Dong Gong Mei

Chapter 437 Where is the Crown Prince?
"The Queen Mother arrives—"

"Your Majesty is here—"

The surroundings fell silent for an instant.

Accompanied by these two chants, drum music rose slowly.

"Boom," "Om—"

The ceremonial and music officer rang the big bronze bell. With the deep and deep sound, accompanied by the majestic drumbeat, like a flying dragon with two wings, it crossed the majestic palace, passed through the vast night, and finally fell outside the palace wall.

In Chang'an City, the lanterns are like daytime, and the fire trees and silver flowers are never dark.

Tonight, the ruler of this imperial city will bid farewell to the old year together with thousands of households and greet the coming New Year together.

The palace music is solemn, making wishes for the subjects with the respect of the emperor.

May the country be peaceful and the people safe, and may the mountains and rivers be safe.

The sound of the bell spread to the streets and alleys, and people pushed the doors out one after another, knelt on the ground, faced the imperial city in the north, and bowed devoutly.

But at this time, the atmosphere in the imperial city was exceptionally cold.

Inside the gilded copper furnace, green smoke as thin as a gossamer flows straight out, making the frozen air a little fragrant and warm.

Amidst the jingling of the ring pendants, everyone bowed down and worshiped.

"The courtier's daughter and courtier's wife kowtow to His Majesty and Queen Mother."

With their palms on the ground and their foreheads on the back of their hands, everyone kept this posture, kneeling there respectfully.

"rise--"

After holding his breath and waiting for a long time, the servant finally called out.

Everyone made up their minds, and they were about to get up when they heard a lazy voice from above: "What happened just now?"

"Report to the Empress Dowager—"

Concubine Ming and Concubine Xian seemed to be looking forward to a life-saving straw, and hurriedly opened their mouths.

But he didn't finish his sentence smoothly.

"I sounded like I was talking about appearance, virtue, and the fact that all the sisters are so rare to gather together. Maybe they are reflecting on themselves, and they must serve His Majesty diligently and responsibly."

Concubine Shu's eyebrows were gentle, and she cast a slight glance at Zhao Xi below.

When Second Concubine Xianming spoke suddenly, she had already guessed what happened.

In any case, Zhao Xiwei is the crown princess, bound together with herself in this harem.

To her, being a concubine is a mission, a responsibility, and a profession.

She wants to do her best in this role, so that the family, brother, and mother can all share in this glory.

So in this case, of course she chose to help Zhao Xiwei.

"Sisters are so considerate of His Majesty, I really feel ashamed of my younger sister." Concubine Shu looked at Concubine Xian and Concubine Ming next to her, "The two elder sisters are really role models for concubines in the harem, and my younger sister is ashamed of herself."

Concubine Xian and Concubine Ming opened their mouths, but before they could open their mouths, Concubine Shu smiled and took the emperor's hand, and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, you are so sensible, why don't you reward me with something?"

"It should be rewarded." The emperor smiled gently, and patted the back of Concubine Shu's hand, "Go back to the storeroom and pick out two fun things, and reward them both for fun!"

As soon as the word "fun" came out, everyone sitting upright at the banquet bit the corners of their lips to hold back their laughter.

Concubine Shu also covered her face and smiled: "The concubine will thank Your Majesty on behalf of my sisters." Then she looked at Concubine Xian and Concubine Ming: "Sisters are really lucky, you must know that Your Majesty does not give rewards lightly, like my sister Such an unfavorable person, but I can't even think about it!"

The emperor glanced at the concubines with strange eyes, then at the crown princess sitting below, and suddenly asked the servant who was waiting on the side: "Cao De, am I such a stingy person?"

Cao De is also discerning, so he said with a smile: "Your Majesty is not stingy to others. I don't know, but he is very generous to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. The last time I rewarded the Crown Princess, it was just a brocade from Shu. I just packed a box in a big box, and the servants are worried that if you continue to be generous like this, you will have to empty the entire warehouse."

The emperor was so amused that he laughed loudly: "What are a few bolts of cloth! If the princess likes it, I will reward you with a few more high-quality corals in another day!"

As soon as the empress dowager came out, Zhao Xiwei sat on the table with tea in his hands, as dignified as he could be, as quiet as he wanted, just to minimize his sense of existence.

Now that the emperor had called the roll, he got up and walked to the table, and bowed respectfully: "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness."

"There's no need to be too polite!" The emperor nodded in relief, and raised his hand in vain, "Get up."

Zhao Xiwei got up as he said, then retreated to his seat, and sat down quietly.

The emperor held Concubine Shu's hand and said with a smile: "This child is well-behaved and sensible, but she is a little timid. You should take her with you in the future."

Concubine Shu was startled, does this mean that she is going to take the Crown Princess to take care of the harem?

She quickly came to her senses and said with a smile: "The concubine is natural, but the harem affairs are complicated, I'm afraid she won't be able to learn it for a while." Then she glanced at the two concubines next to her, "I don't know what the two sisters think?"

Concubine Xian and Concubine Ming were so hateful that they almost broke their back molars.

If I had known earlier, I should have supported the imperial concubine!

Now that the noble concubine is fighting, she can only be stepped on by the two women of the Zhao family...

But no matter how angry they were, they would not be stupid enough to bring up what happened just now, so they could only swallow their teeth, smirked twice and said against their will: "Princess Princess is cute and sensible, she will be able to do it soon." Learn."

"With the support of my sister, it depends on her good luck." Concubine Shu personally brought tea to the emperor, watched him take a couple of sips, then took it and put it on the table, and then took the handkerchief again, He gently wiped the corner of the emperor's mouth.

This series of movements is thoughtful and supple everywhere, and rare that there is no flattery at all. It is really well-crafted, and every inch and inch is ironed into my heart.

Concubine Xian and Concubine Ming stood aside with their hands down, they didn't even have a chance to help each other, they could only watch Concubine Shu serve the emperor until a smile appeared on their faces.

After many years in the deep palace, Concubine Shu has changed from a standard lady who only loves needlework women to a virtuous and gracious concubine.

After serving the emperor, she took the tray from the hand of the court lady, half-kneeled in front of the queen mother with a smile, took the jade cup and offered sweet wine, and said softly: "This is the best wine made from sweet-scented osmanthus nectar, please." The queen mother moisturizes her throat."

"You're smart, you don't forget to show yourself to me even after offering the emperor's attention." The queen mother boasted flatly.

Concubine Shu smiled slightly and handled it with ease: "The queen mother's words are really unfair to my concubine. I am a stupid person. How can I be smart? The queen mother is your majesty's mother. It's no big deal for my concubine to behave in front of you occasionally. I just think that His Majesty is busy with state affairs and cannot accompany the Empress Dowager every day, and this concubine is doing a little bit of filial piety for His Majesty."

With these words, all the possible difficulties of the Queen Mother were gently pushed back. The key is that listening to it makes people feel comfortable all over, even taking a step back is no big deal.

The Empress Dowager took a sip of wine, narrowed her long and narrow phoenix eyes comfortably, glanced around, and suddenly said, "Why didn't the prince come?"

(End of this chapter)