The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is Wen Jiaojiao's fifteenth birthday. This is her most important birthday. Turning fifteen means that she is old enough to talk about marriage.
The hairpin ceremony was held at the Xiao family. In the past few days, everyone in the Xiao family was busy with the warm haircut ceremony.
The Xiao family all wanted to hold a grand banquet for Wen Jiaojiao and entertained various aristocratic families in the capital, but basically it was only those who were good friends with the Xiao family. Not only the capital, but also some relatives and friends living in other states and provinces also sent invitations.
Knowing that the Xiao family's most beloved child, Wen Ruyue, was going to have a baby, all the invited families felt ready to bring their suitable sons and daughters to meet the Xiao family and Miss Wen Biao.
The Xiao family was busy organizing Wen Jiaojiao's birthday, and Wen Jiaojiao himself was still in the palace these days.
There was nothing she needed to do anyway, as long as she showed up at the banquet that day.
She wanted to stay with Sister Qingyu in the palace for a few more days, and also visit Concubine De, Concubine Xian and Concubine Wei.
These concubines did not want to be like those palace fight TV shows that Wen Jiaojiao watched in modern times, where they would fight around all day long.
Of course, I heard from Aniang that in the palace before, the concubines also caused a lot of troubles due to intrigues, but they were all solved by Aunt Qingyu.
The concubines who have experienced Sister Qingyu's methods are still frightened when they think of it, and no one dares to do it again.
Nowadays, the harem is peaceful. At most, there are some verbal disputes among the concubines who are jealous, but they will not cause too much trouble.
Most of the women in the harem are very lonely. Many of them don't even have a child. They stay in the palace all day long, facing these red walls and green tiles, like gold wires raised in a gorgeous cage.
bird.
The heavy snowfall during the day has finally stopped in the past few days. After taking a nap, Wen Jiaojiao would take some snacks and go out to various palaces to visit the concubines.
Sister Qingyu was happy to let her go out for a walk. Concubine De and Concubine Xian entered the palace in the same year as her, and they had always been gentle and easy-going, so she felt at ease with them.
Wen Jiaojiao first stopped by to visit Wei Concubine and her son. The fifth prince, Zhao Xi, liked her very much and always clamored for Wei Concubine to come and play with her.
Wen Jiaojiao wanted these princes and princesses to move around more with Zhao Yan. She hoped that Zhao Yan could have company when she was not in the palace.
So whenever she went to the East Palace, she would take Zhao Xi with her. However, Zhao Xi was still afraid of Zhao Yan and did not dare to talk to him at all.
Wen Jiaojiao was helpless. With Zhao Yan's temperament, she probably couldn't get close to them. She could only take care of them more. Maybe one day Zhao Yan would get close to them.
If she were not in the palace, Sister Qingyu would rarely see Zhao Yan. This was what she heard from Qingquan.
She didn't quite understand why Zhao Yan, such a well-behaved child, felt that her sister was not close to him and didn't like him very much.
Sometimes, Wen Jiaojiao was afraid that she had robbed Zhao Yan of maternal love, and felt a little guilty in her heart, so she wanted to be nicer to Zhao Yan.
As soon as she arrived at the Chunhe Palace of Concubine Xian, she saw that Concubine De was also there. The two of them were sitting together drinking tea and talking while doing female work in their hands.
When they saw Wen Jiaojiao coming, their eyes lit up and they hurriedly asked her to sit down.
"Here comes Jiao Jiao. Isn't it very cold outside? You look so cold. Come over here and get some toasty."
Concubine De put down her needlework, went up to Wen Jiaojiao to take off her cloak, pulled her to sit on the couch, and covered her legs with the blanket she had just put on her knees.
Her little hands were cold to the touch, so he asked the palace attendant to drink a soup and put it into her hand.
"Empress De Fei, I'm not very cold. I'm wearing a thermal undershirt specially made for me by Sister Qingyu and my mother-in-law. It's very warm."
Concubine Xian reached over and touched her hand, "Then your hands are still so cold?"
Wen Jiaojiao: "I have such a constitution. Not to mention winter, my hands and feet are often cold even in summer."
Concubine De sat next to Wen Jiaojiao, held her in her arms and looked at her lovingly and said: "I have known that you are frail and sick since you were a child. The Queen often worries about you, which is also a pain for you."
Concubine Xian said: "It must have been very difficult for your grandma to raise you so big. It's a pity that Concubine De and I don't have the blessing of being mothers."
Wen Jiaojiao nodded and said: "My mother-in-law is the best mother-in-law in the world. I will treat her well in the future and will not let my mother-in-law be wronged."
Concubine De smiled and touched Wen Jiaojiao's head, "If I can have a lovely child like you, it will be worth it no matter how hard and tired I am. Your mother-in-law will be the happiest mother-in-law in the world if she has you."
Wen Jiaojiao saw that Concubine De and Concubine Xian were still very young, in their twenties. It was probably not too late to have a child.
However, this cannot be done by them alone, but also by the emperor.
She had been in the palace for so many days, and she was still in the harem, and she had heard some things about the harem.
I heard that the emperor did not particularly favor any concubine. The new concubines who came in the annual draft would probably get more attention from the emperor. However, the emperor always only selected concubines based on their family background. He would only choose from the families of officials who were helpful to the court and Beiyuan.
Choose the right woman to enter the palace.
Emperor Beiyuan was probably the most equal emperor Wen Jiaojiao had ever seen, but she could feel that the emperor treated Sister Qingyu differently.
During the period before and after she entered the palace, the emperor went to Fengyi Palace more often than he did, but he always left after just one visit.
During this period of time, she had never seen Sister Qingyu go to the Emperor's Chengqian Palace to sleep.
The atmosphere between the two of them always felt a little awkward. Every time the emperor came, Wen Jiaojiao would avoid it.
Wen Jiaojiao looked at the two gentle and beautiful empresses in front of him and comforted them: "Imperial Concubine Xian and Empress De Fei are still so young, they will definitely have children of their own. My aunt is both in her late thirties."
I was born.”
Concubine De sighed softly, and looked at each other with Concubine Xian. Both of them had a look of helplessness in their eyes.
"It's so bright. Concubine De and I can no longer conceive." Concubine Xian said.
Wen Jiaojiao was stunned for a moment, and his smile suddenly disappeared, "Is this...why?"
Concubine De hugged Wen Jiaojiao, shook her shoulders, and said with a faint smile: "I became pregnant less than a year after entering the palace, but the child was not destined to be born to me."
Concubine Xian put down the book in her hand, with a hint of bitterness on her lips, "I once had a child, but I didn't have the chance to give birth to it."
Concubine De calmly said: "She was Concubine Shu back then. She relied on the achievements of her father and brother in the family to suppress the concubines in the harem. Concubine Xian and I were just small nobles and beauties back then.
As soon as she entered the palace, she became one of the four concubines, just below the empress."
"Many concubines were afraid of the domineering concubine Shu, and they all lined up to fight against her. During those two years, the harem was very restless and a lot of things happened."
Speaking of this, Concubine De held Wen Jiaojiao's hand in hers and said, "Thanks to the empress's resolute and resolute methods, I was able to gain peace and tranquility in the harem, and also helped me avenge the loss of my son and get back the money for me."
It’s fair, I thank the Queen from the bottom of my heart.”
Concubine Xian also said: "We will always remember the kindness of the Queen. There is no better Queen than her. Only with her around can we live peacefully in the harem."