Chapter 5
For the convenience of sleeping after bathing, the clean room is located next to the sleeping hall.
The bathtub is located closest to the bedroom, with clothes racks behind it, and a door behind it for the tigers who can go out.
Zhao Zheng dragged Jiang He to the clean room with rough movements and long strides.
She was still wearing the wedding dress from last night, because the belt was untied, so she could only hold the skirt of the dress with her hands when even so, when she walked into the steamy clean room, she still stepped on the wedding dress that was dragging on the He stumbled forward and fell forward. She refused to let go of her hand that grabbed the hem of her clothes, so she could only rely on Zhao Zheng who was holding her arm.
Fortunately, although Zhao Zheng is a bastard, he has strong muscles and a tall body, and he has no problem supporting the petite Jiang He.
However, the ground is a little slippery.
After a skidding sound, Zhao Zheng not only failed to stabilize Jiang He's figure, but instead pressed against her.
It’s over.
Jiang He hurriedly grabbed Zhao Zheng, but Zhao Zheng let go of Jiang He's arm in order to stand firm.
The wedding dress unfolded in the air like a fiery red phoenix. She fell backwards. In the chaos, her body did not hit the cold floor tiles, but something warm enveloped the skirt of his clothes was soaked and Jiang He was submerged in the water.
"Pfft!"
After the panic and fear, Jiang He's wet head emerged from the choked violently and wiped the water from her face, only to realize that she had fallen into the clean room soup pool.
The pool was as big as a carriage, and the water was as deep as her chest. The hot water in the pool was scalding, and petals and herbs were dotted on the water.
Jiang He's wedding dress had fallen off, and the obscene clothes on her body clung to her skin.
She quickly sank down, leaving only her head above the water.
Zhao Zheng held the edge of the pool with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Jiang He with pursed lips.
The anger on his face disappeared at some point, and there was more gloating and the lips are very thin and shallow, they add a bit of coolness.
The huge sound of falling water attracted many maids. They knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
"My servant has just put the hot soup on the table and failed to come to serve it. Please forgive me, Your Majesty and the Queen."
Zhao Zheng stretched out his hand slightly and said, "Aren't you coming out? Are you going to go..."
Jiang He's nose was almost submerged in the water. She shook her head and refused, obviously not interested in going out with him.
"No, it's quite comfortable to soak like this."
Only then did Zhao Zheng give up. He slowly stood up and left. When he walked to the door of the clean room, he told the maid: "Serve the queen well."
The vassal states in various places have been fighting for 500 years, but no one has yet proclaimed himself king of Yong called himself King Yong, so Jiang He was the queen of King Yong.
There were about 50 maids serving King Yong's queen.
They were either holding bath towels for wiping their bodies, or holding incense burners for burning herbs. Others were cleaning her face and dressing her up. The palace maids carrying silver trays presented hair accessories and asked Jiang He to look at the bronze mirror and choose the one that suited his liking.
The bronze mirror is half a person tall and is held in the arms of two maids.
Jiang He looked at them one by one and found that among the many people serving them, none of them were from the Qi State's wedding mission, and none of them came with food boxes.
It seems that I can only go hungry.
The water in the pond washed away the fatigue from last night and the makeup on her face. While she was sitting and choosing clothes, she heard the maidservant of the Yong Kingdom who was guarding outside the clean room talking in a low voice.
"Manager Li brought some food. He said he wanted to keep it quiet and asked the queen to fill her belly before going out."
Jiang He felt warm in his heart instantly, wondering who this Manager Li was.
Where's the food?Why haven't you brought it in yet? Another maid said: "There is such a big pool of blood on the bed!"
Someone immediately stopped the maid: "Silence! Go and clean up quickly! Don't make any noise if you don't understand, be careful and pull out your tongue!"
Jiang He pursed his lips and shook his head.
In the end, Zhao Zheng faked Luo Hong himself so that everyone in the harem believed that they had consummated their marriage.
But what's the deal with such a big pool?Accidentally slit your throat?
Jiang He imagined Zhao Zheng cutting his throat and lying on the bed dying, and couldn't help but laugh.
But they were busy cleaning the bed, so they probably couldn't eat food themselves.
Wearing heavy makeup and fancy clothes, but hungry.
Jiang He followed Zhao Zheng to Dazheng Palace where the Queen Mother lived.
Zhao Zheng sat on the chariot along the way, and the chamberlain held a fan to help him block the sun, but Jiang He could only walk beside she hadn't been strong, she might have suffered from heatstroke.
After finally arriving at Da Zheng Palace, the chamberlain ushered them into the main hall and said that the Queen Mother was dressing up and asked them to wait.
The decoration inside the palace is extremely luxurious and gorgeous.
The distance from the entrance of the palace to the tables where the master sits kneeling is several feet long, and an "ice stream" three feet wide and one foot deep is the grooves made of marble, finely crushed ice cubes are piled on the neat white cool water vapor spread, making Jiang He feel refreshed as he entered the hall.
Behind the eight beauty screens, there are palace musicians playing the music is soft and soothing, and the smooth trembling seems to make the ice stream flow slowly, making people feel relaxed and happy.
The chamberlain led them to sit down on their knees in the hall, with a table in front of them and a cup of tea and three plates of fruits and vegetables on the He looked at it carefully. These fruits and vegetables were the same as those in her hometown. They were a peach, a date, and a handful of roasted chestnuts.
Compared with the expensive furniture and utensils piled up in the palace, entertaining guests with these simple things seems too shabby.
Jiang He picked up the peach, turned to look at Zhao Zheng, and asked in a low voice: "Is it delicious?"
The ripening season for peaches has long passed, so this one must have been picked while still unripe and hidden in the ice this time, it looks pink and smells delicious, and it has some fine fluff when you touch it. I don’t know if it tastes good or not.
Zhao Zheng glanced at her sideways and replied seriously: "It's delicious."
Jiang He was overjoyed when he heard was no one else in the hall, so she quickly put the peach into the ice stream, washed it carefully, wiped the water stains with the silk handkerchief she brought with her, and took a small bite.
After biting through the hard peel, there is sweet and tender juice He quickly took another bite, and his entire mouth was immediately filled with the sweet and mellow fruity chewed it carefully and swallowed it. The peach juice and pulp were cool and refreshing, making her body that was almost suffering from heat stroke feel much better.
I ate a peach core and red dates.
I don’t know if this date was selected from tens of thousands of dates. It is big, round, sweet and has no pit.
After eating the dates, eat chestnuts.
The chef who roasted chestnuts must be new here. Why didn’t he know how to make a hole in the chestnuts?Jiang He's newly manicured nails could not be stained, so she could only carefully place the chestnuts under the legs of the table, then pretend to lie on the table unintentionally and press the chestnuts away.
After a slight crackling sound, the room was filled with fragrance.
The pulp is dense and sweet, probably soaked in honey. There is still a hint of nectar-like sweetness on the tip of the tongue after He picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp. He wiped the corners of his lips with a handkerchief with satisfaction and sat down straightly.
From beginning to end, Zhao Zheng ignored Jiang He.
He pulled out a thick scroll of bamboo slips from under the desk and read it carefully and Jiang He was washing peaches, he splashed a drop of water on the bamboo slip, and he moved away in the time Jiang He used Pingji to press the chestnut, he had already left Pingji and put the bamboo slips on his knees.
After Jiang He finished eating, Zhao Zheng looked up and asked, "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious." Jiang He replied in a low voice, "I didn't marry you to let you starve me to death!"
Her father taught her that if she wants to live well, she must first eat enough.
Are the people in the Dayong Palace all immortals who don’t eat? Jiang He plans to build a small kitchen in her palace.
Just as I was thinking about where to build it, a female official reported that the Queen Mother had arrived.
Zhao Zheng dropped the bamboo slips and stood up, and Jiang He also stood up quickly.
She stood dignified with her head slightly bowed, and her wide-sleeved brocade robe made her gentle and elegant. She was completely different from her previous image of washing peaches, eating dates and knocking chestnuts.
Zhao Zheng glanced at her with interest.
First there were the quick and steady footsteps of the maidservants, and then the sound of clothes scraping against the ground came closer and closer. A soft voice said gently: "The king of Qi is so lucky to have raised such a refined and elegant princess."
Jiang He quickly followed Zhao Zheng and left Pingji, kneeling beside the ice stream and kowtow to say hello.
"Get up quickly." The Queen Mother's voice contained concern, which was inexplicably reassuring.
Jiang He stood up again with Zhao Zheng, and then looked at the Queen Mother.
Ji Man, the Queen Mother of the Yong Kingdom, was 40 years old and had two sons.
The eldest son is Zhao Zheng, the current king of Yong State. The second son Zhao Jiao was deeply loved by the late king and the queen mother and was named the Lord of Chang'an.
It is said that the Queen Mother is good at maneuvering and is very familiar with state affairs. After Zhao Zheng succeeded to the throne, the Queen Mother did not delegate all the powers.
Although she has given birth to children, due to her naturally bright and well-maintained appearance, even at the age of 40, she looks no more than 32 years old.
After taking a careful look at her, Jiang He was attracted by her loving and powerful eyes, and couldn't move his eyes away.
Because it was summer, the Queen Mother was wearing a dark dress of gold and black. From the collar down, the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, dragons and phoenixes were embroidered on them. It was gorgeous, solemn and quite beautiful to the eye.
She slowly knelt down behind a few tables, raised her hand slightly, and the sound of the harping stopped instantly.
The crisp, bright and majestic sound of the bronze chime sounded. After a few notes, the Queen Mother looked towards Jiang He tenderly.
The female officer following the Queen Mother took a step forward and said to Zhao Zheng and Jiang He: "Your Majesty and the Queen, please come forward and serve tea to the Queen Mother."
It’s finally time to serve tea.
After tea is served, the meal can begin.
Tea must be served to the Queen Mother.
Jiang He wanted to move forward, but Zhao Zheng didn't move.
She looked at Zhao Zheng with some confusion, and Zhao Zheng looked at Ping Ji.
What do you mean? The female official's voice sounded again: "Your Majesty, please take the tea cup on the table and offer it to the Queen Mother. Please ask the Queen to peel peaches for the Queen Mother, send dates, and hold chestnuts to present them to the Queen Mother. The peaches are still young, and there are actually seeds. When the son returns, it is suitable for his family. room……"
Jiang He didn't listen to the female officer's next congratulations.
Serve tea, peel peaches, give dates, hold chestnuts...
Careless.
Jiang He was stunned and lowered his head.
The sky above Pingji was empty except for a peach stone lying there alone.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" she asked Zhao Zheng in a low voice.
"I'm just telling you, it's delicious. By the way, this peach is specially prepared for Gu's wedding. This is the only one."
Telling her it tastes delicious, doesn’t it mean she can eat it? There was no expression on Zhao Zheng's face, which seemed to make it clear that this was Jiang He's fault and he was not going to care about anything.
Seeing that the two of them didn't move, everyone in the hall started to look at Ping Ji.
The female officer was just surprised but did not dare to say anything, but the Queen Mother took the initiative to ask.
"Where's the tea and peaches on the table?"
Zhao Zheng stepped aside and made an elegant gesture, drawing everyone's attention to Jiang He.
"Mother, please listen to Mrs. Jiang's explanation."
(End of this chapter)