The Biography of Concubine Wen Xi in Qing Palace

Chapter 514 Spring Banquet

In the month of March and mid-spring, because of the spring feast in the palace to celebrate the vernal equinox, the palace is busy.

Hang colorful stickers and decorate flowers and trim grass.The court ladies may add red makeup that day and wear gorgeous clothes to celebrate.

It was said that when the late emperor was in court, there was a court lady who aroused the late emperor's pity because of her coquettish attire at the spring banquet, but it was a pity that the later generations did not end up with any good results.

Wan Lai and Lin Lan took Yin and Yun Jing to swim in the imperial garden together. They were children born in autumn and winter who had never seen flowers bloom in spring. Although the children did not know the world, they could only smile happily when they saw the freshness.

Tired of visiting the garden, seeing that the children were still in high spirits, he ordered the nurses to hug Princess Elder Brother and have a look again, while the two sat in the gazebo not far away to dodge.

Looking at the passing palace ladies in red and green, with flower stickers and lanterns in their hands, walking hurriedly, it turned out to be the same trick every year, and there was nothing new to see.

Lin Lan lazily stretched her waist, and looked at the batches of flowing palace people busy walking about, she couldn't help but smile and said: "They are dressed in pink and delicate, but they are just looking forward to winning the holy favor once. If you only want to leave the palace at the age of thirty and leave this ghost place, how can you even think about dressing up to attract attention?"

"Compared to us, they are all blessed people." Wannai raised the corners of her lips slightly, and looked up at the square sky surrounded by palace walls: "Like birds, they are raised in the Forbidden City. You can fly out of the wall and see the vast world outside the palace again. It’s not like us, they are all peacocks kept in golden silk cages. They look noble, but they are actually pitiful.”

"My sister is not as happy as before. In the past, these hurtful words came from my mouth, but now I hear my sister say it, but I feel uncomfortable."

Wanna turned her head and looked at Lin Lan with a smile, then smiled suddenly: "If you hadn't been nagging in my ears every day, I wouldn't be talking nonsense like this."

Lin Lan took Wanyu's hand and smiled: "From that day on, I will sew up my tongue and be a mute to accompany my sister." As she spoke, she put down her strength secretly, and her smile also restrained a lot: "Sister, Mrs. Tong It's time for us to push the matter."

"No hurry." Wanyu looked calm, looked towards the direction of Chengqian Palace with clear eyes, and said slowly: "The spring feast in three days will be the time when the palace will be lively."

On the vernal equinox of March [-], the emperor has had internal and external troubles since he ascended the throne. Now that the world is at peace, and because there are more and more heirs, this year's spring banquet is also particularly lively.

According to the rules of the palace, on the first day of the mid-spring month, the emperor's colleagues, the Empress Dowager Renxian and the Empress Dowager Tai, went to the Fengxian Hall to worship the ancestors, and told the ancestors and ancestors what happened in the previous court to comfort the gods.

On this day, all the concubines and concubines in the palace will eat spring pancakes to celebrate.

The food for ordinary palace people is made by the imperial dining room together, and the emperor has concubines of the same rank, and the head of the imperial dining room who serves the emperor's food cooks in person.

The spring pancakes are wrapped with thousands of threads, mostly filled with flowers, and have different salty and sweet tastes, which can be replaced at will according to everyone's preferences.

For example, the spring pancakes delivered to the Changchun Palace from the Imperial Dining Room in the morning are sweet and sour, filled with jujube paste and spring apricots, which suits the taste of Wanyu.

In Rongyue Palace, it is made of green fruit, hawthorn, winter jasmine and other materials, and the taste is sweet and sour but not greasy.

At night, the emperor held a family banquet in the Qianqing Palace, where the concubines and concubines often gathered together, including Princess Elder Brother.

This banquet was properly arranged for Rong Yue herself, all kinds of dishes were exquisite and delicious, and the singing and dancing tour was performed with great effort, which won the Emperor's approval.

Push the cup to change the cup, drink three rounds.

Watching too many songs and dances is always boring. When the night comes and the breeze enters the palace, a little coolness falls on the emperor's face, forcing out his faint drunkenness.

He looked at the dancer with red and green hairpins in front of him, the starlight in his eyes dimmed a little bit, and he smiled tiredly at his desk: "Beauty is beautiful, but red and green are always tacky, and such people always get dizzy after a long time in front of them." .”

He spoke very lightly, only Rong Yue and Wan Yu who were sitting closer to him could hear clearly.

Rong Yue said with a smile: "The emperor watches it many times every year, no matter how hard the people in Nanfu put their minds, they can't compose more than ten songs and arrange more than ten strange dances a year, right? We are used to it, but we are new to the palace. All the sisters are very surprised, today's spring banquet, the emperor should just accommodate them."

The emperor snorted lightly, raised the jade cup to drink, and said: "I just said that I don't like it, if they like it, let them see as much as they want."

After that, she got up and wanted to leave, but it was Wanyu who was beside him who held him by the sleeve, and said with a smile: "The emperor is tired of singing and dancing, but my concubine carefully prepared a trick, which has never been changed in the palace. Would the emperor be willing to take a look?"

The emperor slightly lowered his eyelids to take a look at Wanyu, scratched the tip of her nose, and quickly sat down with a smile: "Wan'er has a heart, so I will take a look, and it will not waste your thoughts."

This was said unintentionally, but when it fell into Rong Yue's ears, she turned jealous and suddenly changed her expression.

She can't waste her thoughts in vain, so what is it when she is so busy these days?
So he just sat in his seat and didn't say a word, just drank the wine by himself.

Wan Lai raised her hand and ordered the musician to stop, while the dancer retreated.Without the sound of joy, the Yingyingyan language that the final concubine whispered to each other in private seemed particularly harsh.

For a moment, it seemed like Xia Chan had caught the whole palace, chattering endlessly.

Empress Dowager Renxian caressed Yao Huangpeony's hairpin on her temples, and said solemnly: "Newcomers to the palace always have no rules, are they not allowed to speak or see each other on weekdays, and they are all suffocated? The mouth is so loud that it makes Aijia's brain ache."

As the words reached the ears of the concubines, they naturally restrained their expressions and stopped speaking.

Empress Dowager Renxian glanced sideways at the crowd, her gaze was fixed on Zhuo Lan, and she suddenly smiled amiably, pointing at her and said: "The Ai family and the Empress Dowager are watching, only you, quiet girl. What's your name? "

Zhuo Lan got up respectfully, held a glass of wine in front of her chest, leaned back and replied: "The concubine is always in Zhuo Lan of the Chen family, and I wish the Queen Mother, the Empress Dowager a long life in spring." .

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager Renxian looked at each other, smiled calmly, and waved her to take a seat: "It's very good to be tactful and courteous."

Empress Dowager Renxian also smiled: "People are born by looking at them, but their names are common." As she said, she fixed her eyes on the emperor's seat: "The emperor has recently summoned Chen Chang to be here a lot. Tired of looking at the office records."

The emperor looked a little embarrassed, and smiled awkwardly: "The queen mother has seen the records of the respect room?"

Empress Dowager Renxian smiled calmly, and said: "Seven parts fake and three parts real, what does the Ai family think of it?"

Seeing that the emperor's face was not hesitant, Wanyu was afraid that he would make a joke with the Empress Dowager Renxian through drinking, so she forcibly shouted at Liang Jiugong: "Xuanxiu come in."

Liang Jiugong clicked his eyes to understand, repeatedly announced people to enter, and resumed the sound of silk, bamboo and wind music.

(End of this chapter)