When the time came, Ji Ling took the Sixth Brother and the Third Princess, who were all wrapped up tightly, and went out to get into the warm sedan.
The servants gathered around Concubine Chen's ceremonial guard and marched toward the Yangxin Hall.
The entire Forbidden City has been cleaned, and the steps in front of the Yangxin Palace have been wiped clean - the majestic palace depicts the Tang Dynasty general Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde's Wumen God, hanging on the main entrances of various palaces.
This year's New Year's Eve reunion banquet was held in the Yangxin Hall and was hosted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The emperor's royal banquet table is set with a golden dragon plate, a golden dragon bowl, a golden spoon, and a golden chopstick for cold meals, hot meals, forty group meals, twenty wine meals, and twenty tea meals, plus pastries, side dishes, and soups.
There are 108 items such as porridge and candied food, and the numbers are all good omens of good luck and good luck.
Because the Eastern Tour was very expensive, Empress Ulanara took the initiative to request simplicity, and the first-class banquet table was reduced to sixty-four items; the concubine's banquet was reduced to thirty-two items, with green dragon plates and bowls on yellow ground.
When Ji Ling was led to the seat, Concubine Yu had already arrived and was talking to Mao Bi next to her. When Mao Bi saw Ji Ling coming, she quickly got up to say hello. After Ji Ling sat down, she
Only then did I dare to take a seat.
After a few pleasantries between the two parties, the queen arrived.
For everyone present at the New Year's Eve family dinner, what they eat is not delicious food, but status.
In the Qing Palace, the fourth-class banquets on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were all filled to capacity - apart from worshiping ancestors, this was the highest-level banquet that the concubines in the palace could enjoy.
Since it was a Chinese New Year banquet, the names of the dishes seemed to be full of flowers: Heyuanli dumplings, four bowls of Fulu horses, mandarin ducks with red and white proud branches... to name a few.
These names are fairly straightforward, but there are some that Ji Ling is confused by.
For example, there was a dish, and the serving eunuch respectfully announced the name of the dish, called "Shang Qingyu Ban". As a result, the palace maid put the plate down, and Ji Ling took a look... In fact... it was actually Chinese cabbage in chicken soup.
There was also a dish called Tianchu Jade Grains, the name of which sounded fairy-like, and as a result, people were served a bowl of white rice.
Ji Ling holds his forehead.
There were ceremonies, music played, tea served, wine served, food served, music and dance, acrobatics, and various plays. The maids moved around the palace like a dragon, replacing the clean dishes for the concubines in time.
The last dish was a vegetarian dumpling - the fillings include twelve vegetarian dishes: including longevity vegetables, daylily, fungus, mushrooms, shredded bamboo shoots, gluten, etc. Each dumpling is made small and delicate, and Ji Ling puts it in his mouth.
It has a plain aftertaste and a refreshing mouthful.
It was pretty much what she expected. After a New Year's Eve family dinner, she didn't even take a few bites of the food, but she spent two-thirds of the time doing rituals - and she couldn't miss a single move.
In fact, when Ji Ling just came over, while everyone in the palace was chatting, Su Peisheng had asked Xiao Chenzi to quietly bring a female official over and stand beside Concubine Chen with Qixi and others.
While the banquet was going on, when some etiquette came up, the female officer would remind Ji Ling softly from behind.
Even without asking, I knew what Yinzhen meant - Ji Ling had complained to him about the palace ceremony before. During the banquet, she couldn't memorize all the etiquette and it gave her a headache.
This time it was much easier. Ji Ling only had to follow the prompts to kneel, kowtow, stand up, sit down, and raise a glass.
Concubine Yu and Ji Ling originally shared a table, but now they were also touched. She turned her head slightly towards Ji Ling and listened to the female officer's instructions.
Ji Ling originally thought that someone with such seniority as Yu Fei must be familiar with the New Year etiquette, but when she saw that Yu Fei was also listening, she couldn't help but lower her head and smile: Sure enough, people are born with inertia, and everyone is no exception.
After the family dinner on New Year's Eve, hundreds of young eunuchs lined up in front of the Yangxin Hall, walked down the jade steps to the square, ran and stood in silence, waiting for an order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and everyone immediately lit the five colors in time.
Octagonal round lamp.
After the five-color octagonal round lanterns were lit, the head of the House of Internal Affairs climbed up the steps and ran quickly to Yinzhen. He knelt down and said joyfully: "I would like to say hello to the emperor, please say hello to the empress, please light the royal lantern!"
"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the eight young eunuchs who followed him came up carrying a palace lantern as big as a hill.
The painter carefully painted the Dengshan Mountain, with green bamboo and peach branches, and chrysanthemums, dragonflies, orchids, and bird patterns on both sides. The bottom of the Dengshan Mountain is lined with patterns of sapphire leaves, hibiscus flowers, and white magnolia flowers. It is magnificent and ends with a green pine pattern.
It means "peace every year".
Yinzhen was in a good mood. He took the gold-picked pole brought by the servant next to him and lit up the lantern mountain with smooth movements.
The four eunuchs carried the lantern mountain and quickly climbed down the stairs. When they reached the open space in front of the Yangxin Hall, the lantern was already burning extremely brightly, and the light was swaying brightly in the lamp profile, illuminating the surrounding area like daylight.
This was equivalent to a signal - the guards waiting around the square immediately set fire to the flower boxes.
The terrain here is spacious and suitable for fire play. The guards used the wires from the boxes tied to the left and right pillars to ignite the fire. Like a golden snake with an electric switch, the fire immediately flew more than ten feet away.
For a moment, the colorful flames were glowing, and the streams of light were flying and rising into the sky, shining directly on the bright yellow glazed tiles of the Forbidden City.
The night is like an excellent black velvet cloth, and the fireworks are like splashed ink and paint.
All the concubines raised their heads and praised him repeatedly.
Ji Ling was originally standing behind Concubine Yu, holding the sixth brother in her arms.
At this time, I turned around and saw the third princess being held by her nanny. Aunt Chen happened to be standing behind a pillar, blocking the third princess's sight.
The third princess' little face wrinkled into a ball, she was very worried.
Ji Ling took a few steps to the side and signaled the third princess to come forward.
Yinzhen turned around and looked around among the people, then waved to the third princess and said: "Come Xi'er!"
All the concubines looked towards Ji Ling.
I saw the third princess wearing two small hairpins, neatly broken bangs falling on her forehead, a pink and jade-carved little face dotted with plum blossom makeup, wearing an apricot yellow princess dress inside, and outside
The brocade cape with plum blossoms and blue water was trimmed with snow rabbit fur, making her look like a beautiful little jade doll.
She is almost a miniature version of Concubine Chen.
When the third princess heard Huang Ama shouting, she looked around and turned her head, then patted Grandma Chen on the shoulder.
Grandma Chen quickly put her down gently.
Because the third princess was favored by her mother, Huang Ama came to the Chengqian Palace a lot, and she was used to being loved by Yinzhen. None of the children in the palace were nervous when they saw the emperor. They immediately ran over with their legs giggling.
.
Yinzhen bent down and picked up his daughter neatly. He pointed at the fireworks in the night and said with a smile: "Does it look good?"
The third princess nodded happily and said loudly: "It looks good! Come and see, Mother!"
As she spoke, she turned her head and stretched out her hand towards Ji Ling.
Ji Ling stood behind Concubine Yu, smiled and shook her head at the third princess, and put her index finger on her lips to signal her daughter not to shout.
As a result, Yinzhen turned around and said with a smile: "Concubine Chen, come here too!"
Under the complicated gazes of the concubines, Ji Ling handed over the sixth elder brother to the servant next to him, and then walked towards Yinzhen.
