Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 48 Boating on Kunming Lake (2)
There is a decoration on the royal boat, I think it is necessary to talk about it.That ornament was made by means of the mast, which is not true, for there were no white sails on it at all.On that "mast", besides a dragon flag, there are two azure ribbons.On the way, the two ribbons were blown backwards by the wind, and because the two ribbons were very long, they were dragged to the surface of the water.In this way, when the boat was moving, the two ribbons formed two water patterns behind the boat, and the ribbons soaked in water, under the sunlight, flashed colors like a rainbow.In windy weather, there will be the sound of water waves. Now there are the sounds of our boats sliding on it, as well as the sound of swaying, and the sound of the bottom of the boat rubbing against the water surface. All kinds of sounds are mixed together to form a very beautiful sound of nature.The sound of the small boat came over faintly, almost without a trace of noise, and other sounds were completely inaudible. Although there were many people in the boats behind, no one dared to speak, as if they were empty boats.No one said a word, for fear of breaking Lafayette's rare good mood.In such a large cabin, only the Queen Mother was talking: "Go to the east, let's go and see those people who grow lotus and see how they work."

The queen mother likes lotus, so there are a lot of lotus in Kunming Lake, and the most concentrated area is on the east side of the lake.At this time we have come to the middle of Kunming Lake, the boat is moving very slowly, like a yellow monster lying on the calm water waves.On the silvery water waves, there are green lotus flowers all around, the scene is really beautiful.Due to the wide water surface of Kunming Lake, although there are so many lotuses planted, it will not be crowded and will not hinder the passage of royal boats.The royal boat floated over clusters of lotus leaves, and the rustling sound from the bottom of the boat was not harsh at all.When Yu Zhou approached, the lotus leaves parted to the two sides, and the remaining water drops trembled and rolled down, just like the tears shed by a girl when she is sad.At this moment, all the colors are extremely bright. The golden royal boat, the silvery water surface, the green lotus leaves, and the yellow palace reflected by the sunlight together form a symphony of colors.In the very center of Kunming Lake, the Empress Dowager is wearing a big red robe and sitting on the throne, looking very beautiful. Perhaps there is no more beautiful person than the Empress Dowager in the Summer Palace at this time.At this time, the queen mother is no longer just sitting there, she is more like a child, and she dances with her arms and legs.

According to the Empress Dowager, we slowly rowed the boat to the east of Kunming Lake.From a distance, we saw about a hundred young eunuchs working, they spread among the lotus leaves, bending their waists down from time to time.Although we know from the Queen Mother that they are doing the work of transplanting new lotuses, we don't know exactly how they work.These people all wore short blue jackets with their trouser legs rolled up.Of course, transplanting new lotuses has to go into the water, and the water on the shore of Kunming Lake is relatively deep, almost reaching their buttocks, so it is extraordinarily strenuous for them to work.At first, I wondered why they bent down for a while, and then straightened up for a while. It was only when I got closer that I realized that they had to bend down first, reach into the bottom of the lake to grab the old stalks of the next year, and then straighten up and hold them. Pull out the roots, and pick off the top shoots by the way, and then you can throw away the old stems.In the end, these little eunuchs had to bend down in order to insert the young shoots into the mud at the bottom of the lake and let them grow up slowly.

After arriving at the east side of Kunming Lake, the queen mother ordered the boat to stop so that she could watch carefully how those people worked.At the same time, the Empress Dowager also began to give us speeches to show off her erudition: "You must know that planting lotus is not only for looks, it is also a very profitable business. There is no place in the body of the lotus that can be spoiled." , its old roots, stems, leaves, lotus flowers and lotus pods are all used. These things are very important in traditional Chinese medicine. When the lotus leaves are just picked, they are very clean, and people usually use them to wrap cooked food The tender roots are also a good thing, and they are the best ingredients when summer comes." Speaking of this, the Queen Mother ordered Zhang De to send someone to bring up some tender roots, cut and chewed them on the spot.Thanks to the Queen Mother, each of us can have a taste.In fact, who hasn't eaten lotus root?It's just a gift from the Queen Mother, so I think it tastes extra delicious.After eating tender lotus root, we looked at the work of those people for a while, and the queen mother ordered the boat to sail.At this time, we realized that we had circled the whole lake, but the sun was not yet in the middle of the sky.The Empress Dowager also noticed this problem, she told Li Lianying to look at the time, and then said: "It's almost time, let's sail the boat to the center of the lake, have lunch there and then think about other things." After listening to the Queen Mother, The boatman immediately turned the bow of the boat and rowed the imperial boat towards the center of the lake.After arriving at a place that she thought was good, the queen mother ordered the boat to stop and decided to have lunch there.There were two iron anchors on the royal boat, and at this time they were lowered into the water together, and the boat also stopped.When the anchor was launched into the water, there was a rumbling sound from the bottom of the boat, but the Queen Mother was not bothered, and she didn't say anything more when she saw the boat stopped.

After the boat stopped, Li Lianying took out the prepared horn and blew a few times.As soon as the horn sounded, two small boats from the imperial dining room came quickly and stopped on both sides of the imperial boat. The eunuch on the imperial boat quickly took out the spare planks and put them between the imperial boat and the small boat, while we quickly Moved out the table and prepared to eat.Using the springboard, the eunuchs in the imperial dining room began to deliver food back and forth. I watched them, and found it very interesting.In any case, I dare not try to do like them, lest one accidentally fall.Perhaps considering the special circumstances of today, all the bowls and plates for serving dishes are made of gold or silver to prevent the dishes from slipping, but the chopsticks are still jade chopsticks.As it was inconvenient to get up and down, I finally adopted the method of eating on the train last time. From the small boat to the imperial boat, all the eunuchs lined up in two rows, and the dishes were passed to the imperial boat one by one through their hands.These eunuchs have a piece of white cloth in their hands, which is to prevent their hands from coming into direct contact with the Queen Mother's dishes.Although we ate on the lake this time, there was no discount at all for the [-] dishes, but the space on the boat was indeed too small to serve all the dishes, so we had to put some of them on the ground. Hold it in your hands.There are lids on the dishes that serve the dishes, so the temperature of the dishes cannot drop for a while.The cold dishes were served first, and the Queen Mother looked relaxed, looking at the dishes from the corner of her eye while talking to me.She eats at most two bites of each dish, and when she has finished reading or tasting the dishes, she will give me a gesture, and I will give Zhang De a wink, Zhang De waved his hand lightly, and those dishes will be removed Go down, new dishes come up.The hot dishes were served next, and after the eunuchs lifted the lids, they stood there stiffly, like wooden stakes.As soon as the lid was lifted, the aroma immediately diffused in the air, causing each of us to growl.

The orchestra was still playing while Her Majesty dined.Looking at the scene in front of me, I couldn't help thinking about it, and came up with some feelings: As the daughter of a courtier, my status is incomparable with that of the Queen Mother. Because of this, I have many experiences that the Queen Mother has never had.I have seen the world across the ocean, and I know how the social landscape there is different from ours.I went out to sea on a large ship and saw with my own eyes that the ferocious waves surrendered under the weight of the iron ship.Sailing on the vast ocean is very different from rafting on Kunming Lake. I really want the Queen Mother to experience it, but it is impossible.Due to the various restrictions brought about by identity and status, the precious experience that the queen mother may have has been completely obliterated.It is a pity that whenever the queen mother has leisure and wants to play in the water, she can only take a boat to the artificial lake.Rafting on Kunming Lake is insignificant compared to traveling across the ocean and trekking across mountains and rivers.Although Lafayette is not young, he is still a child no matter how you look at it. No matter what you do, you need someone to take care of you. Even us female officials, you must be extra careful in every move, otherwise the nanny will have to watch from the sidelines. assist.What kind of life is this, at least I don't think it's happiness... I was so absorbed in my thoughts that when I looked up occasionally, the palace standing in front of Longevity Hill stood in front of me.If these palaces are the symbols of the royal family and the Qing Dynasty, then the Empress Dowager is a child of these palaces, that is, a child of the Qing Dynasty, but this child is too precious to take care of so much manpower and material resources.The entire Qing Dynasty nourished the Empress Dowager materially and spiritually, but let her develop abnormally to the point where she is today. I can't tell whether this should be sad or helpless.In addition to the nanny of the Qing Dynasty, in real life, the Empress Dowager has many nannies. The masters, instructors and female stewards in the Summer Palace all take care of her carefully to prevent her from being damaged.

When I wanted to continue thinking, the Queen Mother had already finished her lunch. While rinsing her mouth, she said with emotion: "I am so happy today, I really want to live like this every day." After a pause, she continued: "Good fortune is fair. Confucius said that 'extreme joy produces sorrow'. We are so happy today, maybe something unpleasant will happen tomorrow. But it doesn't matter, let's talk about tomorrow's things tomorrow. Today can be spent happily, I That's enough."

When I first heard what the Empress Dowager said, I couldn't help feeling nervous, lest the Empress Dowager would cause trouble for herself and make us feel uncomfortable too, but after listening to her entire speech, I felt relieved.The queen mother was just talking casually. With her current state, even if something big happened tomorrow, it would be difficult to stop her from being happy today.For the Empress Dowager, a day like today is really rare. If you don't make good use of it, you will definitely leave lifelong regrets.I think the Empress Dowager must know this, that's why she is drunk today, no matter what year tomorrow is.

(End of this chapter)