The Mid-Autumn Moon Appreciation Banquet is one of the six major banquets in the palace.
The emperor and the princes and princes were waiting for a banquet in the Tian'en Hall in the front, while the queen and a group of concubines and princes were admiring the moon in the Shoushan Pavilion of the Kunsui Hall in the back.
Shoushan Pavilion is actually an open hall built on a rockery. All the windows on all sides can be opened, which is perfect for enjoying the scenery.
When the moon rises from Dongshan Mountain, the clear light shrouds you like a silver gauze, and the shadow of the moon reflects the water of Taiye Lake below. The evening breeze blows slowly, which really makes you feel comfortable, as if you have ascended to a fairyland.
Lan Ning and others were the ones heading towards the luncheon. She was now nearly seven months pregnant and her movements were becoming more and more inconvenient.
"The night banquet has to go up high, why don't we ask for leave from the Queen." Queen Fu Fei felt a faint worry in her heart.
"To be honest with my mother and concubine, my daughter-in-law has also thought about it. But then I thought, if I don't have such a big banquet, I will be criticized.
Besides, my month is not very old yet, so now that I am here for the moon-viewing feast, I don’t have to come to the next Chongyang Climbing Party. "Lan Ning has no worries, but the palace is the most disciplined about rules, so there are always people making a fuss about this.
Since she became the prince's concubine, she has been as cautious as Concubine Fu.
So I never dare to neglect these things.
Just as the fourth prince's concubine, Mrs. Yu, also came, Concubine Fu's mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law stopped talking and chatted with Mrs. Yu about some family matters.
After a while, Mrs. Yu's face became a little unhappy and she said, "I'm feeling upset in my stomach. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep you company."
"But did you catch a cold? The weather at this time is easy to get a stomachache if you are not careful." Concubine Fu asked with concern.
"It's fine when you get home!" Ms. Yu said with a wry smile, "I just drank two bowls of tea and ate a few dates at Concubine Ying's place. I think something went wrong."
"Then quickly ask them to make some ginger tea and bring it over to keep it warm." Lan Ning ordered hurriedly.
Mrs. Yu went out to relieve herself. Even though she drank ginger tea when she came back, she was still in a panic.
Concubine Fu also called for the imperial physician, who prescribed a mild spleen and stomach antidiarrheal medicine, and immediately ordered someone to boil the medicine.
"It's all my fault for being greedy," Mrs. Yu said with some embarrassment, "Second sister-in-law even advised me to eat less."
"Where is the second princess?" Concubine Fu asked smoothly, "I haven't seen her for a long time."
"She's already pregnant." Mrs. Yu said, "She has lost weight. I can see that her pregnancy is different from the previous ones. Maybe it's a boy."
By this time the medicine had been cooked and the maid brought it over.
Ms. Yu had a straightforward personality and a bit of a short temper, so she drank the medicine in just a few sips.
However, even though I drank the medicine, it did not take effect so quickly.
In the evening, everyone began to pack up and prepare to go to Shoushan Pavilion for the banquet.
Concubine Fu called Xue Hengzhao and Dan Yue over, and said: "During the dinner, you two should wait beside the fifth princess! Be careful of bumping into each other."
When they arrived at Shoushan Pavilion, there were already several people there, and the second prince's concubine, Ma Shi, also arrived soon after.
The maids she brought with her were not the usual Linghua and Xiaocao brought to the palace, but two unfamiliar faces.
When it was time for the dinner, the queen and the concubines were all seated.
There were court musicians playing music during the banquet, and there were flowers all around the pavilion, just in time for the full moon.
The fourth princess was sitting next to Lan Ning. After a while, she couldn't help it and went down to relieve herself.
As the moon rises, the banquet gets better and better.
While everyone was enjoying themselves and laughing, no one noticed that there were clouds of black mist rising faintly among the surrounding vegetation.
The bright lights of Shoushan Pavilion made the surrounding area even darker. Even the bright moon in the sky and the moon shadow in the water were eclipsed in comparison.
In addition, there were hundreds of pots of flowers placed inside, and the fragrance of the flowers, coupled with the fragrance of the wine, rippled outward like waves of wind.
And the clouds of black mist were attracted by the light and the fragrance of flowers, and rushed towards Shoushan Pavilion from all directions.
Xue Hengzhao stood by the railing and keenly captured the extremely subtle yet extremely majestic sound of flapping wings amidst the interlacing of glasses of wine and the sound of strings and strings.
"Hengzhao, what are you looking at?" Danyue gently tugged on Xue Hengzhao's sleeve.
Xue Hengzhao turned her face sideways. Because she was half-hidden by the light, the expression on her face was dim and indistinguishable. Only her eyes looked unusually bright.
"Be careful for a while, I feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong?" Danyue looked around, her big eyes full of confusion.
But the moment she turned around again, she immediately became terrified.
Countless bees swooped into the pavilion, causing a scream.
The black cloud-like formation of bees blocked the moonlight, making people tremble with fear.
Xue Hengzhao immediately pulled down the curtain on the pavilion and covered Lan Ning, and shouted: "Don't move! As long as you don't move, the bees won't sting you!"
But her voice had long been drowned out by the chaos.
Those bees were really running around like crazy, and people were being stung constantly, making screams.
"Lights! Put out all the lights quickly! This is a bee hitting the light! It will not stop!" There are people in the crowd who are familiar with the habits of bees.
Bees usually only come out during the day because they rely on the sun to find their way around.
If for some reason they are not in the hive at night, they will definitely fly towards a place with light around them.
And then desperately pounce on the light again and again. As the saying goes, "a moth flies into a flame, a bee flies into a lamp, and they will not stop until they die." This is the situation.
In the chaos, the lights were extinguished one by one, and the whole pavilion became dim.
Although there was still moonlight shining on it, only the outline could be vaguely discerned.
The crowd was still commotion, and someone shouted: "Stop crowding! Stop crowding! If you keep crowding, you will fall!"
Someone shouted: "Protect the Queen!"
"Concubine Ying, be careful!"
"Where is the Concubine Xian?!"
Some even cried or screamed and cursed.
In the chaos, two black figures quickly flashed to Lan Ning's side.
In just a few moves, he knocked out the maids in front of him, then grabbed Lan Ning, who was covered in curtains, and pushed her out of the pavilion, straight down the rockery.
There was a lot of noise around, and no one heard Lan Ning's cry for help, because almost everyone was calling for help.
Ma Feiyan's back was pressed tightly against the pillar. She knew that as long as she stayed quiet, she would not be hurt.
Besides, she had something painted on her clothes before, and the bees didn't want to land on her.
Her eyes widened, and she felt indescribably happy when she saw those two black figures clearly plotting against Lan Ning!
Just at this moment, a dark cloud passed by, and it suddenly became impossible to see anything.
Ma didn't feel any fear at all. The excitement of succeeding in her conspiracy made her feel light and giddy, as if she was drunk.
Suddenly her stomach seemed to be hit hard by something hard. The pain was so painful that stars appeared in front of her eyes. Her mouth was opened wide, but she could only make a sound.
She pushed it with her hand and realized that it was a copper-edged table corner, pressing hard against her stomach.
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