Expensive marriage: The concubine is begging for peace again today

Chapter 117 Raising Birds (Part [-])
The next day, King Jin brought back three birds, a red-cheeked macaw, a yellow-and-green canary, and a sunflower-crested parrot with a white body and a yellow crown on its head.

The red-cheeked macaw was given to the concubine, the canary was given to Princess Kangren, and the cockatoo was given to Jiang Changning.

Asking Chang Youzhong to send the canary to Princess Kangren, Jin Wang took the red-cheeked macaw to Liuxuanyuan, "This parrot can learn tongues, mother and concubine can raise it to relieve boredom."

"Okay." The concubine nodded with a smile.

After a few gossips with the concubine, King Jin returned to Rujingyuan and entered the room with the birdcage.

"Ningning, this parrot can talk." King Jin fed some millet to the parrot, "Quickly say, the princess is the most beautiful."

The parrot turned its head away and ignored King Jin.

Jiang Changning chuckled, "This short-haired little thing is disobedient, let's make soup for it."

"No, no, no meat." The parrot said in a strange tone.

Jiang Changning was surprised, "You are so smart, you can understand the words, and you can answer them."

"Then don't make soup, let's raise it." King Jin smiled.

The parrot repeated: "Let's keep it, let's keep it."

With this parrot that can only talk, the maids have something to do, and they teach the parrot to talk every day.

This one teaches: "All blessings, my concubine."

That teacher: "Greetings to the princess."

When Jiang Changning was free, he took a collection of poems and read to it: "I don't feel dawn when I sleep in spring, and I hear birds singing everywhere. How much do you know about the sound of wind and rain at night, and the flowers falling?"

The parrot was confused by their teaching, "Chun Mian doesn't know it, and wants to win Zhou Lang's care. Greetings to the princess, and I hope you can pick more."

Jiang Changning laughed so hard, "It's all a mess."

Princess Kangren, who received the canary, specially came to Rujingyuan to thank Jiang Changning.

"As long as you like it." Jiang Changning didn't say no to thanking, she likes people who are grateful.

"Auntie, I don't know how to raise birds, I'm afraid it will die." Princess Kangren said anxiously.

"It's simple, just find a servant in the mansion who can raise birds." Jiang Changning smiled.

"Thank you, aunt." Princess Kang Ren smiled

Jiang Changning asked the maid to call the woman in charge of the maid, "Find three people who can raise birds from the mansion."

"Yes, Wangfei." The woman accepted the order.

There were a lot of servants in the mansion, and the old woman found a dozen of them at once, who claimed to be bird-raising maids.

Jiang Changning, who was bored, called the concubine who was also doing nothing, and Princess Kangren, who practiced the piano every day. "Let's test them and choose a suitable bird feeder."

Concubine Toffee found this very interesting, and she hit it off with Jiang Changning.

So in the Prince Jin's Mansion, three generations of female relatives, old, middle and young, held a special "recruitment meeting" to select three bird-feeding maidservants.

After Jin Wang learned of this, he jokingly asked Jiang Changning, "Do you need Xiao Wang to attend?"

"My lord, let's go to the court to deal with big things. I won't bother you with such small things." Jiang Changning refused.

Although it was just for fun and to pass the time, Jiang Changning carefully read the books and wrote a bunch of questions to prepare for the exam.

"What's so special about cages for keeping birds?"

After listening to the maids' answers, the concubine asked, "Which one of them is right?"

Jiang Changning ordered a few people, "What they said, add up, it's right, the birdcage should have no burrs, no paint, no varnish, just smooth it. Keep it clean so that the bird won't get sick easily .”

"Let me tell you, the old King Jin used to raise a few birds that were always sick. It's because the bird cages are not good." The concubine said.

Princess Kangren also asked the question, "What do the little chicks eat?"

The maidservants gave different answers, some asked to eat millet, some answered to eat broken rice, some answered to eat tofu, and some answered to eat chopped worms.

Princess Kangren asked a question, but didn't know the answer, "Auntie, which one of them is right?"

"The one who eats tofu comes out." Jiang Changning pointed out one person.

The little maid was thin and small, she looked about ten years old.

Jiang Changning frowned slightly, what is Qiao's up to, such a child is also accepted as an errand in the mansion?

"My concubine, the grandfather of this servant, used to work in the bird house in the palace, and later came to the palace with the old King Jin. Since I was a child, this servant has listened to my grandfather's teachings on raising birds, and even raised a few little birds." In order to show that he was not talking nonsense, he tried to explain.

She has been in the palace since her ancestors, and the little maid is a child of the family.

The age when a family has a child to work in the mansion can be very young, but to be able to work in the mansion at the age of six or seven, and receive monthly money, you have to ask for help and have to pay money.

In Qiao's more than 20 taels of silver, there is the "filial piety" of these servants.

"How old are you? What's your name?" Jiang Changning asked.

The servant girl replied: "As for the princess, my servant girl is nine years old this year, and my maidservant's name is Bai Xia."

Nine-year-olds are child laborers, but it doesn't matter here.

"Why feed the chicks tofu?" Jiang Changning asked.

"The chicks are too small, and they will get bloated if they eat other foods. The tofu is soft and nutritious, so it's easier to digest. The chicks won't lose weight after eating it."

"Apart from tofu, what else can birds eat?" Jiang Changning continued to ask.

"When the birds grow up, they can eat mung bean flour, grains and live worms. Every seven days, they are fed two egg yolks. The birds cannot eat egg whites."

Hearing what Bai Xia said, she knows how to raise birds.

Princess Kangren made a decision, "Auntie, let her be."

Bai Xia followed Princess Kangren to serve Canary.

After asking a few more questions, Toffee ordered the 13-year-old Erxi.

Jiang Changning asked for ten-year-old Juanzi, and the recruitment was successfully concluded.

Handing over the parrot to Jin Jinzi's care, Jiang Changning told Xiulan, "Juanzi is young, please take care of her."

Although Mrs. Qiao is gone, there are still three concubines, and people outside are also watching. What if this silk is someone else's eyeliner?
Xiulan understood Jiang Changning's implication, and said, "Your servant will make people look up to her."

"Let's also look into her family affairs." Jiang Changning continued.

"Yes."

The days passed day by day in this leisurely way of playing with birds.

In March of Yangchun, the weather is pleasant, and all the prefectures are busy holding wedding banquets, and gifts are sent out like a stream of water.

Because of his filial piety, there is no need for Jiang Changning to go out to socialize.

March 27th is the 45th birthday of the Empress Dowager, and the court will hold a Qianqiu Festival for her.

Half a month earlier, the yamen such as the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry began to be busy.

On this day, King Jin didn't send anyone back to say that he wasn't coming back for dinner, but Jiang Changning couldn't see through his eyes, and the person hadn't come back yet.

"Princess, why don't you drink a bowl of soup." Xiulan brought over a bowl of fish soup.

Jiang Changning took the bowl, "Ask someone to go to the yamen to see why the prince hasn't come back yet?"

"Yes." Xiulan approached Chunlai and asked him to send a servant to the yamen.

After Jiang Changning finished drinking the soup, he waited for another quarter of an hour. The sky had completely darkened before King Jin came back from outside.

　Note: The author has never raised birds, mainly because what I raise dies, including goldfish and cactus, which are the least likely to die.

　　The matter of raising birds is all Baidu. If there is something wrong, please point it out and I will change it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)