Chapter 171: The Empress Dowager's Birthday Banquet

Everyone's gaze fell upon the Longevity Peach Cake.

It was a large peach, with a reddish tip, and one couldn't tell what it was made of.

Yan Ning smiled and said, "Great-Grandmother, this is a Longevity Peach Cake; I wish you eternal life."

The Empress Dowager's eyes were filled with affection as she took Yan Ning's hand and said, "You all have put much thought into this."

The birthday banquet was relatively relaxed; at this moment, a young girl came before Yan Ning and stared blankly at Yan Ning's face.

Yan Ning was somewhat puzzled: "You are..."

The young girl said, "My mother sent me to... ask, to ask..."

She seemed a bit dazed.

Yan Ning found it strange, "What do you want?"

The young girl lowered her head and whispered, "To ask how the Longevity Peach Cake is made."

Yan Ning had someone bring brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone, and wrote down the method for making the Longevity Peach Cake for her.

The young girl stood there without leaving, instead staring at Yan Ning and asking, "Your Highness, can only men enter the inner palace? Do you think I would be suitable?"

Yan Ning's hand shook, and the characters she was writing became crooked.

It was only then that she realized this person was the girl in the pink shirt she had encountered at the teahouse a few days ago.

Xiao Huaijin also recognized her, and his expression changed.

The girl in the pink shirt introduced herself: "My name is Tang Qianqian, and my father is the Vice Minister of Rites."

Tang Qianqian's eyes seemed glued to Yan Ning.

Yan Ning, however, felt no discomfort and said with a smile, "Mm, I have noted it down."

Tang Qianqian blinked her eyes, "Your Highness, can I really not enter the palace?"

The corners of Yan Ning's mouth twitched, "No."

Yan Ning actually saw regret in Tang Qianqian's eyes.

Xiao Huaijin said, "If you like this face, the First Prince does look somewhat like the Crown Princess."

Tang Qianqian felt a bit embarrassed and hurried back.

Yan Ning and the others did not take this little interlude to heart.

What Yan Ning did not expect was that there were so many people interested in the cake, all coming to ask for the recipe.

Yan Ning pondered that it seemed possible to open a state-run cake shop, or rather, to have pastry shops add a custom cake service.

It would definitely make money in the future.

After three rounds of wine, everyone had eaten their fill.

The young ladies brought by each family also went on stage to perform.

Opportunities like this were rare; even if they couldn't marry the First Prince, they could perform some talents and perhaps be noticed by others.

At this time, several families sighed in their hearts.

In the past, there were more opportunities to marry into the imperial family, as there were many princes, after all.

But now there was only this one prince, so they had to pull out all the stops.

The first girl danced a dance; her movements were nimble, and she was quite pretty herself.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager beckoned to Yan Qing. Yan Qing leaned to the side and heard the Empress Dowager ask, "Qing'er, what do you think of this young lady?"

Yan Qing pondered and whispered, "I don't feel anything."

Yan Qing sat back down to eat.

Next, several more girls went on stage to perform, playing the flute, dancing, playing the pipa, and so on.

The Empress Dowager simply had Yan Qing sit by her side.

As it turned out, this child Yan Qing only cared about eating the shrimp in his bowl and didn't really watch.

The Empress Dowager sighed on the side: "Your father was already married by the time he was your age, yet you haven't even found a match yet."

Yan Qing chewed and chewed, "Great-Grandmother, I am still young, and my sister isn't married yet, so I'm not in a hurry."

The Empress Dowager glared at him, "Your elder sister didn't marry until after eighteen; do you mean to say you will wait until eighteen too?"

Yan Qing nodded: "Yes."

At this time, officials sitting nearby heard them talking about not marrying until eighteen.

Someone boldly asked, "Your Majesty, why can one only marry at eighteen? But if a woman is not married by sixteen, she must pay an extra Head Tax."

Yan Ze said, "This decree must be changed, changed to twenty-four would be best. Women marrying too early harms their health; marrying at eighteen is the best."

Actually, Yan Ze wanted to calculate based on modern ages—men marrying at 22 and women at 20—but since this was ancient times, he thought about it and changed it to eighteen.

At this time, Grand Tutor Chen asked, "Your Majesty, if everyone marries so late, won't the population of our Daxia become smaller and smaller?"

Yan Ze said, "It doesn't matter. Late marriage and late childbearing mean the parents are healthier, and the children are better off too. Besides, with the Medical Academy here, it won't be long before the medical system is perfected, and when the common people have money in their hands, children won't die so easily; the population might even grow."

Yan Ze hoped they would all marry a bit later, and even if they did marry, he didn't want them to have children so early; he even thought about forcing Yun Shu to invent condoms.

With that, everyone stopped saying anything; it was just changing a law, and people wouldn't necessarily follow it anyway.

However, those who had betrothals in their families discussed waiting until after eighteen to marry.

While they were chatting here, there were still people performing on the stage.

The one who went up this time was none other than Tang Qianqian.

She held a guqin and sat in the center of the stage. Tang Qianqian played very beautifully, and Yan Ning, a layman, listened with great interest.

Tang Qianqian was good-looking, played the qin well, and her behavior was very dignified.

Seeing that her qin music was good, the Empress Dowager asked Yan Qing, "Qing'er, what do you think of this Miss Tang?"

Yan Qing was just drinking Fruit Wine, and upon hearing this question, he choked.

He had heard clearly just now that this Miss Tang liked his elder sister's face.

Yan Qing hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, this is absolutely not okay."

Another round of performances ended, and there was no one left behind, yet Yan Qing kept shaking his head.

The Grand Empress Dowager said: "You cannot be too picky; just find someone suitable to settle down with first. If you find a girl you fancy later on, you can just marry her then."

Yan Qing looked serious: "Great-Grandmother, I am born of a concubine. My mother and I were bullied by the Princess Consort and the others, and we lived very unhappily. Now that Eldest Uncle is my father, he only has the Empress, so my elder sister and I will not be bullied."

"If I am to marry, it will be to someone I fancy. I also do not wish to take concubines."

The Grand Empress Dowager did not say anything more, only saying: "Then keep an eye out in the future. If you meet a girl you fancy, bring her over for Great-Grandmother to see."

Yan Qing smiled and nodded.

The Grand Empress Dowager sighed in her heart; she would not live for many more years. She wanted to see her great-grandchildren get married, so that she could die without regrets.

However, her gaze turned to Yan Ning.

She saw that Yan Ning and Xiao Huaijin were currently leaning their heads together, not knowing what they were talking about.

Yan Ning would not marry until she was eighteen, and she was already nearly sixteen now. She could marry in two years, and the Grand Empress Dowager felt it was fine; she could still wait.

The birthday banquet was about to end, but the longevity peach in front of the Grand Empress Dowager had not been touched.

The Grand Empress Dowager said: "This longevity peach is truly beautiful; I cannot bear to eat it."

Ji Lan smiled and said: "If Grandmother likes it, we will make it for you often in the future, with all sorts of flavors for you to try."

The Grand Empress Dowager smiled until her eyes disappeared.

This birthday was truly a happy one.

Yan Ning also said: "If you don't eat it, this longevity peach will go bad."

The Grand Empress Dowager reluctantly cut the longevity peach into pieces and distributed them to the few of them to eat.

Even the ministers received some.

Several people exclaimed, what was this thing, and why did it taste so good?