As the New Year approaches, the New Year atmosphere in Taiyuan City is getting stronger and stronger. Fighting rice cakes, sticking peach talismans, hanging banners immediately, and every household is drunk and slaughtering Su wine. The married daughter also wants to go back to her parents' home to visit relatives. As the saying goes, "Manzhi"

The woman goes out and the birds fly to welcome the girl.

As the New Year approaches, there are more social engagements. That afternoon, the Chu Palace was decorated with lights and colorful colors, and it was extremely lively. Carriages came and went in front of the gate, and hundreds of personal guards maintained order and guided the vehicles.

Today is the day when the Princess of Chu invites guests and is a festival for women. The wife and daughter of officials above the seventh rank in Taiyuan City received an invitation two days ago.

Although the invitation is clearly written and you are invited to come in plain clothes without dressing up, women's nature makes them still wear heavy makeup and gold ornaments. The luxurious style that has emerged in the past one or two months has made many officials' families pay more attention to this time.

Opportunity to show off your glitz.

Shortly after noon, various gorgeous carriages came to the Chu Palace one after another. Some were inlaid with gold and silver, some were made of good pear wood, and some were tied with silk and satin, which was luxurious and rich.

In fact, the poor officials and wives and daughters of the family simply refused to come to the hospital to avoid being ridiculed.

Groups of beautifully dressed ladies got off the carriage and walked into the mansion. They had their heads combed with high buns, pearls and jade, and they were covered with pink and red, and they were full of fragrance. Most of them were wearing long skirts, red silk, and fairy sleeves were floating, young and beautiful

The daughter followed her, with her floating green and flowing flowers and beautiful decorations. There were nearly a thousand female guests coming to the banquet, and there were very lively places in front of and behind the lobby.

The place for the banquet today is located in Xuanwu Hall, the King of Chu Mansion. This is a giant hall that can accommodate three thousand people to eat at the same time. It is also the main hall of the King of Chu Mansion. It is rarely opened because it is used for the first time because it is a banquet for guests today.

Women are full of interest in the Chu Palace. They like to understand the life of the Chu Palace from the subtleties, such as what lichen is used, whether it is the legendary Persian carpet, and whether the pillars in the main hall are made of agarwood, if it is

If so, can you take some home and so on?

But the situation in front of the women disappointed. There was no Persian carpet, not even a carpet, but it was cleaned very clean. There were five hundred wooden couches in the main hall, two sheepskins were laid on it, and there was no agarwood.

The pillars fade due to age, and the paint shells peel off, making them look very old and mottled.

There have been many female guests in the hall. The noble lady in the head is Su Wei's new wife Ye. No one knows her origin, but she only knows that she is deeply favored by Su Wei, but her wife is just a title. The official

I don't admit it, to be clear, she is actually a concubine who respects the treatment of her wife.

Ye is quite charming, with fair skin and aged only in her early twenties. Her hair is combed to welcome Tang Ba’s hair bun, and her hair is covered with various gold and pearls and jade, and the pearls are dazzling, which is dazzling under the light. She wears it inside.

The tight-fitting satin boy, with a brocade robe wrapped around his shoulders, a wide long skirt tied with a long skirt with a cloud-like silk dress and a ring of arms. All of them are the best treasures, and they look particularly beautiful and enchanting among the noble ladies.

Ye is also the pioneer of this time in the competition style. Her hair accessories and dresses are particularly eye-catching. Her comments with a little disdain come from afar, "Are you not even lichens in such a big hall? And this

The wooden couch is also old. I don’t know where I borrowed it, but it actually puts on sheepskin. Our mansion treats guests with Ruixia red embroidered carpet. A blanket costs a thousand taels of silk. Look, look!"

Ye carefully found that the tableware on the table was actually engraved with 'Baiyunju'. She screamed in a sharp voice, "Even the tableware is borrowed. This is the tableware from Baiyunju Restaurant. I said why are you a little eye-catching**People are talking about it

, mixed with Ye's sarcastic laughter, "The Chu Prince's Mansion is a bit too shabby!"

The women also discovered that there were no musicians, no dancers, and no teams of charming maids to serve. There were only dozens of maids and servants who were busy like bees, posing bowls and plates, and they were all wearing cloth clothes.

It is in a state of disgrace, which is in sharp contrast with the shiny ladies.

This surprised the ladies. Is this the maid and servant of the King of Chu’s Mansion? He was actually wearing a commoner. You should know that the maids and servants of the Prime Minister Su’s Mansion and the Prince of Wang’s Mansion were all dressed in silk.

"Mrs. Jia!"

Cheng Yaojin's wife Xiang walked over carefully. She was wearing a narrow-sleeved, wide-sleeved long skirt, a popular high bun, and a dozen jewelry-like hairpins on her head, even though she was deceived by her cousin.

Hundreds of taels of silver and half of the jewelry suffered heavy losses, but her husband was very successful. Feihu County made great contributions in the battle, received generous rewards, and made up for all her losses.

The trend of competition for luxury this month also hit the Cheng family. Xiang made more than a dozen good silk skirts for herself in one breath and bought more than twenty valuable jewelry. However, she is a stingy person, except for her.

In addition to being extravagant, the dozen maids and servants in the family did not enjoy the benefits brought by this luxury style. Only her two personal maids each got an old silver jewelry that she had eliminated.

Xiang has been pregnant for three months. Although her lower abdomen has not yet been raised, she has a big reaction. If she moves a little faster, she will feel chest tightness and uncomfortable, so she walks carefully and walks carefully, and many of them don’t know the details.

The ladies were still secretly giving advice from behind, praising her, and making a flirty and graceful look.

She walked to Mrs. Qin Qiong, Jia, and held her arm, "Madam Jia comes with me, I'll show you something interesting."

Mrs. Qin Qiong is 37 or 38 years old and has become a grandmother. Her daughter is only one year younger than Xiang. She dresses very smoothly, wears a silver hairpin on her head, a slightly thin powder on her face, and a slightly old long skirt.

Although it is a long satin dress, the style is very old, and it can be seen that she is a little out of place among all the jewel-like wives.

Mrs. Jia was born into a small business family, well-educated and rational, and was simple by nature. She couldn't stand extravagance. In the past month, the luxury trend suddenly blew up in the backyard of Taiyuan officialdom for more than a month made her very disgusted. She wrote a letter to tell her husband.

Qin Qiong told Yang Yuanqing about this again, which led to today's banquet.

Perhaps because Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin had a very good relationship, Mrs. Jia also took special care of Cheng Yaojin's wife Xiang. Xiang came to chat with Mrs. Jia almost every now and then.

Jia was very disgusted with this Ye family. The golden and green on her head was as vulgar as a nouveau riche. She was about to walk away when she heard Xiang call her, and she turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"

Mrs. Jia looked at Xiang's belly with concern again and asked in a low voice: "Does it matter?"

"It's okay today. The little guy in his belly is doing well and didn't make trouble for me."

Xiang Shi smiled and pulled Mrs. Jia out, "I'll show you something, it's really surprising."

She took Mrs. Jia to the front yard, where a carriage was parked in the yard, and a large group of wives were pointing around the carriage. Mrs. Jia slowly walked forward, and she felt a little strange. The carriage was very ordinary and had no decorations.

Except for being a little wider, there is no difference between other carriages in rental car dealers.

There was nothing strange about the carriage itself. Mrs. Jia was surprised that such a slightly shabby carriage actually appeared in the Chu Palace.

Xiang opened the car door, looked at it, and turned around and said, "It's simpler in the car!"

All the ladies rushed forward and looked inside. They saw only a bed of lichens and a small table, with nothing else, and no decoration on the wall of the car.

"Whose carriage is this? It is actually placed in the main courtyard?" the ladies asked strangely.

At this time, a little maid stepped forward and slacked off his dagger, "Mrs. The princess asked everyone to enter the main hall."

A lady pointed to the carriage and asked her, "Whose carriage is in the palace? Why are she parked here?"

"Report to all wives, this is my princess' carriage."

The front yard suddenly became quiet, and the ladies looked at each other. Such a shabby carriage turned out to be the carriage of Princess Chu, which was incredible.

"Won't!"

Xiang asked in disbelief: "Is this really the princess's carriage?"

The little maid said seriously: "The princess said that there are still many poor people in the world who can't afford to eat, and many children die of starvation. She should restrain herself and the prince's mansion, strive to be simple and not be arrogant or extravagant. This is the princess who treat us.

Said."

"Well said!" Mrs. Kai couldn't help but applaud. The yard was very quiet, and many wives lowered their heads in shame.

The maid said again: "Everyone come with me! The princess invites everyone into the palace."

Everyone followed the maid into the hall. The hall had already quieted down and the ladies took their seats one after another. At this time, a guard shouted: "The Princess Chu is here!"

Only a few footsteps heard, Princess Pei Minqiu, surrounded by a group of maids, walked into the hall from the main entrance. She smiled and looked as bright as Qiuyue, with her hair combed and tied with a bun on her head. There was no gorgeous jewelry on her head, only one

A simple jade hairpin was worn through, and her face was covered with pink. What was surprising was that she was wearing a white short linen and a long skirt, which was also made of fine linen. It was obviously a bit rough and dressed up.

She was no different from the housewife of a poor family, but her graceful and generous demeanor was incomparable to any wife. She nodded to all the ladies one by one and walked calmly above the hall.

The hall suddenly became a little turbulent. The dignified Princess Chu dressed so simply. Some smart ladies vaguely guessed that this was the Princess Chu who wanted to set an example and stop the recent trend of luxury competition in the backyard of the officialdom.

Pei Minqiu walked into the hall, looked at everyone, and apologized with a smile: "I invite everyone to the banquet today. If the hospitality is not good, please forgive me!"

The hall was still very quiet, no one dared to speak more, and everyone had an incomparable shame on their faces. The princess's clothes and twig dress formed a strong contrast with their jewelry spirit.

Pei Minqiu raised his wine glass and said to the ladies: "The world is far from unified, and the people have not received blessings. The soldiers are fighting bloody battles for the country ahead. When it is cold and cold, before the banquet begins, I will give you a suggestion.

, Each of us donated a hundred pairs of shoes and socks to the frontline soldiers to fulfill our wishes to comfort the army."

At this time, more than a dozen maids walked in with big plates, with shoes and socks on them. Pei Minqiu smiled and said, "These shoes and socks are made by me, including my dress, which I personally spin.

I don’t ask everyone to spin and weave like me. You can buy it at home. It’s not expensive. This is just our little intention. If everyone donates a hundred pairs of shoes and socks, then 100,000 yuan.

The soldiers can feel the support and warmth behind the rear.

Ye bit her lip tightly, and she couldn't help asking, "Princess, you just said that your clothes were made of yarn and weaving cloth yourself. Is it true?"

Pei Minqiu smiled and nodded, "If Mrs. Ye doesn't believe it, I can do it!"

She turned around and ordered the maid to say a few words. The maid went down. After a moment, more than a dozen servants came up with a spinning wheel and a weaving machine and placed it in the hall. Pei Minqiu walked to the weaving machine and sat down, tidied up the thread.

She skillfully operated the loom, "Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of looms sounded in the hall, and a fine linen white cloth gradually woven in her hands.

...
Chapter completed!