The so-called Ouyang Xiu's "nephew" was regarded as a scandal, and gradually spread to the forbidden middle school, becoming an idle topic for thousands of palace relatives to spend time after tea and dinner. Once Miao Zhaorong also mentioned it to Jinshang with great interest, asking him if he would let Wang Zhaoming go to try the case, but Jinshang's face changed drastically, he lost his smile, and was indifferent, so Miao Zhaorong didn't dare to ask again. I watched carefully, but I still didn't hear the progress since then, and I think I was still hesitating.

Tanabata is approaching, and the lady who recommended the decoration to the present is paying more and more attention to the crown hair and makeup. The women of the dynasty love to wear flower crowns, and the hair buns are simply combed upside down on weekdays, but the crowns of the hair must be gorgeous and dazzling, especially during festivals, often arranged with flowers, hairpins, snow willows, and golden wisps, full of pearls and emeralds.

One day, Qiuhe finished dressing up Miao Zhaorong, and Yu Jieyu came over. Jieyu looked at Zhaorong and said with a smile: "Sister, please forgive me for being blunt." Qiu He's hair is naturally combed well, but the crown is a little plain, and there is no eye-catching jewelry decoration. ”

Miao Zhaorong also looked at Yu Jieyu's crown and sighed: "I'm also worried, I don't know what jewelry to find to make the crown." I see that although the beads on your flower crown are good, if the Xiangluan Pavilion uses the Fanshang beads given by the Shangguan family, I am afraid that the limelight will inevitably be snatched by her. ”

Yu Jieyu said: "Don't mention it." Since the last time the official family gave her beads, the concubines in the palace and the imperial capital Toneisi went out to buy them, and the wealthy relatives in Beijing saw it, and they also rushed to buy it, and the price of the beads increased tenfold within a month. The broken beads on my head are worth eight hundred dollars. ”

Miao Zhaorong covered his mouth with a fan and said in surprise: "Eight hundred? Isn't it crazy! ”

"That's the price now." Yu Jieyu pursed her lips and said: "If you can buy a good one for 800 yuan, it's just a pity, but unfortunately although you spend a high price, the quality of the beads you buy is always not as good as that one's. ”

Miao Zhaorong lowered his head and groaned, paused, and then said to Jieyu: "I'm afraid that I can't compare to her than the beads, why don't we find some better ones, jade, tortoiseshell, ivory, etc., and privately let the inner secretary visit to buy the one with the best color, and then make it into a crown and wear it out, it may not lose her bead crown." ”

Yu Jieyu nodded and said, "Sister is right. It doesn't matter if you spend more money this time, if you want to buy it, you have to pick the best, and you must not lose to that person, otherwise, we can only watch her install a fox girl by the side of the official family. ”

Miao Zhaorong thought so, smiled and turned his head to ask Qiuhe: "Qiuhe, in your opinion, what jewelry is the crown that sets me better?" How about jadeite? ”

Qiu He didn't answer, lowered his eyebrows, knelt down in front of Zhaorong, and said, "I hope the lady thinks twice, don't ask for expensive jewelry as decoration." ”

Miao Zhaorong was surprised: "Why is this? Get up and speak slowly. ”

Qiu He still knelt and said: "The people of the capital, from the rich families to the common people, do not regard the palace as a fashion. But when they heard what the palace dependents wanted to buy, they followed the rush to buy, so that the price soared. Mrs. Zhang loves to eat Jiangxi kumquat, this matter spread to the people, the price of kumquat immediately soared, I heard that now the price of one pound is enough to buy eight catties of mutton. If Miao Niangzi buys jewelry at a high price, whether it is jadeite, tortoiseshell or ivory, the price of this thing in the country will rise, which is against the will of the monarch and hinders the people's livelihood. ”

Miao Zhaorong thought about it for a while, and smiled at Yu Jieyu: "This kid's words sound a little reasonable. The government has always wanted us to be frugal, and if we knew that our jewelry cost a lot of money, I am afraid that we would not be happy. ”

Yu Jieyu did not object, but frowned and said: "But on the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day, Zhang Niangzi is bound to be decorated with Fanshang beads, even if we find the best jewelry at hand, compared with hers, it will inevitably be inferior." ”

Qiu He responded: "The test of Qixi Festival is intended to choose those who can comb their hair, and ladies do not necessarily need to use expensive jewelry. The official hairstyle, unlike the ladies, does not have to wear fancy crowns. Qiu He thought that at that time, it would be enough to comb the lady's hair, as for the crown, it was really a decorative thing, and it was good to choose some silk flowers, and even the flowers at that time were good. ”

Hearing this, the two ladies shook their heads again and again. Yu Jieyu personally reached out to help Qiuhe up, and said with a smile: "Good girl, thank you for reminding me." When you say these things, you don't guard against me, which shows that your heart is very open. ”

Qiu and thank you, but they are embarrassed, and they don't know how to deal with it. But Miao Zhaorong smiled and said: "We are all a family, whoever recommends someone to be a lady who combs his hair is the same, what do you do?" ”

The next day, Miao Zhaorong asked Qiuhe to comb a small bun without a crown and wig, Qiuhe stood behind her with a diamond glass, and let her see it one after another, but Zhaorong was not at ease, called me over, and said, "You are a boy, and help me see, how is this hair?" ”

Her inadvertent "boy" made my heart warm, and there was some sourness in my nose.

I looked at her hair bun carefully, and said: "This hairstyle is quite innovative, I haven't seen anyone in the palace comb it, and the official family will definitely say yes when they see it." ”

Zhaorong hesitated slightly, and then asked: "If you don't wear a crown, will the official family like it?" ”

I replied: "The minister thinks that the Dong Nei people are reasonable, and the official family should choose someone who can comb his hair, not a person who can make delicate flower crowns, so there is no need to put more effort into the crown, just let the Dong Nei people comb their hair properly." ”

Miao Zhaorong looked at himself in the mirror again, and then smiled: "Okay, I'll listen to you this time." It's just that if you don't wear a crown, this makeup must be delicately painted. ”

I didn't agree, but said, "The official family loves to comb their hair with guidance, so the technique can massage the scalp, straighten out the meridians, and strengthen the body." The test of Qixi Festival, just looking at the crown hair can not see the level of the insider's guidance, so these days the lady combs her hair and may wish to sort out the meridians, so that the good life will rest and wear, Qixi only wears light makeup, and the official family sees the lady's good complexion, and will naturally know that this is the effect of the Dong's inner guidance. ”

On the day of the Chinese Valentine's Day, today with the palace family to drive the lucky Jin Ming Pond Qionglin Garden.

Qionglin Garden is in Shuntianmen Street, facing north, opposite to Jinming Pond. On both sides of the front tooth road, there are ancient pines and strange cypresses, pomegranate orchards, cherry orchards and the like, each with pavilions. In the first year of the Taiping Rejuvenation of the Kingdom, the emperor dug the Jinming Pond with 35,000 soldiers and led the water from the Jinshui River to inject it. There are three bridges on the pond, the vermilion lacquer is arranged, the lower row of goose pillars, the center is uplifted, like the shape of flying rainbows. At the end of the bridge, five halls are connected and stand in the center of the pool. In the annual flower season, here the willow lock Hongqiao, the flowers linger in the phoenix, all over the bloom frangipani, jasmine, Shandan, Ruixiang, Hanxiao, Shexiang and other Fujian, Guangzhou, two Zhejiang into the south flower, there are Meiting peony, the scenery can not be counted.

This year's Flower Dynasty Festival, because the official family was worried about the affairs of the court, the eighth princess was sick again, so she had no mood to drive the pond garden. It wasn't until Qixi that I heard that the autumn peony that Qionglin Yuan had taken from Taiping Xingguo Temple had bloomed, so I temporarily decided to enjoy the flowers and choose a new secretary here.

Today, the queen and princess entered the main hall of Jinming Pond first. The hall is set up with vermilion lacquer and gold dragon bed, the dragon screen of the clouds and water in the river, the various colored peonies moved from the Qionglin Garden in each row on both sides, the purple and red, the flowers are like brocade, and the flowers are not lively.

After a while, the concubines and concubines arrived, and the ladies were all dressed up and entered one after another. Compared with the hairstyle, the most advanced of the ladies is Yu Jieyu, but I saw that she combed a bun to the sky, the double bun stood side by side, leaned back slightly, and added a large spin heart Luo Juan crown, Luo Juan swirled and rolled together like petals, divided into four or five spins, the edge of the petals was crimson, the color gradually became lighter inward, and the center was close to light white. The crown is half a foot wide and five or six inches high, although no pearls are used, but there is still a sense of grandeur and showiness.

Jin Shang saw the chin and smiled: "Yu Niangzi's crown is good." ”

Yu Jieyu looked at the people behind her and said happily: "This is what Cai'er did for her concubines." ”

Gu Caier, an insider, stepped forward to meet the official family. She is mediocre and not stunning, but she should be calm and speak and behave appropriately.

Today, I praised her twice, and then gave Yu Jieyu to sit and wait for the other two ladies to come in.

Miao Zhaorong immediately entered the hall. She took Qiu He and my suggestion, combed a bun like a magnolia bud, green silk swirling, the luster can be seen, no crown, only a small locust tree flower and leaf on the side of the flower bulb, the makeup is also plain, the face is white and flawless, no flowers, only a little rouge on the cheeks, with a touch of redness, looks light and elegant.

The concubines were surprised to see that she was not wearing a crown, and they all turned to the official family and waited for him to express his position.

Jinshang looked at it for a long time, and finally praised with a smile: "This hair is well combed, and Zhaorong looks good today, it looks like he has returned to when he was a daughter at fifteen or sixteen." ”

Miao Zhaorong was very pleased, and hurriedly called Qiuhe to come over, and thanked them both.

So everyone was more curious about Zhang Meiren's makeup, and they all raised their heads to look outside the hall, waiting for her to come in.

Zhang Meiren waited for a long time before entering. When his figure appeared in the temple, the audience was shocked.

On her head, the crown of hair beads is about five inches wide, high ruler, lacquer yarn is the bottom, Luo Xuan is the leaf, the large leaf is stacked with fine leaves twenty or thirty heavy, and the big leaf is like a pavilion, each leaf is wound with gold thread, decorated with snow-white Fanshang pearls, increasing in turn according to the size of the leaf, and the crown is as big as a dragon's eye.

But what surprised everyone the most was not this luxurious bead crown, but the real red flower phoenix brocade gown she was wearing.

Today, the middle palace wears a crown of golden clouds and moons, a white jade dragon hairpin before and after, and a red jacket.

When the concubine gathers for a festival banquet, before going out, someone will be sent to inquire what color the queen's dress is on this day, so as to avoid being the same color as it. Now Zhang Meiren openly chooses to wear a real red gown, which is really rude.

Zhang Meiren was still unhurried under the attention of everyone, Shi Shiran entered the palace, glanced at the queen, and then bowed down, without shame.

The queen was not embarrassed, sat upright and bowed to her, and then smiled slightly: "Mrs. Zhang's crown is so exquisite, what is the name?" ”

Zhang Meiren replied proudly: "It's called Guan Qunfang." After speaking, the two cuts of autumn water turned around, looking towards the present, as if waiting for him to praise.

Now he stared at her, silent. After a while, he slowly raised his hand, covered his face with his sleeve, and said: "There is a lot of white hair, and there are no taboos." ”

Obviously, she didn't expect this result, and Zhang Meiren was stunned for a while. Everyone watched, and now she ignored her, she couldn't help but bow her head, her cheeks flushed, like the color of the gown on her body faded to her face.

"The official family forgives the sins......," she whispered, "Concubine Rong retired and went to the side hall to change the crown." ”

"Go ahead." Today, he raised his head and added: "By the way, I also changed my clothes...... This color does not suit you today. ”

Zhang Meiren agreed, took a few steps back, turned around again, and walked out of the hall quickly. Xu Jingnu, the insider who combed her hair, originally bowed down after her, originally looking confident, thinking that she wanted to wait for the beauty to introduce her and then thank Tianen, but she didn't know that there was such a change. Jingnu has a beautiful face, but Jinshang only glances at her, and has no intention of talking to her, which makes her at a loss now, and she doesn't know whether to retreat or stay. Kneeling alone for a moment in embarrassment, he finally couldn't help but get up, and ran out to chase Zhang Meiren in a panic.

Miao Zhaorong and Yu Jieyu looked at each other from afar, and the corners of their eyes and eyebrows were happy. Some of the concubines covered their faces with fans, some turned their faces slightly to the outside of the hall, and some coughed in a low voice, and these derived small movements were all to hide their irrepressible laughter.

Today, I will chat with the queen and the ladies again, and talk about some scattered topics about peonies. After waiting for a long time, I finally saw Zhang Meiren come in again, this time I changed the purple gown, the bead crown has been removed, and only a simple panfu bun was pulled. Maybe he was a little angry, he didn't wear any ornaments on his hair, his face was strained, and he didn't say a word after bowing.

Jin Shang smiled: "Mrs. Zhang's bun is beautiful, and the hairpin flowers are even better." Immediately walked to a thousand leaf purple peony "leaf bottom purple", personally picked one, hairpin on Zhang Niangzi's hair.

The ladies all boasted that they were very beautiful when they saw it, and Mrs. Zhang looked a little gloomy. Yu Jieyu saw that the atmosphere was improving, and she dared to laugh: "It is said that the official family is eccentric, and sure enough, there are good flowers and flowers for Mrs. Zhang!" ”

Imajo smiled: "You are wearing such a big flower crown, if you are given flowers, where should you go with the hairpin?" ”

When Yu Jieyu heard this, she actually took off the crown twice in public and threw it to Gu Caier, then spread her hands and said, "Now I don't have a crown." ”

Jinshang smiled, and went to pick a "dizzy sandalwood heart" to her hairpin on her head: "The outer edge of this flower is dark, and the calyx is light and white, and the deep sandalwood points its heart, isn't it similar to your crown?" ”

Then he chose a "Qianxi Scarlet" to replace the locust flower ball on Miao Zhaorong's head, and said: "This flower reflects better." ”

Seeing this, the rest of the concubines gathered around and asked the official family to give flowers, and the official family agreed one by one and gave each of them a hairpin. Finally, I went to the most prosperous Chiba Wei flower in the hall, carefully selected the good one, walked back to the throne, and put the hairpin on the crown of the queen who had been sitting there smiling and watching.

When the princess saw that she liked it, she also pulled her father's sleeve and said that she wanted to wear flowers, so she led her down and picked a "Yao Huang". The princess was still drooping**, and she couldn't put such a big flower in her hair, so she took it and played with it in her hand.

The palace was a happy and beautiful scene, and the queen asked the official family about the decoration at this moment: "This new decoration, the official family can be selected?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the laughter dissipated instantly, and everyone held their breath and waited for today's answer.

"Selected." Jinshang said, his eyes turned to Dong Qiuhe, Gu Caier, and Xu Jingnu, who was timidly hiding behind Zhang Meiren.

"From now on, the insiders of the Shangfu Bureau ......" Today's eyes froze slightly on Qiu He's face, but finally swept over and turned to another, "Gu is the secretary of the office, and he is in charge of the scarf." ”

When the answer was revealed, most of the people in the hall were stunned and speechless, and even Gu Cai'er was stunned and did not react.

Listening to Shicai's comments on the crown of several ladies today, it should be more reasonable for Qiuhe to be elected, not to mention that Qiuhe's appearance is far better than Cai'er.

But Qiuhe, who was a little nervous at first, calmed down at this time, breathed a sigh of relief, and felt relieved.

Sporadicly, there was gradually a humane goodness, congratulations to Gu Cai'er, and Cai'er thanked her for the gift. The queen asked why Jinshang decided that Gu was the winner, and he only replied simply: "The crown made by Cai'er is frugal and simple, but it does not lose the nobility of the heavenly family, and the hairstyle is also well combed." ”