The two grandmothers sent by the Queen Mother to the Hou Mansion in Jiannan, one surnamed Gong and the other surnamed Zuo, are both forty or fifty years old, and they have been on errands in the palace for many years, and they are old. Among them, Mama Gong is the person next to the Queen Mother, but Mama Zuo is a female official of the Shangyi Bureau, and she has the official position of being in charge.

Although Mama Gong is not young, she can still see that she was beautiful when she was young. She was of extraordinary bearing, elegant manners, eloquent in her mouth, and was clearly a very cultured lady. When she came to build the Nanhou Mansion, her main responsibility was to instruct Zhao Xiu on etiquette and teach her the rules and regulations of the royal family and the clan.

As for Mama Zuo, she is an optimistic person who smiles before speaking, although her appearance is not outstanding, but she also has good facial features and a round face, and she feels blessed when she looks at it, but it will not make people feel fat. Although she feels more down-to-earth than Mama Gong, her etiquette and demeanor are also impeccable. She is the head of the Shangyi Bureau, and she is actually familiar with poetry and books, but she has a more cheerful temperament. She is responsible for teaching Zhao Xiu's clan common sense and allusions, that is, to let Zhao Xiu memorize all the clan members, imperial relatives and relatives of the Great Chu Dynasty in the next year, lest she become the princess of Guangping in the future, and meet other clan relatives when interacting with people, but she doesn't know who the other party is, and she doesn't know what taboos the other party has.

Zhang greeted the arrival of the two grandmothers very politely and solemnly, and Zhao Xiu followed her to meet the two. She saw that the two of them were quite kind, their eyes were very positive, and they didn't look like they would make things difficult, so she couldn't help but think of what Gao Zhen said. He told her not to worry about Mama's affairs, saying that it had already been sorted out. Could it be that these two people were specially selected by him?

In any case, Mama Gong and Mama Zuo are indeed very good people. Zhao Xiu only accompanied the Zhang family and talked to them for half an hour, and he began to like them.

Mama Gong's temperament is more indifferent, but she is definitely not a lonely person, and she will not use her knowledge to put pressure on people during conversations. Zhang's mood was very happy when he talked to her, because she knew all the topics that Mama Gong was talking about, and the level of understanding was still half a catty or two taels with Mama Gong. Zhang didn't feel that he was being overwhelmed in his studies. can also point a few words at the other party, and at the same time, the books she collects make the other party very envious. On the other hand, Mama Gong is good at perfumery, and Zhang can only humbly ask for advice about this kind of thing. However, Mama Gong is not as good as Zhang's in Danqing, and she also said that during her stay in Jiannanhou Mansion, she should ask Zhang's for advice.

Zhao Xiu smiled and watched coldly, and he was not sure whether Mama Gong's level of knowledge was really similar to that of Zhang's, and whether she was really not good at Danqing? Mama Gong gives the impression of being an extremely well-bred lady. The template of etiquette norms is bookish in itself, and it looks even more stylish than Zhang's. Zhao Xiu always felt in her heart that she should be quite knowledgeable.

In fact, Zhao Xiu has a better impression of Mama Zuo. Although Mama Zuo sometimes speaks with flattery, making people feel that she is currying favor with the ancestors of the Zhao family, considering her identity, it is normal for her to say that she is about to leave the palace. Older female officials, if they have no relatives to rely on after leaving the palace, their own net worth and money are limited. Most of them need to find a house to do the pension. If Mama Zuo votes for Zhao Xiu, she may be able to enter the Guangping Mansion in the future, which is a rare and good place. She's deliberately flattering, and there's nothing out of the ordinary.

Zhao Xiu admires her because she can not only be polite and thoughtful, but also have a dignified manners, and can not lose her cheerful and lively nature, which is very rare. has survived in the harem for decades, and her status is still a female official with a low status, and she has experienced several palace coups. is still safe and sound, naturally not an ordinary woman. Listening to Mama Zuo's tone, she also knows a lot of life knowledge such as cooking, health preservation, flower planting, embroidery, etc., even if she doesn't have that bookish atmosphere. He is still a knowledgeable elder, and he is more intimate.

It's not that the palace grandmother makes people feel unkind, it's just that her style is very similar to the traditional court lady. Zhao Xiu has seen the Queen Mother and Princess Zhong of Guangping, and her gestures are all that kind of style, and she is dignified. Elegance is also there, but it makes people feel a little pretended. However, the Queen Mother and the Zhong family of Guangping Wangfu pretended to be very natural, which did not make people feel that they were pretending, but had a natural sense of elegance. In contrast, Mama Gong was a little more deliberate. However, compared with many famous ladies and high-ranking ladies that Zhao Xiu knows, Mama Gong is already more natural and elegant than most people.

Zhang admired this kind of elegance very much, and said to his granddaughter Zhao Xiu in private: "You have to learn etiquette from Mama Gong." On weekdays, you are always at a glance, although you have learned the rules for more than ten years, but you just have a false shelf. It's enough to show your hand once in a while, it's enough to deceive people, but you have to live under the noses of nobles for many years, and you have to show your stuffing in less than two days, and you can't be laughed at to death by then? In this year, you have given me to concentrate on learning, when you don't need to be mentioned by others, you can behave as elegantly as Mama Gong, and I can rest assured. You don't have to worry about my family. ”

Zhao Xiu was stunned, and then couldn't help but smile bitterly. When she invited the Zhang family out of the mountain to regain the palm of the feed, she just wanted to find someone to share the burden, but she didn't expect that the Zhang family was used to it now, but instead took her into the army. The housekeeper doesn't care about the house, Zhao Xiu doesn't care, but if she really wants to learn the etiquette rules from the two grandmothers for a year, she will be suffocated to death.

But the Zhang family made up their minds and never allowed Zhao Xiu to be lazy, and even persuaded Zhao Wei to persuade his sister: "My sister is now just entering the palace once in a while, and seeing the Queen Mother once in a while, and she is an outsider, even if there is any negligence in the number of etiquette, the Queen Mother will not care about you." But once you marry into the Guangping Palace, you will be the granddaughter-in-law of the Queen Mother, so naturally you will have to enter the palace to fulfill your filial piety. At that time, the Queen Mother will also be more strict with her sister. In order to be stable in the future, my sister will work harder this year. ”

Zhao Xiu had no choice but to agree.

The Zhang family specially vacated a small building behind Zhao Xiu's courtyard for the two grandmothers to live in, which not only ensured the independence of their respective lives, but also made it convenient for them to come to Zhao Xiu every day to guide Zhao Xiu's homework. In addition, the two grandmothers did not have maids, so the Zhang family arranged two girls and two mothers-in-law for each of them to wait for their daily life.

In this way, Zhao Xiu got up early every morning, accompanied the Zhang family for breakfast, and then went to the palace and the two on the left to start practicing etiquette. The location was not in her yard, but in the Tingfeng Hall in the garden. The place is big and bright, and the scenery around it is good. Mama Gong and Mama Zuo are both elegant people, and they agree that practicing surrounded by beautiful scenery can maintain a good mood. Listening to the wind hall and quiet, except for the banquet, basically will not be used, and no one will come to disturb on weekdays, the most suitable.

Since the Tingfeng Hall was set as the practice venue, Mama Gong and Mama Zuo took people to decorate it. They also went to greet Zhang's and asked for some furniture and furnishings, and Zhang's ordered the eldest girl Xia Lu to take the key to the warehouse and lead them over to pick up things, whatever they wanted.

They asked people to move all kinds of common furniture, including chairs, beds, tables, etc., as well as many daily necessities such as tea sets, eating utensils, incense burners, etc., and arranged the Tingfeng Hall into a room with various purposes. For example, the position in the middle is arranged according to the appearance of the palace, like a place for formal ceremonies; The east room is arranged as a place for living, sitting and lying; And the west room became the form of a feast. Zhao Xiu went in to take a look, and he felt like a real-life drill in his heart.

Mama Gong taught etiquette, and it did start with a real-life drill. The first thing I was taught was walking. There was no special posture prescribed, she only let Zhao Xiu keep walking in the house, sometimes walking slower, sometimes walking faster, and constantly reminding her to adjust her posture and pace in the process of walking. If there is something that makes her feel uncomfortable, then change it immediately, and be sure to find a walking posture that is elegant and good-looking, and makes it difficult for me.

In addition to walking, even the posture of getting up and sitting down has to be learned from scratch. It's all the foundation of the basics. According to Mama Gong, when you finish learning the basics, it's time to start practicing the salute. When you see different people, you have to do different things. When you meet different people, you also need to respond differently after others have done different things. In addition to this, there is also the etiquette of eating, drinking tea, and speaking...... There are so many things that are very cumbersome. Zhao Xiu listened to it, and only felt that it was not easy to learn all of them in a year. Not to mention that the rules and regulations of the clan are also very complicated and lengthy.

In contrast, Zhao Xiu prefers Mama Zuo's classes. The lessons of the two grandmothers are not carried out independently, usually when Zhao Xiu is practicing sitting posture, Zuo Mama will start teaching what she wants to teach.

She was responsible for introducing Zhao Xiu to the various complex kinship relationships and historical allusions in the royal family, not to explain them bluntly, but to tell them as eloquently as a story. She talked about the origin of Emperor Taizu, the origin of the old Gao family, the harem concubines of Emperor Taizu, the relationship between the princes and the open and secret battles between each other, and so on. There are many things that Zhao Xiu didn't understand before, but now after listening to her, it will be clear at a glance.

Among them, there are many secrets that are not known to others, usually only circulated in the court or within the clan, and few outsiders know about them. Even if it is a family like Jiannanhou Mansion that has a close relationship with the royal family, the current head of the family may not know these ranks. Until today, Zhao Xiu didn't know why Emperor Taizu didn't like the first emperor and favored King Ying more, but he still chose to let the first emperor inherit the unification.

There is also King Ying's biological mother, Concubine Guo Shu, who originally intended to poison the first emperor before Emperor Taizu was about to go on a big trip, so as to seize the throne for his beloved son, but was discovered and stopped by Emperor Taizu. The rumored martyrdom of Concubine Guo Shu was actually given death by the first emperor on the orders of Emperor Taizu.

and when the first emperor was still the prince, he was really a gentle gentleman who was praised by everyone, even if his talent was obviously inferior to his brother, he still had a lot of old ministers to support him. Zhao Xiu guessed that his grandfather Lao Jungong probably looked away like this, right?

In addition to the palace secrets, which royal palace is not on good terms with which noble, which princess robbed her husband with which aunt and grandmother of the princess's mansion, and which clan's female relatives almost married into a certain princess's mansion...... These secrets of information in the upper circles of the capital also have important reference value.

Zhao Xiu practiced etiquette and behavior hard every day, and happily listened to the gossip of the royal clan. As the days passed, the results of the February exam were about to come out. (To be continued.) )