The emperor just doesn't treat everyone equally, and it's none of my business!

The next morning, people had to get up early to participate in the royal family's tedious ancestor worship ceremony.

To attend the royal ancestor worship ceremony, one must wear formal attire. This is the first time that Gu Shijin has worn this attire, and when paired with the prescribed headdress, the feeling comes immediately.

The clothing of the Great Xia Dynasty is somewhat similar to that of the Song Dynasty. Wearing them makes people feel dignified and elegant yet refined.

There was just one thing: the clothes and headdress were too heavy. Gu Shijin felt shaky when he walked after putting them on.

"You'll get used to it, my lady." Xingyue said with a smile, "I'll wear it often in the future."

When it came to ancestor worship, Gu Shijin just went along for the fun. She stood at the back and couldn't even hear any noise from inside, but she just knelt along with everyone else.

Oh, yes, only the emperor and the empress can enter the ancestral hall. No matter how high their positions are, the concubines are still concubines and are not qualified to enter.

It's so cold outside and there's a cold wind. No wonder everyone wants to be the queen.

There was nothing else to do on the first day of the New Year except ancestor worship, and there was no need for concubines to participate, so after worshiping the ancestors, Gu Shijin returned to Ningyu Pavilion.

For example, the empress had to wait for court ladies of the third rank and above to come and pay their respects to the empress. After these court ladies had paid their respects to the empress, if they had daughters who were concubines in the harem, they could ask the empress for permission to see them.

In fact, in previous years, they would come in to meet on the second day of the Chinese New Year, but for some reason, Lu Junze changed the time with a wave of his hand.

When this ancestral system was changed, there was not much opposition from officials of the previous dynasty, probably because this matter had little to do with them.

But this matter has nothing to do with Gu Shijin, because his father is a low-ranking official.

After the first day of the new year, the New Year was over and Gu Shijin breathed a sigh of relief. Only those who have experienced it personally can understand the bitterness of the royal family's New Year. It is too difficult.

"My lady, let me massage you." Xingyue said as she saw Shi Jin turning his neck.

"Okay." Gu Shijin really liked Xingyue's massage technique.

This neck is pressed down by the heavy headdress she wore yesterday. It's like this for a concubine. I don't know how the queen can bear it. The queen has to wear it all day.

"Xingyue, please teach me how to massage." Gu Shijin suddenly remembered that last time she told Lu Junze that she wanted to learn massage.

Although it may not be useful in the future, it never hurts to learn it.

Xingyue was very happy to teach Gu Shijin when she heard it. The young lady must be learning massage for the emperor, which is a good thing.

Massage is not difficult to learn. The strength can be adjusted according to the tolerance of the person being massaged. The main thing is to find the acupoints on the body. The massage position is very important.

Although Xiao Linzi is a eunuch, he is also a man. It is not appropriate to ask him to demonstrate, so Xingzhu has to do it.

Xingyue knew why the young master wanted to learn this, so she didn't teach too much. She only taught a few important acupoints, mainly to relieve fatigue.

Gu Shijin listened very carefully. At first, she wanted to give Lu Junze a massage in the future, but after listening to it, she became interested.

"My lady, do you want to try it on me?" Xingyue asked.

"it is good."

Gu Shijin asked Xingyue to sit on a small stool and tried it himself.

Gu Shijin is not a rigid person and is also nice to the palace maids, so Xingyue dared to make this suggestion. If it were any other master, Xingyue would definitely not dare to do so.

But Xingyue was also very sensible and got up after feeling it twice.

"My lady, that's it." Xingyue said.

Gu Shijin smiled and said, "Then I am quite talented."

"My lady, what would you like to eat for lunch? I will ask the imperial kitchen to prepare it." Xiao Linzi came in and asked.

Gu Shijin thought for a moment and said, "Let the imperial kitchen make a bowl of hot and sour noodles, and then prepare two light side dishes."

Sweet potato noodles already existed in the Great Xia Dynasty, but people didn’t know how to make hot and sour noodles before. One time, Gu Shijin asked the imperial kitchen to make it according to the recipe she gave, and it tasted very good.

It just so happened that Gu Shijin had thought of this today. She had been fed up with the big meals these days.

"Yes, my lord."

Speaking of which, today is the second day of the Chinese New Year, which is the day to "go back to my parents' home", but because Lu Junze changed the time for me to visit the palace, the palace is quite quiet today.

Xiao Linzi was warmly welcomed as soon as she arrived at the imperial kitchen. Since Gu Shijin was favored, the treatment of her, the eunuch in Ningyu Pavilion, was naturally different.

"Eunuch Lin, what would Miss Jin like to eat today?"

"Eunuch Lin, my master has just braised the beef. Would Miss Jin like to try it?"

"Eunuch Lin..."

There are many imperial chefs in the imperial kitchen, and each of them is good at different things, so naturally they want to show up more in front of Gu Shijin.

However, Xiao Linzi did not act arrogantly. He always remembered Gu Shijin's words and said, "My dear brothers, my young master wants to eat hot and sour noodles, plus two light side dishes."

The imperial kitchen worked quickly and prepared what Gu Shijin wanted in no time.

"Is the food for my little master ready?" asked Shunpin's personal maid.

She arrived much earlier than Xiao Linzi, but these people sent her to wait aside.

"Miss, I'm afraid you have to wait a little longer. It takes time to stew the pigeon." The person in the imperial kitchen replied.

Ever since Lu Junze dealt with a group of palace maids because of Chen Changzai's incident last time, these palace maids and eunuchs no longer dare to bully their masters openly, but some small actions still continue.

Shunpin had long been forgotten by Lu Junze, so naturally everyone's attitude towards her was not as good as that towards Gu Shijin, who was in the emperor's favor.

Shunpin's personal maid was so perfunctorily dismissed that she had no choice. Others said they were doing it, but it was just that what your master wanted would take a long time, so you had to wait. Now that Shunpin was out of favor, she didn't dare to act recklessly outside.

But when Xiao Linzi left, she glared at him fiercely.

Xiao Linzi felt puzzled. It wasn't him who offended her. It was your master herself who was not favored.

After Xiao Linzi returned, he told Gu Shijin about this.

Gu Shijin: "Shunpin was also favored by the emperor before. Now the gap is so big, she naturally can't stand it."

Moreover, Shunpin was favored in the past, and the palace maids and eunuchs around her were also flattered. As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. This is the truth.

Before, Concubine De assisted in managing the six palaces, and Concubine Shun was Concubine De's person, so the palace people would give her some face. Now that Concubine De's right to assist in managing the six palaces has been taken back, her own life has not changed much, but Concubine Shun, who is by her side, is not so smooth.

Shunpin's personal maid brought the meal back, but was slapped unexpectedly by Shunpin.

"Is this the meal you ordered for me in the imperial kitchen?" Shunpin shouted angrily, pointing at the things on the table.

The dishes were actually pretty good, except for the pigeon soup she specifically requested... which was not very good.

There were few pieces of pigeon in it, it was basically all soup.

"My...my lady, the people in the imperial kitchen said that Consort De also wanted to eat pigeon soup, but there is only one pigeon left in the imperial kitchen today, so..."

So Shunpin had to bear the brunt of the situation.

Hot and sour noodles taste sour and spicy, which is very suitable for a bowl in winter. However, the hot and sour noodles today tasted a bit strange, as if they were more sour than usual.