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  Tuoba Hong personally issued an edict, ordering the empress to make grand preparations.

  The imperial consorts had nothing interesting to do, but were frightened by the successive executions of the past few days. Lin Wan's birthday became the only happy event in these days.

  Lin Wan received Taohong's reward in the Hongyan Building, and the little eunuch who transmitted the message smiled and said: "The emperor said that this Hongyan Building is too small and not good for handling affairs. He pointed to the Heyuan Hall to celebrate the birthday of Princess Hui. The quiet imperial concubine was a very easy-going person and agreed with the emperor's proposal on the spot.

  Tuoba Hong's extra favoritism, Lin Yin didn't pay much attention to it, what she was thinking about in her heart was the forever peaceful yet inscrutable perfect face of Jing Fei.

  She is indeed too spoiled, not to mention others, even she herself can't stand it. She is just a concubine, and above her are the empress dowager, the emperor, and the empress, as well as consorts and nine concubines. According to palace rules, on a concubine's birthday, the emperor doesn't need to make an appearance, only managing celebrations within their own palace and inviting those who live in the same palace for a banquet. The whole palace being stirred up for one Hui Concubine is a very rare and unexpected event.

  Last year when Lin Wan celebrated her birthday, she was of low rank and not as favored or pregnant as she is now. She simply cooked some longevity noodles in her own palace and that was it.

  "Your Majesty's favor is overwhelming, and I am deeply grateful." Lin Yan replied respectfully.

  "Concubine Hui has been modest." The eunuch's face was full of flattery: "In the heart of our emperor, Concubine Hui is the first one. For the birthday of the concubine, the emperor had long wanted to hold a grand celebration, but it was just that the concubine entered the palace for a short time and her seniority was still shallow."

  Lin Yuexiao smiled and made a few perfunctory remarks before finally bestowing a large handful of gold coins on the eunuch.

  It's almost the sixth day of the first month. The queen carefully followed Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei's orders, borrowed the main hall of Heyuan Hall to set up a grand birthday banquet, and invited all the masters of the palace to come together to celebrate Hui Bin's birthday.

  Not only that, but the queen also ordered the Pear Garden Theater troupe to enter the palace and perform.

  Xiao Huanghou didn't mind the trivial matters, it was just an extra favor on her birthday, she was happy to be a good person and put Lin Yu'an in front of the emperor to ask for mercy. As for Jing Fei, she also had no objection to this, Hui Bin borrowed her grand hall to celebrate her birthday, so let's make some noise together, which is precisely because Hui Bin's own palace was too small and she had no choice but to do so - Hui Bin was unlucky from the beginning, the emperor had already supported her as a palace master, and the magnificent Jingren Palace happened to be flooded. Now she can only live in the side hall, even if she wants to hold a slightly larger banquet, she has to borrow a place.

  In the midst of the loud drumming and gong ringing, Lin Wan and the Emperor sat together in the main seat, with the concubines smiling and chatting below, filled with joy and harmony.

  Perhaps it was because of the recent days that Lin Yu had been too anxious, so she made an exception and held a birthday party. Not many people were resentful, but instead wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get some good luck. The only drawback was that the Empress Dowager claimed that she was busy with palace affairs and had urgent matters to attend to, and couldn't come over.

  The queen did not come, it was expected. Xiao Yueyi is such a proud person, how can she tolerate concubines and herself sitting in the same position as the master, even if it's Shouxing it's not allowed.

  Lin Wan didn't mind, and it was already difficult for Xiao Yueyi to give her face and help her with the arrangements.

  Several concubines who had been on good terms with Lin Wan came forward to offer her a toast and wish her a long life. Lin Wan smiled and returned the toast one by one. The acrobats on the stage were performing "climbing poles" and "spitting fire", Lin Wan was fascinated, and while laughing, she pulled the emperor's arm and said: "Your Majesty, look at that bowl-balancing act, wow, he's standing so high, with just a kick of his foot, the bowl is already on top of his head..."

  Tuoba Hong took her in his arms and said: "You like it, so I'll let these jugglers into the Pear Garden too, along with those singing girls, to perform for the imperial family at any time."

  In ancient times, people's enthusiasm for acrobatics was no less than that for Peking Opera. However, the imperial court did not have its own acrobatic troupe and would invite performers from outside the palace because emperors throughout history felt that this form of entertainment was too crude to be performed on stage compared to singing and dancing.

  However, this did not stop the imperial consorts from asking the emperor every year on New Year's Eve and Dragon Boat Festival to invite acrobatic troupes.

  Lin Yu giggled and handed the fruit wine to the imperial consorts, saying: "Sisters, did you hear that? From now on, there will often be acrobatic performances for us to watch. The emperor must not go back on his word." After finishing speaking, she drank it all in one gulp.

  She had not been having a good time for some days, every day stuck in tedious etiquette to pay respects, and also pregnant and unable to serve the emperor at night, feeling extremely bored. She did not expect Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei to be so thoughtful in celebrating her birthday, and on this day she put aside all her tension and worries, being flattered by the various consorts who were either sincere or hypocritical, having a lively and joyful time.

  Tuoba Hong reached out and tidied up her hair bun, looking at her sweet smile, his heart softened.

  Everyone played until late at night. At the second watch, many people were slightly drunk, and Shu Ji Zhao stepped forward to pay her respects to the emperor, smiling: "Today is Hui Bin's birthday, but there is a good omen in the palace. The evening primrose garden in Youlin Garden bloomed overnight, very colorful and eye-catching, I don't know if Your Majesty and all the sisters have any interest in taking a look."

  Zhaoshu Ji's words were indeed clever. Tuoba Hong listened with a pleased expression, stretched out his hand to hold Lin Yuan and said: "You see, even the heavenly flower is infatuated with you."

  Lin Wan found that Tuoba Hong's words were becoming more and more unreliable, and he was also revealing his true nature in front of outsiders. She just smiled and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty is only good at joking with people. The beauty of the fleeting flower, how can it be compared to the beauty of the imperial concubines?"

  Tuoba Hong smiled and laughed, and Xiaofei got up and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is only concerned about teasing Hui's sister! I want to go see the evening primrose as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, it will be gone after the flowering period, what can we do?"

  The concubines below all had expectant expressions, Zhao Shuwan held Changning's hand and smiled in agreement: "If the emperor doesn't leave, we can go first!"

  Tuoba Hong hastily got up and ordered the palace staff: "Hurry up and prepare the sedan! The blooming period of the evening primrose is only a moment, if it's late, it won't be beautiful."

  The Huafang Garden is not far from the Hua Yang Palace, it's just a small garden on the southeast corner of the Bi Bo Pool. Inside, besides the blooming evening primroses, there are weeping willows transplanted from Yangzhou City and beautiful heliconias presented by the Kingdom of Dali. In summer, they sway gently in the breeze, their beauty is breathtaking.

  The evening primrose usually blooms only once a year, and the flowering period is only one hour, it can't be seen normally. However, there are special florists in Shang Gong Bureau who cultivate flowers under their manipulation, this whole piece of evening primrose can bloom simultaneously, magnificent and eye-catching.

  Before long, Tuoba Hong led the concubines to hurry over. The people below did their best, and Tuoba Hong looked at the endless flowers of different colors, and was extremely pleased, pulling Lin Xuan down to appreciate them together.

  Compared to the elegance of peonies and the charm of paeonias, these evening primroses can't be called the most beautiful, but they win out with their novelty and rarity in blooming at night and wilting instantly. The flower beds of evening primroses stretch from the banks of the Bi Bo Pool to the nearby artificial hills, covering a considerable area. Many anxious concubines have slipped into the flower beds, while their palace maids are busy picking the flowers that their masters like, making the scene lively and bustling.

  Tuoba Hong, being a man, wasn't particularly interested in these things, but seeing the entire field of flowers blooming at the same time, matching Zhao Shufei's "colorful head", he was still very pleased. He also didn't restrain the concubines, just sitting not far away, smiling and watching everyone play.

  The surroundings were filled with smiling women, and the servants lit up countless orange-yellow palace lanterns, illuminating the night as bright as day. "Wise Concubine, this '映山红' color is truly resplendent!" An Lingji's hairpin was adorned with a flower that had just bloomed, freshly picked. Although rare and precious, it was allowed to be freely plucked, for it would soon wither away, so it might as well be given to the concubines to play with.

  "It's called '映山红', but the color is not crimson, at most it's a mixture of scarlet and orange." Lin Yuen smiled as she took another flower from An Shi's hand, examined it carefully under the lantern light, and exclaimed: "Wow, the petals are even glowing with a fluorescent light!"

  "No wonder it's called '映山'." An Lingji played happily, turned around and picked another golden yellow one, pointing at the petals with Lin Yuen laughing: "Take a look at this! The color is indeed gorgeous, but the petals are surrounded by a circle of silver white edges, and even got a name 'flower blooming wealth'. Hmm, it's a bit tacky."

  "Gold and silver intertwined, the people in the palace are all fond of it, what's wrong with being a bit tacky?" Lin Yan took the "Flower of Wealth and Nobility" and pinned it to her ear: "Look, does it match?"

  The words had barely left her lips when the flower that had just been inserted was pulled out by someone, and Qi Yonghua laughed behind her: "How can you match! Hui Bin's concubine wears tender yellow Ruan smoke gauze, and inserts golden yellow flowers! Even if you don't dislike this vulgar gold and silver collision, you can't be a person who is too common!"

  She said that and snatched the flower to put it on her own head, turned around and ran away without a trace. Lin Yu stomped her foot wanting to go up and catch her, but unfortunately her belly was bulging high, where did she have Qi Ronghua's agility?

  On this side, Lin Yu was having a great time, but not far away, Jing Fei was not with the crowd, standing alone in the pavilion by the lake, with a faint smile.

  She also pinched a "映山红" in her hand, the flower was still very prosperous when it was picked, and after a while it had withered slowly. She played for a moment, and casually threw away the wilted half of the flower, saying lightly to the palace maid beside her: "This ephemeral flower, no matter how beautiful, is not as good as the national color of peony."

  She usually likes quietness, and only her confidante, palace maid A Liang, follows her out. A Liang lowers her head and doesn't dare to respond.

  Jing Fei just smiled lightly: "You say it's '映山红', but the color isn't even pure, how can you call it 'red'? And looking at this entire field of flowers, is there a single one that has the correct color?"

  The beauty of the peony is undeniable, but this plant and cactus flower are close relatives, originally growing in the desert Gobi, presented to the Central Plains by the great country. Its bloodline has not been refined with elegance and luxury like peonies, roses, and hibiscus, but rather tempered with resilience and charm in a rugged fate.

  Its ancestors needed to grow extremely deep roots to absorb water, and no longer had the energy to cast a profound and intense color. Its colors are mostly light and pale, but the palace people are skilled in cultivating varieties with different colors.

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