Secrets of Yuqing Palace

After having breakfast in Ningshou Palace, everyone chatted with the Empress Dowager for a while before leaving.

Yinreng accompanied Kangxi back to the Qianqing Palace, while Wanyu went to the Yongshou Palace where the imperial concubine was.

Instead of paying respects, he continued to learn palace affairs from the imperial concubine.

The other four concubines also went to Yongshou Palace.

Because there is a more important New Year's Eve family dinner tonight, which will be held in the Qianqing Palace. It is very important and involves many aspects of palace affairs arrangements, and no mistakes can be made.

Although arrangements have been made in advance, someone still needs to be assigned to keep an eye on it to prevent any accidents from happening and to deal with them in a timely manner.

The family dinner on New Year’s Eve is one of the most important banquets in the palace in a year, and the imperial chefs began preparing in the morning.

The eunuchs were busy arranging various furnishings, preparing a large golden dragon banquet table for the emperor's dinner, with vases placed on both sides and four pine-covered fruit covers in the middle.

The Empress Dowager used a high table with curtains, which was placed to the left of the Emperor's banquet table.

The banquet table for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess was placed to the right of the Emperor's banquet table.

The banquet tables for other concubines, princes' wives and princesses were placed in two rows on the left and right according to their seats.

The banquet table must be placed in advance, including various fruit boxes, fruit cups, dry and wet snacks, tea, etc.

Before the family dinner begins, the eunuchs will first place the cold dishes and then the hot dishes.

After the emperor and the empress dowager took their seats, the music began and the concubines took their seats one by one.

Accompanied by music, the eunuchs first served soup, rice, etc. to the emperor and the empress dowager, which were similar to the appetizers in later Western meals.

It will then be presented to the Crown Prince and the concubines.

After the meal, the music stopped and the Southern Palace began to perform the Chengying Opera.

At the same time, eunuchs would offer milk tea to the emperor, empress dowager and concubines.

After the milk tea is finished, the banquet performance will stop and the eunuchs will start to arrange the banquet.

Starting from the emperor's seat, the table rotates to the empress dowager, the crown prince, concubines, etc.

The soup bowls are passed first, followed by side dishes, desserts, fruit cups, Su cakes, group dishes, abalone, snails, gaotou, pine shed fruit covers, etc. Only vases, chopsticks and fruit boxes are not passed.

After the banquet was over, the wine banquet began, and music was played again in the hall.

The banquet still starts from the table of the emperor and the empress dowager, and only after the second pair of boxes are presented will the tables of the concubines and princes and princesses be placed in order.

Although the emperor had the highest status, the empress dowager was the emperor's biological mother and a respected elder of the emperor, so the banquet tables of the emperor and the empress dowager were almost the same.

First, a table of wine and food was served, which was decorated with copper-based cloisonné enamel plates. The wine and food were divided into five groups, each with 8 dishes, and presented in five pairs of flying dragon banquet boxes.

（第一对盒为荤菜4品及果子4品；第二对盒为荤菜8品；第三对盒为果子8品；第四对盒为荤菜8品；第五对盒为果子8品。）

When the second pair of boxes was presented to the emperor, banquet tables were set up for the concubines and princes and princesses. Each table had 15 dishes, including 7 dishes and 8 fruits, and each table was presented with a pair of boxes.

After all these were arranged, the eunuchs in charge of the banquet withdrew and the music stopped.

Next, the emperor, empress dowager and concubines can enjoy the delicious food with peace of mind.

Wanyu was dazzled by what she saw. It was also her first time to attend a New Year's Eve family dinner in the palace. She found it troublesome and tiring.

Especially since there are many links involved, if someone is secretly doing something, it will be very annoying and frustrating.

It would be more comfortable and relaxing to sit together with the whole family at home and have a reunion dinner.

But fortunately, she is just an observer and learner now, and she doesn't need to operate it herself for the time being.

But Yinreng once revealed to her that the emperor intended to let her take over the palace affairs.

As for the reason, one is that she is the Crown Princess. As the future queen, it is very convincing for her to take over the palace affairs.

The second reason was that the imperial concubine was in poor health, and her condition was getting worse day by day, with no sign of improvement.

Now even his life span is unknown.

Once the Imperial Concubine is gone, there will be no one to suppress the Four Concubines, which will disrupt the current harem structure, which is something the Emperor does not want to see.

If the current situation is to be maintained, in addition to letting her take over the palace affairs, the position of Concubine Tong must be promoted from the rank of concubine to the rank of concubine.

But this is a bad idea.

The best way now is to let the Crown Princess take charge of palace affairs, and then have the four concubines assist her.

This is also what Yinreng is happy to see.

The Tong family already had a queen. If this concubine's daughter who entered the palace now suddenly became a noble concubine, he would be so frustrated that he would die.

After all, his aunt, Concubine Hesheli, had never been favored since she entered the palace. Like Concubine Borjigit, she was just a mascot.

The gap between the two sides is too big, how can Yinreng bear it?!

Although Wanyu is not a person who values ​​power, the current situation is that she has no choice but to move forward or regress.

Moreover, she and Yinreng were fighting alone in the harem.

Without a biological mother to whisper in his ear and encourage the emperor, and with an aunt who is not favored, he is already at a disadvantage.

Although the Queen Mother treated her very well, she was a person of propriety. She had always been a non-confrontational person, so the Emperor gave her the respect that her biological mother deserved.

If the Empress Dowager interferes with the Crown Prince and the other princes, the Emperor will probably be wary of and on guard against the Empress Dowager, which will be counterproductive.

What she said to the Queen Mother yesterday was just to strike a blow against Concubine Hui and warn those concubines who had ulterior motives. She and the Crown Prince were not people they could manipulate at will!

After what happened in Ningshou Palace in the morning, no one dared to cause trouble at the family dinner in the evening. Everyone watched the performance and ate quietly.

Therefore, the atmosphere of the entire New Year's Eve family dinner was very relaxed, and the Emperor and the Empress Dowager also had a comfortable New Year's Eve dinner.

After dinner, there will be singing, dancing and opera performances.

The food on the table was cleared away, and a table of fruits, snacks, and drinks was served. Then, while watching the performance, people stayed up all night, waiting for the arrival of midnight.

The dinner time in the palace was not too late, but Wanyu had to endure several hours of staying up all night to celebrate the New Year. This was really too torturous for Wanyu, who had a very regular schedule.

Moreover, it was cold and snowy outside at that time, so the floor heating and stove in the hall were burning at full power.

The whole hall is warm and comfortable.

This made Wanyu, who had just finished her meal, even more drowsy.

This is not like when I am at home, when I get bored waiting, I can play games with my brothers and sisters to pass the time.

Sitting here blankly, I feel bored, tired, and even sleepy.

Wanyu was actually glad at this time that her second sister did not have to attend the family dinner tonight because she was less than three months pregnant and was only a concubine.

Otherwise, if you keep suffering like this, something will definitely happen to your child!

Yinreng looked at the little concubine who yawned quietly from time to time, and touched her little hand under the table with heartache.

He asked quietly, "Are you sleepy?"

"I'll talk to Khan Ama. Why don't you go back to the palace and rest?"

"Just let me guard here."

Wanyu shook her head slightly.

"No need, everyone is here, I can't make it special."

"Besides, this is our first New Year's together, and I want to spend it with you."

As she spoke, she gestured for Yinreng to look at the concubines below.

At this moment, they were watching the performance with smiles on their faces, as if they really liked it.

Wanyu couldn't help but twitch her lips.

In fact, the expressions of these people hardly changed.

I don’t know if they really like watching it or are just forcing themselves to do it.

Yinreng's expression didn't change much, but the look in his eyes when he looked at her became gentler.

However, after enduring for more than an hour, Yinreng felt really distressed when he saw the fatigue on her face becoming more and more serious.

He turned around to look at Zhang Xi behind him, and then whispered a few instructions. Wanyu, who was trying hard to open her eyes wide, didn't notice Yinreng's little movements at all.