Zi Ning is not good at needlework, and when he picks up a thin needle, he can only think that his fingers are too thick, and his dexterous hands that draw with a pen and play chess do not know where they are now. Fortunately, Wen'er learned female celebrity by her mother's side since she was a child, although she is not skilled, she is also proficient, and she teaches Zining hand in hand.

"Don't worry, I'm two years older than you, wait for you to study for two years, and when you reach my age, you will be able to practice makes perfect." Wen'er carefully taught, ": The master's clothes have the Shangyi Bureau to manage, and the embroidered sewing is just the clothes of the eunuch maid and the aunt in charge, although this pattern does not need to be tattooed much finely, but the aunts are always particular about dressing, small and big have to change, the raw edge must be changed, the thread has to be changed, the pattern is not liked to be changed, all day long to change and dismantle, dismantle and rechange, every day before dawn to get up to thread the needle, my eyes have not yet opened, I have been here for only a month, and my hands are thick calluses. ”

Zi Ning smiled: Although this work is tiring, it is not torturous, the days in the pulp washing room are hard, as usual, I don't get up at dawn, the palace maid's hands are really not like the hands of the girl's family. ”

"This is the case, in the cold winter and the moon, even the well water is frozen, and the hands are stinging and stinging in the water, how to wash clothes." Wen'er took Zining's hand, turned it over and over again, and only saw that there were scabs in some places, and the hand was swollen, still snow-white and slender": A girl's hand should be like this, fortunately, you don't have a long time to wash your clothes, if it's really dry and coarse, how ugly it is. You have to put your finger guards on, lest you get calluses on your hands. ”

"Which palace maid still has soft and tender hands, if that's the case, then my aunt won't scold me for being lazy."

"There are five princes here, so Aunt Qiao doesn't dare, when the master will take you out, if you really become a pair of thick and rough hands, what do you think."

Hearing Wen'er say this, Zi Ning blushed and glanced at her, "Don't talk nonsense, if nothing else, I'll stay here for the rest of my life, where did the master and prince come from, you don't want to be the same as those people outside." ”

Zining never believes in those things that ascend to the sky in one step, and he doesn't believe that there is a sparrow turning into a phoenix, in the palace dynasties, there are palace maids who can become masters, but there is a concubine Rong in the previous dynasty, that is also Rong Concubine sacrificed herself to save the little prince, and in the end she only got a concubine until she died, she was lonely, and she couldn't get out of the palace again, what is there to yearn for?

Wen'er stuck out her tongue and smiled stupidly, "Okay, I won't say anything more, don't be angry with me, but I'm kidding you." ”

Zining pretended to be angry and turned her head, causing Wen'er to apologize again and again.

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, and it is time to pay tribute, and most of the palace maids in the courtyard are dead relatives, and there is some sadness on their faces.

I heard that the winter solstice can be held for a day, and each person can also get ten dollars in silver, and then there will be food from above, thinking about it like this, everyone can be happy in their hearts.

Early the next morning, everyone lined up to receive the prize. They don't work as errands in front of their masters, they don't have much oil and water, and the reward is twice in a year, one is the first day of the new year, and the other is today, if they encounter happy events in the palace, such as the marriage of the prince and princess, or the joy of the harem concubines, they can also get some rewards, but those are unattainable.

Wen'er checked the money in her hand, and she was already satisfied. Zi Ning had never cared about money before, but now he realized that it was really difficult to move an inch without money in this palace, and it was in response to the old saying, it was really called that the sky should not be, and the earth was not spiritual.

"Today, except for those who are going to the palaces to deliver clothes, everyone else can rest. It's okay to visit the door in each courtyard, but you must not go out of this raccoon bureau, although it's a big holiday, but you can't break the rules at will, if you understand it, you can get the reward. ”

Zining stretched out his hand and took the ten coins of silver handed by his aunt, which was worth half of her monthly silver.

Some palace maids took the reward money and turned around and gave it to the little eunuchs who were running errands outside, and asked them to go outside to exchange for some small snacks, fried lentils, golden crisp corners, brown sugar twist flowers, fried sugar cakes, what nuts and dried goods, and wrapped a big bag.

The Winter Solstice Festival is a small year in the palace, and it can even be said that it is more important than a small year. On the day of the winter solstice, it is necessary to sacrifice and sweep the grave, of course, the palace maids and eunuchs can't think about it, only the saint and the queen mother took the concubine to the Huangling Mountain, and the maids and eunuchs in the palace were also relaxed.

At noon, I heard that the dining room would bring mutton soup, red bean rice and dumplings stuffed with winter bamboo shoots and pork, which really made Wen'er happy.

Wen'er proposed to buy some boiled salted peanuts with the eunuch, and some dry ingredients and a small cup of sweet rice wine, Zi Ning hurriedly shook her head when she heard this, she is a drunk person, drinking will make mistakes, and she will have to be an errand tomorrow, if she really drinks too much, but she will get into trouble": Then the sweet rice wine is not necessary, I am afraid that tomorrow you and I will not even be able to hold the needle and thread steadily, but how to be an errand. ”

Wen'er thought about it, too, she couldn't make a big mistake for the sake of being gluttonous.

The two took advantage of the day's leisure time to move the bedding shop in the house to the courtyard to dry, cleaned the corners and corners of the house, and the only white plum tree outside the sewing room was also picked by Zining and inserted into a clay vase on the wooden table, so that the dim room had some life.

Zi Ning and Wen Er got a bowl of mutton soup, eighteen large dumplings with thin skin and thick depressions, and two bowls of fragrant red bean rice.

In winter, it was dark early, Zining made the bed early, and Wen'er surrounded the fire, heated mutton soup, and ate big meat dumplings.

The winter bamboo shoots in the dumplings are extremely praised, Wen'er eats it with a snapping mouth, this dumpling is trapped, and there is no need to dip it, a mouth full of one, swallowed it without chewing twice, and then licked her lips": Ah, I didn't taste it carefully, there seem to be other ingredients in this dumpling. ”

Zining covered his mouth and laughed: "Are you Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, don't worry, there are more here, I will eat these few, and the rest is all yours." ”

"It turns out that there are five-spice dried grains in it, and it's strange to eat it with fragrant and chewy."

Zining sandwiched an entrance, so delicious that he squinted": The food in the palace is different, I have never eaten such delicious bamboo shoots, and this skin is also very good, better than my mother in the small kitchen before. Then Zi Ning told Wen'er about the bamboo shoots she had eaten in Xianzhuang, Wen'er was surprised again and again, and her saliva was about to come down, so she scooped a bowl of meaty mutton soup and drank it.

"Of course, when this dumpling arrives in the palace, it is called boiled dumpling, and even the name has changed, and the taste must be different. This mutton soup is simmering hot on the fire, you hurry up and drink a bowl of it, and drink it to warm up your body in winter. Wen'er took another bowl and served it for Zi Ning, who also giggled when she heard Wen'er joke.

The two of them ate the hot mutton soup and chewed the dry and fragrant red bean rice, feeling warm all over their bodies. (To be continued.) )