Spring Banquet in '65

  The mother and daughter were talking when they saw, from afar, Zhen Shiyin leading two beautiful women wearing embroidered silk robes and skirts walking towards them. One of the women, wearing a silver-red brocade jacket with embroidered lilies and chrysanthemums, laughed loudly at Hui Xianggongzhu and said, "I say, Sixth Sister, you've been back for so long and only now thought to invite us sisters to gather together! Later, I and Eighth Sister will have to fine you three cups of wine! Isn't that right, Eighth Sister?" She also winked at the woman beside her, who was wearing a bright red embroidered cloud-patterned robe.

  He Hui Chang Gong Zhu pulled her daughter to quickly welcome, while quietly introducing her daughter, "The silver-red embroidered jacket in front is your seventh aunt, who was granted the title of Fu Kang Gong Zhu, and the other one ranked eighth as Ning Kang Gong Zhu."

  Yang Lan nodded to show her understanding. Her mother's ranking was sixth, and all the brothers above her were males. It wasn't until she gave birth that the emperor had his first daughter, who was also born to the empress. As a result, she was conferred as the Grand Princess upon birth. Fu Kang and Ning Kang were respectively the seventh and eighth princesses. In their early years, their mothers had always been close to the empress, so the relationships between the three princesses were still good.

  He Hui quickly stepped forward, grabbed her sister's hand and took a closer look. Seeing that both of them looked great, with rosy complexions and full of energy, she smiled in satisfaction. "When did you two return to the capital? I thought you had both forgotten about me! I didn't expect anyone to respond to my message, but now I know you're back. How was your time playing around these years?"

  Fu Kang and Ning Kang princesses, due to their close relationship with the Empress Dowager, have been living quite well. For the past two years, the two sisters and their husbands have been traveling together, enjoying themselves immensely, and only recently returned to the capital. Upon hearing that their elder sister had returned, they naturally came over to pay their respects.

  Ning Kang's gentle and soft demeanor was a warm welcome. Unlike He Fu, Kang Ming, who was radiant with joy, she smiled softly before speaking in a calm and unhurried tone. "Sixth sister is back, how could we not come? We've been to many interesting places over the years! And we brought gifts for your nephews too! Tomorrow, I'll send someone to fetch you."

  "Alright! Now that I've seen you're all safe, I can finally rest assured!" He Hui nodded comfortingly, her eyes shining with a subtle sparkle, after all, the bond they shared since childhood was different from others.

  Fu Kang and Ning Kang were also very excited, the three sisters got married and had not seen each other for many years. They thought they would drift apart, but unexpectedly their eldest sister still cared about them so much, and their hearts felt warm and fuzzy. They quickly drew closer to each other emotionally and restored their former casual intimacy.

  "This must be your daughter Lan'er! I remember that the Empress Dowager personally bestowed the title of Jing'an with an imperial edict written in her own hand!" Fu Kang exclaimed, and immediately beckoned to one of his servants, who promptly brought forward a red lacquered wooden box adorned with carved peonies.

  He Hui Chang Gongzhu looked at her daughter with a gentle gaze and smiled, "Isn't she just this little monkey!"

  Yang Lan immediately stepped forward, politely greeting the two aunts with impeccable manners, "Qing An greets Seventh Aunt and Eighth Aunt. Wishing Seventh Aunt and Eighth Aunt eternal youth and good health!"

  "Good! Good kid!" Fu Kang handed over the box and said, "I heard that you brought your daughter back too when I came. A gift specially prepared for her. See if she likes it?"

  Yang Lan raised her head to look at her mother, and when she saw her nodding, she smiled and opened the box. Inside was a round jade pendant, but its color was somewhat dull and grayish, as if it were dirty. It wasn't very white.

  But Yang Lan exclaimed in surprise, "What is this? This is a Han Dynasty jade pendant. I didn't expect it to be so well-preserved and intact. It's great, thank you Seventh Aunt, Lan'er loves it!" She thanked her happily.

  Ning Kang also took out his own gift, smiling: "My gift is different from theirs. This is a small thing I brought back from the south when I went to play in Miaojiang. It's quite good for self-defense. Take a look and see if you like it!"

  Yang Lan handed the box in her hand to Biyun behind her, opened the box given by Princess Ning Kang, and inside was a small and exquisite sleeve arrow. This sleeve arrow is very small, tied to the arm, can shoot thousands of needles at once, and the range is quite far, divided into two grooves, can choose to give different types of poison medicine to the needle, as a girl's self-defense is enough.

  Yang Lan excitedly stroked it back and forth, as if she had obtained a treasure, her eyes shining brightly, "It's too good! This is actually a consecutive shooting arrow tube, I haven't found this kind of sleeve arrow yet! Eighth Aunt, thank you, I really like this gift, Second Brother will definitely be jealous to death when he sees it!"

  Ning Kang also smiled contentedly, "As long as you like it!"

  He Hui Chang Gong Zhu shook her head helplessly, "This child doesn't know who she learned from, she's been fascinated with guns since she was little, and as soon as she sees one, she becomes infatuated. The other day, someone sent me two small firearms, but this child saw them and wouldn't let go, begging me to give them to her. I dare not let her play with such things!"

  Yang Lan pouted, looking unimpressed. "Mother, you're always making a big deal out of nothing. What's the point? That handgun is so small and has limited range. I'm much better at shooting than my brother!"

  They sent over two fire guns, one big and one small. Only the small one had been modified. The bigger one wasn't that big, but not as delicate and compact as the small one she liked. Unfortunately, her mother put it away and wouldn't give it to her. Instead, she gave the bigger one to her second brother.

  Ning Kang and Fu Kang, the two princesses, couldn't help but burst out laughing at Yang Lan's adorable appearance. "Sixth sister is so lucky to have such a treasure by her side, it's enviable!"

  He Hui led them to the inner hall, laughing as they walked. "What's there to envy about me? You two have four sons combined, and they're all promising young men. What's there to regret?"

  After saying that, the two princesses also felt that life was actually very fulfilling. They looked at each other and smiled, and the three sisters started chatting again about some of the customs and human feelings they had experienced while traveling abroad in recent years. Yang Lan listened with wide eyes and a face full of envy.

  He Hui Chang Gong Zhu didn't have time to say anything to her two sisters, as the guests from the other side had already started arriving one after another. As the host, she needed to greet them.

  Yang Lan hosted such a banquet for the first time, although she had considered it very carefully before, but some flaws still appeared in the implementation process. Fortunately, Zhang Yimou reacted quickly and had enough experience to handle it quickly.

  Guests were arranged in the garden to enjoy flowers and have a flowing water banquet. The dishes were done very well, the kitchen showed off its eighteen skills, several dishes and desserts received praise from the guests, especially the small and delicate one-bite cheesecake that everyone loved, which did not affect their makeup, tasted good, and was not too big to affect their image.

  Among them, two desserts are inspired by modern flavors, such as multiple flavored double-skinned milk and milk tea, and yogurt with fruit particles that have been consistently praised by girls.

  This is not Zhouying, leading the gentle county master to come over, "Laner, I heard that today is your first time hosting a banquet? Done pretty well! Especially that pastry was delicious!"

  Yang Lan laughed happily and excitedly pulled Wan Rou and Zhou Ying, who were smiling awkwardly, saying: "Don't laugh at me, I thought it was quite simple! There are examples to ask, but when I did it myself, there were still mistakes!" After finishing, she looked a bit regretful.

  Wanrou is a bit older than Zhou Ying, and has been independently managing the household for over two years. Seeing Yang Lan's somewhat disheartened expression, she comfortingly patted her hand, "You're doing great, you don't know that the first time I did it, I lost two sets of complete bowls and plates in the storage room! Not to mention wasting a lot of money!"

  "I know, I'll try harder next time!" Yang Lan also didn't give up, lifted her small chin and regained her confidence.

  "By the way, can you write down the recipe for those new-style pastries for me? I'd like to take it back and have my family's cook try them out. I especially loved that double-skinned milk pastry!" Zhou Ying couldn't help but make a nostalgic expression.