A pair of bronze cranes on the pier of the main hall of Cining Palace were polished, and the palace maid had a big red velvet flower on her head, and her face was beaming.

After Fu Tingyun and Mrs. Wu entered the palace, they stood in their respective positions according to the guidance of the ceremonial staff. Like the civil and military officials, according to the rank of their respective husbands, the honors and nobles first and then the powerful ministers, the civil officials and then the military generals, or individually or in phases and batches to pay birthday greetings to the empress dowager.

When it was Fu Tingyun's turn, she saw Mrs. Yu.

She stood in the fifth position of the first row of the side hall on the east side, with a solemn expression, and when she heard the ceremonial official report "Fu Shi, the wife of Zhao Huchen, the chief soldier of Guizhou", the corners of her eyes and eyebrows did not move slightly, as if she did not know.

Fu Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief.

With the relationship between the two of them, it is already redundant to say anything or do anything, why don't you be clean and neat, and it is more comfortable to see each other as strangers.

She respectfully saluted the Empress Dowager and stood aside.

I felt a lot of eyes fall on me.

She didn't think much of it - she was a new face this year, and everyone was curious, and it was human nature.

After about an hour, the birthday worship link finally ended, and everyone gathered around the empress dowager to go to the second hall behind under the guidance of the ceremonial official.

It was the queen who supported the empress dowager, but it was two gray-haired old women who were talking to the empress dowager.

Fu Tingyun couldn't help but look at it twice.

Someone next to him whispered: "That's Mrs. Longping Marquis and Duchess Fuguo." ”

Fu Tingyun turned around and saw a beautiful woman about thirty years old.

She couldn't help but whisper, "When did you arrive?" ”

That beautiful woman is Qin Feiyu's wife.

Qin Feiyu has some kinship with the Hou family of Longping, and whatever activities are in the palace, Mrs. Qin will go in and out with the female dependents of the Hou family of Longping, and since the Marquis of Yingchuan went to Liaodong, the female dependents of the Fuguo Mansion like to pull Mrs. Mo for everything, Fu Tingyun neither wants to get too close to the Hou family of Longping, nor does he want to get too close to the Fuguo Hou's family. I had to go it alone.

"A little earlier than you." Mrs. Qin smiled, "I saw Mrs. Wu leave Mrs. Ji and welcome you in...... I didn't expect you to have such a good relationship with Mrs. Wu? ”

Fu Tingyun smiled and said nothing.

On such an occasion, the bold and confident dared to whisper a few times, but even so, they did not dare to whisper all the time.

Madam Qin winked at her, didn't say anything more, and followed everyone into the second hall side by side.

At the signal of the celebrant to sit down. The palace maid served the refreshments, and the birthday feast officially began.

The sound of fine music sounded in the second hall, and when the cold dishes were served and the hot dishes were served, the Fu Duchy and the Marquis of Longping stepped forward one after the other to toast the Empress Dowager. I wish the Queen Mother the 70th birthday.

When the ladies of the noble families saw it, they were not to be outdone, saying auspicious words and toasting.

The wives of some of the bigwigs in the DPRK also began to raise their glasses to the Empress Dowager.

The Queen Mother drank with a smile at first, and then she was a little reluctant, and when the Queen Mother saw it, she substituted the wine on the side.

Everyone praised the queen for her filial piety and thoughtfulness, which is worthy of being a model for the country.

The second hall was lively.

Fu Tingyun thought that he had the lowest qualifications, and when he saw Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Mo, he didn't move. She's not prepared to make that either. In addition, she went out when she was in the middle of the day, and although she brought a few pastries with her, she never had a chance to take them out to eat. It was noon, and she was already hungry, so she sat there honestly and ate with her head down, ready to eat first. It's just that the weather in late February is still a little cold, and the cold dishes are fine. When those hot dishes were served, they were all cold, and oily dishes such as stewed elbows and braised pork had a thick layer of oil floating on the top, and she was afraid that she would be uncomfortable eating, so she only dared to pick some vegetarian dishes to eat.

Suddenly, someone came over and asked, "You are the wife of Lord Zhao Ling and Zhao Huchen, right?" ”

Those who can walk around during the banquet can only be palace maids or female officials.

Fu Tingyun's heart suddenly sudden, although he was a little panicked in his heart, but his face was not dewy, and he let go of the chopsticks with a smile. He sat up straight with a gentle smile and answered "yes".

The questioner was a palace maid about eighteen or nineteen years old.

She smiled at Fu Tingyun and said, "The Empress Dowager asks you to come over and speak." ”

Fu Tingyun was taken aback, hurriedly stood up, and quickly glanced at the throne set up in the second hall from the corner of his eye.

Those who toasted sat down, and the Empress Dowager was pulling Mrs. Longping Hou to say something. The Queen leaned in with a smile and listened, not seeing any sign that she had ever been noticed.

Fu Tingyun muttered in his heart, but he didn't dare to follow the palace maid towards the throne at all.

The people in the second hall gradually noticed something unusual, and their eyes fell on Fu Tingyun's body silently.

Fu Tingyun stopped four or five steps away from the throne, and the palace maid said crisply, "Mrs. Zhao is here", and the empress dowager turned her head.

She hurriedly bent her knees and saluted, saying "I wish the Empress Dowager an auspicious birthday, every year has today, every year has today", such a mediocre but never wrong congratulatory message, and then saluted the queen mother.

I heard the Empress Dowager laugh twice charitentially, and then said to the Marquis of Longping: "This is the wife of Zhao Huchen, the general soldier of Guizhou, who has won the blue bird!" ”

Fu Tingyun bent his knees again to salute Mrs. Marquis Longping.

Mrs. Marquis Longping stepped forward very modestly and quickly took Fu Tingyun with her: "Mrs. Zhao doesn't need to be polite. Speaking of which, our two families still have some origins - when my fool went to Guizhou to quell the turmoil, Lord Zhao was his camp officer. ”

"Mrs. Tai has a good memory." Fu Tingyun said with a smile, "Later, the adults of our family came back and said to the concubine that during the trip to Guizhou, he followed the Marquis of Longping and General Mo to quell the chaos and learned a lot of things. ”

The Empress Dowager laughed when she heard this, and smiled at the Marquis of Longping: "Look at this child, he can really speak." ”

The queen smiled silently.

Mrs. Longping Hou couldn't stop nodding her head, and smiled kindly: "It's much stronger than ours." "That tone is very familiar with the Queen Mother.

"The concubine is stupid," Fu Tingyun said humbly, "I don't dare to be so praised by the empress dowager." ”

The Empress Dowager's mood seemed to be very good, she waved her hand, looking disapproving, looking a little less serious than usual, a little more casual, and said with a smile: "I heard that you already have a woman and two men?" Is the daughter the eldest or the son the older? How old are they? ”

Fu Tingyun answered them one by one.

The Empress Dowager listened with a little emotion, and said: "You and Mrs. Wuding Marquis are both married by me, and she is now empty under her knees." But you have both children and daughters. Speaking of this, she asked the female officer beside her: "What about Mrs. Wudinghou?" ...... was still here."

The female official hurriedly pointed to a table of feasts not far away, and said with a smile: "Mrs. Wuding Marquis has just sat down. He added, "I'll go and ask Mrs. Wuding Hou to come over and talk." ”

The Empress Dowager nodded almost invisibly.

The lady walked briskly but quickly to the table and invited a solemn-looking young woman to come over.

Fu Tingyun was shocked.

But I haven't seen her for a few years, and the little girl who was as bright as spring has become a calm and dignified lady.

She smiled and saluted the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager pointed to Fu Tingyun: "This is the wife of Lord Zhao, the chief soldier of Guizhou." Back then, I gave you both a marriage, do you remember? I can celebrate my 70th birthday, and you can meet at my birthday banquet. It's also fate, and it should be more close! ”

Fu Tingyun and Wudinghou's wife Meng Shi listened, and hurriedly bent their knees to salute, respectfully responding "yes".

The Empress Dowager smiled and said to Mrs. Marquis Longping: "I looked at the Fu family at the beginning. More than calm, not enough lively; Jin'er is more lively than calm. But if you look at it again, after only six or seven years of work, Fu's life is getting more and more vivid, but Jin'er is becoming more and more dignified, which shows that there is no fixed number of things in this world. You and I can live to this day, and we should be content! The tone suddenly became a little embarrassed.

When the queen mother heard this, she hurriedly said: "The imperial grandmother has a long life, and we as juniors have received a lot of blessings. The emperor also said. In a few years, when you celebrate your 90th birthday and 100th birthday, he will also learn from the old vegetable and entertain his relatives with colorful clothes! As he spoke, he covered his sleeves and smiled, "We're all waiting for that day!" ”

"yes, yes!" Mrs. Longping said with a smile. "I'm going to talk to you about the past again like today!"

Fu Tingyun also said with Mrs. Wuding Hou, "The Empress Dowager is long, Fushou Kangning", and the other said, "Everyone is looking forward to your longevity, and we can enter the palace again to be lively."

The Empress Dowager smiled when she heard this, stopped talking about this topic, and said, "You all came to the palace to participate in the birthday feast, and I won't talk to you anymore." lest you eat badly. Let's go down! ”

Several people responded respectfully, and returned to their seats and sat down under the gaze of the women outside the hall.

Until the end of the birthday feast, the Empress Dowager did not invite other foreign women.

Needless to say, Mrs. Marquis of Longping is the niece and daughter-in-law of the Empress Dowager, and only Fu Tingyun has a marriage first. Later, there was a recruitment, and it inevitably became the focus of everyone's attention.

Coming out of Cining Palace, there were many foreign wives and Fu Tingyun smiling and nodding to say hello, and Mrs. Wu rushed over directly and grabbed Fu Tingyun's arm: "Let's go back together?" Anyway, I live next door and have a companion on the road. ”

Fu Tingyun smiled and responded.

Mrs. Ji came over to greet Fu Tingyun.

The two exchanged a few words, and the three of them went towards the east gate together.

Mrs. Wu asked Fu Tingyun: "What did the Empress Dowager tell you?" ”

At that time, there was a fine music in the second hall, and there was a dan qi next to the throne, and if you don't get close, you can't hear what they are saying at all.

"Didn't say anything." Fu Tingyun said with a smile, "I was married by the Empress Dowager and her old man, and her old man probably remembered it, so she called me over and asked a few words." ”

"Then why did you call Mrs. Wuding Hou over again?" Mrs. Wu didn't believe it, and said suspiciously.

"We were married together!"

They talked all the way out of the east gate.

Someone behind him lowered his voice and shouted "Mrs. Yu".

Fu Tingyun couldn't help but look back.

He saw that Mrs. Yu was behind him, only seven or eight steps away from him.

She frowned slightly.

I heard the lady who called Mrs. Yu laugh and said, "Why are you walking so fast?" In the blink of an eye, it's gone......"

Fu Tingyun turned around and walked quickly out of the east gate.