Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1243 Postscript 99: Just be happy

It was winter solstice, and it was snowing lightly.

Early in the morning, I heard Daiyu shouting in the yard: "Xiren, Xiren, come and get your reward!"

It was a holiday today, and Xiren didn't have to go to the Xianglou, so she planned to sleep in.

When she heard the shout, she quickly dressed and opened the door, but saw Baochai standing outside the door holding some things.

"So many?" Xiren was quite surprised.

Baochai said: "The three of us are new this year, and we will give you an extra new coat, a hat, and a pair of phoenix shoes on the winter solstice."

There is a tradition of giving shoes on the winter solstice.

At first, the daughter-in-law made new shoes by herself and gave them to her parents-in-law, and later it evolved into the elders giving shoes and hats to the younger generations.

Especially the shoes given to children, there are tiger shapes, phoenix shapes, and everything else, and there is no need to worry about violating the rules.

Xiren went back to the room to change into a new coat, new shoes, and new hat, and when she went to the yard again, the snow had stopped. She jumped up and down with joy, feeling indescribably happy. This was much better than life in Lanruoyuan.

"Look!"

Baochai threw a snowball at her.

Xiren dodged quickly and then ran away while shouting, "Oh, I don't play with this, it will dirty my new clothes."

"Baochai, don't make trouble." Daiyu stood under the eaves and scolded.

Baochai asked back, "Why do you care about me?"

Daiyu said, "You dirty Xiren's new clothes, are you going to use yours to compensate?"

Baochai thought about it, threw away the snowball and went to wash her hands. But she was a little embarrassed and didn't talk to Daiyu with a cold face.

Xiren hurried over to thank Daiyu, and then went to please Baochai.

When she was in Lanruoyuan, she would only wear decent clothes when she followed Zhao Jingjing to receive guests. If there were no guests, she would wear old clothes discarded by the old people.

Who made her too young to generate income for Lanruoyuan?

Xiren was so happy with her new clothes, shoes and hat today that she was afraid that Baochai would dirty them with snowballs.

"Xiren, come out and play with us." Cherry came to the outside of the courtyard without knowing when.

Xiren hurried to greet her and sent her winter solstice blessings: "Sister Cherry, where are we going to play today?"

Cherry said: "Everywhere in the garden is open. Cuju and shuttlecock will dirty clothes, so we agreed to play shuttlecock. By the way... Daiyu and Baochai, you should go too."

"Okay, okay." Baochai ran out excitedly.

Daiyu wanted to decline and stay in the house to read. But she was afraid of being considered unsociable, and she really wanted to play, so she followed him shyly.

Today, everyone is happy.

Not only in the princess's house, but also in the whole country.

As long as they are not homeless, even the lower-class people celebrate to their heart's content. If they don't have the financial resources to buy new clothes, they have to make a pair of new shoes for their children at home.

Xie Yan and Zhu Tangxi were currently receiving the emperor's visitors.

Officials from all over the country had received holiday benefits two days ago.

As for the prince consorts and princesses, the palace sent people to greet them and deliver the winter solstice benefits.

Zhu Tangxi also offered prizes to those visitors and eunuchs who came to give gifts.

After sending away the visitors from the palace, Zhu Tangxi, who was wearing new clothes, was supported by her husband to return to the inner house: "Are you really not going to the party today?"

"It's more important to stay at home with my sister." Xie Yan's skill in eating gigolos became more and more profound.

Zhu Tangxi said, "We should go. Today, we can make an exception and go to Lanruoyuan. If Liu Lang refuses invitations every time, no friends will invite him in the future. If it gets out... they will think I am too strict."

Xie Yan smiled and said, "Let them say whatever they want."

Zhu Tangxi was happy, but she was also a little uneasy: "I am pregnant this year and it is inconvenient. I will go with Liu Lang to the appointment next winter solstice."

"Okay, I will bring the child next year." Xie Yan said.

Zhu Tangxi smiled.

Starting from the winter solstice, there will be a gathering every nine days, for a total of ninety-nine days. The gathering is not large, usually only nine people.

As the saying goes, ninety-nine days can dispel the cold.

After eighty-one days, it will be spring and flowers will bloom, and farmers will prepare for spring ploughing!

This is how the words "nine days", "three nines", "four nines"... came.

Back in the house, facing the fire, Xie Yan warmed his hands and said, "It's still warm at home. Who would go out in this weather? Prince Consort Li will have to bear the brunt of the pain today."

Zhu Tangxi smiled and said, "I guess in ten years, Liu Lang will be the one who will bear the brunt of the pain."

"Can it be postponed?" Xie Yan asked.

Zhu Tangxi shook his head, "The emperor's grace is great, it's best not to postpone it."

Although the winter solstice grand court meeting was cancelled today, the winter solstice sacrifice was still going on.

Prince Consort Li Chang was ordered to represent the young emperor in the sacrifice.

Although the scale of the sacrifice was not large, it would take a long time.

When Prince Consort Li is older, the task of performing the sacrifice on behalf of the emperor will most likely be handed over to Xie Yan.

"Qingluan, Zifeng, hang up the Jiujiu Xiaohan Tu!" Zhu Tangxi shouted.

Zifeng carried a stool and placed it under the wall of the main hall.

Qingluan was taller, and she stood on the stool carefully and took down a painting hanging on the wall. Roll up the scroll and hand it to Zifeng, and hang up a "Ninety-nine Cold-Eliminating Picture".

This painting was created by the princess herself.

It depicts a winter plum tree with nine branches, each with nine plum blossoms.

For the next eighty-one days, color one plum blossom every day. And fill the plum blossoms with different colors according to the weather of the day.

You can also just draw a plum branch with nine plum blossoms, each with nine petals, and color one petal each time.

In addition to filling in the picture, there is also a way to fill in the words.

You can fill in nine characters or eighty-one characters. Those with a high level of literary ability can even fill in eighty-one characters into a palindrome poem.

Xie Yan admired the newly hung painting and exclaimed: "Sister, your painting is really good."

Zhu Tangxi was very pleased to hear this: "How about I teach Liu Lang to paint after the spring?"

"Let's practice the piano first. You can't chew too much," Xie Yan said. "Life is still long. When we get old, I will definitely learn all the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting from you."

"You only know how to say this to coax me." Zhu Tangxi smiled.

Xie Yan hugged her and asked: "Do you like it, sister?"

Zhu Tangxi smiled and narrowed her eyes into two crescents: "I like it. I never get tired of it. Liu Lang should say more in the future."

One sentence, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar, one look!

Qingluan and Zifeng were busy hanging paintings, but they were stuffed with dog food without any warning!

They wanted to drag the princess away and throw themselves into Xie Laoliu's arms.

"The sun is out, the sun is out!"

A maid outside the house shouted happily.

Xie Yan said, "I'll go for a walk with my sister."

"Yes."

Zhu Tangxi liked walking more and more.

Since she became pregnant, every time she went for a walk with her lover, he would carefully support her. This made the princess feel that she was treated as a treasure, and her lover was afraid that she would fall to the ground and break.

The servants in the front house were very busy today. Many people were sent out to give gifts, and the kitchen was also busy making delicious food, and gifts had to be given to each other for the festival.

The maids in the inner house were very idle. Most of them were on vacation, and all the gardens were open for free play.

Xie Yan helped the princess to take a walk, and from time to time he met maids playing and joking. They were all wearing new clothes, laughing and talking constantly, and the happy atmosphere was very contagious.

"No need to be polite, you can have fun today." Zhu Tangxi said to the maids who came to greet them.

"Yes!"

The maids bowed and retreated, and they started laughing again after a few steps.

There were screams coming from the front, but it turned out that a maid was standing on the swing and was pushed into the air by her two companions on the left and right. She was not afraid of falling down!

Xie Yan looked at the beautiful scene of the maids playing in front of him, thinking that it was great.

It's a pity that there are so many poor people in the country who are starving and freezing at this time.

Xie Yan couldn't figure out why he thought of those things, but suddenly felt a little lost.

This mood ruined the scenery.

Xie Yan still had a smile on his face, pretending to be calm, and began to tell jokes to the princess: "Sister, do you know Yang Yixiao?"

"Is he a bachelor of the Royal Society?" Zhu Tangxi asked.

Xie Yan said: "Yang Yixiao first took the imperial examination, but failed three times in a row. He then practiced martial arts, shot an arrow at the training ground, hit the drummer, and was expelled. He then went into business, and encountered a swindler for the first time, a robber for the second time, and a bandit for the third time. He could only go back to farming, and there was a severe drought one year, a severe flood one year, and locusts one year."

Zhu Tangxi couldn't help laughing: "This man is too unlucky."

Xie Yan continued: "He then studied medicine and learned a lot. He wrote a good prescription, took the medicine, and died."

"Hahaha!" Zi Feng laughed out loud.

Xie Yan said: "He came to the underworld and waited for the King of Hell to come. Yang Yixiao was impatient and asked why the King of Hell hadn't come yet. The ghost replied: The King of Hell read your file, laughed wildly, and fainted in the back hall, and has not woken up yet."

Zhu Tangxi and Qingluan both laughed out loud.

Zifeng's reaction was the most outrageous. Her laughter had turned into a goose cry. She stood there laughing so hard that she couldn't stand up straight.

Xie Yan was confused by her. Was it necessary to be so supportive?

After laughing for a while, Zifeng seemed to recover. She held her stomach and said, "Oh, I can't hold it anymore. I'm dying of laughter. The King of Hell...hahahaha...the King of Hell also...hahahaha..."

Laughter is contagious. Qingluan, who had stopped laughing, was led by Zifeng to laugh again.

"Is she always like this?" Xie Yan asked curiously.

Qingluan pointed at Zifeng: "She can't stop laughing. Once she laughs, she can't stop."

Xie Yan couldn't help but look at her a few more times, mainly because when Zifeng laughed, her chest was undulating and magnificent.

Zhu Tangxi couldn't help but laugh twice more: "Where did Liulang hear this joke?"

"I forgot. I can't remember who told it." Xie Yan made up a lie.

Zhu Tangxi smiled: "Fortunately, I am not Zifeng, otherwise I would have laughed so hard that I would have had a miscarriage today."

Zifeng stopped laughing for a long time again: "Your Highness, this is too funny, can I go tell them?"

"Go ahead." Zhu Tangxi said.

Zifeng immediately ran to the maids playing nearby, and told them a joke with gestures. Before she finished telling the joke, she laughed again.

She ran around like she was offering a treasure, and laughed wherever she went.

Xie Yan told this joke to cover up his emotions. He was also in a good mood after being fooled by Zifeng.

This is great.

Make the people around you happy first, and then make more people happy.