The Rongdi delegation was originally only scheduled to stay in Chang'an for ten days, but it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. In addition, the Rongdi prince had a broken leg and was inconvenient to stay, so Emperor Zhaokang specially kept them for a few more days, saying that it would not be too late to leave after celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Chang'an.
Qiong Qi had been thinking about finding an opportunity to see Tao Ti again, so she readily agreed.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a good festival for family reunion and happiness. The six palaces and 24 departments of the imperial palace started preparing half a month in advance. Two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole palace was brand new, and the lanterns hanging on the corridors were also changed to Mid-Autumn Festival patterns, such as the moon rabbit making medicine, Chang'e flying to the moon, and Wu Gang cutting osmanthus trees, which are beautiful and add to the festive atmosphere.
Early in the morning of that day, the female officials of the Neizhi Bureau came to the Yaoguang Hall with eight sets of newly made clothes, shoes, socks, waist belts, handkerchiefs, purses and pendants. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival and the change of seasons, so naturally they had to wear new clothes.
Looking at those soft yet gorgeous clothes, Tao Ti gently stroked the delicate patterns embroidered on them, praised the female official in a friendly manner, and asked Linglong to take the golden melon seeds to appreciate them.
She had always been courteous and generous to everyone in the Eastern Palace. No matter if they were high-ranking eunuchs or low-ranking palace maids, they had all benefited from her to some extent. Moreover, in the six months since Tao Ti married into the Eastern Palace, she had never harassed the palace maids, and had never even scolded them harshly. With such a gentle, generous and sensible mistress, the servants were naturally very satisfied.
Before, there were some gossips, not knowing whether they were just being mean or were bribed by someone. They were sarcastic about Tao Tigang's marriage into the East Palace. Later, they were severely criticized several times by the palace servants on duty, so they didn't dare to say anything anymore to avoid embarrassing themselves.
Tao Ti originally wanted to take a break and didn't want to try on clothes one by one, but Linglong persuaded her, "There will be a palace banquet tomorrow night. The Crown Princess can try on new clothes and pick one that suits her to attend the banquet. If the size is wrong, I can take it to the Neizhi Bureau and ask the embroiderer to make changes. It can be made earlier, so that it won't be too late to make changes at the last minute."
After Linglong said this, Tao Ti also remembered the palace banquet tomorrow, so she tried on the pieces one by one.
Autumn clothes are much more complicated than summer dresses. It took Tao Ti half an hour to try on these eight dresses.
She became a little impatient after trying them on, but Linglong kept praising her with a smile on her face. She could always make any outfit look stunning.
The warm look in her eyes made Tao Ti wonder for a moment whether Linglong was playing the real-life dress-up game "Miracle Tao Tao".
Finally, Tao Ti picked out an apricot-red silk double-nest cloud goose skirt. She asked Linglong to pick out matching pearl hairpin jewelry from her dressing box, and she went into the small kitchen with her hands in her pockets.
It’s Mid-Autumn Festival, so we need to make some festive food.
There is no moon cake in Dayuan Dynasty, but there is a small sesame maltose pastry, which is similar to moon cake. People here eat sweet-scented osmanthus cake, drink sweet-scented osmanthus wine, eat big crabs, and drink moon soup during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Speaking of moon soup, Tao Ti drank a bowl of it as soon as she got up this morning.
The name sounds elegant, but it is actually a sweet soup made with lotus seeds, longans, lotus root powder, etc. It tastes sweet, soft and glutinous, with a strong aroma. A bowl of it is sticky and feels warm and comfortable in the stomach when you drink it.
Tao Ti asked the palace servants to take out the mooncake molds. She had them made by the manufacturing bureau half a month ago. The craftsmen knew it was a task assigned by the Crown Princess, so they dared not neglect it at all and delivered it within three days. The workmanship was very fine. Patterns such as the characters for blessing, wealth and longevity, magpies and peonies, a house full of gold and jade, auspicious dragons and phoenixes, and surplus every year were all carved vividly.
Taking advantage of the cool autumn weather, Tao Ti had a long table moved to the backyard and asked six maids to help with the cooking to make moon cakes. She only needed to demonstrate, and the rest of the maids learned and made other things in the same way.
Freshly baked mooncakes are much more delicious than those sold in supermarkets, especially the fresh meat mooncakes. The freshly baked ones are fragrant, layer upon layer crispy, and the pastry is so crispy that it crumbles. When you take a bite, you will find it full of gravy and extremely delicious.
We happily spent the whole morning making mooncakes. There were mooncakes with fresh meat, five nuts, jujube paste, red bean paste and egg yolk, sesame, ham, and egg yolk lotus paste... The Yaoguang Hall was filled with sweet fragrance for the whole morning.
Pieces of golden and brilliant mooncakes that look like little moons are freshly baked and boxes of them are sent to the hands of families inside and outside the palace who are on good terms with Tao Ti.
She gave gifts to her relatives and friends here, and naturally she didn't forget the gifts to Pei Yan.
She thought that during the holidays, the Eastern Palace would have to give some holiday benefits to its subordinates, so she prepared a dozen boxes of mooncakes and asked the palace maids to send them to Zixiao Palace, allowing Pei Yan to reward the Eastern Palace officials.
Zixiao Palace.
When Pei Yan opened the box, he knew it was another of Tao Ti's ingenuity.
Deep down, he was not willing to share her cooking skills with others. Who the heck were other people? How could they be qualified to taste the food she cooked?
Fu Xirui, who was standing by, saw that the prince had a complicated expression and had a vague idea of what was going on. He hurriedly presented him with a box of particularly exquisite mooncakes and said with a lowered eyebrow, "Your Highness, this box of mooncakes was specially ordered by the Crown Princess to be given to you. She said she made it herself."
Hearing this, Pei Yan's expression lightened up a little and he opened the lunch box.
There were six baby-sized shortbread cookies arranged in separate compartments inside, each of them golden in color and small and exquisite.
Pei Yan narrowed his eyes and asked calmly, "Why is this box of pastries much smaller than the other boxes?"
Fu Xirui replied, "The Crown Princess said that eating too many mooncakes is not easy to digest, but she also wanted Your Highness to be able to taste every flavor, so she made it a little smaller."
After saying this, he secretly raised his eyes and glanced at the prince. Sure enough, the prince's brows relaxed and his expression was relaxed and happy.
Fu Xirui couldn't help but praise the Crown Princess in his heart: The Crown Princess is really considerate! She not only considers your highness's appetite, but also your highness's mood. It's really hard to find such a good Crown Princess even with a lantern!
Pei Yan looked at the six mooncakes of different styles. He didn't know what each one tasted like, so he picked up one based on his feeling.
As soon as he put the small mooncake into his mouth, his eyebrows raised slightly. The outer layer of the mooncake was crispy, soft and delicate, with a faint sweet fragrance, while the filling inside was unique. The first thing that came into contact with his teeth was the delicate and soft bean paste, which was sweet but not greasy. When he bit into it again, he tasted a salty and crunchy texture, which just neutralized the sweetness of the bean paste.
He took a bite and chewed it slowly. He looked down and saw that it was filled with red bean paste and egg yolk. "It's salty and sweet, crispy and delicious. It's very good."
"The Crown Princess is very clever and deft. She can make so many different kinds of pastry. She is really smart." Fu Xirui flattered her with a smile.
Pei Yan raised the corners of his lips slightly, and then looked at the mooncakes prepared for giving away. Thinking that they were not baked by A'ti herself, he asked Fu Xirui to distribute these mooncakes together with the holiday gifts to the officials of the Eastern Palace according to their official rank.
Finally, he rewarded Fu Xirui with a box, which made Fu Xirui so happy that he cried and was very grateful.
That night, the full moon was bright and clear, and many palaces and mansions ate mooncakes from the East Palace.
In the Zichen Palace, Emperor Zhaokang tasted a mooncake with five nuts and found it delicious. He took the remaining mooncakes to the Fengyi Palace and gave half of them to Empress Gu. He ate the mooncakes with osmanthus wine himself, got drunk, and started talking crazy.
In Mingyue Palace, Concubine Xu and the Fifth Prince started arguing over who should get the last fresh meat mooncake. Finally, Concubine Xu took out a chicken feather duster, and the Fifth Prince gave up the fresh meat mooncake with tears, presenting a touching scene of "loving mother and filial son".
In the Sixth Princess's palace, she looked at the bright moon, nibbled on a mooncake with lotus seed paste and egg yolk, which had a crispy crust and thick filling. She thought of her deceased mother and secretly wiped away her tears.
In Yuming Palace, the Princess of Qinghe County nestled in Princess Jingyang's arms like a kitten, eating mooncakes. Princess Jingyang waved a round silk fan with lotus leaves and talked about her dashing demeanor in her youth.
As for outside the palace, in the mansion of the Marquis of Yongwei, Zhang was eating mooncakes alone. She didn't know what she was thinking about. Although the mooncakes were very tempting, she felt that the mooncakes in her hand tasted like chewing wax and could no longer be eaten. Afterwards, she put down the mooncakes and returned to her daughter's room in front of the pavilion. She sat there for a long time in silence, crying secretly.
Compared to Zhang's loneliness, the Dingbei Marquis's Mansion was very lively. There were many people in his family, and Tao Ti sent nine boxes of mooncakes.
The table was filled with food, and anyone who liked something could order a few more, complementing each other and making the atmosphere very harmonious. Everyone was chatting and laughing, and the festive atmosphere was immediately full.
As Xu Wenchan ate the mooncake, she was calculating in her mind, wondering if she could sell this kind of pastry in the store, wouldn't she be able to make a lot of money? Thinking of the shiny silver snowflakes, she was as happy as a little mouse.
Beside her, Xu Guangji, dressed in a blue shirt, was holding a mooncake with “花秀圆月” printed on it, looking thoughtful.
The wife of Marquis Dingbei, who was sitting at the upper seat, glanced at the dining table and saw that the other six sons were all enjoying their loving wives and being harmonious with each other. The only two who were sitting at the end of the table were a fool who was obsessed with money and a dullard who was absent-minded and unintelligent.
The wife of Marquis Dingbei sighed: Oh, how worrying! When will she be able to sell these two unsalable goods?
………
The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival. From noon on, the palace became bustling with activity. Princes, wives of nobles and wives of imperial concubines from various mansions came to pay their respects.
Tao Ti also got up early, took a bath, changed her clothes, sat in front of the dressing mirror and dressed carefully, then went to Ganlu Palace to receive these social interactions with Queen Zhou.
This busy work lasted for most of the day, and it was not until the light dimmed in the afternoon that she took a short break and left Ganlu Palace.
Sitting in the sedan chair on the way back to Yaoguang Palace, Tao Ti thought that she would have to change her clothes and makeup again in a while, and would go to Yanfang Palace for a dinner in an hour. She couldn't help but rub her cheeks which were about to freeze from smiling.
Being a Crown Princess is sometimes quite difficult.
She was just about to take a nap when, as if by telepathy, she inadvertently raised her head and glanced to the right front.
At first glance, Qiong Qi's 1.9-meter-tall figure appeared in the palace gate on the right.
She was leaning on a cane, looking around, obviously waiting for something gluttonous to happen to her.
Tao Ti was startled and immediately came to her senses. She hadn't seen Qiong Qi for several days, so she hurriedly asked the palace maid to stop the sedan chair.
When Linglong saw Prince Rongdi, her expression changed immediately and she stepped forward to dissuade the Crown Princess.
Tao Ti understood what she meant and soothed her, "Don't worry, I will go back and confess to Your Highness what happened to her today. I just said a few words to her, in front of everyone, and I have a clear conscience."
Since the Crown Princess said so, Linglong didn't say much. She just lowered her head and stepped aside.
Tao Ti lifted her skirt and walked quickly towards Qiong Qi.
This place was rather deserted, and the sedan chair was parked some distance away. Tao Ti did not need to pretend to talk to Qiong Qi, and asked directly, "Aqi, how are your legs? I asked someone to send you two boxes of mooncakes yesterday. Did you eat them?"
"My leg is not seriously injured. I ate the mooncakes too. You understand me. You always send me fresh meat. If you send me meat with five kernels, I will definitely beat you up!"
“In fact, the five-nut ones are also quite delicious.”
"No, five-nut dish is the devil's food!" Qiong Qi said bluntly.
Tao Ti didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and didn't waste time on the taste of the mooncakes. She asked directly, "You waited for me specially, what's the matter?"
Qiong Qi's smile faded a little, and she nodded, "Ati, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the delegation will go back, and I will leave too."
Tao Ti frowned, with a hint of sadness in her bright eyes, "Are you leaving? Are you going back to Rongdi to play for two years, or are you going to be reborn directly back to the modern world?"
Qiong Qi shrugged, "Let's go back to Rongdi and play for a year or two. It's not good for me to get into trouble right after I leave Chang'an. I can't let someone with ulterior motives plot against me and cause a dispute between the two countries. That would be a sin."
"You've thought it through."
"Of course I am. I am not as stupid as you. At least I have lived nearly 300 years longer than you."
The two of them chatted for a while, and Qiong Qi looked at Tao Ti steadily, "Ati, are you really going to live here for the rest of your life?"
Tao Ti was stunned for a moment, and her eyes were full of affirmation, "Yeah."
The people she likes are here, she has made a lot of friends, and she is living a happy life now. She is quite satisfied with it for now.
Although Qiong Qi had already guessed her decision, she still felt a little sad when she heard it in person, "Beauty can mislead people!"
Tao Ti blushed and tried to explain, "Actually, I'm not the kind of person who only looks at appearance..."
"I don't know you yet." Qiong Qi smiled shyly and without further delay, she got down to business. "By the way, when I came here, your Thirteenth Uncle asked me to bring you something."
Tao Ti was slightly stunned, and then saw Qiong Qi take out an exquisite and small emerald jade bell from her sleeve.