Chapter 662: Same Year, Different Fate

At six o'clock, the sky was a little dim, and the birthday sky lanterns were lit on both sides of the steps of the Yanxi Palace. Behind the longevity lanterns, there were couplets hanging on the left and right, and each couplet was embroidered with couplets on both sides with gold thread. The light was bright, reflecting on the couplets and their gold characters, and it became particularly bright as the night deepened, creating a strong atmosphere of joy for the coming birthday and adding a bit of majesty to this magnificent palace.

Yanxi Palace was the residence of Ming Fei Feng. Her grandfather Feng Lian had just resigned from office and was awarded the title of Earl by Chen Ming. It was Feng's birthday in the palace again.

According to the rules of previous years, it would be fine to have a lively birthday party on the day of the palace concubine's birthday. Especially Feng's birthday party was not a full birthday party!

Today's posture was obviously a big one.

Although no open news was leaked, the entire palace knew that this was asked by the queen for Feng, which could be said to be one of the compliments for Feng.

There is a band under the eaves of the Yanxi Palace. When Chen Han first established the country, the band was not fully equipped for a while, but now it is all in order. There are music for sacrificial ceremonies, court meetings, and processions, as well as music for banquets, travels, and banquets.

In the Yanxi Palace, each person has a banquet table arranged in a strict hierarchical order: a large golden dragon banquet table is set in front of the emperor's throne, and on both sides of the seats, there are the first table, the second table, the third table, etc., with the left being the noble and the right being the humble. Concubines or noble ministers, etc., all sit in order according to their status and identity.

Of course, Xiao Li will also be present tonight. Although her current status is still very low, she only has a fifth-rank imperial edict on her head, which is a sinecure that Chen Ming gave Li Kun for convenience. She is very conspicuous among a group of baron wives, marquis wives, duke wives, wives, dowager wives, and ladies. She is the well-deserved center among the surrounding people.

After Chen Ming and the Queen arrived, followed by the concubines in the palace and Feng, the birthday girl who was on the same level as the imperial concubine, Xiao Li followed the others to pay her respects. After Chen Ming took his seat, she still bowed and then sat down.

Chen Ming was very happy today, and Xiao Mei Li was also sighing at Feng's good luck in her heart, just in time for the good news from North Korea. I'm afraid that even if Xiao Mei Li hadn't asked before, Chen Ming, who encountered such a good thing today, would have rewarded Feng greatly. This timing was too coincidental.

First, the Empress Dowager's reward, then Chen Ming and the Queen toasted Feng, and Feng, whose face was rosy, drank the wine to the bottom, not to mention how happy she was.

Xiao Li was sitting among the ladies, watching, and a lady next to her gently touched her and smiled softly, "Madam Li, look, the little princes and princesses are coming out to present gifts."

Xiao Li's spirit suddenly shook, and her mind was clear.

She often saw Empress Li, but rarely saw the eldest prince. Little Li liked Chen Ding very much. How old was he to know how to be close to his uncle? She would remember this affection for the rest of her life.

Sure enough, when Chen Ming put down his wine glass, Chen Ding, Chen Yu, Chen Yu and other princes, as well as princesses, big and small, all took their seats. The little baby, supported by the wet nurse, kowtowed to Feng respectfully, wishing Feng a long life. Everyone presented their own gift.

Little Li watched this scene with a smile.

The eunuch in charge of ceremonies sang the gift list one by one, holding the wine glass and sipping the fruit wine. The lady next to him chuckled and said, "Our Majesty is extraordinary. For the gifts during the New Year and other festivals, all the gifts prepared by the princes and princesses must be prepared by hand."

"So don't underestimate the birthday gifts of the princes and princesses. They are all the work of the dragon sons and daughters."

Among these gifts, there are no rare treasures, no antiques, calligraphy and paintings, but mostly some children's toys. Chen Ming and other imperial concubines on the steps are all satisfied.

Little Li nodded. She had also heard of this rule. The two princesses of Kunning Palace, regardless of age, had to choose a period of time every day to do needlework. Occasionally, if they found a "good work" in calligraphy and painting, they must be carefully kept. That is to prepare gifts.

There are so many people in the palace, from the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, to Chen Ming, Li Xiaomei, many concubines, and palace concubines, and so many relatives outside the palace. The birthday gifts and New Year gifts every year cannot be less, and that is not a small amount.

Chen Ming is cultivating the self-help ability of the princes and princesses, and at the same time forcing them to learn calligraphy and painting. Well, almost all the princes and princesses nowadays are devoted to calligraphy and painting, because it is the easiest thing to produce works.

When they get older, will they innovate and be different in the way of "gifts"? That depends on their talents.

In any case, this is better than these children taking money and swiping in the market to collect a lot of rare treasures, right?

For example, Chen Dingjin's this time: Hundred Longevity Picture [Characters], Group of Immortals Wishing Birthday Picture, Longevity Pattern Square Peace Flower Vase, Natural Ganoderma Lucidum Offering Longevity Fairy Peach Plate, Shoushan Bonsai, Fu Lu Shou Sanxing Xianshan Pine and Bamboo Bonsai, Hundred Longevity Purple Gold Gourd, Hundred Longevity Fragrance Ganoderma Lucidum Ruihe Baxianshan, etc.

Don't judge the quality of those calligraphy and paintings. The porcelain was made by Chen Ding himself. He made a whole batch of them. In addition to the longevity pattern, there are also longevity patterns. The natural Lingzhi offering longevity peach plate is also a real natural Lingzhi plus longevity peach. The plate is also a handmade porcelain with the longevity pattern. The natural Lingzhi was picked by Chen Ding himself when he was training in the Boy Camp in Northeast China.

The bonsais were all placed by him personally. You can't ask him to carve the stones himself, right? The gourds were planted in the palace, and Chen Ding planted them himself.

All the gifts had to be personally presented in front of the ministers. Compared with the favor of the Empress Dowager, the gifts of the princes and princesses were really lacking in value. This was another kind of lashing for the princes and princesses.

The gifts of the emperor and the empress were also presented. Chen Ming's gifts were completely in accordance with the system of palace concubines. There were calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, curios, jade, ritual vessels, lacquerware, gold and silver, pearls, and various silks, fresh fruits, etc.

When the empress's gifts were presented later, they were obviously one level higher than usual, especially a set of twelve landscape brocade screens.

Huangli wood and kesi, the materials are ordinary. Few of the participants in the birthday banquet in this hall would feel strange about these two things. What's rare is that the embroidered mountains and ridges on the kesi screen are really like a painting. There are tiled houses and thatched cottages in the green mountains and green forests, with tall pines and bamboos, green willows and red flowers dotted in between; fishing villages, wild ferries, waterside pavilions and long bridges, everything is available. Although the characters are very small, they are lifelike and vivid.

When the twelve doors are fully unfolded, gold and silver threads, pearls and gems are colorful and dazzling.

Chen Ming knew that this was a set of treasures that the queen liked very much, and he actually took it out and gave it to Concubine Ming.

"The queen is thoughtful." Chen Ming's voice was a little emotional.

He now appreciates the favors of the queen and the Feng family. Feng Lian's resignation overturned the previous undercurrents. It can be said that the attention of the big figures across the country has been diverted from North America, and the Li family has also reciprocated, showing their generosity and kindness.

Then the good news from North Korea came, and then the New Year was coming. The big event of the cabinet change would attract everyone's attention. When everything was settled next year, the turmoil that had been linked to the inner palace and the previous dynasty would be completely swept into the bottom of the river of history. It would only last for a decade or eight, and it would not cause any waves.

The banquet was over, and everyone stood up to thank Chen Ming again. It was not until Chen Ming accompanied the birthday girl Feng back that they dispersed one by one. Feng Lian was carried out of the palace in a sedan chair, and he was drunk not long after walking out of the Yanxi Palace.

It was late, and Li Xiaomei did not call Xiao Li again, but asked someone to prepare a box of snacks for her to take with her.

Xiao Li had been out all afternoon today, and naturally she was worried about the children at home. She went over to see that everyone was asleep, and asked the wet nurse in detail what she had eaten and done today, and gave her instructions before returning to her room.

The weather was already quite cold in late autumn, and it was even colder at night. Li Kun's legs and feet were not good, and his blood circulation was not smooth. He felt particularly uncomfortable in winter, so he lit a brazier in the room early.

Little Li asked someone to bring water, carefully cleaned her facial makeup, and removed the hairpins, bracelets, rings and other items on her head one by one, and just talked to the mirror.

There was no gloom and anger between Li Kun's eyebrows that disabled people often have, but when he heard Li Xiaomei talking about how she was fawned on by the wives of officials around her after she sat down, he couldn't help but sigh: "They are all wives of third- and fourth-rank officials. The master of the family is a deputy or director of a department in a ministry, so of course he has to flatter you, the queen's sister-in-law. You shouldn't be among a group of ladies at all. You should sit among the nobles in the front row." His mother had the title of Lady of Zheng State, but Little Li was only a fifth-rank imperial edict.

"What's the big deal? If I sit in the back, I'm not a noble. How many of the nobles in front can go in and out of the palace as frequently as I do? What a blessing it is?" Little Li smiled and said, with a sense of pride in her words.

In the palace, Chen Ming had already rested with Feng in his arms. Although she had given birth to a son and a daughter in the past few years, Feng's waist was still slender and could not help but be grasped, and she often had sex on weekdays. But today Feng's enthusiasm was obviously higher than usual, very active, which made Chen Ming very satisfied.

After using the water, Feng, who was about to faint, embedded herself in Chen Ming's chest. Soon she fell asleep.

But Chen Ming's eyes were still wide open looking at the top of the tent.

He thought of the emperors and sons in history, Emperor Wu of Han, Li Shimin, Liu Ju and Li Chengqian. Unknowingly, his eldest son was already thirteen years old, although he had not yet celebrated his thirtieth birthday.

Chen Ming had no experience in educating his son. In his previous life, none of the things he had seen were about educating princes.

All Chen Ming could do was to love his children without spoiling them. Punishment was not the goal. No matter whether the princes and princesses were educated and learned lessons, they should still be taught.

Except for Chen Ding, the other sons were several years younger. Ten or twenty years later, Chen Ming did not want to see a group of compatriots killing each other in front of him.

After the Chinese New Year, Chen Ding, who was fourteen years old, could be called fifteen years old. He did not feel any real pressure now, but only invisible mental pressure.

And what was Chen Ming doing when he was fifteen?

He had just traveled through time and was busy looking for a wife. At that time, his biggest enemy was his half-brother, because Chen Gang was a scholar, and in the Chen family at that time, a small scholar was precious.

When Chen Ding was born, Chen Ming was already killing people with a knife, but he was only sixteen years old, seventeen years old!