323. The Palace Banquet

Translator: Florea

Ye Xiaoxian was also making mooncakes in the backyard.

The mooncakes she made were quite different from which of the age where she was living now. She would put in a lot of fillings, such as red bean paste, lotus-seed paste, and mixed nuts. And the mooncakes made by her were even more exquisite than the ones made by Zhang Deshui.

When Zhang Deshui heard that Ye Xiaoxian had made mooncakes, he came over early, wanting to ask her for some to eat.

Ye Xiaoxian was not mean and gave him some mooncakes of each flavor.

Tasting the mooncakes, Zhang Deshui felt each one had a wonderful flavor, even better than those in the palace.

Ye Xiaoxian made a lot and also gave some to the maids who served her.

Coming from the modern era, she had an opinion that “everyone is equal”. And she didn’t have a prejudice against the maids; everyone could taste her mooncakes.

When the young and old maids tasted her mooncakes, they could not help but feel grateful. Actually, they could have mooncakes in their residence, but those mooncakes weren’t as delicious as the ones made by Ye Xiaoxian. So Ye Xiaoxian made a favorable impression on them.

……

Li Chengyi and Li Chengru also celebrated the mid-autumn festival.

The Mid-autumn Festival was one of the most important festivals, so they must celebrate it even though they were on their way.

They were returning home by boat. There was a small square table on the boat and a dish of mooncakes placed on the table.They started to appreciate poems as the moon rose above the river.

Such as “the bright moon is rising above the sea, everyone far away enjoys the same moment.” and so on.

After that, they had some mooncakes and wine, talking about the things happened in the imperial court.

No matter what, they were out of danger this time. And they could soon return to Baoning City.

……

While the situation in the north was different.

It was harmonious all over the imperial court and every house was full of laughter. But the battle raged in the north. On the day of the Mid-autumn Festival, Xiao Baoshan launched a renewed attack, forcing the army to retreat 25 km, causing many casualties.

Northern Qing army would be forced to surrender if they couldn’t fight back, or if they didn’t have the back-up.

……

After the festival, it was peaceful in the capital.

Li Chengkun was very happy with the reports of new victories from the north. Even the empresses and concubines in the palace benefited greatly. Some of the curiosities paid by the tributaries were sent to them.

When the empress counted all the curiosities, she thought about holding a small banquet to invite those officials and their families to attend since she got so many of them. And she would reward those curiosities to the ministers as the banquet was over.

The empress suddenly thought of Ye Xiaoxian when she was sorting the name list.

Last time when she saw Ye Xiaoxian, she only found that Ye Xiaoxian looked like the Empress Dowager. And it was just a quick glance and the empress didn’t remember much. She didn’t know what kind of person Ye Xiaoxian was and she could be admired by Li Chengru.

She knew that Li Chengru rarely made real friends.

The person he admired must be someone who had the smarts.

Also, Ye Xiaoxian looked like the Empress Dowager. Coincidentally, the empress and the Empress Dowager weren’t getting along. And the empress had been hoping that rumours could circulate about Empress Dowager’s problem and it would destroy her reputation.

If the empress invited Ye Xiaoxian to come into the palace, other officials’ wives would definitely say behind her back, which would have the State Preceptor involved.

After all, Ye Xiaoxian was living in State Preceptor’s residence, and the State Preceptor and Empress Dowager was having an affair.

They might think Ye Xiaoxian was the daughter of the State Preceptor and the Empress Dowager.

What the empress wanted was that Ye Xiaoxian and the Empress Dowager could get into the trouble at the same time.

With that thought, the empress added “Mrs.Ye, Xiao Baoshan’s wife” on the list.

Anyway, Xiao Baoshan was currently fighting on the battlefield to perform meritorious service. And it was right and proper to invite his wife over.

……

In the State Preceptor’s residence, his wife and Ye Xiaoxian received their invitations.

The State Preceptor didn’t think much about it. He only asked Wan Shijie to give the invitation to Ye Xiaoxian.

Now that Xiao Baoshan was not in the capital as well as Li Chengyi and Li Chengru had gone back, no one would think of kidnapping Ye Xiaoxian. And Ye Xiaoxian wouldn’t be able to escape as long as State Preceptor sent one or two Kongfu masters to keep an eye on her.

Besides, Jin Xiaoyu was still in the residence and she also couldn’t go anywhere.

Jin Xiaoyu was so angry at this.

She didn’t care about going to the imperial palace, but why was she the one who stayed behind every time?

She had been in the State Preceptor’s residence for a long time and she found it boring staying here.

Since she couldn’t follow Ye Xiaoxian to go to the imperial palace, she went to the State Preceptor’s garden angrily, picking up some flowers and putting them in the vase.

The butler and the old maid in the residence told her not to mess around, while she wouldn’t listen. She only cared about her mood and said, “I’m from the rural area. I don’t understand the rules here.”

The butler and the old maid were angry, but they couldn’t do anything to her as the State Preceptor ordered that they should treat her and Ye Xiaoxian well.

……

Ye Xiaoxian must freshen up as she would go to the palace.

The casual dress was not suitable on this occasion. She had to be in formal clothes according to the standard of the palace.

Taking a shower was a must. And after that, she had to do the hair removal on her legs and hands. And she even needed to have her eyebrows plucked. She also had to wear her hair in a bun according to the standard of the palace.

The empress probably knew that Ye Xiaoxian didn’t have many clothes and accessories, so she gave her some and asked someone to send them to the State Preceptor’s residence in advance.

Ye Xiaoxian deserved to accept all these as she was now the wife of the general. And they were just some clothes and jewellery, which wouldn’t cause jealousy of those officials’ wives.

After freshening up, the maid helped Ye Xiaoxian put on the clothes and jewellery rewarded by the empress. Putting on the jewellery, Ye Xiaoxian felt heavy all over.

The jewellery only on her head was about two or three kilograms.

Plus the jewellery on her hand, neck and clothes, she thought that they would weigh more than five kilos.

These clothes looked light, but she felt a little uncomfortable in the clothes, which were with jewellery.

Apart from the clothes and jewellery, her makeup was also different. The imperial family of Great Qi Dynasty had a rule that the women of the officials have to wear court makeup on formal occasions. For example, they had to put on “bitten lips” make-up, which looked a bit modern. And only half of their eyebrows had to be filled in.

After finishing her makeup, Ye Xiaoxian looked like the maiden in a painting.

She looked in the mirror and almost couldn’t recognize herself.

The woman in the mirror was charming, but she seemed to be wearing a mask, covering up her true self. In short, it was a heavy feudal makeup.

Jin Xiaoyu had always been making fun of this ugly makeup. How could a normal woman put on this?

Ye Xiaoxian was demure when wearing this makeup, but it made her look like a woman who should get off her high horse.

After the makeup, two maids helped Ye Xiaoxian out.

One supported her while the other helped her with her dress, all looked serious.

Leaving the residence, Ye Xiaoxian saw that there were two carriages outside. The maid told her that one of the carriages was for the State Preceptor’s wife and Ye Xiaoxian had to wait for her to get in first since the lady hadn’t come out yet.

Ye Xiaoxian could only wait in the doorway.

Within a quarter of an hour, the lady slowly came over.

Actually, it was the first time for Ye Xiaoxian to meet the lady although she had been living in the residence for so long.

The lady looked like in her forties. She was in good shape, her beauty appearing ageless. While she didn’t have a pleasant face and she looked a little mean, as if she had stored up complaints for long.

These days she heard on the grapevine that the State Preceptor and his wife were not in love with each other and their marriage was never consummated. His wife burned incense and prayed before Buddha all the year round, not caring other things.

However, Ye Xiaoxian felt that she didn’t look like a woman who burned incense and prayed before Buddha for a long time. Because a buddhist would be the one with a kindly face or the one who was ascetic. And it was obvious that this lady was actually having his own desires.

The lady also saw Ye Xiaoxian at the time.

She had always heard that Ye Xiaoxian was from the rural area and was a great cook. So Ye Xiaoxian in her eyes should be an ordinary rural woman with a dark skin and a plump shape, just like Zhang Deshui.

She didn’t expect Ye Xiaoxian to be stunned when she got closer to look at her.

She did not look like a chef at all. How could she look like… a coquette?

In fact, the lady knew much gossip although she had always pretended to be praying before Buddha heartily. And she knew that the State Preceptor and the Empress Dowager had an affair.

She had a portrait of the Empress Dowager. And she would take it out to have a look at it when she was depressed. Every time she saw it, she felt that the woman in the paiting was a coquette. She would take her men to strip off this woman’s clothes and throw her to the street if it wasn’t for her status as the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager’s portrait was gathering around her head as soon as she saw Ye Xiaoxian.

How could they look so similar?

They got the same makeup, same gorgeous clothes, just exactly the same as that coquette’s face.

Could it be that there may be some other reason for the State Preceptor to trap Madam Xiao in the residence?

Or could it be that the State Preceptor and the Empress Dowager had children before?

Impossible! She heard that the Empress Dowager was introduced to the previous emperor by the State Preceptor. If she had given birth to a child before, wouldn’t the previous emperor be aware of that?

No matter what, the State Preceptor’s wife felt that it was sordid, so when she came to Ye Xiaoxian, she just looked at Ye Xiaoxian and snorted.

Ye Xiaoxian was speechless and wondering why. Did she do something to offend the lady unconsciously?

Was it because that she didn’t cook for the State Preceptor’s wife after the State Preceptor knew it?

The State Preceptor’s wife got into her carriage without saying a word, and then Ye Xiaoxian, helped by the maid, got into the carriage behind the State Preceptor’s carriage. Wan Shijie followed the carriage with a group of guards. Then the carriages started on their way slowly.

……

When they reached the palace, Ye Xiaoxian was helped to get off the carriage and then she got into the sedan chair.

She felt that she had been treated much better than she was last time. She walked all the way last time. And now her feet were almost off the ground.

Ye Xiaoxian was not allowed to enter the living area of the imperial concubines when she came here last time, but this time she went directly into it in the sedan chair.

The further they walked inside, the more gorgeous things they saw: all kinds of rockery and pavilions, flowers and trees as well as the busy maids and eunuchs.

The place where the empress lived was called Ziyun (Purple Cloud) Palace, which was even more exquisite than the State Preceptor’s residence. As it was a place where women lived, there were more flowers and plants inside than the State Preceptor’s residence, with chrysanthemums and China roses of all colors, decorating the garden like an immortal palace.

After a while, Ye Xiaoxian was also brought to the inner hall.

The crowd didn’t roar although it was a banquet. The offficial’s wives were sitting in the hall, two by two at a table.

The State Preceptor’s wife was brought to the front seat. Ye Xiaoxian was arranged to sit in the back row with an assistant minister’s wife because of her identity.

Those were still small square tables and there was nowhere to sit. She had to sit on her knees.