Chapter 2170 Flower Struggle (Seventy-eight)

Nick returned the unsent clock to the antique dealer, who was obviously unhappy. After some haggling, he agreed that Nick would buy other items from his shop without Nick having to pay any additional fees.

Nick was dazzled by so many real and fake antiques, so he had to send someone to find Juren.

He arrived about half an hour later. The antique dealer looked at him with suspicion and caution, while Juren kept a polite and serious look and walked around the antique store with poor lighting. Finally,

Picked up a stone.

The antique dealer showed a surprised expression and extended a thumbs up to Juren, praising him endlessly.

This is not the first time that the antique dealer has done this. He seems to say this to all the customers who choose goods from him. For example, he once boasted to Nick about a 12th century gong. Nick really couldn't understand a gong.

Why is it so expensive?

Juren explained to Nick that he chose a Duan inkstone from the Song Dynasty, which was used by emperors, princes and highly respected ministers.

This kind of inkstone has a special feature: it does not freeze in severe cold and does not need to be heated with charcoal like a warm inkstone. It has been very valuable since the early Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the development of Duan Inkstone reached its extreme. Song Huizong once used Duan Inkstone with a thin gold body.

It was written "Zhaoqing Mansion" and given to the minister, so Duanzhou was renamed "Zhaoqing".

Not all jade is called jade, and not all inkstones made of stones produced in Duanzhou can be called Duan inkstones. To put it simply, it is the "stone meat" part that can be made into Duan inkstones.

The She inkstone produced in Huizhou is also a good inkstone. Li Yu, the late emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, once praised it for its very exquisite carving, which was mainly influenced by AH's brick carving technology. Duan inkstone, especially the Duan inkstone in the Song Dynasty, was known as the "original inkstone".

Mainly, it looks like what it is mined out, without much decoration, and looks like an ordinary stone.

Next to this Duan Inkstone is a red silk inkstone with a phoenix embossed on it. It looks very hot, but the ink will freeze in winter, so it is not suitable to be given to the admiral who is about to return to Beijing.

Nick couldn't estimate how much the inkstone was worth. He only knew that if it was fake, then he would have paid a high price to buy a stone. In comparison, he would have bought the beautifully crafted agate bottle instead of Nick.

However, the antique dealer looked like he was losing money and "reluctantly" gave the two inkstones to Nick. The price was that Nick had to say a few good words for him in front of the admiral, and then put the two inkstones on a silk lining.

In a nanmu box with a bottom.

Nick wanted to argue with him, but his Chinese was still not fluent enough, so Juren took his hand and left.

Not far away, they arrived at a spice shop, which sold not spicy seasonings, but spices such as agarwood and sandalwood. It was run by Guangzhou Thirteenth Bank, but Nick would never buy these and gold.

Something of equivalent value.

Ju Ren said something to a waiter, and soon the boss came out. After Ju Ren communicated with the boss, the boss took out some spices from a cabinet similar to a medicine cabinet, and then took Ju Ren to the inner courtyard.

When Yongzheng was in power, he liked to burn incense, firstly for the needs of worshiping Buddha, and secondly for his personal interest. During Qianlong's reign, he became even more enthusiastic about this practice and ordered the establishment to search for ancient incense recipes. From then on, the Forbidden City was also filled with fragrance.

There are two types of incense made in the Qing palace. One is Western incense, which is mainly made and blended by missionaries. The other is made by the manufacturing office according to ancient recipes, especially those from the Song Dynasty.

There are many fragments of Song Dynasty scrolls in it, and Juren found a method of making hair oil from these fragments.

People like to ask how the concubines in the palace maintain their skin, including skin care and hair care. From ancient times to the present, people in the Central Plains, both men and women, have to grow their hair. If the hair is grown long, it is easy to dry out and split. "Hugh" is a way for officials to rest.

The name of the day, this day is specially used for bathing.

The nobles had the conditions to ask their servants to untie and wash their hair. In the Qing Dynasty, they replaced it with braids. In order to make their hair darker and thicker, people tried every means, including washing their hair with rice water. This method of washing hair was cheap.

Beautiful, but for those represented in "A Dream of Red Mansions", it is far from enough. For example, in Chapter 59, when Fangguan washes his hair, Xiren sends his old lady to give him a bottle of "Toilet Oil".

In the thirty-fourth chapter, Jia Baoyu was beaten by his father, and sometimes he was conscious and sometimes unconscious. He shouted to drink sour plum soup, but was stopped by the attacker. The attacker ran to Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Wang told the attacker that she had "

"Mignonette Clear Dew" and "Rose Clear Dew", these are tribute tributes.

Osmanthus is a sweet-scented osmanthus, but the osmanthus in the palace of the Song Dynasty has to be picked before it blooms, and it must be picked in the morning when the dew is still there. This spice shop is not so particular, and I am afraid it will have to wait until September.

Then pick it again.

In addition, spices such as sandalwood and benzoin are also used, and sesame oil is used for oil. The principle is similar to extracting essential oils from plants. Juren tried making a little and let the boss smell it. The boss was very satisfied and asked Juren to copy the recipe.

After coming down, I made ten more bottles, five of which were distributed to Juren.

"Take it and change it to a nice-looking bottle." Juren gave the bottles of hair oil to Nick as a gift to the admiral.

At this time, Nick thought of the perfumes and various cosmetics used by the French court. However, as a "broad-shouldered, strong and resolute man", should he apply palace powder and perfume?

Georgiana couldn't help laughing.

She looked at Napoleon's face. He didn't want to argue with her and asked her to continue reading.

After being carefully decorated and paired with glass bottles from Europe, these hair oils looked very expensive. Only then did Nick remember that he should use rose or orange blossom, which were more like those made in France.

However, Juren did not know how to make rose oil and felt that it was not suitable for the admiral. In the end, Nick took these gifts to the admiral's mansion.

The admiral liked these gifts very much, and then he mentioned what worried him. Cao Xi suggested that before leaving, let the Guangzhou navy go to a hidden harbor in Hong Kong to clear out pirates.

Juren once said that when the people sent the Kitchen God back to heaven to report his duties, they not only had to give him a lot of tribute, but also burned paper money prepared in advance, so that he would say good things in front of the Jade Emperor.

If Nick hadn't intercepted the note, both the White Lotus Sect and the Tiandi Society would have been secretly developing until they were strong enough to compete with the imperial court. It would be too early now.

Except for the British "country ship" class ships, the southern pirates were afraid of almost no one. The islands and small harbors dotted along the coast provided ideal hiding places for pirates.

The admiral felt that this was unnecessary and completely irrelevant, so he complained a lot when talking about Cao Xi.

Nick thought of the small island where he was once imprisoned. In fact, many people are unwilling to become pirates. Some are because of bad times, while others are completely forced by pirates. If they knew that the government would come to rescue them, maybe they would not

There will be a desire to compromise.

There is a poem like this written in Chapter 66 of Dream of Red Mansions: Crushed peach blossoms fill the ground with red, and it will be difficult to hold up the jade mountain after it collapses.

After breaking off the engagement, Sanjie You, who had sworn not to remarry, came to him with the Yuanyang Sword, a token of her love for Liu Xianglian. "I have been loving you for five years. Unexpectedly, Jun Guo was cold-faced and cold-hearted, so I repaid you with death."

infatuation."

After saying that, a fragrant wind blew by, and Sister You was nowhere to be seen. Only then did Liu Xianglian think it was a dream.

When I opened my eyes again, there was no child from the Xue family, nor a wedding room for newlyweds, but a ruined temple, with a lame old Taoist sitting next to him catching lice.

Liu Xianglian asked, "Where does this come from? What is the name of the immortal master?"

The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Even I don't know where this is from or who I am, I just came to rest for a while."

It is impossible for a person to have an epiphany with such words, but Liu Xianglian knew soberly that Third Sister You was dead. He drew out the Yuanyang Sword, wiped away all the strands of troubles, and followed the Taoist priest to who knows where.

.

"Who is Liu Xianglian?" Bonaparte asked.

"A man who cannot read well, is handsome, loves to perform in operas, and loves to sing." Georgiana replied, "Actually, you don't need to cut off your hair to be a Taoist priest."

It is the monk who wants to have his head shaved.

"Why did he think of breaking off the engagement?" Bonaparte asked.

"Because he misunderstood." Georgiana replied, "Sister You San is very beautiful, and there are many frivolous people in Ningguo Mansion. He thought..."

He covered her mouth.

"Are you going to wait for him for five years too?"

She didn't answer.

Then he let go of his hand.

"We agreed it would be the Portuguese moon this year."

"When that day comes, you can still think of him in your heart."

She didn't know what to say.

The past thirty years are meaningless to him? Just because he is still attached to his childhood and his pure first love?

She flipped through the book haphazardly, but before she could read the content, he blocked it with his hand.

"I hope that when that day comes, you can end it with a sword like Liu Xianglian, if you really want to be a man." He said calmly, "Otherwise, I will do it for you."

"You want to kill me?" she asked.

He smiled, took his hand back, and covered his forehead with it as if he was seasick.

She did not read the story immediately, but grabbed his hand.

She didn't know which one was more illusory, the wizard who had died just a few years ago, or the Muggle who had been dead for two hundred years, or she was simply crazy and living in the world of the Mirror of Erised.
Chapter completed!