Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress-Chapter 1948 - 1955: Longevity Festival (Part 1)

The next day, Juhua finally woke up. The pain and discomfort in her body made her feel like she had been taken apart and put back together. In particular, her two legs hurt so much that she could hardly lift them.

Though Juhua was simple-minded, she wasn’t foolish. Vaguely, she felt that something must have happened to her. When she saw the bruises on her body while bathing, this thought became more certain.

Oh my God, what’s going on? Could it be that she lost her purity? Became unclean?

This thought frightened her, so she locked herself in the room, obsessively pondering over what happened the previous day.

At that time, she was sitting alone in a private room of the Yu Family’s Private Restaurant, eating and drinking while waiting for Xiao Kui to return. As she ate, it seemed she heard Liu Xi doing business next door. Then she knew nothing until she woke up at home and found that it was already the next day.

Mother said she was brought back by Liu Xi at the third watch, supposedly because she drank too much and ran off to his buffet restaurant, drank more liquor, got dead drunk, and then was sent back by him. However, she couldn’t remember any of this.

Is what Liu Xi said true? If it is true, where did the bruises and pain on her body come from? If it is not true, why did he lie? What exactly happened between the time she fell into a coma and was brought back home?

Although she really wanted to know, she was still a girl, and there were some things she really couldn’t speak out. So she kept all her worries inside her heart. In such daily thoughts and nights of torment, within less than a month, she fell gravely ill.

This illness came fiercely, making the once healthy and lively Juhua unable to leave the room, and it wasn’t until the third of March, the Shangsi Festival, that she slightly recovered.

According to custom, every year on the third of March, the Empress Dowager would hold a grand banquet inside the palace, inviting the children of the court officials to participate. Meanwhile, the intention was to matchmake noble young men and women of similar status and age to fulfill the responsibility of being a model to all under Heaven.

This year, the Shangsi Festival was exceptionally bustling. The princes on foreign missions returned, and many envoys from other countries came to join the fun. Because after the third of March, the fifteenth of March is the Longevity Festival. In previous years, Nangong Yi didn’t pay much attention to the Longevity Festival, but this year he had already issued edicts early, indicating that the Longevity Festival would be grand, and invited the local kings and officials to come to the capital to celebrate age and report their duties.

Therefore, there were more young men and women at this year’s Shangsi Festival than in previous years. The young ladies all wanted to shine brightly at the Shangsi Festival and find a rich and prestigious husband, while the noble young men kept their eyes peeled and constantly inquired after those talented and noble young ladies.

Cai Wei sat upright in the Waterside Pavilion, smiling as she watched the performances of various ladies on the painted boat stage on the lake, and occasionally offered comments. Consort Yao and Consort Huo sat on either side of her, chatting and laughing from time to time.

This time, the local kings came to the capital, and Consort Huo and her son, King Jing, also returned. In the blink of an eye, several years had passed. The once Consort Huo had become the Empress Dowager of the fief. King Jing’s fief was fertile, and the people were prosperous. Consort Huo lived a life of luxury every day and no longer had to live cautiously inside the palace as before.

After years of nurturing, she had become more full-bodied than before, and her face showed a few more traces of serene grace. King Jing had also shed his previous naivety and had grown into a vigorous and energetic young man.

Consort Yao had no offspring. She had originally placed Zhao Yue under her name, but unfortunately, Zhao Yue was killed, leaving her with no expectations. Thus, she spent her days in the harem, enjoying flowers and watching plays with her old sisters, occasionally playing cards and drinking, leading a comfortable life.