New Year's Banquet.

In the matter of the New Year, whether ancient or modern, the theme is reunion and celebration, and there is not much difference. So on the day of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the entire palace was also lit up, and even the Inner Chamberlain Province hung a string of red lanterns, which was extremely inconsistent with its usual dark and solemn style, Yao Jin looked from a distance from the high platform of the Guanghua Hall, and almost thought that it was the palace of which concubine.

At this time, in the main hall of Guanghua Palace, a batch of golden monkey peach candlesticks newly made for the New Year banquet had just been placed. The candlestick is very exquisitely made, not only the expression of the golden monkey is lifelike, the candlestick seat on its head is even more ingenious, the outside is made of gradient glaze to make a peach-shaped wide-mouth lampshade, the inside is lit with candles, the firelight and the color of the glass cover echoes, it looks like a fairy peach from a distance, with the golden monkey at the lower end, which attracts the attention of the palace maids and eunuchs. The inverted woolen carpets that are also newly laid for the New Year's banquet, the heavy drapery with gorgeous colors and patterns, and all kinds of dishes that are auspicious but the same every year, are all dwarfed.

Today is the last day before the annual vacation, and there is nothing important in the court, and the emperor is one of the few times that he goes directly back to the harem. Yao Jin finally ended up happy and relaxed, and planned to lie in bed for a day to be lazy, but at noon she received a notice from Li Nan asking her to wait in Guanghua Hall after lunch, and she had to wait for His Majesty at the New Year's banquet in the evening. Therefore, the Yao female official who couldn't leave the Guanghua Hall for a whole afternoon and had nothing to do had to walk around the palace, but this is only a place that will be used for the big banquet in the palace. After all, it was too cold outside, Yao Jin was full of interest and went up to the high platform to take a look at the beautiful scenery of Miyagi, but she didn't look at it a few times and froze with a lot of snot and tears, in order to avoid catching a cold in the New Year, she hurriedly returned to the main hall honestly.

Guanghua Hall is specially used for large-scale banquets in the palace, and all have the role of entertaining foreign countries, so it is built very majestic and gorgeous, the main hall is even more spacious and magnificent, the palace speaks loudly, and there are four echoes. At this time, although the midwinter has almost passed, but the weather is still cold, the main hall is empty, the temperature is also as low as the outside, so the palace people have provided the stove early in the morning, and it is warm as spring at noon, and because the emperor does not like spices now, he used a lot of various colors of fresh fruit to decorate, the hall can smell a faint fruity fragrance everywhere, the palace people come and go to arrange the arrangement, although busy, thinking that tonight is the New Year, and there are rewards to take the annual leave, and they are all laughing and groaning. Yao Jin's identity is naturally high among the palace maids in Guanghua Hall at this moment, and the palace maids and eunuchs originally placed tea and snacks for her in the side hall, but she was willing to wander around in the main hall, touch this, and see which one, but gossip in her heart: how will those concubines and royal relatives sit down for a while, and what will they say when the emperor's year is given...... Time passed quickly, the sky outside gradually darkened, but the lights in the palace were lit up everywhere, and the lights in the Guanghua Hall were even more brilliant, reflecting the entrance of the palace as if it was day.

Because the clansmen in the capital came from outside the palace, they naturally came in at the first time, and then the concubines and princes of each palace. There are not many heirs of the emperor, there is no princess, there are only three princes, and they are all about to weaken the crown, and the children in the clan are also restrained, so although there are many people sitting in Wuyang, there is no excitement. Yao Jin silently matched these people with the names, backgrounds, and characteristics in her mind one by one, and then memorized them one by one, and then breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she didn't have to sit at night, and just as she was going to go to the side hall to rest for a while, the female official of the Guanghua Hall came over.

"Lady Yao, since the nobles have arrived, please ask Lady Yao to go to Your Majesty and the Queen Mother. ”

"Yes, Yao Jin knows. I went to tell my aunt about it. Yao Jin realized that she had been here all afternoon, just waiting to deliver a message to the emperor, and she couldn't help but feel helpless: just find a girl to pass on a message, just toss her, if it is in modern times, just make a phone call and it will be over......

Guanghua Hall is not far from the Queen's Yongyang Palace, but a stick of incense will arrive. Since she came out of the closed room, Yao Jin tried to avoid all possible opportunities to see the queen and the "eldest aunt" beside her, fortunately, the emperor probably knew her thoughts, except for a few words here, she had not entered the main hall of Yongyang Palace. This time, as usual, I explained the words to the female officer here at the door, and I was waiting for the female officer to go in and report that I could leave, but I didn't expect the female officer to go in not long ago, so she came out to call her, "Female Officer Yao, the queen asked you to go in." ”

Yao Jin "chuckled" in his heart, and his face couldn't help but be stunned. The female official of Yongyang Hall is also very smart, and naturally knows that Yao Jinsuri is not enthusiastic about Yongyang Palace, so she immediately smiled and said, "Girl, don't worry, Niangniang is saying that you are young, the palace affairs are good, and the Zichen Palace is also refreshing and regular, I want to reward you!"

I haven't been blessed to digest the suicide note and poison I rewarded last time, so wouldn't I want to reward some white silk and crane top red this time? Yao Jin muttered in his heart, he didn't dare to slack off on his face and feet, and quickly lowered his head with a humble smile to follow, and looked left and right along the way, only to feel that the queen's palace was colder than other places, and there was a very faint lemon smell, cold and sour, and he felt that his scalp was cold.

"Slave maid Zichen Hall Yao Jin, knock to see Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty! Knock to see the queen's mother, Niangniang is a thousand years old!"

"Hmm. The Emperor replied as usual. If this was in Zichen Palace, Yao Jin would dare to get up when he got this response, but now the queen did not make a sound, she had to continue to kneel, her forehead on the ground, and she did not move at all.

But after a while, there was another sound of footsteps, as if something was placed in front of her, Yao Jin felt strange in her heart but couldn't look up, and after a while, when she was wondering, she finally heard a somewhat critical voice.

"Your Majesty, the concubine looks at this child well, like a calm heart, and he is not impatient at a young age. ”

"It's rare for a queen to boast. ”

This is the emperor talking about her? Yao Jin wanted to talk about your sister, let your aunt and grandmother get up first! At this time, another voice of vicissitudes of life sounded: "Please, the girl can get up." ”

The voice was a little hoarse, Yao Jinzheng wondered how it was familiar, but the moment he saw the owner of the voice after getting up, his heart twisted fiercely. The man was fifty miles away, his expression was indifferent, and his dress level was similar to that of Mama Rong, who was the aunt who was not the unsuccessful attempt to harm others!

The scene that happened in the closed room quickly flashed through Yao Jin's mind, she tried her best to control the muscles on her face, her eyes turned to the knees of the emperor and empress, and said as usual, "Your Majesty, the queen mother, the New Year's banquet has been prepared in the Guanghua Palace, and the palaces, mansions and nobles have arrived, if Your Majesty and the queen feel that the time is right, they can move." ”

"The hour is almost up, and when the prince comes, they can go together. "The queen's age is similar to that of the emperor, but the maintenance is very careful, it looks like thirty people, today's annual banquet is wearing a red phoenix robe, although the phoenix crown of the ceremony and sacrifice is not worn, but this whole set of pure gold as the base, inlaid with a peony headdress of extremely bright rubies, everywhere reveals the honor of the queen. At this time, she is the most happy moment in recent times, the emperor has not returned to the harem for a long time, she has been unhappy for many days, but two days ago, the prince returned from repairing Hongshan Zhi, and the government and the opposition were praised, and the emperor has been with her from the next dynasty to the present, so naturally any dissatisfaction can be skipped. The queen saw that although Yao Jin below had a beautiful appearance, she was obviously still a little girl who was not fully stated, and felt that there was nothing to worry about, so she smiled and said, "Before, they said that the first-class female official of Zichen Hall was a little girl who was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the palace was still a little muttering, these days, you have done a good job, and Your Majesty is also at ease with you." As the head of the harem, this palace naturally has to reward you, so as to live up to the people who work hard in this harem. ”

"The slave and maid thank the queen for her grace, and the mother is a thousand years old. Yao Jin appropriately showed a little surprise, a little steady, and knelt down and kowtowed according to the number of etiquette, only to see that in front of him was a Nan wooden tray, on which there was an open brocade box, inside a pair of jade bracelets, the color is spicy green, round and full, and it is worth a lot at a glance.

The eldest aunt stood beside the queen, changing the stove for her, and said with a smile, "Girl, don't underestimate this bracelet, the Jiaoqian county lord of the Xishan Mansion was also very happy when she saw it, and asked for it several times, but the mother was not willing to give it." ”

The emperor raised his eyes to look at the bracelet at this moment, and said: "The king of Xishan loves jadeite, and Jiaoqian's child must also have a good eye, she likes it like this, which shows that the queen gives a generous gift." ”

Yao Jin naturally understood the meaning of her old leader's words, and immediately knelt down again and said sincerely that she would be grateful to Dade if she was flattered. This is the time when the master and servant are in harmony, and the female official who brought Yao Jin in just now came to pass the word again, she seemed to be in a hurry, and her breathing was not stable before she hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Niangniang, the prince has arrived and is waiting outside the palace." ”