Story of Yanxi Palace: Fu Ying's banner will never fall

Empress Fucha smiled slightly but said nothing.

She thought to herself that the emperor was still the emperor after all, and would never truly understand her inner thoughts and feelings.

In this deep palace, power and status are certainly important, but she hopes more to protect her child and give him enough care and freedom.

As for the illusory throne and glory, they may be of vital importance to others, but after Yonglian's serious illness, these are no longer so important to her.

Zhang Jianyi also spoke up, his expression showing great worry, "Empress, if you reject the Emperor this time, he might think that you are unwilling to accept your apology. This will cause a rift between you two, and it will only make things easier for others."

However, Empress Fucha's expression remained calm, as if she had no emotion at all. She just said calmly, "Don't worry. After the ancestor worship, I will naturally explain it to the emperor."

After saying that, she turned to the maids around her and instructed: "Continue to dress up."

The emperor, like ordinary people, also needs to worship gods and ancestors on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Surrounded by fourteen eunuchs, the emperor first came to Tianyi Gate, and then went to Qin'an Hall, Doutan and Tianqiong Hall to burn incense.

Afterwards, they arrived at the platform of the Qianqing Palace, where they were led by guards to the Fengxian Hall to worship their ancestors. After the kowtow ceremony, they returned to the Yangxin Hall to burn gold foil and other items for their ancestors.

After completing the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, the emperor moved to the Kunning Palace, and together with the empress, concubines and other household relatives, "burned incense before the Buddha, ancestors and the Kitchen God", praying devoutly to the gods to protect the country with good weather and prosperity in the new year.

After the sacrifice was over, the emperor needed to go to the ancestral temple to worship the tablets of his ancestors.

During these cumbersome procedures, the emperor actually had the opportunity to meet with the empress and have a low conversation with her.

However, during this period, the two of them tacitly did not mention the matter of Er Qing. After all, this was a major national sacrificial event.

Although they seemed to have some dissatisfaction with each other, they still maintained a respectful attitude on the surface and completed various processes smoothly.

After all affairs were properly handled, the sky was already slightly pale, and the emperor set out for the Hall of Supreme Harmony to accept congratulations from all officials.

After careful consideration, the emperor finally decided to respect the queen's wishes and follow the ancestral laws and continue to implement the secret system of appointing the crown prince.

After accepting the worship, he hurriedly dismissed the crowd.

At this moment, the emperor was thinking about the queen and wanted to go to Changchun Palace to explain to her.

After all, seeing the sadness in the queen's eyes today, he felt deeply guilty.

However, the ministers did not allow the emperor to leave. They gathered in the Yangxin Palace and discussed state affairs for a long time.

By the time the emperor came to his senses, time had already passed and the sun was setting.

On the other side, after completing the blessing ceremony, all the concubines gathered in Shoukang Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

The Queen Mother smiled happily, nodded with satisfaction, and cordially asked all the concubines to stand up and sit down: "Okay, okay, everyone stand up and take your seats."

"Thank you, Queen Mother." Everyone said in unison, and then sat down respectfully waiting for the Queen Mother's instructions.

The Queen Mother spoke slowly, her eyes sweeping across the concubines below, finally stopping at the Queen sitting beside her, with a kind smile on her face:

"Queen, the beauty pageant will be held in the spring of this year. How are the preparations going?"

When Empress Fucha heard the Queen Mother asking about the selection of concubines, she quickly stood up and replied respectfully:

"In reply to the Empress, everything has been prepared. In a few days, I will compile a list of the selected girls and send it to you for your review."

The Queen Mother nodded and said with satisfaction: "Well, very good, I feel very relieved to have you in the harem. But you should also pay attention to your body and don't get too tired."

As she spoke, the Queen Mother carefully examined Empress Fucha and found that she seemed to be thinner than before. She couldn't help but frowned and asked with concern:

"Why have you lost weight? Are you too tired recently, or are you feeling unwell? You should go see the imperial physician instead of just focusing on palace affairs."

Empress Fucha felt warm in her heart after hearing what the Queen Mother said, and said with a smile:

"Thank you for your concern, Madam. I am just a little tired these days, but it's nothing serious. I will take good care of myself, please rest assured, Madam."

The Queen Mother sighed, took Empress Fucha's hand and patted it gently, her eyes full of love and heartache:

"You are always so sensible, which makes me very happy. But you should not work too hard. Rest when you need to, and think more about yourself."

When Concubine Gao saw that the Queen Mother was only concerned with talking to Empress Fucha and completely ignoring the existence of other people, she suddenly felt dissatisfied.

She couldn't help but cough, and said in a pinched voice: "Ahem... Queen Mother, I think that the selection of concubines should not only focus on appearance, but also on character."

The Queen Mother listened to Concubine Gao's words, smiled slightly, and nodded in appreciation:

"Well, Concubine Gao is right. The selected girls must not only have outstanding looks, but also good moral character and upbringing. Only in this way can they become the emperor's wise wives and better assist the emperor."

Concubine Gao smiled triumphantly, she felt that she had finally caught the attention of the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother turned to look at Concubine Xian and said with a smile: "Concubine Xian, you are also an old man in the palace, and you must have a lot of experience in the selection of concubines. Why don't you tell me what kind of woman is suitable to enter the palace?"

When Empress Xian heard this, she sat up straight, cleared her throat, and was about to express her opinion when she was interrupted.

"Empress Dowager, the Queen's selection is indeed well prepared, but unfortunately her moral character is not good enough. I heard that the maids in the Queen's palace had already slept with her yesterday."

When Concubine Gao said this, everyone was stunned, and the empress dowager, who was sitting in the main seat, looked at Empress Fucha with surprise.

The queen was shocked. She didn't expect that Concubine Gao would say such words in public. It was obvious that she wanted to embarrass her.

Concubine Chun on the side frowned and looked at Concubine Gao with dissatisfaction.

The Queen Mother's face suddenly turned gloomy. She looked at Empress Fucha sharply and asked unhappily:

"Queen, is this true?"

Empress Fucha stood up hastily and replied respectfully: "To answer your Majesty, it is true. The maid did not know the rules, and I have punished her severely."

The Queen Mother's expression was still gloomy. She snorted softly, indicating that she was not satisfied with the Queen's handling of the matter.