Mrs. Tai gave her a jade hairpin with her own hands and inserted it under the lotus crown. The top of the jade hairpin is engraved with a phoenix pattern, holding a pendant red bead. The edges of the pattern are pressed with strips of gold wire, making it look simple and elegant yet monotonous.
Qing Ya gently put down the silver crown with her hands, and a maid brought up a small round bronze mirror for her to look at. She looked at the bright-toothed woman in the bronze mirror, and for a moment she couldn't believe that this was the low-key and reserved woman before marriage. Li Qingya.
"This hairpin looks so good on Qingya!" Mingxuan praised her, and she looked at her with a gentle smile.
"Yes, it looks good!" The madam raised her chin, looked up and down, and nodded with satisfaction.
After just one or two glances, the Madam suddenly touched a cup of tea and drank it with a sigh.
"These hairpins were given to me by the late king when I entered the palace on my wedding night. They were originally a pair, and one of them was on Mingxuan's head!" She pointed at the ring in the bun of Imperial Concubine Mingxuan. .
Qingya turned her head and looked at the imperial concubine. The bun stood in her hair. There were two jade hairpins with flowers and leaves on each side of the bun, and the rose jade hairpin was pressed behind the hairpin.
"You and the imperial concubine have known each other since they were young. The three of you have a deep friendship that is unparalleled. Now that you have the honor to serve the king, you must respect the imperial concubine and help her manage the palace. You must not be born out of favor. Don't be arrogant." The madam held her shoulders again and gave her a few words of advice.
"Xuan'er has been in charge of the palace for many years. She has lived up to the example of a mistress. She has been virtuous and treated her superiors and subordinates with utmost respect and consideration. Although you are my nephew, you are still a concubine. You should imitate the imperial concubine in your conduct!"
After hearing this, Qing Ya felt very uncomfortable. She pursed her lips and said, "My daughter-in-law knows, thank you mother-in-law for your teaching!"
When she was helped up, her legs were frozen and it took a long time before she could walk. The continuous worship ceremony was really uncomfortable.
When she served tea in front of Wanyan Yong again, her legs lost all feeling and she served the tea with trembling hands.
"I invite you to drink tea!"
Just as she was about to kneel down, he lifted her up with both hands and took the hot tea in his hands.
"It's very cold, so there's no need to kneel down. We're all from the same family, so why be so polite!"
"This is a tea ceremony, so don't be disrespectful!" She knelt down with her hand in hand and took the tea back.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration. My mother-in-law just said that you should not be arrogant out of pampering. I think my sisters can bear it. Why should Qingya not accept it? She must complete the ceremony according to the rules!"
The two mothers-in-law saw her behavior and nodded with satisfaction.
"Mr. Sir, I would like to invite you for tea! I wish you good health and everything goes well!"
He took the tea and immediately helped her up. He took a Seven Treasures Necklace bracelet from the maid's handkerchief and was about to put it on her.
He gently stroked her thin wrist and saw that she already had a jade ring on her jade wrist. Everyone looked at each other privately as they noticed something was wrong.
The servant San Xiangling immediately added something more jealous: "Oh, look, Madam Ya, you have a ring on your wrist. Could it be that some lover gave it to you?"
As soon as the words came out, the Dowager's face looked bad. She stood in her position and said, "Qingya, who gave this to you?"
"Mother-in-law..."
Wan Yanyong looked at her nervous face and quickly protected her: "Hey, sister, you are worrying too much! I gave Qingya a ring before, but today, I thought that the first one was not very pretty, so I wanted to pick it off for her. Come down and change one!"
At this time, Mingxuan also replied: "Yes! Ah Jia, your Majesty showed this necklace to your daughter-in-law before!"
"Really? I have never seen this Fang Yingluo Circle. I'm afraid the imperial concubine must have remembered it wrong!"
Xiang Ling interrupted again, causing Wan Yanyong to turn his head and look at her.
Mingxuan smiled and said: "I and the king are husband and wife. The king will definitely tell me everything frankly. My sister has not seen it because the king does not want to tell you!"
"you!"
Xiang Ling glanced at Wan Yanyong's eyes and then closed her mouth.
Wan Yanyong took off her original ring and put the ring in his hand on her with a straight face.
With everyone here, although she was displeased, she could only give up and watched Wan Yanyong take the ring away.
Then he stood up and offered tea to the imperial concubine.
, looking respectful and respectful to his mistress. After walking around in a circle, kowtowing four times and serving tea four times, I finally sat down on a chair between the imperial concubine and Pu Sanxiang Ling to rest.
Yungong on the other side seemed to have been preparing for a long time. Seeing her sit down, he quickly climbed onto her lap. She also lifted him up and placed him on her lap. She selected a piece of crispy meat from the plate next to her and fed it to her. he.
"Cousin! You... are so beautiful," he still said vaguely, grinning.
As soon as she called, she stopped, her hand hovering to feed him some meat.
Mingxuan held his hand and said, "From now on, my son is not allowed to call you aunt!"
"What's that called?" he asked again.
"Call me little maid!"
"Why?"
"Because you married daddy, you can't call me that!"
"Why do you want to marry...to your father?" He blinked at Mingxuan with watery eyes, and she didn't know how to explain it.
"Aunt, why did you marry dad?" He raised his head and kept asking.
"I..., because I like your daddy!"
"Nanny also likes daddy. Nanny Ling and Nanny Zhang both like daddy. Why do they both like daddy!"
"Why doesn't anyone like me?" He looked up at Qingya.
"Who said that, we all like Yun Gong,"
"Really?"
"Who dares to lie to you!"
"You lied to me. My eldest sister doesn't like me. She often beats me with a ruler. My second brother likes me but he doesn't hit me. I don't know if my fourth brother likes me. I haven't asked him yet...".c
"I beat you because you keep touching this and that and disturbing my study."
Princess Yuxiao, who was sitting across from her, had long been uncomfortable. Seeing Yungong and Qingya kissing each other like this, she spoke with a straight face.
After a while, she walked in the middle of the hall again, bowing her head in front of Qingya: "I will pay my respects to my little maid and go to study!"
She stood up impatiently and glanced at Qingya, then bowed to her parents and grandmother before bowing out respectfully.
Mingxuan scolded her: "Yexiao! How can you be so rude?"
"How can my daughter be so rude that she wants a princess like me to bow down to her as a concubine?"
"Since there is a difference between a legitimate concubine and a concubine, if you want to do everything possible to gain access to this country, you must be able to keep your composure. I am the eldest daughter of my father and I, and I will not pay homage to you!"
"You are so presumptuous that you still don't know what is wrong."
Mingxuan glanced at Wanyanyong, whose face turned dark, and said, "I am your grandmother's nephew. You should respect and love her both externally and internally!"
Qingya patted Yungong as he slept soundly in her arms, and smiled at Mingxuan: "Sister, forget it, we can't delay the princess' study. It's a good thing for her to study hard!"
"Qingya, if this girl doesn't teach her, she will become even more arrogant and domineering in the future."
"Go back and reflect on yourself and copy "Women's Training" ten times!" Mingxuan slammed the table angrily.
Weixiao shook her temper and turned away without any sign of remorse.
For a long time after she left, the hall was very quiet, and everyone kept their faces silent.
Qing Ya watched and saw that Yungong in her arms had fallen asleep quietly. Mingxuan beside her was still angry because of her daughter. Mrs. Gaotang held the tea cup in her hand. Wanyan Yong was in the same mood as her. Sit on the chair facing forward with a straight face.
She turned her head to this side again. Xiang Ling was caressing her belly leisurely and shaking her head. From time to time, she would take a piece of crispy meat and eat it. Qin Li was holding her hands in silence, looking at Yunzhong opposite.
Qinli raised her eyes, and Yunzhong came to pay homage. He stood upright and said, "Yunzhong kowtows to my little mistress. I have just entered the palace for the first time. I don't have any precious gifts. I heard that you prefer a thin gold body, so I gave it to you." I have copied the "Book of Peony Poems" by my own hand. Since the last sentence has not been finished, I will send it to your garden in person after finishing it!"
"Yunzhong, please get up! It's cold on the ground, and I will treasure your handwriting."
"Thank you, mistress!"
"Shame! Sister Zhang, on the first day when the bride enters the house, you only give her a calligraphy and painting?"
Qinli smiled slightly and said, "Of course I'll be polite and send someone to you in the evening."
Give it away, sister, don’t mind! "
"Sister, what are you talking about? I am a newcomer, so I should pay my respects to you first. Now it's time for me to trouble my sister!"
Qinli smiled sweetly and replied: "What are you talking about, sister? You are the wife of Wan State who has been personally conferred by the Holy Emperor. With a first-class national title, your position must be above us! We should pay homage to you first."
"Then I'll thank my sister here and invite her to drink and eat meat with me later."
"well!"
"Then I'll send someone to deliver my gift later!" Xiang Ling spread out her fingers, looked at the koudan between her fingers, and shook the pearl hairpin on her head.
After they knelt down and bowed, everyone talked together for a while, chatting about home affairs. After a long time, Wanyan Yong stood up and asked everyone to leave, and everyone went back to the garden.
Qingya carefully handed the sleeping Yungong to the nanny beside her, turned around and saw Mingxuan holding her hand and walking gently out, leaving Wanyanyong alone.
The two of them walked side by side on the corridor. A gust of wind blew and made them shiver with cold. Mingxuan pulled her and walked quickly into the Serenity Garden. They put a blanket on the stove and pressed them together to keep warm.
"It's been such a boring day. It's only October and the bones are sore from the cold!" Mingxuan tied the down on her collar tightly.
"Ahem, I've been here for more than ten years, so this is all I can do!"
Mingxuan held her hand on the blanket and asked, "How is it?"
She was puzzled: "Huh?"
"How was the wedding night last night?"
"That's it!"
Mingxuan whispered into her ear, her cheeks flushed: "During the wedding night, my heart almost jumped into my throat! I was so scared, afraid of pain and shy,"
"But the king kept comforting me, and I felt better!"
Qingya recalled the pain last night, how rude he was, how hard he tried to occupy, she couldn't help but shuddered, and casually said: "It's okay!"
"Hmm, you're not old enough, so it's natural for you to feel like this. How about serving tea today?" She asked again.
"Everything is fine, but after the worship service, I saw the humanity in this country through and through!"
Mingxuan took the pliers and turned over the charcoal fire and said: "You have a lot of feelings, tell me!"
"For example, why did Princess Pucha say so little from the beginning to the end?"
"Um?"
"The concubine is a very smart person. She knows that the king is now in charge of the country. She avoids it everywhere without saying a word. She is well aware of the situation at hand. Naturally, she will not act like a mistress like she did when she was young!"
Qingya handed the Tang Pozi presented by the maid to her and said, "Why did she give me that precious necklace today and say such a thing?"
Mingxuan listened to her quietly.
"Firstly, she shows her love and respect for me, and secondly, she builds a relationship between me and her. My maternal grandmother is Taizu's younger sister, and her mother is also Taizu's biological sister. There is a whole family on her left and right."
"Thirdly, let the king put aside his past grudges according to his wishes."
As she spoke, she took a sip of hot tea, which burned her tongue, and quickly spit it out, covering her mouth lightly with her eyes red.
