[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

On the morning of October 26th, Mrs. Xing and Li wore the make-up of the third-rank imperial wife, and Daiyu and Shi Hui wore the make-up of the county monarch, and took a carriage to the palace.

The carriage drove to the outside of the Taiji Palace, and no one in the Taiji Palace dared to take the carriage except the emperor, the emperor, and the two empress dowagers.Zhao Mama supported Xing Li, Xue Yan supported Daiyu, and Zi Ling helped Shi Hui get out of the car.Another eunuch Su Qing brought several young eunuchs to attract people outside Taiji Palace.

The Taiji Palace is magnificent and magnificent, and it is the largest group of palaces in the imperial palace. Although the Daming Palace has the largest Zichen Palace for the grand court meeting, the total area occupied is not as large as that of the Taiji Palace.

Taiji Palace is a large palace group. Once you enter the palace gate, pass the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, you will see the Wude Palace. After passing the Wude Palace, there is a wide square. The Taiji Palace is directly in front, the Liangyi Palace is on the left, and the Sleeping Palace is on the right. The Ganlu Hall is behind the Taiji Hall. In addition, there are some small houses that will not be described in detail.

As soon as Lin and Shi came back, seeing this scene, they couldn't help sighing that the eaves and teeth were high-cut and intrigue, and the ancients were honest and honest.The Lingbo Hall where Concubine Cichen lives is more like the place where she lives in name, but in fact she will not be there except for playing.But concubine Chen can't stay in the emperor's bedroom all the time, that's too inappropriate, and stay in Ganlu hall when she doesn't go to Lingbo hall.

As soon as you enter the main gate of Ganlu Hall, you will see a beautiful woman in yellow robes with elegant appearance and elegant temperament coming out of the side hall surrounded by four big court ladies.

The three of them hurriedly knelt down and saluted: "The courtiers / ministers see the imperial concubine empress, the empress is a thousand years old, a thousand years old!"

Xing Xiuyan helped Mrs. Xing and Li herself, waved to the two younger sisters, and said, "They are all from my own family, so there is no need to be so polite."

Xing Li said: "National rituals cannot be discarded."

Xing Xiuyan didn't want to get entangled in the etiquette that she couldn't change anymore, and asked with a smile: "Mother and the two younger sisters are hungry and tired? It just so happens that I haven't had breakfast yet, so you can eat some with me."

Saying so, he ordered Ziyue and Xuejue to lead the little palace maid and three of them to the side room to change clothes. They changed out of heavy high-grade make-up and ordinary clothes.

It took nearly two quarters of an hour to come out, and Xing Xiuyan was already waiting at the dining place.Xing Xiuyan took a closer look at the appearance of the two sisters, and found that they were different from before. The changes in puberty were great. She couldn't help saying: "It's only been three to five months, and the two sisters have become more and more outstanding."

Shi Hui said: "We are nothing but the posture of willows, how can we compare with the empress?"

Xing Xiuyan smiled and said: "I'm mainly talking about the second sister, the third sister, but by the way, it's somewhat against my will, the third sister is still the same little monkey."

At this moment, Shi Hui was not happy again, she supported Mrs. Xing and Li's arm and said, "Mother-in-law, look, the empress is bullying people again."

Daiyu went to pull Shi Hui and smiled, "The empress loves to tease you the most."

Seeing that there were no outsiders, after everyone was seated, eunuchs and maids successively served bird's nest eight-treasure porridge, yam cake, milk steamed buns, ham slices, crucian carp soup, fried noodles and so on.This is made in the small kitchen, and it is Xing Xiuyan's favorite breakfast. As for the breakfast in the imperial dining room, which is a bit conservative, she still dislikes it.

In fact, imperial meals are ancestral rules. When the emperor ate, each dish was no more than three chopsticks. In ancient times, there were no greenhouse vegetables. In winter, radishes accounted for half of the vegetables?However, meat in the Qinchuan area is too heavy. Xing Xiuyan likes spicy food, but not oily spicy food.

Since Xingxiu enshrined Yipin Chen Noble Concubine, it was natural for her to have a small kitchen. Chen Noble Concubine never liked that kind of ancestral imperial food, but she could come up with many ideas for the small kitchen to cook.Naturally, Tu Yuanyi did not eat the "ancestral" imperial meal, and let Chen Guifei's small kitchen cook it every day.

In the palace, several of them are people of high status, and when they eat, they are mostly based on food and do not talk about the rules. After eating, Shi Hui praised: "If your mother knows how to eat, things don't look very extravagant. , but it’s delicious to eat.”

Lin Daiyu couldn't help thinking that Jia's house could use a few chickens to cook a dish of eggplant, but Lin's noble family was not like that.Even if Daiyu wore more expensive clothes, the Lin family would not be like the Jia family, with so many servants that I can't remember, and so many idlers.Moreover, looking at the palace today is not extravagant, and such extravagance cannot last long, Lin Daiyu couldn't help sighing that it was her grandfather's house after all.

After breakfast, Xing Xiuyan took the three of them out for a stroll outside the Ganlu Hall, and said in a low voice: "That day, my mother entered the palace to thank you. Take it easy and go for a walk.”

Shi Hui was curious, Lin Daiyu was a little hesitant, but Xing Li said: "I'm waiting outside the palace, will this break the rules?"

Xing Xiuyan said: "The sage allowed the married woman to visit the palace on the [-]th. The two younger sisters are now high-ranking county monarchs, so naturally they will not violate the rules. I usually live alone in the Manna Palace, surrounded by palace maids and eunuchs. The sage Busy with government affairs, besides reading and writing, it’s also strangely boring.” Occasionally practice throwing knives but don’t tell them how good it is, especially the mother.

Shi Hui said with a smile: "That's because the sage took pity on Eldest Sister and let Eldest Sister live in the Taiji Palace, but Eldest Sister felt that life was boring. This is the kindness that other people want by sharpening their heads. Is it possible that Eldest Sister still thinks about the sisters when they were at home?" Are you having fun?"

The harem is indescribable, but which master dares to put his hand into the Tai Chi Palace?The eunuchs and maids of the Taiji Palace are under the direct management of Zhao Gui, and there are Jin Yiwei guarding the Taiji Palace. It is basically impossible for the eunuchs and maids of other palaces to come in at will.

Xing Xiuyan said: "Naturally, mother and sister are more lively together, and can do many things together."

Lin Daiyu laughed and said, "But the palace can do things that can't be done outside the palace, and outside the palace there is no one who is as kind to eldest sister as a saint."

Xing Xiuyan blushed, and said, "Second sister has become more and more eccentric, just because I'm being soft-tempered."

Lin Daiyu said: "That's ridiculous. Who dares to bully the eldest sister. The eldest sister is a thousand years old and a thousand years old. Just this thousand years old, if ordinary people want to bully the eldest sister, the eldest sister will do nothing. She will suffer... to go to someone else." Gong I was afraid that it was taboo to say the word dead, so Lin Daiyu changed her words, and everyone knew what it meant.

In the original book, Lin Daiyu was originally a person of character. She also gave Zhou Rui the palace flower when her father was still alive.It was only after Lin Ruhai passed away that he really took care of others, and felt that the wind, knife, frost and sword were pressing against him, and he became more and more angry.But now Lin Ruhai, who is open-minded and dismissive of everything, is teaching her while manipulating her temper. She is not a soft person.This tongue-in-cheek joke reminded Xing Xiuyan of her joke about the locusts in the original book.

Xing Xiuyan was angry and funny, and she spoke sharply, saying: "Second sister still dares to tease me. After all, there are people added to the family, and her confidence is getting stronger. In the future, I will have a brother and a sister again. I am a foreigner." /Lu, I'm afraid it will be ugly."

Lin Daiyu held Xing Lishi's arm and Shi Hui held her stomach with a smile.Xing Xiuyan and the three of them introduced the various palaces in Taiji Palace, saying: "Taiji Palace is the first completed palace in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was built in the third year of Tai/zu Longwu. In front of the palace is the place where the court will be held."

In the tenth year of Longwu, the eldest son of the emperor, who was also the crown prince, failed in a coup and was killed by Taizong Huang Que, who was the second son of the emperor. At the same time, the surviving fourth and fifth sons of the emperor also died in the coup.

Emperor Tai/Zu Longwu was frightened, his body was damaged, and he abdicated as the emperor. However, the Shangyang Palace was not built at the beginning, and the emperor still lived in the Taiji Palace. Taizong ordered the architect Li Wenyu to consult ancient books and learn from other dynasties. According to the specifications, the Daming Palace was built.

At that time, the Daming Palace built the Zichen Hall and the Sleeping Hall with a grand court meeting in one year, and Taizong moved in, leaving the Taiji Palace for the emperor to live in.The Dachaohui was naturally moved to Zichen Hall.But in the seventh year of Zhenyuan, Emperor Tai/Zong passed away, and Emperor Tai/Zong occupied the Taiji Palace again and moved the sleeping hall back.

This is how the emperor monopolized the two large palaces. Later, Emperor Taizong put the five-day grand court meeting in the Zichen Hall, and the minor court meeting in the Taiji Hall.Next to the Daming Palace, the Temple of Heaven and the Ancestral Temple Hall were built, which became important places for etiquette, where the majesty of the emperor and the state and society were displayed.

The East and West Six Palaces and Shangyang, Ci'an, and Ciren were completed during the period of Emperor Taizong and Zhenzong.Until the current Emperor Gaozong came to the throne at the age of 25, and reigned for 41 years, the harem was the most full of emperors in this dynasty. In the early days, there were two queen mothers, but unfortunately, the two queen mothers passed away in the fifteenth and eighteenth years of Emperor Gaozong Qianyuan. .

All the people walked around the sleeping hall and Chengning Hall, a small hall behind the sleeping hall, to exit the Tai Chi Palace. After passing through a wide square and a palace gate, there was a lake in the center of the palace.

There are many artificial hills around Taihu Stone, and these things were built during the period from Taizong to Gaozong.There is a small island in the middle of the clear lake, and a palace among the weeping willows.The winding corridor bridge made of granite leads directly to the island in the center of the lake. Xing Xiuyan led people along the road and said: "This is the Lingbo Temple. In the past, Emperor Tai/Zong liked to fish here. The saint repaired it and let me live in it. I spend more time in Ganlu Hall on weekdays. When the weather is good, I will also come here to fish."

Shi Hui smiled and said: "When we came to Kyoto by boat, we also fished on the boat."

The four of them walked this way, and entered the Lingbo Palace to sit and have tea. Xing Xiuyan only mentioned that winter was coming, and she told the emperor that their shop made a pair of plush slippers for the court ministers.

Even at the Great Court Meeting, there are only more than 200 ministers who are eligible to enter the Zichen Palace. Those officials who are idle or have no power do not need to go to the court. It is not difficult to make a batch of slippers.

Xing Xiuyan took the pattern of the trademark she designed again, and said: "Make this mark and make a wooden hangtag, which is the brand trademark. This slipper can be imitated by the family members after seeing it, but the trademark represents the things in our shop. It’s different. But if all the officials wear slippers from our shop, the meaning will be different, and anyone with a little money will buy them and wear them. The autumn has just passed, and so many scholars will gather in Beijing next spring. Who If you don't want to step into the court, you can't wear that official uniform. A pair of slippers is just a good thing. Who doesn't want auspiciousness. We mass-produce on the assembly line and import materials in batches. The cost is also cheap. The price is divided into grades. Well, if we are not officials and officials, we say that we dare not sell them, but if we sell them, we will sell them at a slightly higher price; the price of the second-class ones is slightly lower, as long as they have money, ordinary people can buy them; If the price is low, we just sell the cost of some other people’s house, and we can make some money. But if the family is well-off, it’s popular to wear our slippers. We seem to be a conscientious businessman, but we can earn everything back.”

Xing Lishi, Lin Daiyu, and Shi Hui couldn't help but widen their eyes. Now that they have become empresses, they still think about these mundane things in their minds.

Mrs. Xing Li couldn't help but said: "Madam, it is good for the ministers to worry about these trivial matters in the future. It is most important for you to serve the sage well. You still use this to ask the sage for this benefit. The sage looks down on you. What should you do?" ?”

Xing Xiuyan said: "This is a matter of mutual benefit. The saint does not spend money, but borrows flowers to present the Buddha to show his kindness. The officials of the court got a pair of slippers for nothing, so that they would not have to suffer from freezing feet in the winter. The saint will not suffer from this It's all to blame."

Shi Hui said: "It doesn't matter whether it's successful or not, in short, the first batch is for the officials, we should prepare it in the workshop first."

Xing Xiuyan said: "If we gradually develop into a garment factory, it would be even better for women in those families to work in the factory and earn money. As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you don't panic. Let’s see if those men and mean mothers-in-law dare to bully women. At that time, a women’s joint mutual aid association will be established in the factory to support women who have villains and lazy people at home.”

Women's self-reliance and self-improvement, and the opposition to the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, must first start slowly economically.It is useless to call the daughter's house clean and clean, and the man is a dirty thing. Everyone knows this truth, but it is useless.