"May the empress dowager have a great peace, and the empress have a great peace!" It was easier for the princess to take care of herself. She even included two important figures. Did this mean there was no distinction between the big and the small ones? Qing Luo couldn't help but take a second glance at her.
He had met her before in his last life, so he wasn't too unfamiliar with her. However, she was still very gentle and quiet in his memories. She didn't have the manner she was now.
"Rise." The empress dowager didn't have any intention of blaming him. She treated her and the other madams with the same treatment, but because there was no difference, everyone could tell that something was different.
This was because the empress dowager's attitude towards the Princess Yi was different from when she treated these wives. This meant that the empress dowager's attitude towards the Princess Yi and Princess Kuan were already different.
But then, when the madams saw Princess Pao sitting beside the Queen and the two of them started chatting happily, the wind started to change again. This was because the Third Prince's wife, Bao Lingqian, was from the Bao Family, which had just been promoted to the position of Nine Gate Supreme Commander. Her father was the Nine Gate Supreme Commander, Bao Wenlin.
"Empress Dowager, it's time to sacrifice to the heavens." The Aunt Yan beside the empress dowager reminded her that the empress dowager had nodded, and the Aunt Yan began to make arrangements. First, they invited the priest in charge of offering sacrifices to the empress dowager.
Qingluo didn't remember too clearly, she only remembered that she had to kowtow along with the rest because after the sacrifice, she had to worship the ancestors. After the sacrifice, she had to pay respects to the empress dowager, and after that, the empress dowager had to kowtow to the empress. In short, when Qingluo arrived at the end, she could only remember that she had to kneel here and there.
"Gift!" When the priest announced the ceremony, Qingluo felt like she was going limp. She thought back to when she had attended the sacrificial ceremony, why didn't she feel this tired?
However, she had forgotten that people had different statuses and positions, so the corresponding feeling would not be the same. At that time, she was still an undisciplined little girl.
Although he was older than he currently was, he stayed in his chamber and was not allowed to go out easily. To be able to come across an occasion like a state banquet was naturally just for entertainment.
And right now, he was shouldering the rear quarters of a manor. It was his responsibility to stay at this banquet, so that feeling was naturally very different.
"Announce the opening!" All the etiquette had already been completed, so the empress dowager asked the Aunt Yan to set up a feast. "The ceremony is complete. Ladies and gentlemen, please come to the banquet. This way, please."
The side hall had already prepared a banquet. Everyone consciously followed their ranks and found their seats. Of course, there was a palace maid leading the way, so it couldn't be wrong.
"The empress dowager, empress, and imperial concubine, please come this way." The Aunt Yan personally led a few royal masters to the banquet hall's main seats. Qingluo saw that other than the Third Princess, there were also the Fifth Princess, the Sixth Princess and a few other princesses.
Grand Princess Ning Yuan was there. When Qingluo was in the main hall, she had already greeted her. After all, the two of them were familiar with each other, but they didn't have much contact with each other. They felt a little awkward.
Fifth Princess had always been a little transparent. Her appearance or absence seemed to be unable to change the situation, and the Sixth Princess had married into the Sixth Prince's estate before Qingluo, but only two to three months before Qingluo. Now, it was hard to tell what kind of special abilities she had.
"Today is a national feast, so I have brought everyone here to offer sacrifices to the. I hope that the new year will bring peace and harmony to our Taishang, and that the peace of the country will come. Come, raise a cup with me, and we can celebrate the rise of our Taishang year by year."
When the empress dowager raised her glass, the crowd naturally couldn't fall behind. All sorts of blessings flooded in, and the scene became extremely lively. After three cups of wine, the empress dowager's face reddened slightly.
Qingluo walked up to the Empress Dowager and wanted to tell her to drink less. After all, she was still very old, so she shouldn't be in such a rush.
"Madam Hou, Madam Hou, what happened to you?" This shout was too sharp, causing everyone to rush towards the origin of the voice in shock. They saw a palace maid carrying An Gu, the Madam Hou of the An Kingdom.
When Qingluo saw her mother in trouble, she didn't even have time to think before carrying her skirt and running over. Such disregarding of her image caused everyone to sigh in admiration in their hearts.
"How could this be? What did she just eat?" Qingluo ran over to her mother's side and put her hand on her wrist to check her pulse. At the same time, she asked about what had happened.
"I didn't see what my lady was going to eat either. It suddenly became like this." The young palace maid was so scared that she was on the verge of crying, but because it was a national banquet, she did not dare to cry. The young palace maid was so scared that she was on the verge of crying, but because it was a national banquet, she did not dare cry.
"Don't be afraid, Madam Hou is fine, it's just that her body is weak, the time we have to pay respects is a bit long, she can't take it, quickly give her some medicine, and there's no more danger."
What Qingluo didn't say was that her mother's pulse was too weak, and her heart was mainly in depression. Needless to say, it must be because she missed her that her mother was sick. Qingluo felt unspeakably uncomfortable.
"Then what medicine should we drink? We don't have a prescription here." At this moment, Grand Princess Ning Yuan came to Qingluo's side. She had seen Qingluo practice medicine before, so she didn't feel it was too sudden.
But the other wives were all stunned, seeing how Qingluo was taking her pulse, she seemed to be very proficient, this Princess Yi actually knew medicine?
"I'll give you a prescription, but who knows where the medicinal herbs are?" Qingluo did not expect that the first to walk over was Princess Ning Yuan.
"Tell me. I'll let the palace maid take note. I know where the medicinal ingredients are. You don't have to worry about that." Grand Princess Ning Yuan turned around and instructed the palace maids by her side to come over.
"Take a pen and write down the recipe spoken of by the Royal Concubine. Then, you can go find Aunt Yan and tell her I told you to go there. Let her find some medicine to fry it."
But of course, in this imperial harem, how could there be something that the Aunt Yan couldn't find? She was already in a hurry, "Thank you, Grand Princess!"
"Why would I need you to thank me? Don't tell me I can only save him because of you?" Qing Luo heaved a sigh of relief at the teasing tone.
Since Princess Ning Yuan took the initiative to express her goodwill, and Qingluo was not an ungrateful person, she naturally accepted the hand of others.
Qingluo embraced her mother and ran a hand across her mother's chest as she turned her head towards the palace maid beside her. "Go ask the empress dowager if she can find a place nearby and let Madam Hou lie down."
Madam Hou himself also needs to rest, it will be more convenient to drink medicine later. Then, tell the empress dowager not to worry, Madam Hou is fine, just take some medicine and it'll be fine.
Although the little palace maid was still nervous and afraid, Qing Luo purposely spoke very slowly and gently. The little palace maid, at least, regained her composure and bowed towards the gentle Princess Yi, then went to ask permission from the empress dowager.
The empress dowager naturally agreed. Not only was this giving face to Qingluo, the Madam Hou couldn't allow any mishap to occur at the national banquet. After all, this was the dignity of the palace.
You guys carry the Madam Hou in, be careful. Hearing the young palace maid's report, Princess Ning Yuan called for a few mama to come over and help the Madam Hou carry him to the nearest chamber.
Qing Luo rushed into the room first and laid down the bed. She prepared two pillows for to rest on, and when she helped her up onto the bed, she placed the pillow behind Madam Hou's back, so that she could lie on her back.
"Why don't you flatten it?" She felt that since the patient was sick, lying flat should be the most comfortable position. She did not understand why the Princess Yi had to cover the patient's upper body.
"Madam Hou is in a rush, it's hard for her to breathe right now, if she lies down, it will affect her breathing, it's very dangerous." As Qingluo spoke, her hands continued to adjust her mother to her best posture.
Then she ordered the maid to prepare a cup of warm water. She held the cup of water and let the maid support her mother's head. She then personally fed the warm water into her mother's mouth, spoonful by spoonful.
Seeing that she could still swallow the water properly, Qingluo felt a lot more at ease. She was really worried that the medicine would be fried too slowly, delaying the treatment. She also wished that her mother would immediately recover and not make her worry.
"Qingluo, I'm sorry!" Looking at the busy Qingluo, Grand Princess Ning Yuan suddenly realized how much of a good daughter-in-law she had missed. She was kind-hearted but decisive in her actions.
There was no shyness or hypocrisy from a small family, nor was there any arrogance, vanity, or carelessness from a high noble. As a prince, Seventh Brother was an acceptable girl, but his son only wanted to keep her as a concubine and a plaything.
Clearly, Seventh Brother was already capable of doing some important things for the Emperor, while his son was only able to lead the way. This wasn't without reason, and just from the way he looked at others, the disparity was too great.
"Where did this come from? The Grand Princess has really given me a hard time. " Princess Ning Yuan's sudden apology stunned Qing Luo.
Although he was currently an imperial concubine, there was still a gap between his status and that of Grand Princess Ning Yuan's. Even if Grand Princess Ning Yuan couldn't do anything, it wouldn't be her place to apologize.
"Back then, in my house, the Crown Prince did something that he shouldn't have and troubled you. Fortunately, Seventh Prince told me that night that he wanted me to marry the Emperor for him. Finally, he didn't disgrace you, Qingluo."
"But putting this matter in my heart, I always feel that it's a bit inappropriate. If I don't personally apologize to you, I would feel bad."
She hadn't thought that Princess Ning Yuan would do this, but she really didn't care about it. Although she was angry at the time, it was all over and she didn't suffer any real losses. She really didn't feel wronged about it at all.