough, I think so too! Our family Ah Ying is just a wild girl, how can she compare to Princess Zhenxi's demeanor!"

"How can the two ladies praise me so much, I'm really going to blush with shame!" Yao Cunhui smiled.

"Why can't you afford it? The concubine is so modest, and her self-cultivation alone is better than others!" Madam Lu said with a smile: "Speaking of which, you and Ah Ying are sisters-in-law, and we can be regarded as close relatives Already!"

(End of this chapter)