The rebirth of a concubine: Gong Du will become the Queen Mother

Before catching up on her sleep, Jiang Shiying remembered to give her instructions: "We in Jingyang Palace will each receive three months' monthly payment, so that everyone can have a good year."

The palace people were naturally very grateful.

Over there, Lu Zhaolin still had to keep busy.

At noon, he will hold a big banquet in Hanyuan Hall to entertain all officials of third rank and above, as well as envoys from foreign vassals.

After the banquet, they had to go with the queen and the concubines to the Shoukang Palace to say goodbye.

Jiang Shiying was silently grateful in her heart. Her mother, the Empress Dowager, was no longer in the palace this year, so they had one less place to go.

After the New Year's Farewell Ceremony, there was a big banquet held in the Linde Hall in the evening.

This time, the banquet included the entire harem, as well as the fourth-rank and above imperial officials from the previous dynasty and their families.

Although Linde Hall is large, it cannot seat so many people.

Fortunately, Jiang Shiying, the concubines, and the royal family members could all sit in the palace.

But for courtiers and married women, only those with a third rank or higher can have the honor to sit in the palace. Those from the third rank and below were all arranged outside the hall.

As soon as Jiang Shiying arrived, she attracted the attention of many people.

Not to mention that she was wearing the auspicious uniform made by the Nine Concubines, but just looking at her face, it was not difficult to guess that she must be Chun Zhaoyi, the doting queen in the harem.

Not far away, Mrs. Shangshu Ling glanced at her and whispered: "No wonder she can confuse His Majesty."

Her eldest daughter-in-law didn't hear clearly, so she came over and asked, "What did mother just say?"

Shangshu Ling's wife said: "It's nothing."

Jiang Shiying noticed that many eyes were falling on her, and one of them was particularly unkind, coming from the foreigner's wife. When she turned around to look over, she disappeared again.

Many of the women who came to the palace for banquets were the natal families of the concubines in the harem. It's absolutely normal for her to be displeased with this beloved concubine.

Her eyes wandered to the area where the married woman was outside, and she saw in the middle and back position, there was another person wearing the auspicious uniform of the wife of the prince of the Hou family, sitting there with a big belly.

Sitting on the left hand side of Jiang Shiying was Concubine Fang. She noticed her gaze and whispered in her ear: "That is the wife of the Crown Prince of Yunyang Marquis Mansion."

Jiang Shi knew clearly that the surname of Yunyang Marquis was Yuan, the same Yuan who belonged to Shuncai.

The current Marquis of the Yunyang Marquis Mansion is Shuncai Ren's uncle.

Jiang Shiying said: "Look at her belly, it seems to be about the same size as Zhen Meiren? She is still pregnant, why does she have to go to the palace for the banquet?"

Although it is an honor to go to the palace for a banquet, this trip is really torturous. If you are pregnant or sick, even if you report it, it is not necessary to come.

Concubine Fang had given birth. After sizing up the Crown Prince's wife for a moment, she said, "I'm afraid she's six or seven months old."

On Jiang Shiying's right is Qin Xiurong, who loves to join in the fun and talk when he's not being sarcastic.

Hearing their conversation, Qin Xiurong came over and said, "I heard that Mrs. Hou in their house is ill in bed. Among the other female relatives in the house, only the Crown Prince's wife is qualified to enter the palace. This is to see if there is any chance of being harmonious at the banquet. Only one can speak."

In the harem, only the lord of the first palace can see his family members every month. Naturally, Shuncai people do not have this qualification.

Qin Xiurong continued: "In the past, if people from Shuncai wanted to meet their families, they would just rely on that person. But now that something happened to that person, they can only look for opportunities like the palace banquet."

The one she was talking about was the empress dowager.

Concubine Fang asked, "Why don't you see Shuncai's mother or sister-in-law?"

Qin Xiurong said: "Shuncai Ren's father was fucked to death by His Majesty not long ago."

In this case, neither her mother nor her sister-in-law can go to the palace to attend the banquet in Shuncai's family. No wonder she can only rely on her uncle's family.

Jiang Shiying also knew about this early on. Concubine Fang's mother-in-law is not in the capital, so it's no wonder that she doesn't know much about the news outside.

Concubine Fang said "Oh", and Jiang Shiying also pretended to be enlightened.

Qin Xiurong looked at the expressions of the two of them and felt quite proud.

So what if one is sitting on the concubine's throne and the other is favored in the harem? Doesn't she have to tell them these little things?

When she was about to say anything more, she heard a eunuch singing loudly: "Your Majesty is here, the Holy Mother and Queen Mother are here, and the Queen Mother is here."

The three people who were chatting just now quickly stood up and saluted with the others.

They saw Lu Zhaolin and the Queen, one on the left and the other on the right, helping their mother, the Queen Mother, into the palace.

After the three distinguished people were seated, the banquet began.

First, the Nuo dance begins to offer sacrifices to ghosts and gods for peace.

Then there are Baixi, music, dance, acrobatics and so on.

In this kind of situation, no one would think about attracting the emperor's attention or performing tricks to make them famous. If someone really does this, they will only be criticized for being disrespectful.

The concubines in the harem will not do anything or say anything mean. In front of the former court, they must all behave dignified, gentle and kind, and cannot let others see the jokes in the emperor's harem.

At the beginning of Xu Shi, the banquet was over.

Lu Zhaolin did not go to Fengyi Palace and went back to Ganquan Palace to sleep alone.

This time, the queen did not arrange for anyone to keep an eye on the movements of Jingyang Palace. She knew that there was a New Year's Eve ceremony tomorrow, and Lu Zhaolin couldn't care less about who he was congratulating.

She was very tired today and just wanted to go to bed early.

In Jingyang Palace, as soon as Jiang Shiying came back, he ordered someone to bring food.

The food at the banquet is different from the family banquet, both good-looking and not delicious. She took a few bites at first and never moved her chopsticks again. Now, I just feel hungry.

By the time she changed into homely clothes and came out, Yu Chengyi had already returned with food.

I saw him setting out the meal and saying, "I thought it was New Year's Eve, so I came back with dumplings and some side dishes."

Although there are only dumplings and side dishes, there is a full table. The dumplings alone come in five flavors.

"This is for mutton, this is for venison, this is for fish, this is for mushrooms, this is for cabbage."

Jiang Shiying nodded: "You are serious."

Just after eating, someone sent a message saying that Zhang Baolin wanted to see him.

Jiang Shiying had no intention of seeing her at first, but thinking about the New Year's Eve, he asked someone to bring her in.

Zhang Baolin was also dressed very festively, wearing a dark purple cloak. After unbuttoning the cloak, there was a rouge-colored narrow-sleeved jacket underneath.

As soon as he saw her, Zhang Baolin gave a big salute: "Concubine, I pay my respects to the empress Chun Zhaoyi, and I wish you happiness every new year."

Jiang Shiying ordered: "Hurry up and help Zhang Baolin up."

After Zhang Baolin stood up, without waiting for her to ask, he took the initiative and said, "I'm here to pay New Year's greetings to the empress."

Then, she took out a sachet from her sleeve and said: "This is the sachet made by my concubine. I want to give it to the empress as a New Year gift. It is not a precious thing, so please don't dislike it."

Qiu Yu looked at Jiang Shiying's face, took the sachet, and after careful inspection found nothing wrong with it, handed it to Jiang Shiying.

Jiang Shiying took the sachet in her hand and looked at it. It was a begonia-colored sachet embroidered with Ruyi patterns with gold thread. The embroidery was meticulous, showing that it was done with care.

She smiled and said, "Then I would like to thank you for your consideration."

Then, he told Qiu Yu: "Go and get the red coral-carved crabapple hairpin from my jewelry box."

Qiu Yu responded and retreated.

Zhang Baolin waved his hands hurriedly and said, "I'm here to pay New Year's greetings to the Queen. Why did I choose the good things from the Queen?"

Jiang Shiying said: "Why did you choose my good thing? It's my New Year's gift to you, just keep it."

While talking, Qiu Yu had already taken the coral flower hairpin, put it in a long and narrow rosewood box, and handed it to Zhang Baolin.

Zhang Baolin took the things, bowed again, and excused himself sensibly.

Jiang Shiying handed the sachet to Qiu Yu and said, "Keep it alone and separate it from other things."

She won't use things given by others.

Qiu Yu responded and asked: "Do you want to stay up late? Or will you just rest?"

Jiang Shiying yawned: "Have a rest, I'm very tired."

When Qiu Yu put down the tent, Jiang Shiying suddenly remembered that the person following Princess Yongning today seemed to be a strange palace maid.

I don’t know, what is happening to the jacaranda who asked her for help last time on the palace road?