After spending the entire afternoon studying with Granny Lin, and drawing on the Lantern Festival banquets of the past few years, Qian Shengyan finally finalized the general schedule before dinner.
Later that evening, accompanied by Granny Lin and Qingxue, she met several young eunuchs who were said to be very skilled. Two of them could sculpt ice, and two others could make lanterns. Qian Shengyan casually wrote down a few riddles and had them hang under the lanterns.
"We'll decorate the area around Ziming Pavilion, with ice sculptures and lanterns, so the children can have some fun too." Qian Shengyan wasn't satisfied with just gesturing, so she simply drew a floor plan on a piece of paper, clearly marking how to decorate the area around Ziming Pavilion and how to enhance the scenery along the paths.
The eunuch in charge of arranging the garden was immediately impressed by the floor plan and respectfully agreed to go and make preparations.
Qian Shengyan stopped him, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Could you make a tall chair?"
Yuan Shou has never eaten with adults before. Qian Shengyan follows the methods of raising children she saw in her previous life, giving Yuan Shou a supplementary meal in the morning and afternoon, but mainly feeding him milk.
But thinking that her child would soon be a year old and would eventually need to eat at the table, Qian Shengyan decided to get a children's high chair ready.
Then, thinking about the Fifth Prince, although Tian Shen wasn't old enough to sit up yet, it wouldn't look good to ignore him. So Qian Shengyan had a small bed made with high legs so that Tian Shen could lie down and eat with her, which could be considered a family reunion (?).
The eunuch was quite efficient; by mid-morning the next day, he had delivered the high chair and high bed that Qian Shengyan had requested. Qian Shengyan was very satisfied after seeing them and had them moved to Ziming Pavilion for tidying up.
Yinzhen was busy with something and didn't arrive at Dongyou Courtyard until late afternoon. He saw Qian Shengyan sitting there, looking at the various head maids and eunuchs with curiosity. He stood at the door and just smiled at her. Qian Shengyan took a moment to glare at him, but kept talking to the maid.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, everything was finally done. Qian Shengyan and Granny Lin went to the garden to take a look around and only felt relieved after confirming that everything was in order.
Since the prepared lanterns and ice sculptures were movable objects, Granny Lin reminded Qian Shengyan to find two eunuchs to guard the garden and watch over the arrangement, so as to prevent them from being damaged by the wind or any animals.
At first, Qian Shengyan thought that Lin Mama was overthinking things. In this cold weather, they were not secretly preparing for the Lantern Festival banquet in the garden. How could any servant not know about such a grand event and possibly cause any trouble?
But as it turns out, old ginger is indeed spicier.
As dusk approached, Qian Shengyan and Yuanshou were about to set off for Ziming Pavilion when a young eunuch guarding the garden came to report that they had caught someone who wanted to burn the lanterns.
Qian Shengyan was truly baffled. Who would be so bored in this freezing weather?
...Then she saw a face that wasn't unfamiliar.
Why was he familiar? Because I had seen him before at the Fulu Courtyard—he was a little eunuch serving the Third Prince Hongshi.
Qian Shengyan closed her eyes, waved her hand and had someone send the little eunuch directly to the front yard to Su Peisheng to handle. Then she had Qingxue personally go to the kitchen to oversee the meals before going to Ziming Pavilion.
In the front yard, just as Yinzhen was about to change his clothes, he heard that Princess Qian had sent someone over to Su Peisheng.
He raised an eyebrow in confusion, gesturing for Su Peisheng to go and take a look. A moment later, Su Peisheng returned with a bitter face: "Master... Princess Qian really thinks too highly of me. This is something I can't handle..."
After learning the details, Yinzhen frowned.
He understood Qian Shengyan's meaning. Clearly, it was Li Shi or Geng Shi, or even all of them, who wanted to make things difficult for Qian Shengyan's banquet.
It's rare for Li to be so clever as to think of using Hongshi's people. If this gets out, it can be said that the child was ignorant and just wanted to make fun of it.
It's a small matter, but it's disgusting enough.
Yinzhen took a deep breath and could only have the eunuch dragged out and given twenty strokes of the cane as a warning to others. He stretched out his arms, had someone change his clothes, and thought about the situation in the backyard.
He had experience in flood control and knew that it was better to guide than to block. Human desires are like a torrent; the more you try to block them, the more likely they are to find a way to vent.
Yinzhen sighed, changed his clothes, and instead of rushing to the garden, he returned to his study, found a letter on the table, and then went to Ziming Pavilion.
When he arrived, everyone in the backyard had already gathered. Upon seeing Yinzhen arrive, everyone, led by Ulanara, stood up and bowed to him.
But Yinzhen immediately noticed two unusual... seats.
One is sitting, and the other is lying down. It's a bit higher than a regular chair, and now there's one sitting and one lying on it—both are his sons.
Suddenly, Yinzhen felt much better. He didn't even need to ask to know who had come up with the idea for this strangely shaped chair.
Yinzhen glanced at Qian Shengyan without making it obvious, and noticed that her outfit today wasn't particularly eye-catching. She still had the mind of a young girl, and in the past, she preferred bright red, purple, and pink in Dongyou Courtyard. Today, however, she wore a dark green outfit, which suppressed some of her childishness, but it wasn't bad either. On the contrary, it made her skin look even whiter, and she had a certain air of nobility about her.
With a smiling, chubby, dark green-clad Yuan Shou sitting next to him, the mother and son simply stood side by side watching him, like a painting that one couldn't bear to look away from.
Yinzhen was satisfied, but when he glanced to the side, his gaze stopped.
He really wanted to ask Li what she was thinking.
She's almost forty, an age when most people would be grandmothers, yet she's wearing a light blue dress? Such a delicate color only makes her face look even older...
Yinzhen couldn't bear to look any longer, but when he saw the son and daughter next to Li Shi, he felt... it wasn't unbearable.
He took a deep breath and glanced at Wu and Song. These two were always low-key and would never make a mistake at a banquet. Even the hairpins in their hair were neat and tidy, without any special features.
Consort Ulanara, on the other hand, seemed to have some happy occasion today, as she was dressed in a dark red formal outfit, which was quite unusual for her, and she looked quite energetic. On the chair bed next to her, the Fifth Prince Tianshen was lying there, his round eyes curiously looking around. He looked plump and healthy, which was indeed quite good.
With the whole family sitting together, Yinzhen's mood improved considerably. He walked over to Ulanara and took the seat of honor first: "Alright, there's no need to be so formal at today's family banquet."
"yes."
Everyone sat down in response. Yinzhen's left wife and right side wife were seated, and sitting opposite him was Qian Shengyan.
He raised an eyebrow slightly and saw Qian Shengyan give him a bright smile, and then wink almost imperceptibly.
Yinzhen immediately broke into a smile.
This clever little devil, the seating arrangement... is quite ingenious.
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