In front of the monument, military officers dismounted their horses and civil officials stepped down from their sedan chairs. Even the Emperor's dragon carriage was no exception. Since its completion, the giant cauldron in front of the monument had burning incense that never stopped.
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, even more people came to offer incense and pay their respects, including the elderly imperial teacher Qian who came with the help of his grandson despite being extremely old.
The military generals who attended court were all moved to tears when they saw this scene. Even the guards at the palace gates were very emotional.
If they were to die in battle one day, their souls would also return here to receive the worship of all the people!
Day after day passed quickly and the year soon came to an end.
This was the first year that Jiang's family spent New Year's Eve in the capital city after being ennobled so many years ago. It was a pity that other family members were far away in Qingzhou and couldn't join them for the reunion, which was somewhat regrettable.
On the morning of the 30th day, Emperor Xia Jing presided over the sacrificial ceremonies at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Heroes' Monument. In the afternoon, there would be the customary palace banquet held in the palace to entertain civil and military officials and their family members.
Jiang Yuqing wasn't very interested in these kinds of banquets, but it was Lu's first time attending such a large palace banquet, so she was inevitably a little nervous.
The palace banquet was held in the Liangyi Hall of the Taiji Palace. This was also the place where Da Xia received foreign envoys. The banquet started at two o'clock and the male and female guests were seated separately.
Jiang's family arrived around two o'clock. Jiang Wenyuan took his sons and nephews to the side for male guests, while Lu went to the female guests' side with her daughter.
As the wife of a first rank Duke, Lu's status was equal to that of Jiang Yuqing as an Imperial Princess.
Therefore, their seats were very close to the imperial platform, and they were only a few rows behind several princesses, both seated in the first row.
Lu had lived in Su Prefecture for a long time. Although she had heard of the wives of honorable families in the capital, apart from Li, wife of Pingyang Marquis Qin Jue, and Qu, wife of Duke of Protector Yuan Yun, she wasn't familiar with the others.
These two were famous young ladies from prestigious families. They were very familiar with all the patriarchs' wives in the capital and had received pointers from their husbands to help support the Duke of Jiang's wife during the banquet.
Therefore, before the banquet started, they took Lu to chat very happily with the noblewomen next to them.
Not only that, when praising Lu, they also didn't forget to boast about Jiang Yuqing. They sang her praises in various ways, and even Jiang Yuqing, who claimed to have thick skin comparable to city walls, couldn't stand it.
After praising her, they introduced their own daughters to her in order to form connections.
The young ladies gathered together and talked about nothing other than clothes, jewelry, headwear, prestige and so on. Questions like what kind of jade your bracelet was made of, how much it cost to customize, and which famous craftsman made it.
What material and gems were used in her hairpiece, what techniques were used to make it. Which brand of rouge are you wearing today, the color looks so good, what kind of incense did you use to scent it.
Then they would praise her, talking about how good the fabric of her clothes looked, how rare and exquisite her jewelry was, and which famous master made them.
Throughout the whole thing, Jiang Yuqing remained wooden-faced, indicating that she had nothing to contribute to the conversation at all.
She either spent her time farming, studying medicine, cultivating, or had no time to research these kinds of things.
The country bumpkin princess decided to give herself a break and used going to the bathroom as an excuse to slip out of the hall. She would rather randomly find a corner to blow the northwest wind than go back in there as a mirror for Westerners.
It was too damn uncomfortable!
After sitting by the flowers for a while, she saw a group of palace maids and eunuchs walking through the corridor carrying trays and starting to serve food in the hall, so she figured it was time to go back.
Suddenly, a palace maid walking at the very back stumbled and almost spilled the dishes with a painful cry.
She endured the pain and walked to the side to put down her tray, clutching her ankle with an agonized expression, apparently having badly sprained it.
For professional reasons, Jiang Yuqing was about to go up and ask if she needed help, when she saw a little eunuch coming out from the side. She had thought he was here to help, but instead the little eunuch rushed up to the palace maid and smashed the back of her head heavily, knocking the maid to the ground instantly.
"...Damn!" What kind of luck was this? She just came out for some air and actually stumbled upon a crime scene.
Jiang Yuqing immediately stuck an invisibility talisman on herself. She wanted to see what this guy had snuck into the palace to try to do!
That wasn't even the worst of it. This little eunuch looked around and actually dragged the palace maid directly to Jiang Yuqing's front and dumped her there. Probably because he saw it was hidden and secluded enough here.
Jiang Yuqing's mouth twitched. If it were her past life, she would have gone to buy a 100 yuan lottery ticket. Now she could only bend over to check the breath of the little palace maid. Fortunately, she had only fainted and was fine.
Jiang Yuqing put a protective shielding on the pitiful palace maid to protect her from catching a cold on this cold day.
The little eunuch picked up the tray again and walked towards the Liangyi Hall. Shockingly, he didn't poison the food during the whole time. It looked like he just wanted to sneak into the banquet.
But no matter what the reason was, anyone doing this kind of thing now would not be a good person.
Jiang Yuqing tore off her invisibility talisman, called over an imperial guard, and whispered a few words to him. The guard was first greatly shocked, then walked away calmly.
She didn't need to worry about the rest. There were plenty of capable people in the palace that could handle things without her getting involved.
After taking care of this matter, she clapped her hands and went back into the hall. She had just sat down when she heard the eunuch announce the arrival of the emperor, empress, crown prince, second prince... followed by a string of concubines and imperial consorts - all the emperor's little wives.
Kneeling on the ground, Jiang Yuqing listened, counted, and complained to herself. Good heavens, there were five or six that were named, not to mention those without titles locked away in the cold palace. There were probably enough to make up five mahjong tables!
Emperors were indeed the biggest stud horses under heaven! And they feared their iron pestles would be ground into needles!
After everyone was seated, the Emperor gave a routine speech, summarizing the hard work of the past year, the major events that happened, the country's major developments, who didn't do a good job and needed to continue working hard, who did very well and needed to be praised, and so on.
Then he rewarded people for their merits and achievements. After rewarding them, he dangled another carrot in front of the donkeys, telling them to keep working hard next year.
Simply put, it was no different than a company's annual meeting in later generations. When she was in the military hospital in her past life, the director did the same thing every time. Same old stuff in a different package!
Jiang Yuqing was bored to sleepiness listening to the Emperor's ramblings. She was finally able wait until he finished announcing the start of the banquet before the singing and dancing performances started as well.
After the Emperor and Empress picked up their chopsticks, Jiang Yuqing also uncovered the dishes in front of her and saw that, damn it, the food was already cold!
Although it was cold, the presentation and everything was still very delicate and beautiful. Jiang Yuqing didn't mind and started eating while watching the performances, clapping and cheering for the performers when she saw something she liked.
Afraid that her daughter would get indigestion, Lu told her to eat less. Jiang Yuqing was unconcerned and said, "It's fine, Mother. When I was at war in the past, I had to gnaw on wild vegetables and steamed buns. This is imperial cuisine - delicious! It would be a waste not to eat it."
Although her voice wasn't loud, the mother and daughter were close to the imperial platform. Empress Qin, who had been keeping an eye on her, still heard it.
She called over a palace matron and said, "Go get two hot dishes for Linghui, deliver them yourself, quickly." The matron accepted the order and soon came back carrying a food box. She took out several steaming hot plates and placed them on the table in front of the mother and daughter, as well as a cup of sweet almond milk that had been cooked with honey.
Jiang Yuqing was stunned for a moment. She looked at the matron, then looked at Empress Qin. Empress Qin nodded to her with a smile and said, "Eat up! Have more if you like it!"
Jiang Yuqing then revealed a big smile: "Thank you, Noble Concubine!" Then she continued to eat happily. Such special treatment really made many noble ladies jealous, but Jiang Yuqing simply ignored them and focused on eating and drinking.
Although Jing Yan was sitting at quite a distance away, he would glance over here from time to time. Seeing her eat with gusto brought a smile to his lips.
Handsome as jade and dignified as a gentleman, he naturally attracted attention. And with his noble status, it was no wonder the young ladies in the hall were completely infatuated.
After the dancing girls exited, the prepared noble ladies all took the stage, playing music, singing, and dancing, exhausting their entire bag of tricks in hopes of making a good impression.
If they managed to catch the eyes of the Emperor, Empress, or Crown Prince and were granted a suitable title, they would have no worries for the rest of their lives.
The Emperor and Empress simply smiled without speaking, the others knew without being told. Jing Yan's expression was blank. Only Jiang Yuqing ate happily without a care in the world.
In her eyes, their looks, figures, and charm were top-notch even in her previous life. And it was a live, free performance right in front of her—simply perfect.
After the banquet ended, Jiang Yuqing, with her filled little stomach, went back home.
After the family banquet, the Emperor went with his son to the Jiaofang Palace to keep vigil for the new year.
Father and son played a few rounds of chess; Emperor Xia Jing played black while Jing Yan played white.
Halfway through, the Emperor asked his son, "You will turn seventeen after New Year. It's time to select an imperial concubine. Were there any girls today that caught your interest?"
Jing Yan said woodenly, "No!"
The Emperor gritted his teeth and said, "You can't possibly want to wait for that little girl to grow up! It will take at least six more years before she comes of age! I only have two sons. As Crown Prince, you must shoulder the responsibility of continuing the royal lineage. You don't have to establish the Crown Princess yet, but you can start by taking in some Virtuous Ladies and Maids."
Jing Yan, fiddling with a white chess piece, didn't even lift his head to say, "Your imperial harem has so many women, yet I don't see the palace filled with princes. But the Jiang family men all have only one wife, yet their homes overflow with children and grandchildren. This shows that propagating descendants has little to do with the number of women!"
As he spoke, the white chess piece in his hand dropped down to take a whole swathe of black pieces.
The Emperor: "..." (gritting his teeth furiously) Could he stuff this unfilial son back into his mother's belly?!
