Gu Yanfei was a little confused. Wasn't it just the beginning of the day? How could it be so late?
The head palace maid pushed Anle's wheelchair into the palace. Gu Yunzhen held Gu Yanfei's arm and walked very quickly, almost half dragging and half pushing.
Everyone's face was filled with an overly bright smile.
Gu Yanfei looked around at everyone, feeling that something had happened that she didn't know about, and subconsciously pinched her fingers quickly to tell a fortune.
A very auspicious hexagram.
Well, now that we are here, let's just make the best of it.
Gu Yanfei followed them through several door curtains and came to an elegant dormitory, which was fully equipped with a dressing table, screen, clothes rack, table and chairs. On the large rosewood clothes rack against the east wall was hung a silver-red dress embroidered with a phoenix.
"Sister, sit down quickly." Anle urged happily, and ordered the palace maid to push Gu Yanfei to the dressing table.
On the dressing table were all kinds of exquisite and intricate head jewelry, from hairpins, hairpin crowns, gold necklaces, earrings, jade pendants, gold rings, etc. The big red rubies inlaid on the jewelry sparkled brightly.
Gu Yanfei looked at An Le reflected in the mercury mirror and asked in confusion, "Is the Hundred Flowers Banquet about to begin?"
"It's not the Hundred Flowers Banquet." Gu Yunzhen smiled softly with her hands covering her mouth.
Anle laughed so happily and mysteriously that she continued, "Today is my sister's coming-of-age banquet. Father said that he would personally hold the coming-of-age ceremony for my sister."
"..."Gu Yanfei was stunned again, with a confused look on his little face.
It has been two hundred years, and Gu Yanfei is a little vague about his birth date in this life.
However, she vaguely remembered that it was not during the National Day.
Gu Yunzhen saw Gu Yanfei's confusion and took the initiative to help her: "Yanfei, today is your birthday."
Today? Gu Yanfei was even more confused. Wasn't her birthday on the second day of March? Gu Yunzhen hurriedly explained, "My eldest brother found out from Su Niang."
The second day of March is actually Gu Yunmeng’s birthday. Gu Yanfei is a few days older than Gu Yunmeng.
"So my birthday is February 27th." Gu Yanfei said almost to himself, with a somewhat curious expression.
So, she is fifteen years old today, and she has reached the age of marriage.
Gu Yunzhen looked at Gu Yanfei in the mirror and said, "Yanfei, I originally wanted to hold a coming-of-age ceremony for you in the mansion, but my elder brother told me not to prepare it..."
An Le said cheerfully, "Sister Yan Fei, the Imperial Household Department has been preparing for your coming-of-age ceremony for more than a month."
"I helped too. I helped decorate the Qinghui Palace today."
An Le took out a silver pocket watch from his sleeve, checked the time, and hurriedly urged, "It's almost time, hurry up, Sister Yan Fei, you have to get dressed quickly."
Anle excitedly directed the palace maids to dress up Gu Yanfei.
Is it almost time? Hearing this familiar sentence, Gu Yanfei was stunned and looked at the pocket watch in Anle's hand. This pocket watch with silver curly grass pattern is exactly the same as Chu Yi's.
Is this what he meant by what he just said?
There were gentle ripples in Gu Yanfei's eyes, and the corners of his lips curved up.
The palace maid skillfully combed Gu Yanfei's hair into a crescent bun, cleverly braided some small braids into the bun, and tied a colorful tassel around the bun.
While Gu Yanfei was combing her hair, Gu Yunzhen walked to the clothes rack and carefully looked at the new clothes hanging on the rosewood hanger.
The silver-red dress with wide sleeves was hung neatly on it. The brand new fabric was without a single wrinkle. The hem of the skirt was embroidered with a large patch of gorgeous hibiscus flowers, in bright red, pink, peach, and light red. Hundreds of hibiscus flowers were in full bloom on the long skirt. The material was interspersed with some gold threads, giving off a dreamy, radiant glow.
After examining it for a while, Gu Yunzhen asked with certainty, "Is this Phoenix Brocade?"
"Sister, you have good taste!" An Le ordered the palace maid to push the wheelchair over and stop it next to Gu Yunzhen.
Gu Yanfei, who had just finished combing her hair, also came over and asked casually, "What is Phoenix Brocade?"
Gu Yunzhen lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand and took a look at the material in the sunlight. "I heard that Phoenix Brocade is a new material from Yue State. Peacock feathers are woven into the material, which gives it this beautiful luster."
Anle nodded repeatedly.
This material was sent back to Beijing from Yue State by order of the eldest prince, but we almost missed it.
Anle pursed her lips, temporarily swallowed the little secret, and introduced the dress with a smile:
"Sister Yunzhen, Sister Yanfei, look, the embroidery on it was embroidered by the best embroiderer in the Needle Palace Bureau, and the hibiscus flowers on it were drawn by my brother himself. Isn't it beautiful?"
"And look at this robe, it's embroidered on both sides, one side has a parrot, the other side has a cat."
“…”
Anle and Gu Yun were having a very pleasant conversation, talking nonstop until the senior palace maid coughed twice, reminding her that it was almost time.
Anle hurriedly looked at the time on his pocket watch and anxiously urged Gu Yanfei to change clothes.
Today is the first time that her father and brother have asked her to do such an important thing, and she can't mess it up.
The palace maids pushed Gu Yanfei behind the screen and dressed her.
Anle then ordered the senior palace maid to go to the Qinghui Palace next door to check out the situation. There was a small stone bridge between the Qinghui Palace and the Qinglian Pavilion where they were, just on the east side of the stone bridge.
At this moment, the Qinghui Palace was crowded with people, all dressed in elegant clothes and wearing jewels.
Those ladies and girls who were dressed in bright and beautiful clothes had already taken their seats in the hall. Most of them knew each other and were chatting and laughing about family matters, such as clothes and jewelry, which family had a new baby, which family was going to marry which family, and they accidentally mentioned the fact that the Lu family and the Hua family almost got married. As a result, many strange looks were cast towards the women of Chang'an Bo's Mansion.
Mrs. Chang'anbo and Mrs. Lu Er both felt hot on their faces and were a little embarrassed.
Madam Lu also thought about not coming today, but the invitation from the palace was delivered to the Chang'an Marquis's Mansion. This was a national event, and the Marquis's Mansion naturally could not be absent.
Madam Lu pretended to drink a sip of tea and lowered her voice to Madam Chang Anbo: "Sister-in-law, isn't today's banquet a little early?"
In previous years, after arriving at Tianhe Garden, they would first play in the garden by themselves, racing horses, playing polo, chuiwan, cuju, boating on the lake, etc. The palace banquet would begin in the afternoon.
But this year is a little different. As soon as they arrived here today, the female members of the family were brought to the Qinghui Palace.
Mrs. Chang Anbo looked at the sun outside and nodded, "Yes, it's only the beginning of the morning."
It's still early for the banquet to start at this time.
Lady Chang'an was about to look away when she saw a eunuch leading other female relatives coming over here. They were the wife of Duke Weiguo and the wife of the Duke Weiguo's son.
The Duke of Weiguo's Mansion had a high status in the court, so many female members of the family stood up to greet and exchange greetings with the wife of the Duke of Weiguo and his mother-in-law, including the wife of the Earl of Chang'an and her sisters-in-law.
After the Duke of Wei's wife and her mother-in-law sat down, Lady Chang'an asked the Duke of Wei quietly, "Will the palace banquet later be hosted by the eldest princess?"
Mrs. Chang'an deliberately lowered her voice, but several other female relatives around her also heard it and listened curiously.
According to convention, the palace banquet on National Day is hosted by the Queen, but the current Queen passed away early, and Empress Dowager Yuan did not come to Tianhe Garden today, so the only possible candidate left is the eldest princess.
Many women in the hall were talking to each other in twos and threes.
Not only Lady Chang'an, but most of the other female members of the family also thought so. They guessed that it was because the eldest princess was hosting a palace banquet for the first time and there was no guidance from the queen, so the arrangements were a bit messy, and they were made to wait here in advance before the time came.
No matter how much they thought or guessed, the female members of the family only mentioned the facts and did not say too much, after all, it involved the royal family.
"no."
No, Lady Weiguo shook her head and gave a negative answer.
She didn't lower her voice, and the other female relatives also looked over when they heard the voice, with surprise written on their faces: If it's not the eldest princess who is presiding over it, then who else would it be?
The wife of the Duke of Wei continued, "It's not a palace banquet later, it's the Second Miss Gu's coming-of-age ceremony."
Her voice was neither too high nor too low, and it echoed clearly throughout the temple.
The whole audience was silent.
Everyone was stunned, as if dumb, and some even dropped the fans in their hands.
This news was really unexpected. It had never happened before that a coming-of-age ceremony was held for a court lady in Tianhe Garden.
The initial shock quickly passed, and everyone's expressions became more complicated after thinking about it carefully.
Even if Lady Weiguo hadn't said it just now, everyone knew that the Gu family would definitely not be so bold as to come here to hold the coming-of-age ceremony. There was no doubt that this was the emperor's intention.
Not far away, a lady in her forties came over and whispered to another old lady who was over fifty years old: "Madam Xiao, I heard that the eldest prince once asked the emperor for a marriage in public. Is it true?"
This old lady Xiao is the wife of Prime Minister Xiao.
That night, when the eldest prince publicly asked the emperor for a marriage outside the Southern Study, Prime Minister Xiao was also in the palace, so Old Madam Xiao naturally knew about it.
Madam Xiao nodded, her eyes flickering slightly.
That night, the emperor did not express his opinion, but now the emperor actually wants to personally preside over Gu Yanfei's coming-of-age ceremony, which means that the emperor has agreed.
"This..." The middle-aged woman hesitated to speak, tightly clenched the handkerchief in her hand, and pursed her lips in disapproval.
The Gu family is even worse than ordinary families with clean family backgrounds.
This second Miss Gu's family was stripped of their titles, her grandmother and uncle committed crimes, and her father's crime was not yet cleared. A girl like this was actually going to become the eldest prince's consort, and there was even a high possibility that she would be the future empress! If the emperor had not only one son, the eldest prince, everyone would have thought that the emperor had chosen such an unbearable marriage for the eldest prince because he was rejected by the emperor.
Many wives of officials from aristocratic families felt mixed emotions.
A noble lady in her thirties thought for a moment and said tactfully, "Madam Xiao, is the emperor going to personally preside over the coming-of-age ceremony for the second Miss Gu? Is this appropriate?"
The noble lady spoke quite subtly. On the surface, she was discussing whether today's coming-of-age ceremony was appropriate, but what she really wanted to say was that the marriage between Gu Yanfei and the eldest prince was inappropriate.
Another round-faced woman in her forties chimed in, "I don't think that's appropriate."
Several ladies from aristocratic families nearby all looked in the direction of Old Madam Xiao, appearing elegant and dignified, but with turbulent currents in their hearts: they took advantage of this year's imperial celebration to bring their daughters to the capital, just to let their daughters compete for the position of the eldest prince's consort.
I originally thought that today's Hundred Flowers Banquet was a great opportunity to show off in front of the Emperor and the eldest prince, and that there would be an open and secret struggle in Tianhe Garden.
But now, they didn't have time to do anything, didn't have time to start anything, how could it end? These ladies of the noble families felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over their heads, looking at each other, some were confused, some felt unfair for their daughters, and some could not hide their unwillingness on their faces.
When a man gets married, he pays attention to marrying a woman of equal social status and a virtuous wife.
But this second Miss Gu has no reputation for virtue, no reputation for talent, and no family background. Why can she be the eldest prince's consort? Just because she can draw talismans? ! Their carefully raised daughter has good looks, talent, demeanor, and temperament, but she actually lost to a wild girl who grew up in the countryside! Old Madam Xiao slowly picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. Just as she was about to say something, she heard the wife of the Duke of Wei sitting opposite her say lightly: "What's wrong with that? Back then, the Empress Taizu also helped the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Jingning, Mu Xin, to preside over the coming-of-age ceremony."
That year, the wife of Marquis Jingning died of hemorrhage after giving birth to her youngest son, leaving behind her eldest daughter Mu Xin and her younger brother Mu Ying.
Marquis Jingning loved his wife deeply and never remarried. Empress Taizu and Marquis Jingning's wife were as close as sisters. She was afraid that others would say that Mu Xin was the eldest daughter of a widow, so she took Mu Xin into the palace to educate her half of the time.
When Mu Xin was fifteen years old, Empress Taizu personally presided over the coming-of-age ceremony for Mu Xin.
Later, Mu Xin was married to the then Marquis of Anqing by Emperor Taizu. Before the death of Empress Taizu, Mu Xin went to the palace to personally take care of her for three months without leaving the house.
This incident also became a good story, and everyone felt that Empress Taizu and Mu Xin were not mother, but better than mother and daughter.
Naturally, everyone present knew these old stories, and their expressions varied.
Lady Chang'an applauded Lady Weiguo in her heart. She rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "People are destined to each other!"
"Empress Taizu and Lady Mu, the wife of Marquis An Ning, are not mother, but they are better than mother and daughter. I think Miss Gu and the eldest princess are also destined to be together, like real sisters."
When she said this, everyone remembered that Gu Yanfei had saved the eldest princess' life during the first month of the year.
With the old precedent of Mu Xin, it is acceptable for the eldest princess to promote Gu Yanfei.
"That's right." Madam Fan added with a smile, "No wonder the emperor loves his wife so much."
At first glance, it sounds like the emperor is treating Gu Yanfei so well because of the eldest princess, but everyone knows that the emperor is treating Gu Yanfei so well because of the eldest prince.
Madam Xiao and the others' faces suddenly sank.
The hall fell into an eerie silence.
After a while, the silence was broken by the eunuch's shrill announcement outside the door: "The Emperor has arrived! Her Royal Highness Princess Fengyang has arrived!"
The emperor and Fengyang arrived amidst the respectful welcome of the guests, followed by a group of eunuchs and palace maids.
All the female members of the family stood up and saluted. Many of them couldn't help but glance towards Fengyang. They never expected that Fengyang would come as well.
Many people had a vague guess in their minds: Could it be...
At the same time, the people from the Imperial Household Department also took their positions and waited at their respective locations. The chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department sang the auspicious time, and then a melodious and soothing sound of stringed instruments rang out.
It's almost over.
(End of this chapter)
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