Daily life of noble ladies of the Three Kingdoms

Liu Yun sat down with Si Qi and dictated the contents of the letter to Liu Bei.

Si Qi wrote according to his dictation, his hands kept moving, and the corner of his brain was throbbing.

The content of Liu Yun’s letter is very long. After removing the phrases that repeatedly express emotions, and then removing the words and interjections, the content can be basically summarized as follows.

My dearest brother Liu Bei, we haven't seen each other for more than two months.Since you left, I will miss you every day, and miss the years when we used to eat wine and farm together, just like you miss me in the distance.

I have always known that the outside world is helpless.When I think about the hardships you are having outside, I don't like eating sweetly, and my heart is full of depression.

I have always wanted to find an opportunity to write to you, please come to my house to relieve my missing of you, but because I am afraid of disturbing your life and causing you unnecessary trouble and entanglement, even though I love you Missing can't be suppressed, but still silently endured, and never wrote to you.

Now it’s my mother’s 50th birthday, and I finally have a reason to bother you. I am here to write this letter with a very sincere heart, and invite you to come to my mother’s [-]th birthday party.

It's a pity that I accidentally hurt my hand a few days ago, so I can't write to you in person, so I can only ask my daughter Aying to help me write it. I hope you will forgive me.

Dear Xuande, if you have a chance to come back, come and see me in Jingyuan. Last fall, the rape we planted together is now in bloom. Can I wait for you this spring?

After writing a letter, Si Qi felt that his teeth were a little sore. When he returned to Zhang's courtyard, Zhang was discussing with Zhuhong to make some candied green plums to eat this year. It was the first time the mansion tried to make it last year. Candied fruit, I always feel that I can’t make it well, so I only made two jars. There is not enough food for the family, and there is no extra to share with the close ones. Don’t forget to make more this year.

Last year's candied green plums were really successful, even better than Si Qi expected.

This year, Mrs. Zhang took the initiative to take over the job, so Siqi ignored it and continued to study the brewing of high-alcohol liquor.

In fact, it is not difficult to make serious calculations about wine making, especially the brewing of rice wine does not require too many tools and modern workshops.

The main principle of rice wine brewing is to decompose the starch in the rice into sugar, and the sugar produced is transformed into wine through a series of chemical changes, and then controlled distillation according to the degree of wine to be brewed.

And it's rare to make good wine.

It is said that Moutai, the national liquor, is made after "nine times of cooking, eight times of fermentation and seven times of wine extraction", and the brewing time is at least one year.

The taste factors that determine the brewing success are mainly the material and the heat, and because the Three Kingdoms period did not have a thermometer with a precise scale, the temperature of the brewing could not be freely controlled, just like in the later song "Blue and White Porcelain" "The sky is waiting for the misty rain, and I am waiting for you "As the lyrics say, only certain misty and rainy weather can form beautiful azure porcelain, so whether it is porcelain making or wine making, climate plays a big role.

A good fermentation climate can definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

==

The battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao on the front line was in full swing, and since the Yidaizhao incident, the situation in Xudu City has become much more tense than in previous years. The intuitive performance is that the number of people visiting the house has decreased a lot, and the passenger flow in Zhang's courtyard has plummeted.

As the war continued to advance, Guo Jia and Xun You were also transferred to the front line by Cao Cao.

Since Cao Cao vigorously implemented the garrison system in the first year of Jian'an, the food problem in Cao Cao's environment has been greatly resolved, and it has also provided great assistance for Cao Cao's southern and northern wars.

With the increasing number of people returning to their hometowns to farm, the four years of Jian'an saw a rare bumper harvest, and the granaries were more abundant than in previous years. Presumably, Guo Jia and others also relieved a lot of pressure on the issue of dispatching military rations. .

After the husband left and the guests stopped coming, Si Qi was completely free, and the wine making work was also progressing rapidly.

On the eve of Zhang's birthday, the rice wine that Siqi had been working on for many days was finally brewed. She took a cup out of a wine glass, tasted it a little, and found that the effect was really mediocre.

It was far worse than the wine made by grandpa and the branded wine sold outside that she drank in her previous life.

The two elder brothers also came over to greet Mrs. Zhang after school, and when they were about to leave, Liu Cheng grabbed Si Qi and gave her winks.

Si Qi understood, and took the two elder brothers to his room.

After arriving at Si Qi's room, Liu Cheng asked Si Qi in a low voice if the little sister had secretly hidden wine somewhere.

Si Qi felt very surprised.

She was sealed so tightly, and even hid in the warehouse behind her, could the two elder brothers notice this?

Liu Heng saw Si Qi's doubts, and smiled softly at the younger sister: "Second brother has always had the sharpest nose."

Si Qi happened to be lacking in self-confidence, and wanted to find someone to help him taste the wine, so he asked his two elder brothers to come over and taste it.

Although in the regulations of later generations, minors are not allowed to drink alcohol.But this was not popular in ancient times. The two of them, especially the big man Liu Heng, always had to have a few drinks when they went out to dinner.

After tasting Si Qi's wine, both of them spoke very highly of it, especially the elder brother Liu Heng, who was not good at words, this time, in order to praise her for making good wine, he praised her a lot for the first time.

In the early morning of the second day, not long after Si Qi got up, Liu Cheng brought Liu Yun outside to look for her.

After seeing Si Qi, Liu Cheng was a little embarrassed, and while Liu Yun was not paying attention, he quietly told Si Qi that it was his fault, and he accidentally slipped the tongue to Liu Yun yesterday.After my father heard this, he dragged him over early in the morning to taste the wine of my little sister.

Si Qi originally wanted to give Liu Yun and Zhang Shi the first altar of brewed wine to taste, but he was not sure whether it would taste better if it was kept for two more days, so he planned to delay it for two days before taking a suitable opportunity to give it to him. They try.

Since Liu Yun has already been recruited by the second elder brother, it is better to hit the sun than to choose another day, let's try today.

Although Zhang Shi also loves wine, she still remembers the doctor's advice and is relatively restrained. She doesn't drink alcohol when she gets up in the morning and eats.

Hearing that Liu Yun specially came here today to have the meal and to taste Siqi's brewed wine with her, Mrs. Zhang was very happy.

She always knew that Si Qi was brewing wine for her birthday banquet, and she felt that the taste of the wine was second to none, and the most important thing was her granddaughter's filial piety.

After all, when it comes to the banquet on the birthday, ask someone to serve the wine, and tell everyone that the granddaughter brewed it specially for her birthday banquet, what a face!

Si Qi poured a glass of wine for his grandmother and father. After tasting, both of them gave very positive comments.

Mrs. Zhang thinks this wine is very good, it is more fragrant and mellow than the wine given by the emperor in the palace, no matter how much she drinks it, she will not get tired.

Liu Yun, on the other hand, was astonished. The strong aroma of the wine seemed to explode in the mouth, which made people feel excited. It was a rare treasure in wine.

Si Qi only heard Liu Yun say "yes" and didn't want to continue. He couldn't help asking his father: "What's so good about this wine?"

Liu Yun said deeply, "Boss."

==

As a family member of the first emperor's concubine, Zhang's birthday banquet is relatively grand every year, and this year is even more so.

On the day of Zhang's birthday, people from the palace came early in the morning, and the wives of the family and the clan's wife who had a good relationship with the family also came to celebrate Zhang's birthday.

Si Qi remembered that years ago, there were quite a few people who came to ask Mrs. Zhang Tai to accompany her for a chat.

But now everyone in Beijing, especially the relatives of the Han family, is in danger. They are afraid that if they don't deal with it, they will be hated by Cao Cao and others, and they are also afraid that too many social activities will attract people's attention.

Originally, there was a big conflict between the two groups, which hadn't been brought to the surface before, and they lived in peace with each other.

The Yidai Zhao incident was a watershed. The original contradiction was put on the bright side, and it was magnified a lot. At the same time, everyone in Xudu City discovered that Cao Cao, who had already had an advantage, now has a more obvious advantage. He has absolute control over the court. Uncle Dong Cheng's power of life and death is also in his hands, so no one is afraid of it.

Today's Han Dynasty basically behaves with their tails between their legs, and those who have good relations with the Cao family or the central figures of the Cao Cao Group have recently lived a nourishing life that is visible to the naked eye, and they are much less frightened than others.

Si Qi always felt that it was not easy for Liu Yun to be sincere. He could not only take good care of the palace and the clan, so that Liu Xie and others would not have a hard time, but also had a good relationship with Cao Cao and others. Help coordinate and solve some things.

Although Liu Yun did not completely rely on Cao Cao like Liu Ye, his status in Cao Cao's heart is still very high, and even though Liu Yun and many people on Cao Cao's side are on good terms, Liu Xie still treats him as the only relative he can rely on , both parties regard him as one of their own, and both think of his kindness. He is really a rare master of Duan Shui.

So, even though so many things happened year after year, Siqi's life was basically the same as before, basically no fluctuations occurred, and no matter which masters they were in, they didn't embarrass their family.

Not only that, Liu Biao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei were all thinking of Liu Yun's kindness outside. This time Zhang's birthday, although no one came, but congratulatory gifts were sent, which at least proved that they were willing to maintain superficial harmony with Liu Yun, and also It fully shows that Liu Yun is doing well among the princes from all walks of life.

Siqi lived a comfortable life, but her cousins ​​who came from the Han Dynasty were not so lucky. Almost all the Han family members who stayed in Xudu were affected by the Yidai Zhao incident.

After paying respects to Mrs. Zhang's birthday, Siqi entertained the little girls to the flower hall in the east for tea and chat, and found that most of them were not as lively as before.

Among them, there are two sisters whose families are really involved in the Yidai Zhao incident. Although the involvement is not serious, otherwise it would be impossible to sit here safely, but the faces of the two still look not very good, like frightened little rabbits. She was always in a daze when others were talking, Si Qi asked the maid to give her two fruits, both of them stood up quickly and took it with both hands, and they could tell that they were in a state of high tension.

Most of Si Qi's guests are girls of the same age, the oldest is only ten years old, and the youngest is five years old.

Girls of this age get together and talk about those topics, such as clothes, jewelry, food and some trivial things about going to boudoir school.

But today the atmosphere is particularly sad. Everyone chatted and talked about the meaning of complaining about the meeting. They all complained that their parents are especially strict recently. They are all detained and cannot go out randomly. , now there are not many playmates in Xudu City, she is obviously a clan girl, but when she goes out, she will be looked down upon by others, and she will avoid it when she sees her.

Among the cousins, Liu Qin, who is the best friend of Siqi, told her quietly that the husband invited by her family had disappeared. My father said that because her husband's family was related to Dong Cheng's family, my father was afraid to stay in the house. If something happened to the class at home, he was fired overnight, and he hasn't been able to find a suitable teacher to replace him until now.

As the host of this banquet, Siqi's task is to entertain the guests well, take care of their emotions, and make them feel comfortable is her top priority.

Even if their house was not affected by these incidents, even if her life was not affected too much, she still had to express her melancholy that Xizi was holding her heart together.

Si Qi quickly adjusted his mood, and said quietly in the gloomy atmosphere: "Yes, this day is really unbearable."