At noon, the dinner table was set.
Six full plates of dumplings.
There are mutton and green onion dumplings sent from Ningshou Palace.
Pork and pickled cabbage dumplings sent by Yi Kun Palace.
Assorted cabbage dumplings delivered by Wusuo.
Steamed mutton dumplings given by the head.
The leek and egg dumplings and pork and green onion dumplings prepared by Ersuo Dining Room.
Similarly, Ersuo's chive dumplings were also given away.
In addition to dumplings and a few dishes, there was also a piece of pork belly on the table, which was a gift from the Qianqing Palace.
Today is the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the Little New Year.
Shu Shu has been through it many times and is used to it.
In later generations, the twelfth lunar month is celebrated on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month in the north and on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month in the south.
It was called tradition at the time.
Only now do I realize that this tradition has not yet begun.
Now, whether in the north or the south, it is the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.
The day of "Little Year" is also the day of sacrifice in the palace.
There is a sacrificial activity in Kunning Palace, which is called "sending the stove".
This day is also called the "Zao Festival" and is regarded as the beginning of the New Year.
In order to offer sacrifices to the gods, Kunning Palace had to kill live pigs and boil them directly in water to make "gizzard meat".
Because these "meats" were sacrificed to gods and had auspicious meanings, Kangxi would distribute them to the guards and various palaces.
In the six months since Shu Shu entered the palace, she has seen pork belly several times and gained experience in eating it.
Even if people follow the method of cutting white meat with a large knife in later generations, cut the meat into very thin slices and eat it with soy sauce, it will not taste bad.
But seeing this, Shu Shu thought of all kinds of braised meats, which he could prepare one after another in a few days.
During the Chinese New Year, slice it into slices and dip it in Laba vinegar. It will be very delicious.
Meats and vegetables should not be stored for too long, just prepare them two days before New Year's Eve.
There were six whole plates of dumplings, where could the two of them eat?
I tasted the same one, Brother Jiu kept the leek and egg one, Shu Shu kept the pork and sauerkraut one, and the remaining four plates were given to everyone to enjoy.
Manager Cui served a plate of mutton and green onions.
Aunt Qi served a plate of assorted dishes.
The remaining two sets were for He Yuzhu and his team, and for Xiaotang and his team.
When Shu Shu came to visit the north this time, she found that Grandma Qi had begun to eat a long fast, and a Bodhisattva was also invited to the house.
Shu Shu tried to persuade her twice, but she didn't persuade her to come back, so she stopped talking.
She knew that the nanny was asking for it for herself, because she was afraid that she would become a widow.
There was a "prediction" from Longfengzhu, but later Brother Jiu became ill again, and Grandma Qi was afraid.
Just like before she got married, Eni had the scent of sandalwood on her body all day long. They were confused when they cared about her. Unfortunately, they had no other way to protect her and could only place their hope in gods and Buddhas.
There is nothing we can do about this, we can only let time witness it.
When Shu Shu gives birth to a baby in two years, grandma will be more busy, so she won't have such wild thoughts and unfounded worries.
When the meal is finished, the dining table is removed.
Shu Shu said to the Ninth Elder Brother: "The vegetarian dishes in the Fifth House are really good. I heard that the Twelfth Elder also eats vegetarian food on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year..."
For the prince, whether it is true belief or false belief, it is all about cultivating one's moral character.
Brother Jiu said: "It's just a pretense. Twelve wanted to send food to Aunt Suma, but was afraid of making people gossip, so he ate the meal himself. Then when the vegetarian dishes in the dining room came down, he directly asked people to go to Grandma. I’ll give you a copy over there.”
After living next to each other for so many years, what kind of yard can be hidden from others?
The twelfth elder brother also moved here when he was six years old.
The fence in Wusuo was not so strong in the early years.
"I didn't like to talk much when I was a kid, but I'm not as stupid as I am now. I seem to be a gentle and good-tempered person, and I can play with Eleven..."
Brother Jiu curled his lips and said: "You are two years old and you are still showing off like this. You deserve a beating..."
In Shu Shu's heart, she had a changed view of the twelfth prince.
Maybe it’s not the city that’s deep, but the society’s fear.
When it comes to the eleventh elder brother, the ninth elder brother will no longer lose his temper like before.
"After thinking about it for a while, Guo Guiren is really more suspicious..."
Brother Jiu said helplessly: "The lady next to me is not like this..."
"If Concubine Hui's mother really did anything wrong and was left outside, then Ama Khan would not leave Zhaoxiang House in her hands. Over the years, even if the elder brother raised in Zhaoxiang House died in infancy, there were other reasons... …”
Brother Jiu asked someone to find out this.
Since Zhaoxiang Institute was set up to jointly raise the prince and the princess, a total of two little brothers have died in infancy.
Guo Guiren's little elder brother, who was the same age as his ninth elder brother, was born prematurely and died at the age of ten months.
There was also a younger brother born from the concubine Hesheli. He was also born weak and died just after he was one month old.
But there are many elder brothers. From the eighth elder brother onwards, all the elder brothers were raised in Zhaoxiang House before their first birthday.
"Even if Concubine Rong's mother is resentful, there is Concubine Hui's mother in front of her, so she shouldn't be able to confront our empress..."
Concubine Rong gave birth to four sons in infancy, between the ninth and thirteenth years of Kangxi's reign.
At this time, Concubine Yi had not yet entered the palace.
If Concubine Rong becomes suspicious because of her child's resentment, the most likely suspects will be Empress Yuan and Concubine Hui.
"De Concubine's mother's side..."
Brother Ninth couldn't explain himself: "The qualifications are even lower than our queen's, and she doesn't seem to be smart either..."
After excluding the three concubines, Guo Guiren is the most suspect.
Because looking at the books of the four institutions at that time, we can find that in the elder brother's office, there were in-laws from Guo Luoluo's family who came to work as errands.
Shu Shu didn't want to think about these conspiracies anymore.
Now that the matter has been revealed, let Kangxi pursue the verdict.
She acquiesced to Brother Jiu's statement and said: "The noble person will be sent back to his mother's family and not allowed to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. This will not be done unless it is a serious crime! It should be that the mother's feet were exposed before, and the empress and the emperor were aware of it, so they punished her like this." . But because of the empress’s face, she couldn’t openly plead guilty, so she just passed by the lake..."
This sounds logically consistent.
Brother Ninth also nodded and said: "When the leader first took charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not only did the empress not let the Guo Luoluo family be promoted, but she also asked me to operate on them. I don't think she has any resentment in her heart."
Shu Shu took his hand and persuaded him: "The pain of losing a child is like cutting off flesh. Let's not mention these sad things in front of the empress."
"Um!"
Brother Jiu also understands this truth.
He thought about what he had asked before at the Imperial Hospital, and said to Shu Shu: "The mother will give birth at the end of May or the beginning of June, but I don't know whether it will be my brother or Princess..."
Shu Shu calculated in her mind that Ani's delivery date should be one to two months earlier than Yi Fei's.
That is late April to early May.
"I can't tell whether I am looking forward to having an elder brother from Enie, or from Gege. Earlier, I was looking forward to having a little brother, so I would still be an only daughter. In the eyes of Amma, Enie, and Amou, I am the most important. It's important, but think about it, I'm already married, and it would be better if they have many little cotton-padded jackets to accompany them..."
Shu Shu said.
Who can be without a little selfishness?
Shu Shu is also a greedy person, so she naturally hopes that the people she values will also value her.
Brother Jiu said: "It doesn't matter what they give birth to, it doesn't matter what we said anyway; if there is a little princess on the mother-in-law's side, then I will take care of you as much as my father-in-law and mother-in-law do... I hope that my mother-in-law will do it..." It’s my brother, it’s not easy for the royal family, how many people can be as wanton as Princess Duan Min?”
Speaking of the princess, Brother Jiu remembered something and said, "Didn't Shun Anyan replace the bodyguard? I heard that Khan Ama has passed on him two or three times in the past few days. I guess he is choosing a son-in-law for Jiu Gege..."
Jiu Gege was raised in front of the Queen Mother, and his small supply was higher than that of other Geges. It was not surprising that he chose a son-in-law in the capital.
"The Queen Mother has grown up, and Khan Amma will not marry Jiuge Gege away..."
Brother Ninth said.
Shun Anyan is the ninth elder brother's companion, and he only supplemented his bodyguard at the beginning of the year.
Brother Ninth had a mediocre relationship with him. He mentioned it to Shu Shu twice and both said that he was arrogant.
Shu Shu's impression of him was also ordinary.
However, being able to be chosen as his son-in-law by Kangxi, and continuing to retain the identity of Heshuo's consort after the death of the princess, is enough to prove that the various stigmas about this consort Shun's Anyan in later generations should be family rumors.
This matter has nothing to do with Shu Shu at all, and Shu Shu will not be arrogant enough to point fingers at this matter.
On the contrary, she was somewhat happy to see the results.
If it happened, Concubine De would be furious.
As for Jiu Gege's early death, he died of heatstroke.
Thinking of the incident with Brother Ninth Brother in July, Shu Shu was also very happy.
After the Chinese New Year, she planned to ask Dr. Yin to see if she could make Huoxiang Zhengqi Water.
If it could become a common medicine in the palace, it would not kill a princess due to heatstroke.
The twelfth lunar month is short and one day flies by.
Although the two of them had different bedding, they still rested together most of the time.
Either Brother Jiu sneaked into the east room, or Shu Shu was left in the study.
The fire pits in both places are warm.
This is how it is said when spring is sleepy, autumn is lackluster, summer takes a nap, and winter is sleepless in March.
When Ninth Brother stopped going to the Yamen, the two of them began to sleep in, and it was almost always Chen Zheng who woke up.
After the two of them finished washing, Xiao Chun came in and reported: "Fu Jin, the head office has started to move..."
Shu Shu and Brother Jiu looked at each other, both a little surprised.
Even if they knew that the Thirteenth Prince had gone to Qianqing Palace, the two of them only thought that they were talking about staying here after the new year. As for chasing the Fourteenth Prince, they regarded it as a joke.
Not to mention being kicked out years ago.
However, these days, the homework in the study is still going on, and the thirteenth brother has never met him, so I don't know what to do.
Brother Jiu became interested and said, "Don't come out. I'll go over and see what's going on..."
Head place.
Boxing has begun in the front yard.
It belongs to the fourteenth elder brother.
The aunts and eunuchs under the name of the fourteenth elder brother were all trembling and cautious.
They were only assigned at the end of last month, and they were all relatively junior, yet no one dared to ask more questions.
The ninth elder brother saw this and knew that it was someone coming from the imperial court, otherwise no one else would have the courage to move the room for him while the fourteenth elder brother was away.
The leader was a tall little eunuch.
Brother Ninth recognized him as Wei Zhu, the eunuch of the Qianqing Palace. Even though he was tall, he was actually younger than Brother Ninth, only fourteen or fifteen years old.
He was born into a poor family, his parents died, and he was fostered by relatives in a temple. Later, he purified himself and entered the palace. He was attracted by the old manager of Qianqing Palace and was directly selected to work in Qianqing Palace.
"Master Jiu..."
Seeing Brother Jiu coming over, Wei Zhu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to say hello.
Brother Jiu waved his hand and shouted, "Why are you moving at this time? It's only a few days before the Chinese New Year!"
Wei Zhu asked an unexpected question: "The house in Dongtousuo has been burning for three days..."
The ninth elder brother understood that this was what the thirteenth elder brother asked for.
He grabbed the purse and threw it directly into Wei Zhu's arms, saying: "The newly caught little goldfish is a big advantage for you, take it and play with it..."
Wei Zhu smiled brightly: "No wonder I heard the magpie chirping today. It turned out to be at your place, Master Jiu..."
Although the two of them are different in respect, they are similar in age and can be regarded as familiar with each other.
Wei Zhu really likes Brother Jiu's behavior.
The prince's elder brother has his own moments of arrogance, but his arrogance is directed at the ministers and so on, and does not offend poor people like them.
When going in and out of Qianqing Palace on weekdays, you are always polite to the general manager and the little eunuchs like them.
It's not just because they are the royal servants.
The treatment of eunuchs here at Ersuo cannot be said to be the best in the palace, but it is also among the best.
Regardless of how the officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs spoke ill of Jiu Fujin, Jiu Age and his wife had a different reputation in the eunuch circle.
Brother Ninth liked Wei Zhu's knowledge, so he was fostered in the temple before he could remember anything. He was purified and entered the palace at the age of eleven. During the ten years of his youth, all kinds of experiences he had made were clear and logical.
Brother Jiu had listened to it twice before and thought it was as interesting as a storybook.
In addition, he was generous in words and deeds, well-rounded and not as timid as other eunuchs, so Brother Jiu also looked up to him.
Brother Ninth said with a sense of watching the excitement, "Just moved like this? I don't know why the Fourteenth is causing trouble, but Ama Khan isn't afraid?"
Wei Zhu whispered: "Don't worry, Ninth Master, Fourteenth Master can't make trouble..."
"ah?"
Brother Jiu didn't believe it: "Old Fourteen is not an obedient person. If he gets too confused, he can't even go to Qianqing Palace directly..."
Wei Zhu pointed to the south and said: "The roster of the southern patrol's retinue is about to be finalized..."
*
Some readers of Xiao Zhong's story feel that it does not fit in. Shu Shu wants to live a hundred years, and there are still eighty-five years left. In addition to eating, drinking, and all kinds of embellishments, life is life, isn't it? ^_^
