Chapter 314: Consideration
On the day of the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, all officials came to celebrate and the Lady of the Imperial Order entered the palace to attend the banquet.
The banquet was held in the Imperial Garden, and there was singing, dancing, acrobatics, opera... everything. The ladies and young ladies who came to the banquet kowtowed to the Empress Dowager in congratulations, and then enjoyed the various performances or gathered together to drink tea and chat. Many families also took this opportunity to help their children and grandchildren find suitable marriages.
There were many people who came to celebrate the birthday, and their identities were mixed, so the Queen Mother let them go, leaving only a few close concubines, the old princess, and a few wives of dukes in the inner hall to talk.
The Queen, Consort Shu, Consort Xian and others were serving on the side.
"The Queen Mother looks really good today." Lady Dingguo said with a smile, "She looks even younger than she actually is. To be honest, we old folks are really envious of her."
"Can the Empress Dowager give us the prescriptions she uses for her daily health care and let us try some of them too?" Concubine Yu echoed.
"As you two grow older, your minds are becoming more and more like children. Are you just taking this medicine randomly?" The Queen Mother pointed at the two of them in mock anger. "You keep saying that I look good. I can hardly tell whether you are telling the truth or lying. To put it bluntly, you are just trying to make me happy."
"You never tell the truth. If you continue like this, I will be angry." Although the Queen Mother said this, there was no anger on her face and her smile remained unchanged.
"Look, in today's world, telling the truth has become a lie. Fortunately, it's not June yet." Lady Dingguo curled her lips.
Concubine Yu tilted her head, "What do you say about June?"
"It's snowing in June. It's really Dou E's injustice." Concubine Su on the side winked.
"Just kidding..." The Queen Mother laughed heartily, and the whole palace was filled with laughter.
After the maids served a new round of hot tea and various fresh fruits, the Queen Mother looked around and asked the wife of Duke Dingguo, "Why is your Jing'er not here?"
"She has a wild temperament and is the only girl in the family. She is spoiled by me and the old man. She is most afraid of such a formal banquet."
Lady Dingguo said with a smile, "She just congratulated the Queen Mother on her birthday and greeted her, then she disappeared. I guess she went to chat and have fun with other young ladies."
"When I get back, I will definitely have a good talk with her. She has not behaved properly in the palace. What will happen to her when she gets married?"
"As a child, it's normal for them to like to play and have fun."
The Queen Mother disagreed, "At your age, you should go out and walk around more. You will grow better. If you hang out with old people like us all the time, you will become old-fashioned. How can you have the energy of a young girl?"
"In my opinion, Jing'er has a very good personality. Being more lively is better than being a taciturn person who doesn't talk all day. Besides, being lively doesn't mean she doesn't follow the rules. I saw Jing'er carefully when she entered the palace. She didn't make any mistakes in her etiquette and worship. Her demeanor and manners are not inferior to those of other princesses. That's enough. There's no need to nitpick on everything. It will only bore the children."
"But from what you just said about Jing'er's husband's family, what progress has been made in Jing'er's marriage?" The Queen Mother was very interested in this matter.
First of all, they were interested in what kind of young man could be favored by the Lu family, the Duke of Dingguo and his wife, a pair of old foxes.
Secondly, I am also interested in what kind of family the Lu family will choose for marriage.
The Lu family is a family of military generals with great military achievements. They should not be underestimated in terms of power or prestige.
Lu Wenjing is the only daughter among the descendants of the Lu family. She is regarded as the apple of the family's eye. If the man who can marry Lu Wenjing is from a poor family, she will surely have a smooth career in the future. If he is from a noble family, it will be even more powerful.
The Lu family's marriage is something that the royal family should also pay attention to.
The wife of Duke Dingguo was all smiles. "There's no sign of it happening. I'm just looking forward to it."
"Jing'er's personality is most like her grandfather. She has her own ideas about everything and is very stubborn. She even vowed to find a husband that suits her and not let us help her choose one."
"Everyone in our Lu family is so worried about this that they are almost losing all their hair..."
"Jing'er is a very opinionated child. You should just go along with her." The Queen Mother nodded with a smile. "Although marriage is decided by the parents and the matchmaker, it is also a major event in a person's life. If the child doesn't like it, it will be a difficult matter for the rest of her life."
"Making a marriage is not making an enemy. You have to consider this matter carefully." The Queen Mother added.
The emphasis of the sentence falls on the word "weigh".
Lady Dingguo understood and nodded repeatedly, "What the Queen Mother said is absolutely right. We can only follow her wishes for the time being. However, since Jing'er's marriage is mentioned, I will also dare to ask the Queen Mother for favor first. When Jing'er's marriage is in sight, I will have to trouble the Queen Mother to grant her marriage and give her a good start."
The meaning of this statement is very clear. Lu Wenjing's marriage will be approved by the royal family.
The Queen Mother felt relieved and smiled even more, "Of course, let alone granting a marriage, I won't be stingy when the time comes to give you a dowry."
"Then I would like to thank the Queen Mother first..."
There was another round of laughter in the palace. Everyone present was in great joy, except the Queen.
The Queen, the Virtuous Consort, the Shu Consort and others were serving on the side and heard everything the Queen Mother said just now.
Especially when the Queen Mother praised Lu Wenjing's manners as being better than those of the princess, and even promised to arrange a marriage for Lu Wenjing in the future, the Queen could not help but grit her teeth.
Was he praising Lu Wenjing, or was he deliberately speaking to the queen? In addition to the eldest prince, the queen also gave birth to two princesses.
The first princess was the third child, but when the queen was pregnant with the third princess, the eldest prince was only one year old, which was not a suitable time for pregnancy. Even though she drank bowl after bowl of tonic during pregnancy, the third princess was still born with deficiencies in the fetus, and began to have various discomforts during the confinement period.
Even though she had the capable doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau watching over her day and night, the third princess still only lived to be four years old before unfortunately dying.
After the third princess died, the queen became pregnant with the sixth princess.
After what happened to the third princess, the queen was very cautious this time. She took good care of her body before becoming pregnant. The sixth princess was also quite healthy after giving birth, which made the queen feel relieved.
Although the Sixth Princess was in good health and had a dignified and beautiful appearance, she was extremely timid and cowardly. She usually spoke and acted timidly, and did not behave like a legitimate princess at all.
(End of this chapter)
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