It was already evening when he followed the Queen Mother back to the Yi Nian Palace. Wen Xiaotu was holding a cup of jasmine tea gifted by the Queen Mother in his hand and remained quiet and silent.
However, the Concubine Xian was very attentive. She sat on the embroidered pier nearby and massaged the Queen Mother's calves herself, saying sweet words continuously: "The Queen Mother is so pious, the Bodhisattva will definitely bless your body and health."
The Queen Mother was also drinking jasmine tea. She sighed slowly: "How can the Ai family not have any illnesses at their age? It doesn't matter whether they are in better or worse condition. The Ai family only hopes that the Bodhisattva will appear and at least extend the emperor's heirs.
The Ai family can have a grandson."
Speaking of this, the Queen Mother couldn't help but sigh. The emperor was good at everything, filial and virtuous, but he was partial to women and was so indifferent to his children!
Concubine Xian lowered her head silently. She was not yet at the age where she could have children! But the emperor had not called her even once since he returned to the palace for so long.
Concubine Xian forced a smile and said, "Guanyin Bodhisattva is the most effective in sending children. The Queen Mother will surely get her wish."
Empress Dowager Rong put down the small bright yellow Tuanfeng teacup in her hand, turned to ask Aunt Bai Tan: "It's already this hour, has the emperor transferred the honorary service room?"
Aunt Bai Tan shook her head gently, "Not yet."
The Queen Mother sighed heavily, "The emperor is always like this! He has no successor and only has a daughter, Jin Yan, how can this be possible?!"
Concubine Xian bit her lip and said, "The emperor may have been busy with government affairs and forgot to turn over the signs."
The Queen Mother glanced at Concubine Xian. Concubine Xian was quite attentive and considerate these days. Anyway, Concubine Xian was not too old. Since the newcomer was so incompetent——
The Queen Mother smiled slightly: "In this case, the Ai family will be even more worried. Concubine Xian, please go to Qian'an Palace and send some snacks to the emperor for the Ai family."
After hearing this, Concubine Xian was overjoyed. She quickly stood up and blessed her body, her eyebrows flying with joy, "Yes, I understand, I thank you Queen Mother!"
The wise concubine thanked her again and again and left like a gust of wind.
Wen Xiaotu touched his nose. The Queen Mother was simply sending a good concubine to the emperor's bed.
She glanced at the clock, stood up silently, and prepared to leave, "The Queen Mother..."
Queen Mother Rong looked her over and said, "You are very well-behaved today. It's getting late now, so you can stay with Ai's family for dinner."
Wen Xiaotu was happy at first, and then frustrated, because the Queen Mother was a vegetarian these days!
But then I thought about it, the kitchen in the Queen Mother's Palace, even if it only serves vegetarian food, must be much better than the one in the North Kitchen, so I happily agreed: "Yes, thank you Queen Mother."
Seeing this, Aunt Bai Tan hurriedly pushed it down and ordered the meal to be passed around.
The Queen Mother looked at Mr. Wen carefully, her eyebrows were gentle and graceful, and her demeanor was very good. The Queen Mother was very concerned about the emperor's recent kindness to Mr. Wen.
The Queen Mother was really hoping that the Emperor would fall in love with someone, but Mrs. Wen... it was impossible, right?
"These days, there has been a lot of movement in the Beigong." Queen Mother Rong said slowly.
Wen Xiaotu can't say that Zen Master Huiguan's words actually came from her mouth, right?
She lowered her head and said silently: "That day, the emperor only occasionally passed by the concubine's Yanqing Hall. When he went in, he saw that the concubine's lunch was very thin, and the queen mother's body was not in harmony. I think the emperor was in a depressed mood, so he was particularly angry.
"
"Really?" the Queen Mother murmured to herself. The emperor's temperament was indeed hard to rub, but the emperor's treatment of Wen was indeed very different from others.
That’s all, let’s wait and see for a while longer.
"The Ai family can't even understand their own son anymore." Queen Mother Rong shook her head, feeling a little depressed.
Wen Xiaotu said sarcastically: "The Queen Mother specially sent the Concubine Xian to express her condolences and care. Your Majesty will definitely understand the Queen Mother's kindness."
After hearing this, the Queen Mother couldn't help but snorted, "I'm afraid he will blame the Ai family for being troublesome!"
Wen Xiaotu looked increasingly embarrassed, and could only say politely: "How could it be? The emperor has always been the most filial to you."
Fortunately, at this time, Aunt Bai Tan came in, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, dinner has been set."
Upon seeing this, Wen Xiaotu quickly stepped forward to help the Queen Mother get up and move to the west dining room.
Although the Queen Mother's dinner was vegetarian, it was also very sumptuous. The quantity of the food was no less than that of the emperor's royal meal. A long rosewood table was filled with exquisite Danfeng Chaoyang enamel tableware, which was more elegant than the emperor's celadon set.
It looks extremely luxurious.
But the Queen Mother obviously has no appetite - this old lady seems to like meat and fishy food, but now she suddenly switched to light vegetarian food. It's strange that she has an appetite!
In fact, Wen Xiaotu is not picky about food, as long as it tastes good.
She smiled and said: "The cooks in the Queen Mother's Palace are really good at their craftsmanship. They can also make vegetarian dishes so exquisite. That plate of vegetarian Dongpo pork looks just like the real thing!"
The Queen Mother said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "The taste in your mouth is still very fake!"
Wen Xiaotu smiled awkwardly.
Aunt Bai Tan hurriedly served a bowl of milk and bird's nest to the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, please take a sip of the bird's nest first to moisten your throat."
The Queen Mother then took a spoonful of snow-white bird's nest and put it into her mouth, but immediately frowned, "Why is there no sweetness at all?"
Aunt Baitan whispered: "Master Huiguan said, you should eat lighter."
The Queen Mother's old face suddenly elongated, and she put the bird's nest down on the table, looking like a child acting out of temper.
Aunt Bai Tan glanced at Wen Cairen, who was standing by the side, and said with a smile: "Cairen, please advise the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother has always been unable to eat like this these days."
Wen Xiaotu thought to herself: The old lady wants to eat meat...
Wen Xiaotu quickly glanced at the food on the table, and suddenly she whispered: "The Queen Mother, these food are so delicious, I feel hungry when I smell them."
She didn’t believe that the Queen Mother was not hungry! Walking from Yi Nian Palace to Cihang Palace and back again consumed a lot of money. The Queen Mother must also be hungry at this moment. The Queen Mother was just complaining!
The Queen Mother sighed melancholy, "That's all, don't sit there and sit down to eat."
Although Wen Xiaotu has been hungry for a long time, she really doesn't dare to sit down. She has to take off her veil when eating, right? This is not a snack. You can lift a little veil and stuff it inside. Her appearance is really...
It is unsightly, and if it affects the Queen Mother's appetite, she cannot bear the responsibility!
Wen Xiaotu quickly blessed his body and said, "I'll serve you and serve you."
When the Queen Mother caught a glimpse of the veil on Wen's face, she suddenly remembered Wen's inconvenience and glanced at Bai Tan.
Aunt Baitan understood and quickly took out a Suzhou embroidered bird fan and presented it to Wen Cairen with a smile: "Cairen, please use this."
Wen Xiaotu looked at the exquisite round fan and suddenly understood that women in ancient times had many ways to hide their faces, such as veils and curtains, but they were not as elegant and convenient as the fan.
"Thank you, Queen Mother, for your grace." Wen Xiaotu refused immediately and quickly covered her face with a fan. Hong Guo, who was serving behind her, immediately came forward and took off the veil for her.
Wen Xiaotu held a fan in her left hand and chopsticks in her right hand, thinking that she would ask the embroidery academy to embroider two fans for her later...
Seeing that the Queen Mother had already used her chopsticks to pick up a tofu skin bun and put it into her mouth, Wen Xiaotu picked up the food in front of her and ate it.
The vegetarian Dongpo pork actually tastes very good, but it lacks a bit of meaty flavor.
Queen Mother Rong watched as Wen took a bite of a piece of Su Dongpo meat and ate three pieces in a row. She couldn't help but suspect that it was actually meat!
The Queen Mother then clamped a piece of the entrance, yes, it was indeed vegetarian.
Although Wen Xiaotu maintained table manners and did not gorge himself on food, he still ate faster than the old man, and he ate very deliciously, with his chopsticks almost never stopping.
The Queen Mother looked at it and couldn't help but salivate. She felt that today's meal seemed a little more delicious than usual.
Face covering, I just realized that I forgot to update yesterday, so I quickly made it up -_-||