After three rounds of drinking, the New Year's Eve banquet was still going on. When it was time for the concubines to toast, everyone came forward to toast one by one according to their positions.
When it was Qian's turn, Ulanara Shiji saw that although Qian was wearing an auspicious dress today, she did not wear an auspicious crown on her head. Instead, she wore a tassel, with a purple-red beaded tassel hanging down, and her head was black. The swallowtails on the sideburns are also pulled up sideways, tilted to one side and behind the head. Together with the tassels dangling on the hair accessories, it has a bit of the charm of Han makeup.
When it comes to the women in the palace, it is not that there are none more beautiful than Qian Concubine, but this charm... Ulanara narrowed her eyes slightly, raised her chin and looked at Qian Concubine: She is really a little excited even as a woman!
"On this New Year's Eve, I would like to concubine you to pay homage to the emperor. I would like to express my best wishes to the emperor with a cup of concubine Qian..." Concubine Qian stepped forward with a gentle step and moved forward to propose a toast to Yinzhen.
Everyone saw that the emperor put the wine glass aside casually, and stared at Concubine Qian, with a bit of predatory look in his eyes, and looked at her directly for a few times.
Looking at it, Concubine Qian's face was filled with shyness, and she lowered her head.
When the concubines saw this scene, they immediately exchanged sour looks with each other.
Those concubines who had been surprised before that Qian's concubine could actually find every opportunity to sleep with the emperor when Chen's concubine was the only one who could not be shaken, saw Yinzhen's expression at this time.
For a moment, everyone looked at Concubine Qian with jealousy in their eyes.
"I will give this glass of wine to my humble concubine." Yinzhen raised his hand and pointed at the table with a smile.
Concubine Qian immediately beamed with joy. When the eunuch in front of the emperor raised the wine glass, Concubine Qian knelt down and took it. She was overjoyed and said: "Concubine, thank you for the reward! Thank you for the reward!"
Yinzhen smiled slightly and said: "Get up, the ground is cold."
As soon as these words came out, even Ulanara was a little helpless.
Concubine Yu had already put down her wine glass, her face was a bit red with a hint of drunkenness, and she stared at Concubine Qian rudely.
Concubine Qi frowned, with an expression on her face: "I just went to the Old Summer Palace, why did so many things happen?"
Xi Bi was also a little unable to sit still.
Li Guiren, Gao Guiren and others were still being served by the personal maid, but they no longer knew what the food in their mouths tasted like.
Xiao Chenzi stood behind Yinzhen. At this time, he boldly glanced at Concubine Qian, and felt his heart pounding - Concubine Qian Li Zhuang attended today, and she was even more touching than the last time she was in Yangxin Hall. Woolen cloth……
When the concubines finished the toast, the North and South Fruit Houses were already waiting nearby. At this time, they presented fragrant tea balls, dried tangerine peels, and Gongfei Duoguo - as a mouth-cleanser during the banquet.
At the same time, the maids hurriedly came forward, picked up the plates in front of the emperor and the concubines, and brought the next round of hot meals.
Uranala counted the time and it was almost time. It was time for the emperor to lead everyone to eat dumplings, so he turned to signal to the palace people.
Not long after, the eunuchs carried up a large golden-lacquered wooden table with gourds and Wandai patterns painted around it. Four enamel condiment plates were placed on it, each containing pickled side dishes, Nan side dishes, ginger juice, vinegar, etc.
Although the emperor had already used dumplings when he opened the ceremony, eating dumplings with everyone at the New Year's Eve banquet naturally had a different meaning - in the Qing palace, eating dumplings was regarded as not forgetting the ancestors and not forgetting the ancestors. Forget the ceremonial activities in the place of birth.
When Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty Nurhachi raised his army, he fought bloody battles and killed too many people. In order to express his repentance to the innocent people, Nurhachi said on New Year's Day of the year he ascended the throne that his descendants would eat dumplings every New Year's Eve and make dumplings with vegetarian fillings to express his gratitude.
Memorials to the dead.
At this time, the vegetarian dumplings were served. After Yinzhen used them, Ulanala also used a chopstick. She tasted the enoki mushrooms, purslane, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, etc. in the vegetarian stuffing of the dumplings, and lowered her eyes.
Thinking about what happened just now, I couldn't help but slow down my movements.
At midnight, firecrackers exploded.
The New Year's Eve banquet came to an end only after the transition between the new and the old year was celebrated amidst the cheers. The emperor was supposed to stay at the queen's place that night.
Yinzhen went to Kunning Palace with dignity.
After arriving at Kunning Palace, Yinzhen drank a few bowls of tea to relieve his hangover, and then prepared to take a bath - he was also a human being, and after a day of hard work on New Year's Eve, even though everyone was joyful, he was still very tired.
Ulanara's heart was calm - when she was still in Prince Yong's Mansion, the fourth master had not touched her much. Is it possible that now, she still expects the emperor to love her?
After Yinzhen took a bath, he changed into a thick white undershirt. The warmth in Kunning Palace was so strong that he almost felt a little hot.
He lay down with a stoic look on his face. The sound of firecrackers marked the end of the year, and the spring breeze brought warmth to Tusu - this was a rare day of rest for him in the year. At the same time, the government office closed the pen again, which was the end of the year.
There aren't many official duties anymore, so it's a rare time to read a few volumes of Buddhist scriptures.
At this time, Ulanara was holding a dry towel next to him and wiping Yinzhen's hair himself.
She squeezed the water out of her hair over and over again, several times, but Yinzhen looked back at her and smiled: "Why does the Queen need to do something like this? Just ask a servant to take care of it."
Ulanara also smiled. She didn't say anything like "it's the duty of a concubine to serve the emperor" as usual. She said it more often, and she could tell. The emperor had long been tired of hearing such words.
.
Ulanara said obediently: "Yes."
Yinzhen flipped through a page of the idle book in his hand and heard that the queen had gone out, but he didn't take it to heart. Not long after, he heard someone come in again. The person sat behind him and started to give him a towel gently.
Wiping my hair, my movements were careful and timid.
Yinzhen smelled a faint fragrance in his nose. He turned his head to look, and saw Huarong, the queen's personal maid, behind him.
Hua Rong's hair was boldly styled, almost in a hairstyle that could only be used if promised. She applied a light amount of makeup and powder on her face, and applied lipstick on her lips, which made her face lively.
Hua Rong knew that the emperor was looking at her, and she almost didn't dare to raise her head - she felt like a commodity for no reason, a commodity waiting for a price, being placed on the shelf, waiting for the merchant to judge its value and decide whether it could be sold.
.
When the queen told her this idea yesterday, she was almost scared to death.
At first, Hua Rong refused to do anything, and begged the queen, saying that she just wanted to serve the queen wholeheartedly, and would never leave the Forbidden City in her life, but would stay in the palace until she died of old age.
But she couldn't resist Ulanala's hard and soft tactics - Ulanala had long seen it, and that day she asked Hua Rong to find the reward for Qianbi: a pair of crabapple bracelets, but Hua Rong's eyes stared at the bracelets, and she couldn't help it.
Reluctant to give up.
…
"I am promoting you, so you should also help me." Ulanara even said this in the end, with a hint of pleading.
The empress actually showed such an attitude, and Hua Rong could not refuse.
But now when facing the emperor, she began to deeply regret in her heart - the emperor's aura was too strong. As the old saying goes, being with the emperor is like accompanying a tiger.
What she is doing now is stroking the beard on the tiger's lips.
If the teasing makes her happy, the tiger might kill her. If the teasing method is not good...
"Why did you come in to serve me?" Finally the emperor asked calmly.
Hua Rong became nervous and couldn't speak anymore. He raised his head and stared at the emperor.
Yinzhen threw the book in his hand on the table next to him and stopped reading. He stared at Huarong's hair ornament on Huarong's head as if he were watching a play. He also saw a small pink flower bead hairpin on her temples - a bead hairpin.
Although it is small, exquisite and cute, and its texture is precious, it is not something that a slave can bear.
Even though this slave is the queen's personal maid.
He asked her: "Is this what the queen means?"
Hua Rong blinked and suddenly thought of the Queen's earnest instructions to her, asking her to speak and act. When she doesn't know how to deal with everything, she should think more of her concubine.
