On August 15th, another Mid-Autumn Festival arrived. Because we were celebrating the Queen Mother’s birthday, this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival was particularly lively.
Early in the morning, the streets of the capital were already crowded with people coming and going in an endless stream. Looking from a high vantage point, all you could see was a sea of heads.
The palace had prepared a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet early on, just to invite officials from all over the country who came to congratulate the empress dowager to enter the palace so that the emperor and his ministers could enjoy themselves together.
In order to let everyone have a good holiday, Zhao Yiming ordered the housekeeper to tell all the shops early in the morning to close on time at the end of the Youshi hour. All the employees in the shops who had homes in the capital would go home to celebrate the holiday, and those who did not have homes would go to the Duke's Mansion to celebrate the holiday with Tian An.
It was a holiday today, so the number of pedestrians on the street doubled and the shops were doing booming business. Everyone who had thought they were going to be worked like dogs was so happy to hear the news that they almost jumped three feet high and praised the host for being wise and kind.
Moreover, Zhao Yiming sent letters not only to the shops under the names of Tian An and the Duke's Mansion, but also to several familiar shops, advising them to give their shops a holiday.
Also, if possible, try to find an excuse not to attend the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the palace tonight.
Although no one knew what Zhao Yiming was up to, they all believed him unconditionally. Not only did they send a message to the shop, but Zuo Yunshu, Qin Yalan, and Gu Jinyan, who were already married, also sent a message to their parents' homes.
For a moment, the people who received the letter became panic-stricken, but after the panic they immediately calmed down.
Since the news was sent from the Duke's Mansion, its authenticity is naturally beyond doubt. It seems that tonight's palace banquet is destined to be turbulent, but even if we know it in advance, what can we do? We still have to go.
The only thing we can do now is to protect the younger ones as much as possible. As for them, since we can't escape, we should just face the challenge head-on! Maybe wealth and honor can be found in danger!
So, after hurriedly writing back to their daughters who had brought them the news, asking them to take care of themselves, they continued to prepare what they needed to, and everything went according to plan.
However, all the children who were originally going to enter the palace were told that they could not go.
It was originally for their own good, but unfortunately there were some who were smart enough to seek their own death.
Madam Zuo was busy instructing the servants on trivial matters in the house so that they could take some precautions in advance.
Several concubines in the backyard hurried over with their illegitimate children.
The favorite concubine in the lead had a smile on her face, but her words were sarcastic, "Madam, although the eldest daughter is already married, there are still so many girls in the mansion. You can't favor one over the other!"
The other concubines behind her also echoed, "Yes! The quota for entering the palace was decided long ago, and now they say we can't go at the last minute, this is just a joke!"
"Yes! Yes! If you're not allowed to go, you should at least give an explanation..."
The chattering of a group of women made Mrs. Zuo, who was already upset, feel overwhelmed. She looked at them as if they were a group of fools.
She really didn't want to argue with them. "This matter was decided by the master. If you have any objections, go to the master. If the master agrees, you can naturally follow him."
After throwing down a sentence, she left without looking back.
What she didn't expect was that before leaving, two concubines' daughters actually got permission to enter the palace with them.
Looking at the smug expressions on their and their aunt's faces, Madam Zuo said inwardly, "Fools!" She had spared their lives out of kindness, but they were courting death.
She glanced at Lord Zuo and saw that he looked normal. She didn't care what he was thinking and turned around to get on the carriage to the palace.
They went there and helped cover up, but it is not known whether they can come back. I just hope they won't regret it when the time comes.
The same scene was also played out in several other families. The legitimate sons and daughters of the family stayed in the mansion obediently, but the illegitimate sons and daughters insisted on going.
The Qin family is the least worrying. Master Qin has only one daughter, Qin Yalan. After sending a message to the shop to close the business and go on holiday, he asked the servants to close the door of the house and take the imperial physician Qin, who happened to be on leave, to stay at home.
But despite this, Qin Yalan was still worried.
Seeing his wife's worry, Wu Hongjing took people to bring the two elders to the general's residence without saying a word.
Tian An also had the same idea as him.
Tian Mingwu was ordered to go to the western suburbs camp a few days ago. Now there are only An Wan and several brothers and sisters in the general's mansion.
Tian An simply sent someone to bring them all to the Duke's Mansion. Firstly, they could celebrate the festival together, and secondly, the defenses in the Duke's Mansion were more complete, and everyone could take care of each other.
Except for a few masters, almost all the maids in the mansion also came to the Duke's Mansion, leaving only the guards to guard the General's Mansion.
For everyone's safety, An Wan specifically instructed Chen Qiang before leaving. If anything happened, they should do what they could. Even if they couldn't defend the mansion, they must save their lives. Of course, it would be better if nothing happened.
The Duke's Mansion, which was somewhat deserted in the past, suddenly became lively because of the arrival of An Wan and the others. After the hour of You, it became even more lively when the shop assistants in the shops came back.
But after they arrived at the Duke's Mansion, they always felt that something was strange about the mansion today.
There seemed to be more guards, and there were water tanks placed under the walls of each courtyard. I didn't know what was in them or what they were used for.
However, their attention was soon attracted by the aroma of rice wafting through the air.
As delicious dishes were served on the table, their conversation turned entirely to the delicacies from land and sea.
Zhao Zhong from the silver shop pointed at the hairy crabs on the table and his friend beside him and said, "If Li Qian and the others knew how delicious the dishes were today, they would definitely regret it."
My friend swallowed and nodded, "Of course not. It smells delicious. Even if you have money, you might not be able to eat these hairy crabs, let alone us who don't have money."
He took a deep breath of the fragrance, his face full of enjoyment as he said, "I'm going to have to taste it later and remember the taste. I'll go back tomorrow and tell Li Qian and the others about it and make them drool."
"You are such a dog, hahaha." Everyone at the table laughed out loud at the two of them.
The dishes were served quickly, and Tian An immediately ordered the meal to begin. Everyone picked up their bowls and chopsticks and began to eat.
Because Tian An was still in confinement after giving birth, she could only set up a table in the house. An Wan and Jiang brought Yunxu, Zhao Shuhua, Zhao Qinhua, Zhao Ranhua, and Yaoyao, who had been asked by the Emperor and Empress to stay in the Duke's Mansion with Zhao Yiming, to accompany her.
The newly born Xiao Nanchen and Xiao Xiyue were also held by the wet nurse and stood aside to join in the fun.
If we ignore the absence of Tian Mingwu and Zhao Yiming, as well as the undercurrents in the dark, this would be the warmest Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner.
It’s a pity that due to the greed of some people, tonight’s beautiful scenery is destined to be stained with blood.
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