Chapter 229: Grasping the One-Year-Old
Now Xie Chen was satisfied.
He gently stroked the scroll, his expression incredibly gentle, and said, "I ordered them to frame the painting and place it in the warm room of Chengming Palace so that I can admire it every day."
Pei Tingyue smiled faintly: "A painting also needs to be admired every day? Isn't this concubine in front of the emperor every day?"
Xie Chen pulled her closer and lowered his voice, "Tingyue will always be away from me sometimes, but I can't leave her even for a moment now, so I can only use paintings to comfort myself."
Pei Tingyue raised the corner of her eye and said nothing more.
After finishing the painting, Xiao Si felt a little tired, so Pei Tingyue asked Yun Shu and Yun Zheng to carry him to the side hall to rest.
And she was playing chess with Xie Chen in the pavilion.
The result was naturally a loss, but Xie Chen gave the evaluation of "improvement".
Pei Tingyue was very happy about this.
She has been learning chess for two years and has achieved some success.
The emperor and his concubine stayed here until noon before leaving for the banquet.
Xiao Si’s first birthday party was held at Mingyuetai.
The prince’s first birthday banquet has always been very grand.
Not to mention, this is the first birthday party of the imperial concubine's son.
Therefore, not only the palace concubines attended the banquet today, but also some royal family members, including King Xuan and his wife.
After Pei Tingyue brought Xiao Si over, she went here first and started chatting with Princess Xuan, "Why didn't you bring Xun'er here?"
Princess Xuan covered her mouth and laughed: "She was very sleepy all day long, and she would just sleep when she came, so I didn't bring her with me."
Pei Tingyue nodded and asked her how her recuperation was going.
Princess Xuan's eyes flashed with gratitude, and she stood up to pay her respects. "On the day of my birth, I had not yet thanked the Imperial Concubine for her guidance and guidance, nor for the grace of giving Xun'er the name. Seeing you today..."
Pei Tingyue supported her in time and interrupted, "There's no need to be so formal between us."
Only then did Princess Xuan give up.
Pei Tingyue took Xiao Si back to her seat. As soon as she sat down, several concubines surrounded her.
First they praised him, then took turns holding Xiao Si.
"Your Highness is truly icy and adorable."
"Look, the little prince's eyebrows and eyes are exactly the same as our emperor's."
"He even smiled so softly at me, it really melted my heart."
“…”
After several palace concubines paid their respects, Wen Zhaoyuan arrived with the eldest prince, Xie Xiuyi with the second prince, and Li Xiuyuan with the third prince.
All the brothers are here today.
The eldest prince was very calm and only touched his two younger brothers.
The second prince was extremely happy. He clapped his hands and looked at Yu Shi and Yu Zhou standing tremblingly. He turned around and asked Xie Xiuyi when his two younger brothers could play with him.
Pei Tingyue received another candy, which was given to her secretly by the Second Prince. He said that Mother Pei was beautiful and he liked her.
Just as they were playing, Queen Cui arrived.
Her biological mother, a first-rank lady of imperial rank and the mistress of the Cui family, one of the four surnames of Daqi, followed behind.
Mrs. Cui was about forty years old, with a decent appearance and a majestic temperament, just like the older Empress Cui.
The queen only said to the palace that Madam Cui had not seen her daughter for a long time, so she came to the palace to accompany her.
In the entire palace, only Pei Tingyue knew that Empress Cui's health was getting worse and worse, and she was probably not going to live long, so she summoned Madam Cui to come in.
Pei Tingyue originally thought that Queen Cui would not attend today, but she didn't expect her to come after all.
As soon as the Empress arrived, the concubines sat down properly again.
Pei Tingyue brought Xiao Si forward to pay her respects, "Greetings to the Queen."
Queen Cui smiled gently and waved towards Xiao Si, "Come, let me hold the little birthday girl."
Yunshu held Xiaosi to her.
Queen Cui gently rocked Xiao Si and looked at Madam Cui with a smile, "Mother, look, Yu Zhou is so cute."
Mrs. Cui agreed with a smile.
Xiao Si felt very comfortable being rocked. He thought about it and kissed Queen Cui on the face.
It shocked everyone on the stage.
Empress Cui's smile deepened as she asked him, "Do you like mother so much?"
Xiao Si laughed happily in her arms.
Queen Cui was fond of him for a while, and after a while, Queen Mother Qin came and was fond of him again.
Xie Chen was the last one to arrive.
When he arrived, everyone stood up and saluted.
He first helped Pei Tingyue up, then helped Empress Cui up when they reached the main seat, and then said, "Get up."
Everyone sat down.
The banquet began.
During the banquet, Queen Mother Qin smiled graciously and said, "Yuzhou is one year old today. As the Empress Dowager, I naturally have to express my gratitude."
She clapped her hands, and Nanny Meng stepped forward, and the contents of the mahogany tray in her hand came into view.
Inside was a longevity lock made of jade inlaid with gold.
The emerald on the longevity lock is bright green, and the water color is extremely transparent. It is obviously a priceless item at first glance.
After a moment of exclamation, Xie Chen smiled, a rare gesture in front of everyone. "Mother, you have prepared such a wonderful gift. I am embarrassed to say that I haven't prepared any myself. What should I do?"
Queen Mother Qin glared at him, "Your Majesty, as a father, didn't prepare any gifts? Regardless of whether the Imperial Concubine and Yu Zhou are willing, I'm the first one who doesn't want to. We'll discuss whether to send gifts later. Just for saying this, I'll punish His Majesty with a drink."
The atmosphere at the banquet was very good, and none of the concubines took the opportunity to speak out. They all looked at Xie Chen with smiles on their faces.
Xie Chen laughed, asked someone to pour more wine, and drank the whole glass.
Afterwards, Queen Mother Qin said, "I don't care, but you must give Xiao Si's gift today."
Xie Chen smiled and nodded.
He turned the black jade ring on his finger, then took it off, "Then I'll give this to Yuzhou."
Everyone was shocked.
Even Pei Tingyue was a little surprised.
The black jade ring was a personal item of his, which he wore all year round. It was more like a symbol of his kingship.
Now you give it to Xiao Si like this?
It is truly a great honor.
Queen Mother Qin smiled and broke the silence: "That's better. If not, I will punish the emperor by making him drink the whole pot of wine."
After she said this, everyone came back to their senses and started to agree with her with a smile.
After the Empress Dowager and the Emperor had finished their gifts, the people in the harem began to send one-year-old gifts.
Led by Queen Cui, a pair of jade pendants with Qilin patterns were given, which had great meaning.
Next was Wen Zhaoyuan's, who was given a set of four treasures of the study, which was considered quite standard.
The concubines in the six palaces presented gifts one by one according to their rank.
Then came the gifts from others, but Mrs. Cui was the first, followed by the royal family. This also shows the status of the Cui family.
After everyone had sent their children off, it was time for the highlight of the day – the one-year-old ceremony.
In the center of the Mingyue Terrace, there is a large colorful carpet.
There were countless valuables placed on it.
Gold ingots, the Four Books, abacus, maps, jade sceptres, bows and arrows, cosmetics, zithers, chessboards, etc.
It dazzled everyone.
Xie Chen thought about Xiao Si, put him on the carpet, patted his little butt, and said, "Go."
Seeing so many things, Xiao Si was so curious that he crawled over there.
Everyone held their breath and watched what he caught.
Pei Tingyue was also a little nervous. She didn't use anything to deliberately train Xiao Si, so she was also unknown.
At this time, Pei Tingyue thought of Xie Chen's words in the morning, and thought to himself: I should be more promising.
Looking at the carpet again, Xiao Si quickly crawled to the pile of things, picked up something, held it in his hand and looked back.
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