vrcanaries Chapter 173 The Queen Mother's Advice
Chapter 173 The Queen Mother's Advice
The Queen Mother caressed the little girl's head lovingly. She truly loved this granddaughter who was not her biological granddaughter.
Who could not love a little girl who is so smart and considerate? But the Second Princess is also her granddaughter. Even if she is arrogant and domineering, she, as a grandmother, cannot be too harsh on her. After all, the court officials and the harem are watching her.
If she is too partial, it will be bad for the little girl.
"Girl, don't worry. If your second sister goes too far, the grandmother will always stand by you. Not only because you are the legitimate daughter and princess, but you are my little darling, my happy fruit.
But as for the Second Princess, the Imperial Grandmother is still the grandmother after all, and you can’t let others find fault with her, otherwise it will be disadvantageous to you.”
Shen Jiarou nodded with red eyes, "Yi Yi understands. It was Yi Yi who was unfilial and made the Imperial Grandmother worried."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she hugged the little girl tightly with even more heartache and patted her back to comfort her.
"Come to the Royal Grandmother's palace for breakfast tomorrow. You can choose whatever you want from the Royal Grandmother's private store."
Shen Jiarou was deeply moved when she heard the Royal Grandmother coaxing her and letting her choose whatever she wanted.
"Okay, Grandmother. It's getting late now, let's go quickly."
The Queen Mother nodded lovingly, "Okay, let's go."
The grandparents and grandchildren stood up and walked towards the door. Aunt Zhen felt soft-hearted, relieved, and moved.
Kanghe Palace
When the eunuch guarding the gate saw the Queen Mother and Princess Yongkang, he hurriedly saluted and then announced loudly.
"The Queen Mother has arrived! Princess Yongkang has arrived!"
Upon hearing this, everyone knelt down and bowed.
"Greetings to the Empress Dowager, and to Princess Yongkang."
Aunt Zhen supported the Queen Mother and walked towards the crowd.
"No need to be polite, everyone stand up."
Then she looked at the Queen and Concubine An and said, "The auspicious time is almost here, let's start."
Today, the second princess was dressed elegantly, and every move she made was dignified.
The Ji Ceremony refers to the coming-of-age ceremony for girls of the Han nationality, a kind of ancient auspicious ceremony.
Commonly known as "Shangtou" or "Shangtouli".
Ji is a hairpin.
Since the Zhou Dynasty, it was required that noble women perform the ceremony of coming of age after engagement (promise) and before marriage.
It is usually held at the age of fifteen. If a woman has been unmarried for a long time, she will also have the ceremony of coming of age at the age of twenty.
It is primarily about motivating and inspiring individual members.
When the second princess received her hairpin ceremony, the ceremony was performed by her stepmother, the empress, and her biological mother, Concubine An, assisted by her.
When Empress Anpin was holding the coming-of-age ceremony for the second princess, she changed her childhood hairstyle by tying her hair into a bun, then wrapped the bun with a piece of black cloth and then fixed the bun with a hairpin.
The female guest who came of age was the gentle and dignified Crown Princess Lin Qinghuan, who was the legitimate daughter-in-law of Prince Su.
This hairpin indicates that a woman has reached adulthood and can get married.
As a royal aristocratic woman, the second princess received adult education from the royal family after she came of age. She was taught "womanly virtues, womanly appearance, womanly skills, womanly speech", etc., as well as the moral manners and needlework skills that a daughter-in-law must possess in dealing with people and serving her uncle and aunt.
After the girl reaches the age of 15, everyone will present her with a ceremonial ceremony.
Some women are low-key or don’t like the hassle, so they just ask someone to keep it.
The second princess, who has a showy personality, would show off the coming-of-age gifts she received.
The first one was a jade bracelet chosen by the Queen Mother, which was packaged and sent by Aunt Zhen. It was priceless.
Everyone stretched their necks to look at the fine jade bracelets, their eyes full of envy.
"so beautiful."
"As expected, the Queen Mother's gifts are very precious."
……
Hearing everyone's discussion, the second princess smiled happily.
The second gift was sent by someone arranged by the emperor, and it was a top-quality necklace.
Everyone was envious again.
“This is beautiful.”
"Wow, it turns out that the Queen Mother and the Emperor are different."
……
The third gift was the empress’s coming-of-age gift, a hairpin made of pure gold and inlaid with high-quality Hetian jade.
As a girl, the second princess likes these gifts very much.
The fourth set was a set of headgear sent by the prince, and everyone was almost going crazy looking at it.
When it was Shen Jiarou's turn to receive her gift, everyone looked at Princess Yongkang.
"A pearl fan, with twenty white and pink pearls."
Everyone looked at the second princess with envy again.
Feeling everyone's gaze, the second princess raised the corners of her mouth.
Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty, the Crown Prince and other princes came slowly, and lunch officially began.
As a father, Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty still raised his glass to toast his daughter.
"Mu Xin, happy coming of age ceremony. Father wishes you a safe and smooth life."
The second princess looked at her father in surprise, and Concubine An was anxious and had to remind him.
"Second Princess, your father is talking to you."
The second princess came back to her senses and quickly raised her glass to clink with her father's. They both took a sip and put it down.
This scene of a loving father and a filial daughter is quite harmonious.
As the legitimate mother, the Queen also raised her glass to toast her second daughter, "Second Princess, your mother also wishes you a happy birthday and a life of happiness and joy."
At this moment, her blessing is sincere.
The prince glanced at his fourth sister, and Shen Jiarou also raised her glass. The two of them said their wishes and took a sip of the fruit wine.
This coming-of-age ceremony for the girl was also a complete success.
The banquet ended and everyone dispersed.
Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty left with the Empress.
Princess Rong and her family of three also left one after another.
The prince and Shen Jiarou said goodbye and left at the same time.
The bustling Kanghe Palace returned to its former tranquility.
In the middle of the palace road between the palace walls, two teams of ceremonial guards were marching.
The prince looked at the little girl who was sitting quietly and smiled slightly.
"Sister Yi Yi, are you looking forward to your coming-of-age ceremony?"
Shen Jiarou raised her eyes to look at him, then nodded and shook her head.
The prince was confused now.
"What does this mean?"
"Half and half."
He still couldn't understand until he saw his sister enter Fanghua Palace.
When he returned to the East Palace, took a bath, put on clean underwear and lay down, he found that he seemed to understand.
Half and half means that she both expects and doesn't expect it, but he doesn't understand why she thinks that way.
Feeling that it was getting late, the prince stopped worrying and just closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Shen Jiarou left the palace again, but this time, she did not go back home directly, but came to the outside of Tang Wenzong's house.
Seeing the dilapidated and crumbling gate, everyone was dumbfounded.
"Master, are you mistaken?" Is this really her father's house?
Bao Zhiqing looked unnatural, and bowed, "Princess, I guarantee with my life that this is absolutely true."
He was also quite surprised at that time.
The princess suddenly said she was coming over today, and he wanted to stop her, telling her that it would be best if he could make some preparations in advance, but the princess insisted on coming.
Xu Zhi and Feng Jingyun also looked incredulous.
Ruan Qingling helped her princess out of the car, and Li Leping went forward and knocked on the door.
The neighbor was disturbed by the noise, opened the door and went out to see that there was a group of people.
"Are you looking for Lord Tang?"
Everyone nodded. The neighbor was an old man with a white beard.
Hearing this, he shook his head and explained.
"Stop knocking. Lord Tang should still be on duty."
Everyone was shocked.