The queen has four sons and six daughters, and she can call the wind and rain

After the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, it was New Year's Eve. The palace was busy early in the morning, with lights and decorations everywhere, and it was very lively. The Queen led Xin'er to prepare for the evening dinner, and the palace maids of Fengyi Palace also distributed the annual allowances to the masters of each palace.

As the most glorious person this year, Yun Zhining's annual gifts cannot be said to be the largest, but they are definitely the most special. In addition to the gifts that everyone can get, there are also clothes, jewelry, fabrics, antiques, calligraphy and paintings awarded by the Emperor and Empress Dowager Xiaoyan, a large number of small gadgets awarded by Empress Dowager Xiaoci, and five completed storybooks.

However, Yun Fulan only had a palace dress for tonight's dinner and a hairpin, which made her look particularly shabby.

Comparing the two, Yun Fulan became more jealous of Yun Zhining. However, Yun Zhining didn't have time to pay attention to her. Instead, she was thinking about what clothes and jewelry to wear to the dinner party tonight.

After half a year of hard work, Yun Zhining has accumulated a lot of belongings. She took out all her things and filled up the table and bed.

However, Yun Zhining was still not satisfied.

"Forget it, put all these things away."

"So what are you wearing tonight for the New Year's Eve dinner?"

"Just wear the palace dress that the Queen sent today. As for jewelry, just wear a simple hairpin. Keep your hair simple so that you don't look funny. Put on light makeup. Anyway, be as low-key as possible."

"But this is your first time attending a New Year's Eve dinner. If you just go like this, others will look down on you."

"What do you know?"

Yun Zhining glared at Qingzhu and said speechlessly.

"On such a grand day, the Empress, Concubine Zhou, Concubine Qi and others will definitely dress up beautifully. No matter how gorgeous I am, I can't compare to them. On the contrary, I will become a target and will be harmed if I am not careful."

"The most important thing for me now is not to compete with others in terms of beauty, but to take good care of the pregnancy and give birth to the child safely, so the best thing for me to do is to dress simply and attend the dinner in a low-key manner."

"Anyway, with this child here, no one can surpass me. Maybe the Emperor and the two Empress Dowagers will see that I am so low-key just to protect the baby in my belly, and they may even praise me and look up to me. At that time, it will be a good thing for both me and the child."

After her analysis, Qingzhu understood.

"My young lady, what you said makes sense. You can take a rest first. I will put these things in order and then go find Luo Su to tell her your request."

"Okay, thank you for the hard work."

The sun was setting in the west, and the last ray of light disappeared in the sky. Night was falling, but the palace was decorated with lights and colors everywhere, as if it were daytime.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was held in Baoyue Tower, which was a bit far from Furong Pavilion, so Yun Zhining had to set off early.

"Sister Ming, wait for me!"

Just after leaving Furong Pavilion and before I could take a few steps, a voice came from behind me.

Yun Zhining turned around slowly and saw Yun Fulan and the palace maid Chunxiang jogging towards her.

The concubine's clothes were very ordinary, but she embroidered some small flowers and grass on them, which instantly brightened the picture and made the clothes look a little fresh. With the right makeup, she was also a gentle and thoughtful beauty.

Yun Zhining raised her lips and chuckled.

"Ms. Yun looks pretty good in her outfit today. The Emperor will definitely like it when he sees it."

"really?"

"Of course it's true."

Hearing this, Yun Zhining's smile widened a little more.

She was not lying. Today, Baoyue Tower must be magnificent and full of beautiful women. In this situation, the sudden appearance of a fragrant and elegant person would definitely attract the attention of the emperor and others. If the emperor was in a good mood and asked her to dance, she would perform exceptionally well and win applause from the whole room. Then she would definitely be promoted.

However, this person could be any low-ranking concubine in the harem, except Yun Fulan.

Because Yun Fulan had previously plotted to murder the Queen and caused serious physical damage to Concubine Qi, who would never be able to get pregnant in her lifetime. Although the Emperor knew that she was framed, he did not like her, and even less liked Earl Yuanchang, so he took this opportunity to banish her to the cold palace to avoid being an eyesore.

It was originally thought that she would die of old age in the cold palace, but who would have thought that she was so dishonest and tried all kinds of ways to get out. Although the emperor released her due to pressure from all sides, his impression of her had already reached an extremely low point. Unless something major happened, it would be impossible for him to favor her.

So she must keep a close eye on Yun Fulan. Maybe she can find something wrong with her and send her and the couple of Earl Yuanchang to meet the King of Hell in the underworld. Then, there will be no one to restrain her and no one can hurt her mother and brother.

No matter how hard they tried, they were still late. By the time they arrived, everyone except the three bigwigs in the harem had arrived.

Qi Guiji glanced at Yun Zhining, who was dressed simply, and a sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"People who know you are dressed like this, Ming Xiaoyi, will understand that you want to keep a low profile, but people who don't know will think you are attending a funeral. A dignified Xiaoyi, you are not even as decently dressed as the concubine behind you. If people outside the palace knew about this, they would think that the emperor is stingy and is reluctant to reward you with even a set of gorgeous clothes."

Yun Zhining didn't get angry but laughed instead.

"What Qi Guiji said is a bit too much. The Queen ordered the people in the Palace Department to make this dress for me according to my rank, and it was only delivered to me yesterday."

"Although the color of this dress is relatively light, it was personally ordered by the Queen. I am wearing it on such an auspicious day to show the Queen's kindness."

"But you just said, Concubine Qi, that my clothes are shabby, as if I was wearing them for a funeral. If this gets to the Queen's ears, I wonder what she will think of you, Concubine Qi?"

"You are indeed a person with a sharp tongue. No wonder even Concubine Zhou couldn't win over you. Even Madam Lin, who lives in seclusion and rarely interacts with outsiders, was deceived by your clever words and opened her heart to you."

"Why don't you teach everyone about this for the sake of our sisterhood? Everyone will be grateful to you then."

"No, this is innate to me. Others can't learn it."

Qi Guiji still didn't give up.

"If you don't want to teach us, just forget it. Why do you have to say it so harshly?"

"My words are harsh, but what you do is even more unpleasant!"

Yun Zhining's lips curved up, but her eyes were full of mockery.

"The reason why I said that you can't learn from Qi Guiji is because everything I did came from my heart. I respect the Queen from the bottom of my heart and I am very grateful to her. I also really treat Madam Lin as my own sister. The Queen and Madam Lin can naturally see my sincerity and will treat me sincerely."

"But Qi Guiji, you can't even tolerate a small concubine like Xiaoyi, so how can you be sincere to the Queen and Madam Lin? You are hypocritical to others, so how can you expect others to be sincere to you? Isn't this outrageous?"