Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 9
  "Blessed and well." Jia Rong had already heard the sound and closed her eyes and fell asleep. Hearing the sound, he opened his eyes and saw Mei Xiang dressed up. His eyes lit up and he suddenly reached out and took Mei Xiang into his arms.

"Sir, stop making trouble, I have to wake up my wife later."

Mei Xiangjiao smiled and fell into the brocade tent. Jia Rong took a bite of the red lipstick on her lips, but instead of getting annoyed, she persuaded her gently.

"Okay." Jia Rong nodded, got out of the autumn-colored brocade quilt, put on her shoes, and walked to the middle hall to take a hot bath.

There was a lot of fuss last night, and the smell on my body was a bit heavy, and I had to meet someone today.

Need to freshen up and dress up again.

The water steam in the tub was steaming. Huamei and other six maids poured the hot water into the tub. Mei Xiang took soup balls of lavender and various spices and threw them into the hot water. After a while, it melted and filled the air with a fragrant fragrance. aroma. It's different from yesterday's bathing situation.

Then, Mei Xiang helped Jia Rong take a bath.

She took a glass bottle, poured out a little Tumi dew, and applied it carefully to Jia Rong's hair.

This is a palace tribute and extremely precious.

It is said that Xiyi is popular in the southeastern barbarian countries and is a rare item in the tribute list. Because the Jia family had an old relationship with General Yuehai, they spent a lot of money to buy a few bottles. Even a master like Jia Rong would only pour a little to wash his hair during grand festivals.

Wash your hair, then use soapberry bath beans to wash your body.

This is a bath bean made from pounding soapberry and rubbing wheat flour or bean flour. It has a sterilizing effect and was one of the high-end washing products for the upper class nobles in the Zhou Dynasty.

After washing up, Jia Rong walked out of the bathtub, and Mei Xiang took a soft cloth and carefully applied water drops on her body to ensure that the surface of her body was dry. Then he changed into a sweatshirt and small clothes, and then walked to the mirror to dress up.

Hair curling, eyebrow shaping, applying powder.

Mei Xiang has delicate hands and is gentle, and every procedure is extremely meticulous and serious, bringing great enjoyment to Jia Rong.

Yes, men in ancient times also wore powder and makeup.

Just like modern men occasionally use cosmetics, ancient men would also apply powder to cover up pimples, acne and freckles on their faces.

Of course, the "monsters" who are similar to later generations of cross-dressing men are another matter. Even if they have no flaws, they will dress up very coquettishly and show off their alternative and unique spiritual world.

Jia Rong is sixteen years old. Although she is handsome and elegant, she has some "flaws" and she used to wear powder.

But today, Mei Xiang was surprised when she saw that Jia Rong's skin was rosy and translucent, very plump and shiny. The few wind thorns on his forehead disappeared without a trace. After a few words of praise, he simply applied pearl powder on the angular lines, making Jia Rong's face more three-dimensional.

"Master, you look good today."

Mei Xiang smiled sweetly and praised Jia Rong's handsome appearance. Then she walked to the cage and took out several sets of clothes for Jia Rong to match.

Today he has to go to Dongping County Prince's Mansion for an appointment. Mei Xiang has equipped him with a riding outfit: a net scarf on his head, a lilac-colored narrow sleeve lining and a duck-blue hood, a gold and jade ribbon ring on his waist and a red gold thread. Eggplant bags and knives, chopsticks and forks are three things.

He has a straight figure, a handsome face, and a strong sense of heroism in his actions.

The color of the clothes is refreshing, like a floating melon and fruit ice basin, with a hint of coolness.

Make a lasting impression with just one glance.

"Whose brother is this? How handsome he is!" At this moment, Grandma Sun and Chuntao finished dressing up and walked into the back hall. When they saw Jia Rong's outfit, their eyes lit up and they said congratulations with joy on their faces.

“They all go well with the plum fragrance.”

Jia Rong smiled and stood in front of a glass full-length mirror, admiring Mei Xiang's craftsmanship.

"Uncle Yuan is more handsome than others. If you ask Brother Mao from the back street to wear it, won't you be crowned like a monkey? That's really ridiculous." Grandma Sun praised and made fun of Jia Mao from the back street.

Jia Mao is the fifth generation of the Jia family. He is the same generation as Jia Rong, but he is famous among the Jia clan for being ugly.

Jia Rong frowned.

No matter how good Jia Mao is, he is still a master named Jia, who is the same generation as him. Grandma Sun made fun of the children of the Jia clan because of her breasts, which made Jia Rong frown secretly, feeling that she was somewhat ignorant of etiquette.

What's more, Jia Mao came from a poor family and was lonely because of his ugly appearance. However, he was the "reading seed" who studied diligently in the free school. Jia Rong admires him very much and regards him as his "reserve talent". How can he be made fun of? He said displeasedly, "Mom, respect yourself. Brother Mao is good at reading and is the most talented person in the clan. How can you make fun of him?"

Seeing Jia Rong's displeasure, Grandma Sun slapped herself on the ear and said with a smile, "I'm right, the old woman lied."

Seeing this scene, Chuntao felt very relieved and couldn't help but snicker secretly. Mei Xiang reminded: "Master, it's time to wake up my wife."

In an instant, the subtle atmosphere in the room was resolved. Jia Rong said "Hmm", walked to Grandma Sun, took her warm soft jade hand, comforted her and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mom, I will come back from the Dongping County Prince's Mansion today." Then go and tell the master about Brother Heng."

Grandma Sun breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "That's great. Brother Heng will remember the kindness of the uncle all his life, so it's time to provide him with a longevity tablet."

Jia Rong smiled, walked slowly out of the yard, and went straight to Ning'an Hall along the road.

As usual, stop, report, and wait.

Jia Rong originally thought that with Jia Zhen's character, he would not be allowed in today. But maybe because of Tiankuang Festival, Jia Zhen actually agreed.

"My son, Jiarong, wishes you well. May I be in good health."

When Jia Rong met Jia Zhen, he knelt down half-kneeling as usual to greet Jia Zhen and congratulate her.

"Blessed and healthy."

Jia Zhen, who was sitting in the upper hall, accepted Jia Rong's congratulations and then kicked him out. It seems that he is worried that Jia Rong will talk about Sun Hengjin's duty in the fourth room.

This incident was like a thorn in Jia Zhen's heart, making him unable to sleep well all night.

If it weren't for today's Tian Kuang Festival, it would be unlucky not to accept the blessings from his children and grandchildren, and he wouldn't bother to see Jia Rong at all.

******
  After coming out of Ning'antang, Jia Rong went to wake up Youshi again.

"My son, Jiarong, wishes my wife well. She is in good health."

In You's house, Jia Rong was treated differently.

Youshi accepted his congratulations with a smile, sat down, and asked Yindie and Chaodou to serve him tea.

Then he carefully asked if the cook, cooking utensils, vegetables and fruits brought to Dongping County Prince's Mansion were all ready. Jia Rong replied one by one, and then stood up to leave.

Returning from Youshi's courtyard, Jia Rong asked Mei Xiang to serve rice.

There are nine breakfast dishes, including stir-fried mutton, stir-fried pork with yellow vegetables, two-cooked pan-fried fresh fish, steamed pork trotters and tripe, and pan-fried goose. Even though Jia Rong has a good appetite, she couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her eye, feeling that it was too greasy.

This is too hardcore! Is this breakfast? !
  No wonder the girls in the original novel always stuffed extra money into the kitchen to cook vegetarian dishes. Anyone who doesn't feel greasy after eating like this will get three highs.

At this time, Jia Rong also suddenly understood the "hunger therapy" often mentioned in the original work.

“Although the divided meals provided by the official have improved the master’s living standard, they are too greasy and do not meet the modern nutritional standards of meat and vegetable combinations.

"in addition--"

Jia Rong's eyes flashed, and she thought to herself: "This way of dividing dishes is too wasteful. I can feed eight girls including Mei Xiang, Chuntao, Huamei and so on with my own dishes. But they still have food every day. Dishes are divided into dishes. The kitchen will naturally use the public to enrich others, embezzle and deduct, and save a lot of money to put into their own pockets.

"For specific performance, just look at the 62nd chapter of the original work. The Qin Xian family took away the kitchen steward of Daguanyuan, and immediately arranged the gifts for the Lin Zhixiao family:
  "I quietly prepared a basket of charcoal, five hundred kilograms of firewood, and a load of japonica rice, and sent my nephew to the Lin family.

"I also prepared some gifts to send to the accounting office, and prepared some vegetables to treat some colleagues.

"I want to reform the Ningguo Mansion to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. This kitchen is a pilot project. Just by deleting or deleting the special dishes in the mansion, I can save a lot of money in food."

Jia Rong's thoughts were floating around, but she kept her hands on her hands. She ate a few bites of chicken, duck and fish, a bowl of hot red rice porridge, and a bowl of Zhanzi noodles (garlic noodles). Then I rinsed my mouth with a few cups of tea, put a piece of dried plum in my mouth to freshen my breath, and then got ready to go out.

As a result, as soon as he went out, he saw Jia Qiang walking in all blue.

"Big brother, I wish you good health!"

(End of this chapter)