Crossing should also be very low-key

As the prince's birthday approached day by day, the atmosphere in the palace became lively day by day.

Although they couldn't see in the north courtyard that the east and west courtyards were so busy preparing for the prince's multi-day birthday banquet, the north courtyard was no less busy. His jewelry, the son in the courtyard on the right shouted not to damage his gift.The North Courtyard, which was originally isolated from the outside world, also allowed businessmen to come to the mansion seven days before the prince's birthday because of this annual event, to bring congratulatory gifts to the prince and wives for the princes and wives.

And at this moment when people are busy up and down, there is a person who is extremely out of place and still lives leisurely.

"Young master, are you ready to send He Li to the prince?" Ah Shun couldn't help but feel worried when he saw that his son hadn't moved at all.

"Get ready, I'll do whatever you want!" Li Qingjiu, who was squatting on a chair in the room and writing the district sign of the City of Abundance, replied indifferently.

"My lord, are you so good? Can the piano, chess, poetry and painting be used as congratulatory gifts?" Ah Shun said in surprise.

"Just kidding, I don't even look at where I come from, my uncle."

Piano, chess, poetry and painting, the piano is to play, just find a clarinet to play the little bee.As for chess, it is even simpler, just draw a watermelon chess or something and teach the prince how to play, maybe I can play it once and sleep with him.A book is just writing, so it would be good to write a blessing like Donghai and Shoubi Nanshan. Although his handwriting is ugly, the heart is the most important thing, right?If you want to send a painting, then just draw a portrait of the prince!The level is about the same as that of Sister Pomegranate painted by Wu Zhuangyuan.

The gifts he prepared were all made by himself, and they couldn't be bought with money.Seeing that he is so caring, even if he is a bit unsatisfactory, I believe the prince will not blame him.

I heard that in the past few days before the prince's birthday banquet, because the prince has to deal with many guests' posts and congratulatory gifts, the chance of summoning pets at night will be greatly reduced.Li Qingjiu had passed three days safely, and he was optimistic by nature that he believed that he might be able to last until the birthday banquet was completely over this time.A more ideal situation is that the prince receives congratulatory gifts from other princes or wives, remembers their kindness, and comes to the journey of the night of remembrance.After the prince has slept with more than a dozen people, he should have almost completely forgotten the name Li Qingjiu.

Thinking about it this way, I feel that the prince's birthday banquet is really a meaningful event!

So he and everyone welcomed the arrival of the prince's birthday banquet in this joyous atmosphere.Although the reason for his joy is different from others.

Finally, the birthday banquet for the royal relatives and relatives on the first day has begun!The laughter from the main courtyard and the bright lights all night seemed to turn the whole town into a city that never sleeps. It is said that the congratulatory gifts could not even fit in the warehouse of the main courtyard.Even if they couldn't leave the north courtyard, the young master and the servants all sat in their own courtyard or other people's courtyards, watching the fireworks from the main courtyard.Although it is not as good as the National Day or New Year's Eve fireworks in that era, it is still enough to surprise Li Qingjiu that such a technology exists now.

In the early morning, the guests took a nap in the palace for a morning, and then left the palace at noon.The servants in the palace continued to prepare for the second night's birthday banquet from early in the morning.

The birthday banquet on the second night was for a wealthy businessman.Although their financial resources were not as good as those of the emperor's relatives, their numbers far outnumbered them, and the congratulatory gifts they brought were piled up against the wall near the north courtyard.In addition to physical gifts, some people also brought singing and dancing performances, singing and dancing one after another, with different styles.Even if they can't see the performance with their own eyes, they can easily imagine that the dancers' movements must be varied and unique, full of festive atmosphere.

There was no birthday banquet on the third night, but tens of thousands of eggs, meat, and rice were prepared, and hundreds of servants were responsible for distributing and monitoring them. The prince sat on a high platform a little away from the gate, receiving the respect and blessings of the people. .On that night, no matter men, women, old or young, locals or foreigners, as long as they shout birthday greetings to the prince in front of the gate of the palace, they can receive a birthday meal.Therefore, even if there are no fireworks or congratulatory gifts, congratulations can still be heard one after another.Li Qingjiu saw for the first time that just one person's birthday can make the scene so big.

The birthday banquet on the fourth night was even more special. The servants set up a feast of [-] tables on the avenue at the back door of the palace early in the morning, which was specially provided for the poor, beggars or homeless poor people to enjoy.Not only that, after the feast, each person will be given [-] big steamed buns, which makes many poor people travel thousands of miles to attend the prince's birthday banquet.In order to alleviate the troubles brought by the poor people on this day, the prince built a nearly two-kilometer road outside the back door of the palace, which was specially used for setting banquets and allowing the poor to come and go.

"The poor people are grateful for the kindness of the prince, so after eating the banquet and receiving the steamed buns, they all cried and knelt down to the palace and prayed for the prince before leaving! Think about it, the people on the whole road are kneeling for the prince. Pray, what a spectacular scene! It's a pity we can't see it."

After listening to Ah Shun's explanation, Li Qingjiu was speechless.

"Spend it like this...it should cost more than 1000 million, I mean, it will cost more than 100 taels of silver!" More than 100 taels!He only earns a few hundred copper coins every month by selling meat and laughing while lying down, not even one or two coins. 100 taels, he probably won't eat or drink for ten years!

"To the prince, that's nothing at all." Zhang Xiaoyue said casually after taking a sip of tea.

"Hmm..." Li Qingjiu lowered his head and thought seriously for a while. "I think, my lord, he should..."

"He's a nice guy, isn't he?" Ah Shun continued.Although he is usually a little afraid of the prince, but every time he comes to the prince's birthday banquet these days, he feels that the prince must be the reincarnation of a god and man to have such a compassionate heart.

"No, he should have done a lot of bad things." Li Qingjiu said seriously, causing the other three people to stare blankly.

"Stay a little longer, and I might not be able to see the birthday banquet tomorrow night. You hurry up and show me the gift, and then I have to go back to prepare." Zhang Xiaoyue propped her forehead unbearably.

The fourth night of the birthday banquet, the prince will not show up. He will rest in the main courtyard for one night, and the princes and wives of the north and south courtyards will take advantage of this time to let the servants waiting outside the courtyard deliver gifts to the prince in the main courtyard. .

"Hmm....After many considerations, I finally decided——Dangling!" Li Qingjiu showed a picture.

A big head portrait was drawn on the paper that had already been mounted, and on the left and right sides were written eight flamboyant characters of "Fortune is like the East China Sea, Shoubi Nanshan". A long cake was drawn in the upper left corner, and some staggered ones were drawn in the upper right corner. Wire.

"Is this... a birthday cake?" Zhang Xiaoyue pointed to the picture on the upper left corner.

"What cake? That's a qin, a guzheng!" Li Qingjiu said angrily.

"Then these lines are..."

"This is a kind of chess. I won't explain it to the prince. When he calls me to pet me one day, he will play it endlessly. I will propose to teach him to play chess. How about it, smart enough?"

"...." The three present could imagine what would happen to Li Gongqingjiu after the new and old hatreds of the prince surged up together.

"Look, this picture covers the four kinds of congratulatory gifts of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, isn't it sincere enough?" He said proudly.This kind of idea from "Three Thousands of Your Life" must not be understood by people of their age.

"Are you sure the prince will know that this is a painting of him?" Zhang Xiaoyue asked again.

"Of course, there is a king character on his head, isn't it?" Li Qingjiu pointed to the forehead of the person in the portrait.

"...." The three were silent for a while, and Zhang Xiaoyue was even more speechless.

"How about it, Brother Yue, is this gift okay?" He said confidently. "My lord will definitely think "Damn! Why is this gift so bad" after seeing it, but I want to say that at least I painted it by myself, so I reluctantly received it in the back of the warehouse, and then completely forgot the person who sent the painting. Praise! Perfect! "

Zhang Xiaoyue put down her hands and gave him a perfect senior professional smile.

Seeing that smile, Li Qingjiu was startled, and reflexively finished the picture scroll, and stood there with an innocent and repentant face, waiting for his boss to admonish him.

"Hey, listen to Brother Yue, draw me again!" Zhang Xiaoyue almost said the last two words through gritted teeth, but even so, his perfect smile remained motionless and brilliant, which made Li Qingjiu smile again. See what senior executives can do. "It's good to draw one kind. If you want to draw a prince, remove the character king on the head."

"I see." Brother Yue must be right!Li Qingjiu bowed his head and accepted humbly. "My lord is difficult to draw, I think it would be faster to write a congratulatory message."

Li Qingjiu casually threw the painting into the wastebasket, found another piece of white paper, sharpened some ink quickly, then picked up the brush, and carefully wrote down eight strokes of "Fu Ru Dong Hai Shou Bi Nan Shan" Character.

Zhang Xiaoyue came over to take a look, and said with a surprised expression, "So you didn't deliberately write something ugly?"

"Brother Yue, you are so rude." He stared.

Li Qingjiu then took out the paste and a piece of cloth, and started to mount it by himself.Although I learned some fur in high school craft class before, those fur are almost bald now.It doesn't matter, anyway, it is going to be given to the prince, and the work itself has no collection value, so just frame it casually!

"Okay!" Li Qingjiu clapped his hands smartly. "You can send it out after the ink and paste dry up."

Zhang Xiaoyue nodded, feeling that this one is much safer than the one just now, and it is so simple that if you don't sign it, you won't remember who gave it to you.

"That's it! I have to go back and prepare to send out the congratulatory gifts."

"Hey, let me take a look before sending it out!" Li Qingjiu stepped forward to hook Zhang Xiaoyue's shoulders. "As a brother, you must be frank, I have shown you everything, and you should also show me."

The gift given to the prince by the first male favorite must be very special, so you have to look at it.

Zhang Xiaoyue gave him a sideways look, thinking that if this person hadn't been careless and had seen his "gift" herself, no matter what, he would never have shown the gift to other young masters before it was about to be sent out.

"It's a shame, I exchanged my dragon-carved glazed lamp for something like yours, if I had known, I wouldn't have watched it..."

"Dragon Carved Glazed Lantern? It sounds amazing! How did you find it?" Li Qingjiu said as he led everyone to Zhang Xiaoyue's yard.

"I asked a merchant to find it for me, and I will give him three taels of silver as a reward."

"Three taels of silver?" Li Qingjiu stopped and looked at Zhang Xiaoyue who said the three taels of silver as if nothing had happened. "Brother Yue, you are also very generous!"

"You want to give it to the lord! Of course, you have to be more cautious. Besides, you only spend this once a year. You have to be hard-hearted to find a good thing."

"That's true... I'm just too soft-hearted, too soft-hearted..."

"What are you singing?"

"It's nothing, it's a song from my hometown..."

The sound of the conversation between the two gradually faded away, and the calligraphy and paintings on the table were gently shaken by the breeze.After a black shadow flickered, the painting scroll in the wastebasket disappeared.

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On the day of the birthday banquet, the North Campus became lively just like Dihua Street during the New Year's Eve.The little servants in each yard came in and out, helping the young master find accessories, borrow clothes, solve emergencies, etc., were too busy.

However, Li Qingjiu's yard was empty, because he was staring at Zhang Xiaoyue in a daze in Zhang Xiaoyue's room.

"Drool is about to flow down."

Hearing what Zhang Xiaoyue said, Li Qingjiu quickly wiped his chin.

Today's Zhang Xiaoyue is wearing a snow-white light blue gown with embroidered gold trim, light powder on her face, red eyeliner on the corners of her eyes, and something on her lips, making her watery and fresh. .Zhang Xiaoyue's face was originally delicate, but after the makeup and some simple and elegant accessories with heavy design sense, it is even more dazzling. She is worthy of being a big celebrity in front of the prince!

In comparison, I, who is not outstanding at all, still looks like a servant even in custom-made clothes.In order not to be too different, he put on a little makeup and asked Ah Shun to tie up his hair, and now he came to Zhang Xiaoyue to borrow a few tacky accessories.

"They're all there, you pick slowly, I'm leaving first."

Zhang Xiaoyue lifted up her slightly longer clothes, and walked out slowly step by step. Outside the yard, there were also some well-dressed young masters who were about to walk towards the main courtyard.

"Ah Shun, there is still half an hour before the banquet starts, what are they going to do now?"

"Of course I'm grabbing a seat!"

"Huh? The seats need to be robbed! Didn't the butler make arrangements?" In his era, in order to avoid the situation of grabbing seats or not having enough seats, the host would arrange the seats for the guests in advance. Why is this? Isn't it fashionable to do this in the [-]s?

"How to arrange it? If it's you, who do you want to arrange to sit on both sides of the prince?" Ah Shun looked at Zhang Xiaoyue's jewelry box, and picked out a not too conspicuous and not too shabby jewelry for Li Qingjiu to wear. "There are so many wives and sons, no one can arrange it. Also, you know who is at odds with whom, so it's better not to sit together?"

"Wow..." As soon as Ah Shun said that, he understood.In short, it is better to keep your hands off anything that is related to interests. "Then will they fight for the seat? The one who wins will sit next to the prince."

"Of course not, this is the prince's birthday banquet!" Ah Shun explained again. "Usually, everyone will give the seat closest to the prince to the most favored wife and son with a tacit understanding. The less frequently you call for favors, the farther you will sit. When it comes to hard to distinguish, it will be the first to come first! "

"So that's the case, and it sounds quite reasonable." He opened the food box that Ah Shun had prepared, and took out a pastry to eat.According to Ah Shun, although many meals will be prepared at the banquet, people usually don't eat too much at the banquet.On the one hand, some people wanted to prepare for a performance, and on the other hand, those who did not perform wanted to impress the prince as much as possible, so they only ate a small bite of almost every dish.After Ah Shun said this, he had to cancel his plan to have a big meal at the banquet. "Hey, that Zhang Xiaoyue already has a seat and doesn't need to compete with others, why did he go so early?"

"It should be because I want to communicate with Madam Qi! After all, the young master and his wife don't see each other more than a few times a year."

"That's right, there are also ladies from the South Yard!" Since he came to this era, he has only seen two women in total, one is his little aunt, and the other is the maid with braids tied beside her.

It is human nature to love beauty, especially as a man, it is a great pleasure to appreciate beautiful women.On such an occasion, those ladies must have tried their best to dress up, trying to make themselves the focus of the prince's attention.Qunfang fights beauty, wow...that kind of picture must be very eye-catching!

Thinking of this, Li Qingjiu casually stuffed a few more mouthfuls of food, then dragged Ah Shun to the birthday banquet venue in the main courtyard with great interest.