Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 235 - 133 Palace Feast

In three days, starting from tomorrow, is Lunar New Year’s Day.

Officials will start their holiday from tomorrow and will return to the court on the fifth day of the new year.

Mrs. Liu and Xiao’er were going through the accounts together in the room. Mrs. Liu was going over the household’s expenses and the status of gifts received and sent out for the new year to see if anything was missed. The number of gifts they had received this year was significantly more than last year, which also meant they had to give and reciprocate more gifts as well. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Xiao’er was looking over the accounts for the shop and the villa. Xiao’er was quick with her sums. By the time she was done going through the whole basket of account books, Mrs. Liu also just finished going through the accounts she needed to check.

"I used to think working in the fields every day was particularly exhausting. I envied those married ladies and young ladies who did not have to face the loess and back the sky. But who knew, those married ladies and young ladies had even more to learn and working with one’s brain is even more tiring!" said Mrs. Liu while pointing at her head.

After hearing this, Xiao’er stood up, walked over and began to massage Mrs. Liu’s head.

"If you feel tired, mother, I can also handle this." Both mental labor and physical labor can cause fatigue, it’s just that one is more mentally exhausting while the other is more physically exhausting.

"You have a lot to do every day. I can still manage this. Speaking of this, I haven’t prepared the dresses for the royal palace tomorrow!" Mrs. Liu suddenly remembered this crucial matter she had almost forgotten and quickly let go of Xiao’er’s hand, stood up and prepared to check if anything was missing from the set of clothes.

Tomorrow, the Emperor will host a banquet for the officials who rank above fourth-rank after which they will officially start their new year’s leave.

As the Marquis Shen Chengyao, a relative by marriage and a meritorious official, his whole family of course is on the invitation list.

"Didn’t you have Aunt Rong check everything before dinner? There shouldn’t be any issues. You should go to bed early tonight, mother. You will have to get up early for makeup tomorrow," Xiao’er said, seeing that Mrs. Liu was getting a bit flustered and urged her to go to bed.

Mrs. Liu also felt that she should go to sleep. She also urged Xiao’er to return to her room and rest.

Early the next morning, the entire family was dressed up and ready to attend the palace banquet.

The weather was exceptionally cold, and there was a long line of teams entering the Imperial Capital through the Donghua Gate.

Xiao Fuzi was still waiting outside the palace gate. Seeing the carriage of Marquis Shengping’s Mansion appear, he walked forward, led them in, and let them go directly in with the token.

There were really not many officials who could receive such treatment. Besides Marquis Shengping’s Mansion, there was only the home of the Empress, Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion.

Others enter the palace according to their ranks.

Xiao’er couldn’t help but sigh. Having connections is always good for getting things done.

If she had to stand around in the icy weather when it was the coldest part of day, she would probably freeze solid.

Also, even after entering the palace, one had to walk a long distance to reach the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Just thinking about it made her feel that this banquet was suffering!

Xiao Fuzi led them to the outside of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, then a palace maid came forward to lead Mrs. Liu and the other ladies to the inner hall. Shen Chengyao and his sons were led to the main hall by Xiao Fuzi.

Mrs. Liu held onto Xiao Xi’er, while Xiao’er held onto Yun’er. As soon as the four women stepped into the hall, they were enveloped by a snug warmth, which was a considerable comfort.

After they completed the required formalities and paid their respects, the Empress immediately invited them to sit on her right side.

On the left side of the Empress sat the old lady from Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion, Mrs. Lu -wife of the general, and Di Shaowei’s cousin, Di Junya, along with her mother Mrs. Ma.

Such arrangements clearly stated who was close and who was distant.

As for Marquis Shengping Mansion...

The faces of the wives present subtly shifted before quickly returning to normal.

The smile on the wife of the Prime Minister’s face barely held. Now that the Minister of the Right had been dismissed, her husband was the only Minister of the Left, earning him a highly esteemed position just below the emperor. Despite this, no matter how hard she tried to curry favor with the Empress, she was met with a lukewarm response.

She glanced at her daughter, feeling a profound pain in her heart.

Ever since her daughter found out that the Emperor had betrothed the Sixth Prince to Lady Rui’an, she had become listless and absent-minded in everything she did.

"Xiao’er, you’ve lost quite a bit of weight since I saw you last month. Your face has become so sharp! You must have been working too hard lately!" The empress held Xiao’er’s hand, her tone filled with concerned affection.

"Really, did I lose weight? I used to think I was too fat and not pretty enough, and was thinking about how to lose weight. Now that I’ve lost weight without trying, that’s great. Empress, don’t you think I’ve become prettier?" Xiao’er touched her sharp jawline and said proudly.

Regardless of her boastful tone, even she felt that she had become more beautiful.

"You silly girl, you’re thinking of losing weight. If you lose any more weight, it won’t be beautiful at all." The Empress purposely tried to scare her.

Her son had a good eye for women; this girl was indeed becoming more and more attractive.

Consort Yang was jealous that her prospective daughter-in-law had been snatched away and hated seeing the affectionate "mother-in-law and daughter-in-law" act played out before her. She couldn’t help but sarcastically comment: "Even if you slim down to be more attractive, how is it going to tempt people? You’re shameless at such a young age and you..."

"Enough!" The Empress’s face darkened, and she reprimanded Consort Yang sternly.

"Consort Yang, you may be beautiful, but that doesn’t give you the right to belittle others. Not everyone is as disgraceful as you!"

Everyone present knew that when the Emperor was still a prince, Consort Yang had drugged him and became pregnant with his child, which secured her the position of imperial consort.

The so-called rule of not exposing one’s shortcomings and not hitting someone in the face was ignored by the Empress for the first time, ridiculing Consort Yang’s past in front of so many officials’ families.

Everyone present avoided looking at Consort Yang and pretended not to hear anything.

However, they were all secretly wondering what Consort Yang meant by her words.

Consort Yang’s face turned red, and while regretting her reckless outburst, she also hated the Empress and Xiao’er even more.

Seeing her silent, the Empress looked at the other ladies and knew what they were thinking.

So the Empress smiled and said to Xiao’er: "Thank you for discovering the conspiracy of the Japanese a while ago. You risked your life to follow them. Otherwise, everyone in the Imperial City would have caught smallpox."

"I shouldn’t receive the Empress’s gratitude. It was only because the Empress cared about me and summoned me to talk that I was able to hear what the Japanese envoy said on my way to Kunning Palace. If you really think about it, the credit should go to the Empress." Xiao’er replied with a smile.

"You’re such a sweet talker, child. I can’t claim this credit. Even if I had summoned someone else, they wouldn’t have discovered it, because no one in the Imperial City understands Japanese. It’s just you who are so learned and talented. Moreover, Yi’er fought against the Japanese envoy and got hurt, then he caught smallpox. It was all you who helped to take care of him. Although the Emperor has already issued a secret edict to betroth you to Yi’er, and you are not an outsider, I, as the Empress, still want to thank you."

Everyone present understood Consort Yang’s words after hearing this. It turned out that the Emperor had betrothed the two long ago, but they hadn’t known.

But the Empress intentionally mentioned this matter, not wanting any idle talk about Lady Rui’an to circulate.