The struggle of the reborn prince

After sweeping the house, the weather in the mansion is completely new, clean and dust-free everywhere, fresh and pleasing to the eye.Palace lanterns are hung high everywhere, horn lanterns are hung on the halls, wall lamps are hung on the walls, palace lanterns are hung indoors, and silk lanterns are hung on garden pavilions and verandahs.Indoor palace lanterns and all kinds of silk lanterns in the halls, and hall flowers are frequently set up. Although it is not yet New Year's Eve, the New Year is already full of vibes.

When it got dark, all the lanterns in the mansion were lit, Zhao Tun was also wearing a boa robe, a soft flipper hat on his head, and formal attire. Surrounded by everyone, he came down to the ancestral hall and entered the small courtyard in the east. Only men followed the yard, and women were absolutely forbidden to enter, even the servants who were neither male nor female—all were refused to enter.

The officiant must naturally be the head of the family. Although Zhao Tun is small, he is also the head of the family, and he will take on this 'big responsibility' without hesitation.Zhao Tun was a little nervous when he entered the house, he didn't understand the rules here!Zhao Tong also saw sacrifices to the stove during Chinese New Year in the countryside in his previous life. Usually, his grandma would take down the portraits of the Stove King and the Stove King’s wife that had been hanging in the stove for a year. I don't know what they look like, so grandma put some candied melons on the mouths of the two of you, and after a few words, the flames burned, and a new one will be pasted in a few days.Everyone watched the excitement, and then it was over after a big meal. There was no taboo or particularity at all, it was just fun.

This room is the place where the ancestors are worshiped and the cooking sacrifices are called the God's Kitchen. Of course, it can be regarded as a kitchen, and it is the highest-level kitchen in the mansion.Zhao Tang looked up and saw the 'Stove King Lord' hanging on the stove alone, there was no Stove King's grandma beside him, so he didn't have a wife at the moment, he was still a bachelor!An offering table has been set up in front of the stove, and tributes are placed in sequence, including longan, lychees, red dates, chestnuts, several snacks, as well as fodder, water, incense candles and paper horses.

As soon as the door was closed, only Zheng Fu, the chief steward, and Zheng Shou, the third steward, were left beside him. "My lord, please offer the incense!" Zheng Fu said as he handed over three sticks of incense.

Zhao Tang took the incense, lit it on the candle, bowed three times, and chanted the two words he had learned when he came, "Thank the Stove King for keeping Xiao Wang's house safe, and report to God after he dies, and say more good things... ·" After finishing speaking, he put the incense on the incense burner.

"My lord, wipe this on the stove door!" Zheng Shou whispered in his ear, his voice was like a mosquito, as if he was afraid that the Stove Lord would hear.

"Hmm!" Zhao Tang grabbed a handful of things that Zheng Shou handed over, and suddenly smelled a smell of alcohol. 'Tanggua', "Zheng Shou, what is this!" He asked curiously.

"My lord, this is the distiller's grains. The Stove King will report to the sky the next day for a year's work, so let's see you off and eat it in advance, and ask it to go to heaven to say something good. The wine lees are smeared on the stove door, and the name is 'Drunk Commander'. I will only say nice things!" Zheng Shou said in a low voice.

"Oh! Isn't this fooling the Japanese devils?" Zhao Tang understood, it was not fashionable to give the Stove Lord candy at this time, and what he ate was distiller's grains, but the intention was the same, they were all bribes.But if you want him to drink too much, at least you can get him some wine to drink, what's the point of getting him some wine lees?I don't know what the Stove King will think, maybe he is also a contented and easy-going fairy!

"My lord, what are you talking about?" Zheng Shou didn't understand, and asked with a basin in his hand.

"I didn't say anything, but I just felt that Lord Stove is squatting here by himself. It's very lonely. Let's find him a wife someday!" Zhao Tang said, grabbing the distiller's grains and rubbing it vigorously on the stove door twice. .

"Huh, ah?!" Zheng Shou hurriedly covered his mouth, so as not to shout out on this solemn occasion, the prince is too good at handling things, he wanted to be a matchmaker for the gods to marry a wife, so he took a peek at Zheng Shou Fu, also held back so hard that his face turned purple.

"Li... Libi, please ascend to heaven!" Zheng Fu yelled with restraint, and the people in the yard heard the shout and lit the firecrackers that had been prepared a long time ago, and the cannons were crackling for a while The sound sounded, and the two stewards took off the portrait of the Stove Lord, and Zhao Tang lit the portrait and the paper horse, and ended the ceremony in the faint green smoke.

When Zhao Tun walked out of the house, firecrackers blared throughout the mansion, soaring to the sky and shaking the ground. At this time, the residents around the mansion were also offering sacrifices to the stove, and the sound of firecrackers continued continuously. Oh my god, I don't know if there is any 'drunk driving' in the heavenly world. If they are put into the heavenly prison and sentenced to half a year in prison for this, it may delay the time in the lower realm.

The firecrackers were burned out, all the lights were extinguished, and the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the stove was declared over. The handymen packed up the offerings, and everyone in the mansion, men, women, young and old, shared a little bit of food for auspiciousness and good luck.After dinner, the people who had been busy all day also rested early, and there were bursts of bangs and shouts from the night guards in the mansion.

Zhao Tun returned to his yard, changed his ceremonial clothes, took a hot bath, and entered the bedroom, only to find a fire flickering under the bed, "It's on fire..." He jumped down, grabbed the The teapot on the table was about to be smashed under the bed. The house was made of wood, and it was dry and dry now. A fire was no joke.

"Second Lord, don't smash it, we lighted the lamp under the bed!" Hearing the shout, Osmanthus fragrans, who was on duty in the outer room, hurried in, saw the prince holding a teapot and wanted to smash it, so she hurriedly said.

"Why are you lighting the lamp under the bed?" Zhao Tang asked puzzledly, frowning.

"It's a custom in the capital to light the lamp under the bed tonight to 'shine waste', to drive away evil spirits!" Osmanthus took the teapot from Zhao Tong's hand and put it on the table and said.

"Oh, so that's how it is..." Zhao Tong nodded and said, turned his face and suddenly saw the sweet-scented osmanthus that made the bed for him, his nose suddenly became hot and his throat was dry, the sweet-scented osmanthus came in in a hurry, wearing only a small coat, it was inevitable that the spring was exposed, and let Zhao Tun, an old bachelor from his previous life, is a little sad...

·····

The New Year is approaching day by day, there used to be only a few sporadic small vendors selling in front of the Wangfu, but now it has formed a fixed market. , the effect is not great.Later, after discussing with several managers, they set aside an open space outside the gate of the mansion, and let them operate there independently. After a short time, they gathered some popularity. People from four townships and eight villages would come to trade and buy some of their own. Produced agricultural products to subsidize household use.

Today is the [-]th rescue of the twelfth lunar month, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and it is also the last market of this year. The mansion has already had a holiday yesterday, and those close to the family have been sent back for the New Year. A catty of pork and five catties of flour let them go home for the New Year.Those who do not have a ministry can 'freely move' today to go out and buy something.

"Second Master, don't go out. There are so many people of all kinds outside the door, it's inevitable that some small things will be mixed in. If there's anything wrong with you..." Zhao Tong felt very itchy in his heart when he heard the hawking outside the mansion door. I haven't spent money by myself since I traveled, and I wanted to go out to have a look, but when I walked to the gate, the big manager stopped me.

"I'll go out and have a look. What are you afraid of at the door of my house?" Zhao Tang twisted his neck and looked at the bustling crowd outside the house.

"Second Lord, you have to be on guard. Besides, all the nurses have gone out, so it's okay if no one is with you!" The chief steward was still persuading you, saying that you were almost killed in your own garden. , I can't let you out even if I die.

"Let the second master take a look with us, nothing will happen without us all protecting you!" Zhao Ren pleaded for him when he saw the prince's anxious look. The last batch of vegetables in the greenhouse had been sold out, and the rest were kept Let's eat by themselves during the Chinese New Year, they are also on holiday today, each paid some money from the cabinet, and wanted to go out to have fun.

"Nonsense, can you children protect the second master? There are so many people outside, it's good if you don't get washed away!" Zheng Fu said with staring eyes.

"Second Lord, then you don't want to go out. We'll buy you what you like!" Xin Zhao looked at the manager's fierce look, stuck out his tongue, and said to Zhao Tun, looking like a big sister coaxing little brother.

"Yes, Second Lord, what do you want, we'll buy it for you!" The servants all said one after another, the prince treated them well, like brothers, they all said sympathetically when they saw his pitiful appearance.

"Forget it, you guys have fun, don't get separated, everyone go back together!" Looking at Zheng Fu's 'resolute' appearance, Zhao Tang knew that going out to play was useless, reluctantly looked outside the mansion, and told the servant After a few words, he led the two little yellow gates back with his head drooping.

Entering the yard, under Fengxi's command, several small yellow gates were picking up the leaves that fell last night.Seeing them, Zhao Tang sighed, these little Huangmen were all not a few years older than him, but they looked sluggish, as if they were submissive, eating and waiting to die, without any youthful vigor at all.They all entered the palace at a young age and became royals from head to toe. Their bodies suffered irreversible damage. They did the hardest and most tiring work, but endured unbearable pain for ordinary people. In this courtyard where I live, I cannot step out of the house until the day I can't do it anymore.

"Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year, let everyone have a rest, let's play a game together today!" Zhao Tang shouted, and asked the little Huangmen to gather around, looked at it and said: "Fangxi, there are not many people, you go Get all the people from Winter Garden!"

"Yes!" Seeing that the prince is interested in coming today, Fang Xi hurriedly agreed to call someone in the winter garden. He was quite clever, knowing that the prince was young, and all the people he called were Xiao Huangmen, who were in their teens, and the older ones did not move. .

"Okay, everyone listen to the lord's orders, do what you are told to do!" Feng Xi ordered the little yellow men to stand together and stand together.

"Everyone, don't be restrained, we just played games together, relax a bit, and laugh!" Zhao Tuo directed everyone to sit in a circle, and he stood in the middle and said with a smile.

"Laugh, laugh, the lord made everyone laugh!" Looking at the bewildered looks of the little yellow men, Feng Xi urged, Zhao Tun looked at the little yellow men winking one by one, grinning and trying to fake a smile They look like they are smiling, but they seem to be crying. They have become numb in this repetitive life, and people can no longer laugh.