Xia Miaoyuan suddenly hugged the little orange cat tighter.
[Hmph, don't even think about letting this princess put it down. I must take it home.]
The queen thought it was funny, but was afraid that others would notice, so she had to pick up a handkerchief and pretend to wipe her mouth to hide the upturned corners of her mouth.
"Miao'er, be good and listen to your mother first." The queen gently stroked Xia Miaoyuan's head.
"It's not as simple as just taking a kitten home. You have to choose a date and give a betrothal gift."
Xia Miaoyuan looked at the Queen with a puzzled look: "No!"
[Mother, are you kidding me? ]
"Miao'er, your mother is right." Concubine Shu said with a smile.
"Bringing a kitten home is called hiring a cat. Hiring a cat must be done according to the rules. First, choose the cat, and then pick an auspicious day to pick it up."
"On the day of picking up the cat, you need to bring the betrothal gifts and sign the engagement letter before you can marry."
[Oh my god, bringing a kitten home was so troublesome in ancient times!] Xia Miaoyuan was a little confused.
At this time, Concubine Shu had already instructed the palace maid to bring the almanac.
"Aunt, can you please choose an auspicious day with your mother to hire a cat?" Concubine Shu asked Xia Miaoyuan softly.
"Okay, okay!" Xia Miaoyuan responded in a baby voice, then ran to the table and blinked her big eyes at Concubine Shu and the Queen.
The queen smiled helplessly and flipped through the almanac.
The fifth prince also walked up to Xia Miaoyuan, put his arm around her shoulders and coaxed her, "Sister, don't worry. I've seen other concubines in other palaces hire cats in the same way before."
Soon, the Queen and Consort Shu chose a date, and three days later was an auspicious day for taking in livestock.
"Miao'er, let's go back and prepare the things for hiring a cat, and then come to Concubine Shu's place to pick up the cat in three days."
Xia Miaoyuan nodded sensibly and reluctantly handed the little orange cat to the fifth prince.
After returning to Kunning Palace, the Queen immediately took Xia Miaoyuan to prepare.
The queen first asked someone to bring a bag of osmanthus candy.
This was a few months ago. The Queen took the Second Prince and Xia Miaoyuan out of the palace to meet Yin Xizi. When they came across an osmanthus forest on the way, the three of them, mother and son, picked osmanthus flowers together.
After returning to the palace, the queen had the osmanthus flowers dried, and took Xia Miaoyuan to make a lot of osmanthus oil, osmanthus powder, and osmanthus candy.
Afterwards, the queen prepared a bag of salt, a box of fine Longjing tea, and a box of sesame seeds.
All these things were packed in an exquisite brocade box, and a red paper strip with the words "Cat Engagement Gift" written on it was pasted on the box.
"These four things, sugar, salt, tea, and sesame seeds, are the betrothal gifts we will give to the cat's owner."
Xia Miaoyuan stood in front of the table, tiptoed to look at the four gifts, and touched them curiously.
[Haha, this seems quite interesting. Bringing a kitten home feels like a ritual.]
The queen asked Yingxue to find some wax paper with cloud and dragon patterns, spread one on the table, picked up the brush, and dipped it in ink.
Xia Miaoyuan couldn't help but stretch out her little hand and gently touched the paper: "What a nice paper! Mother is so grand that she even brought out such precious paper."
The queen pondered for a moment, then picked up her pen and wrote the five big characters "Namaoerqishi" in the center of the top of the paper.
Another big circle was drawn below, and in the center of the circle, the queen drew a small orange cat.
Then, the queen wrote a few lines in a circle with the little orange cat as the center.
At the bottom of the paper, there are two lines of vertical words written on the left and right.
One line reads "The Queen Mother of the West testified that the North does not wander."
The other line reads "The King of the East sees the South but cannot go."
"Miao'er, look." The queen picked up Xia Miaoyuan and pointed at the paper to show her.
"This is the cat engagement certificate. Signing the certificate means the cat officially becomes a member of the family."
"As cat owners, we must take good care of them and not let them get cold or hungry. They must also be obedient and not run around or act naughty."
[So that's how it is!] Xia Miaoyuan glanced at the Queen in surprise.
Everything was ready, and Xia Miaoyuan was looking forward to the day when the cat would come.
Although he was born with the memories of his previous life, Xia Miaoyuan was still just a little baby after all, and he still had many of the child's behavioral habits.
[Hey! Why hasn’t it arrived yet? Why hasn’t it arrived yet?] Xia Miaoyuan checked the almanac again and again.
By the next day, he could not wait any longer and moved a stool over. He stepped on the stool and tore off the two pages of the almanac, then grabbed the corner of the queen's clothes and asked her to come over and have a look.
"Look, mother, take it! Take it!"
The queen looked at the scribbled remains of the two torn pages of the almanac and burst out laughing.
"You kid!"
The palace maids in the room also covered their mouths and laughed.
I finally waited for the day to hire a cat.
Early in the morning, Xia Miaoyuan and the queen dressed up and went out with the betrothal gifts and letters of engagement.
When they arrived at Fuyang Palace, Concubine Shu was already prepared and had cleaned the little orange cat thoroughly.
Xia Miaoyuan used all his strength to take down the four betrothal gifts one by one and handed them to Concubine Shu.
Then he took out the letter of appointment.
The queen dipped one of the little orange cat's front paws into the ink and solemnly made a paw print on the letter of appointment.
"Okay, we can take it back now." The queen said gently.
Xia Miaoyuan was about to hug the cat when the queen stopped him.
Yingxue brought a wooden barrel over. Concubine Shu put the little orange cat into the barrel, and Yingxue covered the barrel with a red cloth.
"Take the cat back and put it in a wooden barrel." Concubine Shu looked at Xia Miaoyuan's dazed expression and explained with a smile.
After that, she turned around and took out a pair of exquisite chopsticks, put them into the wooden barrel, and said softly, "Don't forget this."
“There are so many rituals!” Xia Miaoyuan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
The queen and her entourage finally returned to Kunning Palace with the little orange cat.
When they arrived at the palace, the queen took Xia Miaoyuan to the small kitchen.
Xia Miaoyuan was completely confused: [No way? The ceremony isn't over yet?]
A portrait of the Kitchen God had already been posted in front of the stove in the small kitchen.
Some palace maids have already taken out incense and candles, lit them respectfully, and offered them before the Kitchen God.
Yingxue took the little orange cat out, let it face the Kitchen God, and symbolically pressed its head to show her kowtow.
[Isn't this ceremony finally over? ]
Xia Miaoyuan stretched out her little hand and reached for the kitten in Yingxue's arms.
The queen laughed and said, "Wait, I haven't worshipped your deer yet."
So the group came to the yard again and asked the little orange cat to bow to Maomao.
Finally, Yingxue stuck the pair of chopsticks that Concubine Shu had given her in a corner of the courtyard. After doing so, she said to the little orange cat, "This will be your toilet from now on. Don't pee or poop here or there."
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