A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace-Chapter 1004: The Grand Coronation Ceremony

Chapter 1004: Chapter 1004: The Grand Coronation Ceremony

After the Lantern Festival.

The palace gradually returned to tranquility.

Zhao Junyao remained relentlessly busy.

With spring arriving, the Ministry of Revenue faced a mountain of tasks.

There was drought here, shortage there, and unrest among the people.

Or maybe there was a place struck by disaster last year, with no harvest at all, needing seeds from the Imperial Court for relief.

Additionally, due to heavy snowfall this year, some areas close to the northern border were still struggling with snow disasters.

Each of these matters seemed small, but together they overwhelmed him, demanding great attention.

The first court session after the Lantern Festival.

The court almost turned into a brawl with chaos, none of the Three Departments and Six Ministries gave him peace of mind.

It was almost noon when it was time for lunch that the court meeting finally wrapped up smoothly.

Zhao Junyao rubbed his throbbing temples, hurriedly heading towards the Imperial Study Room.

Indeed, there were countless memorials waiting for his review like snowflakes.

Although Zhao Junyao appeared stern and expressionless in front of officials,

he was indeed a diligent and hardworking Emperor.

He would never abandon the court and his people to enjoy himself in the harem with a warm family life.

Thus...

Since the Lantern Festival.

Xia Ruqing had barely seen him.

Though Zhao Junyao came over every night.

Each time he returned, she was already asleep.

When he got up for court, she hadn’t yet awakened.

And so, their days of sharing a bed without meeting continued into February.

...

Early February.

After half a month’s diligent efforts by Zhao Junyao.

The court affairs finally settled down.

Relief funds were sent to the areas affected by snow disasters.

Food aid was provided to places experiencing shortages.

Seed grains were distributed to areas lacking them through the Imperial Court.

By mid-February, the affairs of spring planting were essentially completed.

In other words...

If unrest was going to occur, it would have happened already, and since it hasn’t, it won’t happen because it’s useless!

With spring planting over.

The busiest time of the year was basically over.

Xia Ruqing’s coronation ceremony was set for early March.

Zhao Junyao finally found some free time.

Late February.

One early morning, Zi Su and Zi Yue joyfully carried a red lacquered box inside.

They placed the box in the front hall and couldn’t wait to report.

"Madam, your ceremonial gown is ready, come try it on!"

With less than ten days left until the ceremony.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ sewing room had painstakingly completed the Empress’s ceremonial gown stitch by stitch.

So intricate, so complex, so difficult.

It truly was not easy.

Even Xia Ruqing hadn’t expected it to be ready so quickly, she thought she’d have to wait a few more days!

Xia Ruqing personally opened the red lacquer box.

The first thing that caught her eye was a full set of the Nine-tailed Pure Gold Phoenix Crown.

The Empress’s Phoenix Crown differed from the Consorts’.

The concubines’ Phoenix Crown, small and light, resembled decorative hairpins inserted into hair buns.

But the Empress’s Phoenix Crown was so large and heavy.

No hair bun could support such weight.

Thus, it was directly made in the style of a hat.

It covered the whole head, the neck bore its weight.

The benefit of this design was that no matter how heavy or ornate the crown was, it could be successfully worn by a woman.

Of course, whether or not it hurt the neck was a minor concern!

Throughout history, no Empress ever complained that the crown was too heavy or too ornate.

Actually, some even wished it were more splendid.

Xia Ruqing was stunned, looking at the enormous Phoenix Crown, its sprawling phoenix tails, tassels, buyao, bead pendants, and more.

Everything was so big, so heavy.

She stood there dumbfounded.

She sighed internally: ’My goodness!’

’No wonder, during every banquet when the Empress attended wearing the crown, her face never looked good!’

She always thought it was because the Empress felt troubled seeing her husband with so many concubines.

Now it seemed...

This thing weighed down the neck.

The brain lacked blood flow, making it impossible to look cheerful.

As Xia Ruqing stood astonished.

Zi Yue and Zi Su moved aside the first partition holding the Phoenix Crown.

Underneath, neatly stacked, was the ceremonial gown of the Empress.

Not to mention the rest.

She first noticed the bright yellow silk fabric embroidered with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns using gold threads.

Dense and repetitive, very hard to distinguish.

She marveled as she touched it.

"Is this really stitched by hand, one stitch at a time?"

The fabric felt incredibly smooth, the patterned areas slightly thicker, but with the same feel as the rest.

In other words.

The embroidery thread was extremely fine, very fine!

Zi Su stood proudly to the side.

"Of course!"

"Madam, you might not know!"

"This is called double-sided embroidery!"

"Both sides have patterns, they say there’s not a single loose thread! Don’t believe me? Try looking!"

"These are embroideresses from the south!"

Zi Su knew people from the sewing room.

It’s no surprise she knew about this.

However, not finding any loose threads was indeed a bit exaggerated!

Xia Ruqing, in disbelief, searched around silently, indeed finding none!

"Oh my heavens!"

She picked up the garment in her hands.

Lifting it wasn’t important, once lifted she realized.

This was only the inner garment, there was more underneath!

Feeling excited, she reached in.

"Why is half the box filled with clothes!"

Zi Yue laughed.

"Ceremonial attire is a complete set after all!"

"What did you think, Madam?"

Xia Ruqing was flabbergasted.

"I thought it would just be a robe!"

Embarrassed, embarrassed!

She really knew nothing!

Zi Su laughed.

"It’s okay not to know, after all, there are no outsiders here, right?"

"We didn’t know before either!"

Xia Ruqing smiled.

Thinking:

I truly didn’t know, in the modern world she was merely a girl from the slums.

Shopping for clothes took forever on Taobao, comparing prices.

Haggling over a few yuan for shipping fees with customer service. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Yes, she had no eye for luxury, but so what?

Now heaven has smiled upon her, her good days have finally arrived, haven’t they?!

Xia Ruqing thought about it and waved her hand.

"Alright!"

"Take it back!"

Her expression looked troubled.

She couldn’t even imagine how wearing the whole box of clothes would feel so overwhelming!

Heavy, cumbersome, uncomfortable, uh...

"Madam..."

Zi Yue was slightly worried.

Zi Su didn’t know what to say either!

Madam might be feeling uncomfortable inside!

"Madam, don’t overthink it!"

Zi Su cautiously advised.

"Overthink?" Xia Ruqing seemed suspicious.

"Well, nothing, you both go get busy! I’m going to lie down for a bit!"

In her heart:

How could nothing be wrong? The mood was truly heavy!

...

Zi Yue and Zi Su, knowing not to say more, took the box and left.

Zi Su had a guilty expression.

"It’s all my fault, Madam’s background is not good, it was my blabbermouth that hurt her feelings!"

Zi Yue quickly shook her head.

"Don’t blame yourself!"

"However, be mindful of your words in the future!"

"Our Madam is different from others!"

"Nobody cared for her growing up, she ate poorly and wore poorly, suffered a lot!"

"We must not touch her sore spots!"

"Understood, Sister Zi Yue!"

The two agreed briefly and swiftly went to work!