The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

After paying respects, Gu Jianchu tentatively asked, "Why is the emperor here?"

"The court meeting ended early, and I wanted to come and have lunch with the Queen." Xie Ci'an took Gu Jianchu's hand and sat down in front of the imperial concubine's couch.

"Why didn't the emperor inform me in advance that he was coming? I could have asked the kitchen to prepare the meal in advance." Gu Jianchu said angrily.

Xie Ci'an said, "Don't worry, I have already asked the imperial kitchen to prepare it in advance."

After Xie Ci'an finished speaking, his eyes fell on the old mountain ginseng, "This old mountain ginseng is of very good quality."

I was just worrying about what to do with the old mountain ginseng, and now the opportunity has come. "Sister Li Shurong sent it to me personally. I don't have much use for such a good thing, so I was thinking of returning it, but unfortunately the emperor came here first."

[The Emperor personally ordered the return of the item. Li Shurong must be sweating profusely.]

"It would be a shame to send such a nourishing thing back."

The emperor is not planning to keep the things.

Just as Gu Jianchu was puzzled, Xie Ci'an spoke again, "The Minister of Rites has been busy with the affairs of the ancestral temple lately. Cheng Song, please send this aged mountain ginseng to the Minister of Rites' residence so that he can take good care of himself. This is also a token of our goodwill from the Queen and me."

[In terms of loss, the emperor is the one who suffered the most. He gave his own daughter the medicine and then sent it back to her father to take. Just thinking about it makes me feel a little excited.]

[However, the Emperor had no idea that something had been placed in the old mountain ginseng. It could only be considered an accident.]

Cheng Song stepped forward, took the old mountain ginseng away, and personally delivered it to the residence of the Minister of Rites.

Lunch was quickly delivered from the imperial kitchen, filling the table. Gu Jianchu was so amazed by the sight.

[The Emperor's imperial meal is truly too good to be true. I really don't understand what the Emperor was thinking before, as if he were actually trying to eat my meal.]

[If the Emperor doesn't pick up his chopsticks, I'd feel embarrassed to eat.]

Gu Jianchu rolled up his sleeves and personally helped Xie Ci'an to prepare the dishes. "Your Majesty is very busy with government affairs and must have worked hard. Eat more to replenish your body."

If he hadn't known that the queen wanted to eat, he would have truly believed that the queen was considerate of him.

"I came here today, not only to accompany the Queen for dinner, but also to tell her two other things." Xie Ci'an put down the chopsticks in his hand.

Gu Jianchu stared at the sliced beef on the table with sparkling eyes and was about to pick it up, but when he heard Xie Ci'an's words, he could only put away his chopsticks in disappointment.

"Battle reports have arrived from the front lines: the Liaodong Army has won a great victory and will be returning to the capital soon."

"This is such a great joyous event, congratulations to the emperor." Gu Jianchu's joy was beyond words. She hadn't seen her father and elder brother for a year since they went to Liaodong.

Gu Jianchu then asked, "What about the other happy event that His Majesty mentioned?"

Xie Ci'an said, "It's not really a happy event. In a few days we will have the Winter Solstice family banquet, and the Queen will have to take care of it."

[It's really not a good thing, it's a thankless task.]

Last year's winter solstice family banquet was directly handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for preparation as these concubines had just entered the palace.

After hearing Gu Jianchu's complaints, Xie Ci'an smiled and explained, "The Queen doesn't need to put in too much effort. The Imperial Household Department has its own rules. The Queen only needs to make the decision."

"I will do my best to get it done." If she didn't agree, the beef would get cold, and it would not taste good if it got cold.

Just as Xie Ci'an arranged this matter, Eunuch Huang from the Imperial Household Department arrived in the afternoon.

Eunuch Huang is the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, in charge of all matters big and small in the department. He usually likes to act according to people's wishes.

In the past, he used the silver given by the imperial concubine to provide her with many conveniences.

Huang Xin's face was filled with smiles. "Eunuch Huang Xin, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, greets the Empress."

"Eunuch Huang, please get up." Gu Jianchu sat upright in front of the couch, playing with the teacup in his hand.

Huang Xin took a booklet from the eunuch behind him and handed it to Yun He. "Although the Winter Solstice is a family banquet, the Liaodong army won a victory, and the emperor is happy and has ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to hold a grand celebration. This is the plan I have drafted, please let the Empress decide."

Yunhe handed the flower album to Gu Jianchu.

Gu Jianchu briefly flipped through some of the content, which mainly included food, seating arrangements and ritual and music programs.

The food and music arrangements were prepared according to the conventions of previous years, and were well-behaved so as not to cause any major mistakes.

"There has never been an iron flower show in the palace in previous years." Gu Jianchu turned to the last page in the booklet.

Huang Xin immediately explained, "Indeed, there were no such events in previous years. This time, the Minister of Rites proposed it to the Emperor, saying it was to celebrate the Liaodong Army's great victory. The Emperor has already agreed. I wonder if the Empress has any questions."

Huang Xindu used the emperor to pressure her, so what else could she have?

Thinking of the old mountain ginseng that Li Shurong sent to her that was harmful to human health, Gu Jianchu always felt that the Minister of Rites' proposal had impure motives.

"The emperor has agreed, so I naturally have no problem with it. However, I have noticed that the dinner has the same dishes every year, so we can change them." Gu Jianchu helped Huang Xin list a few more menu items.

After discussion with Huang Xin, the menu was tentatively decided based on the final draft by Gu Jianchu.

On the day of the winter solstice family banquet, the sun was shining brightly, and even the empress dowager, who had not been out for a long time, came to the banquet.

Concubine Shu was released from house arrest.

Concubine Shu was dressed up specially today. Her lotus pink dress made her skin look soft and fair. Her hair was tied up in a bun with kingfisher feathers and delicate pearls on both sides of her eyes. She did not look haggard because of being confined to her room.

She walked up to Gu Jianchu with a swaying step and said, "Thank you, Queen, for organizing such a grand family banquet."

Concubine Shu has always been at odds with her, and Gu Jianchu has gradually gotten used to it. After all, the concubine always felt that she was blocking her way to becoming queen.

Gu Jianchu sarcastically said, "It's really hard to take care of all the arrangements for the family banquet. I envy my sister for having such a leisurely life."

"You..." The imperial concubine was about to get angry, but the maid beside her pulled her sleeve to stop her. She turned her anger into a chuckle, "The Empress is really good at this. I heard that even the virtuous concubines were defeated by the Empress."

"Sister, please don't talk nonsense. The virtuous concubine ended up like this today because of her own fault. It has nothing to do with me." As soon as Gu Jianchu finished speaking, the voice of the little eunuch came over.

The imperial concubine wanted to say something else, but could only step aside.

After Xie Ci'an took his seat, the family dinner became lively again.

Because it was a family dinner, all the concubines and royal relatives in the palace came, but the eldest princess was missing.

I guess the eldest princess and her husband just had such a quarrel and they are too embarrassed to come to the family dinner.

The music was soft and the royal relatives came forward to toast Xie Ci'an, but most of the drinks were politely declined by Xie Ci'an. Knowing Xie Ci'an's temper, everyone naturally did not dare to persuade him anymore.

Xie Ci'an couldn't help but look at Gu Jianchu who was busy eating beside him.

The Queen was unusually quiet today.

At her aunt's signal, Concubine Shu swayed to the front of the hall and bowed lightly to Xie Ci'an. "Your Majesty, I have been diligently practicing palm dances recently. I wonder if I could show off my skills in front of everyone today and perform for you."