The most beautiful lady in the harem

Chapter 352: Round Moon Platform

On this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the palace's family banquet was held on the Round Moon Terrace in Xiyuan Lake.

Xiyuan is located to the west of the imperial city. There is a lake in the garden called West Lake. As the name suggests, the Round Moon Terrace was originally built for moon watching.

The entire platform, built on the lake surface, is not circular but an octagon with good meaning.

In every corner, there is an exquisite bridge leading to the shore.

Moreover, each of these bridges is different. There are stone bridges, wooden bridges, arch bridges, etc. There are holes under the bridges, and each is built with its own unique features. The full moon is reflected in them and cast on the lake, which is particularly pleasing to the eye.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is held in the evening so that people can enjoy the moon at night.

Now the sun has not completely set and the sky is not completely dark. When the sun is setting, the sky is especially beautiful, like a rouge plate broken by a fairy. Also, because it is mid-autumn and the weather is clear and cool, many concubines have come early and there is no need to worry about the heat.

The Circular Moon Platform has only one floor and is supported by red-painted columns on all sides. There is no obstruction. The roof is round and does not completely cover the entire platform, but only occupies the middle of the octagonal platform.

The rest of the area is open to the sky, so after dinner, you can come out to admire and worship the moon.

As soon as everyone was gathered, the banquet officially began. At the command of the palace lady, maids immediately entered in a line along the stone bridge.

They were all well-trained. After putting down their meals here, they would immediately leave the West Lake from the other side of the wooden bridge. This way, there would be no crowded scene among the maids.

Each person ate at his own table. The Grand Empress Dowager, the two Empress Dowagers, and Emperor Yongjia naturally sat at the top.

Now, Qin Liuse asked Emperor Yongjia to give her the title of Imperial Noble Consort, so she no longer sat below as before, but sat next to Emperor Yongjia.

Next are the current three concubines, and below them are the concubines of other ranks.

Now, the former Concubine Li has become Concubine Li, and can only sit with Concubine Zhou, Concubine Zhang and others. She feels that not only does she have to sit at the back, but even the low table in front of her has become cramped.

With such a direct and obvious contrast and gap, Li Jieyu's meal can only be described as tasteless.

Looking at Qin Liuse and Xiao Yuanniang who were sitting in front of her and caused her to sit here, if their eyes could hold knives, I'm afraid these two people would have died without a burial place long ago.

At this moment, the person who had the same idea as Concubine Li was Qin Yu in the corner.

If Li Jieyu was angry because her position was not upright enough, then Qin Huaijin's current position can only be described as remote.

The seat of the imperial concubine was almost at the door, but there was no door on the round moon platform, so it could only be said that it was close to the red painted pillar.

The advantage of sitting so far away was that no matter how gloomy Qin Huaijin's expression was, no one would notice it. He ate the whole meal in a depressed mood and even wanted to rush up and kill Qin Liuse who was sitting next to Emperor Yongjia.

And seeing Emperor Yongjia whispering to her from time to time, Qin Huaijin's face became even darker.

The little prince and princess are now a little more sensible, and this is their first time attending such an occasion, and they are extremely excited.

Being held by two wet nurses, he sat next to Qin Liuse, looking left and right, poking his head out, just wanting to go down and play.

However, Qin Liuse and the other two are still young and can still control themselves and follow the adults, but the other princesses and princes are already too old to sit still.

When they had almost finished eating, they all said they were full and swarmed out. The nurse had no choice but to follow them to play outside.

The little princess cried out, "Sister! Sister!" and wanted to follow. Qin Liuse took her from the nurse and held her in her arms. "Sister Ying, where do you want to go? You are too young to go. When you grow up a little, mother will go with you."

Yingjie pouted. Although she couldn't speak very well yet, she could understand a little bit. In short, her mother said "no".

Sister Ying immediately pouted and moved her chubby little butt around in Qin Liuse's hands.

Qin Liuse shook her head, somewhat helpless, and picked up a bowl of jelly sprinkled with peanuts and raisins in front of her, and waved it in front of her, "Sister Ying, do you want to eat this?"

The little princess' eyes immediately lit up with gold, and when she thought of food, she immediately started giggling.

I instantly forgot that I wanted to go out and play with my brothers and sisters.

Qin Liuse smiled helplessly. This was Sister Ying's personality. She was inexplicably funny and cute.

Soon, the banquet was almost over and the auspicious time was approaching. The incense altar had been set up outside, ready for worshiping the moon.

The Shanggong of the Shanggong Bureau arranged for the concubines, Emperor Yongjia, the Empress Dowager and the two Empresses Dowagers to go outside.

At this time, the moon has risen into the sky, the bright moon is in the sky, and the autumn breeze is refreshing.

Emperor Yongjia and the Empress Dowager stood at the front, followed by the concubines who had just given birth, leading their children and standing with the two Empress Dowagers. The concubines at the back stood in order according to their rank, and worshipped the moon with Emperor Yongjia and the Empress Dowager.

The table was filled with tributes prepared by Shang Gong Ju, mainly seasonal fruits. The adults were holding incense in their hands, and the little princesses and princes put their hands together, followed the adults and moved forward slightly, bent over and bowed, with their buttocks raised high.

However, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a very important festival in that dynasty, and the Chang'e on the moon was also a deity passed down from generation to generation among the people.

Adults worship the moon to pray for peace and good fortune, while children have their own little thoughts.

For example, all the strange things on the table, except for fruits, were brought by the little prince and princess for worship.

After following the adults in paying homage and lighting the incense, the princes and princesses immediately swarmed forward, each standing on tiptoe to take their own offerings from the table.

The Grand Empress Dowager and the two Empress Dowagers looked at these grandchildren and laughed, "These monkey grandchildren, one or two, we haven't finished paying respects to them yet."

Since we are worshiping the moon, we naturally have to wait until the incense is burned out before we can remove the offerings on the table.

The Empress Dowager Cixi laughed and said, "Children speak without restraint. The gods in heaven are kind and will not argue with them."

For a moment, all the concubines followed the Grand Empress Dowager and the two Empress Dowagers and were talking.

It was a lively night and the Empress Dowager was extremely happy. After worshipping the moon, she sent servants to bring out the rose chair, saying that the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the weather was good, so they could sit outside and admire the moon.

Logically speaking, after finishing all these, the elders should have returned to the palace first. The Empress Dowager did this, which showed that she was in a really good mood tonight.

The Grand Empress Dowager had not returned to the capital for a long time. Seeing so many clever and lively great-grandchildren playing together, she was naturally happy.

Qin Liuse is now a mother and doesn't have much time to sit here with them.

The little prince and princess could not sit still and ran around with their feet clacking heavily. Although they were followed by a wet nurse and maids, Qin Liuse was still worried and had to get up to check on them occasionally.

It would take a long time for the incense to burn out, so Qin Liuse played with them for a while, then sent the wet nurse and the maid to take them back to Zhaoyang Palace first.

Because they both still need to breastfeed and it's almost time to go to bed. If I stay here with her until it's over and then go back, I'm worried that they will play too noisily and have nightmares tonight.

Qin Liuse coaxed them into the garden, and when they were walking back, they saw the eldest prince standing alone by the lake from afar, seemingly chasing something by the lake.

The light by the lake was dim. Qin Liuse rubbed his eyes and looked at him. It was indeed the eldest prince.

The eldest prince's maid followed behind him, telling him not to get so close to the lake, but the eldest prince seemed to be chasing something. The water was flowing quickly, and the thing floating on the lake was getting farther and farther away, and the eldest prince's steps were getting bigger and bigger.

The maidservant was shouting behind him, lifting her skirt, but the eldest prince ignored her and kept walking forward with his short legs.

Qin Liuse was startled. You know, the lake algae on the lakeside in front of him were covered with a layer and looked like grass. If you were not careful or stepped on it without knowing it, you would fall into the water.

Just as I thought of this, there was a splash. The maid following the eldest prince was so scared that she started crying and kept shouting, "Help! The eldest prince fell into the water!"