Chapter 5 Birthday Banquet
It’s always good to be rewarded.
Zi Rui went to ask whether the silver had been given to the visitor, and Zi Zhu said yes.
Shen Chuliu listened to the maids' mumbling and then lay down on the chaise longue in the outer room and fell asleep.
In Empress Dowager Feng's palace, Concubine Feng looked depressed.
"You, how many years have passed? The second prince is four years old, and you are also a concubine, but you are still not favored. Now, for my sake, you are a concubine. But what if I am gone in the future? The second prince is not favored either, and he is the emperor's only prince. Now Concubine Cao is pregnant, what if she also gives birth to a prince? It is difficult for the empress to have a queen, and with her family background, the prince will not be raised by her. The prince who can become the crown prince in the future must be born out of wedlock. There is no such thing as noble or humble. How can you protect your child in your current state?"
"Aunt, what can I do? The emperor likes Concubine Yi, and I'm also on good terms with her. Concubine Yi doesn't have a good family background, so if she wants to gain a foothold, she needs someone to rely on..."
"Well, take your time." Empress Dowager Feng was very disappointed.
Concubine Feng knew what was going on, but she pretended to be helpless.
After all, she gave birth to the second prince. Now it is not easy for anyone in the harem, whether new or old, to surpass her.
Although Concubine Yi was favored, the fact that she had no children was a problem.
With her background, how many years can she remain in favor without any offspring?
There was a constant stream of new brides entering the palace, and the emperor would always look away.
"Now that we have been observing these newcomers for a year, what do you think of them?" Empress Dowager Feng asked as she sat down.
"Aunt, I think Lu Baolin is interesting. She comes from a good family and a scholarly family. Although the emperor doesn't often ask her to sleep with him, he has remembered her in his heart." Concubine Feng said.
"Yeah, I think so too. Shen Baolin originally said yes, but now he seems so-so."
"That's true. Although she is a legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion, she is the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the family. Her parents died a long time ago, and I guess she was raised by others in the mansion. What abilities can she have?" said Concubine Feng.
Empress Dowager Feng nodded, but thought in her heart that that might not be the case. If someone could survive after more than ten years of hardship, it didn't necessarily mean he was incompetent.
But now it seems that nothing has been revealed in a year, so I guess Shen Baolin is just a useless person and not worth winning over.
On the ninth day of the fifth month, the Queen Mother's swing.
It was very lively inside and outside the palace. Concubines came to Ci'an Palace early in the morning, and the princesses and wives of the royal family also came in to congratulate.
The gifts from the ladies in various palaces were delivered early in the morning.
Shen Chuliu wore a light green skirt today. It was a simple outfit that didn't look too eye-catching, but it wasn't too plain to be out of place.
In today's occasion, many concubines wanted to shine, but she, a little Baolin, was in no hurry.
Zi Rui was so angry that she stomped her feet, but she couldn't persuade her.
He just muttered angrily: "He is a left-wing person who never listens to advice."
Shen Chuliu just smiled and didn't mind her girl talking about her, but she just didn't listen.
Because there was no main seat in Cuiyunxuan, the two Baolins packed up and went to the Empress Dowager's Ci'an Palace.
They were not qualified to come on normal days. Other concubines would pay their respects to the Empress Dowager in her palace on the first and fifteenth day of each month, but they, whose status was too low, could only go back directly.
One must reach the rank of a fifth-rank beauty before one can pay respects to the empress dowager.
It also means that the Queen Mother approved of her son having such a concubine.
Of course, even beauties were not allowed to raise children. In order to elevate the status of the princes and princesses, the emperor's concubines had to raise their children if they gave birth to them.
Therefore, when a concubine of a low rank has children, even if she is not being plotted against, she still has to negotiate with her superiors.
After all, if concubines of high rank do not have children, it is difficult for them to maintain their status.
While I was daydreaming, other concubines soon came over.
Everyone greeted each other and agreed to go to the Queen Mother together.
The Ci'an Palace was bustling with activity, but unfortunately those of low rank could only pay their respects there.
By the time we finally got to the side to rest, we were already exhausted.
But no one cared about them today. Before the banquet started, a few of them made an appointment to go to the small garden in the Empress Dowager's palace.
The palace is really big, so even the Empress Dowager’s small garden is quite large.
"See? The girls from Lord Liu's family and Lord Han's family are probably going to enter the palace?" Li Baolin whispered.
"It's hard to say. Alas, I couldn't see the emperor anyway."
Shen Chuliu didn't respond. She thought that the selection of concubines was rare in the Great Yi Dynasty. They were selected to enter the palace in the third year of Qingyuan, which was last year.
However, according to the rules of the Dayi Dynasty, elections were generally held only once every five or six years, and were often exempted for various reasons.
However, there was no selection of concubines, so the young ladies from official families entered the palace directly.
This is the case with the women in the harem, most of whom come from powerful families, and the fighting is even more intense.
There are also those who come from humble backgrounds, such as today's Concubine Yi and Concubine Yang during the time of the previous emperor.
However, although Concubine Yang had been glorious for half her life, in the end she could only live out her retirement in Qiufeng Garden.
Shen Chuliu never thought of relying on her family. Now her family is her support, but she still has a ten-year-old cousin.
She has been exquisite and beautiful since she was young, and her family has also taken good care of her. Although it was not stated explicitly, how do we know that she was not prepared to enter the palace?
"Sister Shen, what are you thinking about? Why don't you respond when I call you?" Yao Baolin gently pushed Shen Chuliu.
"Oh, I was distracted. I was thinking that I also have a pomegranate tree like this at home." Shen Chuliu said.
"Are you missing home? Alas... I haven't seen my family for several years. It must be a beautiful woman..." Yao Baolin sighed.
They are all Baolin, and there are also imperial concubines, so they can forget about seeing their family members.
After waiting for a while, we returned to the hall and prepared to serve the banquet.
The emperor also came with his relatives and princes, and soon a banquet was held in Ci'an Palace.
When Queen Mother Feng arrived, the Emperor went to greet her in person, calling her "mother".
Just let people praise you for being filial.
The two queen dowagers sat together and looked very close.
As soon as the banquet started, it became lively.
Shen Chuliu and others sat at the very bottom of the concubines' side, and opposite them were the ladies of lower status in the royal family.
The emperor and the princes were toasting at the top, and the empress and concubines followed suit.
Anyway, Shen Chuliu and the others have nothing to do with it. In this occasion, even a beauty has no right to toast.
A prince said that he would like to present a song and dance, so the cloud board was struck, the music started, and the song and dance began one after another.
The pair of dancers were wearing light red dresses with small bells adorning their large sleeves and hems, which rang pleasantly as they walked.
The leader looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with her long black hair tied up, revealing a smooth forehead, and her high bun looked like flying.
In his hand was something that looked like a bell.
She danced gently, with graceful movements and a light body, and her eyes were indescribably charming.
When the song ended, everyone couldn't help but sigh that it was truly wonderful.
[I’m posting the harem registration form. Just this once.]
Super: Queen
First rank: Imperial Concubine, Virtuous Concubine, Shufei, and Defei (the first rank has four concubines, and the Imperial Concubine is the highest) Second rank: Concubine (fourth rank) and above can be in charge of one palace
Three products:
Nine concubines: Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiuyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, Chongyuan (Nine concubines can manage a pavilion and raise children)
Fourth rank: Concubine (nine persons)
Fifth rank: beauties (nine persons) and above can live alone in a pavilion and receive the emperor alone Sixth rank: talented persons (nine persons)
Rank 7: Xiaoyi (27 people)
Eighth Rank: Baolin (27 people)
Ninth Rank: Imperial Concubines (27 persons)
Last item: Changing clothes (no fixed number)]
This position refers to the Sui and Tang dynasties, but at that time there were four ladies, nine concubines, twenty-seven ladies, and eighty-one imperial wives. The four concubines were the four noble and virtuous concubines. In some dynasties, the noble concubines were of the first rank, but in our book, they were all of the first rank, just divided into the front and back according to their status. The twenty-seven ladies were the concubines, beauties, and talented people. The eighty-one imperial wives were originally Baolin imperial women and Cai Nu, but I thought Cai Nu sounded ugly, so I changed it to Xiao Yi and also changed the front and back.
There was also a second-rank concubine position in historical dynasties, but I put these together.
I'll say it again, this article is just fiction, for fun. If you don't enjoy reading it, don't read it. Don't compare it with others, don't take it as official history, I don't have that ability.
Let me say it again, if you want to watch a one-on-one pure scene, please just quit. Don’t ask me if it’s a double pure scene, because it’s not.
(End of this chapter)
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