After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1088 Small Banquet
The flower-viewing banquet was held in the front hall of Shoukang Palace. The spacious corridor in front of the palace was filled with potted exotic flowers and plants, and outside the corridor were red plum blossoms in full bloom. The corridor was filled with a fragrant aroma that made people feel relaxed and happy.

The banquet was held in the hall connected to the long corridor. The door of the hall was wide open, and everyone sitting in the hall could turn around and see the flowers and plants outside the hall. This flower-viewing banquet was indeed in line with its name.

When Haitang arrived at the palace, there were already three or four ladies at the banquet, but most of them had not yet arrived. Empress Dowager Xu was nowhere to be seen, and there were only a few palace maids standing by.

Haitang turned around and looked at Zhang Yingfeng, and then they all stepped forward to greet the ladies who had already taken their seats. Zhang Yingfeng seemed to be acquainted with these ladies, and they chatted better. After Haitang exchanged polite greetings with them, she was led by the palace servants to her seat, and she did not show any unhappy expression because everyone ignored her during the chat.

She sat quietly at the table, looking slowly at the furnishings in the hall, then turned to admire the flowers outside the hall, feeling contented.

Several ladies were talking quietly, and it was unknown whether they were talking about her. Zhang Yingfeng probably thought of the fact that they had entered the palace together, so she specially gave her a hint and invited her to join the group chat. Haitang was not at all strange, and naturally integrated into their topic. As they chatted, they also felt that Haitang, a strange girl, had a good personality and got along well with them.

Soon, the other invited ladies also arrived one after another. Most of these ladies grew up in the capital, and their backgrounds were similar. They often met each other. Regardless of their relationship, they were basically acquaintances. Among them, only Zhou Xuejun, Wu Qiong and Haitang were completely new faces. However, the former two were royal relatives and came from noble families, and the latter was about to become the nephew-in-law of the empress dowager. They were both ladies who had received marriages from the previous emperor, and they would definitely come and go with everyone in the future. Therefore, no one would jump out at this time and do something snobbish and provocative, which would make people dislike them.

That would be stupid.

After all the ladies took their seats, Empress Dowager Xu also appeared surrounded by palace maids.

Haitang took the opportunity of paying homage to the empress dowager to secretly glance at her and found that Empress Dowager Xu was just as Nanny Ma had said, not a beauty as stunning as a fairy, but just pretty and gentle, and looked very gentle and kind.

Although Empress Dowager Xu was the Empress Dowager, her gestures did not reveal the majesty of an Empress Dowager. Instead, she was amiable and looked like a loving elder, which made people relax in front of her unconsciously. The ladies who were well-educated could still maintain proper etiquette; but the lively girls who were used to being spoiled at home could not help but show some of their true nature, and even dared to act like a spoiled child in front of the Empress Dowager.

Queen Mother Xu did not take it seriously, always smiling and tolerant of everyone. She seemed to know every lady very well, knowing their family background, parents, relatives, talents and hobbies... She praised everyone and always hit the mark, making people happy. They felt that they were different from others and were especially valued by the Queen Mother.

For example, when Empress Dowager Xu praised Haitang, she praised her grandfather for being stationed at the border for many years and making great contributions to the Northwest Frontier Army. She also praised her father as a hero of the country and a hero on the battlefield. She also praised her brother for having the style of her father, being a leader among the military scholars, and making great contributions as soon as he entered the officialdom. He will surely be a pillar of the country in the future. Empress Dowager Xu also praised Haitang for studying with the third place scholar since she was a child, being good at both civil and military affairs, being good at needlework, having an upright character, and being kind and generous... In short, every word of Empress Dowager Xu's praise was spoken after she had a clear understanding of her life experience. It was definitely not a general cliché, which made people happy to hear it, knowing that the Empress Dowager "understood" them.

Haitang bowed respectfully to thank the Queen Mother for her compliments, and secretly sighed in her heart that a woman who could become the final winner under the late emperor, who was so eccentric, and especially a woman who climbed from a married wet nurse of a fallen prince to the position of the current Queen Mother, was indeed not an ordinary person. Even though Queen Mother Xu was now high up and the second most noble woman in the country, she did not have the slightest intention of neglecting the young girls who were about to become her younger daughters-in-law, and she would do her "homework" very carefully in advance. Such a hard-working person should succeed no matter what he does.

After the Queen Mother had praised everyone and let everyone know about the other invited ladies, the flower-viewing banquet finally got down to business. The flowers were fragrant and beautiful, and the dishes were delicious. Every topic raised by the Queen Mother could arouse heated discussions among everyone. During the banquet, someone suggested writing poems on the theme of flowers. No one objected. Everyone showed off their talents and competed with the ladies of the same age to win the first prize.

However, even if everyone wanted to compete in poetry and talent, the Queen Mother would be the judge. The Queen Mother hoped that everyone could be harmonious, and finally the three people were ranked first. The others were not bad either, so naturally no one would be dissatisfied.

Since the poems could not be compared, someone suggested playing the zither and flute to compare talents, just to liven up the banquet. This time, no one objected, and several talented ladies immediately stepped forward. The Queen Mother also watched with a smile, and ordered the palace servants to fetch the famous zithers and flutes in the palace collection. After all, famous instruments need to be used by truly talented women to be worthy of them.

Several ladies whose families and future husbands' families were quite prominent, and who always liked to compete for the top spot in the boudoir, once again began to compete. They were so dazzling that others retreated three feet away and could only open their eyes wide and look up at them with amazement.

The Empress Dowager, who was sitting at the upper seat, was watching with a smile on her face the whole time, as if she was in a good mood.

No one knew that she was very impatient about this. She just wondered how the late emperor had chosen people. Why did he choose such restless wives for the princes of the various palaces? If these ladies had not yet found a husband, it would be fine if they showed off their talents and looks in front of the nobles in the palace in order to find a good marriage. But they all had husbands, and the marriage fate was still given by the late emperor and could not be changed. So what was there to show off? Even if they won the first place, what would it mean? This kind of character that loves to be the first really makes people wonder what to say.

Empress Dowager Xu couldn't help but think of the story of Concubine Sun when she was young, which the Grand Empress Dowager had told the late emperor. The latter was a woman who had always been talented and beautiful since she was young, and she refused to admit defeat and loved to compete for the first place in everything. The late emperor was once fascinated by such a woman and cherished her, but it was hard for other women in the harem. Empress Dowager Xu also knew that if the late emperor had not almost no children and had no suitable heir to the throne, and the Sun family's behavior was getting more and more excessive, which had affected the emperor's authority, and she gave birth to a healthy heir, the late emperor might not have neglected Concubine Sun and favored her instead.

She was able to gain a firm foothold in the palace thanks to her sons. Both the Seventh Prince left by the late Queen Wu and her own Eighth Prince were her greatest helpers. But the one whom the late emperor truly loved was always Concubine Sun. If Sun had not committed suicide and the Sixth Prince had died young, she would have absolutely no hope of ascending to the throne.

Queen Mother Xu thought about her past. She had hoped to live a peaceful and stable life. She had never thought about competing for the emperor's favor or the throne. It was Concubine Sun and the Sun family who were so aggressive that they wanted to force her to death. She had to compete for her own protection and for her son. But she hated those women who loved to compete for the first place. She felt that such women were the source of trouble. No matter who they were, if they married them, they would never have a peaceful life!

Empress Dowager Xu looked at the ladies who were competing openly and secretly in front of her, and then looked at Zhou Xuejun, Wu Qiong and Haitang who had been sitting upright, and she felt fortunate and satisfied.

Forget it, it’s not her own child that the troublemakers are marrying, so why should she meddle in other people’s business?

The second day of the second month is the day when the dragon raises its head! This article is coming to an end.