Furong Garden is a large garden at the back of the palace. It is full of flowers, grass and bamboos, with rugged and exquisite rocks. The pavilions, corridors and pavilions are well-proportioned, showing wealth and elegance.
The name is Hibiscus, so naturally there is a stream pond full of lotus flowers. However, it is not yet the season, so the pond surface is empty. From time to time, some fish will make blue waves when they are playing, which is also interesting.
Several winding corridors cross the surface of the pool and connect to a water pavilion in the pool. There are a group of flower-like girls sitting or standing in it, but the atmosphere seems a bit dull.
It was said to be a poetry meeting on the surface. At first, they were still interested. After each of them recited a few short poems, everyone became less interested and just chatted to pass the time. Most of them glanced at the garden gate from time to time. direction, as if expecting something.
Zhao Han hugged Mao'er and huddled behind the table, eyes flashing as she kept observing these beautiful sisters who were several years older than herself.
But there was a question mark in my heart, didn't I want to talk about poetry and lyrics? Why don't you continue? It's not fun at all. It's better to watch crickets fighting.
Zhao Hui sat side by side with her, leisurely frying watermelon seeds with salt. She found the strange atmosphere very interesting.
Qian Duo didn't notice this. He was pulling Hu Zhen and Yu Yan chatting non-stop, as if he wanted to vent all the depression that had been accumulated in his heart for a while.
Women in the Song Dynasty were much less constrained than those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and their overall social status was still relatively high, especially the young ladies from official and powerful families. Their living circles were not narrow, and they did not just hide in boudoir. Among them, they also play polo, Cuju, visit temple fairs, go sightseeing during spring outings, and go to friends' homes for garden and banquets. The entertainment activities are also very rich and colorful.
Unfortunately, after Qian Duo was 'reduced' to being a maid, she no longer enjoyed these pleasures, so she was frustrated and took advantage of Zhao Mengqi's recent improvement in his attitude towards her, so she took it upon herself to send invitations to her best friends. As for the poetry party Well, it’s just a name.
Originally, she was worried whether these close friends would come. After all, even though Zhao Mengqi's reputation has improved recently, it is still notorious, especially for lewdness and lust. There are many young ladies living here.
She didn't expect that all the sisters came as promised, which made her overjoyed. However, she was not very interested in quiet entertainment such as poetry, calligraphy and painting, and she didn't mind that everyone stopped talking about it.
"I heard that Sai Guansuo and Third Sister Hei had a fight a few days ago. Who won?"
"Sister Hei." Hu Zhen answered a little absent-mindedly.
Qian Duo was carefree and didn't feel anything unusual. He sighed with regret, "Hey! It's a pity that I can't witness this peak battle..."
Saikansuo and Kurosanjie were female sumo wrestlers, and they were known as female sumo wrestlers at the time. The women's sumo they performed was even more popular than the men's sumo. After all, sumo wrestlers wore less clothes, and when they competed, they were more It fully reveals the moving figure.
On the other side, Wanwan watched with cold eyes, dumbfounded by Qian Duo's behavior of attracting a wolf into the house without knowing it.
These little ladies didn't come here to relieve her boredom because they were deeply in love with Sister Qian Duo. They were all drunkards who didn't care about drinking.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel stunned. Why did I agree to come?
"Sister Wanwan." Xie Yunqiao whispered to Wanwan's ear, "It seems that Duo Niang is still perfect. People always say that King Yan indulges in wine and sex. This is obviously a slander. I said, who can write such poetry? How can a person be dissolute?"
Xie Yunqiao does not have any special powers, but there are always some subtle differences between girls and young women, and it is not difficult for people with sensitive minds to distinguish them.
Wanwan looked at Xie Yunqiao in surprise, not because she was surprised that she could see that Qian Duo was perfect, but because her tone was clearly directed towards King Yan.
"Do you like the poems written by King Yan very much?"
Xie Yunqiao's eyes seemed to have stars popping up, "Yes, yes, it's a pity that apart from the "Linjiang Immortal" and a few pairs of couplets, I haven't heard any other masterpieces by King Yan. I wonder if I can see him today and ask him Compose a few more songs..."
Wanwan couldn't help but laugh in her heart. It turned out that this young lady from the Xie family was different from the others. She came here for the poems, not for King Yan himself.
Then what are you aiming at?
Is that the phrase 'if life is only like the first time we met'?
It shouldn't be, maybe, it's just to say goodbye. Once you go, there should be no time to see each other again.
Over there, Qian Duo was still talking freely, "I wasn't able to watch the Cuju during the Cold Food Festival earlier. I don't know if the Qianyuan Festival in a few days can make up for this regret. Zhenniang, Huanniang, Yanniang, how about we have the same performance as in previous years?" Same thing, how about forming a club to compete for bids?”
Liu Huan hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, we have reached the age of leaving the court. If we can still be willful, it must not be allowed at home. Besides, we can't compete with men again like last year."
Cuju is somewhat similar to football in later generations. It can be said to be the "national sport" in the Song Dynasty. Since the time of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, it has been a national sport loved by the emperor, officials and the people.
Li Yanbang and Gao Qiu even won the favor of the Tao Lord and Emperor with their superb playing skills. One became the prime minister and the other became the Taiwei.
Cuju has a confrontational competition style, which is a performance style style of play. Generally, women tend to favor styles, but Qian Duo, an alternative, likes to win.
But as I get older, I'm afraid I won't have this opportunity again in the future.
After Qian Duo was rejected by Liu Huan, he turned his hopeful gaze to the other people, but all he could see were shaking their heads.
Seeing the disappointed and sad look on her face, Yu Yan couldn't bear it, "Why don't we just play in the garden for a while, and it will satisfy Duo Niang's craving."
Hu Zhen and Liu Huan subconsciously glanced in the direction of the garden gate, then looked at their clothes, "It's not convenient for us to do this."
"It's good to play Cuju. I happen to have a lot of new Cuju clothes there. We are all of similar stature, so we can wear whatever suits us best."
At this time, Zhao Fei became excited. When she was in the palace, she often took the maids to play Cuju together. However, the status difference was too big, and the maids did not spend so much time on it, so she was always unhappy. Now that she had the opportunity, Of course you won’t miss it.
So under the hustle and bustle of Zhao Feng and Qian Duo, in the end even the eight ladies, including Zhao Fang, changed their hairstyles and changed into Cuju uniforms one by one.
Wearing a tighter lining underneath and a spacious light shirt on the outside, the shoulders, back, waist and arms are tied with brocade belts. Under the thin show skirt are trousers for easy movement, and there are circles around the ankles. The embroidered ribbons on their heads were all changed into upturned buns, showing their heroic appearance and high spirits.
Zhao Han is the youngest and has a slim body. The Cuju suit looks a little too big for her, but with the brocade belt tied up, it's not a big problem.
Judging from the smile on her face, she is also very yearning for this sport.
There were exactly eight young ladies, so they were divided into two teams and started competing.
The court does not need to be very big, just a piece of grass with a radius of two feet is enough. Unlike later generations, the goal is not set at both ends, and there is only one goal. It is in the center of the field. Two bamboo poles with a height of two feet are inserted in the middle. A two-foot-square hole is the goal.
Chan Duo stood under the goal, threw the ball made of twelve fragrant leathers, and then started fighting for the ball.
Cuju does not pay much attention to strength, but pays attention to dexterity and ball control skills. It is necessary to ensure that the ball is kicked high and into the goal without it falling to the ground.
For a time, the eight young ladies were having a great time, with constant cheers and a very lively atmosphere.
But after two quarters of an hour, Zhao Han became frustrated. Although she was very enthusiastic, she had never played before and didn't know any skills at all. She couldn't grab the ball even if she wanted to.
Even though Zhao Feng and Wanwan took care of her and deliberately passed the ball to her, she couldn't control it at all and let it fall to the ground as soon as it touched the ball. After more times, her own team's performance fell behind a lot, and she became very complacent. Take responsibility.
Wanwan once again gently picked up the ball and sent it to Zhao Han, but this time she didn't want to try to control the ball anymore. Instead, she waved her hands, "I can't do it, I can't do it..."
