The month number is Zhengyang, and the time is Dragon Boat Festival.
When the first ray of sunshine fell on the capital in the morning, all the beauties had already gotten up to take a bath and smoked their bodies with bamboo and mugwort to make final preparations before entering the palace.
When the harem door opens, outside the palace there is already a lot of traffic, dragons wearing fragrant hair, and wearing ringlets singing softly. It is not a garden but a garden.
At the same time, in Changle Palace, Xue Xue and others were also making final preparations to welcome the ladies.
"Your Majesty, you are serious. Queen Mother Hua invites people when she invites them. Why are you rushing to join in the fun? Can't we keep such delicious rice dumplings for ourselves?"
In front of the fake jade table, Xie Xue and others muttered in protest while loading the newly baked rice dumplings.
Three days ago, Queen Mother Hua didn't know why she was so crazy that she posted a message asking all the ladies to come to the palace to enjoy the flowers...
As if to support herself, the Queen Mother also ordered the palace concubines to arrange the place and prepare food, so that the Dragon Boat Festival flower viewing banquet must be held well.
This matter originally fell on the queen and the other two fourth concubines, but their empress did not want to do it. Their empress insisted on getting involved, and even named the guests and said that they would reward rice dumplings and wine, and be the number one at the banquet.
Taken advantage of.
What's even more irritating is that the ladies they are so picky about are willing to be taken advantage of, but the damn Empress Dowager Hua doesn't even want to appreciate it.
But she didn't appreciate it, and the Hua family had to rely on their Marquis to hold the line as envoys, so they had to compromise and send Hua Suyi, the fifth daughter of Hua, to taste it first.
If the taste is acceptable, it can be served to the flower banquet table.
In the past, the cooks in their Changle Palace would definitely not be good, but since Shen Mian was taken care of by Eunuch Shen, the taste was simply outclassed by the imperial kitchen.
At that time, Xiangxue and others thought, since the cooks are so good anyway, why don’t we just use some ingredients?
After all, they are not eating it for themselves, but for these people who want the Xiao family to have a hard time...
But what about their empresses?
When they heard this, they became angry and punished them by copying books for an hour. They said that their layout was too small and they should let go of the rice dumplings and let her do it.
Ah, yes, yes, everything you said is right, we will buy it. Can we buy all the good meat, vegetables and fruits you want?
There are also potatoes, tomatoes, etc., bring them all back and let the cook try them. He will not give up until he makes rice dumplings that are so delicious!
The hard work paid off, as soon as the rice dumplings of various flavors were launched, Hua Suyi who came to taste them was immediately impressed.
And what about their mistress?
Not only did he smile brightly, he also immediately said that he had collected all the ladies’ preferences and that the rice dumplings made on the Dragon Boat Festival would definitely maintain the same standard as today.
That's all, it will also add a lot of new flavors that are not available today.
So Hua Suyi immediately passed the test on behalf of Empress Dowager Hua, and randomly came to inspect the palace in the next two days to fully ensure that they had done nothing wrong in Changle Palace.
Their empress fully accepted such suspicions and even bluntly said that she felt that her reputation in the capital was not good, so she wanted to take this opportunity to build a good relationship with a group of beauties.
This feeling is good...
Since the news spread, Xi Yang brought back ridicule from Shoukang Palace every day.
Until this moment, Miss Hua Suyihua sent someone to send a message, asking them to quickly put all the rice dumplings on the plate in Changle Palace.
"Decoration, decoration, all decorated for me. Concubine Shu, please help me find out how to put those flowers on the plate in the most beautiful way~"
Different from the resentment expressed by Xue Xue and others, at this moment, the girl in the fragrant concubine-colored fairy dress was holding a silver fan in her hand, with a pair of bright eyes that were extremely nimble.
After plum blossoms, lotus flowers, peach blossoms and jade hostas, Shen Mian brought her crab apples and peonies yesterday. It is said that the beauty carved them for her with her own hands while listening to Hua Qingsong and others arguing.
For this reason, those adults often called the Great Beauty the Hunjun...
So she specially wore the jade begonia today, and was pulled by Bai Zhi to draw a begonia makeup that matched the hairpin.
"Well... let's see, everyone will watch what I do, and then follow my example."
Wang Yiting doesn't have the temperament of Xue Xue and others. As a real stupid beauty, she really feels that their concubine sister has changed her gender and knows how to maintain the relationship with the ladies of each family.
So with the concerted efforts of Wang Yiting, Liu Xue and others, the nearly white plate rice dumplings are delicious in color, fragrance and even the presentation is exquisite to the core.
In Xiao Xiruo's words, what we eat is not rice dumplings, but an unknown elegance.
Then Xingxue and others saw Wen Susu summoning Bai Zhi and a group of palace maids and eunuchs from Yangxin Palace to distribute the pile of gold-encrusted rice dumplings in front of them.
You are the one holding the red beans, and I am the one holding the bacon. In short, your hands and feet are so deft that it amazes Xue Xue and others who often carry broken things.
So soon, Xiao Xiruo took Wang Yiting and more than a hundred "elegant rice dumplings" and headed to the Taiye Pond in the Imperial Garden.
Today's palace flowers are blooming beautifully, including peony, rose, woody scent, jasmine, eight immortals...
It is said that beautiful women make people more beautiful. When the warm sunshine shines on each delicate or beautiful face, even the Queen Mother and all the ladies feel that they are much younger.
Finally, Yan Jin'er got Hua Suyi's letter, stood up, lowered her eyes and whispered a few words in Queen Mother Hua's ear.
The Empress Dowager Hua immediately ordered Jiayue to gather a group of young ladies who were looking at the flowers and butterflies, and walked together to the Taiye Pond where the banquet was being held.
Beside the Taiye Pond, there are many small tables, which are filled with pastries, fruits that have been prepared by the palace concubines, as well as exquisite jewelry that the Empress Dowager personally gave to each lady.
Everyone took their seats one by one according to their positions, and in twos and threes they began to discuss the rumors at today's banquet.
Enjoy wine and rice dumplings?
Imperial concubine?
Does she want to have a good relationship with these people?
Tsk, in their eyes, that enchanting concubine has always been fearless and does whatever she wants based on her family status...
Not only did she charm her superiors, she also bullied her subordinates...
That’s not right, doesn’t she also bully those above her?
Look at the haggard Queen Mother next to the Queen Mother, who didn't say a word as soon as she sat down. I don't know how she was squeezed out by that person.
Let’s take a look at the concubines with lower status than the imperial concubine, including Concubine De, Concubine Xian, Zhaoyi, and Jieyu. It is said that the emperor never even looked at them properly.
Such a miserable and lonely harem life, that is, in this dynasty, before...
In short, all the ladies of fate glanced at each other and decided to greet the empress with a smile. As for whether they were willing to go with each other or not, that was their own business.
Anyway, that empress can't read minds, can she still tell that they are cheating?
With such a good mood to watch the fun, everyone at the banquet finally looked forward to the betrayed concubine and the gold-encrusted rice dumplings that the concubine had carefully decorated just to make them smile.
The lid on the plate is slowly opened, revealing the aroma of meat, rice, flowers, and fruits. Every portion is fragrant, and each one is complete...
But it was such exquisite rice dumplings that made everyone at the banquet lose their smiles on the spot...