RPAGF Chapter 121 The Substitute Bride 37
Chapter 121 The Substitute Bride 37
In the following days, the retired emperor directly held court with Chu Qingyun.
Ji Xiaosong arranged the date for the Spring Festival dinner, setting it for the 23rd of the year, which, according to local custom, is also the Little New Year.
Ji Xiaosong understands the resentment of working people who don't want to be unable to go home for the New Year even a few days before Lunar New Year's Eve.
With the New Year approaching, she prepared money and gifts for all the court officials and their families.
Whether they were cabinet members or officials in remote mountainous areas, anyone who served the court and the people would receive a New Year's gift prepared by her.
To prevent anyone from embezzling the money, Ji Xiaosong even had his own people specially dispatched to deliver the package.
On the day of the banquet, those who could not attend received their New Year's gifts.
The officials and their families who attended the banquet received gifts on the same day.
Previous dynasties did have similar precedents, but they usually received fewer cases and the coverage was not as extensive.
Since Ji Xiaosong became empress, everyone's income has increased significantly.
This year's New Year's gifts are the same, covering not only clothing, food, housing, and transportation, but also providing additional gifts for officials with children and elderly people at home.
On the day of the banquet, the palace hall was brightly decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Red lanterns and silks symbolizing good fortune were hung between the carved beams and painted rafters. Red carpets were laid on the ground, and blooming flowers were placed on both sides, creating a festive atmosphere everywhere.
At the banquet, the tables were laden with delicacies, including specialties from all over the country as well as exquisite imperial snacks.
The song and dance performances were spectacular, with graceful dancers performing and melodious music filling the air, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Just as Chu Qingyun was about to get up and raise his cup, the Emperor Emeritus spoke first: "On this auspicious occasion, I thank all my ministers for their contributions to the court and the people over the past year. May you all join hands with the royal family in the new year to create a peaceful and prosperous era."
Everyone raised their glasses in response, creating a lively atmosphere.
Officials and their families beamed with happiness as they enjoyed the food, watched the performances, and shared their year's achievements and joys.
With money and gifts to be won, and hot food served at the annual banquet, who wouldn't want to attend?
Most people didn't think there was anything wrong with the retired emperor giving a speech, after all, he was the retired emperor and had the status and position to say such things.
However, Chu Qingyun was somewhat puzzled. In the past, the Emperor Emeritus had never given a speech at the Spring Festival banquet; it was always Chu Qingyun who gave the speech.
Chu Qingyun's fingertips gently caressed the gold cup with the nine dragons pattern, causing the amber-colored wine to ripple.
Looking at the Emperor Emeritus's ruddy profile, he suddenly recalled that when he was reviewing memorials yesterday, the Minister of Rites had mentioned, somewhat hesitantly, that the Emperor Emeritus had been frequently summoning officials from the Three Departments recently.
"His Majesty."
With a gentle tug on her sleeve, Ji Xiaosong approached, holding a lotus-patterned cup. Golden tassels hung down her temples, accentuating her beautiful features.
As she poured the wine, she spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Is that red coral in the southeast corner a new tribute presented by the Ministry of Works?"
Chu Qingyun followed her gaze and saw the Vice Minister of Revenue offering a toast to the Emperor Emeritus, a corner of light blue paper peeking out from his sleeve.
That was a coded note that only the Grand Council would use, yet it appeared on the Vice Minister of Revenue, who should have been staying home due to illness.
"Be careful of the heat."
Ji Xiaosong suddenly raised her voice, her jade-white fingers lightly grasping his hand holding the chopsticks.
Chu Qingyun was then surprised to find that he was holding the silver chopsticks so tightly that they were trembling slightly, and the jade-inlaid chopsticks left deep red marks on his palm.
The music suddenly became more urgent, and thirty-six dancers in red emerged from behind twelve gilded screens.
When the lead dancer touched the ground with her toes, the golden bell at her waist resonated in unison with the clinking of the wine cup in the Emperor Emeritus's hand.
Chu Qingyun's pupils contracted slightly—that was the rhythm of secret guards delivering secret messages during the late emperor's reign.
"Your Majesty, try this."
With her delicate hands, Ji Xiaosong placed the translucent shrimp into his bowl, and then tapped the rim of the agate bowl three times with her slender fingers.
This was a secret code they agreed upon when they got married; three long and two short lines meant "wait and see what happens."
Sure enough, when the dancer twirled in front of the throne and threw out her water sleeves, the Emperor Emeritus suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "I heard that among the New Year's gifts prepared by the Empress for all the ministers, there is even tinder made in the northern border? She is truly considerate of the soldiers."
The whole hall was in an uproar.
Fire tinder is a crucial military supply item; unauthorized allocation is tantamount to treason.
Chu Qingyun clearly remembered that the gift list mentioned Jiangnan brocade. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Ji Xiaosong's gold hairpin remained unmoved. Instead, she picked up her wine cup and gracefully rose to her feet: "Father, are you referring to the winter clothes that I provided for the Xuanjia Army the other day? The velvet needs to be mixed with cotton to keep warm. Minister Wang of the Ministry of War knows this best—Minister Wang, don't you think so?"
The Minister of War, whose name was called, hurriedly stepped forward, and half of a tiger tally fell out of his sleeve with a "thud".
Ji Xiaosong chuckled softly, her jade bracelet clinking against the wine pot. Amidst the crisp sound, the sound of uniformly clashing armor suddenly echoed from outside the hall.
"Your Majesty's forgiveness!"
The commander of the Imperial Guards strode in, and when he knelt on one knee, snowflakes were still stuck to his waist badge. "Your subject just intercepted twenty carts of tinder at the Vermilion Bird Gate. The escorts claimed... claimed they were acting on the Emperor's orders."
Chu Qingyun slowly rose, the gold thread embroidery on his black dragon robe gleaming coldly in the candlelight.
He felt Ji Xiaosong's fingers subtly hooking into a hidden pocket in his sleeve, where the jade pendant that could mobilize the Imperial Guards was located.
Meanwhile, the retired emperor was crushing a walnut in his hand, the shells falling softly onto the hem of his robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon.
"Looks like we'll have to change how we eat this New Year's Eve dinner."
Ji Xiaosong suddenly clapped her hands with a smile, and the palace maids waiting at the corner of the hall filed in, carrying gilded food boxes.
When the box was opened, everyone gasped – in each New Year's gift lay a bronze talisman engraved with the character "Chu", perfectly matching the tiger tally that Minister Wang had dropped.
The pearl on her hairpin reflected the flickering candlelight, and her voice was clear and melodious like shattered jade: "I think that since it is a reunion banquet, we should make sure that those who are separated can all be reunited as a family."
The candle tears congealed into blood-red beads on the gilded candlestick, and Ji Xiaosong gently traced the edge of the bronze talisman with her fingertips.
In the silence of the hall, the Emperor Emeritus suddenly laughed, his cloudy eyes reflecting the broken walnut shells scattered on the floor: "Good, very good, a fine daughter-in-law I have raised."
The jade pendant in Chu Qingyun's sleeve was already burning hot.
Looking at the newly added white hairs at the Emperor Emeritus's temples, he suddenly remembered when he was twelve years old and his father was teaching him to review memorials by holding his hand; his father was still wearing a jade thumb ring on his thumb.
The candied plums tucked inside those memorials still leave a sour taste on his tongue.
"Everyone, stand down."
The emperor waved his hand to dismiss the imperial guards, and the wind stirred by his black wide sleeves overturned the wine cups on the table.
As the last dancer's skirt disappeared behind the screen, Ji Xiaosong suddenly bent down and picked up half of the tiger tally.
Her golden peony skirt brushed against the Emperor Emeritus's dragon-embroidered boots as she gently closed the bronze and tiger tallies: "Father, do you know that the ice silkworm silk mixed into the Northern Fire Floss is most averse to the smell of walnuts?"
The Emperor Emeritus's pupils constricted sharply, and the walnut in his hand rolled to the ground.
Chu Qingyun then noticed that the back of his withered hand was covered with purple spots—symptoms of excessive exposure to the poison of the ice silkworm silk.
"The Imperial Hospital reported the theft of ice silkworm silk half a month ago."
Ji Xiaosong placed the closed tiger tally on the imperial desk. The crisp sound startled the canary perched on the beam. "You always say that your son loves to send New Year's gifts, but you don't know that each gift box is soaked in snow lotus juice that can detoxify."
"Ha, as expected of a disciple of an immortal, even I couldn't hide it from you."
The retired emperor never intended to actually seize power; he just wanted to test them and then negotiate.
"Please, Father, move to the Zichen Palace."
Chu Qingyun heard his own voice sound like it was soaked in snow water.
Ji Xiaosong silently placed the hand warmer into his palm. The lotus pattern on the warmer pressed against his skin, like calluses left from when his father taught him to write when he was young.