On the last day of the fourth year in Jiading, the sky was clear and it was a rare sunny day in this winter.
Ji Yun went out, looked up at the sun hanging in the sky, and smiled...
Time will not stop for anyone. Regardless of whether she can solve the problem at hand, the palace banquet will be held as scheduled.
"Princess." The guards and the coachman saw Ji Yun driving out and hurriedly stepped forward.
"Let's go..." Ji Yunkai stepped onto the steps, and a gray boy ran past: "Princess, our young master has a letter for you."
The boy was blocked by his own guards and could only speak through the crowd.
"Who is your young master?" Ji Yunkai was still standing at the foot of the steps and did not go down.
At any time, personal safety is the most important thing.
"It doesn't matter who our young master is. What's important is that the things in it can help you, Princess." The boy did not approach, but raised the letter in his hand.
Ji Yunkai glanced at the young man and said to the bodyguard: "Bring it here."
The guard hesitated for a moment, but at Ji Yunkai's insistence, he took the book from the boy's hand and handed it to Ji Yunkai: "Princess."
Ji Yunkai took it and opened it on the spot...
There was only an address in the letter and nothing else.
There is no mark, no signature, and even the handwriting cannot be seen.
This thing... no one knows if it's a trap or if it can really help.
Ji Yunkai looked at the letter in his hand and didn't respond for a long time.
"Princess?" the guard called worriedly. Ji Yunkai responded and looked up, but the boy who delivered the message was nowhere to be seen: "Where is the person?"
"Ah?" The guard was stunned for a moment before he reacted. His expression immediately changed and he knelt down on one knee: "Princess, please forgive me. I have derelict in my humble duty."
"You have indeed failed in your duty." Ji Yunkai is well aware of the capabilities of the personal guards of the Yanbei Palace. The other party can sneak away quietly under the eyes of the personal guards, which shows the other party's ability.
This place is not simple...
The guard lowered his head, not daring to take a breath.
Ji Yunkai folded the letter in his hand and put it in his arms: "Let's go to Lanyuan."
As for this letter?
If she hadn't thought of a solution last night, maybe she would have taken the risk, but now there was no need.
The two hundred and twenty girls in Lanyuan have not stopped since last night and have been making the flowers Ji Yunkai asked for.
There are individual flower branches and whole pots of flowers and plants, which look lifelike, and the large tracts are placed at a glance, dazzling the human eye.
"Very good." Ji Yunkai nodded with satisfaction.
If you look closely, you can still tell that they are fake flowers, but it doesn't matter. The palace banquet will be held at night, and with the help of lights, she can make these flowers more real than real flowers.
"Pack it up and bring it into the palace." The quantity in front of him is not enough, but it does not prevent Ji Yunkai from sending a batch in first so that the palace people can decorate the palace in advance.
"Yes, Princess." Just in case, Nuan Dong personally took people to pack the boxes, and soon dozens of boxes of silk flowers were packed, and Ji Yunkai took people to deliver them to the palace in person.
At the gate of the palace, the guards were conducting routine inspections. Unexpectedly, before the wooden box was opened, the eunuch beside the emperor came: "The emperor has a decree, please invite Princess Yanjing to enter the palace, and bring in all the things the princess brought."
The guards knew that this meant not allowing them to check. Although they were curious about what was in the box, they did not dare to violate the imperial edict.
The guards stepped forward, replacing the personal guards of Yanbei Palace, and followed Ji Yunkai carrying the box.
The emperor attached great importance to tonight's palace banquet, and asked the guards to carry the wooden boxes into the palace one by one, without worrying whether there might be an assassin hidden inside.
"What's in here?" The guard retreated, and the emperor asked, pointing to dozens of wooden boxes in the palace.
"Flowers for tonight's palace banquet." The emperor didn't even know what was in the box, yet he dared to have it brought to him. Is this confidence or stupidity?
Ji Yunkai believed it was the former. There was no shortage of protectors around the emperor, and the emperor did not think she had the guts to assassinate the emperor.
"Open it and take a look." Fortunately, the emperor knew that safety came first and did not step forward.
In the palace, apart from the emperor and Ji Yunkai, there were only eunuchs standing beside the emperor as protectors. Ji Yunkai stepped forward resignedly and opened the wooden boxes one by one...
The wooden box was opened, and the elegant fragrance of flowers hit his face. The bright purple and red flowers appeared in front of the emperor. The emperor was startled: "These are..."
"Fake flowers." Ji Yunkai took out one and handed it to the eunuch beside the emperor: "It is made of silk and gauze. The emperor can have a look."
The eunuch took the flower and carefully inspected it to make sure it was nontoxic and harmless. After half a stick of incense had passed, he handed it to the emperor: "Your Majesty, please take a look."
"This flower is made just like the real thing. It even has water drops?" The emperor became more and more surprised as he looked at it.
Naturally, there is no shortage of silk flowers made of cloth in the palace. In winter, strips of cloth will be tied up like flowers and wrapped around the branches. From a distance, it looks like flowers are blooming on the branches, but those flowers cannot withstand a closer look.
The flowers brought by Ji Yunkai are different, they are extremely lifelike even when viewed up close.
It was not easy for Ji Yunkai to achieve this step in one day.
"If you want to fake it, you have to do your best." She was looking forward to the expressions of the officials who were looking for trouble at night, or the people of the Wang family, when they saw these flowers.
"Very good." The emperor rarely looked kindly to Ji Yunkai and handed the flower in his hand to the eunuch beside him.
The emperor no longer had any taboos. He stepped forward and looked at the flowers in the box one by one to make sure that there was nothing wrong with each one. The emperor nodded with satisfaction: "The flowers are very good, but the quantity is not enough."
Not only for the palace banquet, flowers must be placed in the palace for the five days before the new year. The Ancestral Temple also needs them. Even tonight's palace banquet is not enough.
"The embroiderers made these last night, and they are still making them now. Enough flowers will be made before noon, and then the emperor will be asked to ask someone to pick them up." Only the emperor's people can avoid disturbing anyone.
Bring things into the palace.
"The flower issue has been solved, but what about the fruits? Do you have any idea?" Flowers and fruits are just trivial matters at the palace banquet, but they are enough to make people sick.
Of course, it was about the New Year's Eve palace banquet that replaced the old with the new. Those ministers did not dare to interfere with major matters for fear of angering the emperor. They only dared to disgust the emperor with such trivial matters.
"I thought of a way, but it still requires the cooperation of the imperial chefs." Ji Yunkai was not sure whether the method she came up with last night would work.
After all, some tools are not found here.
However, she only wanted the taste and shape, not nutrition. She hoped that the royal chef in the palace could do it.
"You go and give it a try. No matter whether you succeed or not, I will forgive you." The emperor seemed to be in a good mood, and it was rare for him to speak generously, but Ji Yunkai was shocked: "Your Majesty, are you right?
"
Has the emperor's brain been fooled by Hua Xun? He would actually miss the opportunity to find trouble with her?
The emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why, isn't it better for me to forgive you?" He was not a tyrant, so he naturally had clear rewards and punishments.
Could it be that treating Ji Yun badly is normal? (To be continued)