The Virtuous Concubine

Malu took it and tried it on herself a few times: "Forget the apricot yellow one, it's orange and makes my face look sallow. I'd rather have the snow-blue one!"

Snow blue is a light purple-blue color, similar to the color of light reflected on the snow, noble and elegant. This color is actually more picky than apricot yellow, but Malu's skin is white with some blue-green, which can bring out the charm of this dress.

Moreover, the clothes appear pink under the yellow light, making her look younger, which fits Malu's mentality at the moment - she really can't accept that her son is now old enough to have children, so she might as well act younger!

Bai Xia happily agreed and told someone to pack up the other clothes. Then he opened the box himself and found the lining and shoes that matched the snow-blue wedding dress. After all this trouble, he finally put together a complete outfit.

Malu looked at the entire set of carefully matched snow-blue auspicious clothes, nodded with satisfaction, ordered the palace servants to put it away, and continued to embroider the belt herself.

Time passed in a flash, and just two days after Malu's belt was embroidered and sent to the prince, it was the lively Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner.

Kangxi was concerned about the affairs in the south of the Yangtze River this year, so he ordered that everything be kept simple, and the moon worship and subsequent family banquet were held in the Qianqing Palace.

The Imperial Astronomical Observatory calculated the auspicious position and set up the altar, on which were placed the Moonlight God Code and a solid ten-jin mooncake. On the left and right sides of the large mooncake were two three-jin mooncakes, each with several plates of small mooncakes, as well as some tea, wine, seasonal flowers and fresh fruits.

The moon worship ceremony would begin at the beginning of the You hour, so the concubines in each palace would have to bathe, change clothes after breakfast, and then put on makeup and rush to the Qianqing Palace at the Shen hour.

At this time, things become more particular. Generally, the higher the position, the later one arrives. But Malu doesn't like to rush things, so she usually arrives a little earlier to leave some extra time.

As for whether others would think that she was inferior to Wen Xi, she didn't care.

So when she arrived, even the Imperial Concubine Wenxi, who was supposed to host the family dinner, was not there. Only a few minor concubines who had just reached the threshold to attend the family dinner were there.

She smiled and called out to the concubines to do as they pleased, then waved away the servants and told them to do their own things, then stood directly to the right of the top seat.

This made the servants below feel relieved.

These two imperial concubines thought there would be a dispute between the left and the right, but they didn't expect Imperial Concubine De Zhao to be so humble! She didn't put on airs and chatted directly with Imperial Concubine Zhang Jia who came with her.

Of course they wanted to flatter Concubine Dezhao, but they still had a lot of work to do! They were afraid that Concubine Dezhao would catch them talking and they would not do their job well.

Imperial Concubine Wenxi was slowly drinking the invigorating ginseng soup. When she heard the servants report that Imperial Concubine Dezhao had arrived, she choked up a little: "Why did she leave so early again?"

The last time Malu rejected her, she felt that Malu looked down on her and even felt angry towards Malu, thinking that Malu was too arrogant and didn't even take Nianhulu and the prince seriously.

But she didn't expect that Malu would arrive earlier than her as usual. Could it be that after so many years in the palace, she didn't know that whoever arrives earlier should be lower than the one who comes later?

The maid below also stammered, "And Imperial Concubine De Zhao stood directly at the head of the concubines on the right, Your Majesty..."

Imperial Concubine Wenxi frowned and put down the ginseng soup bowl in her hand: "Forget it, let's not worry about what she means. Let's get ready quickly."

In fact, Imperial Concubine Wenxi had already packed up and also dealt with the final matters of the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet. She was just one of the two imperial concubines in the palace, so she had to go there on time.

Could it be that she just likes to establish this reputation of being modest and cautious? Imperial Concubine Wenxi was getting a little anxious thinking about it. She was really good at acting!

Thinking of this, she became a little anxious. After all, the later she arrived, the more arrogant she was. She quickly supported Xue Lan and the others and said, "Let's go. Let's get the servants carrying the sedan chair to move faster."

When she reached Jingyun Gate, she got off and walked to the square in front of the Qianqing Palace. Seeing Malu standing at the first position among the concubines on the right, chatting and laughing calmly, her anger rose again. She was so busy and had to rush here, panting all the way, but she was free!

It also makes people feel that she is humble and low-key, which is really annoying.

But Concubine Wenxi still suppressed her emotions, bowed to Malu with a smile, and then greeted everyone.

After saying hello, Concubine Wenxi unexpectedly walked up to Malu and asked, "How can a sister stand in the position of a younger sister?"

Malu's smile did not disappear. She looked at Concubine Wenxi and responded calmly, "What do you mean, sister? This is the first concubine on the right. What's wrong with me standing here?"

After hearing Malu's sly but pointed words, Concubine Wenxi's expression changed slightly, and a hint of displeasure flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and smiled as she persuaded him:

"Sister, have you forgotten that this position has always been arranged according to the rank? Although you and I are both imperial concubines, in terms of the time of entering the palace, sister is earlier than me, so naturally sister is the more respected."

As he said this, he spread out his right hand and made a gesture of invitation.

Malu smiled softly, and held her right hand, which was pretending to be posing, in a very natural way. "In terms of the time of entering the palace, I did enter earlier than you. But the position of concubine is not just about entering the palace earlier or later. You have been working hard for the emperor and the royal family for many years, and you deserve the first place. Moreover, I came here first today, and standing here is just a matter of course. Why should you be so obsessed with a position, sister? Go, the emperor is coming."

After saying that, he let go of her hand, turned around, stood up straight and faced the altar, looking pious and expectant.

Seeing that she did not accept the challenge, Concubine Wenxi hesitated for a moment, then had to wink at Xue Lan and reluctantly stood on the honorable seat on the left.

In the current situation, it is unworthy for her to stand on the left!

But Concubine De Zhao actually wanted to be humble and didn't want to stand on the left at all.

She couldn't argue with Malu over this matter, as she would be in the wrong then. Her body wouldn't be able to support it either, and she would have to save some energy to deal with the holiday gifts. She could only stand to the left angrily.

The concubines at the back seemed to be watching, but in fact they were listening with their ears perked up to what the two imperial concubines were saying, and were amazed in their hearts.

As expected of the position of imperial concubine, both of them are very humble.

Soon, everyone's attention turned to Kangxi who had just appeared. Kangxi seemed to be in a good mood today. He looked at the concubines with a smile, asked a few questions about Concubine Wenxi's health, told her not to force herself, and talked to Malu about the child, then stood still.