The Return of An Lingrong in Legend of Zhen Huan

Today is Laba Festival, and the New Year is almost coming. All the concubines in the harem must go to Shoukang Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager also told An Lingrong two days in advance that when the children woke up, they should be brought to Shoukang Palace for her to see.

Before leaving, An Lingrong checked the clothes and made sure that the children were safe and would not be cold before leaving.

After arriving at Shoukang Palace, all the concubines bowed and paid their respects to the empress dowager. Then Noble Lady Fucha, Noble Lady Xia, Noble Lady Borjigit, Noble Lady Wan and Noble Lady Cao paid their respects to the empress dowager separately.

"It's been a long time since I last saw Lady Wan. Look up so I can see you." Just like in her previous life, the Queen Mother called out Zhen Huan by name.

When Concubine Hua heard the Queen Mother mention Zhen Huan alone, her jealousy towards Zhen Huan increased. But the Queen just happened to mention it at this time: "Concubine Wan is very sensible and has a very gentle temperament."

When Zhen Huan heard this, she hurried up to greet him and bowed again. The Queen's words seemed to be praising Zhen Huan, but in fact they made Zhen Huan an enemy in the harem.

The Queen Mother said, "Very good, indeed very sensible." This time, Concubine Hua looked at Zhen Huan with even more hatred. After all, Concubine Hua had given the Queen Mother a big gift, so why should Zhen Huan, who had given nothing, be given such a gift?

Zhen Huan was very modest, and immediately attributed all the credit to the Queen Mother and her sisters. The Queen Mother nodded and said, "It's no wonder that the Emperor likes you. I like you too." After that, the Queen Mother also rewarded Zhen Huan with two pieces of brocade.

The Queen Mother also asked Zhen Huan if she could write. The Queen interrupted and said, "The noble Wan is very talented and also well versed in poetry and literature."

The Queen Mother glared at the Queen after hearing this, because the Queen's words were too purposeful, how could the Queen Mother not know the Queen's intentions. Moreover, the Queen Mother was asking about Concubine Wan, but the Queen did not wait for Zhen Huan to speak, and answered the Queen Mother's words first, which was obviously disrespectful to the Queen Mother.

Besides, the Queen's praise of Zhen Huan was not out of kindness, but was to sow discord between the Queen Mother and Zhen Huan. The Queen Mother did not like people who were proficient in poetry and literature, and An Lingrong and Shen Meizhuang won the Queen Mother's favor because they said they were not proficient in poetry and literature.

The queen almost told the queen mother that Wan Guiren was not only talented, but also very smart, and could threaten the entire harem and the previous dynasty. The queen mother must keep an eye on her. When the queen mother heard what the queen said, she knew that the queen had bad intentions, so she glared at the queen, meaning to shut up. She knew what to do.

Zhen Huan was very modest and said that she had some knowledge of poetry and literature, but her handwriting was poor and probably would not be pleasing to the Queen Mother. So the Queen Mother asked Zhen Huan to accompany her more often when she was free and to copy scriptures for her.

Zhen Huan certainly could not refuse the Queen Mother's request, so she naturally agreed.

After everyone left, An Lingrong went back to the Yanxi Palace in person and went to the Shoukang Palace with the children together with three nannies.

"Come, come, let me hug little Hongxu."

Compared to the emperor's preference for the sixth prince Hongyun who is most like him, the empress dowager prefers Hongxu who is a bit like her. Xiaoqi is also the cutest, combining the advantages of the emperor, An Lingrong and the empress dowager, and is small and chubby. The empress dowager simply loves him.

Although Wen Shu somewhat resembles the emperor and the empress dowager, but not as much as Hongxu. She looks mostly like An Lingrong.

However, An Lingrong did not particularly like that child and treated them all equally.

The clothes prepared for the children are made of the same material, the embroidery is the same, and even when feeding the children, if the Sixth Prince is fed first this time, then the princess will be fed first next time, and the Seventh Prince will be fed the next time.

However, the Queen Mother did not approve of An Lingrong feeding the baby herself.

After all, she had to feed the baby herself for half a year and could not sleep with the Queen Mother. An Lingrong gave birth to three children at once, and in the eyes of the Queen Mother, she was a daughter-in-law who was easy to raise. With such a high fertility rate, she naturally wanted to give birth to more children for the royal family.

So the Queen Mother found the right opportunity to persuade An Lingrong: "The child is hungry every hour now, which will not only affect your rest, but also may not provide enough milk. You should let the wet nurse feed him as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Queen Mother. The Emperor has also arranged a wet nurse for the children. Together with my milk, it is enough to feed these three children. And I only get up once at night to feed them except on weekdays. The rest of the time, the nanny will take care of them and let the wet nurse feed them. I am not tired."

What a joke, how could An Lingrong be tired with so many nannies taking care of her? An Lingrong felt that her neck hurt from feeding the baby for so long, so she arranged for experienced nannies to squeeze out her milk for her to feed (because in ancient times, wet nurses not only had to feed the baby but also had to give their milk to their masters, so it was impossible for them to drink all the milk).

Let's just say that with so many people taking care of her, An Lingrong used warm water to directly pour over her body to bathe during her confinement period, but she didn't suffer from any of the confinement diseases they talked about. So An Lingrong estimated that the confinement diseases were most likely caused by exhaustion.

The Queen Mother said a few more words, but seeing that An Lingrong insisted on feeding the baby herself, there was nothing she could do, so she continued to tease little Hongxu in her arms.

Since the Laba Festival every year was specially handled by the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they would cook Laba porridge in Wanfu Pavilion and other places in Yonghe Palace, and invite Lama monks to chant sutras. The porridge would then be distributed to the ministers of the royal palace, who would taste it and celebrate the festival.

There is a pot in the Lama Temple that is used to cook Laba porridge. Six pots of Laba porridge are cooked every year. The first pot is offered to the Buddha, the second pot is presented to the court, that is, the emperor, the empress and the palace people, the third pot is given to the princes, the common people and the great lamas, the fourth pot is given to the civil and military officials and the local officials of the provinces, and the fifth pot is given to the monks of the temple. The last pot of Laba porridge is what the people are waiting for. The people of Beijing come to drink the porridge with large and small porcelain bowls.

When the Laba porridge was served, An Lingrong was still in Shoukang Palace. She ate the porridge with the Queen Mother and then took the children back to Yanx Palace.