Harem for a living

Chapter 176

Chen Manrou held a teacup and listened to Concubine Shuhui and Concubine De and the others report on their work. The palace affairs were put down, and Chen Manrou didn't just ignore the matter, but would ask a few words from time to time, taking the general direction into her own hands .

After Concubine De finished her last sentence, Chu Yun came in to report: "Your Majesty, Princess Chun and Princess Ningjun are here to pay their respects."

"Already here?" Chen Manrou was a little surprised, then turned her head and said to Concubine Shu and the others: "I also know what you said, and you did a good job. If you have nothing else to do right now, Just stay here for now, and go to Ci'an Palace with Ben Gong later."

Concubine Hui hesitated for a moment and said: "Madam, I want to go back and choose some clothes for the third princess. The dress for the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet has not been decided yet."

"Then you go back first, remember to dress up the third princess beautifully." Chen Manrou nodded and said, then looked sideways at Concubine De: "Does Concubine De need to prepare for the second princess?"

"Thank you empress for your concern. When your empress said a few days ago that the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet was going to be held, Mrs. Wang happened to be there. She had already instructed the second princess's attire, clothes and jewelry, and so on. Concubine There is no need to go back."

Concubine De said indifferently, the people who came here today are all people with relatively high status, if she can know one or two, maybe she will have an assistant outside the palace in the future.As for not having a son, isn't Qi Xiuyi pregnant now?
In another three or two years, there might be other people who are pregnant, and she will take care of one of them.

Besides, she herself is not in her [-]s and [-]s, maybe there is still hope in the future...

Concubine Shu has no children, so she smiled and expressed her willingness to stay and help the empress take care of the guests.Concubine Cheng said that she would go back and settle the fifth prince, while Concubine Fu chose to stay.

Chen Manrou sent someone to send Concubine Hui and Concubine Cheng out, and then sent someone to announce Concubine Chun and Concubine Ning.Princess Chun is the direct wife of the patriarch, Prince Ling Chun, and Princess Ningjun is the direct wife of the third prince, King Ningjun.

Princess Chun is already in her 40s this year, with a smile on her face, and she looks very kind.Concubine Ningjun is thinner, with a sharp chin, she is a beauty in modern times, but in ancient times, she looks a bit mean.

"Princess Chun and Concubine Ningjun came early. I just said that I don't know which one will come first." Chen Manrou said with a smile. The two concubines were helped up. The minister's wife was very flattered by the post, and she thought about coming here early, trying to see the green peony before them, and it's very honorable to win the first place."

Concubine Ningjun laughed: "Anyway, I'm bored in the mansion, so why not go for a walk in the palace. The courtier's wife heard that the empress had prepared a chrysanthemum banquet, so she didn't eat anything early in the morning, and she just waited to come and go. It's a palace banquet."

The third prince has never been very good with the emperor, and he once fought for the throne with the emperor.Later, I even got in touch with Ci Ning, and luckily the Third Prince was a man with a strong mouth, but he was actually not very courageous. The few things that Ci Ning had planned, the Third Prince had at most done such trivial things as begging for Ci Ning .

Therefore, after the death of Ci Ning, the Third Prince escaped the fate of being liquidated. Don't you see, the Prince Gong's Mansion has been renamed Zhongyongbo Mansion now?Those who followed Prince Gong's relatives, nine out of ten, were they all lost?

Therefore, the third prince quickly shrank back, for fear that the emperor would remember what happened back then when he saw him.The Third Prince was no longer welcomed by the Emperor, and naturally the Princess Ningjun was also not welcomed by the Empress Dowager Ci'an. Except for major festivals or the Empress Dowager's birthday, she was rarely announced into the palace.

"Then Princess Ning is so hungry, it's not my palace." Chen Manrou said with a smile, and quickly ordered people to prepare tea and snacks: "This dessert is made by my palace with thousand-petal chrysanthemums. It tastes sweet and elegant. Both of you Princess, try it."

Princess Chun smiled and said, "You can tell that the Empress has put a lot of thought into this. I have never seen this kind of dessert. Is it a new recipe?"

"The maid of honor in this palace is fond of cooking, and she also likes to study such small things in daily life. If the two princesses taste it and think it is good, I will ask someone to write down the recipe for you."

Just as he was talking, Chu Yun came in again to report that it was Princess An who had come.Concubine An is the wife of the Seventh Prince, and the Seventh Prince is the emperor's mother and brother. He has always been valued by the emperor, and his title is even higher than that of the third prince.

Although the third prince is called the prince, he is actually the king of the county.And the seventh prince, that is a real prince.

Therefore, when Princess Ningjun meets Princess An, she still has to greet her.But Princess Ningjun is also a sister-in-law, so it's more embarrassing for the couple on both sides.Chen Manrou hurriedly said: "There is no need to be too polite, there are no outsiders at the moment, the whole family, there is no need to be polite."

Prince Chun, the patriarchal order, is definitely a member of the royal family, and he hasn't released the fifth suit yet.

Princess Chun also quickly pulled Princess An to sit beside her, and asked with concern: "I heard that you were not feeling well a while ago, are you feeling better now?"

"It's already better. The weather suddenly turned cold a few days ago. I didn't have time to add clothes, so I caught a little cold." Princess An said with a gentle smile. This Princess An was chosen when the first emperor was still alive. Delicate, very virtuous and virtuous.

"Then you have to be careful, the weather is hot in the daytime and cool in the evening, our lord insisted on putting ice cubes in the room a few days ago, but at night, he got cold and felt uncomfortable for several days. Princess Chun said with a smile: "If I didn't want to take care of our prince, I would have gone to see you early."

"Princess Laochun is worried about it, but it's just a little illness." Princess An smiled, and Princess Ningjun snorted: "Some people are very precious, but if they have a little illness and pain, I can't wait to see you." The whole world knows about it.”

Princess Chun was a little embarrassed, Chen Manrou turned her head and looked at the hourglass: "The empress dowager probably had breakfast by now, why don't we go to pay her respects to the empress dowager now?"

Princess An smiled and said: "That's fine, my sister-in-law hasn't greeted the Empress Dowager for a long time, so it's fine to go and talk now."

Chen Manrou called Lichun: "You and Lixia are guarding here. If anyone comes to Yongshou Palace to pay their respects, you can just ask someone to take them to Ci'an Palace. Also, let Concubine Hui go over to preside over the Qianqiu Pavilion as soon as possible."

Li Chun responded one by one, Chen Manrou got up and went out with Princess Chun and the others.

Arriving at Ci'an Palace, the Empress Dowager Ci'an immediately asked Princess An when she saw Princess An: "How is Lao Qi doing? The Ai family has not seen him for several days. Didn't the Ai family send some Ganoderma lucidum over there a few days ago? Is Lao Qi available?"

"Returning to the Empress Dowager, the Seventh Prince is in good health. A few days ago, the Empress Dowager sent someone to send Ganoderma lucidum. The Seventh Prince was very happy. He said that when the autumn hunting started, he would personally hunt a few white foxes and make them for the Empress Dowager when he came back. Where's the cloak?"

Princess An sat on the other side of the Empress Dowager Ci'an and said, the Empress Dowager Ci'an nodded repeatedly: "Okay, this child is really filial. However, you also persuade him to hunt white foxes if they can, and don't if they can't. You must not take risks by yourself because of a few gadgets, but you must protect your body."

Concubine Ningjun curled her lips in disdain, Concubine An looked at Chen Manrou with some anxiety, since she invited An to now, Empress Dowager Ci'an hasn't spoken to Empress Empress yet.

The Empress Dowager Ci'an didn't notice Princess An's uneasiness at all, she just talked about the matter of the Seventh Prince.When it was reported outside that Mrs. Zhongyong came to pay her respects, the Empress Dowager Ci'an finally let go of Princess An's hand, and looked happily at the door waiting for Mrs. Zhongyong to come in.

Princess An hurriedly got up and sat down until Chen Manrou lowered her head. Chen Manrou patted her on the back of her hand comfortingly: "You have to stay with me later, but today, the emperor entrusted me with a big task, but is there something wrong with me? You're young, I'm afraid you can't hold it well, you have to give me some advice when the time comes."

The words were very soft, the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was only focused on talking to Mrs. Zhongyong, didn't hear a single word.Princess Ningjun saw Chen Manrou talking, but she couldn't hear clearly, let alone the other people around her.

Concubine An nodded invisibly: "Your Majesty trusts my wife, and my wife naturally shares her worries."

But half an hour later, the people who received the invitations came over one after another, even Concubine Hui and the others also brought their children over.Chen Manrou stepped forward to ask for instructions at the right time: "The empress dowager, my concubine asked someone to place some chrysanthemums at the Qianqiu Pavilion, and they all bloomed just right. Let's go to enjoy the chrysanthemums right now, just in time to taste the chrysanthemum wine and drink at noon. Hairy crab, how are you looking?"

Princess Chun smiled and said: "After the empress said this, the minister's wife felt that her saliva was about to come down. The crabs are big and round now, and the minister's wife must eat ten or eight crabs later. "

All the people talking were from ear to ear, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an said with a smile: "Okay, today, I will let you eat your fill. Let's go there now, the sun is good outside, and the body is warm and comfortable , taking advantage of this weather to visit the garden and eat crabs, that would be a great thing."

Mrs. Zhongyong supported the Empress Dowager Ci'an, nodded her head in praise and said, "It's the empress dowager's idea. Today we are all under the honor of the empress dowager, so we can enjoy the beautiful scenery and delicious food. The empress dowager is really like a Bodhisattva." people are generous and kind.”

Not many people responded to this, because although the empress dowager ordered this matter, it was a post made by the empress dowager, and the whole chrysanthemum appreciation banquet was also organized by the empress empress, by the way, the empress dowager was the first to speak. Royal garden.

It doesn't matter if you praise the empress dowager and flatter the empress dowager, but the important thing is, don't step on the empress dowager to praise the empress dowager.

Chen Manrou stepped forward to help Empress Dowager Ci'an's other arm, glanced at Mrs. Zhongyong, and said with a smile: "I heard that Uncle Zhongyong has a clever little granddaughter, why didn't Mrs. Zhongyong bring it here for the Queen Mother to see?" Look?"

Speaking of Uncle Zhongyong's granddaughter, Mrs. Uncle Zhongyong thought of her own daughter, who was still imprisoned for being disrespectful to the queen, and her face changed slightly. Mrs. Uncle Zhongyong quickly apologized: "She is still young and has a temper. She is too lively, the minister's wife was afraid that she would disturb the ladies, so she didn't bring her in."

The Empress Dowager Ci'an turned her head and said: "It's a good thing for a child to be more lively. The Ai family likes that kind of girl. Next time you bring her into the palace and let the Ai family have a look. The eldest princess of the Ai family is also a Smart and lively, just let her be a companion with the eldest princess of the Ai family."

(End of this chapter)