Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Palace Banquet
During the Dragon Boat Festival, the royal family would offer sacrifices to pray for good weather, to ward off evil spirits and to avoid hardship.
So after Wu Tianyue accompanied Princess Zhongshun and her group to give alms, they returned home to rest for a night. On the fourth day, he was called by the prince to make preparations. Princess Zhongshun waited until the next day to bring Daiyu into the palace.
At the hour of Mao on that day, Wu Tianyue got up early, dressed up, inserted a wormwood tip into his crown, hung a five-poison purse and a sachet filled with cloves, realgar and other herbs around his waist, and then rode into the palace with the prince.
After entering the palace, he paid his respects to the retired emperor, the empress dowager, the emperor and others, and then took a carriage to the Ditan Temple to offer sacrifices.
Although Daiyu did not have to do these, Princess Zhongshun had to accompany the Queen to offer sacrifices in the inner court, so she got up even earlier. Before the hour of dawn, she had already finished her morning makeup and was ready to enter the palace with Princess Zhongshun.
The Queen would not be receiving ladies of honor today, so Daiyu, accompanied by Xia Jin, stayed in the hall where Princess Zhongshun rested when she entered the palace.
Princess Zhongshun had already bribed the imperial kitchen to prepare medicinal food for Daiyu. Before leaving, she sent for it. She then said to Daiyu, "There will be a rice dumpling feast at noon, which will be filled with difficult-to-digest foods. Eat something to fill your stomach first, then have a good sleep. I'll send someone to find you in advance."
Without waiting for Daiyu's response, she left Xia Jin behind and hurried away.
After Daiyu finished her meal, Xia Jin urged her to rest, but she said, "I went to bed early yesterday, so I'm not sleepy yet."
Xia Jin knew that she was sensitive and perhaps a little nervous, so she didn't try to persuade her much. Fearing that she would be bored, she went to find two books for her to pass the time.
About half an hour later, a palace maid came to say that the sacrifice was over, and Xia Jin hurriedly took Daiyu to see Princess Zhongshun.
When Princess Zhongshun saw that she came so quickly, she knew that she had not rested, but she did not ask any more questions and took her to the Queen Mother's bedroom.
The Empress Dowager was kind but usually didn't get involved in other people's affairs. She didn't pay much attention to Daiyu. She just asked a few questions casually and then gave her some gifts.
Princess Zhongshun brought Daiyu out and went to Kunning Palace. The Queen was receiving congratulations from the concubines, princesses, and ladies-in-waiting. Seeing the two of them coming, she smiled and said, "Is this the little girl you've been thinking about all day?"
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Majesty." Princess Zhongshun replied, and then said to Daiyu, "Yu'er, come and pay your respects to Your Majesty."
Daiyu hurried forward to pay her respects. The Queen looked at her, paused for a moment, and sneered, "Yu'er?"
Then he asked Princess Zhongshun, "When did you become so close to Jia Min? Why did you ask her daughter to call you so affectionately?"
Princess Zhongshun regretted what she said. She used to pay attention to it all the time, but she was too tired today and forgot that she used to call the Queen Yu'er when she was in the boudoir.
After the emperor ascended the throne, she could only be a subject in front of the queen. Even when their relationship was good, he never called her like that again. Not to mention that after the second prince was born, the queen's temper became more and more paranoid, and she often quarreled with her over trivial matters. The relationship between the two took a sharp turn for the worse. Now, there was only some face left, and it was even more impossible for her to call her like that.
Fortunately, it happened many years ago, and the name was just casually given by the two of them. Others didn't know about it, and there was no need to avoid it. But the Queen's behavior showed that she must be holding a grudge.
Princess Zhongshun felt a little headache. Why did she care about even a name? She didn't want to pay attention to her, but she was afraid that she would vent her anger on Daiyu, so she sighed and stood up to apologize.
Just as she was about to speak, the Queen had resumed her motherly demeanor, called Daiyu up with a smile, and gave her a festival gift.
Daiyu accepted the reward and sat back down beside Princess Zhongshun. Seeing her solemn expression, she asked while the palace maid read out the list of rewards and items, "Are you tired, Madam?"
Princess Zhongshun shook her head and said, "I wanted to find a time for you to talk to Concubine Jia today, but something has changed. You will have to stay with me for a while."
Daiyu was clever and guessed that it might be related to the Queen's strange behavior just now. She had only met Yuanchun once and was not familiar with her, so it would be better not to see her, so she nodded in agreement obediently.
The queen accepted everyone's greetings and also gave gifts. She turned around and saw the two people whispering, and she felt very uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to say something to taunt them, Cai Rang came in and said, "Your Majesty, the two emperors have led the princes and the emperor's sons in the sacrifice ceremony and are preparing to hold the 'Zong Zong Shooting Ceremony' in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Your Majesty, along with the princesses and consorts, please come and watch the ceremony."
After hearing this, the queen restrained her expression and led everyone to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
When they arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, a golden plate had been placed in the courtyard in front of the palace. There were dozens of rice dumplings on the plate, and many people who were waiting to shoot the rice dumplings were standing on the other side.
Daiyu followed the crowd forward, secretly turned her head to look at those people, and saw the tall and straight Wu Tianyue at a glance.
He refused to admit defeat, but was always so angry at himself that he jumped up and down. Daiyu had never seen him so focused and serious, without any of his usual joking and joking behavior, and she couldn't help but look at him twice.
Wu Tianyue felt someone looking at him. He turned his head slightly and met Daiyu's gaze, which was neither angry nor angry. Although he knew that she was born with a pair of affectionate eyes and this time it was just an ordinary look, his heart still beat faster and his face was filled with smiles.
Looking at his happy smile, Daiyu felt a lot more relaxed. Suddenly, she remembered that they were in the imperial palace. If they were discovered, they would probably be punished. She was about to glare at him to ask him to restrain himself, but suddenly she saw a young man next to her looking at her, so she quickly lowered her head.
Daiyu was fast, so the man didn't see anything special, but he still reminded Wu Tianyue softly: "Don't be rude."
Wu Tianyue responded casually and restrained his expression.
After the Queen and everyone else took their seats, the Emperor and the Retired Emperor exchanged a few polite words before the Retired Emperor gave the order to begin.
After hearing the command, everyone picked up the specially made small horn bows and started shooting at the zongzi.
Now only the royal family was present. The prince was not good at riding and shooting, so he shot a few arrows at random and got two rice dumplings before stopping.
The others were not as talented as Wu Tianyue, nor as favored as him, so they gave up one after another. Only Wu Wuyu was still fighting with Wu Tianyue.
But he was no match for Wu Tianyue in either talent or hard work, and since Daiyu was here today, Wu Tianyue wanted to show off, so he was extra attentive. Before long, he watched Wu Tianyue receive the emperor and empress's commendation.
After shooting the rice dumplings, it was already noon, and everyone moved into the hall to have lunch.
Wu Wuyu held his aching hand, looked at Wu Tianyue's smug look after receiving the reward, and snorted, "Wu Fu."
Wu Tianyue glanced at his hand and said with a click of his tongue, "As a noble prince, he naturally looks down upon the behavior of such warriors. But it's okay. Even if I don't shoot, I can still eat it."
As he spoke, he pointed to the pile of rice dumplings on the table.
Wu Wuyu was so angry that he was about to scold him, but the prince turned around and scolded, "What are you arguing about?"
Wu Tianyue smiled and said, "The Second Prince congratulated me."
The prince frowned and said, "Don't talk while eating, and don't talk while sleeping."
Although Wu Wuyu felt that the prince was indecisive and unfit to be the crown prince, he did not dare to deny him face under such circumstances and had to swallow his pride.
Seeing him being humiliated, Wu Tianyue became even happier and started eating the rice dumplings one bite after another, which made Wu Wuyu so angry that he gritted his teeth.
After finishing their meal, everyone moved to Taiye Lake to watch the dragon boat performance. Because there were invited officials entering, men and women were separated. Daiyu and the Queen and her entourage went to another high platform overlooking the water.
The Emperor and the Crown Prince value literature, so no one participated in the dragon boat race today. They just watched from the shore and recited poems.
After the race, the retired emperor rewarded the winning dragon boat sailors, and returned to the palace because he was impatient to listen to those sour poems.
The emperor was in high spirits. He carefully read the selected poems and ordered people to bring the poems written by the female relatives. He personally selected a few poems and rewarded them with gauze, painted fans and other gifts.
One of them was Daiyu's poem. Although it was not as good as those of Hanlin who had been immersed in literature for many years, its words were elegant and its charm was even better, so it won third place.
Wu Tianyue was so happy that he felt like he had received a reward. No one else noticed. The emperor gave him a look with a half-smile, and he quickly restrained himself.
Fortunately, local officials presented "Dragon Boat Festival tribute" one after another, so the emperor had no time to observe him.
Two flowers bloom, each showing its own beauty. As for Daiyu, after the dragon boat race, she wrote poems with everyone else, received rewards, and then returned to the palace with the queen and others.
The empress dowager was a little tired, so she went back to rest. The queen led everyone out of Taiye Lake and took a sedan chair back to Ganning Palace.
Daiyu followed the other princesses and county ladies in expressing their gratitude and returning to their seats one by one. Since they had met each other before when they went out to a banquet with Princess Zhongshun, they did not feel uncomfortable at all. They sat together and talked about the morning's shooting of zongzi, the dragon boat race and poetry.
Soon, palace maids brought drinks and various exquisite snacks. Daiyu saw that they were all iced and didn't want to drink them. But since everyone had already drunk them, it was not good to make any special arrangements. She was about to pick up a glass of iced rose water and take a sip when she heard Princess Zhongshun order someone to change the drinks.
Princess Zhongshun knew that the Queen loved to eat cold things. Today was hot, and the table was filled with cold drinks like iced sour plum soup. So she ordered the palace maids, "My spleen and stomach have been a little out of balance these days. Change Miss Lin and I's drinks to hot drinks."
"Yes." The maid agreed and went down to change.
The Queen took a sip of the sour plum soup. Seeing her care for Daiyu, as if she were a mother and daughter with deep affection, she felt a little uncomfortable. She said sarcastically, "Miss Lin is not bad looking, but her body is really not good enough. Only a little was used for the rice dumpling feast just now."
The palace fell silent for a moment. Yuanchun was just debating whether to defend Daiyu when she heard Princess Zhongshun smile and reply, "Yu'er was too playful a few days ago and went out with her elders to the Taoist temple for a ceremony, and she got a heat stroke. These past few days, I've been having her eat medicinal food to help with her heat. I also told her not to eat too many rice dumplings."
Then she turned to Daiyu and said, "Your Highness cares about you, why don't you thank her?"
Daiyu hurried forward and bowed: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I will eat well and live up to your kindness."
The Queen smiled lovingly and said, "You should eat well. Don't be like your mother. Even if you have great literary talent, it will be wasted if you are not in good health."
"Don't worry. With me here, how could she become weak? Just look at Yue'er and you'll know I'm quite good at raising children." Princess Zhongshun smiled and said, "But I heard that the Second Prince injured his hand while shooting zongzi today. I don't have anything else in my house, but I have plenty of medicine for injuries. Would you like to send some to the Prince's house?"
The Queen also thought of her disappointing son and was furious, but everyone was present. She had already been harsh in her words about the girl's mother, and it would be inappropriate to say more. So she forced a smile and said, "It's just a minor injury. Don't worry about it."
After saying this, he let the matter go and ordered someone to summon the imperial physician to explain how to maintain health and avoid epidemics during the Dragon Boat Festival.
At the hour of You, Dai Quan came in person to say that the family dinner was ready. Everyone changed into lighter casual clothes and went to the Daming Palace.
After arriving in the palace, they performed another round of formalities and listened to the instructions of the retired emperor and the emperor before they had their meal.
After the meal, they washed their hands with the "orchid soup" made of mugwort, calamus and other herbs, and then sprinkled the mugwort soaked in water on their bodies to end the ceremony of "washing away all diseases". Only then did the banquet end.
Wu Tianyue and others retreated and rested for a while in the rest area. Just as they were about to leave the palace, the palace maid beside the queen came to invite them. Princess Zhongshun asked Wu Tianyue to take care of Daiyu, and went to the queen's palace with the maid.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels "45572230" and "Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom" for the nutrient solution; "Cat Xiaoyu" for the landmines~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
