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◎Reciting poems at a palace banquet shocked the whole court.◎
The breeze gradually turns cooler, and it is Mid-Autumn Festival again this year.
During the first three years of Emperor Xingwu's reign, either the treasury was empty and everything was in ruins, or the emperor was busy conquering the southern border and unifying the country. The palace had never held a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. This year, the weather in the north was good and the south was under the control of the Great Qi. The emperor had money and achievements, so he was very happy and ordered the Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Shangshi Temple to jointly prepare a Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet.
The Taichang Temple was responsible for the sacrifices before the palace banquet and the rituals and music throughout the entire process. On the ninth day of the eighth month, a eunuch in charge of the Taichang Temple requested the imperial concubine to move to Yichun Pavilion. From the thirty music and dances prepared by the Taichang Temple for this palace banquet, two groups of nine tunes and three dances were selected, which were used for the two banquets hosted by the emperor and the imperial concubine on the Mid-Autumn Night.
The Yichun Pavilion in the palace and the Jiaofangsi outside were both under the management of the Taichang Temple. Singers, dancers and other actors first studied in the Jiaofangsi. Only those with the most superb skills could be selected into the Yichun Pavilion and have the opportunity to perform for the nobles at any time.
Before leaving, the Imperial Concubine sent for Concubine Li and Princess Yongkang. "The Emperor isn't interested in singing and dancing, so he's leaving it to me to make the decisions. I can't make a decision on my own, so please come with me and help me make the decision."
Concubine Li was flattered: "I know nothing about singing and dancing. I always just watch the fun at banquets. It's better for you to decide for yourself, sister."
The imperial concubine guessed what she would say and said with a smile, "Evaluating songs and dances is the easiest. Just tell me which one you like."
Both were women of Emperor Xingwu. Even though the Imperial Concubine had served him for several years beforehand, the combined time she spent with him was less than the time she and Concubine Li had spent together. Concubine Li was ethereal and graceful, yet gentle and uncompetitive. Emperor Xingwu liked her, and the Imperial Concubine seemed to like her, too. As both women, they had more to talk about when they sat together.
Yongkang listened silently to the two concubines' humble words.
The imperial concubine turned and spoke to the eldest princess, ignoring neither of them.
When they arrived at Yichun Pavilion, the imperial concubine took the two of them to sit down, and the selection process began in an orderly manner.
Qingyang was studying in Chongwen Pavilion and was unaware of this until he and his mother had lunch in Qianyuan Hall at noon. His father asked his mother about the music selections for Yichun Pavilion. Qingyang, who was concentrating on his meal, looked up and asked unhappily, "Mother, you went to Yichun Pavilion, why didn't you call me?"
Concubine Li coaxed her, "You are studying, how can I disturb you because of this? Besides, you can see it on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival."
Qingyang: "I want to see it now."
Emperor Xingwu doted on his daughter and looked at Concubine Li: "Which dance is the most beautiful? I will send someone to bring the singing girls over and let Lin'er dance first."
Concubine Li frowned and advised, "It's lunch time now. The singing girls have been very busy with rehearsals recently. Your Majesty, please stop torturing them."
Emperor Xingwu, who did not want to be a tyrant, listened to the advice and taught his daughter: "Your mother is right. We cannot, just because we are of noble status, send others to work for our own selfish reasons, making them work hard when they should be resting."
Qingyang nodded obediently and took another bite of her meal. She continued to ask about the singing and dancing: "Did they dance to 'Stars Supporting the Moon'?"
Concubine Li's expression changed. She winked at her daughter and tried to speak in a normal tone, "No, this is all newly choreographed dances."
Emperor Xingwu noticed the strange look on the mother and daughter's face and said with a smile, "What kind of dance is 'Stars Supporting the Moon'? Why don't I remember it?"
Concubine Li: "This year on the Dragon Boat Festival, we invited Prince Yong and his family to the palace for a family dinner. The Yichun Pavilion performed a dance."
Emperor Xingwu was even more surprised: "This dance must be good. It's been three months, and Lin'er still remembers it so clearly."
Concubine Li laughed dryly.
Qingyang didn't know why her father was staring at her, but she had promised her mother to keep it a secret and never tell her father.
Emperor Xingwu did not bully his daughter. During the break, he just used some tricks to pry some words out of Concubine Li. However, the delicate Concubine Li could not bear the emperor's coercion. She confessed tremblingly, and then had to dance for the emperor in a thin nightgown with a blushing face.
Emperor Xingwu had already experienced Concubine Li's beauty in many ways, and now, watching her soft and graceful dance, Emperor Xingwu was truly amazed: "You actually have such a talent."
Even though Emperor Xingwu did not dance, he knew that dancing skills were not something that could be acquired overnight and that it took years of practice to reach that level.
Concubine Li sat at the foot of the bed, her head lowered in shame. "I've been practicing secretly for three months. The Emperor hasn't seen much, so he thinks I'm a good dancer. But in fact, I can't compare to those dancers at all."
Emperor Xingwu beckoned, and when Concubine Li cooperated and lay in his arms, Emperor Xingwu asked, "Why do you want to practice secretly? If you like dancing, I will pick a nanny to teach you."
Concubine Li: "...How could a concubine with a serious mind learn this?"
Emperor Xingwu laughed and said, "So you want to learn how to dance for me, but you don't want others to know about your improper intentions?"
Concubine Li was wronged, but unfortunately the emperor was a rogue and confirmed the matter without giving her a chance to explain.
.
In a blink of an eye, it was the 15th day of the eighth month. Because the palace banquet for viewing the moon was scheduled in the evening, Emperor Xingwu stayed with his family during the day.
Before dusk, the family of eight played pitching pots in the imperial garden. The two concubines were in one group, Yongkang and Qin Hong were in one group, Qin Bing and Qin Ren were in one group, and the youngest and dumbest Qingyang was taken in by his father to form a group.
Qingyang missed the target twice in a row. Emperor Xingwu picked up his daughter and placed her two steps away from the copper pot. He held her hand and threw the ball again, and finally hit the target.
Qingyang knew this was cheating and snorted, "I don't like this game. I want to play hide and seek."
Emperor Xingwu: "Okay, okay, let's play hide-and-seek."
Yongkang deliberately teased his father: "Sister wants to play hide-and-seek, and father agreed. Now I want to play pitching pots, will father still accompany me?"
Qin Bing followed suit and said, "I don't want to play either of these. I want to play Cuju. Will the emperor come with me?"
Emperor Xingwu said: "Okay, let's play hide-and-seek and pitch pots."
Yongkang laughed, and Qin Bing glared: "Where's Cuju?"
Emperor Xingwu: "If you get an A in literature at the end of the month, I will play Cuju with you all day long."
After some fun, it was time for everyone to return to their respective palaces to change clothes and prepare for the banquet.
On the way, Qingyang learned that his father and the Imperial Concubine would be entertaining ministers and wives of officials separately, and that his three brothers would also be accompanying his father to the Taiji Hall. He immediately hugged his father's neck tightly and demanded, "I want to go to the Taiji Hall, too."
Emperor Xingwu said: "I am hosting a banquet for ministers in Taiji Hall. Everyone is drinking. Lin'er is a girl, so it's better for her to stay with mother and the others."
Qingyang: "I don't want my father to drink. He will feel uncomfortable and vomit all the time if he drinks."
Concubine Li looked away awkwardly.
Emperor Xingwu looked at his daughter's worried eyebrows and felt relieved. His eldest daughter was too old to be so close to him, and his three sons probably didn't even think of caring about their father. Only the youngest daughter said whatever she thought, innocently and simply.
Emperor Xingwu: "Okay, please drink less tonight."
Qingyang: "Then Father, take me to Taiji Hall. I want to be with you."
Concubine Li couldn't persuade her daughter by herself, so she looked at Concubine Gui and pleaded with her to help persuade her.
The imperial concubine wanted to help, but Emperor Xingwu was willing to indulge his daughter, so the matter was settled amid the little princess's coquettishness and Emperor Xingwu's laughter.
Noticing that his eldest daughter had pursed her lips again, Emperor Xingwu asked with a smile, "Is Yongkang going too?"
It was just a palace banquet, a simple matter of adding a table and a table. The two princesses, one big and one small, could sit together and have a companion.
Yongkang envied his sister for being doted on by their father, but he also knew that his sister was too young to understand the difference between men and women, and was unaware of being stared at by ministers. There was nothing she could do, especially since she was already engaged, and her future father-in-law and future son-in-law would attend the palace banquet.
"Forget it. The ministers are making a lot of noise. I prefer to sit next to my mother."
Since the eldest daughter herself didn't want to go, Emperor Xingwu didn't try to persuade her.
.
In the Taiji Hall, the ministers first sat down in order according to the ranking. When everything was ready, the palace servants went to invite the emperor.
Emperor Xingwu entered the hall holding the little princess and accompanied by three princes of different heights.
The ministers walked around to the outside of the seats and knelt to welcome him.
Emperor Xingwu said with a smile, "Stand up. Tonight I am celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with you all. Enjoy yourself first, and don't be bound by the etiquette between monarch and subject."
The ministers expressed their gratitude.
Emperor Xingwu's seat was high in the north. Crown Prince Qin Hong sat alone at the table to the lower left of his father. Opposite him, the second prince Qin Bing sat at one seat, and the third prince Qin Ren sat at another with his sister.
The ministers' minds were all on Emperor Xingwu, and few of them paid attention to Princess Qingyang, who was only three years old.
Qingyang looked down and recognized several familiar faces. On the civil side, there were Yan Xiang and Dai Xiang; on the military side, there was Zhang Jie, the uncle of Prince Yong and Zhang Su's father, Duke of Wei; and Fan Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, whom he had just met last month.
Everyone else acted as if they didn't see her, except Fan Zhong, who happily raised his wine bowl towards her and drank from it. When he put the bowl down, his beard was stained with wine.
In fact, Qingyang didn't like such dirty people, but she was shocked by Fan Zhong's big body. After seeing Fan Zhong defeat several guards in a row, she thought Fan Zhong was very powerful, so she didn't dislike Fan Zhong sweating profusely. Later, when she heard her father praising Fan Zhong as the most brave and fierce vanguard general around him and the most loyal to her father, Qingyang liked this person even more.
"Sister, aren't you afraid of him?"
After confirming that the person his sister had been staring at was Fan Zhong, Qin Ren quickly averted his gaze to prevent Fan Zhong from continuing to grin at him, and asked in a low voice in confusion.
Qingyang: "I'm not afraid. Why should I be afraid of him?"
Qin Ren: "...It's nothing, just don't be afraid."
There were too many people at the palace banquet, and Qingyang's eyes were not enough. Apart from opening his mouth to take the food fed by his third brother, Qingyang did not talk much to his third brother. He watched the dancers dance and listened to his father talking to the ministers. He especially liked to listen to his father recalling the things that happened on the battlefield to a certain minister. He completely memorized the faces of Duke Chengguo Lu Guangzu and Duke Dingguo Deng Chong. The former, with his gray hair, was actually called Uncle Lu by his father, and the latter was called "Brother Chong" by his father.
Qingyang finally paid attention to his third brother: "Why did the emperor call Duke Dingguo his younger brother?"
Qin Ren whispered, "Because my father knew Duke Dingguo when he was very young. They grew up together and their relationship is closer than that of brothers. Our Aunt Wang is Duke Dingguo's sister. Uncle Wang was able to marry Aunt Wang because my father arranged it for them."
Qingyang said one geography after another: "Is the relationship between the emperor and Duke Dingguo like you and Zhang Su?"
Qin Ren: "Yeah, almost."
Qingyang: "Then why did the Emperor want my uncle to marry Duke Dingguo's sister?"
Qin Ren: "...We know everything. Father knows Duke Dingguo and knows that his sister is a good woman. Duke Dingguo believes that father and uncle Wang can take good care of his sister, so he agreed to this marriage."
Before Qingyang could ask more, a well-dressed civil servant stood up, raised his wine glass and presented a poem to his father. His father was very pleased and rewarded him with ten pieces of silk.
Next, two other people presented poems.
The little princess didn't know what poetry was exactly. She just thought the words these people recited were similar to the Thousand Character Classic she had learned. Seeing that her father loved listening to poetry so much, after another minister finished his poem, Qingyang stood up excitedly and said loudly, "Father, I can recite poetry too!"
The three-year-old princess's clear and powerful voice instantly spread throughout the entire hall, and even echoed several times because the space above the hall was too empty.
The ministers looked at the little princess in surprise.
Emperor Xingwu had the same expression, and then he said flatteringly, "Is that so? Lin'er, read it to me."
Seeing that everyone was waiting for her to read, Qingyang raised her head and began to recite clearly, word by word: "The sky and the earth are dark yellow, the universe is vast and boundless. Winter comes and summer goes..."
As soon as the little princess opened her mouth, Emperor Xingwu and all the ministers smiled in understanding. It turned out that this was what the little princess understood as "poetry". The little princess was just reciting it seriously, so everyone cooperated and waited. They would continue to eat after the little princess had recited enough. However, they did not expect that the wait would take so long. The little princess, who was only three years old, actually recited nearly half of "Thousand Character Classic" fluently.
The expressions of the ministers gradually changed from waiting respectfully to being surprised and stunned.
"The right leads to the inner court, the left to the Ming Dynasty. It not only collects the ancient scriptures, but also gathers the heroes."
When the little princess's clear voice finally stopped, the ministers remained silent.
Qingyang looked at his father, then at the ministers, and said, "Father, I have finished reading the poem."
Emperor Xingwu maintained a calm demeanor and said with a smile, "Well read, but do you know what your poem means? It's like 'collecting ancient texts and gathering heroes'. How do you explain it?"
Of course Qingyang knew that the teacher would test her on her literacy and interpretation of every sentence she learned.
The little princess explained to her father without hesitation.
Emperor Xingwu glanced at the dumbfounded second son Qin Bing, then looked at the ministers.
Fan Zhong was the first to jump up, saying in shock, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with the little prince's head? This is such a long paragraph, I can't memorize it even if you kill me!"
Several generals nodded in agreement, including King Yong.
The military generals were rough in their praise, but the civil officials were very good at it. Led by the right prime minister Dai Lun, they praised Princess Qingyang as if she were a literary genius who had descended to earth.
Emperor Xingwu finally stopped trying to hide his feelings. He walked down, picked up his little princess, and said to his ministers, "Qingyang was born on the day I ascended the throne. I have long said that she is a unicorn gifted to me by heaven. And unicorn is indeed gifted and intelligent, living up to the name I gave her!"
All the ministers left their seats, shouting that Emperor Xingwu's enthronement was in compliance with the will of heaven, and therefore there was auspiciousness from heaven, and the blessing of a son and blessings.
Emperor Xingwu accepted the praise with his head held high. After the ministers had returned to their seats, Emperor Xingwu held his daughter's hand and asked, "Lin'er, you have memorized poetry well. Your Majesty has also given you a reward. Tell me, what do you want?"
Reward, Qingyang thought about it carefully, and finally said: "I want the golden waist medal that my father gave me last time."
She had many, many beautiful clothes and no shortage of silk. Her father and mother would usually try their best to satisfy her whatever she wanted. The only thing was where to go for fun, which her mother could not decide, but her father could. But Qingyang didn't want to ask her father every time. If she got the badge from her father, she could take Jie Yu with her at any time.
Emperor Xingwu: “…”
Left Prime Minister Yan Xi was thinking about the little princess's trip to the Secretariat in July and wondered, "Could it be that His Highness is asking for the imperial badge that grants him free access to the palace?"
Emperor Xingwu acquiesced.
Yan Xizheng's face changed, and he advised, "This is the first-class badge for entering and leaving the palace. It cannot be given to others except for urgent matters. How can the emperor give it to Your Highness to play with? What if Your Highness accidentally loses it and someone with ulterior motives finds it..."
Emperor Xingwu said, "Left Prime Minister, your words are quite reasonable. Therefore, I will have a waist pendant specially crafted for Lin'er to use. If anyone else finds it, it's just a piece of scrap gold. Any misuse of it under my name will be punishable by death. Furthermore, Lin'er can only use this pendant until she's ten years old. Once she's grown up, I won't let her play around in the Former Court."
After all, he had just promised his daughter a reward in front of all the civil and military officials. The emperor's words are as good as gold, so how could he break his promise?
Yan Xizheng thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed to Emperor Xingwu's approach.
Qingyang only heard that she could get her father's golden medal, and she thought happily that if she wanted anything from her father in the future, she would continue to recite poems!
【Author’s words】
Little Princess: Come on, I’ll take you out of the palace to play!
Emperor Xingwu: ...
Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow [milk tea]
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