On the day of the lotus appreciation banquet, the entrance to the Yuanmingyuan Palace began to bustle early in the morning, with servants busy shuttling around the garden.
Baoqin and Yuxiao were directing the servants at the door. Some people were carrying basins and others were holding long ropes, gesturing incessantly in the open space at the door. From a distance, it seemed as if they were preparing to welcome the arrival of the clansmen. However, upon closer inspection, the basins were filled with charcoal ash, and the servants had no items related to the welcoming ceremony, leaving everyone puzzled.
This all started last night. Lanqin, Baoqin, and the others roughly estimated that there would be more than a hundred relatives, family members, and accompanying maids and guards. Most of them would come by carriage. Once they all arrived at the gate of Yuanmingyuan, wouldn't it be complete chaos?
Lanqin imagined the scene: horses rubbing against each other and neighing, coachmen struggling to control the carriages, carriages colliding and getting tangled up, and the frightened cries of princesses and princes... Lanqin quickly shook her head to clear her mind.
"No, no... If we don't find a way to arrange all the carriages, the banquet won't even start before a stage is set up at the entrance for a show..." Lanqin firmly refused to let her banquet be ruined by such a small matter. Besides, the relationship between Fourth Master and the imperial clan had been tense lately, and with the disappearance of Fourteenth Master, Fourth Master was still worried about the imperial clan. This banquet might be able to ease the tension between Fourth Master and everyone. It was really just a family gathering, except that Fourth Master's family was a bit special.
Seeing Lanqin's distress, Baoqin took out a pen and paper and said to her, "Your Majesty, this is not a big problem. We just need to have the relatives line up and come over, and we can arrange for servants to receive them one by one..."
Lanqin shook her head and said, "This method is feasible, but it wastes time. Our relatives have status and position. It would be too impolite to make them wait in line..."
Yu Xiao's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "Your Highness, we can tell them that their arrival times are different, so we won't have to wait..."
Lanqin lightly tapped her jade flute and laughed, "You certainly know how to come up with ideas. It's about to start every day, how can we possibly notify you now?"
Baoqin said helplessly, "What can we do? We don't have many people at Yuanmingyuan either. Are we supposed to let our relatives find places to park their carriages themselves?"
Lanqin jumped up in surprise, picked up a pen and paper, and drew a map of the location of the entrance to the Yuanmingyuan. Then she drew many rectangles on it, writing a name on each square. Baoqin and Yuxiao couldn't understand it and asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, what is this?"
Lanqin said proudly, "This is called a parking space! It's a special place to park horse-drawn carriages..."
Baoqin looked at him with disbelief and asked, "How do you use this?"
Lanqin pointed to the blueprints and explained in detail: "Look, these are the parking spaces I've planned out. Each parking space corresponds to a relative's carriage. When they arrive, the servants will lead them to their designated parking spaces, preventing any chaos. When leaving, they just need to give their name, and the servants can quickly find their carriages, saving time..."
Baoqin and Yuxiao stared at Lanqin with their mouths agape, utterly adoring her. Lanqin smiled and gently closed their jaws, saying, "Alright, go and make the arrangements..."
That's why we saw the scene this morning: the two of them directing the servants at the entrance to mark parking spaces with charcoal ash. Sure enough, not long after, rows of rectangular parking spaces appeared at the entrance of Yuanmingyuan. Each row only required three to five people to direct parking, greatly saving manpower and resources.
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