Chapter 164 Greetings Countdown

…

Time flies.

On the day of the Beginning of Winter, light snow fell.

The morning light is just breaking, and frost dyes the eaves.

The atmosphere inside and outside the Bixi Palace had already changed.

Between the red walls and black tiles, the palace servants were quietly busy, removing the autumn gauze curtains and replacing them with thick brocade curtains.

There are several old plum trees in front of the steps, with rugged branches and faintly visible flower buds.

As soon as the wind and snow come, the cold fragrance will bloom.

Inside the hall.

Wen Li'er crawled out of the bed with difficulty.

Blown by the cold wind, she shivered and crawled back into bed.

Seeing that the queen is about to give birth, the days of sleeping in have entered the countdown.

Thinking about having to get up early in the morning to pay her respects in the future, Wen Lier felt that she had to cherish the present moment.

Just when she was about to take another nap, Qingzhu came in to remind her.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager will be returning from Huguo Temple today. You must go to Zhengyang Gate with the Emperor and Empress to welcome them.

Wen Li'er's brain, which was not yet fully awake, took a long time to react.

"Qingzhu, is it today?"

"Your Majesty, today is the day."

"Is the Queen going too?"

This shouldn't be the case. Since the Queen became pregnant, she has stayed at home as long as possible. It was snowing outside today, so why would she go out?

Qingzhu replied, "Someone has arrived at Fengyi Palace. Empress Dao will go there. Please let you and the two talented ladies go to Fengyi Palace first."

Upon hearing this, Wen Li'er hurriedly stood up.

"Hurry, hurry, help me wash and change clothes, and then put Xiaoxiao into the little red dress with the tiger hat."

"yes."

Qingzhu went out and gave a few instructions, then called in all the palace people outside the bedroom.

Everyone was busy in an orderly manner.

Wen Li'er stood in front of the gilded pear blossom mirror and let the palace maids tidy her clothes.

The mirror reflected a beautiful face. Because she had not put on any makeup in the morning, her skin looked as white and rosy as fresh snow.

Her almond-shaped eyes are slightly raised, with a natural rouge color at the end of her eyes, like peach blossom makeup carefully applied by a painter.

Her lips were naturally red, and at this moment, they were slightly pursed, revealing a pair of deep dimples on her cheeks.

Today she was wearing the snow-blue gold-woven palace dress custom-made for imperial concubines, with the wide sleeves and front lapels densely embroidered with a pattern of hundreds of butterflies.

Each butterfly wing is embroidered with peacock feathers mixed with silver thread, emitting brilliant light as the butterfly moves.

Around her waist was a long tasseled silk sash with five-colored silk flowers, which fell onto the cloud-patterned edging of her skirt.

On the outside, she wore a dark blue cloak with silver fox fur trimmings and a pigeon blood gem at the collar, which made her neck look even more slender like jade.

Qingzhu was tying her hair, first pulling her long black hair into a stunning bun, and then pinning them with red gold and kingfisher feather hairpins and emerald seven-treasure hairpins one by one.

After inserting several of them, he saw Qingmei holding a golden phoenix hairpin inlaid with gems and wanted to insert more.

Wen Li'er quickly held her hand.

"That's enough, that's enough. If you keep going, my neck will be broken. That's it."

Qingzhu hesitated a bit, "Your Majesty, today is the day when the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager return to the palace. It's a happy occasion, so we should dress solemnly and festively so that the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager will be happy to see us."

Wen Li'er shook her head: "It's festive enough, that's it."

As she shook her head, the pearl tassels hanging from the hairpin happened to fall on her temples, making a tiny sound as she shook her head.

It sounds pretty good.

Qingzhu looked at her and quickly raised her hand to straighten her tassels without trying to persuade her anymore.

At this moment, there was a noise outside the bedroom.

"Your Highness, the young prince has also packed everything."

The wet nurse, He, came in holding a little ball wrapped in a red brocade jacket. The two obsidian eyes on the tiger-head hat sparkled, making the little baby look even more lovely.

Wen Li'er reached out to take Xiaoxiao, and the gilded jade armor inlaid on her sleeves gently brushed against the tiger-head hat.

She suddenly chuckled: "Our Xiaoxiao looks even more majestic than our mother today."

All the palace people in the room started to smile.

The plum branches outside the window trembled slightly, shaking off a few unmelted snowflakes, which were reflected in the picturesque eyebrows of the beauty in the mirror.

Wen Li'er handed Xiaoxiao to He, took his little hand and asked with a smile: "Baby, mother taught you, what should you call the great grandmother and the great grandmother when you see them later?"

Xiaoxiao opened his big black grape eyes and called out with his little mouth open: "Mom... Mom... Grandma..."

Thanks to Wen Li'er's unremitting persistence, Xiaoxiao can now call: Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, Uncle, Brother, Brother, and Uncle.

They are all reduplicated sounds, and not very fluently pronounced.

But Wen Li'er felt a sense of accomplishment.

She leaned over and kissed her son on the cheek, praising him, "Xiaoxiao is awesome."

Xiaoxiao grinned and began to drool.

After breakfast, Wen Li'er carried Xiaoxiao and took a group of palace maids to Fengyi Palace.

As soon as I arrived outside the palace gate, I saw the emperor from afar.

He was wearing a dragon robe, standing in the courtyard, staring at a ginkgo tree, wondering what he was thinking.

It is extremely cold today, and my breath turns to frost.

Yongtai brought a newly made sable fur coat and put it on him.

The dark satin was embroidered with cloud patterns in silver thread, and there was a circle of snow fox fur at the collar, which made his features look even colder.

Wen Li'er hurried forward and called out sweetly, "Your Majesty."

Yan Shixu turned his head.

Seeing her coming, the coldness and darkness in his eyes melted instantly like the drifting white snow.

He shook her hand and felt a chill, and immediately frowned: "Why didn't you bring a hand warmer?"

Wen Lier explained: "I'm wearing thick clothes, so it's not too cold."

"How can you not be cold when your hands are frozen like this?"

Yan Shixu looked at Yongtai, and Yongtai immediately understood.

He quickly got a hand warmer and handed it to Wen Li'er respectfully.

Wen Li'er was helpless. It was only the beginning of winter, so it wasn't that cold.

But under the emperor's gaze, she still obediently held the hand warmer in her hands.

Only then did Yan Shixu feel relieved.

Inside the hall.

The fire is lit.

The copper gilt Suanni incense burner exhales agarwood, mixed with the aroma of freshly roasted tea, and is filled with warmth.

Xie Zhenrong held her big belly and ordered the palace servants to prepare "winter-tonifying" meals for the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother for the Beginning of Winter.

Wen Li'er followed Yan Shixu into the hall and saluted the queen.

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen."

Xie Zhenrong looked at Wen Li'er, and his heart felt more and more sour.

Just now, the emperor and this woman were being affectionate outside, and she saw it all.

Although she had already given birth to a child, the woman's complexion seemed to be getting better and better, and she was even more beautiful than when she first entered the palace.