Preparing for the Spring Festival (Ling Yue & Lu Qing Yu POV) Part 1

After the first day where Lu Qing Yu attended, the next two days of sitting for the portrait were largely uneventful.

Concubine Lay was very nice about the whole incident, saying they deserved it after lording around every concubine who received anything nice from Lu Qing Yu. During breaks, we would often sit together, and she made an effort to introduce me to the other concubines, though the other concubines seemed to be cordial at best.

Before long, it was now the last day of the 12th lunar month, and the entire empire was gearing up for the Spring Festival, which would begin tomorrow.

I sat in the Lunar Palace garden in boredom, watching the maids cleaning. Stone floors were scrubbed, cupboards were dusted, and every nook and cranny was meticulously inspected. I was sitting outside because my chambers too was undergoing a thorough cleaning. The bedclothes were being changed, my wardrobe was being refurbished, and I was getting new drapes.

Spring couplets, decorations and door gods written or "blessed" by the Imperial Academy were hung at every doorway. Instead of using red paper with embellished gold "calligraphy" from the dollar store back in my previous world, the palace used fancy spring couplets written on white silk using ink, that were then framed and hung on the numerous red pillars.

From what I had read, the calligraphy were mostly short, apt phrases either wishing peace and prosperity of the Yuan An dynasty, praising Lu Qing Yu's merits and virtues, or blessings for the empire and its people.

With all the decorations hung up and spring cleaning ongoing, the entire Lunar Palace was in a festive mood, the maids cheerfully chatting as they went about their tasks. Around me, the gardens were also getting a trim as each part of the garden was inspected to make sure it was up to standard.

"Young Miss! Your office is ready!" Qiu Le called.

"Coming!" Eagerly, I followed her to my office, stepping over many puddles and and the pooling water in the corridor. I was getting tired of sitting outside and longed to be indoors in the shade.

"Are the red packets ready?" I asked.

"Yes, they are." Qiu Le brought over a large crate filled to the brim with red packets of different designs. There were also crates of tael notes meant to be distributed.

My main task today would be sorting out the red packets and deciding how much to give to each maid in the Lunar Palace. I also had to give some to the Lunar Marche employees, especially my reliable C-Suite ladies, without whom the business would not be a success. My office was the first part of Lunar Palace to be cleaned, so that I could park myself here the whole day.

The red packets were specially ordered months in advance, and each rank and purpose of maid would have a separate design so that we wouldn't mix up the red packets. On the left of my desk was a name list of all the maids in the palace, as well as their rank and performance over the year.

On the right was a stack of red packets, and Qiu Le had pulled a stool over to sit by my side as I attempted to write a message to each person on the back of the red packet. As I didn't know every person well, Qiu Le would advise me whenever I had any questions.

"Young Miss, I still think it's amazing that you write red packets for everybody." Qiu Le said. "Is it?" "Maids are considered employees of the palace, so we already get a red packet."

Hmm. I fiddled with the brush. Maybe it was a habit of mine from my previous world. As someone who was already married, and earning an income, I should give red packets to all my employees or as much as I could, right?

Lu Qing Yu ducked out of the room. Laughter echoed in the hallway, and the stench of alcohol permeated his robes. Shaking his head, Lu Qing Yu turned, only to find himself face to face with a group of astonished guards. "Y-Your Highness, is something wrong?"

Lu Qing Yu pressed his lips together, mentally replaying his actions in his mind. Maybe he had been a little awkward. He had forgotten there was company right outside. He lifted up his chin. "No, just getting some fresh air. Please leave me be."

"R-Right away, Your Highness."

As the last of the guards scuttled further away from sight, Lu Qing Yu leaned on the railing of the balcony. This was his third dinner today.

According to tradition on New Year's Eve, the Emperor had to hold family feasts with the Empress, the concubines, and the princes respectively. Because he had no Empress, and none of the concubine were Imperial Concubine rank and above, he had his first dinner with the Empress Dowager and Imperial Princess Jun instead. That was fine.

According to reason, he would then have just 1 more dinner with the princes. The feasts were held very strictly, and the number of dishes, the colour of the tableware and the arrangements of seats were all decided based on some imperial family manual. He had portioned his meal, so he shouldn't be that full.

However, what princes were there currently? He didn't have any sons, so there was just his one surviving brother Prince Lu Kun, but the problem was.... all those uncles! Just counting those from his father's generation, there were 4. Then, those 4 had a further 9 sons between them, all similar in age. That left him entertaining 14 boisterous, bored princes who had made the journey to the capital for this very occasion.

Needless to say, it did not end well. The feast had dragged on much longer than expected, with copious amounts of alcohol being consumed at an astounding rate. After he had found an excuse to leave, citing duties, he had a brief moment of calm as he had to prepare for his next and most important duty.

The traditional custom was to stay up all night on New Year's Eve for longevity, so a midnight snack had been prepared for him before he embarked on his task. Fresh and dried fruit were displayed in auspicious patterns along with some of his favourite confectionery to keep him going.

He had been getting ready to dig in, enjoying some peace and quiet when he heard some suspicious shuffling right outside his door, and who would pop his head in but Prince Chang, his most mischievous uncle? Prince Chang had taken one look at his platter, then hollered "This isn't enough! Bring more fruit and wine!"

He felt as if he was in the North West safari.

Like a kettle of vultures, his uncles and cousins had swooped into his chambers, and he was the carrion! They weren't satisfied with the dinner earlier, so they had come back to find him and pick him clean...

Just like that, the second drinking party started again. Intruding on his privacy, eating his food, making themselves at home where he expected to lay his head every night... was he really still the Emperor?

Lu Qing Yu felt his head hurt as he thought about it again.

"Nephew! Haven't you been outside for too long?" Prince Chang shouted from inside, clearly audible even above the din.

Lu Qing Yu only grunted in response before he made his way inside again...