Embroidery is a delicate job. Time slowly slipped away from my fingertips, the sky gradually darkened, and the lights in the imperial garden began to light up.
As the exquisite palace lanterns illuminated the entire imperial garden, the ladies slowly put down their embroidery needles.
When I looked up again, the snacks, wine, and fruits for blessing were all ready.
Just as the Empress was about to lead everyone in moon worship and blessing, an old eunuch's slightly hoarse voice suddenly rang out from a distance, "The Empress Dowager has arrived..."
The whole audience was in an uproar. After a moment of surprise, the Queen Mother led everyone in an orderly manner to welcome the Queen Mother.
Tian An bowed his head and greeted everyone else. When he looked up again, he saw the queen considerately and filially helping the empress dowager to the main seat.
The Queen Mother still looked kind and concerned about the Queen, "The Queen has just recovered, just let me help you, why are you worrying so much?"
The Queen originally wanted to help the Queen Mother sit directly in her main seat, but the Queen Mother firmly refused. "I just had nothing to do and thought it was lively here, so I came to see. I didn't tell you in advance, so how could I make things difficult for the Queen?"
After that, he ordered the maid to set up the table next to the queen.
After helping the Queen Mother sit down, the Empress said, "Mother, I was just about to lead the ladies in praying for blessings. Since you are here, why don't you lead us?"
The Queen Mother raised her arm slightly, her smile still lingering as she refused, "I'm old, how can I do this anymore? Let the Queen do it! I'll just follow and share in the blessings."
The queen acted like a filial daughter-in-law and complimented the queen mother for a few words before leading everyone in the blessing ceremony again.
After the blessing ceremony, the atmosphere was not as lively as before due to the arrival of the Queen Mother.
Even Xiao Hao and Shu Huai, who were usually talkative, stopped whispering to each other and lowered their heads to drink tea and eat snacks.
The Empress had originally planned to let everyone wander the Imperial Gardens, giving the young people an opportunity to express their affection for each other. After watching the fireworks at noon, she would let everyone leave the palace to visit the Lantern Festival.
But the arrival of the Queen Mother disrupted her plans. She couldn't just disperse everyone as soon as the Queen Mother arrived!
Just as the queen was about to wink at the concubines beside her and ask them to find a topic to talk about.
The Queen Mother suddenly looked towards the men's seats. "I heard Chaoyang's child is back. I never had the chance to see him. Mingyu is here today!"
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Zhao Yiming.
For some reason, Tian An suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Zhao Yiming slowly stood up, bowed to the empress dowager, and said in a neither too intimate nor too distant manner: "Your humble servant Zhao Yiming pays homage to the empress dowager."
The Queen Mother was silent for a moment, then suddenly realized, "I almost forgot. Now I shouldn't call you Mingyu, but Yiming."
He added, "My child, we haven't seen each other for so many years, and we are still strangers."
Zhao Yiming's voice was devoid of any emotion; he simply stated the facts. "Yiming is now a subject, and must always remember to strictly abide by the rules of etiquette."
The Queen Mother didn't care about Zhao Yiming's attitude and continued talking about his marriage. "The Emperor was too hasty in granting you marriage. I didn't even check it out for you properly. I really feel guilty towards Chaoyang!"
Speaking of Tian An, Zhao Yiming's attitude obviously changed. Without waiting for the Queen Mother to say anything more, he said, "An An is fine."
The Queen Mother took the opportunity to turn the topic to Tian An, "I heard that the girl from the Tian family was made a county lady a few days ago. Is she here today?"
As soon as the Queen Mother appeared, Tian An knew that today would be a busy day. He stood up and saluted confidently, "Your humble servant Anping pays respects to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother be blessed with good health."
After all, Tian An had been trained by Nanny Xiao, so his etiquette and rules were very thorough and there was no fault to be found.
The Queen Mother sat on the high platform and beckoned her lovingly, "You are old, and it is getting dark now. Please come closer so I can see you more clearly!"
Tian An glanced at Zhao Yiming, stepped out of his seat, and walked to the bottom of the platform.
The Queen Mother was still not satisfied and said, "Come closer. You are a lovely girl from a distance. I feel close to you the moment I see you."
Tian An had no choice but to walk closer and stopped in front of the steps.
The Queen Mother raised her hand again and said, "Come up!"
At this moment, Tian An's face showed a bit of panic, "Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I dare not overstep the line."
The Queen Mother said lovingly, "It's alright."
Tian An had no choice but to step up the steps and walk directly to the Queen Mother. Before she could kneel, the Queen Mother took her hand and said, "I heard that you were raised in the countryside. I thought you were just like an ordinary village woman. But I didn't expect you to be so well-educated and well-mannered, and you are in no way inferior to the ladies of the noble families."
Tian An felt that the Queen Mother was humiliating her and trying to make her hate her, but she was powerless to refute it at this moment and could only respond submissively, "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty, but you are too kind to me. I started late, so naturally I cannot compare to you noble ladies."
The Queen Mother tapped Tian An's nose like a kind elder treating a favored younger generation, "You! You are so humble."
Tian An endured the discomfort of being touched by a stranger, lowered his eyebrows shyly, and said in a soft voice: "I don't have any."
The Queen Mother pointed at her, looked at the Queen and said with a smile, "No wonder Yiming likes this girl. Even I think she's very pleasing to the eye."
Look at what she said. If you don’t know, you would really think that the Queen Mother really likes Tian Ando.
However, unexpectedly, the Queen Mother did not make things difficult for Tian An because of Jiang Wanmeng's matter, and she didn't even mention Jiang Wanmeng's name throughout the whole process.
He also praised her and Zhao Yiming for their good looks and said they were a match made in heaven, then let Tian An go.
Of course, Tian Anke would not be so foolish as to think that the Queen Mother did not know about the conflicts between her and Jiang Wanmeng, nor would she really believe the Queen Mother's lies that she liked her.
On the contrary, if something is out of the ordinary, there must be something wrong, so she needs to be more careful.
After meeting Zhao Yiming and Tian An, the Queen Mother did not disrupt the Queen's arrangements and allowed her to proceed as planned.
The young men and women left the banquet one after another to enjoy the night view of the Imperial Garden.
The Queen Mother seemed to be in a particularly good mood today. She was in no hurry to go back and stayed there to chat with the concubines.
Since the Queen Mother was there, the Queen naturally couldn't leave either. However, she told Yaoyao and several princesses not to accompany her and to go and have fun on their own.
This palace banquet was originally held for them. If they don't seize the opportunity to get to know more about the young talents who have been selected for them in advance, wouldn't it be a waste of such a great opportunity!
They said they were princesses and were of noble birth, but they were actually a group of pitiful people. Young ladies from aristocratic families could at least go out for a stroll from time to time, but these princesses had to stay in the palace since they were born until they got married.
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