The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

The closer the wedding came, the busier Zheng, the mistress of the Hou Mansion, became. Especially on the eve of the wedding, she became more and more like a general dispatching troops and generals, commanding the servants of the entire Hou Mansion in a hurry.

Originally, as she got older, she had gradually transferred the responsibility of the family's caretaker to the Shu family. However, this time for her youngest daughter's wedding, she refused to share the work with others, for fear that there would be some mistakes in the details.

Since the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Qing Dynasty, the noble families in Kyoto have had the custom of hosting a large banquet on the day before the wedding. The main guests are mostly close relatives and friends.

The style of the banquet is also different from the formal banquet with relatives and friends. Instead, it has the leisure and comfort of an early spring outing and drinking wine in a meandering stream.

Therefore, early in the morning, before the Yongxing Marquis Mansion opened its doors to welcome guests, the huge garden and stage were ready.

In the garden, there is a scene at every step, whether it is a rockery, a pond, a lake, a bridge, a pavilion, a platform full of fruits and drinks, or a pattern table with exquisite pastries and desserts. Various aromas lingering with the fragrance of flowers are integrated into the large and newly decorated garden in a lively and appropriate manner, cleverly giving guests the feeling of walking among flowers and filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Behind the garden is the lakeside stage surrounded by the Marquis Mansion on three sides. In the past two months, the Zheng family invited a singing and juggling troupe, a folk art singing and dancing troupe, a storyteller and juggling troupe, a Qing music, silk and bamboo troupe, a ventriloquist and comedy troupe, and a Western music and music troupe. , let them prepare for taking turns. Once the stage opens, it will last for more than ten hours, and they must not be left alone.

Of course, the back garden and the stage for officially entertaining guests have been fully prepared, and other areas of the Hou Mansion must also strive for excellence. The stream flowing through the covered bridge must be clear to the bottom, and the small fish inside must be colorful; the cranes on both sides of the winding path must be The sika deer and sika deer should have a pleasant temperament, and the grassland full of wild flowers should not be evenly colored... In short, the Yongxing Marquis Mansion decorated by Zheng should be festive and joyful everywhere, and the ground should be clear and joyful.

If her reward hadn't been enough, the servants in the palace would have been able to lie down for three to five years as long as they worked hard for three months. I'm afraid everyone would be tired and crying.

However, although the process was hard, the achievements made by everyone's concerted efforts made the whole family very satisfied.

Mrs. Zheng couldn't help but feel proud when she looked at the scene of lanterns and colorful decorations and joy everywhere.

Of course, the main event comes after opening the door to welcome guests.

After all, the Sheng family has been thriving in Kyoto for hundreds of years, and there are countless in-laws and old friends. Even if they just invite close relatives and friends, the Yongxing Marquis Mansion cannot be moved away. Therefore, Sheng Xiangxun simply gave Xiaohe, Queen Mother Wen and his father two gardens to his youngest daughter. Requisitioned the past.

Fortunately, these two gardens are not far from the Yongxing Hou Mansion. They can be reached through the side door of the back garden of the Hou Mansion and through an alleyway.

Mrs. Zheng had already prepared a sedan float at the side entrance. After everyone had enough fun at the Yongxing Marquis Mansion, they took sedans and cars to the garden to have a banquet. After the banquet was over, the closer relatives were left to come back to listen to the opera and play.

In short, the two days of the wedding must be lively and joyful.

But having said that, everything was busy on the eve of the wedding. Although Zheng didn't have to do it herself, she still had to take charge of the overall situation, so the energy she could devote to her younger daughter was limited.

Fortunately, the eldest daughter was afraid that she would be too busy, so she specially selected a few capable nuns from the palace to help. One of them was a female official who specialized in teaching the princes and princesses how to behave.

She originally thought that having this female official take over her job would save her from the embarrassment of facing the professor directly, but she didn't expect that the female official would go to look for Sister Yuan in the morning, but she would come out to ask for her resignation before noon.

"Madam, Minister Sheng is truly a strange person. Please forgive me for my incompetence and inability to teach her."

As soon as the female official opened her mouth, Mrs. Zheng knew that Sister Yuan was going to do something again.

After asking around carefully, it turned out that the little enemy really took his lack of tune to the extreme.

First, he asked for self-study to no avail, and then the topic turned to the transformation of explanation props and the standardization of explanation procedures and content.

"I taught her how to read the pictures step by step, and she said she was sorry. But when I took out the props, she felt they were not vivid enough. She also said that the props should be turned into puppets, so that the joints can move, or a spring can be used to store power..." Rao is The female officer has long been accustomed to Dun Lun affairs, and she can't help but blush when she talks at this moment.

Zheng's teeth clenched loudly.

But the female officer had something else to say: "After that, Minister Sheng played very well on his own, just like playing house. I wanted to remind him, but she said that such things should be used as enlightenment to educate schoolchildren. You also asked me to write a book as a lesson plan in the future...You said this, this...I really don't know how to respond." Zheng's fists clenched.

The female official finally added: "Shilang Sheng also asked who the artist of the painting was. He said that the style of painting is very delicate and more realistic. He is a talented person. If he can establish a sect to preach, he said that it would only benefit the Yamen in handling cases, and it would be beneficial to all aspects... "

Mrs. Zheng laughed so hard that her eyes widened with anger: "Female sir, please don't argue with that person. Wait until I get back and teach you a lesson."

"I don't dare to teach Minister Sheng a lesson." The female officer waved her hands quickly.

Mrs. Zheng tried her best to put on a friendly smile, turned around and motioned to her confidant to hand over the silver reward she had prepared earlier.

The female official refused to accept it at first, but after hearing Mrs. Zheng's words, "Please ask the female gentleman to help that unlucky girl, don't let outsiders laugh at her." She immediately changed her attitude and accepted it humbly.

Mrs. Zheng sent the female official away with a smile, turned around, and went to look for her little girl angrily.

……

"Haha, mother, do you think I'm beautiful?!"

As soon as Ms. Zheng opened the curtain and went in, her little daughter threw herself into her arms. The words of blame she had been brewing for the entire journey had not yet been uttered. All she could see was her little daughter's enlarged pretty face.

Those round, dark, and spiritual eyes reflected her face; their eyes showed joy and intimacy, and they still looked childish, as if they hadn't grown up yet.

Immediately, Mrs. Zheng's anger dissipated, especially when she thought that this child who had been coquettishly rolling around in her arms since childhood was about to walk out of the Yongxing Marquis Mansion, marry the young man and have children, and would no longer look like the carefree child he was when he was a child. Zheng could no longer control the reluctance she had endured for a long time, and her eyes were full of tears that were about to roll down.

"Mother, look at my face!" Sheng Yuan didn't notice the change in her mother's mood. She held her big face close to her and showed off happily, "Even the nuns in the palace who are responsible for twisting faces can't even start! My face is naturally beautiful. I don’t even need to apply too much rouge or powder. I just need to apply a light swipe on my eyebrows and a little bit of lipstick to make it look as good as ordinary people’s!

Hey, guess what? After listening to her words, I looked left and right in the mirror, and then I realized that I looked so good! Why did you think I was so unaware of myself before? ! "

Sheng Yuan shook her head intoxicated, and sighed repeatedly: "I thought, the nuns in the palace flatter me just because of my sister, so my own aesthetics should not be wrong! But, since I was a child, no one has praised me. Does it look good? In the past, I didn’t care about it when I was studying. I did all the official work, but I have never seen anyone compliment me like this! Could it be that... my official power is too strong and my ability is too strong, so that everyone ignores me Appearance?"

"..." Before the tears in Zheng's eyes fell, she was frightened away by her little daughter's narcissistic words.

Suddenly, Mrs. Zheng felt that her mood had stabilized, the kind of stability that meant she was neither anxious nor angry nor sad nor happy nor annoyed nor agitated.

If I had to use words to describe it... then it would probably be "helpless"!

Sister Yuan has never thought that the reason why people often ignore her appearance is because she is too powerful in combat?

"...But no matter what, it's always a good thing not to spend time putting on makeup. I won't have to get up too early tomorrow." Sheng Yuan admired herself for a moment and then ignored these questions and continued to hug her happily. My mother’s arms were twitching. “The polite grandma said that you can stay at home for two and three months when you return home in three days, but you can’t always come back after that.

I told her it was wrong, how could the previous rules be applied to the present? Nowadays, girls can take the imperial examinations, enter and exit the court, and do official work. How can we continue to use old rules and customs to restrain people? Today is different from the past, and we can't make a joke of "using the sword of the previous dynasty to kill the officials of this dynasty". "

Zheng: "..."

Well, she had just forgotten what her younger daughter had said before about bringing Brother Yu back often for food and accommodation.

It was obviously a happy thing, but... why did she feel that she had made a mistake by not giving up just now? ! (End of chapter)