atypical prostitute

Chapter 125

The fragrance of orchids was still there behind the screen, Li Ci sat in front of the mirror in plain clothes, and the maids knelt on their knees, carefully absorbing the water color from their hair with soft cloths.

A group of slaves and maidservants waited respectfully with all kinds of washing utensils. When the long hair was slightly dry, the master Lama stepped forward and dressed the young lady herself.

She moves skillfully, but after all, she is thinking carefully. While dressing up, it is inevitable to spy on the young lady's expression in the mirror.Trust me, I have heard for a long time that the fourth lady of the Fu family is not simple, she won the joy of the royal family and nobles, she dared to compete with the princess of Liang Wang, and even forced the real princess into the Taoist temple.I met you today, your appearance is really rare in the world, no wonder Shaohou likes it.But the body looks a little weak, not as arrogant and domineering as the rumors say.

I became suspicious.

Fortunately, Nanny La has seen the world, and knows that looking soft may not be really easy to pinch, not to mention that the daughter of the Fu family has the eldest princess behind her, so she can't wait for it. Arriving at the Anping Princess's place, before leaving, I specially instructed my servants, saying that from today on, the madam will be in charge of all affairs of the Ye Mansion."

"Oh? Princess Anping?"

Li Ci smiled.Nanny La observed her color through the bronze mirror, and she naturally saw the smile on the corner of Nanny's mouth through the bronze mirror.After all, the tricks in the back house are simple, and they are incomparable to the conspiracy of the court. When Li Ci rolled his eyes, he knew that the nanny wanted to show off, but she deliberately didn't answer, and only looked at the Qibao glass hairpin at the tip of her hair in front of the bronze mirror. I picked out a few hairpins and tied them in one by one. I waited until Mammy couldn't hold back anymore, then she sighed and said, "Since Master Hou said so, please ask Mammy to guide me to familiarize myself with the things in the mansion." thing."

After going through this scene, Nanny La already knew that the words and deeds of this weak hostess were really peculiar, so she couldn't help being stunned for a while, and then replied: "According to the usual practice, the congratulatory gifts received yesterday must be reviewed by the host before making a book. Into the warehouse. At this moment, all the stewards of the mansion should be in Ji Yetang, waiting for Madam's instructions."

Li Ci nodded, looking at herself in the mirror, with a high bun like a cloud, full of gold and jade, wearing a gold-twisted brocade robe woven with gold, with twigs and gold scraps hanging down, although it is brilliant and eye-catching, it feels cold to the touch.Fingertips slid across Jinxiu, and the tip of my heart became a little bit more thoughtful, and said quietly: "I'm tired."

After finishing speaking, he raised his hand and brushed his temples lightly, and headed to Ji Yetang.

……

……

The atmosphere in Ji Ye Hall was solemn, with male and female stewards separated on both sides, holding their breath and concentrating on their mouths and noses.

Sitting upright on the bed, looking at the brilliance of the room, Li Ci couldn't help but sigh that people tend to be inflammatory by nature.

The Ye family was originally a well-known family for many generations, and they had a lot of favorites. Now that the daughter of the Ye family is in the middle palace, they are becoming more and more powerful and powerful.Therefore, although Ye Chuan is young, but because of his repeated meritorious service and his status as a foreign relative, this time when he gets married, everyone will naturally present congratulatory gifts, icing on the cake and cooking with fire.She casually scanned the roster, and it turned out that most of the officials in Beijing had sent congratulatory gifts, such as red coral three feet high, suet white jade as big as a bowl... piled on the ground like worthless rags, and the floor was full of jewels. , dazzled.

The manager of the accountant is shrewd. Seeing the boring and lazy face of the young lady, she knows that she is indeed a lady of a wealthy family. She has a high vision and is tired of seeing these rare things. Yesterday's gift list was divided into several stacks, let's go on.

Seeing her skillful movements, Li Ci knew that this person was capable, so she immediately asked Lama who was closely behind her, "Is this the steward Wang of the accountant?"

Lama replied: "Exactly."

She bowed and explained: "Guangshi Wang is a servant of the family. He has followed his mother in the accounting office since he was a child. Although she is a woman, she handles affairs meticulously and never shows favoritism. So far, there has been no mistake."

Li Ci nodded approvingly, glanced at the divided booklets, and said, "Guard Wang, why are they divided into three stacks?"

Wang Guanshi knew that the young lady had to be careful when she was housekeeper for the first time, and immediately reported: "The servants have studied accounting in the account room since they were young, and they know that there are mostly three kinds of congratulatory gifts in Beijing, rewards from superiors to subordinates, reciprocal gifts between equals, and exchanges with subordinates. Flattery and flattery to superiors. Rewards and the like, naturally have to be specially listed, so that the young prince can remember them in his heart and repay them at the right time in the future. Reciprocity between equals, we have to keep them in the account of the master, and there is nothing wrong with them. As for the flattery from the lower level to the higher level, it is also our job to know how to measure. For some, we accept it, but for some, we have to - reject it. Things in the court are changing rapidly, and the servants, the servants, have done a good job. The purpose is to share the worries of the master."

Hearing what she said was clear and logical, Li Ci could not help but look at her twice more. His appearance was ordinary, and it was hard to say that his facial features were correct, but his face was honest and honest, and he was quite happy. He immediately liked her a little more, and said: " You did very well."

Manager Wang was praised, bowed his head respectfully, and stepped aside.

Li Ci knew that she was probably a little proud, but she didn't point it out, and immediately asked the nanny to start reconciling the accounts.

The congratulations began to be checked from the imperial gift from the palace.

After all, it was a big wedding for the uncle of the country, and the palace attached great importance to it. In addition to the large amount of gold, silver, money and silk rewards, the emperor also had pairs of Ruyi, tea utensils, lucky branches, saddles, lacquer geese, etc. colorful.In addition, because Li Ci won the title of princess, and because Ye Chuan Mobei made great achievements before, but was blocked by veteran officials, he was not rewarded generously, and now he feels guilty, and even specially added five hundred households to Ye Chuan through the wedding banquet. , and then bestowed Xiaotangshan Manor with dozens of healthy servants, which can be described as a special favor.

Naturally, most of these congratulatory gifts from the royal family had to be carefully sealed and put into storage.

As for the eldest princess, since she wanted to let the world know that Lici is her flesh and blood, the congratulatory gifts would naturally not be stingy. One item will teach people to smack their tongues.

The rest of the royal family members did not fall behind in the entertainment.

King Wei's congratulatory gift was a shark bead that is said to be able to cure all kinds of poisons. King Yan and his wife gave a statue of Avalokitesvara, a rare nanmu wood that was worshiped more than a hundred years before the Buddha. Shouwu or dozens of rejuvenation pills made from more than a hundred famous medicines...

Liang Wang and his wife, who were quite dirty with Li Ci, also sent a congratulatory gift this time, which was a seven-story pagoda.The outermost one is a person-high bluestone pagoda, which is wrapped with chains engraved with Buddha's gatha. When the chains are untied, they are opened layer by layer. There are incense sandalwood, black iron, red copper, glass, silver, and gold in different shapes and ingenious workmanship.The innermost golden pagoda is only as big as a palm, but it is exquisitely carved, and the Buddha bone relics are faintly visible.

Seeing the Buddha's radiance, Li Ci knew that the seven-storey pagoda was unusual, so she hurriedly led everyone to kneel down and put it away carefully, and put it in the warehouse alone, not sharing the same room with common things.

Afterwards, the papers continued, and following the dry voice of the nanny, the objects were carried up one by one for the young lady to have a look at.Gold and jade utensils are naturally cataloged and put into storage, celebrity calligraphy and paintings are classified according to value, land deeds and real estate are temporarily put aside, and they will be reported to the Marquis at night for processing.Considering that the Ye family is basically in the army, and many of the items sent this time are rare medicines, Li Ci specially ordered the steward to record these medicines according to their functions and make them into a booklet for Lord Hou to use.

After tossing like this for a long time, the valuables on display in the hall became less and less. Li Ci lazily ate some pastries, and from the corner of his eye, he saw a black lacquer box on the table, which was about five feet long and wide. There is more than one foot, but there is no record in the roster, so I can't help but ask curiously: "Who is this congratulatory gift from?"

Nanny La hurriedly trotted forward, the black lacquer box was extremely heavy to hold, and there were golden lacquer meticulous brushwork lotus flowers blooming like life, the stamens were sprinkled with fine gemstone powder, which shone brightly with a slight movement.Madam La is well-informed, and although she doesn't know what this box is suitable for, it is by no means an ordinary item that would be sent as a congratulatory gift in the battle like yesterday.

Therefore, before sending it to the case, I opened it carefully, and found that it was——

A fuxiqin.

The surface is made of phoenix tree, the base is made of Chinese fir, and the whole body is painted with purple lacquer. The round head and double-curved waist are retracted, and the snake belly is faintly broken, which can be seen from a long time ago.The thirteen emblems are made of red gold, Yueshan is a piece of red sandalwood, the goose feet and the qin are all beautiful jade, and they are matched with crystal clear silk strings. There will be a burst of warmth, strength, looseness, clearness and moisturization.

Good violin.

It is not inferior to Jiaowei Luqi's good piano.

Although there is no congratulatory message attached to the box, the only one who would use such elegance as a congratulatory gift is the owner of Fengyue Tower.

It's just that although the Guqin is good, thinking of the deep clear water in the eyes of the owner of the Guqin, Li Ci's heart fluttered for a while, and he hurriedly glanced at the Guqin casually pretending not to care, and ordered the steward to send it to Lord Hou's study.

Then came the congratulatory gifts from the generals who had been favored by the Ye family.Ye Chuan was still young, but he couldn't stand Ye Ziyun's high prestige in the army. Even Fu Zhu used to be a white robe under Ye Ziyun's command. Naturally, the Ye family was happy, and there were countless congratulatory gifts from all over the world.Everyone has different opportunities and different destinies, so no matter whether the gifts are high or low, the friendship is priceless, and they are recorded one by one.

Finally, there are flattering and flattering gifts sent by some snobs. Since they are villains, they are naturally alert.It can be seen that even before the great invention of silver bills came out, officials had already studied the art of gift giving to the extreme.Li Ci was not familiar with these villains, so he didn't dare to make decisions recklessly, so he handed over the full power to the chief steward, who should accept and who should not accept.

It's just that the last and most arduous batch of processing was completed, and it was already dusk. Li Ci felt a little tired, and was about to go back to her room to rest, but she saw Zhang Nai, who was in charge of personnel affairs in the inner courtyard, looking at Madam La in front of her, hesitating to speak. He couldn't help raising his voice and said, "Nurse Zhang, do you have something to do?"

When Madam Zhang heard something from the Young Madam, she immediately stepped forward to salute Mammy La with the white eyes on her face, and said cautiously: "The concubines Ji, who were accepted yesterday, are waiting outside for the Young Madam to send them off."

"Oh?"

Li Ci was stunned, and then remembered that when she entered Ji Ye Hall by car, she did see more than a dozen young women in light clothes and outstanding looks respectfully saluted her. , but she didn't care about it. Now that Madam Zhang said this, she realized that the eyes of those women looking at her were indeed respectful with a bit of hatred.

But she doesn't know their common sense.

In other words, don't take them seriously at all.

In this society where there is a clear distinction between superiority and inferiority, and there are distinctions between concubines and concubines, not to mention concubines like them who are not even considered status, even decent concubines from a good family have to put aside their hatred and serve tea and water in front of the mistress.The incident of the arrogant mistress insulting and forbearing the main wife, which happened frequently in the previous life, is simply a fantasy for the mistresses of this era.

So after knowing the identities of these women, Li Ci smiled and said: "Since it is for Lord Hou, then wait for Lord Hou to come back in the evening, and ask him to show it."

"This--"

Nanny Zhang looked distressed, Li Ci was too lazy to tangle with her, so he took a breath and said, "I'm tired."

Nanny La already knew that the Young Madam was not easy in the morning, seeing that she kept her face on the concubine Ji's matter, she quickly signaled Nanny Zhang to keep silent, stood up courteously, and said, "You all go down!"

"Yes!"

Everyone was ordered to retreat one after another.

(End of this chapter)