The people sitting in the car were none other than Mrs. Shi Chong and her goddaughter Zhixin. The Shi family had a very prominent position in the Jin Dynasty. Shi Chong's father, Shi Bao, was one of the great contributors to the founding of the country and was named

Grand Sima and Duke Leling were of the highest rank both in terms of official rank and title, and were truly supreme ministers. Although Shi Chong did not have the same official rank and title as his father, he had his protection and his status should not be underestimated.

.Place

Mrs. Shi, as the wife of a foreigner, was ordered to accompany the queen to participate in the silkworm ceremony, and was selected as a silkworm mother. Silkworm mothers were selected from the wives of princes with a certain age and status, and there were six in total. Zhixin was not qualified to participate in the silkworm ceremony.

Because Mrs. Shi has been in poor health recently, Zhixin is worried that her mother will not be able to support her, and the emperor's order cannot refuse, so she has no choice but to accompany herself there so that she can take care of Mrs. Shi along the way.

On the road just now, the strong wind blew open the car curtains. Although Zhixin and Biyu's eyes crossed for a moment, neither of them recognized each other. Because they had been separated for more than four years.

They were only fifteen or sixteen years old that year, and these four years were the critical period of transition from children to adults.

Boys and girls have changed a lot. In addition, Zhixin has always been calm, and has never seriously looked at any man except Shu Yan. As for Biyu, she thought Zhixin was dead, even though she seriously admired this "celestial being."

"Girl" at a glance, but how did he know that this "fairy girl" was Zhixin?

Arriving at Mulberry Garden in the western suburbs, the queen and others entered the Curtain Palace, while all the escorts and guides stayed outside. Zhixin secretly looked at these mysterious and noble concubines in the Curtain Palace. She originally thought that the emperor's concubines must be

They are all the best in the world. Today, her eyes must be full of women who are like gods. But what surprised her was that the appearance of these concubines in front of her was really unflattering, and they were even far inferior to those of the concubines who were both inside and outside.

Why is this? Could it be that all the good-looking concubines stayed in the palace and did not come? Of course not, for such an important auspicious ceremony, everyone with some status must participate, how could they not come? The reason for this comes from Sima Yan’s first

A queen - Yang Yan, who is the cousin of the current queen Yang Zhi, is a member of the Yang family.

Later, Yang Yan was the wife of Sima Yan and the biological mother of Prince Sima Zhong. Empress Yang Yan was intelligent, good at writing, and had beautiful talents, but one thing was that she was very jealous. Back then, Sima Yanbo chose a woman from a good family as his wife.

Concubines. After these women arrived in the palace, Yang Yan was responsible for the selection, but the emperor

In the end, no one was left who was as beautiful as a flower, but only some who were white and tall. If Sima Yan fell in love with someone with good looks, she would find various reasons to deny it. Therefore, although Sima Yan had many concubines, outstanding ones

But there were not many. Except for Concubine Hu, she was very beautiful and Sima Yan loved her very much. Yang Yan was very jealous of her.

When she was dying, she was afraid that Concubine Hu would be named queen, so she recommended her uncle Yang Jun's daughter Yang Zhi to Sima Yan and became the second queen. Later, although there were five thousand beautiful concubines from Jiangnan entering the palace

, but few of those people had status, so they could only stay in the palace and were not qualified to participate in the Silkworm Ceremony.

Among these concubines with mediocre qualifications, there was a young princess who stood out like a flower in the weeds against the backdrop of the people around her. At the same time, the Seventeenth Princess also saw the uniqueness among a group of concubines.

Zhixin.

At this time, the sacrifice to the Silkworm God had been completed, and the cattle, pigs, and mutton used for the sacrifice were distributed to everyone participating in the silkworm ceremony. The queen ascended the high altar, and the seventeenth princess and others accompanied her to the east of the altar. After the prescribed ceremony, mulberry picking

start.

The queen's bowing of mulberry trees is naturally different from that of ordinary people. There must be two female officials, one holding a hook and bending the mulberry branches so that the queen can reach out to pick mulberries. The other one is holding a bamboo basket to prepare the picked mulberries.

Ye, and then awarded it to the silkworm mother behind her. The two female officials were ready to take their positions, only one silkworm mother was missing. Mrs. Shi was in Zhizhi

Accompanied by Xin, Yang Zhi stood among several other silkworm mothers. Yang Zhi looked at Zhixin and felt that this woman was very dignified and elegant, with a fresh and refined temperament. She liked it very much, and then chose Mrs. Shi. Mrs. Shi was

I was so worried that I suddenly saw that the queen had chosen me. This excitement suddenly made my spirits rise, and I felt sick.

Yang Zhi walked to the mulberry tree. One of the two female officials was holding a hook in her hand, and the other was holding a bamboo basket. They were standing behind her. The female official holding the hook bent a mulberry branch, and Yang Zhi picked the mulberry leaves with her own hands.

, put it into the basket. According to the etiquette regulations, for the silkworm ceremony, the queen must pick three mulberry branches, the remaining concubines and princesses must pick five mulberry branches, and the foreign ministers ordered the wives to pick seven and nine mulberry branches respectively. But the queen just picked one.

Tiao, the female officer holding the hook may have been looking up at the sun for a long time. She suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell down. It was obvious that she could not continue. Yang Zhi was furious and scolded the female officer to retreat. Although the female officer retreated

But the ceremony would continue. She looked around and saw that in addition to the older women, there were also many young women, but she was not satisfied with them, and finally her eyes fell on Zhixin.

"May I have your name?"

When Zhixin asked, she hurriedly said: "Back to the Queen, my name is Zhixin." This statement frightened the maid next to the Queen, because the Queen's name was Yang Zhi, which was the same as Zhixin's Zhi.

This is a big taboo if there is a conflict. The maid was afraid that the queen would be angry, so she was about to remind Zhixin, but she didn't expect that Yang Zhi didn't care at all, and said with a smile: "You will take the hook and pick mulberry instead of the female official, are you willing?"

Zhi Xin said: "If the queen doesn't think I am clumsy, I will naturally be willing."

Yang Zhixin was very happy to see that Zhixin spoke generously and appropriately, so she asked Zhixin to hold the hook. Picking mulberry is the most common thing for farmers. Zhixin is very familiar with picking mulberry, but she doesn't have such equipment and pomp.

She skillfully hooked a branch and held the hook firmly. Soon, the queen had finished picking three mulberry branches. The female officer holding the basket handed the mulberry leaves to the silkworm mother and then went up to the altar to rest.

It was the turn of the seventeenth princess. She saw that Zhixin was a natural, slightly older than herself, but very stable, so she asked Zhixin to hold the hook for her. Zhixin readily agreed. The queen has the majesty of the queen, and she will hold the hook for the queen.

The hook will be somewhat restrictive, but for the seventeenth princess, it is natural

She felt much more relaxed, her mind was relaxed, and she was no longer so nervous. She held the hook and looked at the mulberry tree, remembering the days when she and Shu Yan were picking mulberries together. At that time, they were still young and not tall, so they could not reach the mulberry leaves.

Zhixin picked the lower branches, and Shu Yan often climbed up the tree to pick them.

"Brother Yan, be careful not to fall."

"It's okay, but you have to stay away. If I fall, I won't hit you."

"I won't hide. If you fall, I will catch you and you won't fall to the ground. If you hit me, you won't feel any pain."

…

Zhixin blankly recalled those distant but clear scenes. Until the Seventeenth Princess had finished picking one mulberry branch, she forgot to hook the next one.

"What are you thinking about?" Princess Seventeen asked Zhixin, who was thinking about traveling far away.

"Oh, it's nothing." Zhixin woke up from a dream and hurriedly hooked up the next one. The seventeenth princess's picking of mulberry branches was very jerky and slow. She couldn't pick two mulberry branches in the time it took Zhixin to pick five.

Seeing her clumsy look, Zhixin forgot the melancholy just now and turned her worry into a smile.

"Why are you laughing?" Princess Seventeen was already sweating slightly in her fuss.

"Princess, if you pick five mulberries like this, it's already noon. There are many married women waiting behind you. What do you want them to do?"

The Seventeenth Princess looked back behind her, and sure enough, the wives of the ministers were all looking at her picking mulberry trees. Although they were anxious, they did not dare to speak. She turned back, looked at Zhixin, and said sheepishly:

"I really can't do this job. Let alone do it. I haven't even seen it. It's really difficult."

"Although it is difficult to do, as a princess, you must do it according to the etiquette requirements, and no one else can do it for you. But I can teach you the skills of picking mulberry."

"You know how to pick mulberries?" Princess Seventeen didn't quite believe it. How could a lady from a wealthy family, who was not much better than herself, be able to pick mulberries?

Zhixin smiled and said: "It doesn't matter whether I know how to pick mulberries, as long as you do what I say."

Princess Seventeen saw that Zhixin was speaking confidently and said, "Tell me about it."

Zhixin looked at the doubtful look on the little princess's face and said with a smile: "You can't pick mulberries like you did just now. Look at the branches you picked. They are uneven. Some leaves have been cut in half, while others are not.

If you pick too much, you will pluck all the branches and pedicles. This is the most taboo thing to do when picking mulberry, because if the branches and pedicles fall off, new leaves will not grow in the future.

Not only must the mulberry picking technique be steady, but the collected mulberry leaves must also be classified. The tenderest yellow-green leaves should be reserved for young silkworms to eat; the tender green leaves should be used to feed larger silkworms, and the dark green leaves should be used to feed larger silkworms.

It is used to feed the most mature silkworms. But you don’t need to master these now. The most urgent thing is to learn some skills of picking mulberry quickly.”

Zhixin briefly told the Seventeenth Princess about the skills of picking mulberry. The Seventeenth Princess followed Zhixin's words and her speed improved a lot. She looked at the concubines and princesses next to her. They were better than her just now.

It was a little stronger, but now it was far behind. When the five mulberry branches were picked, those people were still busy clumsily.

Concubines, the princesses have finished picking this time, and it is the turn of the ministers and wives. Although most of them are a little older, they have more experience after all, so their speed is not slower than the princesses.

Everyone had finished picking mulberries, and the silkworm mothers had taken the mulberry leaves to the silkworm room to feed the silkworms. Queen Yang Zhi sat on the silkworm altar, and was very happy. Because from the Wei to the Jin Dynasty, the ceremony of silkworm sacrifice had been interrupted for many years, and many queens had

I couldn't implement it, but I didn't expect that I completed this grand ceremony. It was really a great link between past and future.

Merit. The more she thought about it, the more proud she became, and she said to everyone: "Today you have accompanied me to complete an ancient grand ceremony. This is our honor. Farming and mulberry are the foundation of the country, and the Book of Songs is the foundation of poetry.

, in today’s prosperous age, wouldn’t it be more meaningful if we could recite a few poems related to mulberry?”

Everyone just heard the queen talking about grand ceremony, glory and other words, and they felt very honored and happy in their hearts. Now when they heard that they were going to recite poems, they all looked at each other and retracted their heads. Whether these people were concubines or married women, they had never done anything before.

They are all ladies from rich families, and they have also read poetry. But that was when they were still in the boudoir. Since they got married, they have been raising their husbands and raising children, or they are busy competing for favors. How can they have time to read poetry, even if they have learned it before?

, as time went by, I completely forgot about it.

"Who can?" the queen asked again, but still no one answered.

The queen's face darkened a little, and she was about to get angry when someone stood up next to Zhixin and said, "I can."

As soon as the seventeenth princess agreed, she felt regretful, because although she had read the Book of Songs, she was not familiar with it. Just because she was young and fighting for victory, she said it in a spur of the moment. If she had to recite it by herself, it would be really difficult.

not sure.

Queen Yang was very happy and said: "Very well, Seventeenth Princess, as the daughter of the royal family, you should set an example, so just say a few words."

Regarding the "Book of Songs", the Seventeenth Princess also memorized many poems, but the poems about "mulberry" could only have a vague impression. If she wanted to recite them fluently, she could not recite even one of them. She was embarrassed for a long time, her face turned red from holding it in, and suddenly she remembered

When the first song started, he only said one sentence: "The mulberry trees have not yet fallen, and their leaves are like the leaves..." He paused as he started to go on. He couldn't get off the stage when he suddenly heard someone whispering next to him:

"When I am a dove, I have no food to eat mulberries. When I am a girl, I have no time to hang out with scholars..." The Seventeenth Princess was overjoyed when she found someone reminding her, so she memorized it according to the prompts. After reciting a few sentences, she got stuck again.
Chapter completed!