The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 16: T-shirt controversy, overt and covert attacks

On a small road south of the pavilion, a young woman came over surrounded by several maids. She had beautiful features and a noble temperament. On her head was a trembling peony flower, which was a rare dark purple. , wearing a jade-colored short jacket and a snow-white silk skirt, with an elegant luster flashing like snow waves in her movements. Several people immediately turned around to look at Liuli - their skirts were almost exactly the same, except that Liuli had six skirts, while Ba Niang had eight skirts, making them appear more elegant and luxurious.

Kudis couldn't help but feel cold. She turned around and gave Hao a sharp look, realizing that she had fallen into her trap. No wonder she had just ordered the sewing room to make a plain skirt, and she actually gave her a rare Yuezhou Liao. When Ling came over, she thought she was selling her a favor because she wanted to take over the housework, but she turned out to be waiting for her here!

Liuli was overjoyed, with a hint of guilt on her face. She glanced at the corners of her eyes and saw that the smile on Coral's face was almost bursting out. However, Cui Yuniang's face darkened and she snorted heavily. The other women did not show any signs of laughter. She took a step further away from herself, and her heart became even more determined.

Pei Baniang obviously also saw Liuli's skirt, her smile did not change at all, but her eyes stayed on her for a long time.

Cui Yuniang must have been impatient for a long time, so she hurried forward and said, "You have been hiding well in the past few months."

Pei Baniang sighed: "You said I don't want to go looking for you? I have to have this free time, right?"

The two of them entered the pavilion hand in hand. Kudi and Hao introduced several visitors to Pei Baniang. Pei Baniang greeted them all politely and smiled at Liuli. Cui Yuniang looked at Liuli with a rather unkind look. A daughter of the Pei family also smiled and said: "The black jade on Ba Niang's head is really rare. My sister is worthy of this flower, but she is not like some short-sighted people." Yes, I thought the purple peonies with darker flowers were famous flowers."

Cui Yuniang raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Mo Yu is Mo Yu. No matter how hard you learn from other Hua Ren, you can't learn that magnanimity. It's just a joke." Everyone immediately started laughing, and their eyes naturally glanced at the only hairpin present, intentionally or unintentionally. Purple peony glaze. Only the youngest Cui Shisanniang seemed not to notice, lowering her head and playing with her fingers.

Liuli lowered her eyes and said nothing, feeling quite surprised. It would be rude for her to wear matching clothes with her master. It would be normal for her to leave a bad impression, or even be treated coldly in secret. But isn't a woman from a famous family the most particular about grace? Why would you humiliate someone in front of someone over such a trivial matter?

Kudi's expression changed, and he interrupted with a smile: "We have been talking for a long time, what should we do?" Then he raised his head and said to himself, "They seem to be enjoying themselves."

Everyone followed her and looked over. Sure enough, the window in the attic opposite had been opened, and figures were flashing. A young man could be seen looking over from the window. They were only six or seven feet apart. His features were clearly visible and his laughter was audible. . Liuli knew in her heart that this was the beginning of today's main drama: according to the rules of the Flower Fighting Party, the winner was the one with the most valuable hairpins on his head, but what everyone cared more about was the poem about the flowers chanted by the men participating in the Flower Fighting Party - called When chanting flowers, one actually chants people, and the one who gets more poems is the bigger winner; and the quality of the poems passed down by the men is also the standard by which the women evaluate them. This overt and covert struggle is the best footnote of the four words "man, talent and beauty".

As expected, everyone's attention was diverted. Cudi asked people to put on the chessboard, throw pots and other objects. The girls began to throw pots and play. For a while, they were laughing and talking. Even the corals came over, only Liuli was still there. Before he even took a step, he received a few scornful glances, so he naturally stayed aside.

Cui Yuniang only took Ba Niang to one side to talk, and laughed in a low voice: "I brought someone here. This Wei Twelve Niang is only good-looking. What's rare is that she still knows how to behave. The family relies on our Cui Mansion. I'm sorry. She won't dare to be disrespectful to my sister in the future. But, Erlang...brother-in-law, he really comes to see these people?"

Ba Niang shook her head decisively: "You still don't know who Brother Brother is? Today he had already invited some friends to recite poems and drink here. It was the two who were in the same class who invited these women to fight with each other. Brother Brother I just let them go, don't worry about them, let's enjoy ourselves. Brother, not only did he invite the elder brother of General Cheng's family, but also Lu Shengzhi and Luo Shentong, there will be some good poems later! "

Yu Niang couldn't help but widen her eyes, "Lu Zhaolin and King Luo Bin? Erlang is so proud!" Then she smiled and said: "It's strange that you dressed up so well today. Your black jade is really well raised, but my yellow crane feather is not as good as mine. ”

 Banniang glanced at her skirt and smiled to herself. Cui Yuniang's face suddenly became a little angry, "Your concubine is so ungrateful that she dared to let that Hu girl wear the same dress as you. She didn't even think about it. People like us are not those who have short-sighted eyes and wish they could eat in Hu clothes." Hu Shi’s house is full of Hu Ji, and he thinks that this is the first-class noble family! Just wait and watch me vent my anger on you!”

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, these high-ranking surnames have not been as good as before. The imperial court has paid more and more attention to the imperial examinations, and the royal family has always wanted to suppress them. The revised "Clan Chronicle" has placed the Cui family in the third class; Not to mention the fact that barbarism is spreading throughout the government and the public, and Changsun Yuchi and others are standing on their heads... It really makes people angry when they see the faces of these barbarians, not to mention they are so ungrateful!

The Eighth Niang listened to her talk and became less and less like it. Although she felt sorry for her, she still smiled and shook her head: "That's all, it's just a high bun in the palace, one foot high in all directions. In today's world, it's not like us. As for those people, they are just playthings, so why bother with them?"

Cui Yuniang clapped her hand and said, "Don't worry, just wait and see the good show." Then she sneered: "My sister is so gentle and courteous, and she is not in good health. We must not let such a charming woman disturb her! "

The two chatted and laughed for a while. Yuniang looked back and glanced upstairs, and happened to see a familiar upright face. She hurriedly pushed Banniang and said, "Brother-in-law is looking over here."

Banniang also raised her head to look, and sure enough she saw her brother Pei Yan standing by the window, but his eyes seemed to be looking to the other side. She followed her eyes and saw that it was a lonely figure on the corridor outside. She couldn't help but be startled: Ah Will brother fall in love with this Hu girl?

Pei Yan didn't notice his sister's eyes. He came here to take a breather, but he caught sight of Liuli on the corridor, and the more he looked at her, the more suspicious he became. Seeing the woman taking a step forward and turning her face around, he couldn't help but shook his head. Sure enough, it was her! Pei Ruzhuo's livid face suddenly appeared in his mind, and the corners of his mouth raised. Cheng Wuting, the elder man on the side, had the sharpest eyes. He hurriedly came over, took a quick look and said with a smile: "Zilong has good eyesight. The woman with the purple hairpin is indeed a beauty! She seems to be a bearded girl?"

His voice immediately attracted the attention of six or seven people in the attic. Pei Yan took a step back, frowned and whispered: "Don't talk nonsense, I just think that woman looks familiar!"

Cheng Wuting looked him up and down several times with an exaggerated expression: "What woman, how come she looks familiar? She can actually make you laugh!" Pei Yan could only lower his voice and briefly told him what happened that day. Cheng Wuting couldn't help but slap his legs and laugh, "It turns out that she is not only a beauty, but also a wonderful person! Ruzhuo deserves it!"

There are only a few men here, and others are just that. King Luo Bin is only thirteen years old, and Lu Zhaolin is only sixteen years old. Both of them were called to Chang'an in the name of prodigies, and now they are serving as aides in the mansions of Deng Wang Li Yuanyu and Tao Wang Li Yuanqing respectively. Most of all, Feiyangtiao had come over a long time ago. Hearing such things, they couldn't help but put their hands on each other's hands and laugh. They all lay down at the window and looked at each other for a while, and then turned around to write ink to chant the purple peony. Pei Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he could only let them go. Cheng Wuting took another look outside and said with a smile, "The ink grinding has started over there too!"

I saw that the women in the pavilion who had just been playing separately had gathered together, and the tables in the pavilion were replaced with pens, inks, paper, inkstones and other items. But it was Cui Yuniang who suggested that throwing pots to pass flowers was a bit boring, so it was better to write poems about flowers.

 Writing poetry? Liuli was shocked. Didn't it mean that women were responsible for showing off their grace and men were responsible for showing off their elegance at the flower show? How come there is such a difficult program? But she saw that the two girls from the Pei family had already clapped their hands and applauded, and the others also responded. She immediately felt an inferiority complex that "it turns out that she is the only one who is illiterate"; but then she thought: isn't this a good opportunity to be embarrassed? ? A heart suddenly returned to its stomach safely.

Seeing a few maids conjuring a set of pens, inks, paper and inkstones from nowhere, Liuli finally understood: The family was as noble as the female members of the Pei family, and writing poems was probably a regular performance. She was so engrossed in what she was watching that she didn't notice Cui Yuniang winking at her maid. The latter nodded understandingly and stepped forward to take over the work of polishing the ink.

After a while, it was the timid and timid Mother Wei who was the first to walk to the table and write a few lines of words. When Liuli looked over, she saw four lines of regular regular script: "Qushui Qing." When the day is good, I always stay at Zhongnan's house. The clouds are shining but the snow is still shining, and the sunshine is gradually overshadowing the clouds. "I think she is chanting the white peonies on her head.

A daughter of the Pei family also walked up hurriedly, took the pen and wrote four sentences: "The spring scenery surrounds the leisure pavilion, Qinyuan is hidden in the distant water, the calyx is dense with fragrant stamens, and the leaves are with numerous pink petals." Pink peony rises to the occasion.

Most of the women here are experienced people, and soon one of them wrote down four or eight sentences. Even Cui Shisanniang, the youngest, wrote four sentences, "Stand at the end of the world, rely on the beauty of things. Don't learn from the hatred of Han Mei, "Often used as last year's flowers" actually attracted a lot of applause.

Liuli couldn't tell whether the poems were good or bad. She only felt that except Cui Shisanniang, who obviously lacked writing skills, everyone wrote well. She was nodding secretly, but saw that everyone's eyes had turned to her - it turned out that it was only her and Coral No pen was written. Liuli shook her head and said with a smile, "That's true!" Naturally, she received a few more disdainful looks.

Cui Yuniang smiled and said, "Lazy people must be punished. Why not punish you by copying all the poems?"

 Copy poetry? Liuli felt slightly strange, wondering which song she was singing. But I heard my aunt Kudis laughing and saying, "Don't spoil everyone's interest. Although your painting is not good, you might as well paint a peony to show off your humiliation!" Cui Yuniang glanced at Liuli with some surprise, and then said He clapped his hands and said "ok" with a smile on his face.

Looking at Cui Yuniang's eager eyes, Liuli's heart moved, and she responded with a smile. She stood up and walked to the desk, dipped her pen in ink, and smeared it a few times. When she saw a double peony as big as the mouth of a bowl, it jumped out on the paper.

At this moment, the hand of the maid who was grinding ink shook, and a drop of ink spilled out. The maid hurriedly stretched out her hand to wipe it. Unexpectedly, the inkstone suddenly tipped over around her sleeve, and half of the inkstone splashed out. Liuli was stunned and didn't even dodge. Her sleeves and skirt were suddenly stained with black ink, dripping down.

Everyone couldn't help but exclaimed. Kudi was the first to stand up. Cui Yuniang also shouted: "You blind maid, why don't you go and apologize!" There was clearly a smile in her eyes. Kudis glanced at her and her heart became clear. She could only suppress the anger in her heart, turned around and said to Grandma Yan: "Take your aunt to my place quickly to change clothes!"

Liuli woke up with a start. She lowered her head and walked quickly outside the pavilion. For some reason, when she passed the coral, her feet suddenly shook and she staggered out.

 (End of this chapter)