Chapter 462 Bitter Banquet
On the third day of February, the weather in Shangjing was gloomy, as if a storm was coming.
At the end of the hour of Si, carriages stopped one after another in front of the palace gate, and the invited wives of officials and nobles entered the palace cautiously with gloomy faces.
The palace walls were high and the palace roads were quiet. Even if the footsteps were light, there would be noise when there were many people walking.
These noises gathered together, echoed in the long palace roads, and then came back to people's ears, knocking on their hearts, making people nervous for no reason and their heartbeats accelerated.
Today's palace banquet was held in the Yu Garden, and it was said to be a flower viewing banquet. But looking at the entire Yu Garden, there were not many flowers at all.
In February, when the weather was still chilly and the weather was still cold, the grass and trees had just awakened and sprouted, but they had not yet had time to grow leaves and flowers.
"Please sit down." Concubine Yu waved her hand.
"Thank you, Concubine." Everyone said thank you in unison and sat down.
To be honest, they didn't understand why the banquet was held in the Yu Garden in such a gloomy weather that seemed like it would rain at any time.
There were so many palaces in the palace, why not hold it in a palace?
This garden was ventilated on all sides without any shelter, and there were no fire pots or other things to keep out the cold. The cold wind blew and made people shiver.
Although everyone was unhappy, they didn't say anything when they saw Concubine Yu, Xie Wanruo, and Yu Lan sitting in the garden and freezing.
No matter how rich they are, can they be richer than the princesses and concubines? Moreover, Yu Lan is pregnant with twins and is about to give birth.
Everyone looked at Yu Lan's belly and swallowed their complaints.
Xie Wanruo sat beside Concubine Yu, raised her eyes and scanned the whole place. There were so many heads packed together, it seemed that everyone was there, not a single one was missing.
Very good, Xie Wanruo was very satisfied.
In order to prevent someone from claiming to be sick and not coming, Xie Wanruo wrote in the invitation that if anyone was unable to enter the palace for the banquet, she would visit them in person.
Seeing this, no one dared to find an excuse to refuse, so they could only bite the bullet and enter the palace.
The palace holds banquets every year, but the requirements for the attendees are extremely high, and it is rare for so many people to attend the banquet together.
Some people are entering the palace for the first time. They are full of curiosity and yearning for the palace, but the atmosphere is not right today, and they all become uneasy.
"What do you think of the scenery in this garden?" After a long silence, Concubine Yu Gui spoke slowly.
Hearing this, the people who were full of trepidation hurriedly raised their heads and looked around, squeezed out a forced smile and said: "Very good, the scenery of Yu Garden is incomparable."
After hearing this, Concubine Yu Gui nodded and said in a light voice: "In this case, it's rare for us to enter the palace, so take a good look."
Huh?
"...Yes." Everyone was stunned for a moment, and seeing that Yu Gui was not joking, they had to agree and stood up.
Although there are not many flowers in the garden, the rockery and pond, every blade of grass and every tree are very exquisite, and the scenery is also superb.
However, everyone knows that this is a banquet for the emperor, and no one has the heart to appreciate the scenery.
After walking a long way, a few familiar people gathered together and whispered and speculated.
"What exactly do the noble concubine and Concubine Xie want to do?"
"I don't know, but it must be something bad."
"I guess it has something to do with the war on the border. I heard from my husband a few days ago that the casualties of the soldiers on the border were heavy, and I am afraid that there will be no soldiers to return to the capital after the war."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't understand this. If there are no people, we can only recruit new soldiers."
"But this is a matter of the court. What does it have to do with us women?"
"That's not clear..."
The mistresses of each family looked at each other, looking at each other, with a confused look on their faces.
Mother Shen listened for a long time but didn't hear any useful information, so she sighed in disappointment.
Shen Changze was not in the capital, and Shen Changhuai was tight-lipped. She had asked him several times in a roundabout way these days, but didn't get anything out of him.
"Mother, let's go over there and take a look." Wang Yueyao, who came with her, touched Mother Shen's arm.
Shen Changhuai was promoted and transferred back to the capital, and was among the officials. Wang Yueyao also received an invitation to attend the banquet with Mother Shen.
It was her first time to enter the palace, so she followed Mother Shen to avoid making mistakes. But Mother Shen was eavesdropping on people's conversations here, and was seen by many passers-by.
Wang Yueyao couldn't stand it anymore, and reminded Mother Shen to stop.
Mother Shen glanced at Wang Yueyao unhappily and left reluctantly.
The Yu Garden was very large. Everyone absentmindedly walked around and returned to the banquet area and sat down.
It was cold today. After a cold wind, everyone felt freezing. They held the teacup and wanted to drink some hot tea to drive away the cold.
But when they took the cup and drank the tea, they found that it was cold tea.
This...
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, not understanding how to entertain guests.
Concubine Yu also drank a sip of cold tea, put down the teacup and said, "The weather is cold, and the tea has become cold after a while. I'm sorry for it."
"What are you talking about, Your Majesty?" Concubine Yu drank it, what else could they say? They could only politely brush it off.
They were already cold, and they felt even colder after drinking the cold tea. Now everyone just wanted to have lunch early and eat something hot to warm themselves up.
Under their eager expectations, the palace servants put the meal on the table.
The people who were full of expectation were a little bit incredulous after seeing the food on the table.
"This is... a cake? A steamed bun?"
Everyone was surprised and looked up at Concubine Yu Gui and Xie Wanruo.
Xie Wanruo said softly: "Everyone, eat quickly, otherwise it will get cold soon."
After that, Xie Wanruo took the lead in picking up a piece of cake and ate it bite by bite.
Concubine Yu Gui and Yu Lan did the same, also holding the steamed buns and eating seriously.
A gust of cold wind blew, and everyone came back to their senses from their shock, looked down at the steamed buns and cakes on the table, and reached out to pick them up.
From the kitchen to here, the steamed buns and cakes were only warm. If they didn't eat them quickly, they would soon get cold.
Everyone was tense and had a hard time swallowing.
All the people present were nobles in Beijing and had never eaten such cold and crude food.
Apart from a pot of cold tea, there was not even a side dish. It was really hard to swallow.
After finishing one reluctantly, they did not even reach for the second one.
"Why don't you eat anymore?" Concubine Yu Guifei asked knowingly.
Everyone said awkwardly: "I'm full and can't eat anymore."
"Is that so..." Concubine Yu Guifei looked at the remaining cakes and steamed buns on the table and said regretfully: "There are still so many left, it's a pity. Da Zhao is in a difficult situation now, and the food is precious and can't be wasted. Take them back and eat them at night."
What?
Just a cake and two steamed buns, and they have to take them away if they can't finish them?
Everyone was completely dumbfounded and terrified.
This palace banquet was far more terrible than they had imagined.
First, they were freezing in the cold wind outside, then they had to drink cold tea and eat coarse food, and now they were allowed to take them away.
Someone couldn't bear it any longer, and asked carefully, holding their hands: "I wonder why the Imperial Concubine and the Concubine summoned us to the palace today?"
"It's nothing important, just to experience the life of the soldiers at the border. How do you feel?" Imperial Concubine Yu stared at everyone.
Everyone stammered: "It's cold and simple, and it's not easy for the soldiers."
"The conditions at the border are tough, and the soldiers have suffered..."
Shen's mother couldn't help but think of Shen Changze when she heard these words, and her eyes turned red.
Among the officials' wives present, there were also many families of generals. After hearing this, they were touched and showed distressed and sad expressions on their faces.
Xie Wanruo saw that the time had come, and stood up and said: "Everyone is right, the soldiers fighting on the border are extremely hard, and not having enough food and clothes is not a big deal. What is more terrible is the brutality of the war, with countless casualties..."