The major festivities in Yan Country were all held in the evening, however, they had to enter the palace to pay respects by late afternoon. Due to their association with Yan Qing, they entered the palace in the morning since they needed to eat the reunion meal at noon.
Concubine, as the future wife, was able to attend, which indeed afforded her great honor. Today, she was to meet the Crown Princess Consort, which also counted as their first official meeting.
Thus, Concubine made meticulous preparations.
She prepared a tea for the Emperor made from fat sea and pear to clear the lungs and moisturize the throat, along with mint sugar and Chuanbei loquat syrup. These all had health benefits and were not as harmful to the human body, also lacking the bitterness of pure medicinal concoctions. They would allow the Emperor to vary his intake because, after all, these remedies were more effective and popular in subsequent ages, especially the Chuanbei loquat syrup which had enjoyed a craze abroad. So, she didn’t feel in any way that presenting it was beneath her dignity.
The Emperor’s greatest motivation now was to live well. Since following the medicinal recipes provided by Concubine and increasing his exercise, he felt his body was not as weak as before. With this motivation, he was delighted to see the medicines she brought once again, becoming increasingly satisfied with his future daughter-in-law. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel·fire.net
As for the Empress, her concerns were more about maintenance. Therefore, Concubine brought her mud plasters (to remove dampness from the body), facial masks, and moxa smoke treatments (for the stomach). Ever since the Empress had started using the fine products brought by Concubine, her complexion improved day by day. In better spirits, she naturally found everything more to her liking and softened her attitude towards Concubine considerably.
The Crown Prince, usually focused on governmental affairs, suffered from neck and back strains, so she gifted him some plasters and energizing coffee, and made him a neck-support pillow, as well as a set of useful feather pens and red and black ink. These feather pens were the European-style popular in the eighteenth century because holding a writing brush for a long time can also get uncomfortable. Giving him a set of feather pens and ink could make his wrist feel more comfortable.
The Crown Princess Consort was only two years older than her and at the age when beauty was of great concern. Concubine gave her a bracelet, a necklace, and a pair of rings, with the rings engraved with her and the Crown Prince’s names. These were made from platinum and colored gold, at a price acceptable to the average person in the future. If they weren’t beautiful, the Crown Princess Consort might not even give them a second glance!
Fortunately, the Crown Princess Consort was a virtuous and graceful woman who happily accepted her gifts, especially the pair of rings, which she and the Crown Prince wore together immediately.
Next came the Imperial Grandson. The boy was the elder, five years old this year, and the girl was younger, three years old. Both were legitimate, that is, born of the Crown Princess Consort. Of course, there were also bastards and concubines, but they were not qualified to be present here.
They were in their lively and active stages, so she made a variety of toys for them: feather shuttlecock, sandbags, bamboo dragonfly, seashell wind chimes, colored building blocks, windmills, kites, and cute dolls, a whole box full. Whatever retro toys she could buy, she bought; those she couldn’t, she made herself. After all, you had to let others see that you were genuinely the one who’d made them.
When these toys made their appearance, the whole family was drawn over, reaching out with thumbs up, praising Concubine. Concubine was also quickly accepted by the Imperial Grandson.
Of course, having given out gifts, she also received reciprocal presents. Such reciprocation was all in the form of imperial treasures, which would definitely be considered antiques in the future. The Emperor and Empress adorned her with exquisitely carved jewelry, while the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Consort, without any oddities at hand, gave her a substantial gift of ten thousand silver notes.