newbobooks Chapter 143 Catch the week
Chapter 143 Catch the week
"Huanbi, the emperor's decision is not something we can interfere with."
"Come to the study with your sister, let's practice calligraphy together."
Huanbi is impatient and needs to control her temper.
Zhen Huan decided to ask her to hand in a few large characters every day.
What Huanbi hated most in her life was studying, and she hated practicing calligraphy even more.
When she first learned to read from the young lady, she was laughed at by many maids and servants because of her crooked handwriting.
For a period of time, whenever she walked out, the servants in the mansion would point fingers at her.
She listened to the advice of the older nanny and gave up studying, and her life became better.
Hearing that she would have to live a miserable life again, Huanbi hurriedly made excuses.
"Sister Wan, I am speaking up for you."
"The Emperor used to come to see you every day, but now he's favored the old and ugly Jianqiu."
"This is simply not letting you go..."
"Huanbi, be careful with your words! Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."
Zhen Huan pulled the reluctant Huanbi to stand in front of the table.
"The Emperor likes talented women, and Sister Wan also hopes that you can gain the Emperor's favor."
She lowered her voice again.
"Sister received a letter from home. Father asked me to take good care of you."
"Okay, I'll listen to my sister."
Huanbi suffered in Bitong Academy until almost lunchtime when she was able to escape.
She looked at the stack of white papers in Fubao's arms, her brows furrowed with worry.
"Bai Wei, take the paper back to Xianyue Pavilion first."
Huanbi didn't say where she was going, but Fubao followed her closely.
The restless people in the garden were temporarily suppressed, and everyone lived a rare period of peace.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye it is the day of Hongzhan’s first birthday party.
An Lingrong got up early and fed Hongzhan well to prevent him from crying in front of the guests.
"Little Hongzhan, do you still remember the game your mother played with you?"
"Ah... Mom... Ah."
Hongzhan called "Mom" for the first time when he was eleven months old. After that, he called that to everyone he met, and no matter how we corrected him, it was useless.
Even the emperor who came to visit was not spared.
The happiest one among them was Concubine Hua, who would come to Tianguang from time to time to entertain Hongzhan under the pretext of a birthday party, and she never came here empty-handed.
Under Concubine Hua's favor, the little kid who can barely speak has more private secrets than her.
It was also Concubine Hua who told her some of the taboos of the one-year-old celebration in the palace.
The current emperor grabbed a pen during the one-year-old ceremony.
It is rumored that the Fourteenth Prince, the Queen Mother's favorite, was holding a sword.
After eliminating the gold seal, pen and weapons, An Lingrong felt that Hongzhan grabbing the book would be the least noticeable.
So she took advantage of Hongzhan's weakness of loving egg custard and asked him to pick out the book from a pile of miscellaneous items before every meal.
After doing this a few times, Hongzhan, for the sake of his stuttering, would take the books on the blanket and bring them to his mother without being reminded.
An Lingrong was afraid that he would forget, so she reminded him again.
After the Fourth Prince was injured, the Emperor paid special attention to Hongzhan's first birthday banquet.
This year's birthday banquet was held at Jiuzhou Qingyan. Before they went there, they had to go to Taohuawu to pay their respects to the Queen Mother.
Then, under the leadership of the Queen, they gathered and headed towards Jiuzhou Qingyan.
An Lingrong's dragon fetus was more than six months old. She refused the sedan chair sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and walked towards Taohuawu with the palace maids.
On the way, I met Hua Fei who was also walking.
After the two of them exchanged greetings, Concubine Hua gave some instructions in a low voice.
"Sister Shufei, the Queen has been holding it in for so long without making any move. You must be careful in everything you do."
"I will also help look after the Sixth Prince."
She was afraid that the Queen would do something bad at the palace banquet, so she personally watched every step of the way.
But based on past experience, the queen is not so easy to get along with.
"Thank you, Sister Hua Fei, for reminding me. I will always pay attention to it."
An Lingrong had arranged for the steady Baoque, Xiaolinzi, Koudai Mama and Haba Mama to keep a close eye on Hongzhan, while Baoli and Baoge followed her.
The emperor's men were guarding outside all day long, so she didn't need to worry too much.
As he got closer to Taohuawu, he ran into Concubine Jing who was also walking.
When the group arrived at Taohuawu, Jiang Fuhai was already waiting outside with a smile on his face.
"Your servant pays respects to Consort Hua, Consort Shu, and Consort Jing."
"Madam Shufei, the Empress said today is a good day for the Sixth Prince, and she has ordered the kitchen to prepare water chestnut soup for the Sixth Prince."
An Lingrong gently touched Hongzhan's obviously bulging belly and declined.
"Thank you for your concern, Empress. Sixth Prince has been asking for food since he got here, and he has already eaten quite a bit."
She had this in mind when she dug up Hongzhan early in the morning and fed him, to prevent him from coming into contact with food from outside.
Jiang Fuhai didn't argue any further and led them into the house.
Jianqiu, dressed up carefully, stood beside the Queen as before, but this time she greeted everyone one by one after everyone else had paid their respects.
Jianqiu always appeared plain in her appearance, and this was the first time An Lingrong saw her dressed like this.
After cleaning it up, it was not much inferior to Jingpin's.
No wonder the emperor likes her.
The queen introduced them to everyone with a normal expression.
"This is Qiu, the concubine appointed by the Emperor himself. Today is a good day for Consort Shu. We will arrange for her to meet the other sisters when we arrive at the Japanese Palace."
The Queen was very surprised to see that the jealous Concubine Hua did not make any sarcastic remarks.
It seemed that when Rou agreed to come and pay her respects for the first time last time, Concubine Hua did not make any remarks to ridicule her.
Her eyes swept across An Lingrong's bulging belly, and the Queen felt as if something was out of her control.
"Mother...mother...mother..."
Hongzhan's childish words attracted everyone's attention, and even the queen couldn't help but come forward and tease him for a while.
While tidying up Hongzhan's clothes, An Lingrong touched his whole body inconspicuously and did not notice that someone was secretly attacking him.
In fact, what she didn't know was that there was someone who didn't want Hongzhan to get into trouble today even more than she did, and that was the Empress who had been sternly warned by the Emperor.
The emperor summoned Jianqiu to the Qinzheng Palace to serve her for five consecutive days to warn her not to act rashly.
The queen, who appeared kind on the outside, actually wished she could devour the flesh and blood of An Lingrong and her son.
But even so, she still had to take them to Jiuzhou Qingyan to meet with all the clan members.
A large carpet was placed in the middle of the hall, on which were placed a jade ruyi, a jade screen, two jade pendants, a gold key, a box of gold and silver ingots, a set of writing utensils, and small swords, spears, and halberds.
After Zhu Xi, representing the Empress Dowager, placed a palm-sized golden peace lock on the mat, the Emperor added a handful of green onions, followed by the Empress and the concubines who came forward to add items for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony.
An Lingrong placed a small, standard ruler on it.
Most people would not cause trouble in such occasions, but Huanbi put up a handkerchief with a picture of a fish playing on a lotus leaf, and the fat red koi seemed to be about to jump out of the water.
If it were in other occasions, An Lingrong would definitely praise her good embroidery skills.
But the appearance of a handkerchief stained with powder at Hongzhan's one-year-old celebration was not a good thing.
The next step was for the clan members to add some color to the one-year-old ceremony. When Prince Dun placed the golden sword, he suddenly picked up the handkerchief and placed it in the most conspicuous position in the middle of the blanket.