Episode 52 Afternoon Tea and the Princess

On the afternoon of the 27th, the sun was shining, and a small white table was placed on the courtyard lawn of the Princess Liaoyang Mansion, and a white chair was placed next to it. Next to the small table is a small silver trolley, which is divided into upper and lower levels, on which are placed all kinds of delicate refreshments, tea sets, milk, juice, and wet towels......

On the small table is a white lace tablecloth, on which is a delicate blue and white porcelain tea set, and a pastry stand. The pastry rack is divided into three tiers, with several types of sandwiches on the lower floor, traditional English muffins on the middle floor, and petit fours and fruit tarts on the upper tier. Next to the pastry rack, there are several small cups and saucers, which contain raisins, croissants, and caviar.

On the lawn around the tea table, six identical dachshunds ran and frolicked, jumping and laughing with each other, which was very gratifying. Or the six that Xiang Xiaoqiang saw in the garden of the Marquis Mansion in Changping when he first came to Daming. It's just that it was still a puppy at that time, and now it is much older, but it is just as cheerful, which fully demonstrates the docile and cheerful characteristics of this dog. The dogs are pleasantly in harmony with the white tea table, tempting refreshments, and the green evergreen lawn and the surrounding quaint Japanese garden.

Under the corridor, two or three Praetorian Guards loomed occasionally. Obviously, the security measures at the Princess Mansion have been doubled today.

In the distance, there was a faint sound of girls laughing. Then, Zhu Yourong and Fourteen Gege walked over side by side, arm in arm, talking and laughing. Immediately after that, another wheelchair was pushed out, and Xiang Xiaoqiang leaned on the wheelchair sickly, letting Hu Jiong push it. Behind them, there were two girls walking out side by side. One is Wei Zijin and the other is Xiao Wu.

Several people came to the tea table, Fourteen Gege and Xiang Xiaoqiang were still in wheelchairs, Zhu Yourong was sitting on a chair, and the three of them began to drink afternoon tea affectionately and chat. It is said to be drinking afternoon "tea", but in fact, this kind of English afternoon tea is more of a social activity, and the men and women of the upper class get together in the afternoon to eat, drink, and chat, like a small salon, tea is not necessarily the main thing. Zhu Yourong drank black tea, and Xiang Xiaoqiang and Shishige couldn't drink tea because they were still taking medicine, so they drank juice and milk.

Wei Zijin, Xiao Wu, and Hu Jiong stood left and right.

……

Today, Zhu Yourong came to Liaoyang Princess's Mansion to see Fourteen Gege.

Zhu Yourong originally wanted to visit Fourteen Gege and Xiang Xiaoqiang on the 25th, but was unanimously stopped by the imperial doctors, uncles, and nurses from the generals of the Command Headquarters to their own families, and everyone did not allow Zhu Yourong to risk being infected when the other party's condition had not improved. Zhu Yourong had no choice but to stay in the fortress and just call to say hello. As a result, it was not until the 27th today, when the condition of the two improved significantly, that Zhu Yourong was "released" by everyone.

Hu Jiong was so excited today, he didn't expect to see Her Majesty the Empress. I've been to the palace many times in the past, but I can't see Your Majesty any time. I didn't expect to see it in Princess Liaoyang's Mansion this time.

Fourteen Gege's first illness is almost better now, except for the occasional cough or two. Xiang Xiaoqiang was infected, and he was still coughing, but he no longer had a fever and could participate in activities normally. So the seating arrangement is very particular. The wind slightly crossed the courtyard, Zhu Yourong sat upwind, Xiang Xiaoqiang sat downwind, and Fourteen Gege sat in the middle of the side. In this way, Zhu Yourong can be avoided from being infected to the greatest extent.

Zhu Yourong has already condoled with the condition of the condolences. Now that the three of them were seated, Zhu Yourong opened his mouth to formally thank Fourteen Gege, thanking her for her contribution to the Ming army's entry into the customs.

"My sister is very smart and understands righteousness," Zhu Yourong took Fourteen Gege's hand, revealing his true feelings, "In the midst of illness, he can still drag his sick body to sacrifice a key plan for the country and the nation, so that the Ming army was spared from storming Hangu Pass and saved the lives of countless Ming soldiers...... Well, there are countless lives of Qing soldiers...... It also saved the people of Guanzhong and Shanxi from fire and water...... I am here to replace the families of the soldiers and the suffering people of Shanxi Province, thank my sister! ”

"Ah...... Your Majesty," Fourteen Gege hurriedly lowered his head, with a look of sincere fear on his face, and said flatteredly, "How dare this Liaoyang be...... Liaoyang is in his position, and this is all a matter of Liaoyang...... Your Majesty just called Liaoyang's name, the word 'sister' really hurts Liaoyang......"

"Buckle ...... Buckle ......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was sick in a wheelchair, coughing twice from time to time, he kept coughing for the past two days, and now the vocal cords of the cough have changed, no longer the normal "cough cough" sound, but a sick "buckle" sound. He coughed, nibbled on a piece of cake in his hand, and squinted at the two girls there making little girl shapes, watching with great joy and joy in his heart. Fourteen Gege once claimed that this kind of "little children and warblers in the backyard are disgusting to think about", but now he has started a "dress rehearsal" with Zhu Yourong in the backyard.

The two girls glanced at him at the same time, and then looked at each other with a smile, and they both made a look of "we don't care about him, let him cough", looking intimate, as if they were close friends.

How can Xiang Xiaoqiang not understand this? My heart is even more happy.

"My sister is only a few years older than me," Zhu Yourong said with a smile, "It's the princess of Daming again, so why don't I call my sister?" Don't call my sister...... Hehe, what's it called? ”

"Buckle ...... Buckle ......" Xiang Xiaoqiang coughed and interjected sickly, "Your Majesty's sister, it should be called 'eldest princess'......"

Zhu Yourong was stunned, and Fourteen Gege was also stunned, all looking at Xiang Xiaoqiang, I don't know why he suddenly brought up the issue of the title of Princess Liaoyang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang took the cake and nibbled on it, with an inexplicable expression, looking at the two of them, as if to say: What? What did I say wrong?

He suddenly felt his left foot and right knee kicked at the same time under the table. On the table, the two girls were still smiling intimately with low eyebrows.

I see. The left foot was kicked by the fourteen squares sitting next to him. She wants to stop talking about herself, she doesn't want to fight for any more titles. And the right knee was kicked by Zhu Yourong, who was sitting opposite. She sat far away and couldn't reach her kick directly, so she could only raise her leg and kick her knee. Zhu Yourong probably blamed herself for interjecting such a sentence at this time, so that she couldn't get off the stage.

Zhu Yourong looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and then at Fourteen Gege, a little embarrassed, so he smiled and said:

"Sister Liaoyang is only two or three years older than me, that is my peer, although the original canonization was called 'Liaoyang Princess', but needless to say, this 'Liaoyang Princess' must be the eldest princess. My younger sisters are usually called princesses and princesses, but when it comes to it, they must all be the eldest princesses. Well, it's you, it's you. ”

"Poof...... Baba Blah ......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang took a bite of cake crumbs, choked and coughed, picked up the juice and sent it down, and it took a long time to recover. Hu Jiong, Wei Zijin, and Xiao Wu behind him hurriedly stepped forward and wiped the cake crumbs on the table.

"Uh......" Fourteen Ge Waner smiled, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by 'Mars'?" ”

Zhu Yourong smiled, glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and smiled at Fourteen Gege:

"It's quite an invented word, which means that this person doesn't know anything, as if he has just come to Earth from Mars. It means something like 'oolong'. ”

"Uh......" Fourteen Gege laughed again, "then...... What is an 'oolong'? ”

Zhu Yourong smiled and said:

"My sister doesn't know, 'oolong' is a Cantonese slang word, which means that I am out of the foreign appearance, out of embarrassment, and I was taught by the last time I came back from Nanyang School. However, it is appropriate to describe yourself here. Hehehe......"

Fourteen Gege also laughed, and the two girls looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang again and laughed at him together.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also waved his hand, holding half a piece of cake and coughing and laughing, but he knew in his heart that Zhu Yourong had officially promoted the fourteen grids from "princess" to "eldest princess" when he said this. Wei Zijin behind him also understood, and remembered that the first thing he did after going back was to deal with the title of Princess Liaoyang, and promote the various indicators of Princess Liaoyang from "princess" to "eldest princess" as soon as possible.

In the Han dynasty of China, princesses were divided into three classes according to their generation: princesses, eldest princesses, and eldest princesses. The emperor's daughter is called the princess, the emperor's sisters are called the eldest princess, and the emperor's aunt is called the eldest princess. However, this is used when there is no title, for example, when courtiers or maids call it, they are all called "Her Royal Highness the Princess", "Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess", and "Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess". But when you call them together with titles, you generally just say "Princess Liaoyang", "Princess Yong'an", and "Princess Xiuning......

When the fourteen grids were canonized, they were very vague at the beginning, but they were canonized as "Liaoyang Princess", and they didn't say whether they were princesses or eldest princesses. Originally, in terms of age, Fourteen Gege should be the same age as Zhu Yourong, so it should be the eldest princess. However, there are very few examples of canonization of women with foreign surnames as princesses before the Ming Dynasty, and even if they are canonized, they are all sealed as a title, and they will not really regard her as their own family, and they generally do not study the seniority. However, the princess and the eldest princess are very different in terms of rank and status, the treatment they enjoy, and the etiquette standards for formal occasions. Although they are both princesses, the respect and inferiority of the elders and juniors are different after all.

Now Zhu Yourong personally admitted that the fourteen grids were finalized as the eldest princess, and Xiang Xiaoqiang could be regarded as having completed the purpose of "correcting the name" of the fourteen grids. However, I am afraid that the annuity of fourteen grids will not be increased. Zhu Yourong, this girl, played a trick, opened her eyes and said that she was canonized according to the eldest princess. Needless to say, the annuity is also given according to the eldest princess. It's not going up now.

But then again, when she was canonized at the beginning, because considering the great significance of her defection to Nanming, the 700,000 annuity set for her was already quite high, and it completely reached the level of the eldest princess. Zhu Yourong is also very kind.

……