Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 61 Bathing (2)
When the Queen Mother was covered with soap and both arms, the first step of bathing her was declared over.The four maids threw away the towels in their hands, turned around and took four new towels and threw them into the bathtub.In the same procedure as before, they took out the towel after soaking it, but this time they did not wring it out, but made it a little damper. This was done to wipe off the soap that had just been applied to the Queen Mother.This process takes a considerable amount of time due to the careful wiping off of the body soap.After drying them with great difficulty, the four towels were discarded again, and the new four towels were used to dry off the water droplets left by the soap.After these three wipes, the queen mother was quite clean. I thought maybe this would be the end of it, but it was not the case.The four maids put in four towels together, and brought over a jar of honeysuckle dew.Honeysuckle flower dew was originally something that the queen mother would smear on her face every night, and the four court ladies dipped a piece of fine silk sponge into the dew and applied it on the queen mother's body.When they finished painting the Queen Mother's upper body, they took out the soaked towel, wrung it out and patted her dry gently.

It took so long to finally wash the Queen Mother's upper body clean.Immediately afterwards, the four maids took out a set of brand new pajamas and put them on for the Queen Mother to prevent her from catching a cold.Then, the Queen Mother took off her underpants herself, exposing her whole lower body.While the Queen Mother was taking off her clothes, another four maids brought in a large wooden basin, which was similar in form to the first large wooden basin, but there were also differences, the purpose of which was to facilitate bathing of different parts.Although these wooden basins are very similar, they are all marked with numbers on the bottom, as long as you are careful, you will not take the wrong ones.If one day these maids take the wrong bathtub, they will definitely be scolded by the Queen Mother.After filling the new tub with warm water, they carefully put the Queen Mother's feet in it, and then washed the Queen Mother's lower body according to the previous steps for washing the upper body, until the honeysuckle dew was patted dry.I stood watching from the sidelines and admired the four maids bathing the queen mother more and more. Their techniques were extremely skillful and their strength was just right.They know how long a towel needs to be submerged in water to get wet, and how much effort it takes to wring a towel dry. What's more valuable is that they know how much strength should be used when bathing the Queen Mother. It won't hurt the Queen Mother.These skills cannot be practiced overnight, I'm afraid they started this training many years ago.If people who bathe others are also counted as craftsmen, the skills of these people have indeed reached their peak.

After the honeysuckle dew on the lower body was patted dry, the work of bathing was basically over, and the queen mother hurriedly put on pajama pants, lest she catch a cold.By this time, there was one more task left, which was to wipe the Queen Mother's hands and face clean with four new towels.I can't remember exactly how many towels the queen mother used to take a bath. If it were an ordinary family, the number of towels she used at a time would be equivalent to half a year.In the palace, there are more than a dozen maids who do nothing every day, and are responsible for washing the clothes and towels used by the Queen Mother. From this, you can imagine the waste of these things used by the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother had just changed into a set of underwear - in a way pajamas would be more appropriate.At that time, China did not have the concept of pajamas, but China was actually the first country to invent pajamas, but now pajamas have become a purely Westernized thing.All the Queen Mother's clothes were very elegant, not to mention the pajamas, which were made of the softest silk and satin, with golden dragons embroidered on the chest and back, which looked very luxurious.These golden dragons are not protruding from the outside of the pajamas, but cleverly embroidered into the soft silk fibers, so that the queen mother will not feel uncomfortable when she sleeps.What I don't understand is that these pajamas are all light gray in color, not very bright like the other clothes of the Queen Mother.In addition to the chest and back, the four sleeves of the Queen Mother's pajamas are also embroidered with patterns, most of which are peonies, red flowers and green leaves, which are very beautiful.The largest flower is embroidered on the shoulder, and the branches and leaves are intertwined and wound down, all the way to the cuff.The pajama pants are also embroidered, especially on the trousers.The Queen Mother's pajamas were originally light gray, but with so many flowers embroidered on them, they still looked very eye-catching.At that time, there were no soft shoes or sleeping socks, and the Queen Mother got into bed barefoot.The way she sleeps in her pajamas looks very peaceful and beautiful from a distance, and she seems to be a lot younger all of a sudden.When she sleeps, she does not turn over much, so she can maintain the most neat and perfect state.

What is quite interesting is the pillow used by the Queen Mother. It is not the same as the one used by ordinary people, but has been modified, and a hole is opened in the center of the pillow.This is not because the Empress Dowager is chasing the new and different, but there are special reasons.The pillows used by the Empress Dowager were the same as ours, but more refined.Everyone should know that there are not a few people who hate Lafayette among the people, and some people with strong martial arts try to assassinate Lafayette.This kind of people has existed in all dynasties, but due to the tight guard of the royal family, accidents rarely happen.Once, an assassin sneaked into the Summer Palace, but was discovered by the guards just as he was about to succeed, and the sound of arresting him alarmed the Queen Mother.Although this incident did not directly threaten the Queen Mother, it did scare her enough.The assassin was caught that night and executed the next morning, but the Queen Mother was terrified ever since.Since then, the Queen Mother has not only increased the number of guards in the Summer Palace, but also transformed her own pillows.The hole in the center of the pillow is not big, a bit like a golf hole, and it runs through the entire pillow from top to bottom.When the Queen Mother slept, she stuck her left or right ear to the small hole. According to her own statement, she could clearly hear the sound coming from far away.I don't believe the queen mother's statement. I secretly listened to it when she was away. Maybe it was because of psychological effects that I really heard some sounds.That's good, at least it proves that this speaker-like pillow is not useless.

Compared with other things, the empress dowager's kang is the least elegant, and it is no different from ordinary people's kang, except that there are extra many and thick mattresses on it.When the Empress Dowager sleeps, the soft mattress under her body is three layers in winter, two layers in spring and autumn, and one layer in summer. This is probably because she is very old and afraid of the cold.The quilt that the Empress Dowager covers is very elegant, and needs to be replaced every two or three days.In the Empress Dowager's bedroom, except for summer, there is a heater in every season. The fire is smaller in spring and autumn, and the fire is bigger in winter.Every time the Queen Mother sleeps, one of the eight female officials must stay to guard her.Under the corridor outside the palace, no matter in season, summer, autumn or winter, or in winter, summer, rain or snow, there would always be a large number of eunuchs waiting motionless for dispatch.

After watching the Empress Dowager's bathing process, I really felt that God did not treat a certain person particularly favorably, and everyone was just a mortal body.Although the queen mother has power all over the world, she is in charge of the life and death of the people in the world, but she is just a woman, an ordinary woman when she takes off her clothes.She needs to take a bath to remove the dirt on her body. Although the methods of bathing are different, the ultimate purpose is the same.Like ordinary people, she likes to take a bath and rest. When the four maids bathe her, she obviously enjoys it very much.Although she didn't dare to sing loudly due to her status as the queen mother, I could clearly feel the very happy mood from her low voice.In this way, the queen mother is pitiful enough. If I were a person like me, I would definitely hum a song in the bathtub when I encountered this situation.

In any case, the queen mother's dignity has not changed.Whether she is dressed or not, she always maintains the pride and reverence of being a queen mother.Every morning, she sits high on the dragon chair and accepts the worship of many princes and ministers. At that time, she is beautiful and majestic; when she takes off her clothes and is naked in front of the maids, we can still feel her majesty.From head to toe, from beginning to end, she is the supreme empress dowager, and she does not allow others to have the slightest obscenity.But what about before she became empress dowager?After all, she is an ordinary little girl.I recalled the scene in Fengtian Palace, the joy and sadness shown by the queen mother when she saw the relics of the first emperor, and the grief and grief shown on the death day of Emperor Tongzhi, all of which revealed that she was an ordinary woman with an ordinary life. Every emotion a woman has.It's just that because she is in a high position, she cleverly hides her emotions so that the outside world will not find out easily.

(End of this chapter)