She stopped eating, but Qilin was circling the corner of the table, looking up at Ji Ling eagerly.
Ji Ling knew that the little guy must be greedy, so he picked up a piece of watermelon and carefully picked out a few seeds before bringing it to Qilin's mouth.
Qilin gnawed quickly, and the short hair on the edge of his mouth was stained with a piece of watermelon juice, showing a slight watery red color.
After it finished chewing, it raised its head again and looked at Ji Ling pitifully.
Ji Ling was afraid that the dog would have diarrhea if it ate too much watermelon, so he shook his head at Qilin, patted its head, and said softly: "Okay, don't be greedy."
Qilin tilted his head, came up and hugged Ji Ling's calf, put his two furry little paws on her knees, squeezed his eyes, stuck out his pink tongue, and tilted his head towards her.
Ji Ling had never been able to resist the tilt of the head of such a small animal, so he had no choice but to take another smaller piece of watermelon.
Watching Qilin gobble it up, she bent down and picked up the Qilin.
Unknowingly, this little guy has been with me for several years.
At that time, in the Yanxi Hall of the Yangxin Hall, Qilin was still a puppy when he first got in front of her.
Ji Ling held up Qilin's soft little body and put it into the puppy's kennel, but a question arose in her mind: Although Qilin has been following her for several years, why hasn't he grown up at all?
It's not like she hasn't seen the other royal dogs around Fourth Master. Some of them were smaller than Qilin at first, and by this time they were already twice as long as Qilin.
She even had some doubts as to whether the Qilin breed was inherently short of growth?
But the little eunuch who kept the dog didn't tell her either.
Qilin had no idea what his master was thinking. He just stretched out his two little paws in front of his head and concentrated on licking the remaining watermelon juice on the dog's paws.
Ji Ling didn't expect that it liked to eat watermelon so much, so he took two pieces of the leftover melon rind and gave them to Qilin. He thought that the watermelon rind was bluish-green and there was no red flesh at all. Maybe Qilin wouldn't
like.
But Qilin immediately used its small paws to pull it over, buried it between its front legs and gnawed hard.
After taking a few bites, it realized that the rind was not tasty at all. It raised its wet black eyes and glanced at Ji Ling with an aggrieved look.
Ji Ling touched Qilin's head - this puppy had always been like this, full of trust in her.
Needless to say, the various celebrations in the palace were lively on New Year's Eve.
At the Yangxin Hall, the emperor had performed a sealing ceremony a few days ago, indicating that government affairs were suspended, and all officials in the dynasty were preparing to celebrate the New Year and celebrate together.
The royal family princes outside the palace - early in the morning, before daylight, they had already entered the palace with their families, preparing to follow the emperor, worship their ancestors, and bid farewell to the New Year together.
On this morning, according to the rules of the ancestors, the emperor and the queen had breakfast together. The breakfast was extremely rich, and whatever the emperor couldn't finish was given to his courtiers.
At noon, the imperial dining room began to be busy preparing to set the table, and the New Year's Eve dinner was arranged in the Yangxin Hall.
The dinner in the Qing palace - said to be "late", actually started at two o'clock in the afternoon.
After Ji Ling dressed up carefully, she sat on the concubine's shoulder and attended the New Year's Eve banquet.
There is no imperial concubine or noble concubine in the palace. Now, under the queen, except for Concubine Yu, she is the only concubine. Since entering the palace, everyone along the way stood up and respectfully said: "Concubine Chen!
"
Ji Ling held Qixi's hand and walked slowly inside, turning her head left and right, and smiled with the concubines to signal them to get up.
When she finally reached the front, she realized that almost the corners of her mouth were sore from laughing.
Everyone sat down, and since the emperor and empress had not yet come out, they exchanged polite greetings with each other.
Although it was just a small talk, there was really no way to say much. The tables were very far apart, so if you wanted to talk, you could only exchange a few words with the people at the same table.
Next to Ji Ling was Concubine Yu. They happened to arrive one after the other. Ji Ling used to sit together with Concubine Xi and Concubine Qian, but now it was the first time for Ji Ling to attend a grand ceremony in the palace as a concubine.
feast.
She took a look at the seat sign, and she was actually placed at the front, just below the queen.
Concubine Yu came over and saw it at a glance. Although her face was still barely holding on, she felt like she was being slapped in the face, and a bit of unhappiness could not help but show in her brows and eyes.
Ji Ling stood up and said with a smile: "Empress Yu!"
Concubine Yu bowed with her, and after the ceremony, Ji Ling voluntarily gave up the more senior position to Concubine Yu.
When she raised her head, she saw that Yinzhen had walked out at some point and was watching her and Concubine Yu.
Uranala was also standing next to the emperor, and she also saw the scene when Ji Ling took the initiative to give up his throne to Concubine Yu.
The queen couldn't help but subconsciously turned her head to look at Yinzhen beside her, and saw that Yinzhen was just looking at Concubine Chen with a gentle smile, with some approval in his eyes.
The emperor and empress were here, and everyone knelt down to salute and kowtow.
In the Yangxin Hall, there are several golden dragon banquet tables, and the tableware used on the tables are all made of copper-embedded filigree enamel.
There is a long table between the golden dragon banquet table and the emperor's throne. The dishes are placed on the banquet table. When the emperor eats, a special person will take them to the long table.
Needless to say, there was no need to describe the excitement at this New Year's Eve banquet. Although Ji Ling gave up her position under the Queen to Concubine Yu, everyone's eyes still focused on her from time to time.
Ji Ling kept eating all the way.
The New Year's Eve banquet was finally over, and I finally completed the task of attending the New Year's Eve banquet. I got on the shoulder carriage and returned to Chengqian Palace. After removing the auspicious crown weighing seven or eight kilograms from my head, Ji Ling's whole body grew longer.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Qixi pursed her lips and smiled at her: "Master has used it a lot today!"
Ji Ling knew she was sarcastic and laughed.
She sat in front of the dressing table, stared in the mirror, and while watching Qixi remove her earrings, she said: "I just ate it, and I don't know what it tastes like."
Qixi helped her remove all the hairpin rings on her head, and simply braided her hair into a loose braid, hanging down the back of her head.
Ji Ling changed into the simple flag clothes she wore in the house. She also took off her flowerpot-soled shoes early and replaced them with flat-soled embroidered shoes.
She drank a cup of bird's nest and rested for a while. When she heard the sound of fireworks and firecrackers outside, she couldn't sit still.
She got up, took Qixi and Bixue, and went out to the yard. Two wet nurses and four nuns held the sixth brother and the third princess respectively, and followed Ji Ling.
The third princess has basically been weaned from breastfeeding, but she is used to being held by her wet nurse. Because she sees Aunt Chen a lot, she is not acquainted with her. Occasionally she can be hugged by Aunt Chen a few times.
In the small courtyard of Chengqian Palace, a small table has been set up. In the dining room of Chengqian Palace, Xiao Dazi has personally led two handymen and eunuchs to bring out hot dumplings - this is regarded as the perfect place for Chengqian Palace.
The dumplings I make here have a different meaning from the New Year’s Eve banquet at Yangxin Hall.
Only when you eat dumplings can you celebrate the New Year and have the flavor of the New Year.
Ji Ling was supported by Qixi and sat down next to the stone table. She just picked up a dumpling with her chopsticks and before she put it into her mouth, she felt the whole yard turn red.
She raised her head and saw countless gorgeous fireworks falling slowly over the Forbidden City in the direction of the Yangxin Hall, just like a shower of stars in the sky.