The courtyard where Zhao Taozhuang lives is called "Buhua Garden". As the name suggests, the courtyard is full of flowers and plants. There are only a few rockeries in it. Looking around, even the ice and snow cannot cover the green branches. , the evergreen plants and trees poked their heads unwilling to be lonely.
As the snow blanket is obviously higher than the ground, you can imagine what a lively and prosperous scene it will be in the coming spring.
Not only that, the floor tiles and railings are also engraved with various flower patterns: twining peonies, twining peonies, broken florets, linked jewelry...
Because it was still snowing, they did not walk through the cobblestone path in the courtyard, but entered along the corridors on the left and right sides.
The verandah here is like a greenhouse, sealed with colored glass, and there are earth dragons running underground. When you walk in, it's as warm as spring and not cold at all.
There is a beauty stand on the outside of the corridor. Naturally, there are not many people to lean on it this season - so there is a row of ivory red and tooth white glazed pattern hexagonal flower pots, which are more and more bright with red flowers and green leaves. At a glance, they are blooming in full bloom. Fire, the atmosphere is very close to the end of the year.
Zhao Taozhuang led everyone into the house, and the maids rushed up to untie their masters' fur coats.
"Although this Jinzhai Cuimei is not very famous, I just love this taste." Zhao Taozhuang ordered someone to make tea and serve fruits. Zhao Taozhuang greeted, "Try it! If you don't like it, I still have it here. There are several other teas that my grandmother rewarded.”
Sheng Weiqiao and others naturally couldn't say they didn't like it. They took a sip from the sweet white glazed heron and lotus painted gold tea bowl and said: "This tea is emerald green, standing up like eyebrows in the water. It tastes sweet and refreshing [Note 1]. No wonder You'll like it."
Zhao Taozhuang also recommended the snacks that come with the tea: "This snowflake cake [Note 2] is fried in oil. It always feels a bit greasy when eaten alone, but it goes well with this tea."
While they were having tea, Sheng Weiqiao and his party had to take a look at her boudoir - only to see that the room was covered with green-bottomed branches, four-season flowers, and gold woven patterns. Probably because there was a thick curtain on the door during this season. There is no screen, only a brocade (ji) carved red mother-of-pearl inlaid with openwork and fringe patterns is set up in the inner hall. Behind the low couch, there is a black lacquered floor with carved curly grass pattern inlaid with mica and embellished with a picture of a lady's hairpin. Seat screen.
At this moment, Sheng Weiqiao glanced at the picture of ladies with hairpins and recognized that one of the girls, who was wearing a snake bun, an jade rocker, and a triple dress of white inside, green outside, and purple outside, was none other than Zhao Tao. The makeup is a gesture of smiling slightly, lowering the head, and inserting a peach blossom on the temples.
"My fifth brother likes painting. Last spring, he saw the three of us sisters playing in the garden, so he painted it." Zhao Taozhuang noticed her gaze and introduced with a smile, "After that, I thought it was good, so I asked people to paint it. Enter this screen."
Sheng Weiqiao took another closer look and discovered that the position of the picture in the center of the screen was originally two pieces of colored glass. It seemed that a mechanism was set up to allow the pictures inside to be changed at will.
"Beauty is like a painting, so of course it must be painted as a souvenir." She praised with a smile. There was not much emotion on her face, but she remembered Sheng Suihe's advice. She didn't want to get too close to the Zhao family, but secretly in her heart I admire the youngest girl in the picture - she should be the third daughter of the Zhao family, Zhao Taomei, Zhao Taozhuang's cousin, she is so beautiful and beautiful!
Sheng Weiqiao is also a very beautiful girl. It’s not that Zhao Taomei is so beautiful that she feels ashamed, but Sheng Weiqiao’s temperament is calm and clean, not aggressive. She is quiet, delicate, delicate, and even a little naive. The beauty of Zhao Taoyi is flamboyant and gorgeous, which reminds people of the apricot blossoms all over the mountains and plains in March. The momentum of "the apricots are burning in the forest" is overwhelming and surging. It is a beauty that seems weak but is full of aggression.
"If this girl appears in a crowd, even if she is surrounded by people like me who are not inferior to her beauty, at a glance, she will be the first one to notice." Sheng Weiqiao thought silently, with a little regret, "I should My brother told me not to get too close to the Zhao family, I really want to see her with my own eyes!"
But she didn’t know that in the back hall at this moment, Mrs. Qin was leaning on the pocket with the elastic ink landscape inlaid with longevity pattern on the bottom of her teeth, and she was talking to Mother Ge: “Look at the girls we saw today. ?”
Mother Ge knelt down on the gilt yellow pear wood footrest with plum pattern beside the couch, and gently beat her legs with a small jade hammer. She said softly: "You are willing to ask this, obviously you are somewhat satisfied. Otherwise, , forget it once you’ve seen it, I’m too lazy to mention a word.”
"After all, you know what I mean." Mrs. Qin smiled slightly and said, "What do you think of telling him to Xiao Wu?"
The Xiaowu she was talking about was the son of the eldest son of the Zhao family, the author of the picture of ladies with hairpins in Zhao Taozhuang's house, the fifth son of the Zhao family, Zhao Yue.
His father, Zhao Shi, was the eldest son of Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Zhao, and the elder brother of Princess Gaomi. When he was young, he married his childhood sweetheart, his cousin Qiu, and the couple had always had a good relationship.
The two gave birth to eight children, but three died in infancy. The only survivors were the eldest son Zhao Shan, the eldest daughter Zhao Taoshang, the second son Zhao Cong, the fifth son Zhao Yue and the third daughter Zhao Taomei.
It's a pity that Qiu's health was not very good in her early years. Although she improved a lot after careful nursing after getting married, she seemed to have exhausted her energy after having children one after another. Not long after Zhao Taomei was born, she died of illness.
At that time, Mrs. Qin and Zhao Shi were both very sad. Even Zhao Shi stayed in Northern Xinjiang for these years in order to avoid being moved by the situation and never came back. Poems and books were passed down by the Zhao family. Zhao Shi was an official in the imperial examination, although he was not like his younger brother Zhao. Qiu is ranked among the top three flowers, but she is also ranked among the top two.
However, he went round and round in the middle, but he decided to join the army. Now he is the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and his official position is the third-rank Huaihua General.
The eldest and second young masters of the Zhao family were sent to Northern Xinjiang for training a few years ago because they were men.
However, the fourth son of the concubine, Zhao Bu, and Zhao Yue, who were still young at the time, were both kept by Mrs. Qin. Together with their two daughters, Zhao Taoshang and Zhao Taoyi, they all grew up under the old lady and have been living in Zhao. In the mansion.
This Zhao Yue is eighteen years old this year. His sisters are all very beautiful women, and his appearance is not bad either.
It's just that because he is obsessed with painting, he doesn't pay much attention to his homework.
Under the supervision of his uncle Zhao Qiu, he now only has the reputation of being a scholar - a scholar of this age is considered very impressive in ordinary people, but not enough in the Zhao family.
Both Mrs. Qin and Zhao Qiu were dissatisfied with this, and ordered him to give up painting and concentrate on his studies many times. However, Zhao Yue usually had a mild temper, but he refused to give in on issues involving his preferences, and even once had a quarrel. The level of rupture with the family.
Precisely because of the quarrel, he is about to get married now, and his marriage has not yet been decided - his family is too preoccupied with correcting the direction of his efforts and has no time to discuss marriage for him.
Later, it turned out that he really refused to change. Zhao Qiu was afraid that he would force his nephew to run away from home. He would not be able to explain to his brother at that time, so he could only suppress his temper and persuade Mrs. Qin to calm down.
When Mrs. Qin saw this, she also knew that her grandson was not interested in the imperial examination, but had made up his mind to study the art of painting to the end. The eldest family member of the Zhao family has four sons and two daughters; the second family member, Zhao Qiu and his wife, have three sons and one daughter. : The third son Zhao Bai, the sixth son Zhao Yu, the seventh son Zhao Du and the second young lady Zhao Taozhuang.
Regardless of their qualifications, Zhao Li's other brothers are serious about making progress and working hard to maintain and pass on the lintel of their scholarly family.
So Zhao Yue really couldn't resist it, but Mrs. Qin could accept it after she was angry, but she was worried about his future: "Xiaowu doesn't like writing, he just likes painting. However, throughout the ages, there are countless people who have become rich and powerful from the imperial examination, and from painting to painting." How many people have enough food and clothing?"
This is true. Many famous painters were often in poverty and poverty when they were alive. They were homeless throughout their lives, and their wives and children were often in a very poor condition.
A few were prosperous during their lifetime, and some were because they first took the imperial examination and then became famous for their paintings, or they inherited a rich family property from their ancestors.
Zhao Yue was so obsessed with it that he couldn't think of the future, but Mrs. Qin had to make plans for him, "Our family has kept in mind the ancestral precepts. Although we have been officials for several generations, we have never been involved in corruption and bribery. Therefore, the little things we have accumulated are not visible to ordinary people." They are considered rich and powerful, but they are nothing among the high-ranking families in Chang'an. Xiao Wu and his generation, not counting the dowries of girls, have seven male heirs. Even if the two bastards can't share much, There are still five legitimate sons left."
"Xiaowu is not the eldest son. Even if the share he can get in the future is larger than that of the concubine, it will definitely be limited."
"This kid is so immersed in his hobbies that he doesn't know how to run a business? He is also someone who will try his best to buy and study the paintings he likes... This kind of personality really worries me. Once we elders go there, After the marriage, the children split up and lived their own lives. This child is afraid that his share of the family fortune will be lost in a few years, and won’t he have to live a hard life in the future?”
Mrs. Qin sighed, "The third lady of the Sheng family, although her current family background is a bit poor, but her brother dared to come to Chang'an to attend the Spring Festival at this age, which shows that she is an outstanding person, and her mother-in-law's family may not be unworthy to follow her in the future. Our family has been going back and forth; secondly, it is said that after her father Sheng Lanci became an official, he concentrated on his family property and is now the leading wealthy businessman in Nanfeng County. Sheng Lanci doted on his wife and daughter, but paid less attention to the eldest son than to his daughter. If he could It seems good to tell her to Xiaowu?"
Mother Ge understood and said: "Sheng Shixiong is famous for favoring his eldest son. Since Miss Sheng San is deeply loved by Sheng Lanci, as long as she marries the Fifth Young Master, if she wants to use the name of General Zhou in the future, she will Are you afraid that Sheng Shixiong won't do his best for us?"
But she also reminded, "It's just that the young ladies of the Sheng family are currently living in the Ningweihou Mansion, and the children of Ningweihou and his wife have not yet gotten married at the age of marriage. If the Ningweihou Mansion also If they plan to get married with the Sheng family, they will get married first - the old slave heard that Prince Ning Wei came to Chang'an on the Sheng family's boat."
"That's what I thought, and I don't want to get married right away." Upon hearing this, Mrs. Qin shook her head slightly and said, "Although Xiao Wu refused to advance in the imperial examination, some of the most outstanding daughters of other families don't think much of it. I promised him, but with our family’s family status and reputation, there are so many people who want to marry us, especially since Xiaowu is our legitimate son!”
"Although this Miss Sheng San is good-looking and has a family background that I am satisfied with, she has just come to Chang'an after all. I have to observe her specific conduct for a few days before drawing a conclusion. Otherwise, what if I find something wrong after marrying into a family? Didn’t it harm Xiao Wu instead?”
He raised his chin forward and said, "Isn't her brother also here today? He is being received by the three, four and five children together with Ning Wei Hou? Let's wait and listen to the comments of those children in the evening. !”
When Mama Ge heard this, her thoughts moved and she said, "The eldest son of the Sheng family and the prince Ningwei both came to Chang'an to catch the exam."
"After all, the reputation of our Zhao family is the most important thing." Mrs. Qin understood what she meant and said calmly, "If these two children are really talented, Qiu'er will not cheat them because of Taozhuang's idea of celebrating the festival; but if they are like that... The flashy people, Qiuer will not show favoritism because of their visit today - the current status and reputation of our Zhao family are based on adhering to the ancestral precepts, self-denial, serving the public, and raising children strictly from generation to generation, how can we allow it to be wasted?"
[Note 1] Jinzhai Cuimei: Green tea, the name and description are based on Baidu Encyclopedia, I have never tasted it...
[Note 2] Snowflake Crispy: From "Wu Shi Zhong Ji Lu", the method is to melt the oil in a small pot, filter, add fried noodles, stir well until it is not thin or thick, remove from the heat, sprinkle with white sugar, and add in In the fried noodles, stir well and combine into one piece. Press up, roll out, and cut into eye pieces.