But I was thinking too much—
When I arrived at the Zhenyao Pavilion, I found that there were actually only a few concubines of the third rank and above: the Empress, the Virtuous Concubine, the Shu Concubine, me, and Fu Jieyu.
Song Heng sat in front of the hall, with the empress sitting beside him. On the right of His Highness were Concubine De and Concubine Fu, and on the left were Concubine Shu and me.
Empress Hua wore a red robe with a pattern of peonies and phoenixes in gold and silver thread, her hair was adorned with gold and silver beads, and her lips were painted bright red. I was secretly worried that she might dye the green leaves red before eating them.
Concubine Shu was wearing a bright and playful embroidered dress, and the hairpins on her head made a crisp and pleasant sound of "ding-dang-ding-dong" with each slight swing.
Fu Jieyu wore a close-fitting lavender thin silk dress and a hollow flower-decorated shawl on the outside, revealing her milky white shoulders. In a unique move, she did not wear any gold or silver hairpins, but only a white plum blossom on her head.
Fortunately, there was enough charcoal and sufficient heating in the Treasure Kitchen, otherwise I think she would sneeze several times in the next second.
Complaints aside, it's fair to say that the three of them are quite insightful in their dressing styles. Their clothes and jewelry complement their own characteristics and are pleasing to the eye.
On the other hand, Concubine De and I, neither of us wore any makeup, and our clothes were just ordinary robes and small jackets. We were the ones who really followed the seasons.
But since I said I wanted to be the best Concubine Mu, I asked Xiaotao and Xiaocui to help me put a cloud-like bun on my hair and then put a jade hairpin in it. It seemed to others that I put some thought into it.
The De Fei was even more casual than me, parting with just a carved wooden hairpin. But perhaps because of the saying "A well-read person is naturally elegant", the De Fei had a unique charm, and the more I looked at her, the more I felt her temperament was like an orchid.
The royal treatment is really good. Not only is the table full of mouth-watering dishes, but there is also singing and dancing in the center of the hall. Of course, I prefer music to dancing because they eat with almost no sound, and I can only use music to cover up the sound of my normal chewing.
The family dinner was casual. As the Empress served the dishes to His Majesty, she said leisurely, "The white plum blossom on Concubine Fu's head is truly unique and beautiful."
Everyone in the palace turned to Concubine Fu. She remained calm and composed, smiling shyly, "Thank you, Her Majesty, for the compliment."
"I recently read a new poem that I quite liked—" Concubine Fu's voice was soft and beautiful: "I am here in a forest of ice and snow, not mingling with the fragrant dust of peach and plum blossoms; suddenly, one night, a delicate fragrance emerges, spreading across the universe like spring. I am quite moved by the fresh and unworldly temperament of this white plum blossom."
The words were addressed to the Queen, but those loving eyes had already been looking at Song Heng in the palace. Song Heng was silently swallowing a mouthful of food and replied calmly, "Well, Wang Yuanzhang does have a good opinion on plums."
"I agree!" Concubine Fu's voice rose a few notches when she heard Song Heng's affirmation, and she quickly and gently said, "I've been reading his poems and essays every day lately, and I can't put them down. I'm really immersed in them."
Song Heng nodded approvingly. "In your opinion, do you prefer his 'Black Plum Blossoms' or his 'White Plum Blossoms'?"
I saw Fu Jieyu's face froze for a moment, just like the embarrassing look on my face when I was a kid and was questioned by my friends when I was bragging in front of them...
I stopped watching out of pity and buried my head in eating.
"I still prefer this song "White Plum"..." Fu Jieyu responded slowly. Logically, she should have explained the reasons and made a comparative analysis, but she didn't say anything after that. It happened that the musicians in the palace were changing the songs, and it was so quiet that I didn't want to smack my lips anymore.
"Well," after a while, Song Heng in the palace responded calmly: "It's good to read more books." Then he put the matter behind him, which saved Concubine Fu's face.
"Your Majesty is right. I will keep it in mind." Concubine Fu responded respectfully, but she no longer had the leisurely and confident manner she had when she first started reciting the poem.
Finally, a new piece of music came on, and it turned out to be the familiar music of "Autumn Water Filling". When I looked up, I felt a gaze from the side, and subconsciously turned my head to meet Song Heng's dark jade eyes.
I quickly looked away and ate my food quietly, then began to wonder in my heart, as a qualified Zhaoyi, should I look away first?
Just as she was pondering this, she suddenly heard the crisp sound of step-shaking hairpins colliding on her right side. Then, the beautiful voice of Concubine Shu accompanied the melodious tune of "Autumn Water Filling" and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, is there something on my face?"
I looked up and saw Concubine Shu shyly covering her cheek with one hand. Song Heng in the palace was stunned for a moment and then said in a deep voice, "No."
"Ah..." Concubine Shu didn't react much, still smiling shyly, and it seemed as if honey could overflow from the corners of her mouth.
The shyness here has not yet subsided, and I only heard a woman's hurried scream in the hall. I raised my eyes to look before I swallowed a mouthful of food -
Song Heng frowned slightly but his expression remained calm. Queen Hua, who was standing beside him, looked at the table in front of Song Heng in panic, at a loss as to what to do.
The maidservant at the side hurried forward to clean up and wipe the place. It turned out that Queen Hua was scooping bone soup for His Majesty, but she lost her grip and all the hot soup in the bowl spilled out.
Fortunately, Song Heng reacted quickly and turned his body, but the splashing soup directly splashed onto Queen Hua's gorgeous robe.
Empress Hua was about to cry, but when she came to her senses, she immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Majesty, please forgive me. I..."
"Get up," Song Heng said in a flat voice. He watched the maids in front of him replace the dishes that had been splashed with soup. Suddenly, his slightly frowned brows relaxed. He turned to the queen and said, "Are your hands burned? Your robes are stained with soup. You need to go back to Fengming Palace to change. I will ask Ah Fu to ask the imperial physician to come and see you later. You should go back to Fengming Palace and have a good rest tonight."
Empress Hua looked flattered: "Yes, yes, Your Majesty."
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