After Xiao Shaotang left the palace, he went to the Qin Palace, and no one was alarmed.

After the Qin Palace's renovation has changed from what it used to be, but because there are too few people, it still reveals that no matter how many flowers and trees are used, the carved fence and jade masonry cannot be eliminated.

Xiao Shaotang walked through the main hall and walked all the way, he clearly felt this coldness.

How lonely it must have been when my mother waited alone in such an empty mansion for her father, who had not returned from an expedition.

Xiao Shaotang stood on the side of the road for a while, and the kind of resentment and alienation towards King Qin in his heart suddenly decreased.

Is it because my mother used to wait here day and night, so my father can't wait for a moment to look for her traces?

They all know that their mother's soul will definitely not be attached to the capital, and she will definitely return to her hometown and the vast sea she yearns for.

There were not many servants and maidservants coming and going, but now there are even fewer.

Xiao Shaotang wanted to ask where King Qin was, but he couldn't wait for anyone, and in the end, Mr. Yuan, who heard the news, took him to the big kitchen of King Qin's mansion.

King Qin was actually making dumplings.

Jin Ge Iron Horse is a middle-aged man who has been in the middle of his life, with a pair of big hands like a fan pinching small and delicate dumplings, dipped in flour on his hands, and his serious appearance makes Xiao Shaotang feel surprised and kind.

"You're here. ”

Seeing Xiao Shaotang coming in, King Qin didn't stop what he was doing, greeted him lightly, moved his position, and vacated a chair beside him.

However, when the cook and servant woman in the kitchen saw Xiao Shaotang, they were panicked and panicked, and they were busy saluting and saying hello.

Xiao Shaotang waved his hand, and Mr. Yuan asked those people to retreat, and he also stood outside the door and waited.

Xiao Shaotang sat down beside King Qin:

"Father also makes dumplings?"

When he was in Yuzhou, Xiao Shaotang was determined to eat dumplings on the winter solstice every year, but he had not made them himself.

King Qin's tone was slightly proud:

"After so many years in the Northwest, there are some things that you always have to do yourself. There was nothing to eat in the northwest, and at that time, Mr. Yuan and Mr. Gu were bitter, but when they ate dumplings during the Chinese New Year, everyone was very happy, and I learned that every year, I would wrap them once a year to eat. ”

Xiao Shaotang looked at the dumplings that were almost exactly the same, and it was hard to imagine how a prince born in the royal family could learn it.

But he didn't forget the business of his trip:

"Then father, you have to invite Mr. Yuan and Mr. Gu every year to eat dumplings with those generals, this year, don't you invite?"

"Of course, I still have to please, so I started to make dumplings myself since yesterday, the weather in the capital is cold, and they can be stored for a long time. ”

"What about me, Father, aren't you going to take care of me for a few more days?"

"You ......"

King Qin finished pinching the last dumpling skin in front of him, and then got up and clapped his hands:

"You are all an emperor, do you still need your father to take care of you? Since you were born, I have never fulfilled the responsibility of being a father, and now, without me, I think you can live well. ”

Xiao Shaotang silently looked at the servants who came in to clean the hands of King Qin, and his emotions became fierce for a moment:

"You have made your mother wait for 18 years, are you really anxious for this one or two days? Today I came out of the palace, it was Cheng Huan who asked me to invite you to the palace for the New Year, if you have to leave, do you want her to run again? Don't you want to see if I can sit firmly in this country and see if your grandson is a prince or a princess?"

"You kid, I just said I want to go, do you have to leave before the end of the year! Who told you that I have to leave in a few days?"

King Qin was confused: "This is the first New Year after you ascended the throne, and I must be with you...... Did Mr. Yuan tell you?"

The Qin Dynasty shouted outside:

"Yuan Zhaoxian!"

Mr. Yuan outside had already heard that the voice was wrong, so he ran away with his neck curled.

Mr. Yuan was afraid that King Qin would settle accounts with him, so he didn't dare to go back to his residence, so he slipped away to Mr. Gu's side.

After taking a breath, he complained to Mr. Gu:

"The emperor's temperament is too upright, I just said that, let the emperor stop the prince, why is the emperor so sincere......"

Mr. Gu was picking out new clothes to wear in the New Year, and couldn't help but sneer at Mr. Yuan:

"You joke with the emperor about the prince, this is simply telling the beggar that I want to take the food from your hand, can the emperor not be anxious?"

"You, how can you compare the emperor with a beggar?"

Mr. Yuan was not convinced.

Mr. Gu has his own opinions:

"What is the difference between the emperor's thirst for the love of father and son and the beggar's desire for food?

Mr. Yuan lowered his head and thought about it, feeling that it seemed to be the truth, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty:

"You have a point, according to this, the emperor is also pitiful. ”

"But...... If the emperor makes such a fuss, maybe the prince won't be able to leave, and it is unknown. ”

Mr. Gu very much hopes that King Qin can stay, so that they can be regarded as the backbone.

On the day before Chinese New Year's Eve, King Qin invited all the original old ministers to a dumpling feast.

These old departments have worked hard with him over the years, and now they are ranked as princes and have their own futures, but for the dumplings made by King Qin himself, even if there are no other dishes, they are still eager to do so.

At the end of the meal, many people even had tears in their eyes, took King Qin's hand and begged him not to leave the capital.

Even if the new emperor is not thin on them, and they are rewarded for their merits, but in front of the new emperor, they always only have merit and no mercy.

They knew very well in their hearts that King Qin was here, and their years of dedication would always be remembered by King Qin.

When King Qin left, for more than a year, it was easy to say about those who followed the new emperor to kill, but it was difficult to say about those who stayed in the northwest to stabilize the rear.

The King of Qin also knew their concerns, and gave them kind words and comforts:

"I just want to go to the south for a walk, and it's not like I'll never come back, you are all heroes, you don't have to be such a child, don't worry, every year in the future, I will come back to invite you to eat this dumpling!"

After getting King Qin's words, everyone's minds were slightly stabilized, and on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, after worshipping the ancestors, they all brought their families into the palace to spend Chinese New Year's Eve with the emperor.

The vast majority of these upstarts have never been to the capital, let alone seen such a grand occasion as a palace banquet.

The men are better, sitting in twos and threes, the generals sit on one side, and the Wenchen is in another, except that they can't talk about going together, there is no contradiction.

On the other hand, it is different on the side of the female dependents.

The families that have survived from the old days of the capital are eligible to be invited to the palace, and the female dependents are not from ordinary families.

These ladies are the most etiquette and rules, and they are also the most proud of their family background.

For the families of the nouveau riche, some people are watching, and some women are looking at them with all kinds of critical eyes.

Once the ladies of the nouveau riche family are at a loss, sit in the wrong seat, or the salute posture is not standardized enough, or there are too many people with stage fright, so that they are so nervous and sweating, it will attract their sarcastic and contemptuous eyes.

Xiao Shaotang and Bai Chenghuan, as emperors and queens, naturally did not come too early.

Lady Weibei Hou and Li have both been promoted to Duchess of Weiguo and Lady Qiuguo, and the two sit side by side at the bottom of the queen's seat.

Mrs. Yu Guo looked coldly at those old noble ladies and nobles, and pointed at the ladies on the nouveau riche side, and couldn't help but be a little angry.

So he greeted those who were familiar with the female dependents, and invisibly saved face for them.

Seeing this, Duchess Weiguo also smiled and talked to those people.

Now the two most prominent ladies of the courtiers and ladies were obviously amiable to those nouveau riche ladies, and those ladies who were originally mocking and laughing at others suddenly looked ugly.

And the princesses of the clan and the princesses of the county, who had been sitting on the side silently, saw the situation clearly, and they all laughed and became familiar with the nouveau riche daughters.

When Bai Chenghuan and Xiao Shaotang arrived at the Lumen Hall where the banquet was held, the atmosphere in the hall was already extremely harmonious.

Xiao Shaotang was dressed in a black and gold imperial costume, tall and majestic, and Bai Chenghuan was also wearing a golden embroidered phoenix queen dress, with a dignified demeanor, and the tassel of the nine phoenix beads on her hair bun added a bit of dazzling brilliance that was very different from that when she was a girl, and she was bright and compelling for a while.

When the two walked in from the main entrance of the main hall hand in hand, the people in the main hall looked at the emperor and queen who was as young and beautiful as the people in the painting, and almost all of them were stunned for a moment before they got up and knelt on the ground to salute.

"Zhongqing is flat. ”

Xiao Shaotang was very easy-going and smiling, but none of the ministers dared to be contemptuous, and they all stood up and returned to their respective positions after saluting.

From beginning to end, except for King Qin who didn't stand up, only the deposed emperor Xihaihou, who was sitting next to King Qin, didn't move.

The ministers all glanced over in unison, and then lowered their heads a little lower.

Xihaihou is also too disrespectful...... But at this time, it seems that it is not appropriate for him to make a big salute to the new emperor.

And Xiao Shaoyun's soul has already drifted to his previous life.

The person who held Cheng Huan's hand and appeared in this hall as the emperor and queen should have been him.

But in this life, everything is ruined after all.

When Wei Wan stood up after saluting, what she saw was Xiao Shaoyun's eyes staring straight at Bai Chenghuan, with a complicated look in his eyes.

An indescribable jealousy welled up in her heart, and she reached out without hesitation and pulled Xiao Shaoyun's sleeve.

Xiao Shaoyun suddenly came back to his senses at this time, and lowered his head before Bai Chenghuan looked at him.

He really shouldn't have come, but he was also afraid that when he left the capital, she wouldn't come to see her off, and he wouldn't see her for the last time.

He always had to come and see her, otherwise, what kind of regret would it be?

And Xiao Shaotang, under the attention of all the courtiers, first took Bai Chenghuan forward and saluted King Qin, and then bowed to Xiao Shaoyun:

"Thank you brother for the virtue of Zen, and may my brother have a happy night. ”

As soon as these words came out, the invisible embarrassment between the two suddenly dissipated.

Xiao Shaoyun snorted coldly and did not answer, but the minister's heart had already made up his mind.

The abolished emperor does not salute the new emperor, it is rude, but the new emperor does not care about the abolished emperor, it is magnanimous and gives the abolished emperor a trace of decency.

When Xiao Shaotang turned around and walked to the emperor's throne, Xiao Shaoyun already knew that he had another charge of arrogance and rudeness in the hearts of those ministers.

But if he wants to bow down to a man who has taken everything from him, he can't do it after all.

After Xiao Shaotang sat down, he said some words to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new according to royal customs, and the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet officially began.

First the empress raised a toast, the monarch and the courtiers drank together, and then the courtiers toasted the emperor one after another, and the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet gradually became lively.

Xiao Shaotang looked at the minister's side, and Bai Chenghuan was laughing with the women.

Most of the noble daughters Bai Chenghuan knew each other in their previous lives

, they all know everything, just a few words, it makes people feel like a spring breeze.

When the palace maids served the dishes, the ladies felt that the queen was really a caring person, and even took their preferences to heart.

On the other hand, on the side of the nouveau riche daughters, because Zheng Yingniang and Wang Huiniang had happened in the military camp outside the city before, now they can't help but feel a little timid in their hearts towards Bai Chenghuan, who has become the queen.

But since Bai Chenghuan has become the queen, he will naturally not be stupid enough to do biased things that take care of one or the other.

She first called Li Chang'e, the young lady of the Li family she had seen, to come forward and say a few words, and then laughed with Wang Dashun's wife.

Seeing that the queen seemed to have no concerns about the past, the upstart ladies slowly relaxed and began to laugh freely.

It's just that in view of the profound lesson of the nouveau riche ladies before, no one dares to come forward to toast the queen mother.

Only the noble daughters of the capital did not know that Bai Chenghuan was pregnant, but someone stepped forward to persuade him to drink.

The last time Mrs. Zhang tried Bai Chenghuan, she couldn't, but instead had a big quarrel with Duchess Weiguo and completely turned her face.

At this time, if he wanted to ease the relationship with Bai Chenghuan, under the burning eyes of the Duchess of Weiguo, he felt a little embarrassed.

After thinking about it secretly, she went to find the wife of Fang Handong, the prime minister and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and wanted her to come out and toast Bai Chenghuan.

If Bai Chenghuan drank wine, then she must not be pregnant, but if she didn't drink, then seven or eight points were pregnant.

Mrs. Fang didn't think much about it, and happened to think that after the new emperor ascended the throne, she didn't move her husband's position as prime minister, but it was difficult to say after the year.

It is always necessary to make a good impression on the queen at this time.

So he didn't think about it, and after being flattered and instigated by Zhang's family, he got up and raised his glass to toast Bai Chenghuan:

"The courtiers used to have no eyes, and they neglected the queen's mother, and they are really ashamed, and today they borrow this cup of wine to make amends to the queen's mother, and ask the queen to forgive the queen's past sins!"

As soon as Mrs. Fang said this, the female dependent's side suddenly fell silent.

Many noble ladies who attended the Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day banquets in this hall last year couldn't help but think of the situation when Mrs. Fang was embarrassed by Bai Chenghuan last year.

At that time, she pointed out that the queen mother who was still the princess of King Qin was jealous, but she didn't know if the queen would forgive her?

Everyone was pondering in their hearts, and they heard Bai Chenghuan say:

"Mrs. Fang was too worried. As for this wine...... It is not advisable to drink alcohol today. ”

only said that she was too worried, but she didn't say that she didn't take it to heart, and she refused to accept her toast-

Mrs. Fang's heart was cold, so she knelt on the ground and said in a wailing voice:

"Is the queen unwilling to forgive her courtiers?"