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The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Unwittingly Misled by the East Wind 17. Qixi Festival

Chapter word count: 5059 Update time: 08-08-21 16:04

17. Qixi Festival

Afterwards, the emperor, empress, and other palace ladies went to Qionglin Garden to admire the autumn flowers of the season, and at dusk they went up to Baojin Tower in Jinming Pond for a banquet.

For these kinds of private banquets in the palace, the concubines would routinely pay for several dishes to be prepared for the emperor's enjoyment. Today's main dish was twenty-eight first-class fresh crabs, newly transported from Jiangnan to the capital. They were large and plump with roe, steamed to a golden-red color, and placed on a white porcelain plate, looking very beautiful.

Unexpectedly, the emperor frowned upon seeing it, summoned Ren Shouzhong, and asked, "At this time of year, how can such an item exist in the capital? What is its price?"

Ren Shouzhong bowed and said, "Each one is worth a thousand coins... This is a small token of the ladies' appreciation. They specially instructed the Imperial Kitchen to find these before the festival to present to the Emperor."

The Emperor was displeased. He looked around at his concubines and asked, "This single serving of chopsticks costs twenty-eight thousand?"

The concubines were speechless. The Emperor put down his chopsticks and refused to eat the crab. Seeing this, the Empress ordered the eunuchs to remove the crab, and only then did the Emperor begin his meal.

The Emperor and Empress sat on their thrones in the hall, with seats for the concubines arranged in order on either side. The princess's seat was next to the Emperor, closest to him but not adjacent, about five or six feet apart. While the ladies were engrossed in watching the singing and dancing, the princess bent down, leaned towards her father, and softly called out in a low voice, "Father..."

Seeing her acting so mysteriously, the official smiled, turned to her, and asked in a low voice, "What is it?"

The princess continued in a whisper, "I know why you don't eat crabs."

"Oh?" The official deliberately raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"

"I'll tell you later." The princess smiled, quickly sat up straight, and then turned to me, who was standing behind her, and said, "Huaiji, peel a water chestnut for me."

After the banquet, a palace attendant came to report that the Qiqiao Pavilion in front of the Water Palace had been completed. So the Emperor took the princess and the adopted daughters of the Empress and Lady Zhang to the pavilion.

As they descended the stairs, the Emperor brought up the Princess's words at the banquet again. The Princess replied, "Father doesn't eat crabs not because they're not tasty, but because they're too expensive. If he did, word would get out of the palace, and crabs would be even more expensive this year. Just like Father said Zhang Niangzi's crown wasn't good; it wasn't that the crown was ugly, but that the beads on it were too expensive..."

"Alright, alright..." the emperor interrupted her with a smile, "It's enough that you understand in your heart, there's no need to say it out loud."

The princess smiled and nodded, then said, "I have something I'd like to ask you, Father. I hope you will answer truthfully."

The Emperor granted her permission, and the Princess then asked, "Of Cai'er, Jingnu, and Qiuhe, who styled your hair the best today?"

Just as the emperor was about to speak, the princess stopped him and added earnestly, "Father, you must tell the truth."

The emperor smiled, looked back, and saw that only Wang Zhaoming and I were following closely behind, while the rest of the people were still far away. He then bent down and whispered the truth to the princess: "Qiuhe."

The princess pouted and said unhappily, "Then why doesn't Father let Qiuhe be the head ornament master? Aunt, sister, and I all like Qiuhe, doesn't Father like her?"

"Hmm... I like it." The Emperor smiled, still holding the princess's hand as they walked slowly, his tone gentle and composed. "However, Huirou, the more we like someone, the less we should let others see that we like her. If we show our affection for her, it's like putting her in the spotlight, making her the target of everyone's attacks. Open and covert attacks will follow one after another, and it will ultimately harm her."

The princess frowned in thought, then asked, "Father, are you afraid that the ladies of the Imperial Clothing Bureau will be jealous of Qiuhe?"

“Hehe,” the official stroked her hair, “Perhaps.” He paused, then added, “Remember this: If you truly like someone, don’t be too good to them, don’t let others find out, and don’t even let them realize how much you like them…”

"Oh..." The princess seemed to understand, but after thinking for a moment, she still asked, "Why can't we let him know?"

The official smiled and shook his head, remaining cryptic: "I'll tell you later."

On the night of Qixi Festival, noble families in the capital would often erect a decorated pavilion in their courtyards, made of carved wood and colorful satin, called the "Qiqiao Pavilion". On it, they would display flowers, melons, wine, roasted meat, writing brushes, inkstones, needles and threads, as well as clay figurines called "Mohele" dressed in colorful clothes. At night, boys would compose and recite poems, while girls would show off their needlework skills, burn incense, and worship in an orderly manner, which was called "Qiqiao".

The Emperor ordered the construction of a decorated pavilion in front of the Water Palace. Palace lanterns hung high under the eaves, the Milky Way shone brightly in the sky, and the autumn water in the pond rippled. Palace servants cast figures of ducks, geese, mandarin ducks, turtles, fish, lotus flowers, and other creatures from yellow wax, all painted with colorful gold thread. After lighting the wicks at the top of the lanterns, they were placed in the pond to float, a phenomenon known as "floating on water," which complemented the starry sky and the moon.

The princess first tried a few water-floating toys, then picked up a Moho to play with. Disliking the girls' clothes, she said to her companions, "Let's change Moho's clothes a few times and see who can make the prettiest one."

The women agreed, each taking a clay figurine, and then took out handkerchiefs, silk flowers, and other usable fabric pieces to decorate the clay figure. The princess ordered someone to pick a lotus flower from the pond, plucked a few petals herself, wrapped them around the girl's waist, tied them with a ribbon, and waved them up for everyone to see. The empress and several concubines present all praised her ingenuity.

When the time for the Qixi Festival arrived, the princess picked up a seven-holed needle and threaded it in no time. The ladies praised her, but she waved her hand and said bluntly, "These holes are almost as big as the eye of a coin. It's harder to thread the needle than to not thread it through."

Everyone who heard this laughed. The needle used for the Qiqiao Festival was specially made, not an ordinary sewing needle. The needle was flat with seven holes, but the eye of the needle was very large. Although the Qiqiao Festival required threading the needle through the seven holes in sequence, it was quite easy for an eight- or nine-year-old girl.

After the girls had all threaded their needles, the princess led the others in burning incense and bowing before the decorated tower. When the ceremony ended, she seemed reluctant to leave and asked the empress, "Auntie, is there nothing more to do?"

The Empress smiled and said, "Back when I was at my parents' home, we used to play a game. First, you would make a wish, then take a copper coin, hold it sideways, and flick it with your finger to make it spin. If it landed face up, your wish would come true."

The princess immediately said she wanted to try, so the queen had some copper coins distributed to the princess and the girls. Unexpectedly, the princess got a negative result on her first try. She exclaimed, "This doesn't count!" and tried again, but she failed to get heads even once in three attempts.

Those watching felt an ominous feeling; though they still smiled, they were all somewhat embarrassed. The princess, however, showed no displeasure. Suddenly, she stood up, ran to the thousand-branched lantern, took down a palace candle, dripped a few drops of wax onto the back of a copper coin, and then stuck the back of another coin to it, so that both coins were now facing forward.

She triumphantly tried the coin again. With a flick of her slender finger, the thick copper coin spun clumsily, and after finally coming to a stop, it remained upright on its side, without falling to the ground.

Seeing this, Consort Miao laughed and said, "What should this be considered?"

The Empress saw this and laughed, "What a coincidence. I also got a similar result when I was eighteen... but that was just one coin."

Everyone asked curiously, "What did the Empress wish for? Did it come true?"

The Empress refused to speak further, silently lowering her head, but with a slight smile on her lips.

Miao Zhaorong suddenly realized: "What could an eighteen-year-old girl wish for? Of course, she hopes to marry a good husband."

The ladies immediately understood and all looked at the Empress with smiles, but the princess still asked blankly, "And then?"

"Then..." the Emperor suddenly spoke, his gentle gaze falling on the Empress, and he smiled slightly, "Not long after, I issued an edict summoning you, Auntie, to the palace."

"I see." The princess clapped her hands and laughed, "That's a good omen!"

The ladies laughed and cheered. The Empress smiled faintly, but her head drooped even lower, and she dared not look at the Emperor again.

She was twenty-nine years old that year, but her radiant demeanor made her seem like a young maiden, so gentle, quite different from the calm, composed, and authoritative image of the empress I had seen before.

"Huirou," the Emperor called to the princess at this moment, drawing everyone's attention back to her, "Since this is a good omen, tell me what you wished for."