Empress Jinghua: The eunuch is nine thousand years old

Chapter 46
New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve palace banquet.

Emperor Ming Sheng had many princesses and princes, plus he was old, his sons got married and had grandchildren, and there were not a few people in the royal family of the Dalai Dynasty.Counting the collateral princes and nobles, this New Year's Eve banquet at the end of the year can be described as unprecedentedly grand in a year.

On the Yangcheng main hall, two sides are full of seats, Ming Shengdi is sitting on the golden dragon chair at the highest point, his face is full of red light, his wrinkled lips are raised, looking at the younger generation of the royal family lined up below, he is in a good mood Laugh loudly.

"Today is New Year's Eve. I hold the annual palace banquet in this Yangcheng Great Hall. I am very relieved that you have not complained when you come here on the snow!"

It's just a year-end snow, no matter how heavy it is, no one will not attend the New Year's Eve banquet because of the weather.It is one thing whether Ming Shengdi blames it or not, but it is another thing to stand out at the banquet. Who would let such a once-a-year opportunity not seize it.

"Father loves the younger generation and cares for his sons and ministers. On behalf of all the brothers and sisters, the sons are here to thank the father, wish the father the spirit of the keel, and wish the world peace and prosperity!" The prince was the first to speak. He was dressed in red The long robes of the palace uniform, embroidered with four claws on the robe, symbolize the status second only to the emperor.

"My son also congratulates the father, the emperor's sun is shining like a brilliance, and his youth will last forever!" The eldest son of the emperor followed closely behind, not to be outdone, he had a friendly face, and his broad face was grinning, not looking at his spirit. In his calculating heart, he really has such a simple and sincere appearance.

After the two most important sons and princes finished their congratulatory speeches, the princes and grandchildren in the bottom row dared to continue to congratulate Ming Shengdi.The elders and the younger are arranged in an orderly manner, arranged according to age and status, and when the princes and grandchildren line up one by one to finish their congratulatory speeches to Ming Shengdi, it will take a long time for a stick of incense.

"You are all descendants of me. Today is a day of joy for the whole family. It is a day of rejoicing to gather together to celebrate the festive season. You and I are only talking about relatives, regardless of monarchs and ministers!"

Ming Shengdi stroked his gray beard, and the smile on his face never stopped. Only in such a scene where thousands of families gathered together to have fun, did he take off the coat of an iron-blooded king and play the role of a father and a father. The role of grandfathers and elders.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone's voices of thanks came one after another, and the hall was full of excitement.

Both Xia Shengqing and Xiao Xiazi stood behind Ming Shengdi. He was also dressed in new clothes. The dark ochre-colored round-neck gown covered to the toes, the pure black hair crown and high hat stood up, and the braided rope was tied into a slipknot at the chin. .

"Your Majesty, the time has come." Xia Shengqing reminded in a low voice behind Ming Shengdi.

Every year, the palace banquets are held at Xu time, implying that the grain will be prosperous and everything will go smoothly in the coming year.

Ming Shengdi stroked his beard and nodded, "Then let's start the banquet."

"Xu time has come, let's start!"

Following Xiao Xiazi's announcement of the time, the sound of bells and drums rang seven times, and the door of the Yangcheng Palace opened wide to both sides. The maids came from outside the palace with plates and plates of five-flavored delicacies. Enter, fish and dragons generally disperse to both sides, adding food for everyone.

At the palace banquet, men and women sit in separate seats.The princes, grandsons and collateral princes are on the left, and the princesses, concubines and concubines are on the right.

The ladies of the court ran through the banquet, bringing trays of exquisitely arranged meals to the nobles. The main dishes include bird's nest chicken soup, sea cucumber stew, fresh razor shredded radish soup, etc. The second hot dish is not Abalone stewed with pearls, shark fin and crab soup are fragrant and delicious, served with dried fruits of Sixi and sweet preserves of Sixi, it is full in front of everyone.

"Everyone, drink this cup together!" Ming Shengdi held up the white jade climbing dragon embossed Diao'er cup, and waved his arms to greet everyone.

All the people raised their glasses together, drank the fine wine in the glasses, and kept laughing and cheering.

Ming Shengdi put down his wine glass, clapped his palms together three times, and palm dancing ladies in pink dresses flashed into the two sides of the hall in response.They made flowers with their hands, jumped in three steps, turned around in five steps, and walked slowly all the way to the center of the hall, dancing to the sound of bells, drums and zithers.

There are dancers in the eyes, silk and bamboo in the ears, and delicacies in the taste.

Everyone was laughing and laughing at the palace banquet, tasting wine and dancing with the people around them, and they were all happy.After a few rounds of cloth dishes, everyone was [-]% full.

Xia Zijin is sitting in the third row on the right. Today she is wearing the smoky blue palace dress prepared for her by Xia Shengqing, with a matching flower tint on her forehead, and her face is carefully painted with decent makeup. She is grand and noble Rui is very.

She sipped the imperial wine in the glass, the tip of her tongue was slightly spicy, and the bamboo leaf green was used to make the imperial wine every year in the New Year's Eve palace banquet.Compared to Zhuyeqing, she prefers a slightly sweeter wine like Lihua Niang.

Xu Shi complied with Li'er, who was not friends and didn't get together, so Xia Ziqi's seat was next to Xia Zijin's. Although the two were separated by a distance of ten feet, their eyes inevitably met.

Xia Zijin was very generous. She had just dealt with Bai Pingting not long ago, and she thought it would be Bai Pingting's accomplice next. Seeing Xia Ziqi's resentful eyes sweeping over intentionally or unintentionally, she was not annoyed. , but slowly raised his glass to Xia Ziqi, and drank it down.

Xia Ziqi was naturally tickled by Xia Zijin's relaxed appearance.Today she is wearing a bud green palace skirt, her black hair is pulled into a double bun, and the tourmaline hairpin hangs down, she is very pretty and tender.

"Fourth sister, the tourmaline hairpin on your head is really beautiful. It is of high quality. What's rare is that the whole body is clear without any impurities. It complements the fourth sister's lotus noodles. Lan'er looked at the four Sister, you are much prettier than that Xia Zijin, look at her frivolous spirit, she is also worthy of inviting a cup with fourth sister!" The sixth princess Xia Zilan was sitting beside Xia Ziqi, seeing that her face was still pale, she quickly filled Xia Ziqi's mouth. The last cup of royal wine spoke flattering words.

Xia Ziqi snorted softly, obviously enjoying the flattery, she reached out to help the tourmaline hairpin on her bun, half to show off and half arrogantly said: "That's natural, this hairpin is my princess's hairpin." The mother and concubine personally selected it for this princess, and it was a tribute to the neighboring country bestowed by the father and emperor."

She glanced at Xia Zijin arrogantly to the right and said, "Some people were born halfway, and they are out of place in the palace. Naturally, they cannot be compared."

Xia Zijin sipped the wine and listened to Xia Ziqi's sarcasm, but there was no slight fluctuation. She shook the wine in the jade cup with a smile, and looked back at Xia Ziqi half playfully, without saying a word, the two just looked at each other like that Looking at it, Xia Zijin was leisurely and composed, as if trying to annoy her, she bent her eyes with a smile.

"What are you doing looking at this princess like this? Since you know that you are no match for this princess, you should restrain yourself!" Xia Ziqi felt a little uncomfortable when she saw her, and then said disdainfully.

"Zijin naturally looked at the fourth sister because she looked good, didn't she? Just forgive Zijin, since the fourth sister's complexion is slightly yellow, she should wear it in a different color. Otherwise, she is beautiful, but she looks like this Grab the green leaves from the emeralds." After Xia Zijin finished speaking, she pointed to the dish in front of her, which was called fishing emeralds.

Xia Ziqi gritted her teeth angrily, she was born to be wrong with Xia Zijin, this cheap girl dared to compare her to a vegetable leaf!
"You..." Xia Ziqi was about to explode, her voice was slightly raised, but there was an extra hand on her arm, only to see Xia Zilan holding her arm and shaking her head gently, only then did she realize what she was about to explode just now The surrounding concubines and princesses looked sideways as if attracted by the movement at this end.

During the banquet, even Xia Ziqi didn't dare to make a fuss. If something happened to upset Emperor Ming, I'm afraid there would be no good fruit for the next year.

After weighing again and again, Xia Ziqi shook his palace sleeves sheepishly, snorted coldly and drank the imperial wine by himself.

Xia Zijin shrugged her shoulders, because she always liked to see Xia Ziqi's angry appearance.The reason why Xia Ziqi was so arrogant in the palace was nothing more than because she had a favored concubine Yue Guifei, so she dared to join Bai Pingting to trip her up.

She was rubbing the jade cup with her fingertips, her thoughts had already started to turn, Bai Pingting didn't have to worry about that end, the yellow dust would already be suppressing it.This Xia Ziqi is indeed going to start to take care of it. She hasn't settled with Xia Ziqi about Mr. Qi's matter!
It's just that the noble concubine Yue is in full swing now, I'm afraid that no matter how mischievous Xia Ziqi can be, the noble concubine Yue will still protect her. If she wants to touch Xia Ziqi, she still has to pull the noble concubine Yue down first.

The wine in the cup was choking and spicy, and after she drank a few cups, her body became very warm.Xia Zijin rested her chin on her hand and looked carefully among the concubines. If she wanted to dismount the concubine Yue, she had to find someone who could compete with the concubine Yue and take the position of the concubine Yue. The palace has been around for a long time and has a deep foundation, so it is not easy to move.

Faces flashed in front of her, Concubine An, Concubine Hui, Concubine Shu, all of them were mild-tempered and no big deal.Nobility Qi, concubines Wei, and Zhou Zhaoyi may have some tricks, but after all, their beauty is only above average. After all these years in the palace, they can only be mixed up with the nine concubines, not the fourth concubine, and they are not worthy of support.

As for those young concubines who have just entered the palace, it goes without saying that some of them are a little younger than her. not coming.

Based on the memory of the previous life and the observation of the present life, Xia Zijin screened the concubines layer by layer, but found nothing, and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.If there is no concubine partner who can compete with Concubine Yue, she is a junior princess, no matter how long her arms are, she will not be able to reach into Ming Shengdi's harem.

Just as Xia Zijin was considering whether to make a plan, he was attracted by a face sitting in the last row.

The woman is about forty years old, but there are very few fine lines on her face, and she looks only 31 if she takes care of herself properly.She was born very well, even though she is a bit older, she can still see how beautiful she was when she was in her prime.

(End of this chapter)