Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 46 Rare Treasures (2)
The queen mother walked slowly to the front of the full-length mirror, put on the pair of earrings, and observed them carefully, not forgetting to observe her own old face.She just stood in front of the full-length mirror for five or six minutes without speaking. This silence gave me a bad feeling. "No way!" With a sigh, the Empress Dowager finally opened her mouth, she said gloomyly, "I no longer have the face of my youth, and the vitality on my face has lost a lot, such bright ornaments are still not suitable for me. "After that there was another long silence.I am now starting to regret the suggestion I made, and I didn't expect the Queen Mother to suddenly think of my age. "Let's put it aside for now. When I am very happy in a few days, maybe the expression on my face will be better, and I will have to use them at that time." Fortunately, the Queen Mother said such words at the end, to some extent It can also be regarded as an excuse for me.

Time is not forgiving, and it is useless to be depressed. Fortunately, the queen mother was not immersed in depression all the time.

No matter what method one uses, one cannot return to one's childhood.Her Majesty put the pair of earrings back into the glass case, and took out a second glass case, which contained a pair of bracelets.This pair of bracelets was carved from high-quality white jade. Not only is the color the purest suet color, but even if it is exposed to the sun, there is absolutely no spot.Although the value of the pair of earrings is extremely high, after all, the jade used is a very small piece, and this pair of bracelets must use a rather large piece of jade. It must have cost Zhang Zhidong a lot to find such a piece of jade among the many Great effort.I dare not speculate on the value of that piece of pure jadeite and this piece of natural and flawless white jade, but it must be astonishingly large. If you add the ICBC spent on carving this thing, the amount is definitely beyond the reach of ordinary officials. started.The Empress Dowager picked up this pair of bracelets, rubbed them in her palm for a while, and then went to examine them under the sun, and she was naturally very satisfied with the result.She looked at it quietly for a while, and seemed to be interested in the color of the jade bracelet, but after a while, the expression on her face became serious, presumably because she was reminded of her sad age again.Finally, the Queen Mother slowly put the pair of jade bracelets into the glass case. "I can't use this kind of accessories..." The queen mother said this sentence three times in a row, her voice getting lower and lower each time, as if for confirmation.The Queen Mother is quite right, this is indeed not something people her age should use. "For me, maybe the most suitable things are things made of bamboo and stone-colored corals. Their colors are darker, which can subtly cover up my lost vitality. If I use such bright jade ornaments, I think I will All the flaws on my body will show up, which I cannot accept..." The queen mother muttered to herself for a long time.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager was in such a depressed mood, I wanted to say something comforting, but after thinking about it for a long time, I didn't know how to word it, so I had to give up.In any case, the Queen Mother was right after all.Now I have a little understanding of the Empress Dowager's mood when she dresses up in the morning. It takes her more than 20 minutes to choose accessories. During this process, she must have remembered many things in the past.When the Empress Dowager was young, Emperor Xianfeng loved her very much and wished to give her all the jewels in the world.The queen mother at that time was very beautiful, and those jewels must have complemented her age.The queen mother at that time was very concerned about jewelry, and even changed it two or three times a day when she was happy, but so what?Not only did everyone not think it was inappropriate, but they felt that only in that way could they bring out her beauty.

Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the queen mother's beauty and youth are no longer there, and the fresh look on her face is less and less, until one day, she suddenly found that the accessories she liked before can no longer be worn on her body up.I think this must be a big blow to the Queen Mother.It was for this reason that the Queen Mother was so fussy when she dressed in the morning, in a sense that she wanted to preserve the good times she had lost.Fortunately, the queen mother still has at least one or two parts of her youthful looks, especially when something happy happens, she suddenly looks 20 years younger.Whenever this happens, although the wrinkles on her face have not diminished, the charm of her youth can still be slightly revealed.

Maybe everyone has the same idea as me, so they didn't say anything.Seeing that we were indifferent to her exclamation, the Queen Mother gave us an example for fear that we might not understand the profound meaning of her words.The queen mother said: "I am indeed not suitable for such jewelry. Do you remember the situation when Su Wang Fujin came to the palace a few days ago?"

Su Wang Fujin is a very famous beauty, he often comes to the palace, the last time he came was three days ago.When she came here before, we all had a very good impression of her, but that time we felt an indescribable discomfort.The clothes and accessories on her body are all high-quality jewelry, and her appearance is similar to the previous few times. Why didn't we feel that way a few times ago, but now we have it?The queen mother must have noticed it at the time, but she was embarrassed to say it. Now that the old story is brought up again, she will explain it to us one by one.

"When Su Wang Fujin came last time, did you think she was much older than before?" The queen mother said, and we suddenly realized that the reason why we felt uncomfortable was because Su Wang Fujin suddenly became old. up.Then, the Queen Mother continued: "The reason for this situation is that Su Wang Fujin didn't understand the essence of wearing jade and jade jewelry. It doesn't matter if you don't understand this when you are young, no matter what kind of jewelry you wear, it will look good on you. But Fujin is no longer young like me. If you don’t understand this, it’s easy to wear it by mistake, giving people a feeling of incongruity. Jade and jade are not something that anyone can wear at any time. It’s the most suitable The object and the time are when young women are in a happy mood. If the face is old, or when you are sad, wearing them will not only show your own beauty, but even the color of the jewelry will be dim. In other words, jade jewelry It is a kind of jewelry that is both prosperous and damaged. If it is worn by a young woman, the two reflect each other, and they will complement each other. If accompanied by a smile, they will be extraordinarily beautiful; if worn by an elderly person, or just when they are in a bad mood , frown, not only jade jewelry will show people's old age, people's old age will also make jade jewelry lose its due luster. Think about it carefully, did the jade earrings worn by Fujin last time set her off? Foreigner? That pair of earrings may be excellent, perhaps no worse than Zhang Zhidong's pair, but because of Fujin's old state, they turned lifeless in the end."

After listening to the queen mother's explanation, I really admired it, and there is no more correct explanation than hers.Some people may say that this is the queen mother deliberately slandering Su Wang Fujin, but as far as I know, the relationship between the queen mother and Su Wang Fujin has always been very good, and there is nothing about Su Wang Fujin that makes the queen mother unhappy.The reason why the Queen Mother said this was entirely because she thought so in her heart.After finishing speaking, the Empress Dowager ordered Li Lianying to put these things away and put them in the treasure collection place.From then on, the queen mother may never remember these things again, maybe she will wear them when she is in a happy mood, no one can say for sure.

Zhang Zhidong is a politician with deep knowledge of the world and strong judgment. He has always been known for his precision and ability. The things he gave to the Queen Mother naturally have deep meanings in them.Zhang Zhidong did not choose other things, but chose jade jewelry as a gift to the Queen Mother, which is really very clever.Summer will come in a blink of an eye. Lafayette likes summer the most, and her mood will definitely improve. Besides, summer is also the most suitable season for wearing jade jewelry.Not only that, Zhang Zhidong gave the empress dowager jade jewelry that was only suitable for young girls, which also contained the meaning that the empress dowager did not look old at all in his opinion.If it is really as I think, Zhang Zhidong can really be called "old, treacherous and cunning".However, maybe I was thinking too much, maybe Zhang Zhidong's motive was very simple, he just wanted to show his loyalty to the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager not only has a deep research on the matching of jewelry, but also has a lot of experience in matching clothes.She understands the coordination of various clothes, which ones are suitable and which ones are not.The queen mother not only asked herself to understand, but also very much hoped that we could understand too.Before going to court every time, she would carefully examine the clothes worn by our eight female officials, and if she saw something inappropriate, she would yell and order the dresser to change it quickly.For example, a few days ago, she yelled at a female official: "How many times have I told you that you are wearing it wrong again! This robe of yours is not suitable for this time, go back and change it!" The female official Although she didn't dare to disobey the queen mother's intentions, her eyes clearly showed a look of incomprehension.Seeing this situation, the Queen Mother had no choice but to go further: "Don't you understand? The color of clothes should suit people's mood. When a person is unhappy, clothes that are too light or too bright will make our expressions ugly. .Just like the pink robe you are wearing now, its color does not match your expression, making people feel very glaring and disgusting. So you must change it, and you must also change it to a blue one.”

Among the high-ranking women in the palace, Concubine Zhen's older sister, Concubine Jin, is the most stupid. She can't always remember the matching principles that the Queen Mother taught us.For this reason, the number of times she was scolded by the queen mother and then went back to change clothes was counted on her, but the queen mother also knew that she was stupid, so she didn't blame her too much.Fortunately, Concubine Jin has someone to help her, otherwise I can guarantee that she will be driven back by the Queen Mother every time.After more times, the Queen Mother no longer wanted to stay with her. When it was a last resort, the Queen Mother didn't bother to explain to her, and just told her which clothes to change.Most of Concubine Jin's clothes are rewarded by the Queen Mother, so the Queen Mother can give her correct instructions every time, Concubine Jin will not be too embarrassed.

The Empress Dowager's attention to clothes and accessories is, to put it nicely, to be full of artistic taste, but to put it bluntly, her life is too flashy.In any case, I really admire the queen mother's research on dressing. Even now, I will dress myself according to the knowledge she taught me, and I can often achieve very good results.

(End of this chapter)