latelenovela Chapter 221 The Queen Mother’s Birthday Banquet
Chapter 221 The Queen Mother’s Birthday Banquet
This summer is not only hot, but also has a lot of rainy days. As soon as the rain hits the ground, an unpleasant smell immediately fills the air.
The two children especially dislike the smell and are unwilling to go out when it rains, and it was no different today.
"Ajin, Ayuan, put on your clothes properly." Gu Shijin said as he looked at the two human dolls twisting their bodies on the bed.
"If you don't dress properly, mother will leave."
The Third Prince was taking good care of Shi Jin. He sat on the bed and nudged the Fourth Prince, saying, "Brother, put on your clothes."
Gu Shijin sighed. Ajin is not as silent as before. After spending a long time with Ayuan, she is sometimes forced to become lively.
Hearing his brother's words, the Fourth Prince rolled his eyes, then sat up reluctantly and stretched out his hands to Gu Shijin.
Gu Shijin sat on the stool and watched his movements, saying, "No."
In fact, usually the two kids don’t want to go out and Gu Shijin won’t force them. If they don’t want to go out, then they don’t have to go out. There are still many fun things to do in the house.
But not today, I must go out today. The ninth day of the seventh month is the Queen Mother's birthday. This year, the Emperor wanted to give her a big celebration, but the Queen Mother refused and only held a simple palace banquet for the concubines in the palace and the royal family in the capital to attend.
When Gu Shijin arrived with the two children, there were already quite a few people in the Cining Palace. In addition to the concubines of lower ranks, the virtuous concubine and the virtuous concubine were also there.
"I pay my respects to the Queen Mother."
"Grandson greets the Royal Grandmother." The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince said in baby voices.
"Get up quickly." The Queen Mother said with a smile when she saw that it was the three of them.
The eldest prince and the eldest princess are now with the Queen Mother. Their eyes light up when they see the third and fourth princes coming, and it seems that they really want to play with them.
"Ajin, Ayuan, go to the Empress Dowager." Gu Shijin said.
Gu Shijin knew that the empress dowager liked children, and Ajin and Ayuan were especially favored by the empress dowager.
"A Yuan is overweight." The Queen Mother hugged the Fourth Prince and pinched his face.
"Grandmother." The Fourth Prince winked at the Queen Mother.
The dinner was held in the Cining Palace. There were not many royal family members in the capital. Only two of Lu Junze's uncles came, and the rest were all concubines in the harem.
Oh, yes, the virtuous prince has left the capital for his own fiefdom, and in the end he was unable to take the concubine dowager with him, so the concubine dowager is still living in the Cining Palace.
"I wish Her Majesty the Queen Mother good fortune and a long life." Everyone stood up and raised their glasses to celebrate.
The Queen Mother also raised her glass and said, "May our Great Xia prosper for thousands of years."
"There's no need to be formal at today's banquet. Just drink as much as you want."
"Thank you, Queen Mother."
Lu Junze arranged the empress dowager's birthday banquet very attentively. Gu Shijin saw that several dishes on the table were made by the imperial chef from the small kitchen of Chengqian Palace who he had taught. The imperial chef from the imperial kitchen probably wouldn't know how to make them. This meant that Lu Junze had let the imperial chef from his small kitchen take charge of the preparation of this banquet and had arranged it carefully.
Gu Shijin had a good appetite looking at the table of exquisite delicacies and ate a lot. Just before the banquet started, a palace servant came to quietly tell her that the dishes on her table were specially arranged by the emperor. Although the style was no different from that of other tables, they were made by hand separately, so she was told to eat without worry.
Gu Shijin's heart warmed when she heard this. Lu Junze really took care of her and cared about her in every way. As long as he could think of something, he would arrange it well to prevent any accidents from happening.
This time too, although he just gave orders with his mouth, Gu Shijin enjoyed this attitude very much.
"Concubine Jin's dishes look much more exquisite." At this time, Concubine Lan, who was sitting next to Concubine Jin, said.
Although the styles of the dishes are the same, the imperial chef must have put more effort into making the dishes that the emperor ordered to be prepared individually.
Gu Shijin was not panicked. He looked at Concubine Lan's table and said, "Maybe she has not been feeling well recently and has not eaten much."
Lan Fei didn't have any other bad intentions. She just couldn't stand Gu Shijin's nonchalant look, so she deliberately found fault. Seeing that she failed to anger Gu Shijin, she snorted and turned around and ignored Gu Shijin.
However, Gu Shijin thought that there was another reason why Concubine Lan disliked her. She didn't know who arranged the seats for today's banquet, but her seat was actually in front of Concubine Lan.
Although Concubine Lan entered the palace earlier than Gu Shijin, Gu Shijin now has two princes, while Concubine Lan has no children at all. Although there is no big problem with this arrangement, it will make people feel uncomfortable and there is suspicion that it is intended to sow discord between Concubine Lan and Gu Shijin.
Although their relationship was not very good, they had never been at odds with each other.
However, although Concubine Lan is a bit arrogant, her temper is not too bad.
"Xingzhu, after the banquet, go and find out who arranged this banquet." Gu Shijin said.
Although the emperor intervened, the entire banquet was definitely not arranged by him. The empress dowager herself is too old to do it herself, so the most likely person to do it is the queen.
Gu Shijin glanced at Shangguan Yan, who was sitting next to Lu Junze in the high seat with a smile on her face.
Gu Shijin's voice when he instructed Xingzhu just now was not too low, and Lan Fei heard it anyway. She glanced at Gu Shijin, and the dissatisfaction in her eyes dissipated a little. Lan Fei also knew that the seat at the banquet would not be arranged by Gu Shijin, but she knew it, and she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. When Gu Shijin showed this attitude, she felt much more comfortable.
Concubine Lan is not a bad person and she has a bottom line in doing things, so Gu Shijin asked someone to investigate. If it were any other concubine, Gu Shijin would not bother to spend this time. With her current status and position, she can completely sit here in the harem.
A banquet is about eating, drinking and watching performances. Now it is summer, and even though there is a lot of ice in the room, there is a lot of heat when there are so many people, and many people are overwhelmed by the heat.
Especially the concubines of lower rank at the back, some of them had their clothes soaked with sweat.
The concubines in front were much better off, for example, Gu Shijin. There were two large basins of ice cubes next to her, and Xingzhu was fanning her with a fan, which was quite comfortable.
The Empress Dowager's birthday gifts had already been sent before, so there was no such step now. However, many concubines prepared programs to please the Empress Dowager or make the Emperor laugh.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I have prepared a dance to wish you a long life and good health." Concubine Wen stepped forward and said.
"Okay, I know what you mean, go and get ready." said the Queen Mother, and then Concubine Wen slowly stepped out to change into her dance costume.
"I remember that Concubine Wen is the Dowager Concubine's niece. That's so thoughtful." The Queen Mother said to the Dowager Concubine.
"Yes." The concubine smiled and said, "As long as the Queen Mother likes it, it is also a blessing for the child."
The sound of a piano began to sound, and a woman in a red dance costume came in from outside the hall. She was graceful and the silk of her red dance costume swayed gently with the music, attracting many people's attention.