Sun's banquet to welcome the royal family was held in the back garden to the north of the villa.
The shape of the banquet is just like the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner in the palace. When viewed from the air, it is a "mouth" shape with an unsealed bottom.
There are three huanghuali wood tables placed in the north, which are the seats for the emperor, the empress dowager and the imperial concubine.
Five long tables are arranged in sequence from north to south in the due east, which are the seats of Si Beile, Ninth Age, Tenth Age, Thirteenth Age and Xen Beile respectively.
There are several rows of seats in the west direction. The three seats at the front are for Sun, Cao Yin and Cao Quan. The tables behind the mother and son are for Li, Wang's two daughters-in-law, and their sons.
At the end of Youshi, the sky was completely dark, and the night sky was filled with stars.
The royal family freshened up in the wing room, put on comfortable clothes, and then, led by Sun, Cao Yin, Cao Quan and others, followed the winding corridor in the courtyard to the back garden.
As soon as everyone walked into the moon gate in the back garden, they saw from a distance several low mountains about seven or eight meters high. The low mountains were dotted with dots of firelight. Between the low mountains were small waterfalls made of running water.
, the water of the waterfall flowed down from the top of the mountain, and fell into a pool shaped like a lotus. The bottom of the pool was paved with a whole piece of blue-white jade. There were many koi carps in the pool, and the koi fish flicked their tails.
He looked very comfortable while swimming.
The moonlight shines on the surface of the pool water, emitting sparkling waves.
Kangxi put his hands behind his back, walked to the edge of the pool with his family, casually glanced into the pool, and laughed out loud when he saw the koi inside:
"The fish here are well raised, and they look a lot more energetic than the fish in my Changchun Garden."
Qingyan, who was standing next to him, couldn't help turning her head and glanced at Kangxi when she heard this, but Kangxi seemed to just say this out of emotion. The smile on her face was indeed joyful, and she looked away again.
Sun, who was following on the other side and holding a cane with a dragon head in her hand, heard this and her eyes flashed. She took two steps forward, leaned over to Kangxi and explained with a smile:
"Master Banzai is really ridiculous. The fish here are just ordinary koi. Naturally, they cannot be compared with the precious fry raised by Master Banzai. These fry are raised by the people below. They are not so particular on weekdays. What?
I eat them all, so I look casual and smart. Apart from this good idea, there is nothing else I can do well."
"Hahahaha, what you say sounds interesting. You can eat everything and you will grow fast."
Kangxi seemed to be amused by what Sun said. He turned the imperial green jade ring with his right hand, pointed to the short mountain in front of him with his left hand and continued to praise:
"The firelight on the low mountain looks quite beautiful. It is scattered in an orderly manner, and it looks as random as the fish in the pond."
Wang, who was following Mrs. Sun, heard this, as if she had been holding back all day and finally found a chance to speak. She took two steps forward and imitated her mother-in-law, and interjected in a flattering manner:
"Long live my Lord, the craftsmen just set up some gilded copper lamp stands on the low mountain for lighting. There is nothing worth seeing."
"Oh, that's it."
Kangxi didn't even look at Wang, he nodded and laughed a few times, as if he had lost interest in the short mountain and fish pond, and led his family directly to the banquet table in the center of the garden.
While Wang was happy that she had spoken in front of Long Live Lord, her mother-in-law, Sun, turned around and glared at Wang with anger in her eyes.
Wang's neck couldn't help but shrink when she saw this.
Her husband Cao Quan was also dissatisfied and scolded her in a low voice: "You have no place to interrupt here! Why do you love to show off so much!"
Cao Yin did not approve of his sister-in-law answering the question here, which seemed a bit unruly. However, he saw the emperor and the others walking forward. It was not the time to argue now, so he hurriedly lowered his voice and said to Mrs. Sun:
"Forget it, mother, let's let people serve the food first. We can't let the emperor sit at the table and wait, right?"
After hearing what her stepson said, Ms. Sun nodded and walked to the banquet with a cane in her right hand and her left arm supported by her eldest daughter-in-law, Ms. Li.
To be honest, Mrs. Sun naturally doesn't want her stepson to do better than her own son, but her stepson is indeed more capable than her own son, and she has a close relationship with Lord Long Live. She was naturally aware of current affairs when she was Kangxi's wet nurse when she was young.
He did not treat his stepson Cao Yin harshly. Cao Yin's biological mother died young. Over the years, Cao Yin also regarded Sun as his own mother.
The relationship between mother and son is going well.
Cao Quan knew that his ability was not as good as that of his elder brother, so he was happy to be a noble son with money in hand and a leisurely life.
It can be said that the mother and son did not care too much about Sun's achievements that year. Which one, Cao Yin or Cao Quan, enjoyed more blessings.
But this incident was an obstacle that Wang couldn't get over.
The relationship between sisters-in-law has been very delicate since ancient times. Every time Wang saw Mrs. Li, she couldn't help but feel sour in her heart. She felt that if the person who served as a playmate for Long Live Lord was her husband Cao Quan, then her life would be worse than that of Mrs. Li now.
My sister-in-law, Ms. Li, is getting pregnant.
Now looking at the mother-in-law, sister-in-law, eldest brother-in-law and husband in front of her, they all followed the footsteps of Long Live Lord and left. Wang, who was left alone behind, glared at the back of her husband Cao Quan with anger and grievance, feeling in her heart
He cursed angrily:
"If you hadn't failed to live up to your expectations and let the emperor see you, why would I, a woman, risk my face to earn face for our second wife!".
After she finished cursing these words, she turned her head and glanced into the pavilion to the west. Under the light of the candle, she could vaguely see the graceful figure of a woman standing in the pavilion.
Mrs. Wang bit her lip with her teeth, frowned and muttered in a low voice, "I hope you are a person of integrity," and then quickly raised her legs and walked forward quickly.
After the royal family and everyone in the Cao family were all seated, the dinner officially began. Beautiful fireworks bloomed on the low hill, and the sound of piano, flute, and flute also sounded.
The lithe dancers lined up and walked to the open space surrounded by the banquet tables. Along with the music, their eyes moved and they danced gracefully.
A large group of beautiful maids from the Cao family dressed in uniforms carried exquisitely crafted gold-painted mahogany trays and served food on each banquet table.
Qingyan saw that within a short time, many dishes with scarce ingredients were placed on her table.
She couldn't help but blink her eyes, racking her brains to recall what kind of delicacies appeared in "A Dream of Red Mansions", and whether the food on the table was from "A Dream of Red Mansions".
Liang Jiugong, who was standing behind Kangxi, saw the humps, bear paws, leopard fetuses... fish lips, shark fins, sea cucumbers... quails, swans, partridges placed on the emperor's table, and his eyelids jumped heavily.
This is the eight delicacies from the mountains, the eight treasures from the sea, and the eight delicacies from the birds all gathered together!
He couldn't help but glance at the Cao family at the banquet table to the west. He saw that the top seven and eight little carrot heads, from the top to the Sun family, Cao Yin, Cao Quan, and the bottom, all had smiles on their faces, without any care for the ingredients on the table.
The look on his face means that either the Cao family eats like this on weekdays, or the food the Cao family usually eats is better than this banquet!
hiss!
Liang Jiugong was shocked and did not dare to think any more.
Just when he was about to take his eyes back from the Cao family's seat, he saw Cao Yin leaning on the back of the chair, with his right hand on the armrest of the armchair, sitting in an extremely comfortable posture, enjoying the song and dance performance, and his eyes couldn't help but flash.
Flashed.
Liang Jiugong has been serving his master Jin Gui since he was a child. He is best at observing various small details.
He still remembers the time when young Cao Yin and the great talent Nalan Rongruo worked together with the emperor as imperial guards. At that time, guard Cao was such a cautious person.
Although their identities are different, they have all been with the emperor since childhood and grew up together.
Occasionally in the imperial study, Nalan Rongruo, as the emperor's cousin, would sometimes joke with the emperor.
Cao Yinze showed great respect for the emperor in everything. He was even given a seat by the emperor in the royal study. He often saw Cao Yin sitting on an armchair with only half his buttocks.
Now, twenty years later, Liang Jiugong couldn't help but feel a touch of melancholy and sadness in his heart, feeling that "money", "power" and "time" are really killing people.
The current high-ranking Lord Cao Yin and Cao Cao no longer have a shadow of the handsome and stable Guard Cao...
Kangxi's confidant eunuch sighed silently.
The five emperor elder brothers sitting at the banquet table in the east also felt quite unhappy.
Yiner glanced at the orangutan on the plate in front of him, then picked up his chopsticks and ate it in big bites.
Xiao Shi sighed in his heart while eating, it would be great if sister Shadali was here, she really likes eating orangutan lips.
Yinzhen glanced at his tenth brother who was just immersed in eating, and then turned to look at his fourth brother beside him.
Seeing that his fourth brother had turned into a face that no strangers should approach, Yinzhen couldn't help but look at the Cao family opposite with sympathy. You are really seeking death! You know how ruthless our fourth brother is.
But even Khan Amma and Huang’s mother can’t control it!
The fourth child has just started to go to court this year to handle affairs in the Ministry of Household Affairs. How dare you, the Cao family, openly eat so extravagantly. It seems that once Mr. Cao Xi dies, the Cao family will go downhill. No one is smart anymore...
The twins also looked at each other. When Yinxiang saw his fourteenth brother's wide eyes, he knew what the fourteenth brother wanted to express.
[Fourteen: Brother Thirteen, when I was in the palace, I didn’t even have a good meal in the Cao family’s courtyard! The life of the Cao family is too luxurious! They actually live better than me! I can’t stand it! I
I’m going to use a sledgehammer to smash their homes to pieces!]
Thirteen coughed twice and blinked at Yinzhen:
[Thirteenth: Fourteenth brother, listen to my words and quickly put away the silly and surprised expression on your face. Don’t let the servants of the Cao family see the joke. ]
[Fourteen raised his eyebrows: I am Brother Huang! Who among them dares to laugh at me!]
[Thirteen: Old Fourteen, brother, I am good at observing. When we were walking around in the garden during the day, I saw that the servants of the Cao family all have a pair of snobbish eyes.
Don't tell me, Old Fourteen, that you are the emperor's elder brother. If you really dare to show your stupidity, people will still dare to laugh at you in their hearts!
Didn’t you see that the maids serving the dishes looked at our five brothers shyly?]
[Fourteen: Ah! Brother Thirteen, is it true? These shameless maids are actually coveting me? I haven’t married Fujin yet! 】
Yinzhen turned his head, unilaterally cut off the telepathic communication channel of the twins, picked up the tea cup in his hand, and looked around like a thief, as if to confirm which bold maid Yinxiang was talking about.
In "coveting" him.
[Thirteen:...My silly brother, apart from being good at fighting, is really as stupid as a blank sheet of paper.]
The twins exchanged glances, and others had no idea what the two brothers were doing.
Halfway through the banquet, the fireworks on the low mountain suddenly stopped.
As soon as Kangxi and others turned away from the night sky, a graceful young girl wearing a white dress walked up not far away.
The young girl wore silver bells on both wrists, and the lower half of her face was covered with a layer of white gauze. As she walked, a series of crisp bells emitted.
I saw that her figure was very soft, and she perfectly blended into a group of dancers with a few spins and jumps. In the night, the woman looked very conspicuous in a white dress, dancing like a soft and cute little rabbit.
, it makes people feel loving just looking at it.
When Mrs. Sun saw Kangxi, the five royal brothers all turned their attention to Mr. Wang, with a smile in their eyes.
Cao Yinze couldn't help pinching the wine cup in his hand nervously. He subconsciously turned his head and glanced at Kangxi, but he didn't know whether it was because of the night or the distance, but he always felt that the Holy Emperor was not that happy.
Cao Yin felt an inexplicable uneasiness in his heart. He suppressed this inappropriate feeling and turned his attention to Wang who was dancing hard.
This Wang is the distant niece of his sister-in-law Wang, and she is also a famous beauty in Suzhou. She is the one-of-a-kind Jiangnan beauty that his uncle Li Xu spent a lot of effort to find.
Cao Yin naturally hopes that the Wang family will be favored by Lord Long Live. Even after so many years, Cao Yin has been carrying an extremely scary thing in his heart. That is when he found out that the late emperor was still alive and became a monk on Mount Wutai. Even if
Lord Long Live never mentioned this matter, but Cao Yin felt like he was on pins and needles every time he thought about it. He was too afraid that one day the emperor would chop off his head because he knew this royal secret.
Therefore, when his stepmother, wife, brother-in-law and others all proposed to send beauties to the Long Live Lord and cultivate the power of the Cao and Li families in the harem, if there was any trouble in the palace, they would be able to know about it from as far away as Jiangnan.
Cao Yin thought for a long time before nodding in agreement. If the Cao and Li families really had a concubine favored by the Holy Emperor, wouldn't the "Empress" blow pillows in the Holy Emperor's ears for them at the appropriate time?
Cao Yin looked at Wang, his eyes slightly hollow.
"clang--"
The silver bell made a crisp sound, and all the music of the piano and flute stopped.
Wang also stopped spinning and stood among the dancers with a slightly red face. She and a group of dancers in red posed in a graceful dance pose. Her eyes were full of spring water, looking expectantly at the three seats in the north.
Cao Yin also collected all his scattered thoughts.
Suddenly the entire banquet became quiet, as if everyone was waiting for Kangxi to speak.
Kangxi also cooperated with everyone's thoughts and asked quietly:
"Is the woman in white below also a female member of the Cao family?"
When Wang heard Kang Xi's words, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva nervously, walked out from among the dancers, leaned towards Kang Xi, and said with a voice like an oriole:
"Reporting to the emperor, my daughter's father is the magistrate of Suzhou, and her mother, Huang, is the niece of the aunt of the magistrate of Suzhou, Mr. Li Xu."
"Oh, it turns out you are a relative of Aunt Huang."
Kangxi pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said with a smile.
When the Empress Dowager heard this, she couldn't help but frown, remembering that Li Xu's aunt, Huang Shi, and Cao Yin's aunt, Sun Shi, were the same nannies who served her son, the emperor.
Qingyan was so shocked that she put down the small wine cup in her hand. She couldn't help but look up and down at the pretty Wang, thinking in her heart, could this person in front of her be the famous secret concubine in history?
Kangxi gave birth to three sons. The death of the youngest son, Eighteenth Prince, made Kangxi so angry that he deposed the prince he had raised and raised after returning to the capital from Mongolia?
Qingyan felt a little bit gambling for no reason when she thought of this.
Although the Eighteenth Prince was very innocent, people are all close and close. When Qingyan thought that in another time and space, Kangxi's youngest son died because of his secret concubine, she scolded the Crown Prince for being unfilial and unfriendly to his brothers, and put the Crown Prince to death.
She was scolded profusely, and then immediately imprisoned in Xian'an Palace. She was holding an unknown fire in her heart.
Even though she didn't know exactly when the eighteenth prince was born, she could roughly estimate that there was at least a twenty-year age difference between Yinreng and the eighteenth prince.
There is such a big age gap, and the Wang family has no relationship with the Hesheli family. How could the crown prince develop a relationship with a younger brother who is younger than his sons?
Oh--
Thinking of these long-lasting memories, Qingyan couldn't help but raise a sarcastic smile, raised her neck and drank all the wine in the glass, no longer looking at Wang below.
After Kangxi caught a glimpse of the expression on his beloved concubine's face out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but feel a "thump" in his heart, and then he felt a faint secret of joy: Is Yan'er jealous?
No one present except Kangxi cared whether the imperial concubine was jealous or not.
Cao Quan's wife, the eldest Wang, was sitting at the bottom and looked at the little Wang who didn't mention her. She couldn't sit still anymore and couldn't help but said:
"Long live my lord, this woman is also my wife's distant niece."
Hearing what the elder Wang said, Kangxi turned his attention away from his beloved concubine and moved it to the little Wang. His eyes couldn't help but deepen when he looked at the little Wang. This woman actually had the influence of the Cao and Li families.
It seems that the Cao family and the Li family jointly introduced her to him...
Kangxi turned the imperial green jade ring on his hand and secretly thought about the whereabouts of the little Wang family.
But in the eyes of everyone at the banquet, the emperor seemed to have fallen in love with little Wang, and was looking intently at this delicate Suzhou beauty.
Little Wang's heart was beating with excitement, and her face became even redder.
At this moment, there was only a "bang" sound, and the sound of a tea cup breaking came from the east.
Everyone looked around in shock and saw Master Xie Beile standing up from his chair unsteadily as if he was drunk. His face was red.
"Old Fourteen, what's wrong with you?"
Kangxi looked at his drunken young son and felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
Yinzhen burped, stretched out his right hand and pointed at the little Wang standing in the open space, turned to Kangxi and said with a silly smile:
"Khan Ama, I finally know the meaning of 'if you want to be pretty, be filial', hiccup~"
"The sun is shining tonight, Hier, please give me this beauty in mourning clothes, Hier, I want her to make me a white robe, and I also want to look pretty, Hier."
"Thirteen, push your brother down, he's drunk."
When Qingyan heard her youngest son's words, she immediately wanted to cover her face in embarrassment and shouted to Yinxiang.
When Liang Jiugong heard Yinzhen shouting "The sun is shining brightly tonight", he couldn't help but look up at the night sky. He felt that Mr. Xunbeile was really drunk. "The stars are shining brightly tonight", right?
"No, I'm not drunk. Brother Thirteen, please don't touch me!"
Yinzhen shook off Shisan's hold on his arm, walked around his banquet table, and came to Xiao Wang in a snake-like motion.
When Xiao Wang heard what the Fourteenth Prince said just now, she was really angry and ashamed. She was wearing a nice silk white dress, but why did she become a filial piety when the Fourteenth Prince said it? And she was taken by such a beautiful woman.
Are you going to be an embroiderer in the palace?
Little Wang bit her red lips with her teeth, a layer of mist rising in her eyes.
Yinzhen couldn't help but sneer in his heart when he saw the pitiful appearance of the little Wang family.
He rubbed his red face with both hands, made a confused look, looked at the unwilling little Wang family, and then at the Cao family opposite who looked stunned, and turned their heads with aggrieved expressions.
Looking at the Queen Mother who had the highest status present, she said pitifully:
"Mother Huang, your grandson is emotionally hurt. You must make the decision for your youngest grandson."
Kangxi: "..."
Imperial Concubine: "..."
Yinju, Yin'er, Yinxiang: "..."
Everyone in the Cao family: "..."
"Um, Fourteen, why are you emotionally hurt?"
Qiqige looked at her little grandson blinking at her with a silly look on his face, suppressed a smile and made a serious expression, and asked lovingly.
"Madam Huang, I first fell in love tonight and realized that this beautiful sister doesn't have eyes for me!"
Imperial Concubine: "..."
Everyone in the Cao family: "...This is the concubine we prepared for you! Of course she doesn't have you in her eyes!"
Little Wang choked hard at Yinzhen's words, even forcing the mist that rose in her eyes to go down. She looked at Mr. Xenbeile who was talking to himself with bewilderment and was said to be a free-spirited person.
"Fourteen, this, this tough melon, it's not sweet. Your Ama and E Niang have chosen a good Fujin for you. Your Fujin must have you in his eyes."
Kangxi couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth as he listened to his empress's words as if coaxing a child.
Qingyan's face couldn't help but blush, and she was embarrassed by the questions and answers from her youngest son and the Queen Mother.
"Oh, Mama Huang is right. Since this beautiful sister doesn't have eyes for me, then I should ask Mama Huang to give her a happy marriage."
When little Wang heard what Yinzhen said, her heart skipped a beat.
She subconsciously wanted to decline the matter out loud, but Yinzhen didn't give her a chance to speak. Instead, she turned her head again, her eyes were straight and there was deep oppression hidden, and she opened and closed her mouth and said:
"Beautiful sister, I am the most handsome of all the people here. I am half a head taller than my Khan Ama. I call you sister. You are younger than me. You may fall in love with my Khan Ama."
Bar?"
As soon as Yinzhen finished speaking, little Wang was so frightened that she fell to her knees on the ground.
Sun's, Cao Yin's, Cao Quan's, Li's, and Wang's hearts also throbbed in pain.
The corners of Yinzhen, Yinzhen, Yiner, and Yinxiang's mouths couldn't help but curl up.
Although everyone understands some things tacitly, once they are clarified, it becomes a different possibility.
Although Xiao Wang has great ambitions, she is still a girl under eighteen. Seeing Yinzhen clarifying her thoughts directly in front of so many people, she felt as if her face had been slapped invisible.
It was like a slap, and it hurt like a burning fire. I could only bite my red lips with my teeth, but I couldn't say a word.
Kangxi also touched his nose with his right hand, wanting to scold his old son, but he didn't know how.
"Brother Fourteen, I am."
Seeing that the scene was in embarrassment, Mrs. Sun couldn't help but stand up from her armchair with a smile. But she just opened her mouth and was interrupted by Yin Zhen before she could finish her words.
With a blushing face, Yinzhen shook his body for a moment before turning around.
As if he was too drunk to find anyone, he pointed his right hand at Cao Yin.
Cao Yin was stunned for a moment and didn't understand why Brother Fourteen was pointing at him.
The next moment Fourteen burped again, pointed at Cao Quan with his right hand, and scolded Sun in dissatisfaction:
"Mother Sun, if you want to call me Master Xie Beile, Hier, I am not a bald brother! Galdan, do you know? I killed him!"
Mrs. Sun didn't expect that the emperor was so polite to her, but the emperor's youngest son actually scolded her.
The smile on her face was almost unbearable, but she still said with a smile:
"Brother Fourteen, you are drunk. This Wang family, she, she is my beloved junior. She is just like a plum blossom. She has never thought of entering the palace to serve the emperor."
"Oh, Hier, since you love her so much, let Madam Huang give her to Cao Yin or Cao Quan, so that she can be your daughter-in-law and serve you every day."
When Sun heard what Yinzhen said, her eyes widened instantly.
"Oh, the daughter-in-law is not close yet? It is easy to have conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. I understand, I understand!"
Yinzhen blinked at Mrs. Sun, and then shouted a shocking sentence at the top of his lungs:
"Then let Aunt Huang give her to Cao Xi, and let the beautiful sister be your little sister. Will Aunt Sun be happy?"
Kangxi: "..."
Imperial Concubine: "..."
Yinju, Yin'er, Yinxiang: "..."
Everyone in the Cao family: "!!!"
Mrs. Sun couldn't laugh at all now and almost cried: "Fourteen, no, Mr. Xunbeile, you are really drunk. My husband has been dead for many years!"
"Ah? What a pity, beautiful sister, then you can only become mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with Grandma Sun."