Although the Huachao Festival is not as big as the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Yuan Dynasty, it cannot be passed over in a general way.
Hua Chao and Qixi Festival are very important in the boudoir, especially in the harem, they are even more grand.
During the Flower Festival, you need to enjoy red flowers, worship the flower god, eat flower cakes, perform flower rituals, and put out lanterns at night.
After this set is completed, we need to prepare it in the first four or five days. As the days go by, we still have to clean up for another half of the day.
In addition to the errands of serving dishes, tea, fruits, and pouring wine at the Hua Chao Palace banquet, I was busy with all kinds of things in the past few days.
Xue Hengzhao and the other maids first cut out various patterns out of five-color paper, and then hung them together with various colored ribbons on the branches for people to watch. This is the "flower appreciation red".
The manager has come up with a new idea this year and made a lot of velvet flowers. He must make this flower festival colorful and ostentatious.
Lin Fufei was also transferred this time, and she deliberately took photos next to Xue Heng when she was cutting patterns.
She looked taller and fatter than when she first entered the palace, and she no longer shrank like a little frozen cat.
But after all, it is still childlike, like a newly pulled out tender wicker, it cannot withstand the wind and rain.
She was very happy to see Xue Hengzhao and whispered: "Sister Xue, we have been living here for the past few days, let's live next to each other!
I haven’t seen you for a long time. It’s so easy to have such an opportunity. I have to be separated from you in the future, and it’s hard to see you again.”
This palace is so big that it takes more than a quarter of an hour to walk from the Fourth Division and Eighth Bureau to the Wanchun Garden where the flower court banquet is held.
To save trouble, they arranged to live nearby.
The most indispensable thing in this palace is a house.
Xue Hengzhao did not reject her, no matter who was next to her, she would be the same.
Lin Fufei asked her again: "Have you written letters to your family these days? I have sent all the monthly silver and rewards I have saved in the past few months. Although it is not much, it can at least relieve the temporary urgent need."
."
There were many brothers in her family, and they often didn’t have enough to eat in the place of exile.
These maids working in groups were all talking in low voices in twos and threes, and the one in charge just walked away, so no one was there at the moment.
Xue Hengzhao just listened to Lin Fufei's ramble without saying anything.
Lin Fufei doesn't feel embarrassed either. She has long known that Xue Hengzhao has such a cold temperament, but in fact she is more reliable than anyone else.
Suddenly someone with sharp eyes reminded everyone: "Stop talking, Manager Liang is here!"
As expected, everyone suddenly became quiet.
The banquets in the harem are naturally organized by the queen, but the queen is just a name, and the real person in charge is Liang Jing.
This banquet is the first palace banquet since the queen's canonization, so it is particularly important.
Liang Jing, surrounded by several eunuchs in charge, went everywhere to check the progress.
For ordinary eunuchs and palace ladies, great eunuchs like Liang Jing are sometimes respected more than their masters.
Not to mention them, even the talented people in the harem, such as Zhaoyi, had to flatter Liang Jing.
"Mr. Liang, look, there are more designs this year. There are thousands of these rose flowers made. You see, they are just like the real thing." Wang Ping, the eunuch in charge of bonuses, held a rose flower made of tong grass.
Said, "When real flowers and fake flowers are put together, it will really become a colorful world."
Liang Jing glanced at him and said nothing. This Wang Ping was good at everything else, but he was too talkative.
"How many peonies have you made?" Liang Jing asked.
Wang Ping immediately glanced at the eunuch next to him. This man was his apprentice and his deputy.
"When I return to Manager Liang, I have two hundred purple peonies and eighty other miscellaneous peonies."
"The Empress likes Wei Zi the most, and when the time comes, she will put this one on the main throne." Liang Jing specifically warned, "The rest is just a little decoration."
Among the four famous peonies, Zhao Fen, Yao Huang, Wei Zi and Douluo, Queen Yao Ziyun prefers Wei Zi.
"Thank you, Manager Liang, for your advice. I will remember it." Wang Ping nodded and bowed.
"What is that?" Liang Jing squinted and asked, pointing to a little red in the finished peony bush.
"Uh..." Wang Ping walked over and took a look, and took out a bright red peony. His expression immediately changed, "Who made this?!"
A little palace maid turned pale with fright, and responded tremblingly: "It's me."
"Idiot! I got into trouble without even seeing you!" Wang Ping gritted his teeth with hatred, "Did you hear that? Peonies are not allowed to be red! Did you dare to be in a coma when I said that?"
"My slave... I'm a newbie, I didn't know this happened." The little palace maid was so frightened that she almost cried.
"I think you're tired of living!" Wang Ping reprimanded the little palace maid, then turned around and smiled at Liang Jing and said, "Eunuch Liang, I also made an oversight."
"Take these flowers and burn them!" Liang Jing said with a cold face, "If you make this mistake again, you don't have to stay here anymore."
"Yes, yes, I understand, I understand." Wang Ping nodded and bowed, while reaching out to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead.
The Empress Xu loved red peonies the most during her lifetime. She once said to Yao Ziyun, who was still a royal concubine, that red is the most noble color and is a color suitable only for wives. It cannot be compared with other frivolous colors.
Now that Yao has become the queen, she naturally respects her favorite Wei purple peony.
The red peony has become taboo.
"Wang Ping, don't make things too difficult for that palace maid." Liang Jing added, "It was originally a happy event, so don't make it unlucky.
Her life is worthless, so don’t bring trouble to your happy life."
"Yes, yes, Manager Liang is right, and my subordinates will definitely comply with it." Wang Ping agreed repeatedly.
After Liang Jing left, Wang Ping went up and kicked the palace maid twice, scolding: "Idiot! You are really advantaged! You have filled in all the hundreds of tree holes dug over there for me today! Don't you dare to
Cry, I’ll reward you with a good beating!”
The little palace maid didn't dare to cry anymore and went to fill the hole honestly.
"This Manager Liang is so majestic!" After Wang Ping left due to something, Lin Fufei whispered to Xue Hengzhao, "I was so scared that I didn't even dare to breathe."
Wang Ping only told everyone that he would not make red peonies. As for the reasons, it is of course impossible to elaborate.
Some people know it, some people don't know it, but the palace maid came later, and she accidentally violated a taboo.
The king usually showed off his power in front of the palace maids, and was like a pug in front of Liang Jing.
Liang Jing didn't shout to kill, but the moment he stood there, he was frightened from the bottom of his heart.
No one doubted that he could kill someone with just one word, or save someone's life with just one word.
It took about two days to prepare all the bonuses, just waiting to be tied to the tree early in the morning.
Then Xue Hengzhao was assigned to serve tea, and dozens of them were led by a nun and two maids to teach them the rules.
Lin Fufei was assigned to guard the flower statue, and the two of them were no longer together.
At dinner that day, Lin Fufei suddenly found Xue Hengzhao in a hurry.