Sui Sui went to the bamboo forest early in the morning to pick a basket of bamboo shoots. At this moment, he was peeling the bamboo shoots in the yard in front of the kitchen, preparing to make bamboo shoot jerky. A maid came to ask for more, so he had to hand the bamboo shoots to the cook and return to Qixia Pavilion.
Grandma Gao was waiting for her in the hall. She bowed and said, "My lady has just arrived. His Highness is afraid that you are in the dark, so he specially asked me to help you. If you have any questions, you can ask me. I will spare no effort to help you serve His Highness."
Sui Sui smiled and said, "I don't know anything and I'm stupid. Thank you for your help, Madam."
Seeing that she was lowering her head and looking docile, Grandma Gao felt relieved, and the shadow left by the killing of the chicken yesterday also faded a lot.
She said seriously, "His Highness has no one holding a broomstick by his side... He has no wives or concubines, and no maids... You are the first woman to win His Highness's favor. This is your blessing."
He nodded, but was indifferent to this "honor" and did not show any sign of being flattered.
Grandma Gao was a little disappointed, and continued, "To serve His Highness, one must be upright in virtue, appearance, speech, and workmanship."
She glanced at the woman's charming face, her eyes full of hints. She was far from meeting any of these four standards. If it weren't for this face, His Highness wouldn't even look at her twice.
"Although you are lacking in some aspects now, as long as you study hard, you will definitely make progress in time," Grandma Gao encouraged. "As long as you are diligent and serve His Highness well, when His Highness takes a concubine, if you are lucky enough to enter the palace, you must also serve the mistress and the concubine well."
Sui Sui didn't react much, but there was still a faint smile on his lips.
Grandma Gao said, "Virtue, appearance, and skills, with women's virtues being the most important."
She leaned over and picked up a long brocade bag, opened it, took out a scroll, and spread it on the table: "Madam, have you ever read "Instructions for Women"?"
Whenever she heard this, her head ached. For a moment, she didn't know whether the old lady looked down on her or praised her too much.
Who would teach a concubine to learn the "Nujie"? It's unheard of.
She shook her head: "I haven't read it. What is this?"
Grandma Gao said, "This is written by Master Cao to teach women how to behave in society."
Sui Sui blinked: "Who is Mr. Cao?"
Grandma Gao explained: "Mrs. Cao's surname is Ban and her given name is Zhao. She is the daughter of the historian Ban Biao and the sister of Ban Gu..."
Sui Sui was puzzled: "Her last name is Ban, why is she called Cao Dajia?"
Grandma Gao raised her eyebrows, a little impatient: "She married a husband with the surname Cao, so she is a member of the Cao family."
Sui Sui lowered her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. I'm too stupid. I keep asking questions."
Grandma Gao couldn't bear to see this, so she softened her tone and said, "Confucius said, 'To know what you know and to know what you don't know is knowledge.' If you have any doubts, it's good for you to ask."
Sui Sui's eyes lit up: "I know Confucius."
He paused and frowned again: "But what is that string of 'squeaks'?"
Grandma Gao: “…”
She cleared her throat and said, "My lady, don't worry about these things for now... Ahem, anyway, Mrs. Cao was ordered to continue writing the Book of Han after her brother passed away. She was a famous talented woman in the Eastern Han Dynasty."
Sui Sui showed admiration: "That must be amazing."
"Of course," said Grandma Gao. "Have you ever learned to read?"
Sui Sui naturally wouldn't do that. Grandma Gao had expected this: "Madam, you will serve His Highness, so you need to be more knowledgeable about literature and writing."
The old nanny had a far-sighted vision and thought that if she gained the favor of His Highness in the future and was taken into the palace as a concubine, perhaps His Highness would allow her to give birth to a child. Even though the child was a concubine's son or daughter, a mother could not be illiterate, otherwise how could she raise the child
"Madam, please listen to me read and explain slowly, and learn some elegant language at the same time."
"Okay." Sui Sui said.
Grandma Gao took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, put down the tea bowl, and read the chapter "Weakness" from beginning to end in a gentle voice. She explained it word by word, gesticulating and talking for a long time. Finally, she asked, "Do you understand, madam?"
Sui Sui nodded ignorantly, then shook his head.
"What don't you understand, ma'am?"
Sui Sui said with embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Madam, I don't understand anything you said..."
Grandma Gao almost fainted.
Sui Sui twisted her fingers awkwardly and said, "Please tell me again slowly, Madam. I will listen carefully this time."
Grandma Gao had no choice but to patiently start over from the beginning, asking after each sentence: "Did you understand, Madam?"
This time Sui Sui understood, but she did not show the look of enlightenment that Grandma Gao imagined. Instead, she frowned and bit her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something but stopped.
"What do you think, madam?" asked Grandma Gao.
Sui Sui said, "I'm telling you the truth, please don't be offended, Madam."
Grandma Gao: "Madam, please continue."
"I think Mr. Cao is not sincere in what he says." Sui Sui said.
Grandma Gao raised her eyebrows and said in a sharp voice, "Why do you say that, Madam?"
Sui Sui pointed at the word "wa" on the scroll and said, "Look, she doesn't stay at home making tiles, but goes off to study history. I think she doesn't even believe what she wrote."
Grandma Gao was speechless for a moment.
Sui Sui continued, "She studied history and acted like a talented woman, but now she turns around and writes articles to tell other women to stay at home and make tiles."
She paused and said, "It's like someone who eats meat and teaches others to eat bran. That person is definitely a bad person."
Grandma Gao gasped, raised her eyebrows and glared, and retorted: "Madam Cao is not a person who does not practice what she preaches. She has not remarried since her husband passed away and has remained faithful to him all her life. You cannot slander her..."
Sui Sui nodded thoughtfully: "That means she likes to eat bran, but she can't ask all the women in the world to eat bran with her."
"You..." The veins on Grandma Gao's forehead were throbbing, "Madam, you must not be disrespectful to the Cao family."
Sui Sui said, "But my father and mother taught me since I was young that no matter whether you are a man or a woman, you must learn skills to survive. The tigers and wolves in the mountains will not stop biting you just because you are a woman."
After a pause, he frowned and said, "I heard that Confucius taught us to be filial to our mother and listen to her. Madam, who should I listen to, Confucius or Mr. Cao?"
Grandma Gao: “…”
She suddenly felt that this woman was really difficult to deal with. Apart from anything else, she had no chance of passing the test.
"Let me continue." Grandma Gao decided to ignore her.
However, Sui Sui was not so easy to deal with. For every word she said, the hunter girl had ten words waiting for her until she was speechless.
But she spoke slowly and gently, without any sense of aggression. She looked like she was discussing something seriously with you, which made it impossible for you to get angry.
After Grandma Gao had finally finished explaining the chapter on “Husband and Wife,” she couldn’t wait to put away the book, feeling as tired as if she had chopped a hundred pounds of firewood.
"Mammy, aren't you going to finish your story?" Sui Sui was still not satisfied. "Mammy's story is very interesting. I haven't heard enough."
Grandma Gao: “…”
…
Grandma Gao lectured on "The Admonitions for Women" for three consecutive days, but Lu Suisui was still so diligent and studious, and did not hesitate to ask questions. She persisted in "discussing and polishing" with Grandma Gao.
The scary thing is that after thinking about it too much, sometimes Gao Ma would suddenly feel that what she said made sense.
One day, Lu Suisui suddenly suggested going to the East Market for a stroll. Aunt Gao actually felt as if she had been pardoned. She no longer cared whether the woman's debauchery was virtuous or not. She eagerly arranged a carriage for her to travel and even considerately asked her if she had enough money.
Sui Sui shook her head. Huan Xuan was not a stingy person. Although she had no name or status, nor was she a maid in the palace, she still received a monthly allowance. She had lived in the military camp for the past six months and had not had much to spend, so she saved all the money.
Besides, she didn't go out to buy things.
Chun Tiao had not yet recovered from the cold, and Nanny Gao's old bones could not withstand the bumpy journey from the south to the north of the city, so she sent a little girl of about fourteen or fifteen to stay with her.
The maid's name was Xiaotong, and her main task was to make sure she wore her veil and prevent her from doing anything out of line.
In addition to the coachman and the maid, there were two plain-clothes guards following the carriage on horseback. After all, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi's concubine was too beautiful and easily attracted a lot of men. If she was entangled with any of the scoundrels in the city, it would inevitably damage the dignity of the Prince of Qi's mansion.
Sui Sui didn't care how many people followed him. He changed into brown and gold Hu clothing and got in the car to leave.
It was almost noon when the carriage arrived outside the East Market Square Gate. The three hundred market drums had just finished beating, and the market officials opened the gate, and the carriages, horses, and people poured into the gate.
There are two market districts in Chang'an City, East and West. Most of the powerful and wealthy live in the east of the city. The East Market is more prosperous and lively than the West Market. Looking around, you can see BMWs, luxury cars, brocade clothes and precious jewelry everywhere.
"Madam, which shop do you want to visit?" asked the maid Xiaotong.
Sui Sui leaned on the car window and looked out, saying in embarrassment: "My eyes are blurry. Where do you think I should start?"
Sui Sui is illiterate, and girls are only interested in clothes, fabrics, hairpins, cosmetics, etc. Xiao Tong rolled her eyes and said, "Madam, do you want to go and have a look at the shops selling gold and silver jewelry?"
Sui Sui said: "I'm afraid I don't have enough money to buy these."
Xiaotong said, "It doesn't cost anything to take a look."
Just say "OK" casually.
The two men got off the carriage, gave the two guards a string of copper coins, asked them to find a teahouse on the corner of the street to wait, and then took Xiaotong to visit the shops.
Sui Sui had never been to the market many times since he was a child. When he went there occasionally, he would think about what to buy, go straight to the store, buy it and leave. This was the first time in my life that I had such a leisurely stroll.
Xiaotong comes here to buy every now and then. She is very familiar with the area and knows everything delicious, beautiful and fun in the West Market.
Sui Sui followed Xiao Tong as he walked around and looked around. When he got tired, he found a stall to sit down and drink a bowl of yogurt and eat some desserts. It was quite relaxing.
But Sui Sui didn't have much money with her, so she looked a lot but bought little. Xiao Tong was a servant in the palace, so she had high standards. Sui Sui wanted to buy a few feet of cheap silk cloth to make underwear, but she stopped her and said, "The fabrics in our palace are much better than these. Madam, please ask the nanny to get them. Why waste this money?"
This happened several times, and Sui Sui didn't mind it at all, so he just let it go.
After shopping for half a day, I only bought a few uncommon spices from the Hu people's shop and half a dozen handkerchiefs for Chun Tiao.
Xiaotong asked, "Madam, do you want to go and see some cosmetics?"
Sui Sui's eyes moved slightly: "I don't need it on weekdays."
Xiaotong sighed softly: "My lady is naturally beautiful, but her skin must be taken care of."
"Then let's go and have a look," Sui Sui said, very easy to talk to. "Which shop has the best cosmetics?"
Xiaotong spoke about these things very clearly: "Speaking of facial powder and rouge, the Chang family is the best in the whole capital. It is said that the secret recipe of facial powder and rouge used by their family came from the palace of Emperor Chen Houzhu, and it is as good as the one bestowed by the emperor."
"It must be very expensive, right?" Sui Sui said.
"There are expensive ones and cheap ones," Xiaotong said, "It's up to the person to decide how much he wants to spend. You'll know when you go and see it, ma'am."
After saying hello, the two of them walked through the streets and alleys for a long time before they found the Changsi cosmetics shop.
This store is not very popular and its storefront is not very big, but the store is crowded with people and there is almost no room to stand.
Xiaotong said, "I was here a few days ago. Madam, please go in and take a look. I will be waiting for you outside."
Sui Sui nodded and walked into the store.
There were more customers than waiters in the shop. Sui Sui glanced around and his eyes fell on a handsome waiter, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a soap-colored headscarf.
There was an inconspicuous old scar at the end of his left eyebrow, and the eyebrow was broken into two parts.
Sui Sui walked up to him and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any rouge for sale?"
The clerk looked at her through the veil and nodded, "We have several kinds of rouge in our shop, including red flower dyed, pomegranate flower dyed, mountain flower dyed, and purple ore dyed. Which one would you like?"
Sui Sui said, "I want the one dyed with the blood of the orangutans from the Western countries. I wonder if the store has it?"
Before she finished speaking, the clerk's expression froze, "This kind of rouge is not often bought. We have a batch from last year, all stored in the warehouse upstairs. Madam, please follow me."
Sui Sui nodded: "Thank you."
The shop was noisy and they spoke in low voices, so no one noticed their conversation or that two people were missing from the shop.
The clerk took Sui Sui to the room upstairs, lowered the thick felt curtain, removed the screen on the opposite wall, revealing a secret door, and bowed, saying, "Inside is the storeroom."
Sui Sui opened the door and walked in.
Inside the door was a dark room, narrow and cramped, with only an oil lamp lit, but it was comfortably furnished.
A man in his fifties, with a round waist and a bulging belly, wearing a brocade robe with a precious flower pattern, bowed and said, "I am here to see the great general."