On the birthday of the emperor's eldest son Zhaoyang, Yulin ordered a grand banquet to be held in the Zijin Palace, inviting all the families in the harem and the princes and nobles.

In the hall, dragons dance on the tents, colorful phoenixes fly on the curtains; the golden light is brilliant, and the jewelry competes for glory; the incense of lilies is burned in the cauldron, the pistils of Changchun are placed in the vase, the incense is lingering, and the flowers are colorful, creating a lively and prosperous atmosphere.

All the concubines present here are dressed in red and green, and they are all very beautiful, competing for Bo Yulin's favor.

The queen is dignified and beautiful, calm and luxurious, the concubine is soft and strong, bright and proud; the concubine Shun is leisurely and calm, calm and peaceful; the good concubine is bright-eyed and shy, gentle and elegant, the concubine Yi is delicate and bright, innocent, and the concubine Li is graceful, charming, and jade.

The concubine is red in color, speaks sweetly, smiles sweetly, has a face like a hibiscus, and has icy muscles and jade bones. In addition, you are always here. I promise you, either by beauty or expression, each has its own charm. Yingying, Yanyan,

The palace is filled with fragrance.

Lu Yuan looked around and smiled in her heart. She didn't have any outstanding attire today. Her clothes were made of cloud and wild goose brocade made of blue sky and water, a very cold light green that looked like it was dyed by dew. The style was also the simplest. Her hair was combed with piles of clouds.

She has a bun, a few hairpins stuck in her hair, and she is rocking one step at a time. She is painted with Yuanshan Dai, and her makeup is also light, suitable for both happiness and anger.

However, in today's clusters of flowers and fragrant clothes, the simpler things are, the more touching they are.

Sure enough, Yu Lin's eyes swept across everyone, stopped on her body, and said with a smile: "Yuanyuan's dress today is fresh and refined, which makes people feel very refreshed."

Lu Yuan bowed with a smile and said calmly: "Your Majesty, you are so complimentary. I am just being lazy."

The concubine next to her spent the whole morning decorating it carefully. She wanted to be the most beautiful today, but the emperor didn't pay attention to her at all. She only praised the concubine sitting next to her. She felt sour and turned to Lu Yuan.

With a look of jealousy, Lu Yuan just pretended not to know.

Yu Lin turned to Concubine Zhen again and said with concern: "Concubine Zhen is just pregnant and cannot drink alcohol. Bring the prepared milk tea." Concubine Zhen nodded and smiled at the emperor.

After the banquet, the delicious food was accompanied by singing and dancing, and it was very lively. Yu Lin was in a good mood at first, but after a few songs and dances, he felt that there was nothing new and his enthusiasm waned.

The queen observed the words and waited for an opportunity to say: "There are only a few dances in the orchestra. No wonder the emperor found it boring. I arranged a dance with others. Although the dance was not good, it was quite new. I wonder if the emperor would like it.

look?"

Before Yu Lin could comment, the queen signaled Yu Qiu with her eyes. Yu Qiu quickly walked to the door of the hall and clapped her hands several times. Everyone's eyes were attracted and they looked outside the hall eagerly.

A woman walked in from outside the palace, with a slim figure and light steps. What is surprising is that this woman is not wearing silk and satin, but a brocade skirt with only some plain colors on it, and her hair is

She was wearing a straw hat woven from cattails, with a thin veil hanging from the brim, making her shadowy and blurry, making it difficult to see the face inside. The woman also carried a small basket on her back, which contained a few fresh branches covered with green leaves.

of mulberry branches.

She walked slowly to the front of the temple and danced gracefully, singing a soft tune while dancing.

"The beautiful lady is named Mochou. She is picking mulberries on the streets in the south. When she comes to the Qi River, she should go to the palace for a tour. She stores leaves in a green silk cage and climbs a purple osmanthus hook. When I asked your disciples to ask questions, the five horses also stayed late."

Although the woman's singing voice is not very beautiful, her voice is clear and clear, and she sings softly and softly, which is very comfortable to listen to. Her dancing posture is not surprising, but it is natural and graceful, which is also pleasing to the eye.

Yu Lin was stunned for a moment. Some of the concubines present were dismissive, some were sitting on pins and needles, and some had jealous faces. The queen on the side had a soft smile on her lips and watched silently.

After the dance, the woman knelt down and worshiped. Yu Lin stood up, stepped off the throne, walked to the front of the palace, stretched out his hand to pull her up, and asked with a smile: "Who are you?"

The woman gently lifted her veil, revealing a delicate face, with skin as white as snow, a waist as thick as a veil, teeth like shells in her mouth, a touch of pink and white, and a shy smile.

"Are you...an agree?" Yu Lin asked hesitantly.

An Lingyue knelt down and saluted again, and said in a voice like Yan: "I am my concubine. It is my blessing that the emperor can remember me."

Yu Lin continued: "Your singing and dancing just now were very good. Tell me, what song did you sing just now and what dance did you dance?"

An Lingyue said with a smile: "I just sang "Sang on the Moshang" and danced the mulberry picking dance, which is a dance performed by folk women when they pick mulberry leaves in the fields to feed silkworms. Because I often follow before entering the palace,

My aunt picked mulberry leaves and fed silkworms to spin yarn, so she made this dance. I hope the emperor likes it."

Yu Lin thought for a while and said: "I vaguely remember that I went to Bixiu Palace once and saw a woman spinning on the corridor. It was very interesting. I wanted to summon her the next day, but I was busy with government affairs and forgot for a while. I thought it was you too.

Already."

An Lingyue lowered her eyebrows and said respectfully: "It's my concubine. I'm just passing the time out of boredom to make the emperor laugh."

Yu Lin laughed heartily and said: "I thought that my harem was all well-dressed and pampered, but I didn't expect that there was a woman like you. Your ordinary clothes really made my eyes shine. Your status

I was given the title when I first entered the palace. Now that I have been promoted, I will give you the title of Chang Zai. Your name is Ling Yue, so use the word "month" as your title."

As soon as he finished speaking, the concubine at the table stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, An has promised to be promoted to the imperial concubine before he sleeps with her, so how can she be granted the title of Jin?"

Yu Lin looked displeased and said: "I can grant whoever I want to be promoted to the Jin Dynasty. How can it be left to you to make arrogant comments?"

The jade concubine hurriedly lowered her head and muttered: "I don't dare."

Seeing An Lingyue standing blankly, the queen smiled and said: "What are you doing standing there stupidly? Why don't you thank me quickly?"

An Lingyue regained consciousness and hurriedly knelt down to salute and thank her. The other concubines also stood up and said together: "Congratulations to the moon."

An Lingyue returned the gifts to the concubines and was pulled into the table by Yulin.

After the singing, dancing and banquet, General Manager Cao of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to the palace with several young eunuchs, busy preparing for the ceremony of arresting Zhou.

Zhuzhou, also called "testing children", is a popular ritual among the people for a baby's first birthday. Later, the court also followed the folk example and became a very important ceremony held when a child turns one year old to predict the future and temperament.

A large case was displayed in front of the hall, with seals, scriptures from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, abacus, coins, account books, jewelry, flowers, rouge, food, toys, etc.

The queen signaled the wet nurse to bring the little prince Zhao Yang. Zhao Yang was wearing a bright yellow short robe of Shu brocade with dragon and cloud patterns, and a lifelike tiger head hat with exquisite embroidery. He was white, fat, and cute.

The wet nurse placed Zhao Yang on the big case. Zhao Yang sat motionless at first, probably because he was afraid of the unfamiliar environment around him. After a while, he gradually became familiar with it and began to crawl around with babbling sounds.

.

The queen and Yuqiu were teasing one side of the big case. Zhaoyang noticed the placed objects, turned around and crawled towards the target.

Yu Lin and the Queen watched expectantly. Zhao Yang crawled to the pile of things, grabbed a string of pearl necklaces and played with them in his hands, giggling as he played with them.

Yu Lin's expression suddenly changed, his eyes were full of gloom, he gave the queen a fierce look, and walked away angrily.

The queen couldn't hide the disappointment and panic on her face, and hurriedly stepped forward to snatch the necklace from Zhaoyang's hand, but Zhaoyang refused to let go. As she was snatching it, the chain broke, and the crystal round pearls scattered on the floor.

Zhaoyang was so frightened that he started to cry, and Yuqiu quickly signaled to the wet nurse to take him away.

The sudden situation made all the concubines in the hall at a loss. They all sat in their seats in a daze, neither staying nor leaving. The atmosphere was very awkward.

Concubine Zhen showed a proud smile on her bright face, with contempt hidden in her eyes. She drank the milk tea in front of her and left the hall first. The other concubines also left the table and quietly left.

Main hall.

The queen looked pale and staggered out of the Purple Gold Palace. The nurse held Zhao Yang in her arms, followed by Yu Qiu and others.

Lu Yuan couldn't bear it, so she walked forward, knelt down and saluted, and said: "Madam, catching Zhou is just a game imitating the folk. It would be rash and even ridiculous to judge a child's character and future based on this alone. Little Prince

With a noble status, my tutor will teach me how to read and my aunts will teach me the rules since I was a child. I will definitely become a leader among people in the future, so I don’t need to worry about today’s incident.”

The Queen forced a smile on her face and said, "What Concubine Ying said is right. I don't take it to heart. You don't have to worry too much."

The queen and her entourage left in a hurry. An Lingyue finally came out of the Zijin Palace, looked around, lowered her head and followed quietly behind the queen.

Concubine Jade came closer, covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Sister, I have only been closest to you, Concubine Ying, on weekdays. How come you have climbed up to the Queen's high branch today?"

Lu Yuan silently glanced at An Lingyue's retreating back, only smiled slightly, without saying a word, and left with Shun Concubine, Yi Concubine and others. Yu Concubine felt bored and stamped her feet behind her and said: "Zhiren

Knowing the face but not the heart, Sister Yingbin will have to keep her eyes open in the future." After saying that, she went back to Bixiu Palace bitterly.

When the queen returned to Kunyi Palace, she was so angry that she scolded her wet nurse. Jin Niang, the wet nurse, did not dare to say a word even though she felt aggrieved. Yu Qiu, An Lingyue and others stood by and tried to persuade her for a long time.

, the queen calmed down and calmed down.

She glanced at An Lingyue and said solemnly: "Today you finally gained face in front of the emperor. Our plan was considered a success."

An Lingyue knelt down and bowed, and said respectfully: "I would like to thank the Queen for your support. I will do my best to serve you in the future."

The queen seemed a little tired and said calmly: "You should go back to the palace quickly. The emperor just granted you a permanent position today. He will definitely announce that you will sleep with him tonight. Please go back quickly and prepare."
Chapter completed!