Chapter 177 The famous inkstone presented to the scholar
The next day, it was another sunny day with the sun rising.
The sky was clear and blue.
Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the 19th year of Yongle. It is also another festive day for the people of the Ming Dynasty to enjoy their families since the Spring Festival.
Xiao Chen walked on the streets of the capital while holding his black snow-trodden horse.
On the street, people were coming and going, greeting each other, holding white large or small packages of Yuanxiao in their hands, holding two or three children in the other hand, and hurried to their homes. After eating Yuanxiao, they rushed to the court to set up
There is a place where you can guess lantern riddles, and if you are lucky, you might even be able to get a few souvenirs.
But Xiao Chen is different. His destination today is Qinghe Store on the outskirts of the capital.
After buying three kilograms of glutinous rice flour and Lantern Festival, Xiao Chen got on his horse and galloped towards the Qinghe store. Behind him was a bay-red horse, Duan Tianming, who was always with Xiao Chen.
Although Qinghe Store is only a few dozen miles away from the capital, it doesn't have the atmosphere of the Lantern Festival at all.
Except for a few slightly wealthy people who had red lanterns hanging at their gates, the other villagers were still squatting under the sunny haystacks with their hands in their sleeves, basking in the sun and chatting away.
In the courtyard of the Wang family, the head of the royal family was sitting in the living room, with a bowl of steaming tea in front of him, quietly looking at the line of purple bamboo on the edge of the wall, not knowing what he was thinking.
The kitchen at the back was bustling with activity.
Inside a huge basket, there is a thick layer of mung bean flour. Inside, dozens of nearly-formed Yuanxiao are rolling around, trying hard to stick to the bean flour at the bottom of the basket.
The burly Butler Wang, with his sleeves rolled up high, was shaking the basket vigorously.
Next to him, stood Xiao Yu. I don't know whether he was tired or happy, his face was red, and the white face was smeared on his forehead from unknown time, like a clown singing in an opera.
"My basket of Lantern Festivals will be ready soon. It's your turn to take it outside." Butler Wang turned around, looked at Xiao Yu, and smiled, while shaking the basket in his hand without stopping at all.
"I put the dumplings outside very quickly, but you shaking the basket is a laborious job. Do you want me to replace you?" Xiao Yu looked at Butler Wang and said seriously.
"Little guy, with your words, I have endless strength." Butler Wang shook even more vigorously.
"My name is Xiao Yu, not little guy." One hand held a wooden shovel, and Xiao Yu looked unhappy.
"Hahaha, our Xiao Yu is angry. Come and see, everyone is blushing." Butler Wang continued to tease Xiao Yu.
Several servants beside him also started laughing.
"Huh, you guys are ganging up to bully me." Xiao Yu's face turned red and she looked aggrieved.
Butler Wang stopped what he was doing and looked at Xiao Yu, who was smeared with flour on his face with a smile: "Okay, okay, let's count how many Lantern Festivals there are. If there are enough, we will distribute them to the residents of the town door to door.
go."
"Yes." Xiao Yu responded obediently, and began to count them one by one, shoveling the Lantern Festivals in the big basket into the small basket next to them.
"There are five hundred and twenty-seven Lantern Festivals in total." Xiao Yu shouted happily after shoveling the last Lantern Festival into the small basket.
"That's enough. Leave twenty-seven for the family, and we'll go to the town to distribute the rest to the residents." Butler Wang patted the flour on his body, and then asked two servants to lift the basket.
Xiao Yu followed excitedly, and the group of people walked out of the Wang family gate.
Distributing Lantern Festival is something that the Wang family must do every year. At this time every year, Butler Wang will take his family to distribute the Lantern Festival door-to-door to the residents in the town.
This year, with Xiao Yu as a follower, I happily took him with me.
Seeing his Lantern Festival leave the courtyard, the royal family leader smiled and picked up the tea bowl, used the bowl lid to stir up the tea leaves on it, and took a sip.
If you can do something small for the people of Qinghedian, you are worthy of being one of the rich households of Qinghedian.
The neighing of two horses sounded at the gate, and the servants at the door hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, taking the reins of the horses from Xiao Chen and the others.
After passing through the small garden of the Wang family, the two of them walked straight to the hall.
"Master Wang, long time no see, happy holidays!" Xiao Chen walked into the hall and saluted the royal family leader sitting in the middle hall with his fists in his hands and a smile on his face.
"Brother Xiao, Commander Duan. Please sit down quickly. Please sit down." Seeing the two of them, the royal family leader hurriedly stood up, returned the salute, and greeted the two of them to sit down.
Xiao Chen put the Lantern Festival in his hand on the table and sat on a chair under the nave.
"Today is the Lantern Festival, so I brought some Lantern Festivals for everyone on the way." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"Haha, Brother Xiao is really attentive, so let me have a taste of what the Yuanxiao in this capital city tastes like." With that said, the royal family leader picked up the bag of Yuanxiao, turned around and greeted, "Come here, take Brother Xiao's Yuanxiao."
This package of Yuanxiao is cooked, let’s eat it together to celebrate the festival.”
Hearing this, a servant hurriedly walked out from the back hall, took the Lantern Festival from the hands of the royal family leader and prepared to leave.
"First serve tea to Brother Xiao and Chief Duan, and then go cook the Lantern Festival." Chief Wang gave another instruction.
"Yes." The servant bowed and retreated.
Xiao Chen put his hand into his arms again, as if he wanted to get something, but he didn't take it out. Instead, he looked at Chief Wang mysteriously: "Chief Wang, I also brought you a gift, guess what?
What?"
Chief Wang was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly: "As far as I know, Brother Xiao went to Yizhou a few days ago. If I guessed correctly, you should have brought back a piece of Yi Shui Inkstone."
Xiao Chen shook his head: "Hey, can't you pretend that you can't guess it and let me guess for a while?"
As he said that, he took out an exquisite, dark green and unique Yishui inkstone from his arms and placed it gently on the table.
"Haha." Patriarch Wang laughed, "I am a bit too straightforward. Next time, Brother Xiao, give me a hint in advance and I will cooperate with you."
With a smile on his face, Xiao Chen slowly pushed the Yi Shui inkstone in front of him towards Patriarch Wang with both hands: "Chief Wang, take a look at this inkstone, do you like it?"
Chief Wang lowered his head and looked at Yishui Inkstone. With just one glance, he could no longer look away.
This inkstone is not only of high quality, but the carved shape coincides with the current situation of the royal family chief.
Next to the small inkstone nest, an old man was boating on a lake. He held a flute in his hand and stared at the green lake in front of him, elegant and refined.
Holding the inkstone in his hand, the royal family leader's expression of fondness was unmistakable. He stroked the inkstone with his right hand and kept repeating two words in his mouth: "Good inkstone, good inkstone."
"This is the family treasure of the Ouyang family that monopolizes the Yishui inkstone business in Yizhou. I think that only the royal family leader in this world can truly deserve this inkstone." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"The treasure of the clan? How did it get into Brother Xiao's hands?" The royal clan leader was stunned and asked softly.
"The Ouyang family has shielded important criminals from the imperial court, which has implicated the entire family. It would be a pity if this Yi Shui inkstone were to be auctioned, so I will use what I have to give it to the head of the royal clan."
The royal family leader was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly: "It seems that having power is a good thing."
