"What military and national affairs are you talking about?"
If it weren't for Huang Zhiting's presence, Gao Pingshi could even guess how Liu Xin would answer. She would probably roll her eyes at him and say disdainfully: "You are the only one who can talk about military and national affairs, but I can't?"
But since Huang Zhiting was here, Liu Xin obviously wouldn't say that. She didn't even intend to speak at all, but just glanced at Gao Pragmatically from the corner of Huang Zhiting's eyes.
This proud look made Gao Pragmatic bewildered for a moment: What's so proud about this? Oh, yes, she must mean that Zhiting did not wait for me to come back when she returned to Beijing, but went to see her first.
However, Zhiting was not born into a family of scholar-officials. Her family was a chieftain who had been in the clan for six hundred years, and her primary way of looking at problems was to solve them.
Therefore, if she originally wanted to see Liu Xin for something, and I went to "work" again, she would definitely go to Liu Xin to talk about the matter first, so as not to waste time, and she would never insist on the fact that she is not used to it at all. Some etiquette, put aside other things first, wait for me to come back, and talk about the rest after paying homage to the master.
Sure enough, Huang Zhiting replied: "I heard that I am busy at the end of the year and usually don't come back home at noon. I felt that it was not interesting to be idle, so I went to discuss the recent situation with Miss Liu." After a pause, He added: "In addition, I also asked about the situation on the master's side."
Gao Pingshi held Gao Yuan and shook him gently, while smiling and saying: "This is generally an expected situation, you don't have to worry."
Huang Zhiting asked with a half-smile: "Oh? The master has a side room, and he is even a Jurchen... Is this something that was expected?"
"Well, this is an accident." Although Gao Zhezhe had a clear conscience about Meng Guzhe, he still felt a little embarrassed when he was suddenly asked about it by Huang Zhiting - in fact, his embarrassment was a bit special, purely because he had a modern The human soul is at work. If he was really a native of the Ming Dynasty, and had his current status, prestige, achievements and strength, he would definitely not even frown and would be completely calm as usual.
"It doesn't matter whether she is unexpected or not. As long as she can abide by the family law, serve the master well, and contribute to the Gao family, I will be very happy."
With his pragmatic ability to observe words and emotions, he actually felt that Huang Zhiting's eyes were calm when she said this, without any intention of deliberately greeting her. She couldn't help but feel a little puzzled and asked: "You don't mind?"
"Why should you mind?" Huang Zhiting said: "Originally, I said that it is not a problem if I am alone in Beijing and there is no one around to take care of me. Now that she has entered the Gao family, it is her turn to do these things when I am not around. .”
Asiba? Nani?
Gao Pangshi still looked puzzled and said: "I saw hundreds of maids in Xinzhai and Rixinlou, why are there no one to take care of them? What's more, when I came to Beijing with my third uncle in the early years, there were only two maids and one maid around me. A well-known book boy and a handlebar guy, that’s a pretty good life.”
"This is one thing and that is another, this and that." Huang Zhiting shook her head and said: "Although there are many maids, they are different from wives and concubines. What's more, there are always things that the master can talk about with his wives and concubines, but he cannot mention them with his maids."
After a pause, before Gao Jingshi could speak, she added: "Of course, if the master plans to select a few smart and well-behaved maids as his maids, I think that would be good too."
Gao pragmatic shook his head: "Forget it." Then he said: "Let's not talk about whether these are available or not. I can only find time to come back in a little more than an hour. Have you had lunch?"
"No, but Uncle Mo said that he is ready, so let's go eat now."
After Huang Zhiting finished speaking, she saw Gao Pragmatic nodded, then asked someone to take Gao Yuan away from him, and then invited Liu Xin: "Miss Liu is here too, we haven't finished what we just said."
Liu Xinxin said that you two are better off after a long separation than a newlywed, so why should I join in the fun? He immediately declined. But Huang Zhiting refused and insisted on inviting her to go with him.
Seeing that the two of them were pushing and pulling each other, Gao Pingshi said helplessly: "It's just a meal together. What a big deal. Miss Liu doesn't want to go out either - the leader is having a meal, and you, the secretary-general, aren't even here?"
After hearing this, Liu Xin couldn't help but chuckle, and then said helplessly: "My boss's words are a bit harsh, as if I will lose this job if I don't go today."
Huang Zhiting also laughed when she heard this, and pulled her to the restaurant affectionately. She didn't know how she knew about the layout of Rixin Building just after she came back.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Gao Mo was directing the arrangement of the dishes, but his status was no longer the same, and his main responsibilities were not in these matters. He was actually just standing at the door of the restaurant waiting, and the person who was actually setting the tables was the steward.
As soon as he saw the three people coming, Gao Mo took the initiative to see them, and then reported to Huang Zhiting: "Madam, if Madam has heard the news about Madam's return to Beijing, she is on her way to see them."
Huang Zhiting was silent for a moment and asked, "Did she only find out today?"
When Gao pragmatic heard this, he knew something was wrong with the limelight, and took the initiative to explain: "I asked her to study in seclusion at Jianxinzhai. Except for the news from her natal Ye He, which can be sent directly to her, other news has to wait for me. Let me know here."
Huang Zhiting would definitely not say that Gao was pragmatic, so she nodded to show her understanding, but then asked Gao Mo: "Uncle Mo, I arrived in Tianjin yesterday, and the capital should have received the news by evening at the latest, right?"
Gao Mo was such an alert person. Although he knew that the answer he gave now might get him involved accidentally, he thought that the master would not want to see Meng Guzhezhe being caught by the wife for no reason, so he took the initiative to take the responsibility and said : "Yes, madam. However, it is somewhat inconvenient for the capital to go out of the city at night, so this message was only sent to Jian Xinzhai today."
Huang Zhiting said calmly: "One morning, from Jian Xinzhai to Rixinlou should be enough."
"What the madam said is absolutely true, but the news she sent to Xinzhai at first was that the madam had arrived at Tianjin Port. The old slave thought that because the young master was also coming with him, maybe the madam would rest in Tianjin for a day or two, so the news contained He did not say when his wife would arrive in Beijing.
Later, the lady and her party set off from Tianjin. When the old slave heard the news, he immediately sent a letter to Jian Xinzhai. When the lady heard about it, he hurried over. If there is any delay due to this, it is really the old slave’s fault, please punish me madam. "
After hearing this, Huang Zhiting nodded and said, "If that's the case, then it's okay, and there's no need for any punishment." Then she turned to Gao Pingshi and said, "I've wasted your time, please take a seat... Miss Liu is also invited. "
Gao Pangshi was wondering what Huang Zhiting's actions were based on. After hearing this, he didn't think much about it. He walked into the restaurant and sat down politely at the east seat of the second seat. Huang Zhiting sat in the west seat opposite him, while Liu Xin sat in the guest seat slightly farther away.
Upon seeing this, Huang Zhiting smiled slightly and said, "Miss Liu, sitting so far away is not convenient for talking. You might as well come and sit next to me."
In fact, Gao Pragmatic often eats with Liu Xin together, and there are almost no rules. Liu Xin always sits casually. But today is different from the past. It is obviously very particular about where to sit, so Liu Xin smiled and declined again.
While talking, voices came from outside, and then the steward of the inner palace came to report that Madam Ru had arrived and was waiting for her to be received.
Gao Pinggong said sincerely: Weird, when did my family have so many rules? The last time the rules were so strict was when I got married to Zhiting, and it was because both my parents cared about rules at that time, so the family felt like they were in shackles. Unexpectedly, it happened again today.
Could it be that Zhiting wanted Meng Gege to know the rules on purpose?
Gao Pingshi took a glance, and sure enough he saw a woman at the door. Judging from the color of her clothes, she was definitely not a maid in the house. It seemed that she was Meng Guzhezhe, who was waiting outside the door.
Gao pragmatic thought for a moment but didn't say anything. He wanted to see what Huang Zhiting planned to do.
At this time, Huang Zhiting just said: "There is no need to meet her specially, let her come in."
Huh?
Gao Pragmatic originally thought that Huang Zhiting might deliberately show off Meng Guzhezhe at this opportunity, but unexpectedly he didn't.
As soon as her instructions were passed on, a girl wearing a Ming-style coat and skirt walked in from the door. Her upper body is wearing a red and white Qiu Yi collared narrow-sleeved coat, and her lower body is a typical Ming-style plain pink plum blossom horse face skirt, which looks very girlish. The only thing that ruined this girlish look was her peony three-bun hairstyle.
This is a type of high bun. It was first popular in Suzhou and then gradually spread to the north. There is a poem by You Dong: "I heard that one foot high in the south of the Yangtze River, the six palaces compete for peony heads." Some people say that they are so heavy that they can hardly lift their heads. They describe their hair style as tall, which is actually about seven inches, with fluffy temples and smooth buns. Apply double locks of hair after the bun.
This kind of hairstyle is usually padded with a wig. Most of the people who use this hair accessory are either from a prominent family or have a wealthy family. It's hard to say whether Meng Guzhezhe's family is considered "prominent" or not, it depends on who he compares with, but since he has become a highly pragmatic concubine, he must be well-off enough.
However, her peony bun is not particularly high. It looks like she doesn't use a wig and relies entirely on her own hair. Although this hair accessory does not have strict requirements for marriage, in fact it is mostly used by married women. Therefore, Meng Guzhezhe wears such a hair accessory to make her look more mature and weaken her girlish look.
Although I don’t know why, women often pay attention to each other’s hair volume. Although Huang Zhiting had a lot of hair, Gao Pragmatic was still worried that she would criticize Meng Guzhezhe's hair style. But at this moment, he knew that he should say less, so he just glanced at her and said nothing.
However, Huang Zhiting seemed to turn a blind eye to these, and allowed Meng Guzhe to come forward to pay homage and perform a completely standard Wanfu ceremony - which is commonly known as "blessing and one blessing". This is one of the common etiquettes for Han women in ancient times. In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian established herself as emperor, changed the name of her country to Zhou, and formulated etiquette. The woman's worship posture was changed to upright, with both hands on the chest, slightly bowed head, slightly bent hands, and slightly bent knees. , it was called "women's worship" at that time.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, women often said "Wanfu" when performing this kind of worship, so it was later called "Wanfu Li". At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, because many etiquettes in the Yuan Dynasty were a bit absurd and rigid, Zhu Yuanzhang traced the etiquette of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and the Wanfu etiquette was "standardized" again.
Basically, it is similar to the movements in later movies and TV dramas, but the details are more rigorous, such as how deeply to bend the knees, the specific position to place the hands, etc. There are clear requirements. The people may not be too harsh, but the more wealthy people are, the more careless they are.
Meng Guzhezhe said while performing the ten thousand blessings ceremony: "I have met the master and the madam. I heard that the madam returned to Beijing, and I came here to see you. Due to the long journey, there was a delay. Please forgive me, madam."
"You have a good intention. Since it is a matter of time, it is not your fault, so there is no need to blame yourself." Huang Zhiting nodded, looked at her slender waist, frowned slightly, and asked: "You have been in my Gao family for nearly half a year, but you can Have you ever served the master?"
This question was a bit abrupt, and even Gao Pragmatic was a little confused at first, wondering why Zhiting asked about this as soon as she opened her mouth? Moreover, there were butlers and maids around at this time.
Meng Guzhezhe had never consummated her marriage with Gao Pragmatic, so she was very embarrassed after hearing this, but her embarrassment was completely different from Gao Pragmatic's. She was embarrassed not because of the word "consummation", but because she had not gone through this process.
She lowered her head and whispered: "The master asked me to study first, and we will talk about these things later..."
Gao Pingshi felt more and more embarrassed, especially when Meng Guzhezhe said these words in a very aggrieved tone. It sounded as if he thought Meng Guzhezhe had read too little and was not worthy of consummating the marriage with him. It was simply weird and inexplicable.
Sure enough, Huang Zhiting's tone became a little confused, and she asked pragmatically: "Master, is that so? What does studying have to do with this matter?"
That definitely doesn't matter. If you don't study, wouldn't you be able to consummate a marriage?
Gao Pragmatic was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say. In the end, he had to cough lightly and said, "It's a long story..."
"It's a very important matter. Even if it's a long story, please explain the reason." Huang Zhiting didn't look embarrassed, but very serious. It seemed like she really thought the stakes were high.
Gao Jingshi knew why she thought it was "a matter of great importance". It was simply that as the principal wife, she had always felt that it was her very important responsibility to let Gao Jingshi "spread the branches and spread the leaves", no matter what the branches and leaves were. The responsibility for any child that is not her own is hers.
Especially when she learned that Gao Gong had no son in the past and his wife had been criticized by the Gao family members, she took this matter very seriously.
After Gao Gong's death, his wife returned to Xinzheng and has been living in seclusion. Except for occasionally being picked up by Gao Pragmatic's mother to live in Long Wenya Garden, at other times it was as if this person did not exist. She could not tell that he was a " Wen Zhenggong's legitimate wife.
Women of this era are definitely very different in their thinking from women of later generations. Gao Xiang can understand a little bit, but he cannot completely put himself in his shoes and empathize with her. Therefore, when Huang Zhiting asked, he had to find another reason.
The reason was finally found. He coughed lightly and put on a very serious look, saying, "Before you became pregnant with Tan'er, I asked Mr. Binhu about the woman's pregnancy. He once said : A woman can conceive easily after Tiangui, but this is not a good opportunity to conceive. She has to wait a few more years before her body is fully mature.
Therefore, conceiving at that time can not only ensure that the mother and baby are safer during delivery, but also ensure that the fetus is healthier and less prone to certain congenital diseases. Now Meng Gu is only fourteen (a man's imaginary age, a woman's real age). According to what her husband said, her body has not reached a good opportunity to conceive, so her husband asked her to study in peace first and discuss the matter in a few years. "
Li Shizhen's reputation was too great. Since Gao Pingshi said this was "what Mr. Binhu said," Huang Zhiting didn't dare to doubt it. She was just a little discouraged and worried, and said gloomily: "Then what will we do in the next few years?"
Gao Pingshi had an "I'm going to faint" look on his face, which made Liu Xin couldn't help but laugh and said: "I don't think it's a big deal, I just want Mrs. Lao to have another child."
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Thanks to book friends "Lao Xi of Altay", "Cao Mianzi" and "ASolaF" for their monthly support, thank you!
