Chapter 706: Chapter 706: Main Hall of Canglan Court
Lian Wanzhen was clever, she went to the closest stall outside the residence and bought the last two bowls of porridge to feed Lian Bingcheng, which made him feel much better.
After waiting an entire day without any gains, Lian Wanzhen trudged back home with Lian Bingcheng, feeling downcast.
Lian Bingcheng stayed silent. In his haste, he had come up with that lousy idea, truly a stain on his life, ruining his reputation forever.
Lian Changhe clicked his tongue in disapproval and added a mocking comment, "Knowing you’re as thin as a strip of bacon, why bother with that hunger strike act? Do you think you’re some young lad?"
After the mockery, he felt it was nearly enough and gravely said, "Enough, I’ll have to take care of this matter. Tomorrow, Wan Zhen will accompany your mother and the others on their outing, Mu Su will visit Divine Doctor Huang, the Qingshu girl and Qian Chen will take care of some business, and I will follow this bumpkin to wait for that fatso..."
"My lord..." Su Ran gave him a stern look.
Lian Changhe hastily apologized with a smile, "Alright, alright, I won’t call him a bumpkin anymore. So, are we agreed on the plan for tomorrow?"
Su Ran looked at everyone else.
Lian Wanzhen immediately expressed no objections.
Lih Qingshu nodded with a smile.
Lin Yuejuan also relaxed a lot and nodded in agreement.
Lian Musu had no choice but to agree as well.
As for Lian Bingcheng, he was about to speak but was glared back into silence, so he too had no objections.
Thus, the plans for the Lian Family for the day of the Longevity Festival were set in stone.
...
Gasps of amazement could be heard intermittently from the Main Hall of Canglan Court.
"Oh my, this soft couch is so comfortable. I’ll sit at this end, and Grandma can sit at that end. We can drink tea and play chess in the middle." It was too comfortable.
"Hey, is it you, Your Majesty, who chose these curtains? They look so cheerful. Oh, and inside is where we sleep."
"Your Majesty, this bed is enormous. You could even do somersaults on it." She would try it once she had her baby.
"The dressing table is still the one I had before. Wow, there’s so much more jewelry. Your Majesty, you’re so kind. They’re all beautiful." She would wear some tomorrow.
Lian Hua touched here and there, extremely satisfied with her surroundings.
The layout of the Main Hall of Canglan Court was vast. Rather than calling it a main hall, it was more like a palace complex. The original layout mainly included the Main Hall, the East Side Hall, and the West Side Hall, with each side hall being divided into a southern and northern chamber. Beside these side halls, there were side rooms and ear chambers.
Now, the central Main Hall remained unchanged, used for dining and formal gatherings. The spacious side halls on either side had undergone transformations.
The West Side Hall was mainly prepared for the child in Lian Hua’s womb, fully equipped with everything the child would need. The adjoining ear chambers were designated for the eunuchs, palace maids, and the nursing mothers on duty.
Next to the East Side Hall was a large side chamber, previously used as a study and still serving that purpose today. Outside of this side chamber was a row of ear chambers, furnished with a tea room, a flower room, and arranged for utmost comfort.
The East Side Hall itself was where the Emperor and Lian Hua resided. They had knocked through the southern and northern chambers to create four parts: the inner chamber for the main bedroom, an anteroom, a dressing room, and a bathing room, all interconnected for convenience of living.
After making a full round, the Emperor and Lian Hua finally came to see where they were going to live, just entering the door of the East Side Hall.
The entire room was carpeted, and upon entering one was met with a partitioned hall. Under the window on the south side of the hall was a soft couch that could seat people on both sides, with a small table in the middle for drinking tea or playing chess. If the small table was removed, it could then be turned into a bed, where Xiao Qing could sleep while on night duty.
Directly in front of the partitioned hall, on looking up, one saw a full curtain that had been let down. If the curtain was lifted and hung to both sides, it would reveal a moon-shaped latticed door.
The entire moon-shaped door served to separate the hall from the master bedroom. With the curtain raised, the master bedroom connected to the partitioned hall seemed open and airy, and when the curtain was lowered, the master bedroom was completely cut off from the hall.
The most eye-catching feature of the master bedroom was a large huanghuali canopy bed with double moon-shaped openings, allowing for access from either side. On one side, the moon-shaped opening had a movable plank which could be lifted to prevent someone from rolling off during sleep, or it could be lowered for an unobstructed exit from the bed. This design was specially ordered by the Emperor.
Next to the window in the master bedroom was a dressing table, which was still the same one that had been there before, and the arrangements in front of the window were almost the same as Lian Hua’s previous setup.
At this moment, Lian Hua stood inside the master bedroom, while the Emperor gently watched her.
After looking around for a while, she began to sweat slightly at the tip of her nose and fanned herself with her hand, "It’s so warm here, could this be the heated floors? It’s so warm that I could wear summer clothes. I’m getting hot."
As she spoke, she took off her cloak and draped it over an exquisitely carved dragon rack not far from the bed.
After placing her cloak, she also helped the Emperor take off his cloak and drape it over.
Having looked around and seen most everything, she took the Emperor’s hand, ready to check out the dressing room and the bathhouse.
From the master bedroom of the inner chamber to the partitioned hall, there was a small door on the left-hand side, behind which a screen divided the space - a separate dressing room.
Lian Hua, full of excitement, went in first, and the Emperor followed closely behind her, right by her side.
Seeing the dressing room, she exclaimed with amazement, "Wow, Your Majesty, it has everything! It will be more convenient for you to change clothes after the morning court. It’s quite spacious."
There were cabinets and trunks for clothes, hers and His Majesty’s clothes were kept on separate sides, and the clothing accessories were sorted to match the outfits, so one could change directly within the dressing room.
Every part of the arrangement was to her liking.
She looked around from east to west and noticed that the bird-themed sliding screen was also there, which made her utter a surprised ’Oh’.
She went right over, slid it open, and her eyes went wide as she muttered, "What a huge bathtub..."
The circular bathtub was encircled with a soft gauze curtain to keep the steam at bay, and under the glow of the candles, it looked extraordinarily beautiful; the side was equipped with flower petals and scented cream, everything one might need.
This was too extravagant; she had never bathed in such a tub before.
She walked over, and realized that the bathtub was already filled with hot water.
She examined the bathtub very carefully and realized its ingenious design came with hidden features: on one end, hot water entered through a hole in the wall, and on another end at the bottom, water drained out through another hole, it was unclear where it went. Both holes could be opened or closed at any time, meaning it wasn’t necessary to laboriously carry water in, and it would prevent from spilling water outside—very convenient.
She walked around, contemplated for a moment, and a thought flashed through her mind. She couldn’t help but turn to look at the Emperor, "Your Majesty, is this bathtub connected to the heated floors?"
The Emperor walked over beside her, playfully scratched her nose, and laughed in praise, "Yes, clever."
His Little Concubine was always very accurate with these matters.
Indeed, the heated floors utilized hot water, one end of the bathtub was connected to water that was just heated and heading towards the heated floors, and the other end flowed back into the heated floors. In this way, nothing was wasted. Whenever hot water was needed, one merely had to open the outlet, and when it wasn’t, it could be closed to let water circulate back to the heated floors.
Lian Hua couldn’t help but admire aloud; the design was so ingenious, and she couldn’t fathom how it was done. The dressing room didn’t feel any of the steam from the bathhouse at all, truly the palace had its fair share of skilled craftsmen.
After having a look at the bathhouse, Lian Hua couldn’t help but casually remark, "Your Majesty, this bathtub is really large, big enough for both you and me to bathe together."