The fake daughter married into the mountains and had meat to eat every day during the famine

Song Yuntang wore a green dress that she had picked out long ago. Her makeup was delicate and elegant, fresh and refined, which especially matched her temperament.

In order to avoid any unexpected changes during the banquet, she also brought another goose yellow dress.

After getting dressed, washing, and putting on makeup, it was already Yinzheng.

He ate a quick breakfast, and to avoid the same situation as last time at the Prime Minister's Residence, he took a few pieces of candy wrapped in oil paper and got on a carriage to head to the palace.

At first, the carriage had to move forward with the lights on. As it moved towards the palace, the sky gradually brightened. By the time it was halfway there, it was possible to extinguish the lanterns and move forward. Song Yuntang couldn't help but imagine in his mind the scenes of Xu Qingye going to court on weekdays.

The path she walked today was the same path Xu Qingye walked every day when he was in the capital.

That is to say, the weather is getting warmer now. If it were cold, it might not be dawn when Xu Qingye entered the palace.

There were already quite a few carriages parked at the palace gate, some carrying officials going to court, as well as ladies from various mansions coming to attend the palace banquet.

In the power center of the Great Xia Dynasty, everyone was pious and serious, no longer as relaxed as they usually were when attending palace banquets.

Song Yuntang got off the carriage with the help of Jinshu and led her and Xia Ning to the palace.

After presenting the invitation, she was led by a palace maid to the Yongning Palace where the Queen Mother lived to pay her respects.

At this moment, the main hall of Yongning Palace was already quite lively.

The Empress Dowager sat in the main seat, wearing a gorgeous court robe with intricate patterns embroidered on the golden brocade, showing the glory and dignity of the royal family.

In her hand she held a string of sandalwood Buddhist beads, which had been polished to a shine by the oil of the polishing process.

Although she has reached the age of fifty, there is no sign of aging on her face, and her condition is comparable to that of a country woman in her thirties.

Even the complexion is slightly better.

Perhaps because the person in front of him was the one with the highest status in the harem, the atmosphere in Yongning Palace was a bit serious.

It was Song Yuntang's first time in such a place, and he didn't dare to breathe. After following the crowd and paying his respects to the empress dowager with the other ladies, he wanted to find a place in the corner to wait for the next process.

I thought I would just be an invisible person and finish today's process.

But some people don't want to fulfill her wish.

"Oh! Madam Xu is here too."

Zhuang Zihan, who was about to become a palace concubine, saw that Song Yuntang wanted to hide behind, so she deliberately smiled and spoke. Her voice was neither loud nor soft, and everyone in the palace heard it.

She had gone to Song Yuntang before and asked her to demote herself to a concubine and persuade Xu Qingye to take her in. In the future, when Xu Qingye would move to a higher position with the support of the Prime Minister's Mansion, she would not be intolerant of Song Yuntang, and would even raise her child under her own name as her legitimate son.

But she got up and left before I could finish my words.

She wanted to stop him, but Song Yuntang seemed to be secretly protected by a powerful person, and the guard was injured by a hidden weapon before he could even make a move.

She didn't know the depth of the person in the dark, so she asked the guards to stop and let her go.

The Queen Mother suddenly heard Zhuang Zihan's voice and looked at the ladies below.

"Mrs. Xu?"

On the side, Mrs. Zhuang explained to her with a smile.

"Her Majesty, Madam Xu is a new face in the capital. She is the first wife of the former number one scholar, Lord Xu. She has not been to the palace banquet before, so it is normal that Her Majesty does not recognize her."

The Queen Mother had a look of relief on her face.

"Although Ai's family is in the harem, we have heard that Lord Xu is a man of great talent and beauty. His wife must also be beautiful, intelligent, virtuous and elegant. I wonder who she is?"

Zhuang Zihan had a gloating look on his face.

She saw it clearly just now. The bitch kept hiding behind everyone. She must have been terrified when she saw this scene.

It was also true that as a village woman from the countryside, with no elders at home to teach her etiquette, she would naturally be frightened when she saw the Empress Dowager when she entered the palace for the first time. If she behaved inappropriately and was punished by the Empress Dowager, she would probably no longer be eligible to attend any palace banquets in the future.

However, what she didn't know was.

After the banquet at the Prime Minister's Mansion, Song Yuntang, at the recommendation of Shen Yin, the wife of Lord Fan, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, invited the old nanny who had worked in the palace into his home to teach him the etiquette.

Recently, Mrs. Tang learned that the Queen had invited Song Yuntang, and she even sent the nanny who had taken care of the late Queen to the Xu Mansion to tell her about the taboos and things that need to be paid attention to by the masters in the palace.

Therefore, Song Yuntang was not completely unaware of everything that happened in the palace.

She sneered in her heart.

Zhuang Zihan had made an appointment with her in the first month of the year, asking her to persuade Xu Qingye to demote his wife to a concubine and marry her.

Without thinking, she rejected her proposal and took Xia Ning and Jinshu away.

She was not at all surprised that Zhuang Zihan would find every opportunity to target her.

How could a woman who covets someone else's husband and makes such outrageous demands in front of her, the legal wife, be a respectable person?

The girl from the prime minister's family is just like this.

There was no way to avoid it now, so Song Yuntang had to step forward and bowed to the empress dowager politely, with a calm expression, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I pay my respects to you. May you be in good health and remain forever graceful and elegant."

The Queen Mother looked at Song Yuntang, a familiar feeling flashing across her face, but it was fleeting. She smiled and said, "I have always said that Lord Xu's wife must be a wonderful person. She really has the demeanor of a noble family."

Unlike the rumors, she was not an illiterate country woman who knew no etiquette.

Sure enough, hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them in person.

How could the wife of the top scholar be a commoner?

Song Yuntang nodded, "Your Majesty the Queen Mother, thank you for your praise."

The Queen Mother raised her hand.

"Get up."

"Yes."

Song Yuntang stood up and stepped aside.

The whole process was flawless.

When Zhuang Zihan saw that Song Yuntang was so tight-lipped, a look of unwillingness flashed across her face.

Weren't you all scared and backing away at first? Why are you suddenly not afraid anymore?

Was she just pretending?

If this is true, then he is truly scheming.

Now that she has escaped, Zhuang Zihan is unwilling but can't say anything more.

The Empress Dowager Fourteen accompanied the late emperor from the palace to the harem, and saw all kinds of people for thirty or forty years.

Although Zhuang Zihan didn't say what the purpose of her action just now was, she knew it clearly in her heart.

She smiled at everyone.

"Today is the Queen's birthday. She has already instructed the palace servants to prepare wine, snacks, and dance music in the Imperial Garden for everyone to enjoy. There is no need for you to stay here with an old woman like me. When dinner is ready, I will go to Jiaotai Hall to celebrate with everyone."

……

It was already 9:00 PM when we came out of the Empress Dowager's Yongning Palace.

Fortunately, I had breakfast at home before going out, otherwise I would have been starving.

The palace banquet was held at night. It was a sunny and windy day in March or April, and the flowers in the imperial garden were in full bloom.

The Queen prepared tea and snacks in the Imperial Garden and invited all the ladies to enjoy the flowers, write poetry, drink and have fun in a pavilion in the Imperial Garden.

On his way to the Imperial Garden, Song Yuntang happened to meet Shen Yin, the wife of Mr. Fan, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.

The two were extremely happy to meet each other.

It just so happened that Shen Yin was not a person who liked to make a fuss. After taking Song Yuntang to pay her respects and birthday wishes to the Queen, she invited several other ladies she knew to sit at a stone table and chairs next to a bunch of peonies.

In early April, the peonies are in full bloom.

The flowers are big, red, pink, yellow and green. Perhaps because they are grown in the imperial garden, they look very noble.