Chapter 757 - 365 The Fortunate One_1
On the thirtieth day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, the Liang family’s masters spent the day playing in Wanshou Hall and had a lively reunion dinner.
Meanwhile, in the Palace, Emperor Qianwu also led his children and wives to Cining Palace to spend the new year with the Grand Empress Dowager.
At first, Empress Dowager Min thought they would spend the new year in Cian Palace, since that had always been the tradition. Although there was also the Grand Empress Dowager, due to her advanced age, many of the ceremonial duties that received the female courtiers had been passed on to her. Moreover, there was no Empress in the Palace, let alone a Noble Consort, which meant it was all the more important to highlight the status of the Empress Dowager. So, she had ordered her servants to decorate Cian Palace with lights and colors, festive and jubilant, ready for the new year’s family possessions. Who would have thought, on the day before, she received news that they would go to Cining Palace to join the Grand Empress Dowager for the reunion.
She was both angry and embarrassed, initially wanting to feign illness to avoid going. But after pondering for a long time, she couldn’t let a small matter cause her to lose out on greater things and still set out with a smiling face.
The Crown Princess Consort, Huang Liangdi, and Huo Liangyuan were still in confinement, so Zhu Sujin took the three infants, along with Min Liangdi and Bai Chenghui, to the gathering.
As it was the children’s first outing and their first meeting with the Imperial Grandfather, their mothers did everything to dress them up beautifully.
Fu Minglan had ordered the palace servants to take out all the baby clothes the day before, laying them on the bed to choose from for a whole day. Although she felt that the outfit embroidered with "fortune" using the Peach Needle technique and trimmed with Xiao Hong silk sent by Pan Yue was the most beautiful and auspicious, considering that today was the day to meet the Imperial Grandfather and Xiao Minjia was now the only imperial granddaughter carrying the title of Commandery Princess, she finally decided to dress her in an exquisite outfit made of Xiao Hong brocade with a pattern of golden Phoenix twisting around flowers worn over a little cotton-padded jacket and topped with a bright yellow cap embroidered with a design of "fish every year" with a lotus edge.
Xiao Minai was dressed in the Xiao Hong outfit embroidered with "fortune" sent by Pan Yue, which Huang Lingling thought looked best on her daughter. After all, whether relying on the Crown Princess Consort, the Grand Empress Dowager, or the Fu family, Xiao Minai couldn’t compare with Xiao Minjia, so she didn’t bother to compete. This little outfit was sent by the Crown Prince’s adoptive mother and had brought happiness to the Crown Prince. With such favor, her daughter would be well cared for.
Xiao Minrou was also dressed in an outfit embroidered with a golden Phoenix on Xiao Hong fabric.
Considering how cold it was, and the distance from the Eastern Palace to Cining Palace, they wrapped the babies in blankets from head to toe, making them completely windproof, and the carriage they sat in had a charcoal brazier for warmth.