In order to prepare for the banquet, Ri Minglan was so busy during this period that she almost hit the back of her head; the first thing to worry about was the money issue.
At the beginning, about four or five days after the wedding, the Gu family had a distant relative in law who was going to hold a wedding ceremony. Therefore, the relatives were in the wrong circle and there was no need for Minglan and his wife to come to congratulate them in person. However, because the family was doing pretty well at the moment,
He was considered a high-ranking person in the imperial court, so it was hard to lose this close relationship, so Minglan sent him a congratulatory gift.
This custom is called Sui Li. For anyone who is involved in some relationship or has some serious contacts, as long as someone sends you a wedding invitation, whether you are going to have a drink or not, you should send a congratulatory gift, regardless of the size.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion has not been particularly prosperous, but it is also a rich and powerful family with deep roots and numerous in-laws and distant relatives, both inside and outside the country. In addition, Gu Tingye's colleagues and brothers have a lot of open and covert relationships.
A large number, even if you don’t count those from other places, is still a very objective number.
It has only been a month since they got married. Although Minglan has not attended any banquets in public, she has already sent out eleven and a half gifts, including four for the birthday of an elder, three for marrying a daughter-in-law, and two for the first month of marriage.
One sum for promotion and banquet, plus one and a half sum for funeral - the half sum was shared with Ningyuan Marquis Mansion.
Minglan finally understood why big families in ancient times liked to live in groups. Those three or four generations living under the same roof could receive gifts from the old lady’s birthday to the great-grandson’s second wife. The weddings and weddings were endless; of course, courtesy reciprocates, you come
From what I've seen, gifts from wealthy families won't cause serious imbalances in income and expenditure.
Based on this calculation, Gu Mansion obviously suffered a huge loss:
Birthday celebration? The old men and ladies of the Gu family are all next door.
Marrying a wife? Gu Tingye just got married, and Minglan won't die for a while.
Marrying a daughter? Sister Rong’s daughter has just been able to go to elementary school. Even in ancient times, it was not so cruel.
Full moon wine? Even if the couple works overtime and works hard day and night, it’s too late now!
She had no income from all the gifts, but because she had established a new house, she had to give out gifts separately. Minglan gasped at the account book, and her heart ached for a while. She finally realized what it means to feel like a knife piercing her heart!
She almost wanted to persuade Gu Tingye to live back in Ningyuan Houfu.
Gu Tingye saw that Minglan was well but depressed for no reason. He couldn't help being surprised and asked. Minglan said gloomily: "When your husband left home and traveled far away from home, did you ever bother with that yellow and white thing?"
Gu Tingye, with handsome eyes and a smile, spread out his left arm and rested it on the armrest of the rosewood chair, holding tea and drinking slowly: "That's natural. I even ate a bowl of Yangchun noodles for three pennies a while ago."
Minglan nodded, looked at him sadly, and sighed: "Husband, do you know that these days, we have gone out with more than 653,400 bowls of Yangchun noodles as gifts, alas... we should still go to the banquet.
That’s right, I’ll bring back some after all.”
Gu Tingye almost spit out tea from his nose. He quickly put down the tea bowl and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. I can take it back later."
Minglan sneered, scratched the man's tall and handsome nose, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid the governor has ignored the general affairs for a long time. Now there are no old people in this house, and there are no young people below. Unless the governor takes concubines, otherwise
Where does the name come from?”
Gu Tingye glanced at Minglan with pity, and taught her her ignorance: "I'm here to teach you something, if it's a hot stove, even in June in summer, there will be people rushing to burn it."
This sentence was very philosophical when thought about, but she couldn't hide her contentment. Minglan immediately looked at her husband with admiration and said with sincere admiration: "My husband is really wise!" His eyes were full of admiration; this look immediately made Gu Tingye feel that he was much more majestic and heroic.
, I felt so happy for a moment that I couldn't help but raise the corners of my mouth.
"But..." The next moment, Minglan couldn't help but said: "If the fire burns too brightly, wouldn't it destroy the stove?"
Gu Tingye nodded and said with a smile: "Exactly. So we have to keep the stove door in place, and we can't just add firewood to anyone who wants to."
Minglan felt relieved and waved her little hand: "Well, husband, just be careful."
Gu Tingye smiled and lifted Minglan's neck from behind, as if he was carrying a meowing kitten: "Good wife, I would like to remind you that we are on the same stove now."
Minglan shrank her neck, looked at Gu Tingye for a while, and immediately followed the good advice: "Then let's be careful together."
…
Gu Tingye's prediction was very accurate. Sure enough, since five or six days ago, congratulatory gifts have been arriving at the concierge. They come from both inside and outside Beijing. Somewhere further away there are generals guarding the border, and some closer there are officials from the capital and others.
Relatives and friends who can only be reached with seven or eight poles probably mean something like, "Your family is very happy, but I have other things to do, so I can't congratulate you in person, so hereby prepare a few small gifts" and so on.
Minglan looked at the invitations and couldn't help but wonder - there were many people on them who she didn't receive invitations at all, so what kind of blessing was this? Then she took the gift list to show it to Gu Tingye.
Gu Tingye glanced at the list one by one. He raised his eyebrows at some of the names and was noncommittal. Some of them he thought about for a moment and seemed to have doubts. Others he looked at with disdain and snorted coldly. But as long as it was not an excessive gift, he called
Minglan accepted them all.
"I won't even accept the 'little gift', I'm afraid someone will jump up in a hurry." Gu Tingye's face was as dark as water, and he turned around and went to the outer study room.
Minglan didn't ask any further questions, and just hurried back to her room to write down all the lists, and noted the subtle meanings that Gu Tingye showed at that time, just in case she needed them. As for the gift list, it was filed by the office, so she didn't need to worry about it.
Already.
Looking back at the "small gifts" in the big boxes and small cages, Minglan suddenly felt that the money was very painful, and she wished she could return it immediately so that she could have peace of mind. Thinking of this, Minglan sighed, and it was only today that she felt that she had traveled through time.
What a girl, she actually started treating money like dirt?!
Two days later, the palace also presented a reward, a large box of pearls from the South China Sea. Each pearl was plump and huge, round and bright, and a clump of coral trees more than a foot tall, all covered in vermilion, moist and fresh. They were both.
An extremely rare treasure; plus a bag of three hundred taels of silver wrapped in bright yellow silk satin.
The reward is just a symbol. What the emperor means is: Brother, have you seen it? The person named Gu belongs to me.
Minglan held a bag of silver weighing about a bag of rice in her arms. She didn't feel tired at all. Instead, she sighed poetically: "After all, I feel at ease eating from the country."
This body that was not used for labor was really delicate. She probably held the silver for a long time. By night, Minglan's two tender little arms were swollen. Gu Tingye took the ointment and came in with a ferocious look on his face.
Danjue, who wanted to take the ointment, was scared away, and then he rubbed Minglan's arm himself. His two big palms with clear muscles were crossed up and down. While rubbing hard, he cursed angrily: "...You have never seen Yin!"
"Haha, I've never seen the silver rewarded by the emperor." Minglan hissed, her arms were sore and swollen, but she didn't dare to cry out in pain. She looked sideways and saw Gu Tingye's face darkening. She couldn't help but said, "
What’s wrong, what’s wrong with the Holy Spirit’s reward?”
Gu Tingye said in a deep voice: "The Emperor is very rare nowadays. He really doesn't need such a reward. How could we not know his difficulties?"
"Didn't you say that the national treasury is very full?" Minglan said curiously. He left behind a plump treasury, which was a major achievement of the late emperor.
"The articles on the books are naturally very full." Gu Tingye sneered, "The garrison in the north, the Yunnan, Burma and Miao Dynasty in the south, and the two Huaihe Rivers after the war. Money is needed everywhere, and the Ministry of Household Affairs cannot afford it.
A bunch of bastards who only make shortfalls!"
"Why didn't the emperor issue an order? Now everyone in the world still thinks that the treasury is full." Minglan's face became solemn.
Gu Tingye snorted coldly: "First of all, if the emperor revealed this matter as soon as he came to the throne, it would seem that the late emperor was unworthy. Fortunately, the emperor has been observing filial piety for three years now; secondly..." He didn't know whether he should tell Minglan or not.
A moment of hesitation.
"Secondly, in the first few years after the new emperor takes the throne, stability is always the most important thing. What's more, the emperor has been a vassal for many years and has no foundation in the capital. It is difficult to rectify it immediately. ~" Minglan took over and said slowly, "
Besides, at that time, it was more important to deal with the troublemakers like King Tan of Jing than to deal with the rot beetles."
Gu Tingye felt his heart light up for a while. He held Minglan's smooth, porcelain-white arm in his palm. His movements gradually slowed down and he whispered: "It's not easy for the emperor... so this time, let's make the banquet simpler."
Minglan nodded solemnly.
Although it was said to be simple, there was still a long list of people who had to be invited. Two days before the banquet started, a stack of papers was handed out. There was a big circle on each piece of paper, and there were many people listed in sequence around the circle.
The names obviously simulated the order of the dining table. Although Liao Yong's wife thought it was childish, she also secretly sighed that this idea was quite clever.
"The manpower has been arranged. There are fifteen tables for men in the outer courtyard, eight tables for women's families in the inner courtyard, and five tables for reserved seats. Madam, do you think there is anything wrong?" Liao Yong's wife bowed her head respectfully and replied, "There are also five tables in the house.
There was no stage, only a few ladies and a troupe of opera singers and opera singers were invited to prepare in the outer courtyard. Guests could call out if they wanted to listen; there was also a place where the carriages and horses were parked, and the servants brought by the guests could rest and eat.
The place, the outer courtyard to attract guests, and the staff for singing and banquets have all been arranged one by one..."
Minglan sat in front of the case, blending the menu account items item by item, disbursing money, and arranging manpower. She whispered instructions and mentioned some important items. Below her stood a group of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. After hearing what Minglan said in an orderly manner, she immediately put it away.
Be careless and respond honestly.
The closer the day came, the more solemn Minglan became, with a straight face all day long. Gu Tingye had nothing to do after going to court. He always liked to tease her and make fun of her, but now he ignored her. He looked at her carefully for a few days and said doubtfully.
: "Are you unsure of yourself?"
Minglan loosened her clenched cheeks, took a long breath, and said with a wry smile: "You have good eyesight."
The current situation is very unique. Most of the concubines like Minglan were not brought up by their aunts to teach them orally how to manage the family, banquets, socialize with relatives and friends, etc. The concubines grew up in silence in the inner house, learning some needlework and reading.
Write, and then marry obediently, so really wealthy families generally do not marry concubines as their legitimate wives.
Compared with prostitutes, regardless of their knowledge, means, talent, and character, they are simply not on the same level. Of course, there will also be miraculous people among them who are self-taught without any training or instruction (please give Jia Tanchun, an outstanding representative of the concubine world
Ladies applaud warmly).
Minglan lowered her head and wept secretly. I'm afraid...she's not a weirdo.
In terms of general affairs, Mrs. Sheng did train and coach Minglan for a while, but she herself was also a carefree and free-spirited person. In addition, for the past ten years, both her grandparents and her grandson's life plan for Minglan was just to be a middle-class official, gentry, and wealthy family.
's little daughter-in-law.
In the expected newlywed life, the biggest scene that Minglan needs to handle independently is probably to invite some sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law to have a simple meal of seven dishes and one soup, gossiping and gossiping about your family in the courtyard of her house.
The cub has some new teeth, and my man adopted a little vixen again.
Then in the long tug-of-war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law, who was born as a concubine, followed her mother-in-law, being scolded and aggrieved, and naturally learned a few things - but unfortunately this road did not work for Minglan.
He originally planned to be a workshop director of a township enterprise, but unexpectedly he suddenly became the CEO of a conglomerate ranked top by Forbes. There was a serious disconnect between employment expectations and reality. The chairman was still a hands-off shopkeeper, and he didn't even have pre-job training!
It was said to be a casual meal, but most of the guests who came to the door tomorrow were either rich or noble, and some of them were waiting for criticism. Minglan had to redouble her energy and prepare carefully. She wrote down one plan after another, and listed one plan after another.
Thinking back and forth about the identity of the guests and how to deal with the reception, someone must count the tables and chairs and the food and wine utensils, the waiters during the snacks and tea must not be neglected, the open fire in the kitchen should be carefully guarded, etc. Minglan kept going over each item with several stewards to see if there were any omissions.
It was not until the last two days that I finally made up my mind.
"What should I do if it fails?" Minglan was worried.
"Just smash it." Gu Tingye went to kiss her frowning forehead in a funny way, but Minglan held it open with a palm, puffed out his cheeks and shouted: "I dare you not to smash it."
Gu Tingye grabbed her little hand and couldn't help but chew on the tender fingers. Minglan wanted to use her bare hands to pull off his two front teeth, but looking at his white teeth, Minglan was deterred. Gu Tingye smiled.
He held Minglan's slender waist, fixed her face with one hand, and said sternly: "Don't be afraid, let me ask you, if you mess up this meal, will I divorce you?"
"This...it's not that serious." Minglan tilted her head. Last night he was so passionate that he wished he could die on her, and her waist and legs were still suffering from a third-grade muscle strain.
Gu Tingye was not satisfied with her hesitant answer and squeezed her hard with his big palm. Minglan whined and twisted her waist to run away, but he grabbed her and said with a slight smile: "Then the emperor will punish you?"
Minglan quickly shook her head: "No way." The emperor would not be so idle no matter how much he ate.
"Then what are you afraid of?"
"Some people will laugh at me." Minglan bit her lip and said in a low voice, "They will gossip about me." She said that she was from a small family, but she was indeed an incompetent concubine.
"If you did everything perfectly, no one would criticize you?" Gu Tingye raised an eyebrow and asked quietly.
Minglan was stunned. Gu Tingye held her and leaned against the bedside. His handsome lips were slightly sarcastic, and he chuckled: "Those who are kind to you can forgive you even for slight oversights; those who deliberately seek provocation."
Even though the Nine Heavens Fairy came down to earth, I still wonder how you can eat half a cubit in one bite. You can eat so much. Tsk tsk, if the Seventh Fairy is like you, even Dong Yong can't afford it by selling iron..."
"You, you, you...!" At first, Minglan nodded repeatedly. When she heard the last few words, she suddenly blushed angrily and turned her head to ignore the man - this was the most cautious moment in Sheng Minglan's life.
She was willing to forget the stain of depression forever, but this hateful man kept bringing it up.
Gu Tingye laughed loudly, looking at her crimson cheeks as if they were on fire. Several pots of rare flowers from the Western Regions were placed on the window sill. The weather in April and May became increasingly fragrant and fragrant, causing the spring breeze to blow away and linger.
Being in the room in the afternoon felt so comfortable, with the beauty in his arms, that he couldn't help but hug her tightly, put his head on top of hers, and said in a low voice, "But if there is anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."
Minglan lay in his arms, thought for a while, took out the guest list from her sleeve, pointed to the row of names outlined with cinnabar, and said: "I haven't heard of any of them. They are from outside your house."
Friends and colleagues, please talk to me."
Gu Tingye picked up the paper and said leisurely: "...This brother Fu Qinran is the branch leader of the Changxing uncle family. He studied at home with me at the beginning. Although he is a bit pedantic and rigid, he is a good person.
"
"Yes, let's go through the same window together." Minglan nodded.
Gu Tingye smiled, then pointed to a few more names and said: "Brother Cheng Yong is the younger brother of Lao Duan. He, he, and these few have been following me in the Fifth Army Camp since the beginning."
"Well, we carried the gun together." Minglan continued to summarize.
Gu Tingye paused, thought it was right, and continued: "These were originally the captains of the emperor's dormitory, and were later transferred to the Xuanfu and Northern Xinjiang garrison. Now they have returned to Beijing to report on their duties. I remember that time at the Eighth Prince's Mansion.
Son, we often go out to drink and play together..."
Well, they even went to prostitutes together - before he finished speaking, Minglan secretly made up for it.
"...Actually, this is all to fool outsiders." Gu Tingye suddenly changed his tone, "The Sichuan border is not peaceful, and bandits are causing trouble. They are worried about the King of Shu and are afraid of causing trouble to the emperor. They are very aggrieved every day, so they pretend to be with me.
We went out to play, changed our clothes, sneaked out, and killed a few thieves to vent our anger; one time, Lao Geng almost broke his arm, and his wife brought a kitchen knife and tried to fight us."
After Gu Tingye finished speaking, he smiled with fascination, as if recalling the passion of the past; Minglan was speechless when she heard this, blushed for a while, lowered her head silently, and reflected on her villainous heart with shame.
Gu Tingye watched Minglan's expression change, and then gently lifted one of the girl's soft pink ears. A dangerous smile appeared on his lips: "Little girl, did you think wrong again?"
Minglan shuddered, raised her head immediately, and said sternly: "This is absolutely not the case. I have always felt that my husband is heroic, courageous, and upright!"
Gu Tingye let go of his men's ears. Although he knew that this girl's words were unreliable, he still felt comfortable in his heart. He couldn't help but glared and laughed and cursed: "It would be a waste if you don't become a bitch master."
The author has something to say: The outline has been revised and the update has started. There is no need to refresh during the day. It will definitely be updated at night. The date may vary. Anyway, it will definitely be over during the summer vacation.
I'm very sorry for the inconvenience caused to everyone, but I've been really struggling for a long time.
A while ago, a reader told me that there were hundreds of words describing clothing and headdresses in farming articles, but she couldn’t understand them at all. I thought so too, so I decided to add them here.
The information collected by a certain person below may not be very accurate. It only has a general meaning. Please do not delve into it.
Regarding the ku and the coat, they look similar and wear the same. Theoretically speaking, the ku is relatively wider and the coat is more close-fitting. Another thing to say is that the inside of the coat is directly the middle garment and the inner garment, but the ku can be used as an outer cover and can be taken off. Finally, the clothes inside can also be seen.
There are roughly two types of styles: double lapel and diagonal lapel. There are three types of collars: stand collar, open collar and round collar. The patterns are mostly made of entwined flowers, some are wrapped around the collar and sleeves, and some are sprinkled with flowers all over the place.
The service in the 1987 version of Dream of Red Mansions is said to be the most reliable so far. It is said that the costume consultants at that time were all national treasure-level masters. For example, Mr. Shen Congwen was specifically responsible for researching the hairstyles in the film.
Therefore, I will use these pictures as a demonstration here. If you have any different opinions, feel free to raise them, but please don’t criticize me. I am not an expert, I just write based on what I have learned.
Rose pink double-breasted round-neck gown, the embroidery on it is flowers wrapped around the collar, it’s very beautiful.
Water red poppy bright satin, pink and purple trim, emerald green water drop earrings, this is a slant-breasted coat.
The dazzling golden pine and crane pattern satin half-breasted jacket. I have always thought that the gold color looks very old, but in fact, as long as the material is good and the color is right, any color will look good.
This is the so-called Bi Jia. Sister Bao has rose red hanging sleeves and a waist that is shorter than Jia. Ying'er in the back has sleeves that are longer than Jia.
The embroidery on the collar of the round-neck jacket is simply amazing, so in ancient times wealthy families maintained a large number of needleworkers, and sometimes they had to spend a lot of money to buy embroidery products when they didn't have enough.
The old red embroidered collar and the pink small stand-up collar can be worn in late autumn or early winter. Don’t think that stand-up collars were only worn by Manchus. In fact, they already existed in the Ming Dynasty.
The open-collared double-breasted jacket and moon-white coat are trimmed with three-finger-wide light blue satin piping. Trimming is a very important part of ancient clothing, and sometimes it can be the finishing touch.
Ming purple slanting lapel and magnolia long coat. In fact, I originally imagined that the young Minglan should have this kind of silly temperament, but it is not gorgeous enough and not dark enough.
Lake green open-collared jacket with goose-yellow pink and white magnolia branches embroidered on the chest, trimmed with a finger-width of dark green bright silk
The lake blue is scattered all over the place, and the oblique-breasted jacket is embroidered with gold and silver hidden flowers. In fact, it is more expensive to embroider all over the place.
Goose yellow cotton jacket with bamboo pattern. I didn’t expect winter cotton jacket to look so good.
Xifeng is wearing a purple silk summer coat. In summer, you don’t need to wear a middle coat and wear it directly under the coat. The little sister next to you is wearing a slanted jacket with a moonlight skirt underneath.
One is orange, the other is light purple, and the other is pink, with round neck, slanted lapel, cross collar, and entwined flowers. The colors are very eye-catching. The key is to use good materials. So in ancient times, there were no ready-to-wear shops. Most of them were silk and satin shops. As long as the materials are good, The patterns and colors are good, the embroidery work is good, and there are only so many styles of ancient clothes, so they will always look good.
I'm exhausted. I'll tell you about hairstyle next time.