In addition to these concubines in the harem, princesses and princes and concubines were also present.
They were all sitting on the table opposite the Queen.
There are also flower orders at the banquet, and Bai Ling, the eldest maid in front of the queen, serves as the order officer.
First, a flower-passing order was carried out, which meant blindfolding a person and ordering her to play the drum, and everyone at the table passed a flower in turn.
If it is plum blossoms, it is called "happy on the brows".
If the message is about lotus, it is called "everything is harmonious and beautiful".
If the message is about apricot blossoms, it is said to be "lucky to get it".
In short, no matter what kind of flower is passed down, there is an auspicious saying.
When the drumming stops, the passing of flowers stops.
Whoever gets it will drink a glass of wine and say a poem about flowers.
It was mid-spring, so the queen ordered someone to fetch a peach blossom, which means "happy and happy".
Whose hand the flower lands on for the first time means who is the luckiest.
Needless to say, such a blessing can only belong to the Queen.
Although the drummer was blindfolded, there was someone beside her who gave her the signal.
Seeing that the flower had been passed around for almost a round and was about to reach the queen's hand again, someone coughed softly next to it.
The maid who was playing the drum stopped the drum, and the flowers were just handed to the queen.
Everyone said, "It's the Queen who has taken the first branch in spring. I'm so happy and congratulated!"
The empress put down the flower branch with a smile, picked up the wine glass and said, "Peony is the only true national beauty. Please come and have a drink with me! Everyone is happy!"
Everyone then toasted to celebrate, which was lively and friendly.
The second round of passing flowers fell into the hands of Concubine Ying, the third round went to Concubine Xian, and so on.
After five or six rounds, the word splitting order was changed again.
The so-called word splitting is to take apart a word and then combine it into another word to form a poem or article. It also has to do with the season of spring.
The queen removed the word "bi": there are blue marks on the white jade, and the peaches and plums laugh first and everyone follows.
When the word "bi" is taken apart, it happens to be white, jade and stone.
Concubine Ying's words are "good" and "miao": a woman is a good girl and wonderful, and the cardamom sprouts in early February.
The word "plum" was removed by Concubine Fu: every spring the trees grow, all the plum blossoms fall, scattering among the flowers in spring.
Among the people at the other seats, there were some who could break it, some who couldn't, and some who made jokes.
For example, Yuan Zhaoyi used the word "fragrant": the rice seedlings under the sun are so fragrant that they can be made into rice to eat three bowls.
Yuan Zhaoyi is known to love eating. Although she is young, she is the fattest among the concubines.
After she finished speaking, Cheng Zhaoyi on the side didn't forget to add the knife: "I'm afraid three bowls are not enough, so I'll lick the bottom of the pot."
Everyone knew that the two of them were deliberately teasing, and they all laughed.
Xue Hengzhao watched coldly from the side, secretly remembering everyone's words, deeds, and even the subtle expressions in his heart.
After the banquet, all the masters returned to the palace to rest.
The rest of the mess on the cups and plates was left to the palace servants to clean up.
While they were cleaning up, a eunuch came over and said: "We will put out lanterns in the Taiye Pond at night. The Queen has said that each of the ladies in the palace will have a lantern for fun and beauty."
Later, each of you will go to the warehouse over there to get one. You won’t get more than one. "
These little palace maids were very happy after hearing this. Lin Fufei smiled and said to Xue Hengzhao: "Sister Xue, people say that placing lanterns in the Taiye Pool to make wishes is the most effective. Now that we have received this reward, we have to think about it carefully. Make a wish."
Nine out of ten teenage girls are keen on making wishes, whether they are making wishes to the shooting stars in the sky, making wishes to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, or going to the temple to make wishes to the statues of gods.
As long as it comes to making a wish, you must show 100% piety.
But Xue Hengzhao happened to be one of the ten. She had never made a wish since she was a child, and she didn't believe that making wishes was useful.
So although Lin Fufei and others were excited and looking forward to this matter, Xue Hengzhao always remained calm and didn't care at all.
Lin Fufei also knew that she had such a cold and distant temperament, and did not let this dampen his interest.
He even chased Xue Hengzhao and said, "Let's go over there in a moment! The more you are a person who doesn't make wishes, the more often the wishes he makes come true!"
By the time they finished their work and went to receive the lanterns, there was already a long queue in front of the warehouse.
These lanterns are lit at night by Taiye Pond and then carefully put into the water.
Each lantern carries a small bamboo stick, and everyone can write their wishes on it.
Then pray sincerely, hoping that the Flower God will show mercy.
Every year, the queen leads the concubines in the palace to let go first, and then it is the turn of the next ones.
At this point, the Flower Festival is over.
Lin Fufei received a rose-red lotus lantern. She held it in her hand with care. As she walked back, she said to Xue Hengzhao: "This is my first serious wish this year. I will make a wish for the whole year." My luck depends on this, I hope the Goddess of Flowers can bless me."
Making a wish has always been like this. You can only say it silently in your heart and cannot tell others.
Similarly, wishes written on bamboo sticks cannot be seen by others. Once written, they must be put back into the lantern.
Xue Hengzhao returned to her residence and lay down to sleep, throwing the lantern aside. Lin Fufei urged her several times but she couldn't move.
Lin Fufei had no choice but to solemnly write a line of words on the bamboo stick, carefully waiting for the ink to dry before putting it back into the lamp.
He also refused to sleep, so he lay down by the table and watched the lamp.
Taiye Pond is in the Imperial Garden. As soon as it gets dark, many people have already arrived.
There were few people to serve at night, so people like Lin Fufei, Xue Hengzhao and others came to make up the numbers.
As the sky gets darker, there are more and more lanterns in Taiye Pond. They are colorful and the lights reflect the water, which is particularly beautiful.
When the last group of people arrived, Lin Fufei put down the lantern in her hand very carefully.
Like others, he knelt by the pool, clasped his hands and prayed silently.
Xue Hengzhao stood far away, looking calm and indifferent.
Lin Fufei knelt on the shore for a long time, until her lamp drifted to the middle of the pond, then she slowly got up, rubbing her sore knees, and walked over to find Xue Hengzhao.
"Sister Xue, are you really not going to put down your lamp? What a great opportunity, what a pity." At this time, Lin Fufei still felt sorry for Xue Hengzhao.
"Let's go back! Starting from tomorrow, we will prepare for the Shangsi Festival again." Xue Hengzhao smiled, and the dim night made her face look particularly delicate.
The next day, it was just dawn.
The door of the house where Xue Hengzhao and Lin Fufei lived was banged.
"Bang bang bang!" The person came like crazy and almost broke the door panel.
Lin Fufei sat up in fright, and Xue Hengzhao opened his eyes unhappily.
Since the last time she asked Lin Fufei to pretend to be sleepwalking, the other two palace maids have not come back, and they are the only two living in this house.
"Who is it? Wait a minute." Lin Fufei said, putting on her outer clothes and opening the door.
As soon as she opened the door bolt, people from outside rushed in, barely pushing her down.
"Who is Lin Fufei?" the leading eunuch asked loudly.
Lin Fufei didn't know what happened, but seeing the battle was scary enough, he replied with a white face: "I am it!"
The eunuch looked down at her and sneered: "How brave! You died in front of your eyes, do you know that?"
(End of chapter)
