Two days later, it was the Wanshou Festival, first the state banquet and then the family banquet, and Li Fei met the emperor again.

The 56-year-old emperor is dressed in a golden 12-chapter gown, wearing a crown of gold silk wings, sitting on a throne with red lacquer and gold cloud dragon patterns, with broad shoulders, a modest face, and a strong spirit.

"I wish my father the sun and the moon to be prosperous, and the pine crane to be long. Zhao Yanheng and Li Fei knelt on the brocade mat in their dresses and kowtowed.

He Jin, who was standing next to the emperor, called for exemption, Zhao Yanheng and Li Fei slowly stood up and stepped aside, and there were two chamberlains holding a big red cloud pattern brocade box, presenting the birthday gift of the Xiangwang Mansion.

The emperor ordered the emperor to open the list with a smile on his face.

A picture scroll with a length of one zhang and eight feet wide unfolds from right to left, and the busy scene of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in Tongzhou is presented from south to north. I saw that the ships from the north and south were full of goods, coming and going endlessly, end to end. Some of the ships began to dock, the slender man pulled, the boatman rocked, and dozens of porters rolled up their sleeves, tightened their belts, and stood on the dock ready to unload the ship's cargo. Along the banks of the river, there are green trees and mottled shadows.

Further north, halfway between the wharf and the city gate, the roads are filled with camels, horse-drawn carts, ox carts, donkey carts, two-wheeled flat-headed carts, unicycles, rickshaws, palanquins, and all kinds of means of travel. The shops along the way are also densely opened, selling ready-to-wear clothes, pedicures and faces, lanterns, fried twist flowers, shochu, food, clothing, housing and transportation, leisure and entertainment, everything.

At the gate of the city, a group of people are sending the bride from outside the city to the city, the groom rides a high-headed horse, and the bride sits in a sedan chair. The porter behind the sedan chair carried the bride's dowry one by one, from the bedding fabric, the candlestick copper basin to the rice, flour and fish, counting carefully, the people in the suburbs of Tongzhou also had twelve heavy dowries, which showed its wealth.

Entering the city gate, the houses on both sides are lined up one after another, money villages, pawnshops, tea houses, wine shops, foot shops, medical halls, car dealers, and banners are hung at the same height, and people in front of the door enter and leave, and business is prosperous, adding a brilliance to the prosperity of the suburbs. Looking further into the neighborhood, there are groups of 12 or 3 year-old boys wearing Confucian clothes to go to private schools; there are women in their twenties and teens, wearing silver hairpins on their heads, followed by an old woman who is carrying a basket full of vegetables from the market; there are fortune tellers wearing Taoist robes walking around the streets; and for some reason, two young men fight at the door of a steamed bun shop.

The emperor stepped down from the throne, squinted at the long scroll and nodded repeatedly. The scene of this painting is interpreted in Tongzhou, thirty or forty miles south of the imperial city, showing a prosperous and beautiful era for the emperor.

Zhao Yanheng stood beside the emperor and talked a few words with the emperor about the layout of the painting, the conception and the person who painted it.

The queen wore a crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes and sat on the lower right side of the throne, beckoned Li Fei to speak closely, and said softly: "I heard that Lao Qi is on the table, please go back to the fiefdom, when do you plan to leave?"

It's the Wanshou Festival, and the Xiangwang Mansion can't pack up the luggage yet, and it will have to be packed for a few days after the festival. Li Fei smiled and said, "The prince asked Chongshu, and it is advisable to travel on the eighteenth." ”

The queen's expression has always been bland, none of the emperor's children were born to her, and none of them were raised by her, if you want to say that there is no feeling of reluctance for King Xiang and his wife to leave, she passed on the message to King Jing and his wife before, Fang Peiyi sat down in confinement, and it was time to leave for the fiefdom. However, in front of this daughter-in-law, who has always been respectful to herself, the queen also said a word, saying: "It's too anxious to leave Beijing on the eighteenth." According to my wishes, delay it for a few more days, twenty-five is Concubine Shu's birthday, and it is not too late for the two of you to make a birthday for her. ”

"The prince has also thought about this. Li Fei got closer to the queen, and said slowly in a soft and glutinous accent: "Twenty-five is the birthday of the mother, and the third day of the next month is the birthday of the queen mother." If you say that you have made a birthday for your mother, you can't leave your mother behind. It was postponed again and again, until November. The prince said that this year's winter is much colder than in previous years, and he is worried that the road surface is frozen and the road is not easy to walk. ”

The queen showed a look of approval and said, "You have filial piety." ”

Li Fei replied with a humble smile and continued: "The prince has not returned to the fief for two years, and he really wants to go back at this time, there are some affairs in the fief that have to be handled by the prince, and he is busy for the New Year......"

Speaking of the future, Li Fei's voice was lightened, his head lowered and looked at the skirt and said, "Last year, the prince said that he would take his sons back to Xiangyang. The prince has lived in Xiangyang for many years, and there are many places to take his sons to see. ”

"Good, good!" The queen, who has always been dignified and solemn, showed a smile and said, "I am happy to see you little couple loving and loving." ”

"Thank you, Queen Mother. ”

What did the peacock say when he flew southeast, not all mothers-in-law would be happy when they saw their sons and daughters-in-law's affection, but the queen was happy from the bottom of her heart. Zhao Yanheng's children are affectionate and affectionate, which she is happy to see.

The emperor and Zhao Yanheng chatted about it, Li Fei said goodbye to the queen, and then saluted the emperor and queen side by side with Zhao Yanheng, and then retreated to the table.

Fang Peiyi still had a few days to get out of confinement, and she couldn't come, King Jing sat alone on a case, her body lost a lot of weight, and the flamboyance between her eyebrows disappeared, and she was entrenched by a trace of depression.

King Wei had a good appetite every time he appeared at the palace banquet, and he held a two-inch knife in his hand to remove a piece of mutton bone. Sun Yuyan was so considerate and gentle, she took the bracelet, washed the jade hands, pinched the handle of the knife with her fingers and pointed at King Wei how to make the knife, staring at King Wei with a good eye, for fear that he would accidentally cut his hands.

Princess Shouchun, who was at the next table, didn't look at Sun Yuyan's performance at all, and whispered to the concubine Liutan.

Concubine Li and the Eighth Prince left the table and went back.

Concubine Ning is a Nine Emperor Prince on the left and Princess Sirou on the right. Sirou is the age of a good playmate, and Taihe, who can't say that he can't go, has to play together, and when he is with his little brother, who is two years older, he becomes a sticky little tail, and he turns his face to talk to the ninth brother.

The Nine Emperor Princes have not yet stepped out of the shadow of his biological mother's death, and a few days ago, Concubine Ning led him to cry and guard his soul every day, and the Little Face of the Nine Emperor Princes was very sallow and melancholy.

Taihe, who was still not good at walking, slipped down from Concubine Shu's arms, walked around the table with his hand, and beckoned to his brother and sister-in-law with a pink face. She couldn't walk without anything to hold onto.

Zhao Yanheng and Li Fei both walked over, holding Taihe's little hand across the hall one left and one right.

The queen motioned to the emperor to look over, and the longevity banquet was warm and harmonious.

In a blink of an eye, it was October 18, the sky was clear and cloudless, and it was indeed a good day to travel. One carriage after another stretched for five miles, and Li Fei sat in a three-horse canopy carriage without showing his face. Zhao Yanheng wore a snow-white fox fur coat and rode on a pure black horse, with a handsome face.

King Jing and Liu Tan automatically and spontaneously sent one pavilion after another, and sent it out of the capital for ten miles, before they hugged their fists and said goodbye, and the two groups of people and horses separated from each other, rolling up the dust of a place.

Zhu Miaohua and Xu Min sat in a three-story teahouse along the way, watched King Xiang leave Beijing on the top floor, and then quietly waited for King Jing's return.

Xu Min's maid Qian'er kept standing at the window and watching, watching King Jing and his party come back from a distance, and turned back in a panic and joy: "Grandma, big girl, they are back." ”

Zhu Miaohua held Zhi Lan's hand and walked to the window unhurriedly. Xu Min calmly got off the bed and walked over slowly. The two of them watched King Jing stop his horse without moving, brought a cup of pigeon soup to Fang Peiyi in the restaurant opposite, and then got on the horse.

The maids of the two spontaneously retreated. Zhu Miaohua leaned on the window lattice and asked Xu Min, "Can people see clearly, what do you think?"

They are not talking about King Jing, a month ago Zhu Miaohua almost had a miscarriage in King Jing's Mansion, and had to lie in the ear room to recuperate, the news was transmitted back to the Marquis of Changxing, Xu Min assigned the maid to dot the bedding and clothes, and personally sent it to Zhu Miaohua, that day Xu Min happened to meet His Royal Highness King Jing.

Xu Min inadvertently met King Jing, with a trace of anger lingering on his haggard face, which was very inconsistent with the rumored gentle and elegant His Royal Highness King Jing. She was not interested in the princess who already had a princess, bowed her head respectfully, and left King Jing's Mansion with a few maids.

They are now talking about a handsome man who followed King Jing, Zheng Jia Fu, the deputy guard of the Jingwang Mansion Honor Guard Division.

This is the husband that Zhu Miaohua is looking for for Xu Min.

"Jia Fu is twenty-three years old this year, and he has set a family affair in front of him, because Jia Fu's parents have died of illness in a row, he has kept filial piety for four or five years, and the woman can't wait to retire from the family affairs. Last year, Jia Fu married a sister and a sister in the family. Now he is alone in the family, and the marriage has not yet been decided. Think about it yourself, how is this marriage?"

The portal is a little smaller, but a high gate like the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion is Fan Shen's love for Zhu Miaohua, and there are always many troubles.

The Jia family has no parents-in-law and no sisters-in-law, if this marriage is reached, Xu Min can be the master of the house when he enters the door, which seems to be a very comfortable marriage.

If you look at Jia Fu himself in detail, he looks like a talent, and the deputy guard of honor is from the five-rank official body. Under Xu Min's calm face, he couldn't help but think of Cheng Anguo again. At the beginning of November, Cheng Anguo had already returned from the northwest, and just now King Xiang and his team passed downstairs, and Cheng Anguo followed Queen Xiang.

The northwest line, months of traveling, compared to the last chance encounter, Cheng Anguo tanned, looking lean and calm, that introverted temperament, standing behind the overly handsome King Xiang and the gentle King Jing in front of people, has its own unique style.

In contrast, Jia Fu, who is also a guard, is inconspicuous.

Xu Min frowned slightly and asked himself, is this a kind of prejudice? Because it is always extraordinarily beautiful if you can't get it.

In fact, Jia Fu's qualifications and career are not much different from Cheng Anguo.

Xu Min moved her plump lips, her beautiful face showed shyness as much as possible, and said softly: "Please ask my sister and brother-in-law to make decisions for me." ”

Zhu Miaohua turned his head, but a look of hesitation flashed in his eyes, and then he chuckled and said, "Then in the past two days, let the uncle invite Jia Fu to come to the Hou Mansion to talk about it." 166 Reading Network