At that time, Youshi and Sister Feng had arranged everything in the garden and came to invite them to visit Yuanchun.
Jia Lian was about to retire, but Yuan Chun called him to stop him and said, "I just heard from my grandmother and mother that when we were planning to build this garden, it was Brother Lian who was solely responsible for it. I think Brother Lian must have put a lot of effort into this, and he was more responsible than anyone else." I am more familiar with the profound meaning of the construction of various places in the garden. Therefore, I would like to ask brothers Lian and Baoyu to enter the garden with me as a guide. I wonder if brother Lian will agree?"
When Jia Lian heard this, he smiled and said, "My eldest sister has a destiny, but my younger brother dares not to follow it."
The construction of the Grand View Garden was indeed supervised by Jia Lian from the time when Shan Ziye designed the drawings. But later, Jia Lian sent Princess Zhaoyang out of the customs first, and then was ordered to go south to the south of the Yangtze River to work. This delayed the supervision and layout of the garden.
The reason why Yuanchun proposed this was not because she really wanted Jia Lian to be her guide, but more simply to show everyone that she cared equally for Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu, and there was no distinction between them. Naturally, Jia Lian could not fail to see this, so he agreed.
So Jia Mu, Jia Lian and others supported Yuanchun and got up and walked into the garden together.
Early in the day, I saw all kinds of lights and trees in the garden.
The group first started from places such as "Feng Lai Yi", "Red Fragrant Green Jade", "Apricot Curtain in the View", "Hengzhi Qingfen" and other places, climbed the tower and pavilion, waded along the mountains and rivers, and wandered around with various views. The layout was different from place to place. The novel decoration of the piles made Yuanchun highly appreciate it. But he couldn't help but persuade her again not to be so extravagant in the future.
Entering the palace from the west gate, when Fang came in, he saw a huge waterwheel lying across the pond and weir. Yuanchun looked sideways.
Waterwheels are not a rare thing, either for farmers to facilitate irrigation, or for manors to divert water to high places, but they all need rapid water flow to be powered.
The pond weir here was clearly dug manually, and the water flow was slow. The waterwheel was placed in it, almost motionless, but I don't know what its purpose was? Not to mention Yuanchun, even Jia Baoyu, Jia Mu and others were a little surprised for a while. They looked at each other for a few times and realized that they were not the only ones who were confused and found it strange, so they all glanced at Jia Lian.
It turns out that from the day when the garden was about to be completed, in order to show respect for the imperial concubine, Jia Zheng had already sent special personnel to guard every plant and tree inside and outside the palace to prevent idlers from visiting.
Therefore, although Jia Baoyu and others visited various places in the garden every day, they knew very little about the layout of the palace.
In addition, the fortifications here were temporarily added after Jia Lian returned from Jiangnan and after discussing with Jia Zheng, so even Jia's mother and others did not know about it.
Jia Lian bowed to Yuan Chun, and then pointed to a bright side corridor next to him: "This is a place for nobles to bathe and change clothes in their free time. As for this thing and the nearby balcony, they are used for collecting water."
If Yuanchun realized something, "Since it is used to collect water, how can it be driven away by still water?"
"It can be driven by human power."
Yuanchun seemed to understand on the surface, but in fact he was even more confused. Since it was driven by manpower and wooden barrels were used, why build such a large-scale fortification? Is it just for aesthetics?
Seeing Yuanchun's thoughts, Jia Lian smiled and said: "This waterwheel is slightly different from ordinary waterwheels. Because it uses the mechanism of turning the axis, even with only one person's strength, the clear water in the pool can be easily taken up to this high platform. Then pour it into the turret.
There are several boilers in the turret, which can heat the water, and then use bamboo pipes and ditches to inject the hot water into the large bathing pool in the center of the building to achieve the effect of a human-powered hot spring. In this way, you can feel happy even if you bathe here when the weather is cold. "
Looking at the construction in front of them and Jia Lian's simple explanation, who among them doesn't understand the principle?
After thinking about the affairs of Jia Baoyu and others, he became very interested.
It’s not that there was no such thing as pool bathing at that time, but it was just too laborious, expensive, and space-consuming. Therefore, if you weren’t a first-class enjoyment person, how dare you build a pool bathing place? Just take a look at Huaqing Pool in the Tang Dynasty, and you can see how many literati it attracted to praise it.
However, considering that this place was specially built for the bathing of my concubine and sister, I probably wouldn’t have the chance to go in and try it out.
Seeing new things, not only Jia Baoyu and others suddenly became daydreaming, but even Yuanchun suddenly gathered his energy.
You know, even her Fengzao Palace does not have a pool bath. In the entire palace, it seems that only the Chonghua Palace of the Supreme Emperor has a bathing place. According to rumors, every time the Supreme Emperor bathed in the pool, hundreds of eunuchs and maidens were required to serve him at the same time...
This is evident.
It's not that the royal people don't know how to enjoy themselves, it's just that the rules in the palace are strict, and every plant, tree, and brick is more noble than anywhere else. Without the emperor's will, who would dare to touch it?
But within the royal estate, there is no such concern. There are even many manors with hot springs in the royal family's name.
It's just a concubine in the harem, how can she easily leave the palace and enjoy it?
Therefore, Yuanchun has never experienced a pool bath until today, but he does not want to set up a pool bath in his own home, in the palace built by his family for himself.
Although I haven't gone in to take a look yet, I can guess what's going on inside just by Jia Lian's few words.
"It just so happens that eldest sister is going home today. She must be tired from traveling and traveling, so why not go to this building to take a bath first. We have prepared a banquet and several viewing programs for eldest sister. After eldest sister takes a bath and changes clothes, we will come and watch. Not too late." Jia Lian suddenly bent down and asked for instructions.
"this……"
Yuanchun looked hesitant, glanced at Jia Mu and others, and said, "That's it for tonight. Let's talk about it later when we have a chance."
It was a rare trip home for her, and she wanted to stay with her relatives for a while, and didn't want to waste time bathing.
Jia Lian gave Sister Feng a look. Sister Feng, who had been unable to hold back her words for a long time, saw this and hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. I have already arranged the building properly and the hot water has been poured into the pool. If the empress enters the palace to take a bath, it will not waste much time."
Jia Mu and others also noticed Yuanchun Mingming's intention, and they knelt down and said, "Please come to the palace to take a rest."
Yuanchun had already supported her mother, and when she saw everyone was so sincere, she nodded and sighed: "In that case, I will follow your wishes."
Everyone in the Jia family almost didn't sleep last night in order to welcome the Yuanchun family visit. How could it not be the same for Yuanchun?
But there are many rules and noble people in the palace, and today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Therefore, after she got up early in the morning, she first went to the Queen, the Queen Mother, the Dowager Princess, etc. to greet them, then went to Baoling Palace to worship Buddha, and then went to Daming Palace to receive a banquet. After that, she could ask for permission to leave the palace.
She was eager to return home, so she didn't take a break for a whole day. She was so tired all day long, especially when she was accompanied by Jia Mu and others, and visited various places in the garden for more than an hour, which made her feel a little sweaty. Feel.
On the contrary, although she changed her clothes several times, at most she just changed her outer clothes.
Seeing Yuanchun's promise, Zhaorong and others behind her immediately ordered the attendants to file into the palace to arrange bathing arrangements.
Yuan Chun also nodded with Jia Mu and others, looked at Jia Lian specifically, then turned around and stepped into the hall with gentle steps.
After Yuanchun left, Jia's mother and other female relatives immediately relaxed a little, and finally dared to talk to each other and express some opinions.
"This place was your idea again, right?"
Daiyu walked up to Jia Lian at some point and whispered.
Jia Lian turned his head and glanced at her. Seeing how smart and cute she looked, he wanted to touch her head. Then he remembered that this was not the case at this time, so he held back and just looked at her with a smile.
Daiyu was a little embarrassed, glanced at him, and wanted to leave.
Jia Lian suddenly saw half of the jade beads slightly exposed on her wrist, so he picked up her little hand and asked, "This string of beads is very beautiful, where did you get it?"
As soon as Jia Lian finished speaking, Li Wan, who had been observing them from the side, laughed: "This is what the imperial concubine gave to her just now in the old lady's house. What does it mean... The empress said that this is a meeting gift given to her in advance. …”
Li Wan spoke with a smile, but Daiyu had already blushed with embarrassment.
She snatched her little hand back and hid behind Baochai beside her.
Jia Lian smiled, even if Li Wan didn't explain it clearly, Jia Lian understood. Come on, a meeting gift from the future eldest aunt to the future sister-in-law.
Seeing Daiyu's attitude of wearing it on her hand, Jia Lian was very happy.
But she remembered that Daiyu was the one who truly looked down upon the powerful. The string of beads given to Jia Baoyu by King Beijing was treated as a treasure by Jia Baoyu, who kept it specially to offer it to Daiyu, but was thrown away by Daiyu like rubbish.
Unexpectedly, she didn't dislike the gift Yuanchun gave her. In Jia Lian's heart, he attributed all the internal reasons to himself, feeling that Daiyu cared too much about him, so she accepted Yuanchun's blessing.
Daiyu ran away, and Jia Lian didn't pursue it. Instead, he opened his eyes and looked at Li Wan. But seeing Li Wan's beautiful face and clear eyebrows, he suddenly felt that he was very different from the previous "dead wood and gray" image.
It looks particularly gorgeous.
After taking a closer look, I realized that it was probably because of the make-up. Thinking that it was normal for Li Wan to change from his usual bare-face style on an occasion like today, he didn't think much about it.
This little episode fell into Jia Baoyu's eyes. With a lonely look on his face, he turned and looked to the north... To the north was the sloping building where Yuanchun bathed. People inside were flashing and the lights were bright. He was stunned for a moment, fearing that others would suspect his intentions, so he lowered his head.
Mrs. Wang also saw it, but couldn't pay attention to it, so she said to Jia Mu: "Old lady, let's go to the back hall and wait for the empress."
"That's fine."
So everyone walked around this building and headed to the main building behind the main hall.
Naturally, Jia Lian couldn't follow the crowd of women, so he turned around alone and went to the front yard to look for Jia Zheng and others.
…
In the slanted building, Yuan Chun came in under the guidance of Sister Feng. As expected, he could see the scenery of this place, which was a different world.
The decoration and layout are not much different from other palaces, except that in the middle, there is an extra bathtub made of white jade that is three feet long and more than one foot wide.
Seeing the large pond here, Yuanchun finally understood why it was necessary to use a water tanker to collect water, and then to supplement it with such a project. If we simply use wooden buckets to fetch water, I am afraid that just filling the pool with water will require countless people to exert their energy.
At this time, the water mist in the pool was swirling and rising, covering the entire hall like a fairyland.
He heard the gurgling sound of water again, and upon closer inspection, he found that several streams of steaming water flowed out from the west wall of the pool and fell into the pool. Judging from its location and the bamboo pipe that discharges water, it can be seen that it is drawn from the west turret mentioned by Jia Lian.
No wonder the entire hall can be filled with such a warm and fragrant fragrance even in such a cold weather. It turns out that there is a steady supply of hot water.
Seeing the satisfied look on Yuan Chun's face, Sister Feng immediately said to her, "Your Majesty, I don't know that when this place was first built, it was originally used as a side hall. Later, our Lord Marquis came to take a look and said that there was still a lack of a bath room for the Empress in the palace. palace, so this place was chosen for construction.
Even the construction plan was designed by him himself. Because it was not far away from the date when the queen would return to the province, in order to come up with the plan as soon as possible, he stayed up for several nights in a row, just to build this place before the queen came to the province..."
Sister Feng is deliberately claiming credit. In fact, as long as there are money and people, and the site is ready, it is really simple to build such a project, and it will be completed in just more than ten days.
But when Yuan Chun heard this, he felt more and more regretful, because he glanced at Sister Feng and sighed: "Brother Lian is a knowledgeable and talented man. You can marry him, which shows that you are also blessed."
When Sister Feng heard this, she suddenly remembered that she had made a fool of herself in the palace. Yuan Chun was also fully aware of it. She felt weak in her heart and shrank her neck and retreated.
Speaking of which, Sister Feng is Mrs. Wang's niece, and she and Yuanchun are direct cousins.
He is only two or three years younger than Yuanchun, so he was naturally familiar with her when he was a child.
It's just that time has changed, Yuanchun is now a noble concubine, and Sister Feng respects authority the most, so she can't help being a little reserved in front of her.
However, Yuanchun had no intention of controlling Sister Feng, and just sighed from the bottom of his heart.
Seeing her like this, it was hard to say anything. He just said: "Brother Lian's feelings for me are appreciated by me. Please turn around and thank her properly for me. Okay, please step back."
After saying that, Yuanchun came to the edge of the pool under the guidance of Baoqin, spread out his slender arms, and four maids came forward to undress Yuanchun.
The gorgeous robes are taken off from the noble and beautiful body one by one. This scene is a scene in the world.
Sister Feng has never been an honest person. Before she retreated into the outer room, she couldn't help but look back. But when she saw this, her heart skipped a beat.
I said in my heart that it was lucky that the heartless person couldn't see this scene, otherwise...
Bah, bah, bah, what are you thinking about? You are indeed getting more and more useless. Why do you think of him for all the good things?
Smiling secretly, Sister Feng sighed again. I wonder when she would be able to behave like Yuanchun, showing the ultimate grace and luxury?
Shaking her head, Sister Feng is still self-aware. Let alone Yuanchun's status, she will never be able to achieve it in her life. Let's just say that she herself is not suitable for taking the elegant route.
If you really want to force imitation, in unscrupulous terms, the general idea is: imitate others?
Bah, even if I am not as good as her, I am not "Dong Shi". In terms of appearance and figure, I should not be inferior to her... right?
After thinking forcibly, Sister Feng retreated into the outer hall and waited quietly.
(End of chapter)
