NFBE Chapter 897: Bai Lu was granted the title of Huai County and seven little moons were given as prince
Chapter 897: Bai Lu was granted the title of Huai County and seven little moons were given as prince
It is autumn now. The low ridge of Lushan Mountain is covered with light yellow grass leaves, and a few clumps of dark green pine branches have become cold and solemn.
When the wind blows, the grass leaves rustle.
The mountain path was wide and gentle, soft to walk on, with not much gravel, so the group walked steadily.
There were a few little deer hiding in the woods, their brown fur covered with grass debris, their ears standing up straight, and they were not panicked when they saw people. They just shook their short tails and took two steps back, their eyes shining like black beads soaked in autumn dew.
Wild chrysanthemums are scattered on the slope, yellow and white, blooming in small pieces.
There were some fallen maple leaves piled up in the valley, their color was soft and gentle, lying quietly when there was no wind. When the wind blew, they swirled and fell on the corners of the robes of the accompanying officials.
The prince sat beside Bai Lu, very gentle, patted the corner of Bai Lu's clothes, and smiled at Bai Lu, "This maple leaf looks quite beautiful."
Bai Lu didn't expect the scenery at Lushan to be so beautiful. She said happily, "If we had known it was so beautiful, we would have come here earlier. Even if we don't come here to eat, we will come here to have a good time."
The people from the Eastern Palace brought the children to General Murong's wife.
General Murong's wife was very careful. She simply chose a location close to Bai Lu so that Bai Lu could see the children at all times.
The children had a great time there, jumping up and down to touch the deer's furry body from time to time.
The fawn is not aggressive and is very cute. As long as you don't use too much force, the fawn will even roll over in front of you.
Bai Lu was a little surprised: "These deer are really docile, unlike the wild deer outside."
A cold voice came from the side, "These deer are obviously not wild deer, and they must have seen people frequently. If they don't see people often, how could they be so docile?"
After she said this, Pei Huizhou walked to Bai Lu's side without her knowing.
Pei Huizhou glanced dimly at the prince on his left.
Seeing the prince's unhappy expression, he said to Bai Lu calmly, "This is because dignitaries often go out for outings."
"Although this is a nameless, ownerless mountain, if something happened to the women of a noble family in the suburbs of Kyoto, the Jingji Guard would definitely be blamed."
"So the Jingji Guards specifically ordered that the deer in Lushan be carefully selected, and those that remained were generally less wild."
"If there are ferocious wild deer, they won't come here if they see people around here frequently."
"That's why the deer here are so docile."
"Besides, the nobles here are quite nice and won't do anything to the fawns. Most of them just touch the fawns and give them food, which will naturally make the fawns feel like their own."
Bai Lu nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly froze: "Hey, why are you here? I need to greet you later."
Pei Huizhou was speechless, "Can't I come over?"
Bai Lu frowned, very unhappy: "It's really troublesome for you to come here, everyone around is watching!"
"Anyway, I'm going to marry you soon." Pei Huizhou raised his eyebrows, his face full of evil.
Bai Lu smiled upon hearing this and said calmly to Pei Huizhou, "Master Pei, will you marry me? Why will you marry me?"
"Did you marry me because you thought I was bad-tempered, moody, and unfilial, and that I even killed my stepmother?"
Pei Huizhou did not respond for a moment.
He stared at Bai Lu carefully, then laughed: "Are you blaming me for ruining my reputation recently?"
"Don't worry, as long as I marry you, I will naturally restore your reputation. It will only cost me money."
"Now it's like this, I really wronged you."
Bai Lu: “…”
Bai Lu said, "Haha, you don't understand love at all."
She looked at Pei Huizhou steadily and said to him, "If you understand love, you should know that a forced melon is not sweet."
"You'll know whether a forced melon is sweet or not after taking a bite." Pei Huizhou raised his eyebrows.
"I just want to marry you."
"Why do you want to marry me? Is it because I am at odds with you and you are impressed by me?" Bai Lu didn't understand.
Bai Lu said calmly, "You know, there's nothing in common between us two."
"You're beautiful when you're angry."
Bai Lu was speechless, she really didn't understand.
Forget it, it’s really hard to explain to such a pervert.
She turned directly to Pei Huizhou and said, "There are too many people here, Master Pei, I will not accompany you for now."
She bowed to Pei Huizhou.
Before leaving with the Crown Prince, she turned around again, smiled faintly at Pei Huizhou, and said, "Also, Master Pei, there are some things I must explain to you in advance. You have to think carefully about whether or not to provoke me."
"If you insist on provoking me, I'm not a pushover... I haven't taken any action yet."
Pei Huizhou listened to Bai Lu's words, thoughtful.
He seemed to have suddenly thought of something and looked at Bai Lu intently.
Seeing that Bai Lu had gone far away, everyone played in the mountains for a while.
It didn't take long to reach the top.
The top of Lushan Mountain is a flat area that seems to have been carved out by humans.
They have had the habit of holding the Double Ninth Festival banquet here in previous years.
The Royal Guards had already set up special tents in advance.
There were two dogwood trees hanging on the rope next to the tent.
Many eunuchs were hurriedly carrying large jars of wine, their faces covered in sweat.
The emperor did not like climbing mountains and had already sat in the main seat.
The emperor was chatting with several ministers.
The Duke of Anguo and others accompanied him in conversation, which made the emperor very happy.
The emperor said with a smile: "So you met your son when you went to the border this time."
Duke Anguo nodded with a smile and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, if my son didn't need to prepare for next year's imperial examination, I would have brought him here long ago."
"This time, when it comes to rewarding merit, he will definitely be included in the reward. He has done a lot of good things..."
While the emperor and his men were talking, Bai Lu and Pei Huizhou had already sat down in their seats waiting.
The prince also sat down.
The three of them were in a three-way confrontation, which made everyone terrified.
Some ministers who had wanted to go out for fun early hurriedly crawled back after seeing this situation.
They looked at each other with embarrassment on their faces.
"Why does the Double Ninth Festival banquet start so early this time?" The emperor touched his cheeks and said with a twitch of his mouth when he saw that everyone was gathered here.
"Now that everyone is here, let's get started."
The palace maids spread out the food table on the gentle slope.
Two main dishes were placed on the plate first: one was roasted hare, the rabbit skin was roasted until golden and crispy.
The emperor was jealous and used a silver knife to poke the rabbit skin lightly, causing cracks to appear on the skin and oil to flow down along the texture.
The aroma of peppercorns and osmanthus leaves stuffed in the cracks of the meat goes straight to the tip of your nose, and a bite of it is filled with the firm and mellow taste of wild animals.
"This is delicious!" The emperor couldn't help but praise it.
"Before, there was a brave servant in the imperial kitchen who used domestic rabbits to pass off as wild rabbits!"
"The taste of wild rabbit is different from that of domestic rabbit. You'll know after taking a bite."
Bailu looked at another plate of braised pheasant. The soup in the bowl was clear, the chicken skin was light yellow, and a few red wolfberries were floating on the soup.
The emperor was the first to pick up a piece of chicken leg with chopsticks.
"Mmm! The meat is so tender it melts in your mouth, and the freshness is wrapped in the sweetness of wild mushrooms! Delicious!"
If the emperor didn't pick up his chopsticks, no one else would dare to pick up their chopsticks.
Bai Lu and others started eating only after they saw that the emperor had tasted both dishes.
The bamboo basket next to it was filled with fried bee pupae. The golden shells were so crispy that they made a crackling sound, and they had a milky aroma when chewed.
There are also salt-baked quail eggs. After cracking the eggshell, you can see the white egg white, and the salty fragrance seeps into the egg yolk. The more you chew, the more delicious it becomes.
The last dish served was cold-mixed wild fern. The green fern was wrapped in sesame oil and vinegar, which cut through the greasiness of the meat.
The table was filled with the aroma of the mountains and wildness, which made all the officials pick up their chopsticks.
The emperor ate and praised the dish.
The old man didn't really want to eat, this time he just wanted to reward Bai Lu and the others.
Now he couldn't help but feel hungry and ate several mouthfuls.
At the same time, he was busy saying, "Manager Li, quickly distribute the fried bee pupae and salt-baked quail eggs to our young princesses."
"Children love to eat these things. Let them eat more. They are nutritious."
The emperor personally ordered the rewards, and the first reward was not to the crown prince, nor to the princes and princesses, but to the seven children born to Bai Lu.
And now... only seven princesses are princesses, and the others are county princesses. This is enough to prove the emperor's great grace.
Everyone looked at Bai Lu with strange eyes.
Everyone also looked at Bai Lu's seven children with envy and jealousy.
Bai Lu looked calm and winked at the seven children.
The seven children immediately stood up, thanked the emperor and said many auspicious words.
Bai Yiyue is the boss, so he has to speak first.
In the ancient clan concept, the eldest son and daughter are very important.
If Bai Lu has a legitimate son, then the most important thing is the legitimate son.
If there is no legitimate son, then the eldest legitimate daughter is the most important.
But in Bai Lu's opinion, this is all nonsense. Women and men are the same, so they can just be sorted according to the order of birth.
January happened to be the eldest, and she stood up first.
Bai Yiyue saluted the emperor very politely, and his behavior looked dignified and had the demeanor of a noble man.
"Thank you, Your Majesty... The gifts Your Majesty bestowed upon us are truly delicious! We are deeply grateful for Your Majesty's kindness to us sisters."
Er Yue nodded and said to the emperor very obediently, "Yes, the fried bee pupae are delicious, and the frosted sweet potatoes are also delicious. Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"We all know you're thinking of us."
March also said a few words with a smile.
April composed a few lines of poetry on the spot, which amused the emperor.
The poems she wrote were not particularly literary, just a few doggerel lines.
But when the emperor saw how lively the two of them were, he couldn't help but think of Zhao Bingyu for a moment.
When Zhao Bingyu was little, she was as lively as March and April.
Although March and April do not look like Zhao Bingyu, their personalities are somewhat similar.
This made the emperor feel nostalgic.
No wonder he looks like an old friend, it turns out he is the son of an old friend!
Wu Yue stepped forward, and her pretty face immediately attracted the attention of all the ministers.
Everyone was in an uproar, and couldn't help but whisper in the audience: "How about we arrange a marriage for our child? This child is so beautiful!"
However, most ministers did not dare to dream of it. May's appearance, figure, family background and status were not something that others could aspire to have.
Only the son of a duke or a minister of the first or second rank could barely match him, and he had to come from a family with a long tradition of scholarship and etiquette.
Wu Yue bowed to the emperor in thanks.
Wu Yue followed Bai Lu's instructions and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the Double Ninth Festival banquet, we sisters have some talents to show everyone to liven up the atmosphere."
The emperor readily agreed, waved his hand, and said with a smile: "In that case, you can show it."
This was also what Bai Lu had agreed with the emperor long ago. If she couldn't showcase her talents, how could she leverage the situation to win more rewards for the children?
So May played the piano.
June is holding a pipa.
July played the flute, and the three of them showed off their talents together.
The sound of flowing water in the mountains is very pleasant to the ears.
Everyone was very surprised: "I never thought that Bai Lu's daughters would be so rich, beautiful, and talented!"
They all applauded.
Bai Lu listened, and the emperor smiled and said, "Well, this piece of music is very good. I wonder what it's called?"
Then the seven children answered in unison: "Your Majesty, the name of this music is 'Celebrations Throughout the World'. We wish Your Majesty an everlasting reign and a long life!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor burst into laughter, extremely delighted. "That's a very good name! Since it's 'Celebrate Together Throughout the World,' I'll let you all celebrate together today!"
Then the emperor said to Bai Lu, "Bai Lu, generals, the crown prince, Pei Huizhou, please step forward and obey my orders!"
All meritorious officials were named.
The emperor asked Li Zongguan to take out more than 20 imperial edicts that had been prepared long ago and read them out one by one.
Bai Lu was the first to do the work, so she was the first to read out her imperial edict in front of everyone.
"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said:
"Anguo Hou Bailu, loyal and upright, has assisted the country and secured its peace. He has fought against the Turks and saved lives. His achievements are outstanding and deeply gratify me. I now grant you a special decree, granting you the same treatment as a county prince, the fiefdom of Huai County, and the same fief and salary as a county prince, in recognition of your merits. I decree this!"
"Your seven daughters are all virtuous and elegant, with the demeanor of noble families. I also admire them. I now confer the title of Princess to all seven of them, and they will enjoy the honors and courtesy of Princesses!"
"Seventh Princess Bai Qiyue has a gentle temperament, and I have great compassion for her. I have granted her an additional fiefdom in Liu County, near the capital of Kyoto, and renamed it Shouyue County. She will enjoy the grace of heaven and eternal glory."
"I hope Bailu and her daughters will accept this grace, cultivate virtue, behave respectfully, and live up to my high expectations.
Announce it to the world, and the envoys will hear about it.
Awesome! "
After hearing the last part, Bai Lu knelt down with the seven daughters around her, but did not stand up.
She was still waiting for the imperial edict to award her a plaque of chastity.
Pei Huizhou turned his head and glanced at Bai Lu, his eyes deep, as if waiting for the emperor to read out the imperial edict granting him marriage.
However, Steward Li directly handed the imperial edict to Bai Lu and asked her to express her gratitude.
Bai Lu was stunned and looked up in surprise: "Your Majesty, is there an imperial edict missing?"
Pei Huizhou nodded, and he suddenly asked from the side: "Yes, Your Majesty, is there an imperial edict missing?"
The emperor pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I... am indeed missing an imperial edict!"