Chapter 664 The Bold Shu Yan

Jiang Fenghua was captivated by her own elegant and graceful appearance in the mirror. Was this how she used to dress when receiving the concubines and instructing them on their manners?

Lianye brought over the Nine Phoenix Hairpin from her collection and praised, "It's true that Your Highness is beautiful, and Hongxiu's craftsmanship is also excellent."

Jiang Fenghua said, "You all have such sweet words. I must have been living in a honey pot every day, receiving such praise from you all."

The two laughed and said, "We're just telling the truth."

After finishing her makeup, Jiang Fenghua stood up from in front of the dressing mirror. "How is it?"

The phoenix embroidered with gold thread looks incredibly lifelike, as if it's about to spread its wings and take flight. The phoenix robe is extremely luxurious, making her temperament even more outstanding and showcasing the empress's nobility and majesty.

Granny Wang nodded in approval: "That's right. Your Highness and the concubines have all met. It's common for them to come to Kunning Palace to pay their respects. Your Highness should continue to do so from now on."

As soon as she gracefully and elegantly walked towards the front hall, Jiang Fenghua, supported by Granny Wang's arm, slowly sat down in the main seat.

Led by Gao Qingtong and Song Qing, the concubines also rose and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings."

Jiang Fenghua moved with dignified elegance, smiled slightly, and raised her hand to indicate, "No need for formalities, everyone please be seated!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," everyone said in unison.

Seeing that everyone had returned to their seats, she added, "Granny Wang instructed the palace maids to serve tea to the ladies of the palace."

"yes."

At this moment, Gao Qingtong spoke first, "The Lantern Festival is approaching, and the palace will hold a banquet as is customary. I thought that since we didn't have a big celebration for the New Year, we should make this year's Lantern Festival celebration more grand so that Your Majesty and Your Highness can celebrate together."

Song Qing also said, "It has been a long time since the palace has held a banquet. Your Majesty, I have prepared a banquet list with the Imperial Household Department. I have already discussed it with Consort Gui. Please take a look."

"Consort Gao, Consort Song, you have both gone to great lengths," Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice.

Before Gao Qingtong could speak, Song Qing continued, "Your Majesty, I didn't do anything. It was all Chief Steward Cheng's suggestion. On New Year's Eve, because of Zhang Jing... and their matter, everyone didn't celebrate the New Year properly. We thought we should make the Lantern Festival more lively, so we broadened the list of invited officials to share the joy with the people. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Jiang Fenghua flipped through the list, which was five pages long. She examined it carefully. There was a list of invitees, various performances for the Lantern Festival, and all kinds of dishes, totaling more than thirty kinds. They were all rare and expensive imperial banquets that only wealthy families could afford.

She had witnessed the people of Qingzhou searching for wild vegetables to eat in the dead of winter. The refugees of Jishantang suffered from poison and needed a lot of medicine to detoxify them, but the medicine also cost money.

The budget for a single banquet has already exceeded 100,000 taels of silver, and the actual cost is still unknown. Just the fact that the palace is spending so much on a single banquet is staggering. The palace hosts numerous banquets throughout the year, including those on New Year's Eve, the Lantern Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, flower viewing banquets, and other festivals. There are also birthday banquets for the palace ladies and princes. Over the course of a year, the palace's banquet expenses alone amount to a considerable sum! It must be over a million taels.

Xie Shang is short of money, yet a banquet held in the harem costs so much. No wonder he has a headache. No matter how much private wealth he has, it's not enough to cover his extravagant spending!

Seeing that the Empress remained silent, Song Qing continued, "In previous years, when the palace held banquets, Your Majesty would have the concubines prepare performances to entertain the guests. This year, everyone has also prepared their own performances. Everyone wants to dress up beautifully, and I have asked them to submit their costumes and styles so that they can be uniformly handed over to the Imperial Household Department and other relevant departments for preparation."

Jiang Fenghua glanced at the concubines and asked, "Everyone, please tell me what kind of Lantern Festival you most want to celebrate. Speak freely and don't hold back."

Granny Wang coughed softly, "Does Her Majesty mean to proceed according to custom?"

Jiang Fenghua glanced at Granny Wang and the two maids, who nodded slightly at her.

Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice: "According to the usual practice, there is no problem, and the list of invited guests is also fine. However, our Great Zhou is currently going through a turbulent time. Qingzhou's predicament has not been resolved. The people have survived the harsh winter and now they have to face spring plowing."

As you all know, a large number of refugees appeared in the Great Zhou Dynasty some time ago. The Emperor has been busy dealing with the refugees, and Imperial Physician Mei and the other physicians from the Imperial Hospital have been rushing out of the palace. The danger has not yet been over, and there has been no progress so far.

If the palace were to host an overly lavish and extravagant banquet, it would not only be a waste of resources and manpower, but also give the impression that the ladies of the palace were not concerned with the suffering of the people and only sought pleasure.

Upon hearing this, everyone lowered their heads and remained silent.

Song Qing was also a little embarrassed, "It was our oversight."

Gao Qingtong smiled slightly as she looked at Song Qing. She had overdone it earlier and hadn't expected the Empress to disagree with her plan to hold a banquet. Now the Emperor had asked her and Song Qing to assist the Empress in managing the harem. Song Qing was trying to impress the Emperor and get his attention. It turns out that people's thoughts and desires can change.

Gao Qingtong saw through Song Qing, but the Empress couldn't see through her. What's wrong with the Empress?

Jiang Fenghua said, "The Lantern Festival banquet will be held according to the usual practice, but these are extraordinary times. This banquet should not be too extravagant. Let's reduce or waive the items on the list if possible. As for the concubines, they can design any kind of program they want to perform, as long as there are no extra costs. The Imperial Household Department will not provide any extra costumes for everyone's performance. Let's all work together to help His Majesty get through this difficult time."

Just then, Shu Yan said, "Didn't Her Majesty the Empress just ask us what kind of Lantern Festival we wanted to celebrate? She also told us to speak freely without any reservations."

Jiang Fenghua felt annoyed whenever she saw Shu Yan. She picked up her teacup, gently stirred the floating tea leaves, and said with a smile on her lips, "Shu Ronghua, please give me any good suggestions. I am all ears."

Shu Yan paused for a moment, then mustered her courage and said directly, "Your Majesty's favor is all I want. The Lantern Festival spent with Your Majesty is the best Lantern Festival. Now that Your Highness says you won't provide costumes, how are we supposed to showcase our talents?"

Everyone looked at Shu Yan after she said that; she was really bold.

Jiang Fenghua understood her meaning. The real purpose of everyone wanting to celebrate the Lantern Festival was to seduce the emperor. She disagreed with spending money on the concubines' costumes, and everyone thought that the empress didn't want the emperor to see them.

Hearing everyone's discussion, Shu Yan laughed and said, "We've been in the palace for so many years. Whenever there's a big banquet in the palace, everyone puts on a great show, but who watches? We just hope that the Emperor will look at us as much as he does the Empress."

It would have been better if they hadn't mentioned it, because it made everyone sad. Shu Ronghua was right; the Emperor only had eyes for the Empress, and he didn't even notice them. All the wonderful performances they prepared were in vain. Now, even the most basic costumes had been canceled. They only dared to keep these thoughts to themselves and didn't dare to say them out loud like Shu Yan did.