Harem: Biography of Concubine Qin

Chapter 72
The palace is busily preparing for the Spring Festival, cleaning everywhere, making lanterns, hoarding fruits and snacks, and preparing lucky money and tributes.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a lot of clothing materials according to the order, and the emperor rewarded a lot of them. Bai Xue and Bai Fei were too busy making clothes for Chen Wenxin.

Chen Wenxin took some clothing materials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, selected those suitable for the Zheng family, sent some to the Chen family, and gave some to Bai Lu and the others.

The Chen family's reply said yes, and the annual gift bestowed by the emperor on princes and ministers, the Chen family can be regarded as the first class.He also told Chen Wenxin to make more clothes for himself, and not to just think about the family, as the family has long been easy.

Originally, the old furniture and furnishings were to be replaced during the Chinese New Year, but the Yikun Palace was newly renovated this year, and all the furnishings were brand new, and there was nothing to replace them.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also sent several large bags of gold and silver ladles, which are for the masters to reward people during the New Year.

"Grandpa Liu, did you give away too much gold and silver carpentry from Yikun Palace?" the little eunuch of the House of Internal Affairs asked Eunuch Liu, the head of the House of Internal Affairs.

There is only one concubine in Yikun Palace, the concubine Qin, how come the gift of gold and silver is more than that of the concubine?
"What do you know, this thing is used to reward people, are there so many rewards in other empress palaces?"

Concubine Qin is a big celebrity in front of the emperor, and this year, there are a lot of people who fawn on her, so naturally rewards are indispensable.

Eunuch Liu is in charge of the House of Internal Affairs, and he is the most clear about which empress is favored and which is not.

Some concubines receive what they are given according to their status, but some concubines can receive more than their own quota. Naturally, some concubines will be deducted.

Eunuch Liu has a good idea of ​​who is being deducted and who is being supplemented.

He knows it very well.

In Chengqian Palace, Ding often still lives in the northeast corner of the main hall.

Although the emperor has agreed to let her move to the Xipei Hall, Concubine Tong is not willing.Either she was busy with the New Year's affairs, so she was always tidying up the Xibei Hall when she had no free time.

In other words, it is not suitable to move in the cold and freezing winter, so let's wait until the spring of next year to clean up.

Ever since she was plotted by Zhang Changzai last time and prevented the emperor from having dinner with Concubine Tong.She was terrified of being punished by Concubine Tong for copying scriptures for ten days.

Knowing Concubine Tong's excuses were untenable, she dared not argue.

The emperor closed the door to her again, so she just waited, waiting for the family dinner on New Year's Day.

She can always see the emperor at the family banquet, and then she will mention it to the emperor again.What the emperor has promised will definitely not change his mind, and he firmly believes in this point.

"This group of bastards in the Ministry of Internal Affairs who watch people order dishes, I don't know who they withheld my share!"

The clothes, gold and silver zippers, and even charcoal fire food sent this year are much shorter.

She had no choice but to send a letter to her mother's house while scolding the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking them to send more money in for her to take care of.

Tong Guifei doesn't want to see her, everyone in the palace knows.

If she is not willing to spend money to manage palace servants now, this year will be very difficult.

Among other things, the shortage of charcoal fire alone is absolutely unbearable.

Clothes are indispensable, if she doesn't make more beautiful new clothes, how can she attract the emperor's attention?In addition to clothing materials, I have to ask my family to send a lot of fashionable jewelry from the south, and I have to overwhelm other concubines.

The officials of their family's imperial merchants are not big, so can't they compare with others in terms of money?

In the twelfth lunar month, the emperor revealed that he wanted to revive Concubine Tong, and greeted Chen Wenxin in advance.

The end of the year is approaching, and there are many affairs in the palace that need to be taken care of.

Concubine Tong Gui was left alone for half a year, and she knew that she had restrained herself. The power to manage the harem still had to be handed over to her.

The power of Tong Guowei in the former dynasty should not be underestimated by the emperor, and that person still occupies the title of the emperor's uncle, so the emperor cannot ignore it.

He didn't want Tong Jia's family to continue to grow, and he couldn't suppress it at will.That is also the mother clan of the emperor's biological mother, and it is the emperor's help.

Between pressure and support, the emperor needs to master a balance.

Otherwise, he would not have let Tong Jia's daughter sit on the imperial concubine position in the first place.

Chen Wenxin expressed his understanding, and took the initiative to return the Phoenix Seal to the emperor.The emperor's understanding of her was generally moved, but also somewhat unwilling.

Sometimes he would rather Chen Wenxin be jealous and fight for power and status.

She was always so silent and uncontested, which made him ashamed, but also incomprehensible annoyance.

I don't know if she really doesn't want anything, or if she wants but refuses to say it?

On the [-]st day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor issued a decree to restore Concubine Tong to her position in charge of the harem, and bestowed Feng Yin as a token.He also ordered Concubine Hui and Concubine Qin to assist the harem, and to take their gold seal as a letter.

In this way, as long as it is not a major event, it can also be implemented in the harem with the golden seal of Concubine Hui or Chen Wenxin.

In this way, Tong Guifei's management power was greatly weakened.

Concubine Tong Gui vaguely felt that the emperor's move was to contain her intentionally.At any rate, she was the person in charge, and she had the phoenix seal in her hand, which gave her a sense of security again.

The twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month is a small year, and Qin Tianjian chose this day as the auspicious day for sealing pens.From the emperor to the civil and military officials, they all sealed their pens and received their seals, and no longer deal with political affairs.

In Chen Wenxin's view, this is the meaning of starting the annual leave.

In the evening of this day, according to the ancestral system, the emperor will bring the empress to worship the gods at the Kunning Palace.

The emperor didn't mean to ask Concubine Tong to perform the duties of the queen, but invited the empress dowager to participate in the stove sacrifice ceremony.

The empress dowager understood the emperor's feelings for Tong Jia's family best. Speaking of which, half of Tong Jia's blood flowed through the emperor's body.

If Tong Jia's family hadn't been so stalking, she believed that with the emperor's temperament of repaying his kindness, he would have helped Concubine Tong right a long time ago.

Didn't the emperor marry Hesheli as the empress in order to repay the support of the assistant minister Sony?
Kunning Palace is the queen's bedroom, there is no empress in the palace, Kunning Palace has always been deserted and empty.

Because the ceremony of worshiping the Kitchen God is held in the main hall of Kunning Palace, there are confession cases, god cards, incense candles and offerings in the hall.That's why it didn't seem so deserted.

There are 33 kinds of offerings, and this number is considered auspicious by Manchurians.Among them, there is a gazelle and Kanto sugar that Shengjing paid tribute to.

When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, the emperor first went to the Kunning Palace to burn incense and salute in front of the Buddha statue, the shrine, and the Kitchen God.

After the emperor's ceremony, the empress dowager will perform the post of empress, and salute the gods and Buddhas in the same order as the emperor.

The killing of animals and cooking meat in the palace was carried out in the pots and stoves on the back eaves of the main hall.These sacrifices will be distributed to the palaces by the emperor after the sacrifices are completed.

Different from the usual items, this time the sacrifices were given to the imperial dining room and the small kitchens of each palace.Even the dining room, which was dedicated to cooking for the slaves, received a sacrifice.

After the sacrificial ceremony, the emperor went back to the palace to change his clothes, and then came to Yikun Palace in a palanquin.

Chen Wenxin is eating a partial eclipse, and the small kitchen in Yikun Palace is even better than the craftsmanship in Yonghe Palace.

She used to think that Eunuch Sun, who was in charge of the small kitchen in Yonghe Palace, was exquisite in craftsmanship, but only when she arrived at Yikun Palace did she realize that all the cooks who can serve in the palace have two brushes.

The steward of the small kitchen in Yikun Palace is called Wang Weiguo, and Chen Wenxin laughed when he heard this name.

Much like the naming style of the 80s and [-]s.

In the previous life, Chen Wenxin's parents all had such names.For example, patriotic, patriotic, and even directly called the motherland.

This Wang Weiguo is good, his name is so bold, why did he enter the palace and become a cook?
Sure enough, this Wang Weiguo was named after him from his hometown.His hometown experienced a smallpox epidemic, and the whole village was in ruins.

Wang Weiguo's mind was so fuzzy that he punished himself, and entered the palace with all his eggs in one basket.

Chen Wenxin also admired him very much, but he didn't know whether he was stupid or courageous.I don't know if I can enter the palace yet, so why did I punish myself?
Chen Wenxin saw that he was still smiling when he was in his 40s, and that he was able to work in the small kitchen in Yikun Palace, so he must be quite capable.

It's not that she feels good about herself, according to Xiao Zhuo, the palace servants who want to work in Yikun Palace are really overwhelmed.

There are also many people who come to curry favor with the little table, hoping that through him, they can enter Yikun Palace as an errand, even if they are only responsible for sweeping the courtyard, they would be happy.

Chen Wenxin also teased him, "Our table father-in-law is now a big celebrity in the palace."

The small table made her feel embarrassed, "That's the prestige of the master, and the slaves dare not pretend to be the prestige of the tiger."

It's not just a small table, Bai Lu and the others are also praised by others, even Fu Guier, who specializes in raising fat thieves, is the object of compliments.

Chen Wenxin asked Wang Weiguo to get a hot pot for mutton, and then prepared various fresh meat and vegetables, and had hot pot in the palace.

It is said that the hot pot was created by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty.

According to legend, one winter, the troops suddenly wanted to move out.And he was hungry, so he wanted to eat mutton.

In desperation, the clever chef cut the mutton into thin slices, put them in a pot of boiling water, and added seasonings, chopped green onions, etc. Kublai Khan was full of praise after eating.

Later, when he became an emperor, he still did not forget this dish, and named it Instant Lamb.

This dish was passed down from the Yuan Dynasty and was not widely welcomed, because scholars in the Ming Dynasty believed that this way of eating was vulgar and unrefined.

In the Qing Dynasty, this way of eating was not criticized, but it was not popularized either.When it comes to this pot, everyone still only thinks of hot-boiled mutton.

Chen Wenxin couldn't help sighing, how can such a delicious thing as hot pot be used to eat mutton?
The aroma of her food was overflowing, and the voice of the emperor came from outside the hall.

"What good food did you eat? It smells so good!"

(End of this chapter)