The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 121: Fight alone and find secrets at every step

Horse hoofbeats were heard in a hurry, and the person who raised the voice rushed to the carriage in a blink of an eye and reined in the horse with a roar. Only then did Liuli see clearly that the person riding the horse was actually a chamberlain. His face looked familiar, and he seemed to be someone who served Gaozong. As soon as Pei Xingjian said, "Servant Yin, I don't know...", the servant said hurriedly, "The Holy One has ordered that Pei Mingfu be summoned to the palace immediately!" He gasped and laughed, "Pei Mingfu is leaving. It's so early, the little one came from Yongningfang, luckily we caught up."

Pei Xingjian looked at the chamberlain in bewilderment. Chamberlain Yin only thought that he had heard the holy order suddenly and was a little unaware of the blessings. He hurriedly led the horse two steps forward and laughed in a low voice, "Just now, the military report from Goryeo has arrived, and the army has been ordered to return immediately." towards."

Pei Xingjian's heart trembled, he nodded, turned to look at the car window, and then looked back at the Linhai Princess' Courtyard, which was clearly visible. His face couldn't help but become more serious, and he said to the waiter, "Would you please wait a moment, waiter, I have something to do." A few words to tell my wife.”

Naturally, the servant Yin knew that the Holy Emperor treated this Pei Ming Mansion differently than others, and that his wife Kudi could be regarded as the savior of his people. He hurriedly said, "Pei Ming Mansion, please do it." He smiled at the carriage again. He bent down and nodded.

Liuli had come to her senses at this time and didn't know whether to smile bitterly or lament - had Gaozong discussed this with his aunt? Now she couldn't even pretend to be sick or injured or had a car accident. When she saw Pei Xingjian riding to the car window, her brows were furrowed tightly before she could speak. She simply spoke first in as lighthearted a voice as possible, "I I’ve heard it all, don’t worry, I will be careful in my words and actions, and be careful in everything.”

Pei Xingjian sighed and whispered, "Listen to Ayan and Agu in everything, and I will try to come and pick you up as early as possible."

 Agu? Liuli was stunned for a while before she remembered that it must be the driver who had almost no presence. Why should you listen to him? At this time, it was not the time to ask any more questions. He could only say, "Okay, I've written it all down. It's important for you to enter the palace to meet the Holy Spirit. Don't worry about this. I won't cause any trouble."

Pei Xingjian was silent for a moment, with a smile on his face, "It doesn't matter even if you cause trouble, just take care of yourself, don't worry about anything else!" After saying that, he nodded towards the car window, then rode away and followed. The chamberlain left behind him. This scene fell into the eyes of those who came and went, and naturally some people guessed it and some envied it. When they saw the carriage entering the princess's courtyard through the side door and disappearing in the shadow of the red gate, everyone started talking.

 In the carriage, Liuli closed her eyes and recalled the news about the Lotus Banquet that Pei Xingjian told her from beginning to end, and her mood gradually calmed down. She felt the car shook slightly and stopped. She opened her eyes and smiled at Ayan. Ayan's slightly solemn expression relaxed and she also showed a smile. She stood up and raised the curtain. Yu Nu, who had been sitting silently, suddenly raised his head and saw Liuli standing up. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up and held her arm.

At the second door of the villa, a group of well-dressed housekeepers had been waiting there. When Liuli got out of the car, someone immediately caught up with her and said with a smile, "Mrs. Kudi is here very early. Please come in quickly."

As soon as Mrs. Kudi called out, a young woman who was walking in front of the door immediately turned around, her eyes turned on Liuli's face, and then looked behind her. Her expression immediately changed from curiosity to surprise. Liuli just pretended not to notice, nodded and smiled at the lady in charge, and followed her guidance to climb up the eaves.

From the outside, this Princess Villa is not eye-catching. As you walk all the way in, you will see rockery mountains, waterfalls splashing beads, a bluestone road winding along a clear stream, and exotic flowers and plants hiding a few small places. The pavilion, with its white walls and black tiles, looks quite out of place. After walking for more than a cup of tea, I walked around the rockery, and suddenly I saw a huge water surface in front of me. The lake was covered with green leaves and white lotus. The breeze blew by, and the unique fragrance of lotus came to my face. Liuli couldn't help but was stunned: at this time, white lotus was still a rare thing. It was only owned by wealthy people, and she had never seen such a large white lotus when she was in the palace. No wonder the eldest princess's banquet was called "Furong" "Feast", just for this lotus, it is worthy of this name.

Yanzi walked along the lake for more than an arrow's length, and stopped in front of a courtyard gate. Ayan caught up and took a step forward, holding Liuli's hand. Entering from the courtyard gate and passing through the courtyard, there is a tall hall. The Crown Prince's wife, Mrs. Cui, and two other young ladies are standing at the foot of the steps. Seeing Liuli come in, Ms. Cui looked her over first, her heart sank, but she took a step forward with a smile and bowed, "My aunt is here."

Liuli smiled and bowed in return, "I don't dare bother Atui to greet me."

Mrs. Cui pointed to the other two women and said, "This is my second younger sister Zheng Wanniang and my third younger sister Lu Jiuniang." The three of them greeted each other. Liuli had already heard Lu Jinniang mention this Zheng Wanniang, and was the source of her understanding of Hedong Gongfu. Most of the toilets came from her, so I couldn't help but take another look, and saw that she had a pair of beautiful red and phoenix eyes. When she caught his gaze, she immediately looked away lightly.

Mrs. Cui glanced behind Liuli and saw Yu Nu standing behind with her head bowed deeply. She snorted secretly and smiled at Liuli, "Yu Nu's health is getting better quickly."

Liu Li nodded, "She was not seriously ill, she just had a cold. She found a prescription for the disease, but she was cured after just two doses. It seems that Lau Atui is so concerned about it."

Mrs. Cui felt a little blocked in her heart and wanted to say a few words, but she saw someone approaching from the outside. She hurriedly smiled and said, "The eldest princess has always been afraid that these two maids are not what you want, especially this Yu slave. She knows how to serve people. Since she is here today, why not let her go to the princess to receive instructions first?" Seeing Liuli's answer, she quickly turned around and called a maid, and asked her to lead Yu Nu to the back of the hall. passed.

Seeing two more female guests coming in at the entrance of the courtyard, Ms. Cui led Liuli up the east stairs. Ayan coughed lightly, Liuli was startled and glanced around, then she noticed that the skirts of the three of them were covered with hair. Without revealing her high head, she hurriedly took off her bird-head shoes at the foot of the steps, put on her white socks, and climbed the bluestone steps from the west that had been scrubbed spotless.

Ms. Cui was stunned and said with a smile, "Madam is a distinguished guest, how can she be so polite?"

Liuli smiled and bowed, "It's from her own family." She was still very aware of how important she was. If she really wanted to follow Cui to the hall from the east stairs used by distinguished guests, wouldn't she be asking for a joke?

Mrs. Cui couldn't say much, so she had to follow the rules and walk up the steps slowly. Liuli naturally didn't know how to go up the steps, so Lianhe followed her footsteps and walked up to the hall and entered the house along the door.

I saw that this hall was extremely spacious, but there was only one table in the south, and the other tables were set up two rows facing east and west. There were seventeen or eight tables, and there were four small tables on each table. . There were already more than twenty young women in the hall, either laughing together or sitting at the same table, chatting casually. When they saw Liuli coming in, they all looked over. The woman Liuli had seen just now hurriedly looked behind Liuli. There was a look of confusion on his face, and he turned around and whispered a few words to the people around him. The eyes of those people who looked over him were a little strange. One of them, a tall woman in a green shirt, looked at Liuli up and down several times, and then Glancing at Ms. Cui, a playful smile appeared on her face.

Mrs. Cui's heart sank even more. She recognized this person as Liluo, a famous and talented girl from the Shangguan family. Her temperament had always been a little weird. Could it be that they were talking about Yu Nu? However, he could only turn a blind eye and led Liuli to the first seat facing east to west. He pointed to the opposite seat and said with a smile, "You were supposed to sit at that seat. Now I can only make you sit here." "It's the closest to the eldest princess." Liuli sighed and replied with the same voice, "Liuli is not very talented and has little knowledge. It is a great honor to be invited by the eldest princess to accompany her to such a grand event. How can she deserve it?" Sitting here? Let alone the chief! The eldest princess’s love really made Liuli uneasy. She just hoped that Madam could be accommodating to the eldest princess and arrange a place down below. Although Liuli also wanted to get close to the princess, Sitting here is really shameful.”

Ms. Cui was startled, and her voice lowered, "You also know that this is the arrangement of the eldest princess, so don't refuse anymore." Seeing Liuli shaking her head but still refusing, she sighed, "Auntie, this is an early dinner. It’s settled, if you don’t sit here, why don’t you ask me to rearrange the entire table?”

Liuli shook her head quickly, her voice getting louder because of panic, "Liuli doesn't dare! How dare Liuli bother Atui to rearrange the seats for his own sake? In this case, he can only accept the order shamelessly." He sighed and bent his knees. After saluting, he slightly lifted the train of his skirt with both hands, retreated to the back of the mat, then stepped onto the mat, and sat down behind the table at the end of the mat.

Mrs. Cui felt even more depressed when she saw her modest and polite behavior, which was not up to the mark and could not sit at the table. She hurriedly smiled and said, "Sit down, Madam. At Cui will come back as soon as he leaves."

Liuli hurriedly knelt down and said, "I don't dare, madam, just go ahead."

Seeing Ms. Cui walking out quickly without looking back, the voices of joking and joking resounded in the originally silent hall. Liuli sat quietly for a moment, raised her head and looked around a few times. She saw more than twenty people in the room. Young women either wear gauze lotus flowers of the same size and color as real flowers on their heads, or have water hibiscus patterns embroidered on their skirts. They set off their fresh-colored faces, which really makes them look like flowers complementing each other.

Not long after, a maid came over with a tray filled with fruits and snacks, placed it on the table in front of Liuli, and presented a cup of buttermilk in a glass cup with both hands. The cup actually looked better than the ones at Liuli's house. That set is a bit clearer. Liuli remembered Ayan's suggestion and just held it up and touched her lips slightly.

Ayan took a step forward, knelt beside Liuli and added a few drops of buttermilk in the cup for her. At the same time, she softly selected the important women in the room and told them their identities and personalities. Liuli kept it in mind, and saw the Shangguan Liluo, who was vaguely the leader of the crowd, looking at her again. Remembering what Ayan said, she had long been famous for her talent and her informal temperament, so she nodded and smiled at her. Shangguan Liluo was startled and laughed. Upon seeing this, a female companion beside her leaned into her ear and said a few words. Shangguan Liluo raised his eyebrows slightly, turned his head and glanced sideways at a few people, raised his eyebrows and smiled, turned around and faced Liuli's seat came straight over.

Liuli couldn't help being a little surprised. Seeing her approaching, she stopped two steps away and looked at him with a smile. She stood up and took a step away from the table to greet her. Shangguan Liluo was not polite and said with a smile, "Sorry to bother you, my surname is Shangguan. I've heard of Auntie's name from Jin Niang and Leng Niang a few days ago, and today I saw her reputation is well-deserved. I came here to ask Auntie, the hibiscus pattern on your skirt is so unique, how did you make it?"

Liuli lowered her head and glanced at the ink lotus flowers on her light blue dress, and smiled slightly, "I don't dare to deceive Li Niang, I painted these directly myself."

When Shangguan Liluo heard her call out his name, he couldn't help but open his eyes slightly in surprise, and then smiled, "Just call me Liluo. Auntie really means well. I have never seen such an elegant person." Random ink hibiscus.”

Liuli nodded and smiled, "I dare not talk about the elegance of this ink painting of flowers and birds. What I am asking for is indeed just casualness."

The smile on Shangguan Liluo's face suddenly deepened. The two of them stood chatting for a while, and suddenly a clear voice came from the door, "Isn't that Shangguan's sister? Eh..."

Liuli and Shangguan Liluo turned to look at the same time, and saw a group of seven or eight people walking in from outside the hall, and there were several faces that Liuli knew.

   The following verbosity does not count as a word count:

p.s. Hoho, the person coming is a eunuch—the voice is sharp, and Liuli thinks it sounds familiar—did everyone guess it right?

This chapter involves a lot of ancient banquet etiquette. For example, until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was polite to take off your shoes when entering some more solemn places (before the Han Dynasty, you had to take off your socks, I was speechless). For example, when leading guests up the steps, you must "gather at the top of the stairs" "Foot" means that after one foot is on the step, the other foot must also be on the same step, standing side by side, while "step up" means one step at a time, which is considered sloppy in formal situations. For example, when sitting on a mat, the correct way is to slightly lift the skirt or skirt, go around behind the mat, and then walk to your seat. If you walk directly from the front, it is called "sitting on the mat", which is impolite... In short, It’s really annoying to be an ancient person. When I have time in the future, I will write a complete guide to being a guest in the Tang Dynasty...

　　Well, thank you Dear Angel Is Crying, Maple Night Star and Zhuzhu 123128 classmates.

Friendly recommendation:

"A Maid Can Also Cultivate Immortality" ISBN 1921758 With the embroidery needle in her hand, can a little maid also cultivate immortality? Different love, different cultivation of immortality, please take a look at the growth history of a little maid!

 (End of this chapter)