Rebirth of the High Gate Mistress

Chapter 234: Please the Eldest Princess

There are many things to do in the first month, but for the second house of Zhenguo Palace, the most important thing is the 45th birthday of the eldest princess on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

 Since it is a birthday celebration, it is naturally more grand than in previous years.

On the day of the eldest princess’s birthday, the emperor took Empress Cao, Concubine Meng and all their children to the eldest princess’s residence.

After the birthday banquet, Emperor Ming and the empress and concubines returned to the palace. However, the emperor's nephews and wives were all scrambling to express their filial piety, and reluctantly wanted to stay with the eldest princess to drink tea and listen to the opera.

The eldest princess didn't understand their thoughts. These women just wanted to use the pretext of wishing her birthday to flatter her so that they could help their husbands win money. But today was her birthday, and Fu Xi didn't want to offend these people, so he let them do it.

After the birthday banquet, singing, dancing, and opera entertainment was arranged. Everyone gathered around the eldest princess and listened to the performance of "Mu Guiying Takes Command" in the hall. Crown Princess Cao Yingying couldn't wait to smile and flatter the eldest princess: "Auntie Huang, these are the ones raised in this mansion. As a musician, I look like my skills are better than those of the palace musicians."

After hearing the flattery, the eldest princess had no expression on her face. She just said lightly: "That's right."

Since Zhou Qing climbed up to Prince Zhao Bi and was admitted to the East Palace during the last winter hunt, she has tried her best to win favor. Now she is favored by Zhao Bi in the East Palace and has been named Liang Di.

Zhou Qing saw that the Crown Princess was unable to please the eldest princess, so she hurriedly said: "Although Mu Guiying is a daughter, she has the world in her heart. Every time I hear this play, I feel deeply about it."

As she said that, she looked at the eldest princess and said flatteringly: "Listening to this play at the imperial aunt's house today, I often hear my father and His Highness talk about the legend of you being a woman who was not inferior to men when you were young. I feel in my heart I also have great admiration for Aunt Huang."

 When the Crown Princess saw that Zhou Qing was trying to steal her limelight again, her phoenix eyes were slightly angry, and she secretly rolled her eyes at Zhou Qing.

The eldest princess listened absentmindedly to Zhou Qing's compliments, and still replied with two words: "That's right."

Zhou Qing saw the eldest princess's cold attitude, and her fiery heart suddenly fell to the bottom, and her face could not help but turn from sunny to gloomy.

The Crown Princess felt a little more balanced when she saw that Zhou Qing was as frustrated as herself in front of the eldest princess, but she still couldn't help but roll her eyes at Zhou Qing.

The eldest princess was too lazy to pay attention to the little actions of the two nieces and nephews below. After listening to the drama, she took a careful sip of tea, then smiled at her daughter-in-law Jingshu who was sitting next to her and said: "This pine needle I asked them to cook it according to the method you told them, using the frost and snow picked from the plum blossoms. How do you like it?"

Jingshu took a sip and replied to the eldest princess with a smile: "The tea has a hint of plum fragrance. Mother made this tea very well."

The eldest princess smiled and replied: "I also like the taste very much. Your method is really good. After the first month of the year, you are not very busy over there. Let's make tea together."

The third girl sitting on the other side of the eldest princess heard her mother praising her sister-in-law. She came up to her and asked with a smile: "Does your mother like the gauze bed curtain embroidered with the three friends of Suihan that I gave to my mother?"

The eldest princess touched the ends of her daughter's hair with a look of surprise on her face: "I want to ask you, you have always been the worst at embroidery. Mother doesn't know that you are so good at embroidery now? What about the bed curtain?" It’s so well done, my mother likes it very much and has already ordered them to hang it up.”

The eldest princess touched her daughter lovingly and said happily: "My daughter is getting better and better now, and my mother is very happy."

The third girl felt guilty for receiving such praise from the princess's mother. She stuck out her tongue at the eldest princess and said coquettishly: "Tell mother the truth, my second sister-in-law helped me embroider the bed curtain."

After hearing this, the eldest princess glared at her daughter and said, "You kid, if you can't embroider, why do you have to be brave? Your second sister-in-law is already busy enough taking care of the whole house, and you are still going to make trouble."

The third girl pouted and said: "I just asked my second sister-in-law to give me guidance. When I encounter difficult embroidery places, I asked my sister-in-law to help me. Many of them were embroidered by my daughter herself." Aunt Ju on the side smiled and joked: "I'm still wondering, this slave. Well, how come Third Miss, a popular female celebrity, has made such rapid progress? It turns out she met a famous teacher."

The third girl smiled sweetly at Aunt Ju: "Second sister-in-law can do everything well, and she has a good temper and has the patience to teach me, so I am willing to follow suit."

The eldest princess looked at her daughter and then her daughter-in-law with crescent eyes.

The next Princess Jin took advantage of the eldest princess's good mood and quickly flattered her: "Auntie, the prince and I know that you like to listen to elegant music, so our couple specially found a performer who can play elegant music to present to my aunt."

As she spoke, she winked at the maid behind her. After a while, the maid slowly led a young man holding a guqin in.

With a deep smile on her face, Princess Jin stepped forward and said, "Auntie Huang, why don't you let this actor perform a song for you right now."

 The eldest princess nodded slightly.

Princess Jin was flattered and quickly called the actor forward.

The musician was very discerning, and she arranged the instruments well. He asked respectfully, "Your Highness, please order some music."

The eldest princess glanced at Princess Jin and replied calmly: "Bo Yue and Zhong Xuan will come over in a while. I have to change my clothes now. Just let the singer play whatever you like to hear."

 Zhongxuan is Li Xiang's given name.

After the princess finished speaking, she slowly left the banquet hall without waiting for anyone's reaction.

As soon as the eldest princess left, the Crown Princess glanced at Princess Jin's slumped face, and teased in a strange way: "Brother and sister, what kind of songs do you know as a singer? Although the Imperial Aunt is no longer here, we still want to listen to your music. Gongzouqu is an eye-opener.”

Princess Jin's sharp gaze swept across the Crown Princess's face, and she said, "No matter how good a performer I am, I can't compare to those in the palace, so how can I open the eyes of the Queen's Wife?"

In order to please the eldest princess, the Crown Princess just said that the actors in the princess palace are better than those in the palace. Now when she heard Princess Jin replying like this, the Crown Princess was so annoyed that she didn't know how to deal with it.

Seeing that the Crown Princess was embarrassed by Princess Jin, Zhou Qing felt happy and said with a half-smile: "What Princess Jin said is inappropriate. You don't know it. Sister Crown Princess has never liked singing and dancing. Ling No matter whether it is a worker or a musician in the palace, I cannot please my sister."

The prince Zhao Bi was the most cheerful and cheerful, but the princess was an old-fashioned woman who had no knowledge of music and dance. Because she did not share the same interests as the prince, she was not favored by Zhao Bi.

Zhou Qing was favored by the prince, so she developed disobedient thoughts towards the prince. She said this, undoubtedly secretly mocking the prince.

As expected, after hearing Zhou Qing's words, the Crown Princess's face became ugly, but she was unable to reprimand her because she was outside.

She glared at Zhou Qing fiercely, and her hands under her sleeves clenched into fists with hatred.

 (End of this chapter)