Ji Ling turned around and ordered the servant to take out the sponge cake.
The fragrant sweetness filled the air and immediately attracted the attention of the third princess.
She grabbed a piece in her hand and struggled to peel off the golden sugar paper. Seeing that she couldn't peel it off, Nanny Chen bent down and stretched out her hand to help, but Ji Ling raised her hand to stop her: "Let her do it by herself."
Although the third princess has been at the starting line in her whole life...but even if she is a poor person, she must have the skills to eat, right?
The third princess saw that there was no one to help, so she was not in a hurry, so she put one end of the candy wrapper into her mouth, bit it, and then with a strong pump, she turned the candy out from the other end.
The sponge cake was still warm, so the third princess put her hand into her mouth, chewed it carefully a few times, and narrowed her eyes into the shape of a crescent moon.
She ate three pieces in a row, and when she was about to grab the fourth piece, Ji Ling held her hand down: "Children can't eat too much sweets, as they will cause tooth decay."
The third princess raised her head and asked her mother: "What is tooth decay?"
Ji Ling was startled by her question. After thinking about it, he explained to her in a different way: "Eating too much sugar will cause toothache and tooth loss. If you have a missing tooth, it will be dark and ugly.
ah?"
The third princess was indeed frightened. She obediently pushed the candy away, patted the scattered pine nut crumbs in her hands, then ran to the window again, pointed and said: "Mom, look!"
Ji Ling raised her head and looked outside in the direction she pointed.
What is piled on the southwest corner of the yard is not a snowman, but a snow... lion?
That's right, it's a little ice lion - quite small, standing with its head held high, almost taller than the third princess.
Two black fruits were used to make eyes on the little lion's face, and a lavender bell belt with lake blue tassels was tied around his neck.
The snow lion is all white, elegant and flawless, with only two eyes a little dark. The contrast between black and white seems too deserted. With the brocade bells, the color is immediately made more vivid.
No wonder the third princess was attracted to it - it is indeed fun and beautiful.
Ji Ling pointed at the little lion and asked, "Who built it?"
Aunt Chen came forward to join in the fun: "To tell you the truth, it's Xiaoyangzi's craftsmanship! It was just piled up. At noon, he came over and asked Evian for a lot of leftover fabrics. The slave was still puzzled and asked him for it.
What kind of fabric is it made of?”
Yiyun nodded, pursed his lips and smiled: "Master, these are all scraps left over from my daily sewing. The colors are beautiful and the fabric is good. It would be a pity to throw them away, so I found a sewing box to collect them."
Get up, I never thought it would come in handy right now."
When it snows in the Forbidden City, it is also a tradition to build snow lions.
The lion has become an auspicious animal in people's hearts during the Han Dynasty. "The Legend of the Lamp" also mentions: When the Buddha Sakyamuni was born, he pointed one finger to the sky and the other to the earth, roared like a lion and said: "I am the only one in heaven and earth."
People regard lions as solemn and auspicious beasts and worship them very much.
The so-called "Auspicious snow is blooming in the sky, and lions are piled up and holding elephants in front of the steps to perform." It describes the scene of people making lions on a snowy day.
Seeing that his daughter was happy, Ji Ling ordered: "Go and call Xiaoyangzi to come in."
Not long after, little Yoko knelt in front of Ji Ling and paid his respects to his master.
Ji Ling said: "Little Yangzi, the third princess likes this little lion very much. Let's make a few more. We will stay in this warm pavilion without going out."
There was so much warmth in the Nuan Pavilion that Xiao Yoko was startled and thought to himself - it's so warm, even if the snow sculptures are piled up, they will melt quickly. When the time comes, the ground will be dripping with snow and water, how will you clean it up?
He looked up and saw that Bi Xue had already brought a huge enamel squirrel grape plate and placed it on the table - he was only allowed to stack it on the plate, and Evian sent the little eunuch to use a silver basin to hold a lot of it. The clean floating snow comes and is brought into the pavilion.
The third princess happily moved the small bench by herself, sat next to the table and held her chin, looking at Xiaoyangzi's hands with bright eyes, and then reached out to poke his arm, meaning to urge him.
Little Yoko rolled up her sleeves and deftly patted the snow loose, then asked respectfully: "What shape do you want the princess to make?"
The third princess was momentarily stunned by his question. Her eyes widened and she couldn't answer. She stretched out her two chubby hands and tried to touch the cold snowdrift randomly. She was immediately caught by Grandma Chen, who was like two lotus root knots. fat wrist.
On the other side of the Nuan Pavilion, because it was already the end of the year, Qixi was holding a gift booklet from the warehouse and discussing the New Year matters with her master in a low voice.
In fact, since the winter solstice, everything inside and outside the Forbidden City has been cleaned up. New winter clothes made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been distributed, and everyone in the East and West Zodiac has gone to get them.
A set of bottoms, shirts, coats and vests. The clothing materials are made of fabrics woven in Suzhou and sent to the capital for processing.
In order to celebrate the New Year, many people put their clothes in boxes, just waiting to change into them on the first day of the New Year.
While Ji Ling watched them tidy up, he took out some simple single bead flowers from the complicated jewelry box and gave them to several palace ladies.
The palace maids are not allowed to dress up on weekdays, and they must be simple and dignified. However, since the palace maids are part of the palace, they cannot lose the royal dignity.
Especially on New Year's Eve, in order to reflect the festive atmosphere in the palace, on that day, the maids can lightly apply rouge and simply decorate their hair with some ornaments - these simple beads can come in handy on that day.
After several palace maids thanked them happily, Ji Ling continued to direct the tidying up, and found that some clothes had not even been worn, and were piled up there in new condition, with the yellow cloth seals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs still sewn on them and not opened.
There were also some jewelry that Ji Ling had no impression of at all - when he checked the registration book, he found that they were all old stocks that had been awarded for more than half a year. When he opened the box, the treasure color was shining.
There were so many jewels that she didn't even have time to put them on.
After having lunch and taking a nap, Concubine Qian came to Chengqian Palace with Li Gui and Ma Changzai to say hello to Concubine Chen.
The Empress of Chengqian Palace is very favored, and there are so many people in the palace who want to catch up with her. To say the least, even if they can't catch up, even if they run to the Chengqian Palace frequently, people outside won't be able to figure it out. If it's true or false, naturally I don't dare to take it lightly.
Qian Bin and Li Guiren were never empty-handed every time they came, and they always brought gifts. Ji Ling also gave them the jewelry he packed up in the morning as a return gift.
Ma Chang was shy and came without a gift, but Ji Ling was equally generous and gave a gift in return.
There is no jewelry that can be sent to Chengqian Palace that is not beautiful. Concubine Qian and Li Guiren opened the brocade box with a look of surprise in their eyes.
Although they were happy, they were still stable.
But when Ma Chang saw the jewelry, he was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.
She held the jewelry box to thank Ji Ling - even the maid next to her wanted to hold it for her, but she was not willing to give it to her.
He just held her tightly in his arms and covered her with his faded sleeves.
Concubine Qian thought Ma Changzai was embarrassed, so before leaving the house, she saluted Ji Ling with a smile on her face, turned around, and rolled her eyes at Ma Changzai with disdain.
Li Guiren also covered his mouth with a handkerchief and couldn't help laughing.
Ji Ling saw this and silently turned away.
She didn't find it funny.
Ma Changzai may not be any worse than her, and she may not be superior to Ma Changzai.
She was just lucky. After crossing over, she happened to fall into Yinzhen's eyes. In addition, the number of people in the fourth master's harem was not large, so she walked cautiously until she had two children and her status was stable.
This is the Forbidden City, which is even more cruel than the workplace - there is no life without favor, and God will not give you any room for negotiation.
In the workplace, you can at least work hard and fight your way out; but here, it only depends on the emperor's will.
Richness and thrift are different, and each has its own fate - some people eat delicacies from the mountains and seas until they are almost exhausted.
There are also people who can only follow behind, picking up the remaining slop and rice, and trying their best even if it is just for a full meal.