Then people from all the mansions of the Eight Princes arrived, and the relatives of Jiafu, the Wang family and the princes' mansions, also came, Jia Liang was busy for a while, and his sons were also called out to salute guests.

It's almost easy for people to come, and as soon as the Rongxi Hall opens, the maids and servants are busy.

I saw a dried maid fish rushing in, and once again a hot towel was delivered, and then a variety of wine sherbet was loaded on a wooden cart and pushed in, allowing the guests to choose by themselves.

This time it was a banquet outside, and because it was winter, Xing Shuang set a hot pot. In this era, there was already hot pot, and because the north was not good at eating spicy, it was set at the bottom of the bone broth pot.

After everyone was seated, some maids brought a plate of different dipping sauces, and asked the guests to choose by themselves. After the selection is made, it is placed in front of the guest. After putting away the dipping sauce, another maid brought the wine selected by the guests and put it aside.

All placements are placed from the right hand side of the guest. When placed, you must whisper a reminder "Hou Ye beware" or "General beware".

With a soft voice, the maids finally finished arranging everyone's table, and then someone brought a small copper pot, which looked only one-third of the size of an ordinary copper pot, and each one was hot and hot, and placed it at just the right height in front of everyone, so that it would not block the vegetables from being put into the pot, and it would not be too short to overflow the soup.

Seeing this, Ma Shang smiled and said: "This is a novelty, although it is a joint table, it is like a separate table, everyone only guards their own pot, and there is no need to squeeze it." ”

Liu Fang, the son of Li Guogong, said with a smile: "I think it's a novelty to get off the horse and shine my shoes for me, how do you think that you are so thoughtful?" The capital is very muddy in winter, and even a foot of mud is indispensable for entering and exiting the city. I still thought that when I went to visit, I had to prepare a pair of shoes, and then change them when I entered, but I didn't know that I had saved this trouble, but I was prepared in vain. ”

Jia Liang was proud in his heart, but he smiled modestly: "It's all blind insiders, it's not worth mentioning." ”

Ma Shang hurriedly said: "You can't say that, wouldn't it be in vain to waste my sister-in-law's heart." If you want me to say, you have to thank your sister-in-law. In the past, these mud-stained boots were worn into the house and roasted by the fire, and their feet were even colder. It's better to wipe it clean here, and it's warmer than elsewhere, and you haven't seen the stove yet, so it's really well-intentioned. ”

Jia Liang said a few more polite words, and someone came over to toast with a smile, and it became lively for a while.

And in the inner courtyard, a dry woman entered the garden, and it was a different scene.

Because they were in a carriage, the women's shoes were clean. But when you enter the garden, you have to worry about the mud under your feet, who knows that the garden of this Jiafu is paved with stone roads, which are not only spotless, but also dry as indoors, which makes people feel extra relieved to go up.

The woman was curious and asked a few questions, Xing Shuang said with a smile: "If you want to entertain guests today, you naturally have to let people clean it a few times." It was a cloudy day these days, so I asked people to wait with a dry mop at any time, and the slightest moisture would be cleared, so as not to slip and walk unsteadily. ”

When the women heard this, they all wanted to see what the mop was, and Xing Shuang asked people to bring it. Seeing that it was a long pole, with a flat board on it, and a dry cloth stuck on the board, it could absorb water by wiping it on the ground at will, and many people were envious.

"What is this?" The woman asked curiously: "If I want the ground to dry on weekdays, I have to let the maids wipe it with a rag several times, it is convenient for you to look at it." ”

Xing Shuang said with a smile: "But it's made out of idle and boring, and the maids just have to mop the floor, and using this will save time and effort." ”

Someone else asked, "But there are many more, lend them to me, and I will have them go to the carpenter to make some." ”

Xing Shuang said with a smile: "There are very good things to borrow, but they are not valuable, if you want them, I will let them make them and send them to the house." ”

So a group of noble ladies rushed up and begged for it, not polite at all.

Although the housework is not done by these noble wives, who doesn't want the house to be so dry and tidy? The weather in this capital can torture the dead in winter, just to ask someone to return to the house, you have to change a pair of shoes, and no one wants to be so troublesome.

Soon everyone arrived near the Tatefeng Xuan, and saw the lotus lotus champs on the water from a distance, and they became curious again.

"Why are you still feasting by the water in this weather?"

"That pavilion is all enclosed, how can you enjoy the scenery?"

Xing Shuang smiled and said nothing, and Wang on the side smiled: "A few of you monkeys are in a hurry, don't you know when you go?" ”

Jia Mu walked inside, listening with a smile, and was very curious in her heart, and when she got on the suspension bridge and entered the lotus lotus champs, she found that all the curtains were hung, although they did not cover their sight, but they unexpectedly blocked the cold wind.

In the lotus lotus champs, there are silver charcoal stoves all around, but the stove is different from the usual stove, it is completely open, and there is a barbed wire fence on it.

"Why does it smell so good?" As soon as they entered the pavilion, someone shouted, and everyone looked around, and finally found the source of the fragrance, which turned out to be a maid roasting orange peels on the stove.

The fragrance of oranges is baked and diffused to every corner of the pavilion. The maids roasted for a while and then took it off, and then took the pot of hot wine and sat down. After a while, the water in the pot emitted water vapor and rose in a curling curl, wasn't it the "cooking smoke" they saw just now?

Xing Shuang helped Jia's mother to sit down, and said with a smile: "Don't look at the scenery on the lake in winter, but the team we invited is on the opposite side of Qiushuangzhai, wouldn't it be wonderful to listen to the music across the water?" Today, I invited the Kunqu Opera team, and it is precisely because of this ethereal and vague that there is nothing that it has a unique flavor. ”

Everyone said "wonderful", and after a while, there were maids lining up neatly to come in, like in the front yard, first sending hot towels to intervene, and then fish to put on the plate.

The backyard is different from the front yard, where the front yard eats hot pot, and the backyard eats barbecue.

However, these noble ladies don't bake and eat by themselves, so the stoves around this pavilion originally had the function of baking and eating in addition to heating.

Because the orange peel was burned early, the pavilion had a fragrant taste, and the meat was roasted later, so that it would not be full of flavor.

In addition, after one round of roasted meat, the orange peel will be roasted again, which will suppress the meat flavor and make people not feel greasy.

The barbecue is not seasoned and is also used with a dipping sauce. Seeing that the maids of the Jia family were only doing their own things and would not disturb each other, they couldn't help but be curious.

"It's convenient to act like this, but it's hard for you to come up with it."

Xing Shuang said with a smile: "It's just a matter of paying attention to the housework line, this comes in one direction and goes out in one direction, and if there is no collision, it will naturally not get in the way." ”