Chapter 264 Causes
After the worship, the ladies of state gathered in Fangxi Hall and Lantai Hall to rest, and a banquet was given at noon. Meimei was granted special permission to bring Heng'er into the palace, needless to say, the Queen wanted Heng'er to play with the prince, so after the worship, Eunuch Huang and others beside the Queen came to lead Meimei and her son to another separate place, but they saw Duke Dingguo and the wife of the Marquis of Changle also arriving one after another, so they sat in one place to chat, tease the children, and wait for the Queen Mother and the Queen to come to the place where the ladies of state rested in person to inspect and comfort them, and then summon them to meet and have a meal together.
It was not until the afternoon, long after lunch time, that the empress appeared. The group was placed in the Huayu Pavilion in Kunning Palace. The empress came in accompanied by Li Fei, Rong Fei, and Zhen Fei, surrounded by palace maids. She looked a little tired. The empress sat down in the upper seat and motioned for the concubines to take their seats in order. Everyone stood up to perform the ceremony. The empress waved her hand and said:
"Forget it. We are all exhausted... My sisters and I are hungry too. Let's have a meal. We just toasted a few glasses of wine over there and didn't eat anything."
Wan'er waved her hand, and the palace maids and eunuchs came in one after another carrying silver plates and jade cups. The table was filled with hot soup and hot dishes. Not to mention the Queen, even Meimei felt very hungry. Heng'er had asked the palace maids and nannies to bring food to feed him, otherwise he would have cried loudly.
After lunch, they drank tea and chatted for a while. A palace maid reported that the eldest prince had woken up from his nap. The queen smiled and glanced at Heng'er who was playing in the side hall, and said:
"Take the young master over to play with the prince for a while - Madam Weiyuan, why doesn't Heng'er take a nap?"
Mei Mei replied respectfully, "Reporting to the Queen: Heng'er would sleep at home, but now that he has come to the palace and seen so many people and a new and different environment, he refuses to sleep!"
“That’s how it is!”
Rong Fei, who was sitting next to the Queen, suddenly asked, "Madam Weiyuan took such good care of the little prince. Did she take any special supplements when she was pregnant with him?"
Meimei was stunned. This question? God knows what Qin Meiniang ate. This is not clear.
She quickly glanced at the Queen and saw that her expression was calm. Then she looked at Concubine Rong and saw that although her makeup was delicate and beautiful, her eyebrows were slightly frowned and her eyes were moist, as if she would cry if anyone provoked her. The uncomfortable feeling made her feel uncomfortable.
Meimei smiled and replied, "Madam Rong: I can't remember it either. It seems that I should just eat like usual. Too much nourishment is not good."
"But why?"
"this……"
The Queen spoke up: "Rong Fei, are you tired? Go down and have a rest!"
When Concubine Rong heard this, her lazy demeanor suddenly disappeared, and she quickly stood up and bowed to the Queen:
"Yes! Sister, I'll take my leave!"
The Queen nodded and said, "Concubine Li and Concubine Zhen should also go down and rest. You still need to go out for a walk after dinner. Concubine Rong doesn't need to do that. Didn't anyone tell you to rest in the palace?"
Concubine Rong lowered her head and said, "Replying to the Queen: The eunuch said something, and I thought that since there is nothing else to do right now, I could help the Queen with some socializing, so I came here!"
"Be obedient next time. It seems that the maids beside you need to be replaced. Didn't they tell you that this is the time when things are most likely to go wrong? I know what you mean. Concubine Li and Concubine Zhen will accompany you all the way back!"
Concubine Rong's face turned pale, she bowed her head and saluted again, then was accompanied by Concubines Li and Zhen.
There were only a few ladies from outside the court left at the table, who accompanied the Queen to drink tea and chat. After a while, they talked about some light and pleasant topics. The Queen asked each of the ladies from outside the court about some of their family matters. When she asked Meimei, she smiled and said:
"I heard that you were blocked on your way to the palace this morning?"
Lady Dingguo said, "That's exactly what I want to ask. Who is so bold as to block the way to the palace?"
Meimei smiled and said, "It seems to be a girl who is practicing horse riding and wants to jump over my carriage!"
"What?" Lady Dingguo was shocked. "Whose girl is this? Why is she so... so naughty!"
Meimei said, "I was just thinking about that. I'm afraid it might be some princess, so my wife and I didn't dare to say anything and just let her be!"
The Queen raised her eyebrows and said, "If it were the princess, she would never do such a thing.
Royal princesses and princesses have been strictly educated since childhood, and rules and etiquette are indispensable!"
Meimei lowered her head, thinking that since she was married into the royal family and became the queen, she must have helped the royal family to protect their shortcomings. So was Princess Sude a law-abiding person? ** Her reputation as a shameless person had already spread far and wide. Lin Runan said it was even more shocking. She would break into private houses in the middle of the night to snatch a man she liked, regardless of whether he was married or not. She would play with him for a few days, and then release him if she got bored. If she liked him, she would keep him and not allow him to leave at all... Li Qiuge, the owner of Qianxi Music House, was almost dragged away by her. If she hadn't told him that he was the King of Qi's man, she would not let him go. In the end, the one who suffered was the drummer Xiaohuan and several male dancers and musicians. They were taken to the palace one after another by her. It was only when the King of Qi came forward that she was willing to let them go.
Seeing Meimei lowered her head and said nothing, the Queen smiled and said, "She didn't get hit, did she? If there was any noise, I think the Marquis of Weiyuan would definitely teach her a lesson. That girl was originally the youngest daughter of General Wu Busheng of Fengguo. Her name is Wu Ziyao. She is fifteen years old this year, just coming of age. She went to Beijing a year ago and serves the Queen Mother."
Marquis Changle suddenly realized and said, "General Fengguo, I have heard of this man. He is a fierce general.
The queen nodded: "Yes, he is a brave general and has made many military achievements."
Lady Dingguo said, "No wonder! A daughter of a general must have some skills, otherwise she would never dare to show off in front of others. But she unexpectedly ran into Marquis Weiyuan. She fell down and the horse became blind. What a pity!"
Marquis Changle found what he heard interesting and smiled at Lady Dingguo. Was she feeling sorry for the horse that went blind or the person that fell?
At this time, Wan'er, the lady-in-waiting beside the Queen, said, "Your Majesty has been tired for most of the day. You should take a rest. Otherwise, the Lantern Festival tonight will be..."
The wife of Duke Dingguo and the others all stood up and bowed, saying, "Please, Queen, take a rest!"
The queen nodded and said, "In that case, I will rest on the couch for a while. If you are tired, please ask the palace maids to arrange a place for you to rest. There are exotic flowers blooming in the garden. If you don't want to lie down, you can move over and take a look first!"
Duke Dingguo led several ladies from outside the court to leave, and the queen said, "The prince is playing with the young master, so the wife of Marquis Weiyuan can stay!"
Meimei then spoke to the wife of Duke Dingguo and the others, and watched them walk out of the palace gate led by the eunuch. Then they turned back. The queen yawned with her sleeve covering her mouth, and said with a smile:
"There's no need to be so formal when we're together. I'm a little sleepy, would you like to lie down for a while? Should you lie on the same bed with me or over there?"
Meimei said, "I dare not! Madam, please lie down and have a rest. I'll be here!"
The queen asked the maids to help her recline on the couch, propped her head up with her hands, and said with a smile: "It's much better to lie down like this. I was really exhausted this morning! Your beauty couch is also very good, lie down and talk!"
Meimei looked at the palace maids, and the queen said, "You still don't recognize them? You stayed in my palace for so long last time, they all remember you and Heng'er!"
A palace maid came over with a smile and bowed, then helped Meimei take off her outer robe and helped her lean on the beauty couch. Meimei said:
"Thank you Yu'er, Heng'er also made you tired just now!"
Yu'er said softly, "Madam Weiyuan is being polite. This is what we servants should do!"
Wan'er watched Yu'er cover Meimei with a velvet quilt, and thought that since there was a floor heating, she would not feel cold, so she waved her hand, sent all the palace maids away, gently pulled down a thin purple curtain, lowered her head and left, standing quietly at the palace gate.
Meimei saw the queen close her eyes and was about to close her eyes too, but the queen was still talking: "You don't know that General Fengguo, right? But I know a little bit about him. The emperor told me about it. He was originally a subordinate of the old Marquis of Weiyuan. He was indeed a rare and brave general. Later, in order to protect the current emperor who was still the prince on the battlefield, he was cut off one leg by the enemy general. When he returned to the capital to meet the late emperor and the current queen mother, he found out during the conversation that he was actually a relative of the queen mother... that is, a cousin! Since then, General Fengguo has retired from the army and returned to the countryside. , the Emperor and Marquis Weiyuan visited him, and the general and the Empress Dowager also kept in touch. He had no sons but two daughters. The Empress Dowager decided to bring the eldest daughter, Wu Ziqiong, into the palace, and she was the Concubine Zhen. You have also seen that Concubine Zhen is not as good as her sister. She is a weak woman, well-mannered and well-trained, but not good at martial arts. The Emperor does not favor her too much, but he does not neglect her either. He always visits her twice a month. The youngest daughter, Wu Ziyao, was raised by the general. As soon as she reached the age of one pole this year, she obeyed her parents' orders to go to Beijing to visit and serve the Empress Dowager!"
Meimei complained in her heart, what is this? The eldest daughter entered the palace to become a concubine, and the youngest daughter came again! Who is she going to marry this time? Xu Junying?
No, Xu Junying, it's okay for you to tease little girls since you were a child, but you can't owe General Fengguo a favor!
In order not to disturb the queen's rest, Meimei did not respond. She just closed her eyes and thought about it. Unexpectedly, she fell asleep.
I don't know how much time had passed when I heard voices in a daze. I quickly opened my eyes. It was the Emperor and Xu Junying talking outside. Their voices were neither loud nor soft. I thought that I and the Queen had slept long enough and it was time for them to get up, so the two men didn't mind waking them up.
The emperor said, "Cowardly and frightened? Forget it. It's okay to say that about others. Qin Meimei is not even afraid of the King of Qi, so what is there that she dare not do? Maybe she would think it's fun to have a horse fly over her head! A Yao has practiced this trick for several years, so there won't be any accidents. It's you who scared A Yao! Look at her just now, she was as wilted as a grass, not as lively as before, chasing you all day to learn how to ride a horse and dig out bird nests..."
"Your Majesty!" Xu Junying stopped him from saying anything further. "You were annoyed. You asked her to come to me and I had to take her with me. Does she look like a girl? She is tanned, always climbing up and down, and she beats and scolds my followers at every turn. Her temper is comparable to that of the King of Qi when he was a child!"
“Hahaha…” The emperor laughed happily, “She was much more interesting than the King of Qi when she was little! Girls change a lot when they grow up, I never thought she would become like this! Not to mention that she is as beautiful as a fairy, but also her color is extraordinary. It’s rare that she has such a pure heart and has never forgotten us. You taught her horsemanship, and she practiced it very well. The sword technique I taught her, she danced it so beautifully!”
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