Chapter 123.2 – New Year’s Eve Family Banquet
The tradition on New Year’s Eve is to watch as the year changes, and the banquet is a dinner, so of course the family banquet was arranged in the evening. Everyone entered the palace in the middle of the afternoon, and there were also those who wanted to visit Xuanshi Hall. But considering the Emperor was currently in poor health, they all gave up their thoughts for fear of accidentally causing things to backfire on themselves.
Days were short during winter, and when the banquet began at around 6 pm, the sky outside had faintly turned dark.
The crowd entered Yaohua Hall first and waited. The Crown Prince and the Emperor arrived on after the other – a year ago, the Crown Prince fell seriously ill and his body had not recovered yet. His previously already pale face looked even more bloodless now.
On the other hand, the Emperor still showed the majesty of an emperor. If it weren’t for the hair on his temple that had quickly turned white, everyone would have thought that he was as healthy as usual.
Looking at the father and son duo, Qi Yang couldn’t help but worry, but the Emperor’s arrival left her with no time to think about it. Everyone stood up at the same time and saluted the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and did not sit down until the Emperor had taken his seat and excused them.
The banquet started, and the Emperor sat on the high throne as the Crown Prince stood up and led the crowd in paying their New Year’s greetings to him.
But as the Emperor glanced downwards, he found that there were far fewer people in the hall compared to previous years. He was in a trance as he thought of his three sons that were gone in the past year. Who knew what it felt like, but his heart finally softened a little. After everyone paid their respects and received their gifts, he turned his head and told Zhang Jian, “Today is the New Year’s Eve, it should be a time for reunion. While it’s still early, send someone to fetch King Qi, the Fifth Prince, and King Wu’s legitimate heir.”
Zhang Jian went to do as commanded, but the hall was silent for a while. Everyone looked at each other, not sure if the Emperor simply wanted to be reunited on New Year’s Eve, or had the day of comeback that King Qi and the others waited for finally come?
King Wei observed the Crown Prince’s face carefully, but unfortunately he couldn’t see anything other than his illness.
Qi Yang and Lu Qipei did not think much about it. Those people were all useless, and with the Emperor’s current health, there was no time for them to grow up. Rather than worrying about King Qi and the Fifth Prince, it was better to worry about the Crown Prince’s body – he looked too weak and pale, making Qi Yang doubt the diagnosis of the royal physicians.
However, the Emperor had already spoken up and summoned those people, so the banquet could not completely start until everyone had arrived. They had to wait until King Qi and the others arrived and paid their respects to the Emperor. After the New Year’s greetings were finished, then they could eat and drink, and enjoy the New Year’s Eve dinner.
The adults certainly had no objection to this, but the little grandchildren that came with them couldn’t bear their hunger. Although they had been taught not to do anything, they were looking eagerly at the delicious food in front of them, and couldn’t be more pitiful.
Qi Yang saw Nanping’s son across her looking at the beef soup in front of him, and his mouth was watering. She couldn’t help whispering to Lu Qipei’s ear, “It’s a good thing that Ah Sheng isn’t here today.”
The corner of Lu Qipei’s lips twitched, inexplicably hearing a hint of gloating from those words.
Fortunately, when the prince and princesses went out and built their mansions, the places they chose were not far from the palace. Even after King Chu was demoted to a commoner, the Emperor did not make things difficult for him and took back his king’s mansion, only demolishing things that exceeded the regulations. The summoning went quickly, and a few people quickly arrived in less than half an hour.
The Fifth Prince was particularly excited. He rushed in front of the Emperor and knelt down with a loud “plop”, crying and howling, “Royal Father, Royal Father, This Child finally sees you again. It was all This Child’s fault before, and I thought that I would never see you again in this life! I heard that Royal Father was ill and wanted to enter the palace to care for you, but I couldn’t even enter the palace gates. At that time, I really really wanted to die…”
He cried sincerely, tears streaming down his cheeks. But the Emperor was feeling a little impatient. He didn’t have much affection for these sons, and today was the New Year’s Eve family banquet, so what was the Fifth Prince crying like this for? He also kept mentioning his illness, was he trying to mourn his death?
Finally, the emperor frowned and slapped the table, scolding, “Shut up!”
Those two words were more effective than anything else. The Fifth Prince immediately stopped crying and knelt down on the ground, too afraid to even move. King Qi on the side was still thinking whether he should follow his younger brother’s example and act miserably, but right now he was also alerted and didn’t dare to act recklessly.
After that, King Qi and his nephew saluted the Emperor together, respectful and silent. Even after paying their respects, they didn’t dare to say anything else.
The Emperor’s face became slightly better, and he waved his hand to let the two of them retreat and take a seat. Then he gave a disgusted look at the Fifth Prince who still couldn’t figure out the situation, and said impatiently, “Get out of the way, don’t be an eyesore there.”
The Fifth Prince obediently retreated and did not dare to make any more noise, secretly wiping his tears.
In fact, whether it was the Fifth Prince or King Qi, after six months of suppression, they all looked very depressed. They were originally not that outstanding, and now that they lacked even the ambition of youth, the Emperor became even more disdainful of them.
Fortunately, this little interlude in the family banquet ended there. The Emperor didn’t say anything else, and the banquet continued smoothly accompanied by singing and dancing. The young royal grandchildren who were waiting for the banquet were all very hungry, and they quickly moved their chopsticks once they heard that they could eat. Only the Eldest Grandson followed the Crown Prince and took care of his father all the time. His patient and thoughtful appearance made the Emperor feel even more satisfied.
Not long after, after three rounds of drinking, the Emperor’s spirit became somewhat drained. But he clearly did not want to show his old age to the others, so he put down his chopsticks and asked Zhang Jian, “How are the preparations for the firework outside?”
Zhang Jian, who was accustomed to figuring out the Emperor’s intentions, said, “Answering Your Majesty, it is ready.”
The Emperor nodded and stood up, saying, “Let’s go out and watch the fireworks. This New Year’s Eve is also very lively.”
When they heard this, everyone hurriedly got up and followed the Emperor outside the main hall. Watching the fireworks was also an inherent part of the New Year’s family banquet, and in previous years, they would only be set off close to midnight. If they were at the right location, people outside the palace could also catch a glimpse of the fireworks and enjoy them.
However, the fireworks were obviously launched much earlier this year.
Author notes:
Lu Sheng (holding the rabbit): Bunny, let’s celebrate the New Year together.
Rabbit (holding a carrot): nomnomnom…
Lu Sheng (…): Forget it, bunny is ignoring me, let’s eat rabbit meat instead.
Rabbit (hair raised): !?!?!?
Lu Sheng silently brought out a plate of rabbit meat and ate them with a satisfied look. “I love rabbits the most, in all kinds of meanings!”
Bunny hugged its carrot tightly, trembling…
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