The next day.
After Guan Zhiyue led her people to inspect the cleaning and tidying of Wuqin Palace, she returned to her cold palace. As soon as she entered, Xiao Dezi pulled her to the back mountain.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the corn has sprouted! This servant would like you to go and see it!" Xiao Dezi excitedly tugged at Guan Zhiyue's sleeve and headed towards the back mountain.
When Guan Zhiyue heard that the corn had sprouted, she thought it was a very important matter and she had to go see it.
So he rushed to the back mountain and saw that the corn seedlings he had planted had indeed sprouted tender yellow buds.
"Good, good. What about the fruit trees? Are any dead?"
Guan Zhiyue looked towards the fruit trees and saw a lush green expanse, which made her very happy.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, everything is fine."
"How are the fish in the field? Have any died?"
Xiao Dezi laughed and said, "Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know. The fish are all swimming in the fields, but this servant didn't see any dead fish floating on the surface of the water outside, so I suppose there aren't any!"
Guan Zhiyue nodded to indicate that she understood. Looking at the remaining land, she stood at the edge of the field and said, "This land cannot be left to waste. I'll try to get some vegetable seeds tomorrow, and we can sow some cabbage seedlings ourselves."
"Yes, Your Majesty, it is entirely up to you."
Guan Zhiyue looked around with satisfaction, then instructed Xiao Dezi to take good care of the land behind the mountain before returning to her courtyard. There were too many things to do; she hadn't even settled her accounts yet, and she was about to host a palace banquet.
She felt like she was spinning like a top, and she was exhausted. She needed to get someone to help her.
****
Guan Zhiyue had just returned to the courtyard and hadn't even sat down to have a sip of tea when Bilian came to report that Lord Li from the Music Bureau had arrived.
Li Leyi, age 28, height 179 cm, weight unlimited, but very thin, with an effeminate and stunningly beautiful face, skilled in playing musical instruments, singing, dancing and swordsmanship, he is a fifth-rank official and the head of the entire Music Bureau.
"Your humble servant Li Leyi greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
"Prepare a seat for Lord Li," Guan Zhiyue said.
Guan Zhiyue was not wearing the Empress's court dress today, but instead wore a more ordinary-colored dress and sat in the main hall in the front courtyard. Li Leyi looked up and glanced at the Empress, who was being discussed in the court. She was indeed a beauty.
"Your Majesty, what brings you here today?"
Guan Zhiyue didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I've heard that the Music Bureau under Lord Li's command is full of exceptional talent. I wonder if you've heard that His Majesty intends to reward the officials and has therefore asked me to organize the banquet?"
Li Leyi said, "This humble official has heard some things. May I ask what Your Majesty's instructions are?"
"I have a dance piece here. I hope you can find someone to rehearse it as soon as possible. I am looking forward to the day when the music department will shine at the palace banquet."
Upon hearing the music, Li Leyi looked at Guan Zhiyue, who was sitting upright to the side, and said, "Oh, I wonder what amazing dance music Your Majesty has here."
"You shameless fool!"
Bilian handed the series of drawings that Guan Zhiyue had stayed up all night to Li Leyi.
Li Leyi took it and saw that the first thing he saw was a musical score called "Rainbow Feather Dress Dance". Below that was a comic strip-style sheet of paper with pictures of women dancing gracefully, their movements and expressions lifelike.
"Your Majesty, where did you come from? The music was amazing, and the dance was simply too beautiful. Holding a round fan in one hand, like a pipa half-concealing her face, her skirt fluttered in the wind, swaying and turning, showing the charm of a woman. Every frown and smile was captivating!"
When Guan Zhiyue heard Li Leyi say that, the corners of her mouth turned up in satisfaction. She was very pleased with him.
"This was drawn by me personally. Does Lord Li have any objections?"
"Your Majesty is too kind. How could I possibly have any objections to such a fine work? Would Your Majesty be so kind as to present it to me?"
Guan Zhiyue smiled and said, "As long as Lord Li can rehearse this dance before the palace banquet, I will give this manuscript to Lord Li."
Upon hearing this, Lord Li immediately knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will certainly live up to your expectations."
"Please rise, Lord Li. We will trouble you in that case," Guan Zhiyue said, standing up and looking at Li Leyi.
Holding the dance music in his hand, Li Leyi was overjoyed. He hadn't seen such good music in a long time. He had to hurry back to the music bureau and rehearse it as soon as possible. This would be the grand finale dance for this palace banquet!
After Li Leyi left, all the concubines in the harem, except for Consort Shen who was still under house arrest, arrived. Guan Zhiyue assigned tasks to each of them: Consort Zhuang was in charge of food; Consort Changde was in charge of wine; Consort He was in charge of seating; Consort Lin was in charge of changing clothes; and Consort Zheng was in charge of giving gifts and rewards...
With this arrangement, Guan Zhiyue's burden was greatly lightened. She only needed to oversee the overall situation; she didn't want to do so many things by herself.
When a problem arises, just contact whoever is in the problem.
"Alright, I've made myself clear. I hope all my dear sisters will work together as one and that no mistakes can be made at any stage!"
"Whoever is in charge of something and something goes wrong, they shall take responsibility. Everyone, be warned, don't try anything funny."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the men replied.
After Guan Zhiyue dismissed everyone, she summoned Bilian and asked her to go to the Manufacturing Department and have Lord Yang from the Manufacturing Department prepare a large rotating platform for her to showcase the talents submitted by all the ministers.
They'll all be pasted on there. Whoever gets a turn will go on stage to perform. It doesn't matter if it's the finale or the opening act. She just wants to take an unconventional path.
"Your Majesty, that move of yours is absolutely brilliant, so amazing!"
"Alright, you can go now. Oh, and while you're at it, go to Chaoyang Palace and have Prince Xiaoyao urge the craftsmen to make more glass teaware. There are over fifty ministers attending the palace banquet this time, right?"
"Yes, it is indeed there."
"Then let the Prince of Xiaoyao make one hundred sets of glass tea sets, fifty sets of the straight-through tea sets that they are already proficient in, and fifty sets of more elaborate ones. If the elaborate ones don't work, then make the cups of the fifty sets a little smaller so that they can be distinguished."
Bilian didn't quite understand and turned to look at Guan Zhiyue, asking why they had to make such a distinction.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?"
Guan Zhiyue said, "Are you stupid? It's a reward banquet, a reward banquet, so naturally we have to give them some prizes as encouragement to make them keep up the good work! As for the tea set classification, it's obviously for distinguishing between officials of the first rank and those of the fifth rank."
"The tall, cylindrical tea sets are given to officials of the third rank or above, while the shorter, smaller ones are naturally given to officials of the fifth rank or above."
"If it were those old fogies who hold the highest rank, they'd curse me to death, saying I've done so much for them, yet I'm being treated like those lowly officials, blah blah blah, how awful!"
"In addition, you should have Prince Xiaoyao make a separate batch of individual glass teacups. The Emperor can then give these to the ministers who were unable to attend the palace banquet during the court session the next day. This will serve as a consolation."
Upon hearing this, Bilian felt it made sense, so she happily ran off to find Lord Yang of the Manufacturing Department and Prince Xiaoyao.
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