The east side hall of Yongshou Palace.
Two large tables were set up in the warm, heated main hall. On one side, Qian Shengyan and Madam Guo were reviewing last year's New Year's Eve banquet and making arrangements for this year's, looking at what needed to be adjusted and what could be improved.
As someone who attended last year's New Year's Eve banquet, Ms. Guo had a lot to say: "The music was too loud; you basically had to shout to be heard... Also, the route for the women to change clothes wasn't very smooth; you had to go around two artificial hills to get there, and it was kind of scary to go there at night..."
The two whispered as they discussed making corrections. Meanwhile, on the other side, Folgochun, biting the end of his brush, stared blankly as Duanrou rapidly typed away on the abacus.
Good heavens, does Duanrou have ten fingers on one hand?! She's calculating so fast!
He Hui gently nudged her, then smiled shyly at her: "Sister Huaiyue, the Imperial Noble Consort just said that if you can't finish calculating this stack, you won't be allowed to eat. You'd better hurry up."
Folgochun: ...
She made a crying face, lowered her head, and continued calculating the accounts—not clumsy, but certainly not fast.
After discussing for most of the afternoon, the arrangements for this year's New Year's Eve banquet were finally finalized. After all, this was Qian Shengyan's first year managing the affairs of the six palaces and organizing the New Year's Eve banquet on her own. Many people were probably waiting for her to make a mistake or say something ridiculous, and some might even deliberately trip her up and embarrass her in order to pave the way for the Emperor to dislike her in the next year's imperial concubine selection.
Qian Shengyan even took out a map from the palace to study it carefully, only feeling at ease after confirming that everything was fine and that nothing strange would happen even if someone drank too much.
"Your Majesty, the previous two banquets were both well organized, so there is no need to worry too much." Madam Guo was referring to the banquets held on the Golden Banquet Festival and the Emperor's Birthday.
Qian Shengyan smiled wryly and said, "The Emperor supervised the first two times, and I only managed the arrangements for the ladies-in-waiting. One play was all it took."
This New Year's Eve banquet was open to all, regardless of gender, with members of the imperial family and high-ranking officials on one side, all raising their glasses to celebrate the New Year. It was unimaginable what would happen if something went wrong at such a grand banquet.
Fortunately, the harem was harmonious and united, and Yinzhen trusted Qian Shengyan greatly, allowing her to command all departments and even arranging for several more teams of guards to patrol the area.
As the palace banquet came to a perfect end and the time drew near to midnight, Qian Shengyan breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for this final hurdle to perfectly conclude the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign.
Then she saw Folgochun's personal maid, Aier, walk in anxiously, glance at her a few times, and then hurriedly walk out again.
Qian Shengyan glanced at the empty seat of Fuerguochun and her heart sank. She first looked at Yinzhen and saw that he was talking happily with the thirteenth prince. Then she subtly looked at Hongli.
Hongli noticed out of the corner of his eye that his mother was looking at him, so he looked over as well, and then his mother guided him to look at the seating arrangement of the princesses.
With just one glance, he understood. After nodding to Qian Shengyan, Hongli whispered something to Hongzhou and got up to walk outside.
Qian Shengyan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that her eldest son was reliable. She glanced at Hongzhou, who was playing with Hongshan and feeding him fruit, and couldn't help but turn to Geng Shi beside her and say, "I haven't seen Hongzhou for two months. He has indeed grown up a lot."
"Oh, look at that silly face. I think only the little prince can play with him," Lady Geng said with a smile.
Qian Shengyan laughed as well: "He's about to marry a princess. In my eyes, he's a grown man, but you still see him as a child."
"Ah, Your Majesty understands. As mothers, no matter how old our children are, they are still children in our eyes." Madam Geng sighed, and couldn't help but glance at the families of the high-ranking officials.
In the vast sea of people, she didn't actually find the girl she was looking at, but she still couldn't help but lean closer to Qian Shengyan and say, "What do you think of Cui Jia Shi? I think her appearance and character are truly impeccable."
"Is she Cui Qizhe's daughter?" Qian Shengyan also remembered her. "She was said to be a quiet child."
“He’s a perfect match for Hongzhou, so there’s no one to keep an eye on him when he’s climbing on the roof.” Geng said this with a hint of disdain, but couldn’t help laughing. She even smacked her lips. “Your Majesty, I even dreamt of holding my grandson the other day! Hehehe…”
Qian Shengyan: ...
Having a grandchild is a bittersweet topic...
While chatting casually with Madam Geng, she kept an eye on Hongli's situation. Fortunately, after a short while, Qian Shengyan saw Fuerguochun follow Hongli in looking dejected. Soon after, a tall and elegant young man also walked in, but his dejected expression was somewhat inconsistent with his scholarly air.
Qian Shengyan frowned slightly—she didn't recognize the young man, but considering that he was with Ferguchun and was someone who looked like a very well-read person, it was hard not to think of someone else.
Sure enough, the young man walked to a spot not far behind the high-ranking officials and sat down. Qian Shengyan squinted and saw that the person sitting in front of the young man was Zhang Tingyu.
Wow, that's really good.
Then another young man seemed to enter. Qian Shengyan glanced at him, but found him unfamiliar, so she didn't pay much attention. However, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the young man walked to the back of the row of important officials and sat down, not far from Zhang Qinglan. Moreover... if she wasn't mistaken, the young man seemed to have deliberately bumped into Zhang Qinglan.
Immediately, Qian Shengyan's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Could it be what she's thinking...?
Unfortunately, no matter how anxious they were, they couldn't summon Folgochun for questioning on New Year's Eve. Ulanara remained confined to Changchun Palace, but Princess Shushen attended the banquet today, remaining as quiet and gentle as ever.
Qian Shengyan glanced at her a few times but didn't pay much attention. Now that she was in a similar position to the Empress Dowager, she had to do many things that Ulanara should have done, and she was even busier during the New Year.
After finally getting through the first day of the lunar new year, Qian Shengyan took some time out of her busy schedule to call Ferguchun over and ask him for clarification.
Folgochun was also full of resentment: "Who knows what's wrong with him! My daughter had some wine and wanted to go for a walk, but he caught up with her not long after she went out. He kept questioning her about whether she had changed her mind, why she didn't go to look for him or reply to his letters, and so on."
Qian Shengyan: "...Didn't his family disagree?"
“Yes, that’s what my daughter said too, but he looked at me like I was a heartless man and said, ‘I never thought you were like this, someone who can share the good times but not the bad.’” Folgochun was so annoyed. “Why should I, a proper princess, suffer because of his conflict with his father? He can’t even solve it himself, yet he expects a woman to help him. Doesn’t he feel ashamed? My daughter immediately scolded him and was furious!”
"And then? Hongli summoned you?" Qian Shengyan continued to ask.
Folgochun pouted, "Don't even mention it! He grabbed my sleeve and wouldn't let me leave. I was so angry I wanted to kick him. Luckily, a kind person ran into me and kicked him for me, and then Fourth Brother finally came over."
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