tallest building

Chapter 360 Busy Preparations

The palace is busy preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and the Empress has asked Wen Mingqian to assist Consort Jing in the preparations.

On this day, Wen Mingqian was tasting dishes with the people from the imperial kitchen, choosing between stir-fried daylily and stir-fried dendrobium sprouts to serve.

"Both dishes are light and elegant, so it's really hard to choose," Wen Mingqian said with a smile. "I think they're both good."

“What you say is true, but we must choose one,” said Chef Jiang. “Serving both of these dishes would be too much.”

"The Empress mentioned it the other day, saying that the name 'daylily' sounds nice, like 'forgetting worries, forgetting worries,' bringing peace of mind." Wen Mingqian thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we make it that way?"

“What the nobleman says makes sense. All these dishes are acceptable. It just depends on which one is more pleasing to the eye.” The people in the imperial kitchen all felt that Wen Mingqian’s reasoning was sound.

“Consort Wen,” the head steward of Consort Jing’s palace said as he approached, “Consort Jing said that Her Majesty the Empress wants this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival banquet to be extra lively, so she wants to invite an opera troupe and acrobats from outside. She came to ask for your opinion.”

“These decisions are for Consort Jing to make; there’s no need to ask me,” Wen Mingqian quickly said.

Originally, the Empress had entrusted this matter to Consort Jing, with Wen Mingqian merely playing a supporting role. Now, Consort Jing had to send someone to ask for his opinion on whatever she wanted to do, so Wen Mingqian naturally couldn't act arrogantly, lest people think he was overstepping his bounds.

"If Your Excellency has no objections, I will inform Her Majesty later," the head steward of Consort Jing's palace said with a smile.

“Consort Jing is experienced in handling affairs and understands the Empress’s intentions best,” Wen Mingqian said with a smile. “With her making decisions, I have a pillar of support.”

The head steward of Consort Jing's palace returned and reported to Consort Jing: "Noble Lady Wen said that everything will be done according to Her Majesty's wishes."

"Huang Fuyuan from the Four Departments said he knows of a variety show troupe that's very popular these days. Many officials hire them to entertain them when they have business to attend to, which is better than other troupes," said Consort Jing. "Her Majesty the Empress has repeatedly instructed us to make this event a grand affair, so we can't be careless. We in the palace don't know what's going on outside, but those people from the Four Departments and Eight Bureaus often go out of the palace on business and are familiar with all over the capital. It's always good to hear their opinions."

“Your Majesty is right. We can’t manage such a large banquet on our own. Everything else in the palace is fine, but there’s always a lack of novelty and excitement. We should invite an opera troupe from outside, as the Grand Tutor suggested. If we follow his advice, we can’t go wrong.”

“Then it’s settled. Go out of the palace and take a closer look. We can’t be careless when inviting people into the palace. They have to be acceptable to us first.” Consort Jing was very meticulous in her work. “We’ll select what to perform in advance. It has to be entertaining and interesting, but not taboo.”

After Wen Mingqian finished selecting the dishes in the imperial kitchen and returned to his palace, he saw Gong Chang'an with his back to the door, fiddling with something.

"Where is the second son of the Chu royal family?" Wen Mingqian asked. "And Princess Zhuolahan didn't bother you either?"

“They’re watching people harvest water chestnuts and water caltrops at Taiye Pond! I picked two lotus pods and brought them to you. I told them I’d come back later, so they stopped following me.” Gong Chang’an smiled and produced a plate of freshly peeled lotus seeds as if by magic. “Mother loves fresh lotus seeds the most. These are all peeled for you.”

“You don’t have long fingernails, so peeling these things is the most time-consuming thing. Look at your hands.” Wen Mingqian felt sorry for you. “You just need to break them off for me, and I will peel them myself slowly.”

“I’m willing to peel them for Mother,” Gong Chang’an said, squinting. “Mother’s hands have done so much for me, and she has never complained of hardship or fatigue. What’s a few lotus seeds I’m peeling compared to that?”

Even though Gong Chang'an knew long ago that he wasn't Wen Mingqian's biological son, he felt even more grateful and closer to her. The kindness Wen Mingqian had shown him was greater than that of a biological father; how could he not understand that?
“You silly child,” Wen Mingqian raised his hand and patted his head, “you’ve always known how to sweet-talk me and make me happy.”

"Mother, try one, isn't it sweet?" Gong Chang'an held a lotus seed to Wen Mingqian's lips.

“It’s very sweet.” Wen Mingqian nodded after eating. “Go wash your hands, I have something to tell you.”

Gong Chang'an washed his hands and came over. Wen Mingqian looked at him seriously and said, "These days, you should be more careful and vigilant. If there are any unusual people or things around you, be careful. My heart has been hanging in suspense these past few days, and I always feel uneasy."

“Mother, don’t worry. I think there’s nothing wrong in the palace right now, otherwise we would have noticed.” Gong Chang’an comforted his mother, “Besides, we’ve always been very careful.”

“There will be many people coming to the palace for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in a few days. I have other things to do and will not be able to stay by your side. You must not let your guard down,” Wen Mingqian said. “I hope I am just overthinking it.”

"I heard that Young Master Feng and the others will be coming to the palace on Mid-Autumn Festival," Gong Chang'an said with a smile. "I will be with them."

“You haven’t left the palace in a long time, unlike before when you accompanied the Crown Prince of Zhao and the Crown Prince of Chu. They are older and often want to go out of the palace to play, so you can go with them. Ying Shan is too young and can only stay in the palace, so you are not free anymore,” Wen Mingqian said. “It’s a good thing that all your younger brothers can come to the palace this time.”

Just then, Zhuolahan came running in, first calling out to Wen Mingqian, and then grabbing Gong Chang'an: "Oh, you ran away again! I caught you this time."

"Where did I sneak away? I was peeling lotus seeds for my mother," Gong Chang'an said. "Why do you look at me like I'm a thief all day?"

“You’re a thief! If I don’t keep an eye on you, you’ll run around everywhere, and I can’t find you at all.” Zhuolahan wouldn’t let go no matter what. “Come back with me, I’ve peeled a lot of water chestnuts for you.”

"Don't eat water chestnuts raw, they'll make you bloated if you eat too many," Gong Chang'an said helplessly. "It would be better to have them take some freshly peeled water chestnuts to Zhang Ma so she can cook some for us."

"Is that stuff tasty?" Zolahan had never tried it. "It looks sticky to me."

"Delicious, delicious, I love it the most," Gong Chang'an said. "Let me go first."

“Then you’ll come with me.” Zhuolahan pulled Gong Chang’an out the door. “Go and tell Zhang Ma that I can’t explain it to her.”

“If you keep pulling me like this, I’m going to climb up the tree,” Gong Chang’an said. “Then I won’t come down no matter what, and I’ll leave you anxiously waiting here.”

Zhuolahan was afraid of heights and dared not climb trees. Hearing Gong Chang'an say this, he reluctantly let go of her hand: "I'll let go, but you're not allowed to run away."

"I want to eat Zhang Ma's stir-fried water chestnuts tonight, why did I run away?" Gong Chang'an muttered. "Let me tell you, this dish is all about the light fragrance, you're not allowed to put beef or mutton in it."

The two children went off, pulling and tugging at each other. Wen Mingqian couldn't help but smile. Zhuolahan was domineering and arrogant, but Gong Chang'an was good at dealing with her.