Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1004 Debating the Mandate of Heaven

The banquet was held in Consort Liang's palace, and the guests were all concubines and members of the imperial family who had daughters.

Before the eldest and second princesses got married, Tao Yanyan also held wedding ceremonies for them. Both of those ceremonies were quite grand, inviting not only the princesses and county princesses from the imperial clan, but also the daughters of the court officials. The purpose was to let the eldest and second princesses make more friends and to have a lively celebration before their weddings.

Compared to the previous two times, Consort Liang's event this time was much smaller in scale, with fewer attendees, so He Min's absence would be quite noticeable.

Among the unmarried princesses, He Min is the oldest. Although He Yanran is older than her, He Yanran has a low profile and is low-key, so people don't focus their attention on her.

When He Min arrived, her pink and delicate appearance, beautiful clothes, and the pink jade set she wore instantly attracted everyone's attention.

"The Noble Consort Xian truly dotes on the Third Princess. Pink jade is quite rare, each piece worth a thousand taels. The Princess has jade pendants and earrings, tsk tsk tsk, how enviable!" said the princess from the Qi Prince's household.

"Hehe, this pink jade wasn't given to me by my mother, it was... by my mother." He Min almost let slip that she had implicated Editor Xiao.

Upon hearing this, He Qian turned to look at He Yinuo beside her and said with a smile, "The Empress really dotes on Third Sister. I don't think Fifth Sister even does."

He Yinuo was tasting the pastries. She tried all the pastries on the table and finally had someone pick out her favorites and place them next to her.

She didn't even raise her eyebrows, focusing on eating. After chewing for a while, she said, "Third Princess has fair skin, so pink looks good on her. I like gold, but unfortunately I don't have a gold jade pendant, so Mother prepares gold jewelry for me."

After speaking, she raised her head, making sure everyone could clearly see the large gold and jade necklace she was wearing. Then, she exaggeratedly raised her arms, revealing two large, carved gold bracelets on her wrists. She stood up and turned around, revealing the gold belt around her waist. With a lift of her skirt, she revealed the gold anklet on her feet.

"This morning, I spent almost half an hour choosing which gold hairpin would match my clothes. My mother really loves preparing gold jewelry for me. There are so many boxes, I'm overwhelmed with choices." She fiddled with the gold hairpin in her hair with her chubby little hands. Indeed, the workmanship was exquisite and ingenious. Just one of them was worth ten of others'.

He Yinuo regretted that she shouldn't have been lazy today. She should have brought her gold earrings, gold abacus, gold mirror, gold writing brush, and gold lantern so that they could see who was the most favored little princess of the Great Zhou.

He Min suppressed a laugh. She had grown up with several sisters from Chang Le Palace since childhood, and they had a deep friendship. Yu Nuo was her most beloved little sister. Seeing Yu Nuo's exaggerated rebuttal to He Qian's provocation, she not only didn't think much of it, but even found it somewhat cute.

He Qian's expression was not good. Having been neglected for many years, she was already somewhat twisted and inferior. She also couldn't stand seeing the other children getting along so well all the time. She originally planned to use today's events to stir up some trouble and create a rift between the sisters in their struggle for favor. However, after He Yinuo showed off all the gold jewelry she was wearing, it only made He Qian seem even more like she had nothing.

Over the years, the Empress has given her very few things; let alone pink jade or gold ornaments, she probably hasn't even received a decent piece of jade.

Thinking of the dowries of the eldest and second princesses, and comparing them to her own, her expression gradually darkened. But since it was her banquet day, she couldn't leave in anger.

Consort Liang, standing to the side, wasn't much better off; her gaze towards He Yinuo became somewhat unfriendly.

He Yinuo didn't care about any of that. She continued chewing as if nothing was wrong, eating wherever she went and never neglecting her stomach.

Seeing the awkward situation, Consort Xu quickly smoothed things over, saying, "The Fourth Princess is growing more and more ethereal and refined with each passing year, a true beauty. Her marriage is also well arranged; I've heard that the heir of the Marquis of Jing is handsome and has an extraordinary bearing."

The other concubines echoed this sentiment. They had no children of their own, and neither the Empress nor the Noble Consort Xian were present today. Only Consort Liang, who held a higher rank and had children, was treated with respect, and everyone offered her kind words to cheer her up.

These ladies from noble families are adept at handling formal matters.

Consort Liang's mood indeed improved, and He Qian also had a smile on her face, along with a hint of shyness.

He Yanran listened silently to the side, seemingly lost in thought.

Princess Consort Yong arrived today, but after sitting for a while, she made an excuse to go back and take care of the Crown Prince. She left the palace after leaving the gift for He Qian, only briefly exchanging a few words with He Yanran. He Yanran had been listening to others talk about their husbands, while her own marriage had made no progress for the past few months. It was impossible for her not to be anxious.

However, her low profile over the years has allowed her to easily blend into the crowd, and no one would notice her.

Consort Liang was in a good mood, so she said a few more words: "The heir of Marquis Jing is indeed an outstanding person, trustworthy and polite. I am very satisfied with this marriage."

She glanced at the Third Princess, then at He Yanran, and said with a smile, "The Third Princess and Princess Yanran's marriage needs to be expedited. Your fourth sister is about to get married, so the two of you should make some progress by now."

After saying that, he pretended to have said something wrong and said embarrassedly, "Look at me, I was too concerned and made a fuss. I suppose Her Majesty the Empress and Consort Xian are already looking for someone, right? After all, the Second Prince's marriage is settled and the Eldest Princess has given birth to a son. They should have time to take care of your life's important matters."

Previously, rumors circulated that Princess Yanran was to marry into the Han Prince's family, which all the concubines had heard. However, the Fourth Princess intercepted the marriage, and it was the subject of gossip for a while. Now, hearing Consort Liang's somewhat gloating tone, all the concubines silently kept their mouths shut.

He Min narrowed her eyes, about to retort, when He Yanran tugged at her sleeve, telling her to be quiet.

After all, Consort Liang was an elder, and she was talking about the marriage of the two younger women, so it would be inappropriate to criticize her.

A lovely voice rang out at this moment. Yu Nuo imitated He Linzhang's tone and said, "Whenever Mother mentions the marriages of my sisters to Father, Father always waves his hand and says: 'It doesn't matter if girls are raised for a few more years. Why send them to other people's homes to manage the household so early?'"

Consort Liang's expression changed, and He Yinuo continued, "My eldest sister got married at nineteen, my second sister got married at eighteen and a half, my third sister is only sixteen, and my sister Yanran is only sixteen and a few months old. The Empress Dowager and Consort Xian are reluctant to let them get married so early, and the Emperor is even more reluctant."

She glanced around, her gaze finally settling on He Qian: "But Fourth Sister, you don't need to think that Consort Liang didn't want to raise you for a few more years. She did want to, but unfortunately, your destiny with the Marquis of Jing has come, and there's no stopping it. It's just a pity that you, Fourth Sister, are not even sixteen yet, and you have to wear a wedding dress and marry far away to Yanzhou, thus losing a few more years of being raised by Father."

He Yinuo said with a regretful expression, "I heard that Yanzhou is windy and frosty, and drier and less rainy than our Great Zhou. Fourth Sister, you should bring more moisturizing balms in your dowry so that your skin doesn't crack and your beautiful face is wasted."

Liang Fei and He Qian's faces turned red and pale. He Yinuo spoke softly and sweetly, her tone ambiguous yet containing some earnest advice to He Qian. She had the innocent look of a harmless little white rabbit, making it impossible for the two of them to find a way to retort.

Consort Shu, Consort De, and Consort Xu are all almost kneeling in despair. Empress Tao, the "Debater," has a successor, and her mantle has been successfully passed on.