Chapter 368 Annual Banquet
On the night of the 30th, there was a banquet in the palace.
This has also happened in previous years.
However, what was not the case in previous years was that Xuanyuan Ling did not go alone today. He went to Zhaohua Palace before leaving.
In fact, it was against the rules. According to the rules, if Xuanyuan Ling wanted to attend the banquet, he had to go with the Queen. He and the Queen were no longer a couple, so he usually went to the banquet alone. But this year he came to Zhaohua Palace, and it seemed that he wanted to go with Shen Qing.
At that time, Chen Qing was still dressing up. Xuanyuan Ling watched her combing her hair. The concubines' hair buns were all complicated, with various hair accessories next to them. Chen Qing didn't like to wear many hair accessories on weekdays, but she had a lot of these things. Now there were several palace maids in front of her holding them for her to choose from. She would use whatever she liked. This kind of occasion had to be more grand, so it took a long time just to dress up.
Xuanyuan Ling came dressed of course. After all, today was a palace banquet, so he was dressed more formally. Chen Qing was also dressed formally. And look, Xuanyuan Ling was wearing purple today, and Chen Qing's clothes were also purple. They seemed to complement each other. This dress was also awarded by Xuanyuan Ling before. It must be said that there was some careful thought behind it.
Chen Qing just has a good foundation, so it doesn't take her long to put on makeup. She seldom wears brightly colored makeup, but in time for the New Year, she put on some brightly colored makeup. Her face is already dark, and with some makeup, she looks very imposing. When Chen Qing first entered the palace, she looked quite immature, but now she can wear the clothes of a first-rank concubine.
After Shen Qing's hair was done, she picked out a hairpin. Seeing Xuanyuan Ling waiting for a long time, she decided to let him participate: "Your Majesty, can you pick one for me?"
I don't particularly trust Xuanyuan Ling's straight male taste, but everything he can serve can match the outfit today, so let him make it.
Xuanyuan Ling actually picked one, and since he had it in his hands, he wouldn't give it to anyone else, so he simply found a suitable position for Shen Qing to insert it.
Shen Qing could still praise: "The emperor is skillful."
Xuanyuan Ling was praised.
After getting dressed, it was almost time, so they naturally set off. Xuanyuan Ling took Chen Qing with him, and the Sixth Prince also went together. Naturally, everyone saluted him wherever they went. When he arrived, the other concubines had naturally arrived. There was no reason to let the emperor wait for the concubines, so all the concubines including the queen also saluted Xuanyuan Ling. Chen Qing was standing a little behind Xuanyuan Ling, and she also received the salute.
Xuanyuan Ling suddenly remembered that when she returned to the palace from the tour, she followed a group of people to pay respects, and he felt a little uncomfortable watching her. It is good to keep her by her side now, this is the right thing to do.
He felt comfortable watching this, but the queen was really disgusted. She was already disgusted with Shen Qing in her heart. Now Shen Qing followed the emperor and received this courtesy. Although she was doing it for the emperor and Shen Qing would return the courtesy, she felt extremely aggrieved in her heart.
Of course, you can’t tell from the face.
Today is the palace banquet, and the Queen Mother hasn't made trouble for a long time. Similar to the Queen, Xuanyuan Ling is somewhat tolerant of the Queen Mother who doesn't make trouble. It is natural for them to come out for a meal during the New Year. He also saluted the Queen Mother, and the concubines also had to salute. As the saying goes, filial piety is more important than anything else, right?
The Queen Mother had a stern face just now. She had been in a bad mood since she fell ill, and later the Queen had oppressed her. She didn't like any of her sons and daughters-in-law, but now that she had been ignored for so long, she was somewhat afraid of Xuanyuan Ling. But seeing him saluting her, she was the Queen Mother after all, and the Emperor could not deny this.
Since everyone was happy to pretend, the palace banquet naturally looked quite harmonious.
Then followed the normal process of the palace banquet. It was not much different from the New Year banquet, except perhaps for the additional scene of the princes and princesses congratulating Xuanyuan Ling. Now the princes and princesses all looked very well grown up.
Especially the eldest prince, who was thirteen years old after the New Year. He looked only a head shorter than Xuanyuan Ling. Standing in the crowd, he looked like a little adult. As for the other princes, the oldest was the third prince, who also had an extraordinary aura. However, there was a surprise with the fourth prince.
In fact, this was not the first time. The Fourth Prince was born late in Japan, and now he has also started to learn, but he is slower in learning. Although he is one year younger than the Third Prince, the difference is huge. The Third Prince congratulated Xuanyuan Ling on the New Year in full, and even recited a poem on the spot, without any sign of stage fright. At such a young age, he looked very dignified, but when the Fourth Prince came out, he pulled at Concubine Li's clothes, and it took Concubine Li a few words to comfort him before he finally came out. During this time, he still looked at Concubine Li many times.
It would be fine if it was a child from an ordinary family, but a child from a royal family should not be so cowardly. Even the eldest prince has never failed to behave himself in such situations since he was a child.
Shen Qing probably had a child. Seeing that the Fourth Prince looked just like a modern kid who had to perform during the New Year, she felt sorry for him. He was a child of the royal family...
Xuanyuan Ling frowned slightly as he looked at the child. It was not that he disliked the child. The Fourth Prince was born prematurely and started school late. It was normal for him to learn things late. He did not dislike this. He disliked the person who taught the child, for raising him to have such a personality.
He thought that the look in the queen's eyes was really unfriendly.
The Queen's face has not been good since the Fourth Prince came out. She subconsciously looked at Xuanyuan Ling, and when she saw his expression, her face suddenly became ugly. It was not the first time. She was anxious about the things that were not presentable, but there was nothing she could do. If Xuanyuan Ling was not happy about it, she could not be happy about it either.
Concubine Li was also very anxious and was about to stand up and apologize. She was really panicked and sad in her heart.
The Fourth Prince had been studying for a long time for this year's banquet, but learning in private and performing in front of so many people are two different things. He was nervous, especially when his eyes fell on the Queen's face.
After all, the Fourth Prince was a child officially given to the Queen to raise. Although Concubine Li was also there in the past, he had more contact with the Queen, who was strict, and he was already afraid. Now looking at the Queen's face, he was about to cry, and he stumbled as he spoke, but it was really horrible to say this.
Li Guiren was almost crying. The New Year, which was supposed to be a happy occasion, turned into a day of hardship for her. She thought that she was not even as good as a servant in front of the Queen on weekdays. She felt really sad. Over the years, she was afraid of the Queen and couldn't bear to leave her children. She had lost all her energy and spirit.
Concubine Li wanted to go out and apologize, but the Fourth Prince was nominally raised by the Queen, and she, as his biological mother, was not qualified to apologize.
After the fourth prince finished speaking, the queen had to apologize on the sly: "It was my fault that I failed to teach him well."
It was New Year's Day, and Xuanyuan Ling was in a good mood when he came. Now he was really disappointed, but the Fourth Prince was still standing, and he couldn't get angry in public. The child was already scared: "Hongying, go sit down."
The fourth prince's name is Hongying.
He called Xuanyuan Ling's name and fortunately he did not cry. He quickly returned to Li Guiren's side. As soon as Xiao Hongying came over, Li Guiren grabbed his little hand. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at the Queen's expression. She was extremely panicked.
This was just an episode, and after all, they were the Queen's children, and the other party was also a prince. Even if they thought something in their hearts, they could not say it out loud. And then the Sixth Prince and the Seventh Prince asked their wet nurses to carry them out to make their appearance.
The Fourth Prince's originally focused attention was no longer so focused.
The Sixth Prince and the Seventh Prince were dressed like Fuwa. The two children were almost the same age and were well raised. They looked pleasing to the eye. Xuanyuan Ling smiled again. At this time, little Chengyun saw Xuanyuan Ling sitting right in front of him.
He watched Xuanyuan Ling suddenly stretch out her arms towards him, a gesture for a hug.
No one expected that the Sixth Prince would ask Xuanyuan Ling for a hug at this time. It was also because Xuanyuan Ling came to Zhaohua Palace more often, and Chen Qing was a child who loved to play with children. Xuanyuan Ling watched Chen Qing playing with the child and always felt that the child would be confused by her play, so he couldn't help but feel a little protective of his child, so he hugged the child a lot.
He had never held a child before, but since he made the child cry for the first time, he got used to holding the child. The child started to recognize people when he was more than five months old. Xuanyuan Ling held the child many times, so he also recognized the child and now he was asking Xuanyuan Ling for a hug.
Xuanyuan Ling was stunned and laughed: "Take the Sixth Prince down and feed him something."
You can't hold him now. There are so many princes here. The Seventh Prince and the Sixth Prince are about the same age. Even if you are partial to one, you can't show it openly. It's not good for the child.
As a result, little Chengyun stared at Xuanyuan Ling. He didn't understand anything at the moment, so he wanted to be hugged dazedly. However, the person who usually teased him ignored him today. His mouth pouted, and the nanny's heart was in her throat. Little ancestor, you can't cry now.
Xuanyuan Ling was watching, how could he not notice that little Chengyun was about to cry? He was also worried at the moment.
Fortunately, the nanny reacted quickly and was already next to Shen Qing. Looking at Shen Qing, little Cheng Yun no longer thought about Xuan Yuan Ling.
But Chen Qing plays with him every day. No, he plays with people like him, so he is naturally closer to Chen Qing than Xuanyuan Ling.
Especially since the nanny came out with his usual toys, and on a day like this, the child couldn't be allowed to cry, so little Chengyun's attention was quickly attracted to other things.
Xuanyuan Ling also felt relieved. Really, he was also a troublesome person.
But when he came to his senses, he actually wanted to laugh in his heart. This was the first child he was particularly close to. He was not so close to any other child. Now that he asked for a hug in person, Xuanyuan Ling felt quite satisfied, as if he had not brought him up in vain.
How many people speculated about the emperor's expression on this occasion? It was New Year's Day, and all the royal family members were here. When Shen Qing and Xuanyuan Ling came out just now, they saw the rumored extremely favored Concubine Xian coming out with the emperor, and they already sighed in their hearts that this person was really favored.
Now seeing that the emperor cares so much about the Sixth Prince, everyone has a secretive expression.
It is true that a son's status is determined by his mother. Especially with the tragic contrast with the fourth prince, the emperor holds these mother and son at the top of his heart.
After the prince comes the princess.
Xuanyuan Ling has only two princesses now, the third princess and the fourth princess. The third princess is nine years old. She has been taught by a nanny in the past few years. She is very decent in such occasions. During the New Year, she played a song for the emperor, empress and queen mother. This was a carefully prepared program. At such a young age, she was very graceful when playing the piano. Xuanyuan Ling also liked the third princess. Seeing her like this, he was also very pleased. The third princess's temperament was not like Qin's. She was not flamboyant and looked very well-behaved and sensible.
After that came the fourth princess of Concubine Zhao, who was also very smart.
After visiting all these princes and princesses, Xuanyuan Ling was rewarded and given as New Year's gifts to the children.
The Queen's face was really ashamed. Even the Fourth Princess performed better than the Fourth Prince, not to mention the Sixth Prince who was so eye-catching. If she wasn't used to being dignified, she wouldn't have been able to keep up her dignity.
The Queen was embarrassed by this incident, and the Queen Mother also felt ashamed watching this. She had never liked the Queen, but the Queen's surname was Chen after all, and the Fourth Prince's behavior just now really slapped her in the face. The Queen actually raised her child like this, which was so disappointing. The Queen Mother was angry just watching it. With a child like this, there was no way she could be helped in the future, as she could tell at a glance that he was hopeless.
The Queen Mother had been thinking all her life that since she was the Queen Mother and the Chen family had a Queen, at least the next prince, Xuanyuan Ling, would come from the Chen family. It was bad enough that the Queen was not able to give birth, but she raised a fourth prince who was like this. She knew clearly that this was her grandson, but she felt disgusted just looking at him.
At this moment, she was still thinking that she could raise Xuanyuan Ling to be an emperor, as the queen was far inferior to her.
However, in this situation, it did not break out on the spot.
After that, the palace banquet went smoothly. It was not the first year that Chen Qing attended it, and it was always the same. The adults stayed up late, so naturally the children were sent downstairs to rest after they had appeared. When it was almost time, Xuanyuan Ling announced that the banquet was dismissed.
After everyone had left, he did not directly announce in front of everyone that he was going to Zhaohua Palace.
It was the same in previous years. At times like this, the emperor should celebrate with the empress. In front of the royal family, he still gave her the honor on such a day. After all, the empress was still there. Since she was still sitting next to him, he was willing to pretend. It was good for both him and the empress, so that the empress would be more content.
However, the Queen knew it very well. It was the same every year. The Emperor would not stay overnight. They would just travel together for a while and then separate. The Emperor would not go to Zhaohua Palace, but would just go back to Qianyuan Palace by himself.
Chen Qing knew that he would not come tonight, so she had to do whatever she had to do. The burden on her head was heavy, so she had to go back early to take off her hairpins and makeup, and then take a nice bath.
Shen Qing's days are indeed happy.
But there were also some who died out of fear, like Concubine Li.
Ever since the incident with the Fourth Prince at the banquet, she had lost her appetite at the palace banquets and could not eat for two days. Only she knew what kind of life she had been leading in the past two years. After the palace banquet, she walked on the way back to Luhua Palace. The cold wind blew on her face and her heart was as cold as ice.
The Fourth Prince has been taken back home, but what will happen to him after he returns?
A scolding from the Queen was inevitable.
She felt sorry for the child. At this moment, a palace maid came to pass on a message: "The Queen has ordered that you come over here."
Here it comes.
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