Gyeongbokgun.

When the Queen Mother took Shu E's hand and walked into the door of Jingfu Palace, Gonggong Chen's voice of "The Queen Mother has arrived" slowly exhaled from the dantian breath echoed in the hall powerfully.

As soon as the Queen Mother walked in the door, the Queen Mother and all the concubines present had already left the table one after another, and bowed in the direction of the door. The mouth recited "Queen Mother Wanfu" together.

The emperor hurriedly took a few steps forward and saluted the queen mother.

Mama Zhu Yan followed the Queen Mother to return the salute, but Shu E had no way to return the salute because the Queen Mother was holding her hand. I just felt that everyone seemed to be looking at me, and I was a little overwhelmed for a while, and lowered my head slightly. I didn't dare to look at the concubines, let alone the emperor.

The emperor stepped forward to support the queen mother's left arm, Shu E was inconvenient to walk with the emperor, and felt that she should retreat, but the queen mother's hand supported her steadily, so she had to move forward together.

Zhu Yan followed behind the three of them, looking at the back of the Queen Mother, only feeling puzzled, but he was not moved.

Yes, she had seen such a scene before. It's just that the person who is holding the right hand of the Queen Mother has changed from a handsome young man to a handsome and upright young man with a noble bearing. Today is his twenty-first birthday, and it is also the twenty-first year that her king Zhuyan has served the Queen Mother. And the person who is holding the Queen Mother's left hand has changed from a girl with innate pride and dignity to another gentle, quiet and innocent girl.

The proud and noble girl, the girl who was made queen at the age of thirteen, now led a group of concubines, silently waiting by the side of the road he walked, praying for him and praying for him.

That gentle girl is the Queen Mother's favorite person now, Cao Shu'e.

What exactly is this for? Queen Mother, why do you like Shu'e so much?

Zhu Yan sighed secretly in his heart, forget it, anyway, no one can guess the queen mother's thoughts. Even if they are the closest Zhu Yan and Liuquan, they only know a little bit more than others......

After the queen mother sat down, the emperor and queen sat down, and all the concubines also sat down. Suddenly there was music in the corner of the main hall, joyful but not noisy. It turned out to be a musician of the Great Music Department, playing music for the emperor's birthday banquet. Although the melody is gorgeous and exquisite, it is far less aura than Lanchuan's music.

The music is magnificent and atmospheric, and it is the imperial music "Xi'an" used by the founding emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu, during the Jianlong period and the Qiande period.

Qianjian is the king, and Kun Rou is the minister. But his courtiers are the king's relatives.

Eternal Emperor Ji, to Sui Zhaomin. It is said that the longevity is offered, and the mountains are rugged.

Shun's "Shao" is played, and Yao's wine is floating. The emperor's affection is full of fear, and the flood is boundless.

Keelung Jiajun, Demao Taotang. The mountains are majestic, and the earth is long.

Shu E stood behind the Queen Mother, raised her eyes slightly, and saw that it was really full of flowers and fragrances.

All kinds of different clothes only dazzled Shu'e, although the materials are exquisite and luxurious, but the matching of dresses is even more thoughtful. The bracelet on the wrist, the beads on the neck, and the hairpin on the sideburns reflect the nine-candle candlestick with purple tung hollow octagonal heart on the temple, which is more shining with gold and silver, and the jewelry is bright. The octagonal of this candlestick symbolizes the eight directions of heaven and earth, and the one in the center, which is a metaphor for the emperor, together is a total of nine, which means the ninety-five supreme.

The Queen Mother smiled and said to the emperor and queen: "Although your little lady is not here, the vegetarian banquet must still be prepared and sent to Baoci Palace as in previous years." ”

The emperor and queen got up together and agreed, and the queen said: "Erchen has already instructed the imperial kitchen to go to Zhanxi." ”

The Queen Mother nodded and smiled: "Very good, you have always done things properly." ”

When the concubines saw the emperor and queen standing up, they had already left the table one after another and bowed down to stand. The Queen Mother pressed her hands weakly, motioned for everyone to sit down, and said with a smile: "Today is Zhen'er's birthday, you don't have to be too formal." After speaking, he asked the emperor: "How about passing the dishes to the banquet?" ”

The emperor agreed, nodded slightly, and the father-in-law Quan Fu behind him made a gesture to the door of the palace, and the eunuch at the door was busy going out to order. But at tea time, the dishes were put on the table.

First of all, a plate of fruits, the eunuch sang the name of the dish, called "Embroidered Gao Bao Eight Fruit Base", which eight fruits? Lingnan bergamot, frankincense mandarin, Huaiyuan white flower jade seed of an pomegranate, Qianyang rock sugar orange, Heshuo goose pear, declared milk pear, Ningbo hawthorn, Yunxian white flower papaya.

Red, orange, yellow, white and green, eight kinds of fruits are presented to each table with a longevity and boundless foundation oil paint plate. There are several fruits that Shu'e has never seen, and she doesn't know where Lu Dao is produced, but she also knows that the fruits in front of Lu Dao are all out of season. I only felt a burst of fragrance coming faintly.

After a while, the emperor sighed slightly and said to the queen mother and queen: "I say every year that these fruits are not as good as the beetle." It is not only inappropriate, but also inappropriate, and wastes financial and material resources. It is not advisable to get it with great effort and not eat it. ”

The queen leaned over and said "yes", her face was calm, and the emperor observed her words and looks, and knew that this banquet was not the queen's handiwork, and she frowned slightly, and stopped talking. The Queen Mother only smiled slightly.

Then there was a platter made of ten kinds of flowers, and the eunuch also reported a name, called "wisps of gold incense medicine". Before the dish is served, smell its fragrance first. Lilac licorice flowers, snow-white Sichuan wood fragrant flowers, purple lilac flowers, Yang Fei red gentleman flowers, turmeric shrunken sand flowers, snow petal golden stamen, osmanthus flowers, purple atractylodes flowers, green ginseng flowers, golden olive flowers, surrounded by a small dipterocarp in the middle, crystal clear, especially better than ice and snow.

After serving these two dishes, the eunuch bowed down and replied: "'Seeing the fruit' is over." After saying that, he bowed and retreated.

Only then did Shu E realize that these two dishes, one was pleasing to the eye and the other was pleasantly aromat, but it turned out that they were just "watching the fruit", and they were just for watching, but in fact, they couldn't be eaten.

The music is solemn, and the tune of "Xi'an" is played repeatedly.

The emperor raised his glass, except for the Queen Mother, everyone stood up with their hands toasted. The emperor first invited the Queen Mother to drink, and the Queen Mother raised her glass to drink. When the emperor drank it, everyone did it together.

Then there is a platter of twelve kinds of fruits, all kinds of candied fruits, all engraved with various patterns. There are the story of the peach conference, Magu's birthday, and the four seasons of flowers, rare and exotic beasts. Shu E loves sweets, and has eaten a lot of candied fruits in Yong'an Hall, when you look carefully, the red flowers, carved bamboo shoots, carved ginger, carved oranges, carved kumquats, carved plum balls, carved red flowers, honey bamboo shoots, honey melon fish, green plum lotus leaves, papaya large sections, papaya square flowers, have all seen, this dish, is "carved honey fried".

It's just that the tender bamboo shoots, fresh ginger, kumquats, green plums, fir seeds, winter melons, papayas, citrons and other fruits used in the candied fruits I eat on weekdays have never been carved so exquisitely.

Presumably, this "carved honey frying" is made by the "honey frying bureau" under the imperial kitchen of the palace.

The emperor said "please", and the queen mother moved the chopsticks to clamp a piece of winter melon, nodded, and the emperor moved the chopsticks. Shu E saw that everyone was following the queen mother and the emperor, taking the chopsticks and stopping the chopsticks, although she respected the elders and was familiar to her, but she still felt a little shocked to see so many people eating in such a restrained manner.

Next is the 12 "Brick Fragrant and Salty Sour", which has a suitable salty and sour taste, crisp and delicious, and is considered an appetizer. These twelve dishes are pepper plum, ginger plum, plum meat cake, miscellaneous plum cake, fragrant papaya, fragrant vine flower, fragrant cherry, fragrant grape, fragrant Xuanhua whisk, perilla persir, licorice flower, and water red ginger.

After the two pickled fruits were served, the emperor raised his glass again, and everyone drank another glass.

After that, it's time for the main dish. The main dishes are served in a bowl, each of which is a two-course dish.

Two eunuchs hold a dish while the other puts it on the table. An old eunuch was singing the name of the dish on the side, looking at his complexion, he thought it was from the imperial kitchen. Flower Cooking Duck, Lychee White Kidney, Milk Room Stick, Three Crispy Soup, Sheep Tongue Stick, Sprout Belly Stick, Stewed Palm Stick, Quail Soup, Belly Chest, Mandarin Duck Fried Belly, Eel Fried Horseshoe Crab, Goose Gizzard Palm Soup, Crab Stuffed Orange, Milk Room Jade Soup......

Shu E only saw that the tableware was delicate and elegant, and the dishes were all unique in shape, pleasant in color, and peculiar in fragrance, but she didn't know what was in a plate.

After finishing the main dishes for a while, I saw that the queen mother and the emperor's table were full, and I don't know how many dishes there were. The concubines also had dishes on their tables. The emperor raised his glass again and drank together.

At this time, the wine had been toured three times, and all the concubines were holding their breath, watching the queen mother's actions. The Queen Mother moved her chopsticks slightly, smiled slightly, then lifted the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, and said to the emperor and everyone with a smile: "On the emperor's birthday, the mourning family should have sat for a while." It's just that I'm old and unwell, so I have to go back to the palace first. As he spoke, he stood up. Shu E and Zhu Yan hurriedly stepped forward to help, and the emperor also hurriedly left his seat and supported the Queen Mother.

All the concubines in the palace stood up, and the emperor said, "I will send my mother back to the palace." ”

The Queen Mother walked slowly and said with a smile: "Today is your birthday, you are here, and you must not ruin everyone's interest." It's better for me to go out and scatter. He patted the emperor's hand and motioned him to stop. The emperor bowed and saluted, and the queen and all the concubines also bowed.

The emperor looked at the queen mother, and shallow lines appeared on his forehead, which had always been extremely smooth, but when he looked at himself, he had a tired and satisfied smile in his eyes, and he was both attached and grateful in his heart, and shouted in a low voice: "The queen mother ......"

The queen mother looked at the emperor, and it seemed that he was still a newborn baby, growing up little by little, babbling, toddler, reading and writing, knowing books and reasoning, and then ascended the throne and executed political affairs.

"My child, now, is so old...... Is he also handsome and upright like the emperor? The Queen Mother looked at the emperor and sighed secretly......