After finishing the meal and returning to Rujing Courtyard, Jiang Changning pulled King Jin aside and asked, "Is there really a solar eclipse the day after tomorrow?"
King Jin saw that there was no fear in her eyes, but a hint of excitement, "Are you not afraid?"
"What's there to be afraid of? I still want to see it." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
King Jin smiled, full of joy, "How dare you! People say that bad things will happen if you see a solar eclipse, so why aren't you afraid?"
"It's written in miscellaneous books that a solar eclipse is just a common astronomical phenomenon and it doesn't mean anything bad."
"This miscellaneous book is worth reading." Prince Jin said with a smile.
"The books are piled in the wing room of the west wing. If you want to read them, go and find them yourself." Jiang Changning knew that he didn't have the free time to look for the book, so he said this deliberately, as if the book really existed.
King Jin didn't really want to read the book, he just thought it was pretty good, so he smiled and said, "The day after tomorrow, have someone prepare a large basin of cooking oil, and when I come back, we'll read it together."
"Mother will be unhappy." Jiang Changning said.
"Don't tell her about such trivial matters, lest she worry."
Jiang Changning smiled and nodded, "Got it."
There is an inexplicable excitement in doing bad things together and hiding it from the adults.
On the day of the solar eclipse, Jiang Changning asked Madam Cui to prepare a large copper basin of clear oil and place it in the middle of the yard. Without goggles, they could only use this primitive method to watch the solar eclipse.
After a while, King Jin came back.
Jiang Changning, who was sitting on a chair in front of the copper basin, waved at him, "Come quickly."
Prince Jin went over, squeezed in with her on a big chair, and held her in his arms.
"How long will it take?" Jiang Changning asked.
"If the Imperial Astronomical Observatory is not wrong, there will be about a quarter of an hour left." Prince Jin held her hand, which was a little cold, "Bring me a cloak."
Jiang Changning looked up at the sky. There were clouds in the sky. The clouds moved slowly, blocking the sun from time to time, so the sunlight was not too glaring.
As she was watching, her vision suddenly went dark.
King Jin covered her eyes and said, "Don't look directly at it, it will hurt your eyes. Lower your head and look at the oil basin."
After saying that, he let go of her hand.
Xiulan brought a cloak, and Prince Jin put it on himself, then used the cloak to wrap Jiang Changning in it.
Jiang Changning smiled and snuggled obediently in the arms of King Jin.
The wind got stronger, the sky became darker, the clouds dispersed, and the sunlight was white, not the usual yellow.
Jiang Changning couldn't help it and wanted to look up at the sky again, but King Jin held him down and said, "Be good and don't be naughty."
In the oil pan, a black shadow began to block the sun.
"Oh, the Tengu is coming." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
"There is no celestial dog, this is the moon." King Jin explained.
Of course Jiang Changning knew it was the moon, she said celestial dog on purpose.
I saw the moon slowly covering the sun. There was no light at all. It became dark, just like night.
"It's a bit cold without the sun," said Jiang Changning.
Prince Jin hugged her tighter and said, "The sun will come out soon."
"Before offering pepper to celebrate together, I have already encountered a solar eclipse. The mallow is growing in the dark spring, and the unicorn's fight is not in vain." Jiang Changning said with his head raised.
"It's not like a hanging hook, it's like the beginning of the new moon. You left just as the dawn began, and the light is shining brightly." Prince Jin came closer and pecked her lightly on the lips.
After a while, the moon slowly moved away, and the sun gradually appeared again, shining brightly, and the earth was bright again.
Rujingyuan was controlled by Xiulan and her friends like an iron barrel, and no one knew that the couple was watching the solar eclipse.
A study room in the Duke of Wei's mansion was burned down, but no one was injured or killed. It was just bad luck that the mansion caught fire for no reason on the day of the solar eclipse.
So the wife of Duke Wei brought the female members of her family to the Qingxu Temple in the city to hold a peace ceremony.
But this peace-making ceremony was of no use. In the afternoon, when the women were on their way home, a cat suddenly jumped out from nowhere.
The driver panicked and pulled the reins hard, causing the horse to neigh and raise its front hooves high.
With a loud bang, the second carriage, which was the one carrying the wife of the Duke of Wei's son, overturned to the ground.
"Madam!" the followers exclaimed.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" The wife of the Duke of Wei, who was sitting in the first carriage, was hit by the carriage behind her because of the sudden stop of the carriage. Her head hit the wall of the carriage hard and a big bump appeared.
Just as the people in the Duke of Wei's mansion were in chaos, a man in the alley next to them who was observing all this gave a strange smile, turned around, and quietly left from the other end of the alley.
The wife of the Prince of Wei was rescued, but her injuries were worse than her mother-in-law. Not only was her head bleeding, her left arm was broken, and her right foot was sprained.
It would be better not to hold this peace ceremony.
The cat that caused the trouble had already run away and no one was found to settle the score, so the Duke of Wei’s Mansion could only blame themselves for their bad luck.
When the news reached Prince Jin's Mansion, Jiang Changning was tasting the cookies made by Madam Cui.
The cookies are crispy and crunchy with great taste.
When Prince Jin entered the courtyard, he smelled a sweet fragrance and asked with a smile, "What delicious food are you making?"
"Cookies come in two flavors: sweet and salty. Try them and see which one you like?" Jiang Changning still had half a cookie in his hand.
Prince Jin came over and took a bite of the half cookie in her hand. "Not bad, crispy and delicious, sweet but not greasy."
"There are so many on the table, why do you want to grab mine?" Jiang Changning picked a biscuit and handed it to him, "Try the salty one."
King Jin took the biscuit, bit off half of it, and passed the other half to Jiang Changning's mouth, "I just ate half of yours, and now I'm giving you half back."
Jiang Changning glanced at him coquettishly, "I didn't ask you to pay it back."
Having said that, she still ate that half piece.
"Sweet ones taste better than salty ones, so make more sweet ones." King Jin said seriously.
"Got it." Jiang Changning had long discovered that Prince Jin preferred sweet food.
"And that's all?"
"I sent one plate of each of the two flavors to my mother and Kang Ren."
"After you eat this piece, don't eat any more. You won't be able to eat dinner later."
After Jiang Changning finished eating the biscuit in his hand, he told the maid to take the rest out and share it.
After a few days, it was March 3rd, Shangsi Festival.
Although you cannot go out to visit friends while you are in mourning, you can still go for an outing in the suburbs.
Early in the morning, he took the Concubine Dowager and Princess Kangren and headed to Hongluo Lake outside the city in a small entourage.
Hongluo Lake is near Hongluo Temple, with beautiful scenery and shady green trees.
In addition to the beautiful scenery, the most important reason to come here is that there are people who "give birth" here.
The most important custom of the Shangsi Festival is to offer sacrifices to Gaomei, the god in charge of marriage, childbirth and reproduction.
Gaomei is also written as Jiaomei. According to the Book of Rites, when Gao Xin came out, a black bird left an egg, which was swallowed by Xu Jian and gave birth to Qi.
Later the king established a shrine for the matchmaker Jiaxiang, and changed the matchmaker's name to "禪", which was to deify him.
"Brother Yu's daughter-in-law, come quickly and choose a gourd." The concubine called out.
Behind the concubine was an old woman in a half-worn red coat.
Her hair was already grey, but she wore a small red flower on her temples and carried a basket covered with red cloth on her arm. She was the fertility-delivering old lady by the Hongluo Lake.
Offering sacrifices to Gaomei and building a shrine for Gaomei are all for the purpose of praying for a child.
(End of this chapter)