Allure of a Country Maiden

After the New Year, the Queen Mother couldn't wait to hold the talent show.

The Queen Mother decreed that all unengaged women over the age of 13 from the families of officials of the sixth rank or above must participate in the draft.

The Queen Mother looked at the list compiled by the Queen: "In addition to the Lord Rui'an County, isn't there another woman in Shengpinghou Mansion who is old enough to participate in this draft? Why is her name not on the list?"

"After returning to her mother, the second daughter of Marquis Shengping has verbally agreed to marry her old friend since she was a child. When the girl reaches fifteen years old and has hair hair, if the man still does not come to propose marriage, then the marriage can be discussed again." The queen told Xiao'er. The words came out.

"It's such a pity that the child looks good to the family." The queen mother remembered that Shengpinghou was born in a farmer's family, and she had been engaged to an old friend since she was a child. Wasn't that an engagement to a farmer? With the current status of Marquis Shengping, it was okay for his daughter to marry the heir apparent, but because the marriage had been arranged since she was young, she had to marry at a low age. It was such a pity that the Queen Mother even sympathized with Yun'er!

However, she took a high look at Marquis Shengping because of this, and did not go back on the marriage she had made when she was poor just because her family had become rich. This kind of gentlemanly behavior that kept his word made the Queen Mother look upon him with special eyes.

The draft is in full swing, and the Queen is also closely cooperating with the Queen Mother.

In the competition between women one after another, the Queen Mother finally added ten beautiful women to stay in the palace for the emperor.

The Queen Mother and the Empress discussed together and selected concubines for the second, third and fourth princes.

The second prince, Shangguan Xuanhao, has chosen Ruan Weizhen, the daughter of Shuntian Prefecture Yin.

The third prince has chosen Li Mingfang, the daughter of General Li.

The fourth prince has chosen Gu Qiqi, the granddaughter of the emperor’s master.

The selection of the concubine was made after consulting several princes and deciding according to their wishes.

The Empress Dowager was not happy that Li Mingfang had withdrawn from the engagement, but she agreed because the Third Prince liked it. It was also difficult to think of this grandson who did not like the Emperor.

There are two or three branches of peach blossoms outside the bamboo, which are prophets of the warmth of the spring river. After a cold winter, spring has finally returned to the earth.

After the draft ended, February 2nd came - Dragon Heads Up Day.

Folks often make dragon scale cakes and eat dragon teeth (wontons). On this day, people also get haircuts, that is, shave their dragon heads, which means a good start to the year.

A "vegetable picking" royal banquet will be held in the palace.

Officials and family members of fourth rank or above can participate.

For this "choosing vegetables" royal banquet event, Shen Chengyao and the people from the Ministry of Etiquette worked together for a long time.

In the imperial garden, there are many flower stands, and some small dendrobiums are placed on the flower stands. Various fresh vegetables are planted in the small dendrobiums, including lettuce with two or three leaves, spinach, rape...etc.! There are also peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, etc. that are as tall as half a finger.

The small dendrobium is beautifully designed, and the vegetables grown on it are fresh and juicy.

The name of each vegetable is written on silk and placed under the dendrobium for everyone to guess.

The place where men and women "pick dishes" is separated by a screen, and the emperor and queen will reward and punish them based on their guesses.

The Queen Mother looked at the arrangement of the "vegetable picking" scene, which was quite idyllic, which shocked her body, which was overworked due to working on the talent show these days.

"This is the first time that the Ai family has seen such a poetic 'vegetable picking' banquet in so many years. Today's imperial garden is also very pleasing to the eye, with flowers blooming in abundance without dazzling the eyes! The queen arranged it well."

"I don't have such skills. I asked Lord Ruian County to help me with these ideas. Not only that, this year's silk does not directly write the names of vegetables, but writes some riddles. If If you look at the vegetables on the Dendrobium and can't guess what they are, you can still guess the riddle. If you can't even guess the riddle, you will really be punished!"

"Oh, County Lord Rui'an is really versatile." The Queen Mother smiled and nodded in praise.

"County Lord Rui'an is really ingenious. My wife was lucky enough to visit the garden of Shengpinghou Mansion. Everywhere is so picturesque! It's so beautiful!"

"Yes, yes, yes, they are obviously ordinary flowers and plants, but they can be arranged with elegance and warmth, making people feel extraordinary when they look at them."

"When you said this, the Ai family wanted to go and see it in person."

After hearing what the Queen Mother said, Mrs. Li said: "Wherever the Queen Mother needs to go to Shengpinghou Mansion in person, why not just ask the Lord Rui'an to come to the palace to decorate the royal garden!"

As soon as Mrs. Li said these words, the whole place fell silent. No one answered her words, not even the Queen Mother spoke.

Let a county lord decorate the imperial garden? What a shame!

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her words, Mrs. Li continued: "What do you think, County Master Ruian? Are you willing to decorate the royal garden for the Queen Mother?"

Xiaoer smiled: "Of course I am willing, but after all I am still young and not very strong, so I cannot do many heavy work. Otherwise, I will draw the layout of the imperial garden, and Mrs. Li will come How about the arrangement? Madam Li is the wife of a general, and she has accompanied her husband on expeditions, so she must be stronger than the chief of this county. How about it, Madam Li, are you willing?"

The ladies and ladies present: Lord Ruian County is indeed not a Lord who will suffer losses.

Drawing a design drawing of the Imperial Garden, which was also designed for the Queen Mother, everyone will feel that County Lord Ruian is versatile.

How is it different from being a gardener to decorate it yourself? This is what slaves do! Madam Li just wanted to humiliate County Lord Rui'an just now, but she didn't expect that she would slap the ball back with just a few words, and she had no choice but to agree.

A second-grade lady is destined to be a gardener! What kind of face does she have in this circle?

Mrs. Li's face froze, and she soon smiled: "Of course I am willing."

"You all have your heart. The Imperial Garden is very good as it is. Why change it again? It will waste people and money." The Queen Mother spoke to resolve Mrs. Li's embarrassment.

"The Queen Mother is truly a role model for women in the world and cares about the people of the world."

"The Queen Mother is wise, and I also think that the Royal Garden is beautiful enough. If it continues to be beautiful, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay in the palace."

... All the ladies racked their brains to praise the Queen Mother.

At this time, there were waves of praise and applause coming from the man's side.

The queen said: "It's started over there. It sounds very lively. Let's start too. I can't wait to see who is going to be punished."

"We have all done our homework, so we will definitely not be punished, right, sisters." Li Mingfang asked the ladies present.

"Yes! Today we all came here for the Queen Mother and the Queen's private treasury."

"I feel a little regretful after you said this. Can we leave now? I still have to leave some dowry for the fifth princess in my private treasury. You must be merciful!" The Queen looked regretful.

"Looking at how stingy the queen is, you can rest assured that the fifth princess's dowry will be given by me, the royal grandmother. How can she get married without a dowry?"

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