After the moon rose higher and higher, the maids began to compete under Fang Fu's organization.
The first test event is needle threading.
Different from what Shen Tianshu had seen before, the maids of the palace did not thread the needles with ordinary embroidery threads, but with five-color threads, which were made by twisting five colors of threads together and threading seven needles in a row. , this improvement in difficulty is not just a tiny bit.
However, more than a dozen maids threaded needles against the moon together, and all of them successfully passed the five-color strands through the seven-hole needle, so Fang Fu announced that the five slowest ones were eliminated.
After the remaining twelve people went through the competition of threading needles in the dark and threading needles with their backs and hands, only two people were left who were both fast and accurate.
One is Hui Xin, the sewing maid in Li Zi'an's house, and the other is Si Yu, the maid beside Li Zihan.
Fang Fu said: "The next step is the final competition, seven-color strands passing through seven-hole needles."
Immediately someone will bring things up on a tray.
Li Zihan had already started shouting: "Come on Siyu! If you win, I will get a big reward!"
Hearing this, Li Zian smiled and added, "No matter who wins, there will be a reward!"
The two maids are also gearing up to win the first lottery of the day.
"Start!" Following Fangfu's command, both of them quickly picked up the needle and thread and started threading.
Everyone looked at them with bated breath.
In the first half of the race, the speeds of the two were almost the same. In the last two holes, Siyu's hand slipped and she finally fell behind Huixin.
When she just put the seven-color strand through the last pinhole, Huixin had already passed through the pinhole first and pulled it out.
So in the end, Huixin narrowly won with a half-hole advantage.
"That's awesome!" The maids applauded the two of them.
When Shen Tianshu watched Si Yu lose, he was a little worried whether Li Zihan would feel disappointed or unhappy, so he quietly observed her reaction.
But Li Zihan didn't do it at all. Instead, he clapped his hands and said, "Sister Huixin is so awesome. Siyu is not very lucky today. Maybe you will win next year!"
The maids must have known Li Zihan's temperament for a long time, so they were all happy.
Li Zian kept his word and asked someone to reward Huixin with a jade pendant.
Hui Xin's face turned red with excitement. She took the jade pendant from Fang Fu's hand and stepped forward to salute Li Zian and thank her.
Taking advantage of the warm atmosphere, everyone then compared the needles.
Compete first to see who can dry the water better and make the needle float on the water without sinking.
This step has already eliminated most of the people.
The rest is to compare the shadow of a needle cast in water, whether it is good or bad. Shen Tianshu cannot understand this step.
Fang Fu finally chose the winner of the divination, this time it was a little maid in Li Zihan's room, and she also got a small jade pendant.
After everyone finished the lively competition, Li Zian said to Shen Tianshu and Li Zihan: "Should we also compete?"
Li Zihan immediately became interested and asked: "Compared to what?"
Li Zian pointed to the lanterns hanging on the surrounding flowers and trees and said, "I have prepared some lantern riddles. If you can guess them correctly, you will also win a prize!"
After saying that, he bent down and picked up Li Zihan, walked to the tree, and let her look at the paper hanging under the lamp.
"There are mountains on all sides, and mountains are connected to mountains. Type one word."
Shen Tianshu smiled when he heard the content of the riddle. It was such a simple riddle that Li Zian wrote it specifically to entertain his sister.
Li Zihan had already learned to read and write, so she thought about this level of riddle for a while and quickly answered: "It's Tian, right?"
"So amazing, I guessed it right away!" Li Zian said, taking out a mutton-fat white jade safety buckle from his arms and stuffing it into his sister's hand, "Here, here's your reward."
After winning a lottery, Li Zihan became even more excited and immediately directed Li Zian to look at the next lantern riddle.
"If the wind doesn't move, it will cause wind. If it doesn't move, wait until the autumn wind blows and hit something."
"Fan!" Li Zihan answered immediately this time, mainly because he had just been sitting there and fanned himself.
So this time I got another beautiful pearl flower and put it directly on my head.
But soon, the next lantern riddle stumped her.
"Red Lady, go up to the tall building. My heart aches and tears flow. Hit something."
Li Zihan's face was very serious, but his mouth pouted unconsciously, but after thinking for a long time, he had no clue, and his eyes unconsciously glanced towards Shen Tianshu.
Shen Tianshu immediately gestured with his eyes to the candlestick standing next to him.
Li Zihan believed in Shen Tianshu so much that he shouted without thinking: "Candlestick!"
Li Zi'an was stunned when he heard this. He turned around and saw Shen Tianshu's helpless smile. He couldn't help but laugh too. He raised his hand and tapped Li Zihan's forehead and said: "You don't have to be stupid to cheat. What a candlestick, it's obviously a candle!" "
"Ah, yes, it's a candle!" Li Zihan suddenly realized, looked at Li Zian regretfully and asked, "Can I give this prize to my sister?"
"What are you dreaming about?" Li Zi'an pinched the tip of Li Zihan's nose, put her down, reached out and took off another lamp and handed it to Shen Tianshu, "Guess what.
"I'm not good at this." Shen Tianshu declined.
These lantern riddles were written by Li Zian to entertain his children. It would be disgraceful for her to guess correctly and win the lottery. It would be too false to pretend that she couldn't guess correctly. It would be better not to guess at all.
But Li Zian directly took off the paper and stuffed it into her hand.
Shen Tianshu had no choice but to lower his head and take a closer look, only to see four sentences written on the paper.
"April is about to end and May is about to begin. I scraped the window paper and re-pasted it. My husband has been in Beijing for three years, and he sent a half-word letter with four names of medicines."
Is this a lantern riddle specially written for her to guess?
Shen Tianshu's heart moved slightly, and suddenly she felt like Li Zian was doting on her in the same position as Li Zihan.
"Have you guessed it?" Li Zian asked.
The lantern riddles were written in a very simple way. Shen Tianshu could tell at a glance: "It should be Pinellia ternata, Fangfeng, Angelicae and Angelica dahurica, right?"
Before Li Zi'an could speak, Li Zihan on the side said first: "Brother, I guessed four correctly at once, so I should give her four rewards!"
Shen Tianshu quickly waved his hand and said no.
Li Zian's prize was prepared according to the number of lantern riddles. He didn't expect that his sister would suddenly say something like this.
He touched his sleeve pocket and took out the three remaining items.
An ice-flowered lucky bean, a emerald flower, and finally a tourmaline bracelet.
Li Zian put three objects into Shen Tianshu's hands.
"I'm not fully prepared today..."
He originally wanted to say that he owed one first and would make up for her later when he had the opportunity.
But when he lowered his head and saw the jade ring on his thumb, he immediately had an idea and took it off and said to her: "Well, this is just enough!"
Shen Tianshu was holding the three objects that had just been thrust into his hands. He could no longer use his hands to reject them. He watched Li Zian put the ring on his thumb, and his face turned red.
This is too much. There is no reason to give away such personal items to others casually!