After more than half a month, the temperature has dropped to the coldest time of the year, and we are entering the twelfth lunar month at the end of the year.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year in the north.
At the beginning of this year, in a very childishly decorated inner room in the west wing of Chuxiu Palace, a small bulge sleeping on a small log-colored bed moved, and then a naive cloth tiger pressed on the brocade quilt.
He was overturned, rolled along the quilt to the edge of the bed, and got stuck in the gap between the wooden railings.
Yin Xiaozhen's slender red eyes were half-squinted, and he slowly sat up from the crib with a chicken nest-shaped curly hair. The earthworm burning in the room was hot, and he half hugged the little brocade
I was yawned, and it was obvious that I hadn’t woken up yet.
Nanny Li and Li Xia, who usually stayed here, were nowhere to be seen. There were only two little maids standing quietly at the pillars of the room, waiting.
"Brother Si, are you awake? Will my slave help you get dressed?"
A little palace maid saw the little one sitting on the bed, and hurriedly walked a few steps to the small bed, bent down and said softly to Xiao Si. The other little palace maid also immediately picked up the silver basin and sweat towel, and was ready to go out and give Si elder brother a bath.
Hot water for washing.
When Yin Xiaozhen heard a soft female voice ringing in his ears, he raised his head and took a look. When he saw that it was a little palace maid who was familiar to him but could not name it, he nodded his furry little head, which was still a little confused.
The little palace maid was so cute by the well-behaved Yin Xiaozhen that she first stretched out her two arms and carefully lifted Brother Si out of the crib and placed him on a soft couch not far away.
While Yin Xiaozhen raised his hand to rub his sleepy eyes, he quickly unbuttoned his pajamas, held his little hand, took off his pajamas, and then put on layers of clothes for him.
Finally, he put on a long milky white dog suit with a hat on top of the cotton-padded jacket.
Because it is cold in winter and you need to wear a warm hat, Yin Xiaozhen’s hairstyle has also been changed into braids.
I saw the little palace maid fastening the buttons of the dog suit one by one, and putting a pair of white socks on his chubby little feet. Finally, she picked up a pair of green and black boots embroidered with tiger patterns and put them on his
On little feet.
With all his clothes neatly dressed, the little palace maid went to the table and took out a horn comb and a pearl red rope. She gently used the comb teeth to smooth out his fluffy and messy curly hair, and then started braiding it from the top of his head.
Braid your hair until it reaches the back of your head and it becomes a soft braid hanging down. Finally, you wrap the pearl red rope around the end of your hair, and you have finished all your work.
At this time, another little palace maid also came in with warm water. She first put the white sweat towel into the silver basin and rubbed it for a few times, then wring out the water and gave it to Brother Si to wipe his face, and then wiped his face with it.
Put his two little hands into warm water and wash them dry. Then he asked him to open his mouth, gently brushed his mouth with a small toothbrush dipped in coarse salt, and then held another toothbrush in his mouth.
He handed the mint water to Brother Si.
After Yin Xiaozhen drank a few sips of mint water to rinse his mouth, he spit out all the mouthwash into a white porcelain jar. After the little palace maid applied the "fragrance" of skin care to his smooth face, Yin Xiaozhen
Xiao Zhen is no longer sleepy at all.
He sat on the edge of the soft couch, turned his little head around and asked curiously: "Where is Nanny Li?"
Before the two little palace maids had time to reply, the thick cotton curtain in the inner room that suppressed the wind was opened.
"Hey, brother Si, are you awake?"
Nanny Li and Li Xia each held a small flat bamboo basket containing scissors and a pile of red paper in their arms, and walked in behind and back.
When he saw that Yin Xiaozhen had woken up nearly a quarter of an hour earlier than usual and had already washed and dressed up, he asked in surprise.
Yin Xiaozhen smiled sweetly and nodded his head. When the two came closer, he saw what was in their arms, pointed to the red paper inside and asked softly:
"Mommy, what are you going to do?"
Grandma Li followed Yin Xiaozhen's line of sight, lowered her head and saw a window decoration of a fat baby holding a big carp that she had just cut, and said cheerfully:
"As for Fourth Brother, isn't this a young year?"
"This early in the morning, the eunuchs and maids in each palace have begun to do all kinds of work for the Spring Festival. The empress has already had breakfast in the main hall to deal with palace affairs. There are also some things at hand today.
"Yes, I won't accompany you to have breakfast now. Can you let Li Xia take you to the side hall to have breakfast?" Nanny Li asked with a smile.
Yin Xiaozhen was still thinking about what kind of festival this "Spring Festival" was, when his empty stomach made a "gurgling" sound.
Li Xia hurriedly smiled and picked him up from the soft couch, opened the cotton curtain and walked out. After putting him on the children's dining table, he tied a big scarf on him. His light and nutritious children's meal was also
He was brought in by the palace servants.
Yin Xiaozhen used a small spoon to finish the egg custard filled with dried shrimps, chopped peanuts and green onion. He also finished a small vegetable bun stuffed with carrots and two small steamed buns stuffed with meat, and then picked up the small bowl. "
He drank a small bowl of milk with a gurgling sound, and then he couldn't wait to say to Li Xia:
"Si Si, you're full, hurry up and go find E Liang!"
"Brother, don't worry, let me wipe your mouth. After rinsing your mouth, we can go to the main hall to find the imperial concubine."
Li Xia chuckled and took out a handkerchief to wipe Yin Xiaozhen's mouth. After letting him rinse his mouth, he wiped his little hands with some vegetable stuffing carefully and put them on his back.
Two "dog hats" with long drooping ears were pulled up and put on the little head, then he bent down and picked him up from the dining table, and took him to the side hall door.
As soon as they stepped across the threshold of the side hall, one large and one young child felt a chill coming towards their faces.
The weather today is sunny and not windy, but it feels dry and cold, and the rose-red sun above our heads is useless at all.
Li Xia was walking in the front yard. He was afraid that Brother Si would be cold, so he quickened his steps and quickly walked into the main hall.
However, at this time, there was a "squeaking" sound from the grape trellis on the west wall next to the west side hall, as if someone was sawing wood.
Yin Xiaozhen was attracted by this strange sound, so he stretched out his little hand and patted Li Xia on the shoulder and said:
"Go to the grape trellis and have a look."
When Lixia heard this, she had no choice but to pull down Yin Xiaozhen's dog hat, tugged up his collar, and wrapped him tightly, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed, before facing the west
The other side of the wall passed.
As soon as they arrived at the grape trellis, they saw Zhang Tianxi with several young eunuchs beside him. They were holding planes in their hands and lowering their heads to polish several wooden boards placed on the stone table smooth. There were also some wooden boards placed on the bluestone floor.
The red paint bucket and carving knife are obviously preparing to carve words on the wooden board.
Zhang Tianxi, who heard the commotion, raised his head and saw the fourth elder brother coming. He quickly put down the tools in his hands and walked over with the palace people. He bowed slightly and saluted and said respectfully:
"I would like to pay my respects to Fourth Brother."
When Yin Xiaozhen saw several off-white curly wood shavings hanging on his sleeves, he frowned in confusion and asked:
"What are you doing here?"
"Would you like to make new toys for Sisi?"
When Zhang Tianxi heard this, he smiled and waved his hands and explained:
"No, no, the things made by this slave are not toys for you."
"This morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent people to deliver wooden boards for couplets. I am leading people to polish off the burrs on these wooden boards. Then I will use a carving knife to carve out the characters and brush the bottom.
Apply red paint, paint the large characters with gold paint, wait for it to dry, and then hang it on the pillar in a few days."
Yin Xiaozhen listened in a daze and didn't understand what the other party was talking about. However, he and Xiao Xizi were not familiar with each other yet, so he nodded his head pretending to understand, and imitated E Niang's instructions to him and the prince.
The elder brother clenched his little fist to cheer up the little eunuchs:
"Then hurry up! Sisi, I won't disturb you anymore."
When several young eunuchs heard Brother Si's encouragement to them, they nodded excitedly and agreed.
"At the beginning of summer, are they also preparing for the Spring Festival?"
After Li Xia turned around and left with Xiao Si in his arms, Yin Xiaozhen asked in confusion.
"Yes, because the Spring Festival will be in a few days, so everyone in the palace is very busy these days. I heard from Sister Bai Lu that the empress is also very busy recently. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has sent a huge stack of account books."
When Yin Xiaozhen heard this, he didn't ask any more questions. When the master and servant entered the main hall, Lixia hurriedly walked towards Bai Lu after seeing her, and whispered to her:
"Sister Bai Lu, it's great to meet you! I'll leave Brother Si to you. Aunt Li still needs my help."
"Okay, go ahead." Bai Lu took Yin Xiaozhen from her arms, then nodded and said to her with a smile.
Li Xia also leaned towards her slightly, then quickly turned around and left.
"You go ahead and wrap all these colorful silks on the fruit trees outside. I will go there later."
"yes!"
The little maids holding various colored silks in their arms heard the instructions of the eldest maid in charge, and hurriedly leaned down and walked out of the palace.
When Yin Xiaozhen saw that the palace servants in the main hall were so busy coming and going today, he was so surprised that he quickly turned his little head and asked Bai Lu:
"Aunt Bai, what is the Spring Festival?"
When Bai Lu heard this question, she hugged Si Age's arm and paused slightly, because this was the first time she heard someone ask her what the Spring Festival was.
When she lowered her head and saw the confused look on Si Age's face, she quickly reacted.
Because Queen Niu Hulu died unexpectedly in mid-November last year, there were white flags hanging everywhere in the Forbidden City, not even a hint of red. Naturally, there was no celebration for the Spring Festival, not to mention that Yin Xiaozhen was only half a year old at that time.
He still doesn’t understand anything, but this year is his first time to celebrate the Spring Festival seriously.
After thinking of this, Bai Lu hugged Xiao Si and walked to the small study room that had been newly tidied up recently, while patiently explaining to him:
"Brother Si, the Spring Festival is the most traditional festival in our Qing Dynasty. Every year, it is the most festive and lively time in the year."
"This is a rare day of reunion in the year. At this time, the wanderers who are studying hard outside, the businessmen who are traveling around, and the adults who have been sent to work as officials will take advantage of the annual leave to return to their hometowns.
Reunion with relatives in my hometown."
"In this palace, the emperor will also start sealing pens and seals from the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, stop attending the government affairs, and give himself a few days off. Then the eldest brother and His Royal Highness will also have a few days to play.
, you no longer have to study hard with the masters."
Hearing that his brothers were about to have a holiday, which meant that they would soon come to Chu Xiu Palace to play with him, Yin Xiaozhen couldn't help but blinked and laughed happily.
Seeing that Brother Si was listening attentively, Bai Lu continued:
"The palace will hold a large-scale palace banquet at that time. Usually the palace is not allowed to set off fireworks and firecrackers for fear of flooding. Only during the Spring Festival will the rules be relaxed to allow people to set off these things."
"When it gets dark at night, we can stand in the front yard and see all kinds of fireworks blooming in the night sky. They are so colorful and beautiful, and the loud sound of firecrackers can scare away all the bad things in the next year.
, this way next year’s life will be better and better.”
"What else?" These were things that Yin Xiaozhen had never heard before. When Bai Lu stopped talking, he quickly shook her arm to signal her to continue talking.
"Let me think about it, slave. By the way, during the Spring Festival, the masters in the imperial kitchen will prepare many kinds of delicacies, and the ladies and palace attendants in each palace will also put on new clothes. After the fourth year of the new year, my brother will be one year older.
Already."
"If you're one year older, then Sisi is already two years old, isn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Yin Xiaozhen's eyes lit up instantly and he asked excitedly.
"yes."
Although Bai Lu didn't understand why the fourth elder brother would focus solely on age, she immediately nodded affirmatively.
"Aunt Bai, hurry up, Sisi, go to Eliang, there!"
"Okay, we're here, we're here."
Bai Lu happened to have reached the place at this time. She walked across the threshold and walked into the small study room with Yin Xiaozhen in her arms. She saw Concubine Jing sitting at the desk with her head lowered and handling palace affairs seriously. She softly reminded:
"Master, this servant has brought Brother Si over."
"Eliang! Four-four, two years old!"
As soon as Yin Xiaozhen was put on the ground by Bai Lu, he quickly ran to Qingyan's chair with his two short legs. The long ears hanging on both sides of the dog hat were also swayed up and down following his movements.
.
Qingyan put down the extremely fine ink pen she was holding in her hand, pushed the account books spread out on the table, then bent down and picked up her son on her lap. She stretched out her right hand and touched his bulging belly.
He felt relieved after breakfast.
"It will be several months until our birthdays. Who said you are two years old?"
Qingyan smoothed the two floppy ears on his head, pinched the soft flesh on his cheeks in a funny way and said.
Bai Lu also came over, folded up the account books that had been processed on the desk, and moved them to the long table on the other side.
"Aunt Bai, as she said, after the Chinese New Year, April 4th will be two years old!"
Qingyan lowered her head and looked at the little one raising two short fingers high and deliberately placing the emphasis on "two years old", and wanted to know what he was going to do.
"Sisi, he's grown up. He's two years old. He's a big boy and can have a dog!"
Yin Xiaozhen sat on E Niang's lap, puffed out his chest and said firmly in a milky voice.
Bai Lu, holding the account book in her hand, burst out laughing.
Qingyan couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth slightly, rubbed his furry head and said: "A two-year-old kid? Then you are really big!"
"It's so big, it's already two years old!"
Yin Xiaozhen didn't understand the teasing in his mother's tone, so he nodded seriously and repeated it again.
Qingyan:……
The matter of raising a dog was actually brought up by Yin Xiaozhen just after his first birthday, but at that time Qingyan felt that young children have poor immunity, and considering that there are no vaccines in the palace, she refused.
Unexpectedly, after more than half a year, this matter was revealed again by Xiaosi.
When Yin Xiaozhen saw that his mother didn't speak, he quickly stretched out his two little arms and put them around Qingyan's neck and said urgently:
"No, Sisi, I can't wait any longer. The main thing is, woof, woof, I don't want to do it anymore!"
"What would a wooden dog not want to do?"
Qingyan felt even more outrageous when she heard this, so she suppressed her smile and asked.
Seeing E Niang's expression of disbelief, Yin Xiaozhen let go of her neck and danced and said to her with gestures:
"It's true. It can't run anymore when it barks. It doesn't matter how you hit it or slap it on the head. It runs on the ground. It can only bark and scream."
"It must be unwilling to play with Sisi, this human friend, and wants to find a dog friend to play with."
"Four Four knows that he is anxious and doesn't want to play with Four Four."
When Yin Xiaozhen said this, he was very sad. After all, the wooden dog was his favorite toy, and it was given to him by the prince's brother last year.
Qingyan looked at her son's clear and innocent black eyes, thought about it in her heart for a while and then said:
"I think some part of its body may be broken. After all, you have been playing with it for a year. When your brother comes to Chuxiu Palace, ask him to take the wooden dog back and show it to Master Huang.
Look, it must have been fixed."
Qingyan comforted her son, and Bailu couldn't see the lonely look on his lovely fourth brother's face, so she spoke kindly to him:
"Master, in fact, the cats and dogs raised in the palace are taken care of by dedicated people. They are bathed frequently and there are no fleas or lice on them. They are clean. There are also veterinarians at the Royal Zoo at any time.
Look, none of these little animals are infected with the disease. Why don't you take Brother Si to the cat and dog room? If you find a beautiful one, it would be good to take one back and raise it."
"Yes, Eliang, just give Si Si and raise one!"
Yin Xiaozhen also looked at his mother longingly.
Qingyan had never paid attention to this information before. When she heard that the pets in the palace were so valuable and clean, she couldn't help but be tempted.
Because she knows that if children can grow up with pets, it will help cultivate their love and sense of responsibility.
"Do you really want a dog? If Xiaosi decides to adopt a dog, he must never abandon it midway or kick it. Can Xiaosi do this?" Qingyan
He lowered his head and asked him seriously.
"Yes! Xiaosi also wants to build a house for it and sleep with it in a small bed at night." Yin Xiaozhen spoke without any hesitation.
"No, you can't let your dog sleep in the crib with you."
When Qingyan heard this, she immediately sternly refused.
"Okay!"
Seeing E Niang's objection, Yin Xiaozhen had no choice but to nod and agree. He secretly thought in his heart that it was just a bed anyway.
If my mother doesn't let the dog sleep on his little bed, then after the dog's house is built, he will get in and sleep with the dog on its bed.
However, he was smart enough not to say any of this. Qingyan saw that the palace affairs were almost done, so she stood up from the chair and let Bailu lead the way to the cat and dog room with Yin Xiaozhen in her arms.