Chapter 118：

When the last sweet-scented osmanthus in the palace was defeated, time also entered October.

It seemed to have become cold overnight, and the thin silk curtains hanging in front of the hall were replaced with wind-resistant felt curtains.

The eighth of this month is Pei Yan's 22nd birthday.

Tao Ti learned from Linglong that since the Qin Tianjian judged that "the prince will not live to be twenty-three years old", Emperor Zhaokang stopped celebrating Pei Yan's birthday. He thinks that the celebration is too public and will remind the Lord Yan to remember the day to ecstasy.

Tao Ti was still a bit speechless when he heard this statement.

When thinking about the Zhongyuan Festival, Emperor Zhaokang invited Taoist priests and monks again, thinking about the afterlife with Queen Gu. Then he can understand Pei Yan so carefully and superstitiously now.

Isn’t there any folk custom such as having a bad name to feed, and piercing your ears to feed?

Emperor Zhaokang was an emperor, but he was also an individual, with flesh and blood, as well as worries and fears.

But this time, Emperor Zhaokang decided to hold a banquet for Pei Yan to celebrate his birthday, because under Xu Wenhe’s conditioning, Pei Yan’s body was obviously getting better, let alone living 23, living 70 or 80 years old. no problem.

But Pei Yan declined Emperor Zhaokang’s arrangement for simple and sincere reasons——

"Father, my son has promised Ati to spend his birthday with her in the East Palace. If you have a banquet on your side, my son might not be able to do so... Besides, although the palace banquet is lively and grand, he is a person who really celebrates his son’s birthday. I'm afraid there are not many."

Emperor Zhaokang frowned with a deep Sichuan character, "You are the prince, how dare they not really celebrate your birthday?"

Pei Yan pursed his lips and said nothing, but calmly raised his eyes to look at Emperor Zhaokang.

His eyes seemed to be looking at a bluffing child.

Emperor Zhaokang rubbed the warm cup wall, his expression gloomy.

He also knew that the prince was telling the truth. Those palace banquets looked at the hustle and bustle of the palace. In fact, everyone in the audience was cautious, smiling, flattering, flattering, and saying something false. Fake and glorious words.

It's really boring.

Emperor Zhaokang lowered his eyes, took a sip from his teacup, and said in a low tone, "Since you want to spend your birthday with Dow, then do it with you."

He was a little unhappy in his heart. He often heard people say "marry a daughter-in-law and forget his mother". Now his prince "married a daughter-in-law and forget his father", and said these words without seeing to discourage him.

Pei Yan smiled calmly, "If Father is free tomorrow, why not come to the East Palace and have lunch with us?"

Emperor Zhaokang hummed from his nose and said coldly, "The end of the year is approaching, and I still have a lot of government affairs to arrange, so I won't go. Let Li Gui send it to you tomorrow."

Pei Yan nodded, "I would like to thank my father for the birthday gift."

Emperor Zhaokang waved his hand, "Come on, I still have a lot of papers to approve, you can withdraw first."

Pei Yan slowly got up, respectfully bowed to Emperor Zhaokang, and left.

Emperor Zhaokang stared at the tall and straight figure, and there was a trace of melancholy on the no longer young handsome face. After a long while, he sighed, "I'm grown up."

The chief **** Li Gui bent over and whispered softly, "His Royal Highness is almost twenty-two, but he is not grown up."

Emperor Zhaokang narrowed his eyes that were no longer clear, "I have always dreamed these two days, dreaming of the queen, and dreaming of Yan'er when he was a child..."

Yuan Yuan in the dream still treats him coldly, her beautiful eyes are full of tenderness when she looks at other people, and she is so indifferent only when she looks at him.

He was deeply pierced by the indifferent eyes, and his heart was terribly uncomfortable, but he didn't know what to do. He could only cover her eyes as before, kiss her over and over again, tease her, at least at that time, she The whispering tact is not cold.

But in the dream, he walked to the bed and stretched out his hand to hug Yuanyuan. Yuan Yuan didn't resist, so he just hugged him.

He was very happy, thinking that Yuan Yuan would give him a good face and would accept him.

At this time, a clear and sad childish voice sounded in the ear, "Father, they all said that the queen mother is dead. Is the queen mother really dead? Doesn't she want to delay her son?"

Emperor Zhaokang looked up and saw five-year-old Xiao Pei Yan standing in front of him, with a delicate face like a porcelain doll, and his dark eyes filled with tears. He wanted to cry but didn't force himself to cry. Poor appearance.

"The queen mother, Yan'er is very good, Yan'er will study hard with the master, study hard, and will listen to you... Don't die the queen, okay..."

When Emperor Zhaokang heard this, he was horrified and bowed his head hurriedly. He saw Yuan Yuan's face in his arms as paper-faced, his eyes closed tightly, and bright red blood came out of the corners of his mouth.

He panicked, and ran out holding her body to find the royal doctor to make her come alive.

Just like many years ago.

At the end of the dream, there was a piece of bright red blood. He woke up with a look of water, and he couldn't tell whether it was cold sweat or tears.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?" Li Gui called out nervously.

Emperor Zhaokang came back to his senses, raised his hand and pinched his eyebrows, "Maybe I am really old."

Li Gui hurriedly said, "Your majesty has a healthy body, long live long live long live long live."

Emperor Zhaokang snorted without saying more, drank the remaining tea in the cup, got up and went to the table to deal with government affairs.

Li Gui breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't help but worry: Your Majesty's mental condition seems to be getting worse and worse this year. Alas, it is said that the bell must be tied to the bell, but the queen has already passed away. Your Majesty is afraid that he will not be able to let go of this regret in his life.

The next day, with the breeze and smoothness, Tao Ti got into the kitchen early in the morning to work.

This was her first birthday with Pei Yan. It was of great significance to both of them, so she naturally had to treat it seriously.

Since it's a birthday, a birthday cake is naturally indispensable.

Baking cake embryos is not difficult, and the steps to make fresh cream are simple, that is, when whipping the cream, you have to manually beat it continuously for half an hour to make the cream dense and delicate. This job is really tiring. Fortunately, there are so many maids who help the kitchen. Everyone takes turns to play for a while, and succeeds in making a big bowl of white and fragrant cream.

"I didn't expect the egg whites to be beaten all the time, so I could produce such white stuff." Linglong smacked her tongue and turned to see the princess concentrating on handling the egg yolks. She couldn't help boasting, "Princess, you are really good, you can think of this. What a special meal."

Tao Ti smiled at her, "This hasn't been done yet. When it's done, it won't be too late for you to praise it."

"The food made by the princess must be excellent!"

"Well, you go and help me wash some grapes, autumn pears, tangerines, and hawthorn. I will use them later."

"The slave and maid will go now!"

Linglong responded, swiftly picking a large pot of fruit and heading out. As soon as she left the house, she saw Princess Qingping coming in from the door, and she hurriedly asked Andao, "The slave maid pays respects to the Princess Qingping, and the princess is blessed and Jin'an."

Qinghe is wearing a fresh goose-yellow dress today, with a smile on his brows and a kind, gentle manner, "You don't need to be polite. Where's your princess?"

Linglong replied, "The princess is busy in the small kitchen."

Qing He said, "Then I just came here. Linglong, you send someone to take these gifts in first. I'll go to the kitchen to find the Princess."

Linglong looked at the generous gift held in the hands of the **** behind the princess, and hurriedly answered yes.

Qinghe walked briskly to the kitchen. After a while, Tao Ti and Qinghe talked and laughed in the kitchen.

Emperor Zhaokang went to court earlier today. As usual, he would go directly to the Palace of Qinzheng to criticize the book, or read and practice calligraphy.

But now sitting on the sedan chair, he thought of the livelyness of the East Palace, but he wanted to sit alone in the Palace of Qinzheng, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

After pondering for a moment, he instructed, "Go to Mingyue Palace and sit down."

Concubine Xu Gui was gentle and small, and the fifth prince was naughty and lively. He was quite at ease when he was in Mingyue Palace.

Li Gui sang, "Put the Mingyue Palace——"

The luxurious imperial court carried by the eight people immediately turned towards the Mingyue Palace.

Before I thought, I walked halfway down the road, and I saw Xu Guifei's sedan chair approaching. There was a sedan chair behind her, with the fifth prince and the sixth princess sitting side by side above her. The two children chatted happily, not knowing what they were talking about.

This is not a coincidence!

Li Gui was startled, and subconsciously raised his eyes to look at Emperor Zhaokang.

Emperor Zhaokang slightly raised his hand and motioned to the sedan chair to stop.

Concubine Xu quickly brought the fifth prince and the sixth princess forward to salute. Emperor Zhaokang sat high on the sedan chair, squinted his black eyes, and looked down at them, "Concubine, where are you going?"

Concubine Xu Gui lowered her eyebrows and said with her eyes, "My Majesty, today the prince held a birthday banquet in the East Palace, and the prince sent someone to invite his concubines to go to the banquet with Xiaowu Xiaoliu..."

Emperor Zhaokang pursed the corners of his mouth and said nothing.

Li Gui has a heart hanging on this side. Your Majesty wants to go to the imperial concubine, but the imperial concubine is going out? What is this called?

He was wondering whether to remind Concubine Xu, and suddenly heard Emperor Zhaokang's majestic and low voice from above, "In addition to you, who else did the Crown Princess invite?"

Concubine Xu Gui said, "This...I heard that Her Royal Highness Princess Long and Qinghe County Lord will go, and the other...The court concubines are not very clear."

The fifth prince spoke quickly and added, "Sister Achan of the Xu family will definitely come, and the sister-in-law will make a lot of delicious food today. As long as there are delicious places, sister Achan is indispensable."

Seeing the youngest son happier than the Chinese New Year, and glimpsing the little daughter's head down and restrained, Emperor Zhaokang's stern face softened a little, "It sounds lively."

Concubine Xu Gui also received the reminder from Li Gui's eyes, she squeezed her fingers calmly, and sighed in her heart, how could it be such a coincidence!

If your Majesty came to look for her on weekdays, she would be overjoyed. But today...Today, the princess will definitely make many delicacies. I heard that there is another dessert called "birthday cake", which can only be eaten on the birthday day, which is usually not eaten.

If this is missed, wouldn't it be necessary to wait for the prince's birthday next year?

Concubine Xu Gui bit her lip, endure the yearning for the cake, and gently handed the steps, "Your Majesty, the concubine has recently made a new scent and has a calming effect. Would you like your Majesty to go back with the concubine for a try?"

After a pause, she said to the fifth prince and the sixth princess again, "You two go to the East Palace, bring me a word to the prince and princess, just say me..."

Emperor Zhaokang interrupted her, "You go with the children."

Concubine Xu Gui was startled for a moment, "Then your Majesty..."

Emperor Zhaokang gently rubbed the handrail with carved dragon pattern with his thumb, thought for a moment, and said lightly, "I will go with you."

Concubine Xu Gui was stunned, and immediately showed joy, "This couldn't be better! He must be happy to be accompanied by your Majesty on the birthday of the prince."

The fifth prince: I don’t know if the prince’s elder brother is very happy. I only know that there is a scene with the father, which must be embarrassing and restrained.

Six princesses: second.

No matter what the two little guys thought, in the end, they still followed Zhao Kangdi's sedan chair all the way and rushed to the East Palace unhurriedly.

The sun was shining at noon, and there was joy and laughter in the Yihe Hall where the banquet was held in the East Palace.

Because there were not many people who came to the small banquet, and they were all familiar friends and elders, Tao Ti did not set up a small table, but a big round table.

When everyone arrives, the big guys can gather around a table and eat and chat casually.

Qinghe arrived early and helped Tao Ti a lot in the small kitchen.

Xu Wenchan and Xu Guangji came with Xie Xiaogong. It is said that two carriages happened to run into each other on the road, so they went down the road. As for whether they happened to meet him by chance, Tao Ti secretly asked Xu Wenchan, Xu Wenchan only changed the subject vaguely, with some red on the tips of his ears.

Gu Minglan and Gu Zhihong's sister and brother, Pei Yan and Jingyang eldest princess were also present. At this moment, Xu Guifei and Xiaowu Xiaoliu are left behind.

Tao Ti just wanted to send someone to remind him. The next moment, he heard a loud sound from outside the hall——

"Your Majesty is here!"

In the temple where the laughter was originally laughed, it quieted down instantly.