Shu Shu smiled and said: "Think about Princess Zhi's palace, and think about the eldest brother of Yuqing Palace. Even if Fengsheng and the others start to pay New Year's greetings and receive red envelopes the year after next, they still won't be able to settle the score."
Brother Jiu felt his tooth hurt and said, "Oh, it's true. In a few years, we will be upgraded to uncles and aunts?"
Shu Shu said: "What does this mean? Think about Prince Ping again. When he gets married and has children, we will be the great-grandfather and great-grandmother. By then, even the great-great-grandchildren will be able to see him."
Brother Ninth heard "haha" and laughed: "His generation is at the bottom of the clan. I guess Prince Ping is also depressed. He will have two more uncles and grandfathers next year..."
The Chinese New Year is generally cheerful.
It’s just that the couple was a little bored. Brother Jiu looked at Shu Shu and said, “Why don’t you ask Lao Shi and Lao Shi Fujin to come over? They should be free now.”
This is also the current rule. New Year greetings are always given in the morning, and there are no New Year greetings in the afternoon.
At this hour of the year, people who want to pay New Year greetings will no longer come to our door.
Shu Shu said: "Brothers and sisters also rested late last night. They asked someone to check if they were asleep. If they were not asleep, they invited them over to play dominoes. If they fell asleep, forget it."
Brother Jiu agreed and sent He Yuzhu to invite people.
In fact, Shu Shu is also sleepy here, but she is afraid that if she goes to bed in the afternoon, she will be sleepy again at night.
She was not energetic today, which made Jueluo worried. Tomorrow she planned to return to her parents' house in high spirits.
She finally understood why some people would "report good news but not bad news" to their parents, because they were worried that they would be worried about themselves.
Not long after He Yuzhu went out, he brought over Brother Shi and Shi Fujin.
The two of them were about to come over when they bumped into He Yuzhu at the door.
"Sister-in-law Jiu, look what you brought me?" Shi Fujin's voice was cheerful, without the sluggishness of the morning.
She was holding an apple in her hand. It looked big and red, and looked better than ordinary apples.
"They are the offerings in front of the Buddha. They were made yesterday morning and were taken down this morning. We got four, one for my brother, one for me and the tenth master, this one is for the ninth sister-in-law and the ninth brother, and there is one for the imperial grandmother and aunt. Grandma sent it."
The offerings taken down in front of the Buddha all have auspicious meanings.
Apples mean peace and tranquility, oranges mean your wishes come true.
Shu Shu accepted it and said with a smile: "Thank you, sister-in-law. After waiting for a while, we will also go to Chongfu Temple to offer incense."
Brother Ten and Brother Nine said: "In recent years, more and more people believe in Buddhism. Today, there are hundreds of people waiting in line in front of Chongfu Temple to offer incense. The soldiers and horses department have all gone..."
Brother Jiu said: "Isn't this good? It also teaches people to be kind..."
Having said this, he was a little dissatisfied and said: "On the other hand, the Ministry of Rites is just a filial daughter and a filial son. What's the matter with the Eight Banners' chaste women? If you are in your twenties, you have to be a widow for most of your life. That's fine. ? This means that the Eight Banners will stop fighting. If they really want to continue fighting, they will not let widows remarry. Is this because they are afraid of increasing the population? By then, there will be no need for outsiders to fight, and the population will become increasingly thin..."
The tenth elder brother said: "Using the Han Dynasty to control the Han Dynasty and advocating Confucianism are just a matter of following the local customs."
Brother Jiu still disapproved and said: "The Han people are not afraid of Manchuization. If the Manchus are Hanized, then the court will not worry about the future?"
The Sinicization of the Manchus weakened the Eight Banners' strengths.
When the time comes, will the court be able to survive with only a few Manchus and a large number of Han people?
Brother Ten said: "We all think of this, and Khan Amma will definitely think of this too. This banner is not for the common people in the world, but for all the Han people. Only when they return home can the Qing Dynasty be truly stabilized."
Brother Ninth thought of Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying.
Especially for Zhang Tingzhan, two generations of father and son have been in officialdom, and his grandchildren should be no exception.
The so-called scholar's return to his heart should have the same meaning.
The imperial court is in the capital, and the emperor issues decrees in the palace. It is these scholars who actually govern the people down below.
He told the tenth elder brother: "In terms of knowledge, Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying must be ranked first, but if it is really worse than being an official, it is better to use Cao Shun's experience."
The tenth elder brother was more objective and said: "A ruler is short and an inch is long. Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying are more suitable to be ministers of Ci and Hanlin officials."
Shu Shu and Shi Fujin were having tea nearby, listening to the two brothers gossiping.
Shi Fujin was confused when he heard this, and asked Shu Shu: "Sister-in-law Jiu, why can't widows remarry in the Eight Banners' banner to show women's integrity?"
Mongolian tribes still accept step marriages. Young widows are not widowed unless they are elderly widows.
Shu Shu said: "The decree of the imperial court represents the emperor's will, and the people below him will restrict widows from remarrying for the sake of archway or reputation. When the time comes, there will be more bachelors and the population will decrease."
Shifujin said: "Brother Ninth is right, it is not good to have a small population."
Seeing that the two sisters were bored, the tenth elder brother and the ninth elder brother also stopped talking.
Brother Ninth said: "Aren't you going to play cards? Let's see how lucky the tenth brother and sister are today?"
Shi Fujin was a little unsure. He looked at Brother Shi and said, "Master, do you want to play? I guess I will lose."
Brother Ten said: "It's okay, I'll win it back."
Brother Jiu became competitive and said, "Don't talk nonsense, and don't look at who figured out this domino!"
The card table was set up, with a deck of dominoes on it.
"Wow, wow, wow," the voice was clear, and the atmosphere in the room became cheerful.
Shu Shu told Ging Guo to bring out a few money boxes. Inside were golden melon seeds weighing one penny, which were made by Yinlou a few years ago. They looked golden.
Shu Shu sat at the head, with the ninth prince on his left hand, the tenth prince on the right, and the tenth prince on his right hand.
Among the four, the only one who is addicted is Shi Fujin. He really lacks confidence today and is a little nervous about playing cards.
Shu Shu was at Shang's house. Looking at the cards Shifujin played, she really didn't dare to make any normal inferences.
After all, Shi Fujin plays cards differently than other people. He likes to keep idle cards and is willing to play out the useful ones.
As a result, pushing cards becomes complicated.
It is also a challenge for Shu Shu.
Remembering the cards from the previous round of Shi Fu Jin, Shu Shu opened his deck and tentatively played one.
He really guessed it right, it was the card that Shi Fujin wanted to play.
Shi Fujin happily picked up the cards and played another one in his hand.
It happened that the draw card of the tenth prince was hit, but the tenth prince did not draw the card, but touched the card. As a result, he touched the card again, so he opened the palm in his hand.
Brother Jiu is good at magic. He looks at the cards thrown out by everyone and is also pushing the cards.
But he pushed the cards according to the way normal people play cards, and the three in front of him were obviously not normal.
He was so confused that he didn't win any of them and even fired two cannons.
He looked at Brother Ten and said, "Did Chongfu Temple also offer the God of Wealth? What kind of luck are these ten brothers and sisters? Seeing that they are desperate, there are still people firing cannons?"
The tenth elder brother said: "The offerings are to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Guanyin Bodhisattva. These two Bodhisattvas can also seek wealth."
"It's so effective!"
Brother Jiu was moved and said to Shu Shu: "There are many people during the Lantern Festival, let's go on the first day of February..."
Shu Shu glanced at Brother Jiu and found that he really thought that Shi Fujin was in luck. He smiled and nodded and said, "Okay."
Shi Fujin was standing by, looking at the box full of golden melon seeds in front of him, and he also chuckled, unable to see his teeth.
"Sister-in-law Ninth, Sister-in-law Ninth, I went over to kowtow to the Bodhisattva in the main hall and the side hall today. I asked the Bodhisattva to bless my elder brother's condition and get better. If the Bodhisattva is so effective, will my elder brother also get better?"
During the Chinese New Year, it is rare for people to be happy. Shu Shu did not throw cold water on it, and nodded with a smile: "That's for sure, the Bodhisattvas are watching."
It's the beginning of spring now, and it's getting longer day by day.
The time of sunset is from the second moment of Shen Zheng to the first moment of Youchu.
Everyone played cards for more than an hour, and it was almost at the beginning of Youchu that someone asked people to vacate the card table.
During the first month of the year, all we eat are New Year dishes, which are convenient to serve.
There were only four people in total, and there were no assigned tables.
Shi Fujin hadn't eaten properly for several days, but now he was so happy and enjoying the food from the pot that he ate with gusto.
Shu Shu ate a double jelly with skin jelly, half of which was pig skin jelly and half of which was fish skin jelly. The ingredients were well processed and there was no fishy smell at all. It tasted bouncy and smooth.
Brother Jiu was eating a plate of radish kimchi, which contained white radish, green radish, carrot and carrot. It was sour and spicy and very appetizing.
The 10th prince doesn't like meat, so he can eat meatballs and egg rolls.
Shi Fujin still loves mutton here. He holds a silver knife and eats a portion of roasted lamb leg with sauce.
The staple food is all kinds of dumplings.
The ten princes and ten Fujin enjoyed the meal.
Seeing this, Brother Jiu said: "I like to eat and take some home later. I froze two jars of dumplings and ate them for two days. I have eaten enough."
Shu Shu had no preference for dumplings, so he said, "There are indeed a lot of them. You can take some back."
Shifu Jin laughed and said: "I forgot to give you the order. The pancakes prepared in the dining room should be more steamed buns and steamed buns. The dumplings are also prepared, but there are not many, and there are only two kinds of fillings..."
There is nothing to be polite about, either.
The tenth prince and the tenth Fujin left with everything they had eaten.
Brother Jiu looked at Shu Shu belatedly and said, "I can push cards, why don't you push cards?"
Among the three of them, they took turns firing cannons at Shifujin.
The ninth elder brother is the least here, Shu Shu, who is sitting in the ten Fujinshang family, has the most, followed by the tenth elder brother.
Shu Shu said: "I pushed the cards, but it's weird that I can't guess correctly every time."
Brother Jiu hummed and said: "I can see that Lao Shi Fujin is not a serious card player. He plays cards blindly, leaving a nine and a five and eight. How can you guess? Her playing of cards really depends on luck... …”
Shu Shu doesn't like to waste time on his brain.
For more than an hour this afternoon, she felt tired.
"I'll go back to the Dutong Mansion tomorrow. If there's a card table, I won't be on it. I'd better go there. I'm better at counting than I am..."
Brother Jiu said proudly: "It's simple and not difficult at all. Why don't I teach you how to count cards?"
Shu Shu hurriedly shook his head and said: "Forget it, it not only wastes your brain, but also makes you uncomfortable after sitting for a long time. If you don't like to play this..."
Brother Jiu asked: "Besides archery, what else do you like?"
Shu Shu didn't reply immediately.
She also likes to keep small notebooks, but it is a pity that she is timid. Otherwise, she would write down all the gossip and anecdotes during the Kangxi years, and it might become a "Notes of So-and-so" for future generations to examine...
(End of chapter)
