Chapter 44 I will help you get Yang
A few days later, the Winter Solstice Festival, one of the three major festivals, arrived.
Early in the morning, the emperor and the crown prince personally went to the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, the Fengxian Hall, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the Altar of Land and Grain to offer sacrifices to the heavens, the earth, their ancestors, and the country.
At night, there was a winter solstice banquet in the palace, and all civil and military officials above the third rank attended the banquet with their families.
The Duke of Wei came with his wife and eldest son and daughter as usual, and was sitting in the front seat bored.
Suddenly, a soft and sharp voice sounded: "Yang Shangyi is here——"
Everyone at the table stood up and bowed respectfully.
After a long while, Yang Manyan finally arrived, dressed in a heavy and gorgeous Zhaiyi dress, and a golden crown with three dragons and three phoenixes on his head. His attire was luxurious and elegant, and he was surrounded by dozens of palace maids in front and behind.
Xu Chengzong and Xu Miaohua, brother and sister, looked up subconsciously and were both stunned. Was this really Yang, the poor girl who used to stay in their house?
Before everyone sat down, the Crown Prince, the Emperor, and Queen Mother Jiang came in one after another. After everyone bowed repeatedly, the banquet officially began.
After three rounds of drinking, Queen Mother Jiang gradually realized that something was wrong.
Why does the usually cold-hearted emperor look at Yang Shangyi every now and then?
The Winter Solstice Banquet is held in the Baohe Hall. Under the eaves in front of the hall, Zhonghe Shao music is played, bells and drums ring, and the atmosphere is solemn and dignified.
The emperor's throne was located in the upper center, to the east was the crown prince's throne, to the west was the empress dowager's throne, and princes and ministers sat in order of rank towards the south.
This was Yang Manyan's first time attending such a grand banquet since her wedding, and she was so nervous that her palms were sweating.
Xiao Yan noticed her uneasiness and quietly held her little hand and squeezed it.
This little action seemed to have become a tacit understanding between the two of them.
After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere at the banquet gradually became relaxed. The prince and Yang Manyan began to whisper to each other, with smiles flashing in their eyes.
The emperor saw it all, pursed his thin lips, and almost crushed the delicate and small celadon glaze tall-footed wine cup in his hand.
Queen Mother Jiang was as heavily made-up as ever, with pearls and jewels adorning her body, but tonight she seemed to have discovered something interesting, her eyes were slanted and the light was sparkling.
She suddenly said meaningfully: "The emperor has good vision and chose a good Shangyi, but..."
The emperor's expression suddenly changed and his brows knitted.
Xiao Yan and Yang Manyan were sitting very close to each other, so they naturally heard what Queen Mother Jiang said. They looked at each other quietly and said nothing more.
After the banquet, amid the overwhelming farewells from the civil and military officials, Queen Mother Jiang suddenly asked the Emperor to send her back to the Cining Palace.
The emperor did not refuse this superficial effort.
A group of palace servants and eunuchs, holding palace lanterns, surrounded the mother and son and walked towards the Cining Palace.
The vermilion palace walls were completely integrated into the night, and the cold north wind blew through the spacious palace roads.
Queen Mother Jiang suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Alas, when the selection was held at the beginning of the year, I originally planned to choose Yang as your noble wife..."
This was not something she had made up. On the day of the preliminary selection, she was already exhausted after watching the whole selection. But when she saw the gorgeous and plump Yang, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she inexplicably felt that she could win her son's heart.
It is true that no one knows a child better than his mother.
The emperor said nothing, his eyes were dark and unclear.
In other words, if there had not been the imperial decree arranging a marriage for the crown prince, the "little palace maid" he had favored would have been sent to him by the empress dowager sooner or later.
Unfortunately, there was no if, he personally drafted the imperial edict and gave his only woman to his son.
When Queen Mother Jiang saw him like this, she knew that her guess was correct.
She lowered her voice and said earnestly: "After all, I am your biological mother and will not harm you. If you want Yang's, I can help you."
Queen Mother Jiang was not of high birth, but she was the mother of two emperors, a rare event in all dynasties.
The only drawback was that her two sons were not raised by her personally and were not very close to her.
Her eldest son, Emperor Yongshun Xiao Wei, was adopted by Empress Chen, who had been childless for many years, as soon as he was born because he was the eldest son of the emperor.
The second son, Xiao Ke, was the third son of the emperor. He was raised by Emperor Wen's favorite concubine and cousin, Consort Tang.
Fortunately, Empress Chen and Concubine Tang both had unfortunate lives, and in the end only she became the Empress Dowager.
Because she was not close to her two sons, Queen Mother Jiang especially doted on the nephews and nieces of her mother's family, the Jiang clan. Gradually, she spoiled them and made them lawless, bullying men and women and doing all kinds of evil.
The late Emperor Yongshun was a kind and weak man, who turned a blind eye to the tyranny of his biological mother’s in-laws.
But the current emperor Xiao Ke is completely the opposite. He is iron-fisted, ruthless and cold-blooded. At the beginning of his reign, he dealt with a large number of Jiang clan members who were disrupting the government.
Queen Mother Jiang had personally pleaded for mercy on behalf of her family many times, but unfortunately the Emperor was completely unmoved.
Seeing members of the Jiang family being executed, exiled, or dismissed, Queen Mother Jiang felt filled with regret.
If I had known this would happen, I would not have appointed this heartless second son just to suppress my daughter-in-law.
But times have changed. Now, more than a decade has passed, and Empress Dowager Jiang is getting older. On the one hand, she is thinking about winning over the prince, and on the other hand, she is starting to think about easing relations with the emperor.
Most importantly, in her opinion, it was a waste to let a girl from a small family like Yang take on the role of the future mother of a country.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Ke said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Queen Mother. I will make arrangements."
"What arrangements can you make? Just wait, I will make you get what you want." A look of determination flashed in Queen Mother Jiang's eyes.
In the main hall of the East Palace, palace lanterns were lit all around, and the interior of the hall was illuminated as if it were daytime.
Surrounded by Xingyun Suyue and others, Yang Manyan took off her complicated dress and makeup one by one.
After the prince washed and changed his clothes, he stood with his hands behind his back in front of the slightly open window, letting in the cold moonlight.
Thinking back to the ambiguous words of Queen Mother Jiang at the banquet just now, his heart was suddenly filled with waves.
When Yang Manyan came out after washing up, he was slightly startled. He saw a man in a bamboo green suit standing quietly in the moonlight, with a tall and straight figure, like a jade tree in the wind.
"Why is your highness standing here?" she walked forward and asked with a smile.
Xiao Yan raised his hand and stroked her long hair. "Nothing. I just thought that Yuanyuan loves reading, and the collection of books in the East Palace study is still a little small. I will take you to Wenyuan Pavilion some other day."
Yang Manyan was pleasantly surprised. "Great! I've heard that Wenyuan Pavilion collects books from all over the world. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to go in and take a look one day."
The dim candlelight flickered, illuminating her round, fair face. Her almond-shaped eyes were sparkling as if containing stars.
Xiao Yan's heart softened, he bent down and kissed her, "I was inconsiderate, I should have accompanied Yuanyuan to see it earlier."
Yang Manyan's cheeks flushed, her heart pounding, and she took the initiative to hug his slender waist.
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