Chapter 1528 Making Rouge
Although Wei Zhi and Old Tang's words were unpleasant and the emperor didn't like to hear them, he still listened to them. He was really worried that the farmers would improve their fields into melon fields because of the huge profits from melons this year.
Therefore, he specially summoned the county magistrates of Chang'an County and Wannian County, and asked them to do a good job in encouraging people to engage in agriculture and sericulture this year, and to keep a close eye on the grain planting in major farms next year, and not to allow the powerful to take the lead in converting farmland into melon fields.
It was because he was so busy that the emperor didn't think of settling accounts with Zhou Man at first, and when he had time, he forgot about it again.
But Manbao didn't know that she had been secretly avoiding the emperor. She didn't even go to give the emperor acupuncture in person. Instead, she carefully taught Xiao Yuanzheng and then left Xiao Yuanzheng alone.
Xiao Yuanzheng was eager to learn more acupuncture skills from her, so he followed Manbao to the side hall and found two eunuchs who had stomach problems and gave them acupuncture twice. After confirming that there was no problem, he gave acupuncture to the emperor without any hesitation despite the emperor's coldness.
Because someone took the blame for him, even though Manbao was hiding from the emperor, he still ran to the Daming Palace every day. Occasionally, when he had free time, after visiting the Crown Princess, he would go out to play with Mingda Changyu, and also take care of Princess Mingda's body.
At first, when they saw that Manbao had no pulse diagnosis, he gave Princess Mingda acupuncture. Mingda's palace maids and eunuchs wanted to stop him, but they found that the princess's appetite was indeed better after the acupuncture and she slept more soundly at night, so they turned a blind eye and let him go.
Forget it, Zhou Man would never harm the princess anyway, and her acupuncture for the queen was rarely brought to justice.
Your Majesty's harem is a little different from others. Not to mention the distant past, even during the time of the previous emperor, there were always infighting and frame-ups in the harem.
There are very few today.
Even if there was jealousy, it would never harm the offspring, and the queen managed the harem very well.
It is precisely because of the relaxed environment that Manbao can give Mingda acupuncture so comfortably.
When she saw them applying rouge on their faces, Manbao expressed with great interest that she had found some rouge recipes when she was reading medical books in Chongwenguan, and they looked very good.
Planning to do it for fun with Mingda Changyu.
The wise old nanny listened to these words and thought to herself: If it were the previous dynasty or the time of the late emperor, the princesses would not be allowed to touch such medicinal herbs or use such rouge. Who knows what kind of disaster is hidden in this matter?
Now, let them play whatever they want.
So, the old nanny watched Manbao instigate the two princesses to go to the Imperial Hospital to get a lot of medicinal herbs, and then after taking a look around the small kitchen, they felt disgusted by the strong fishy smell, so the three of them squatted in the corridor and started to boil the medicine over a fire.
Manbao couldn't quite understand them. While weighing the herbs on a small scale, he asked, "Where in the kitchen smells fishy? I went in and took a look around, and it smells quite nice."
There is still broth hanging on the stove. I heard that they are going to cook noodles for dinner.
But this is for the princesses to eat, Manbao can't eat it. She has to leave here and rush back to Chongwenguan before dinner, otherwise the East Palace will be locked as soon as the sun sets.
Chang Yu said, "A chicken was just killed in the kitchen. Don't you smell the blood?"
Manbao thought about it and shook his head, "Human blood seems to smell better than chicken blood."
There was no way to respond to this, so Changyu simply ignored it.
Manbao sorted and placed the weighed herbs, while Mingda and Changyu each sat at a small table pounding the herbs, and their personal maid squatted in front of the stove to light the fire.
They expressed doubts about the abilities of Zhou Man and the two princesses. They had never heard that rouge was made from medicinal herbs. Shouldn't rouge be made from flowers?
Mingda and Changyu could only sit and have their makeup done. They were still young, so they only had flower ornaments or forehead paint applied, without even applying powder. However, the palace maids did a lot of work on their faces and bought a lot of rouge and other things.
If you buy a lot of them, you will naturally know how rouge is made. To put it bluntly, isn’t it made of red and blue flowers?
Good rouge would have other flowers added to it to achieve better color and fragrance. How could it be made with medicinal herbs?
Manbao was very confident. He took Mingda and Changyu to pound the medicinal herbs and steam them. It took them three days. Just when the queen could not help asking, Manbao asked Changyu to get a piece of mutton fat from the Shangshi Bureau.
Not to mention the palace maids, even the old maid was stunned. Then she watched Manbao dissolve the sheep oil and mix it with the light purple "rouge" they had been making for three days. The "rouge", which was already light in color, became even lighter.
After mixing the Manbao, I put it in an ice basin aside to freeze it. I stared at it from morning to afternoon. When I opened the jar again, it had solidified inside. The color was light, probably because it was not mixed very well. Some were light purple, and some were milky white.
Manbao smelled it and thought it was pretty good, so he became proud and showed it to Changyu and Mingda to smell.
They both smelled it and nodded, "It smells good, but is it rouge?"
Although they have never used rouge, they have seen other people using it, right?
Mingda hesitated and asked, "Is this ointment?"
Man Bao said: "Didn't you say that rouge can make people look good? If this can make people look good, it must be rouge."
Manbao showed them the recipe he had copied down, "Yes, it's written right there. It's called Run Rouge."
Changyu and Mingda stopped doubting and looked at the rouge in the jar together and asked, "Can we use it now?"
"Okay."
Manbao scooped some with her fingertips and rubbed it in her palm, then rubbed it on her face and finally the back of her hand. She looked at the back of her hand and nodded, "It's really good."
Manbao immediately ran to open the medicine box, took out three small wooden jars, and said to Mingda Changyu, "I want to dig some."
They made a lot, a big jar. Although Manbao brought three wooden jars, they were not big, so the two of them nodded without any stinginess and let her dig out three small jars.
Manbao happily carried her medicine box back to the East Palace. As soon as she left, the Emperor and Empress arrived. As soon as they entered the side hall for their daughters, the Emperor looked around and asked, "Where is Zhou Man?"
Chang Yu was still studying the moist rouge with Ming Da. When he heard the emperor's voice, he immediately rushed out, "Father, Mother, please come quickly. We have made something good."
The emperor said, "I came to see if you have set fire to this side hall. I have seen smoke coming out of it for three days in a row."
Mingda ran forward and hugged one of his mother's arms. Hearing this, he asked with a smile, "Why did you come here to ask now?"
That's because I'm busy, of course.
The ice in the upper reaches of the Yellow River has melted recently, and the water level has dropped quite a bit. The governor of Shengzhou immediately sent someone to report the crisis of the Yellow River at full speed.
The matter of the emperor eating too many melons was left unresolved. Wei Zhi was already calculating the relief grain funds to be paid this year with the Ministry of Revenue, and it would be sent to Shengzhou soon.
The Ministry of Works also went with them, and tried their best to prevent the Yellow River from bursting its banks.
The rules were just finalized today, and it was rare for the emperor to get off work on time. Coincidentally, there was no smoke coming out of the side hall today, so he curiously called the queen to come and take a look.
Not only did someone remonstrate with me, but they did so with a whip.
(End of this chapter)
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