The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 15 Fighting for beauty and striving for the lower reaches

I don’t know whether the spring of the fourth year of Yonghui came very late, or whether the Pei family’s concubine selection process was too complicated, but for nearly a month everything went smoothly. Before the blind date meeting was successfully held, the peony clip was completed as scheduled.

In the translucent luxurious purple, a bowl-sized goose-yellow double-petaled peony is in full bloom, complementing another snow-white single-petaled peony. It is set off by copper-green leaves, dianthus, and small white camellias, making it look very beautiful. It is noble and gorgeous on the outside, especially the shimmering silver luster at the stamens, which adds a mysterious and lively brilliance to the whole gauze.

Liuli was stunned for a moment when she saw the finished product. She remembered that the teacher once said that the dyes in the Tang Dynasty were the most brilliant, and the colors of some fabrics could even remain as new for thousands of years. But at this moment, she had to doubt that it was because people had never seen it before. A true new dyeing and weaving product from the Tang Dynasty, the rich and gorgeous colors can take your breath away.

Mrs. Wu was speechless for a while when she got the jiavaler. She stretched out her hand and touched it gently, nodded and sighed, "It's so beautiful and fragrant!"

Liuli breathed a sigh of relief: a month of hard work was finally not in vain! Especially the silver dots on the stamens, she had an idea. She remembered the wine flag with shining silver writing outside Ci'en Temple, and finally obtained the paint formula. After repeated trials, she achieved the current effect.

The little Yueniang also imitated her mother's behavior, stretched out her hand to touch the silk, raised her little flower-like face and smiled: "Mom, what a beautiful flower." Liuli couldn't help but squat down and smiled at her. : "How about making a peony skirt for Yueniang?"

Since the last time we met outside Ci'en Temple, this is the third time that Mrs. Wu has brought her daughter Yueniang to Ruyijia Vale. Liuli gradually discovered that she is really free! Probably because her husband passed away three years ago, and her relationship with the sister-in-law of the Helan family and the Wu family was not good. Mrs. Wu would go to the West Market every now and then to hang out. After the weather got warmer, there were more people around her. A little moon girl. Somehow, Liuli seemed to have taken a liking to her. Whenever she came to the West Market to buy anything, she had to stop by Liuli's place to sit down, either let Liuli paint a small painting, or buy half a horse of valerian. After two or three visits, even Yueniang, who was a little familiar with Liuli, became very familiar with Liuli. After hearing Liuli's words, she nodded hastily, "Okay!"

Mrs. Wu smiled and touched Yueniang's head, "Young people know that this is a good thing!" She suddenly thought of something and muttered: "Auntie, besides making shawls, can this jade be used as a dress? "

Liuli thought for a while and then said: "Perhaps we can make a gauze shirt with big sleeves and wear it loosely over the plain chest-length skirt. It will definitely be chic and gorgeous." - I remember that there is something similar in the famous painting "Lady with Hairpins" in the Tang Dynasty. In terms of clothing, although narrow-sleeved and tight-fitting styles are currently popular, this level of novelty is probably still acceptable, right? As she spoke, she picked up the valerian, folded it into a rough shape, and compared it with her body - she was wearing plain beige clothes today, which perfectly showed the beauty of the peony pattern.

Mrs. Wu nodded and smiled, "It's indeed a good idea!" Then she frowned and sighed: "In your good years, you can be a first-class talent even if you dress up a little, but why do you dress so plainly all day long?"

Liuli smiled bitterly and said nothing: She didn't want to be someone's concubine, so why did she dress up so beautifully? It was too much for her aunt to care about her alone, and if she brought in others, her dream of living a free life for a few days would be completely ruined? Thinking of the blind date two days later, she couldn't help but pray secretly: I hope everything doesn't go well!

Unfortunately, her character index obviously did not change much. On that day, Kudi sent a carriage to pick up Liuli and Hualu early in the morning. In the hospital, there was no accident at all.

Liuli helped the maid get out of the carriage, naturally feeling very disappointed. Coral, who was following her, looked at her back and almost had her back teeth broken. She was wearing specially made clothes today: Bao He wears a short tasseled jacket with tree patterns and a six-piece silver-red skirt. On his head is the best jade butterfly tassel Bu Yao in the family. He also presses a few emerald flowers. When he goes out to look at the mirror, he feels that the flowers are more beautiful than others. Jiao, no worse than Liuli's outfit that day. However, she didn't expect that Liuli was not dressed like a butterfly that day. Instead, she simply wore a lilac-colored short jacket, a snow-white silk skirt, and only a small hairpin on her head. It's just that the long skirt seems to have soft light flowing in the bright light. If you look closely, you can find exquisite dark lines. She originally had skin as good as snow, and this elegant and noble outfit made her look even more delicate and beautiful.

At one glance, Coral wished she could go back and change clothes immediately, but today Cudi came with the car to pick up the sisters, not only two maids, but also a stern-faced nun. Just as Coral was about to stamp her foot, the nun turned around as if she had eyes on the back of her head. With a dagger-like glance, she was so frightened that she didn't dare to say a word.

Their carriage went from Tianmen Street to Mingde Gate and headed straight for Zhongnan Mountain. After traveling for more than half an hour, it finally slowed down at the entrance of an inconspicuous manor. Along the way, although Coral wanted to tear Liuli's snow silk skirt into pieces, the nun was sitting opposite her. There seemed to be light flashing in her slightly closed eyes. From time to time, she opened her eyes to look at Liuli opposite her. and coral, and then turned to look at the water bottle tightly held in the maid's arms and the blooming peonies in the bottle. Liuli adjusted her skirt several times like a show off, and her long skirt brushed against Coral's fingertips, but she just didn't dare to move... Seeing that she was almost there, the woman named Yan took out her scissors and cut off the contents of the bottle. The largest and most beautiful double-petaled purple peony was placed on Liuli's head, and a half-open pink peony was chosen and placed on Coral's head. Coral's face suddenly fell. Before she could protest, Aunt Yan had already sneered: "For today's flower competition, I cut off two peonies worth thousands of gold at home to compete with you. Is it possible that I still have to pick and choose?" Four? How will you look like with a big flower on your head?" Coral lowered her head and didn't dare to say anything. She just cursed Liuli a few times in secret: No wonder she didn't wear any flowers today. She already knew that. I want to fight with flowers!

Liuli smiled bitterly: She only found out yesterday that she was going to compete with flowers. Flower fighting is a favorite game among the ladies of Chang'an in March. In order to use the most precious flowers to decorate their buns, the price of flowers in the city skyrockets at this time, allowing countless profiteers to make a fortune. Of course, the reason why these women spend so much money is actually because they are fighting for more than just flowers - everyone knows that, regardless of whether they are high-class or low-class, flower fights are actually an excellent occasion for men and women to see each other, and the difference is nothing more than that. It's just that people from the public are direct, while high-ranking people are implicit.

She really wanted to dress up like Coral and be more in line with her status as a nouveau riche, but her aunt had already sent her clothes, so that was all. She actually arranged for such a powerful nanny. If she didn't support her, Come on, wouldn’t it be that all her efforts to get Coral to follow were in vain...

After getting out of the car and walking a few steps, Liuli paid attention to the movement of the coral with the corner of her eyes and looked around. Although the manor looked unremarkable from the outside, the layout inside was very grand. In front of her was a green building. The stone screen is mottled with moss, and a curve of clear water introduced from the outside flows leisurely around the screen, which has its own ancient charm.

Aunt Yan led them around the stone screen and walked along the bluestone path beside the flowing water. After a while, the water gradually merged into a half-acre lake. To the east of the lake was a small The pavilion is connected to the corridor erected on the lake. Opposite is an attic with blue tiles and pink walls.

At this time, there were several figures in red and green clothes on the pavilion. Grandma Yan’s sullen face gradually relaxed. When she walked under the pavilion, she was already full of smiles. Liuli had already seen clearly that besides Kudi, there were three women in the pavilion, one of whom was about thirty years old, with gentle eyebrows and plain clothes. The other two are both young women. The taller one is wearing a pomegranate red skirt and a red peony as big as a bowl on her head, which makes her face even more beautiful. The other one has beautiful features and has a yellow peony on her head. .

Seeing Liuli and his entourage approaching, several people in the pavilion stood up. The eyes of the two young women fell on Liuli's face at the same time, but the woman's eyes glanced at Liuli's snow silk skirt. Sweeping, the corner of his mouth raised slightly: "Are these two nieces from my sister's family? They are indeed rare and good talents!"

Kudi looked satisfied and her smile was kinder than usual: "They don't go out much on weekdays, and they made my sister laugh by twirling their hands and feet." He then introduced Liuli and Hualu that the woman's surname was Hao, and she was Kudi. The two young women are her relatives. Liuli smiled and met Li one by one. When she met the eyes of the two sizing up her competitors, she couldn't help but look forward to it: Come on, come on, knock me down quickly and step on me ten thousand times...

The few people were just chatting, and soon several young women came one after another. There are two people named Pei, who must be relatives of the clan. They have double-petaled peonies the size of bowls on their heads. The other two are the daughters of the Boling Cui family. The eldest Yu Niang is in her prime, dressed luxuriously, and has a very beautiful yellow peony on her head. However, her expression is quite impatient, and she keeps asking why the Eight Niangs are not here yet. The young Yanniang was only twelve or thirteen years old. She was not tall enough and had a quiet demeanor, but she already looked like a budding beauty. The most eye-catching one is Wei Twelve Niang who came with the Cui sisters. She has a pair of watery apricot eyes on her snow-white face. She wears a white single-petal peony to reflect her beautiful face. , adding a bit of tenderness.

Color came in full of arrogance, but when he saw Liuli, half of it had faded, and when he saw Wei Twelve Niang, another third of it had faded. At this time, she just bowed her head silently, and she was much quieter than usual.

Liuli was secretly anxious, and just as she was about to flirt with her, she suddenly heard someone say: "Eighth Niang is here."

 (End of this chapter)