Chapter 90 Su Changan: Praise Me
Su Changan practiced calligraphy while regulating his breathing [Yiweiting].
Of course I need to finish writing it all in one go, so it's not like before, when I'm writing and then suddenly want someone to take a look at it and say it's good.
The person accompanying you only needs to help dry the manuscripts and then place them neatly on one side.
Especially now, I don’t know if it’s because Su Changan is used to it, or for some other reason, but he finished it in one go, and in less than an hour and a half, he had already written seven chapters of the Dream of the Red Chamber.
Looking at what he wrote today, Su Changan let out a long sigh.
When I looked down again, the characters were still the same. At first glance, they were still a little ugly, and the more I looked at them, the uglier they seemed.
But the handwriting and the strokes are completely different.
Su Changan nodded with some satisfaction and looked up at Maomao.
What Su Changan didn't expect was that before he even asked, Maomao had no expression on his face and nodded mechanically: "Yeah, it looks good."
Su Changan was speechless.
Something feels wrong.
But Su Changan still told Maomao that when praising people, one should express emotions.
He originally thought that Maomao would respond mercilessly again.
But what Su Changan didn't expect was that Maomao actually forced a smile and said "beautiful".
This made Su Changan extremely uncomfortable!
After practicing calligraphy, the manuscript would be left there, and Xia and the others would go over and carefully organize and put it away.
Today, Xunxia and others have already regarded this manuscript as a treasure. Xunxia even put away carefully the things he had written before in a small soft-wrapped brocade box.
And when Su Changan finished practicing calligraphy and was about to wash up.
I was surprised to find that the cat today is no longer like before, just sitting aside and watching.
Today, there were even people waiting on the side holding face towels.
This made Su Changan look at the cat and feel that something was wrong again.
But ask the cat if it feels uncomfortable somewhere.
Maomao shook his head and said no again.
And then there are things like eating.
In the past, when Su Changan was eating, the cat would still slack off like crazy. He never did anything like pouring water or passing chopsticks. He would even just help Su Changan put the food on the table and then leave.
But today
While Su Changan was eating, Maomao stood beside him with a kettle.
This made Su Changan even more uncomfortable.
But ask the cat again, what happened?
But the cat still shook its head to indicate that nothing was wrong.
but.
Not to mention Su Changan, even Yan Ruyu, Zhou Qianhong, and Xun Xia in the yard looked at Mao Mao's behavior today, and they all felt
Something must be wrong with the cat!
However, since Maomao himself wouldn't admit it, there was nothing anyone else could do.
After dinner, Su Changan decided to go to the greenhouse.
According to Xunxia and the others, because there is a warm house and people who are very good at growing plants in the greenhouse, many flowers that do not bloom in this season can be found in the greenhouse.
This made Su Changan somewhat happy. After all, if he wanted to make perfume, it would be better to have all kinds of varieties, and he also needed to experiment a bit.
Just as I was about to leave, I saw Maomao holding some snacks in her arms.
Su Changan was curious: "What are you going to do with these? If you are hungry, you can wait for your meal."
Maomao shook her head: "I prepared this for you, Miss Chang'an, in case you have nothing to do on the road to entertain yourself."
Hearing
Not to mention that Maomao had never been so considerate to her before, just the word "Miss Chang'an" made Su Chang'an look at Maomao in astonishment.
Because the cat never called him that.
From the 'good-looking person' 'Su Changan' whom I met at the beginning, to 'you' later, and 'Miss' who I had to call her in front of outsiders, there is no other name besides these!
After a moment of silence, Su Changan looked at Maomao and said, "Mao'er, if you have something to say, you can just tell me directly. If you are embarrassed, we can talk alone. If it is about what happened last night, I can always let you go home and take a look. I am afraid of you looking like this."
Maomao looked at Su Changan, hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "It's okay."
Su Changan was speechless.
What to do?
Yan Ruyu was also helpless.
…
The greenhouse is located in the harem near the imperial garden.
It is also the intersection that leads directly to other flower gardens.
It doesn't take much time to go directly from Lingqi Pavilion, and you will pass by a small flower garden on the way.
After all, it is winter, and many flowers in the garden have withered, but there are still some crabapples and some wintersweets that bloom in early winter.
In addition, the scenery of the flower garden itself is quite nice, so the flower garden looks quite good.
In particular, Su Changan noticed that there were dozens of koi in the small pond in the garden. They all looked pretty good, especially one fatter than the other, but they could not be eaten.
According to Yan Ruyu, there are thousands or even tens of thousands of koi fish in the pond of Long Xie Pavilion in the Imperial Garden. When feeding, each one rushes to eat, and many even jump out of the lake, which is really spectacular.
This made Su Changan think about finding time to go and see it.
Maybe it was because of what Su Changan said last night that he asked Sun Shanggong to greet the eunuch in charge of the flower room overnight.
When Su Changan and his companions arrived, the oldest eunuch was already waiting there.
First meeting with Su Changan.
After paying their respects, the other palace servants in the flower room, including the eunuch in charge, looked at Su Changan curiously.
There was a young eunuch who could not take his eyes away. Thanks to the reminder of the middle-aged palace maid next to him, he quickly lowered his head and dared not look any longer.
Although as far as they knew, Su Changan had no status in the palace, but even so, it was not something they could look directly at him.
But it's still okay to take a peek.
The young eunuch took many peeks and thought that this young lady, who was said by many in the palace to have literary talent comparable to that of the scholars in the Imperial Academy, was more and more beautiful the more he looked at her.
She was prettier than the flowers he was tending to, and compared to the beautiful women he had seen before, her hair wasn't tied into a bun or had hairpins, and her face didn't seem to have any rouge or powder, and she was already so beautiful.
It would be so beautiful if she really dressed up.
I really told others that she is a fairy-like person.
The young eunuch, who was sold to the palace from the countryside and was less than three months old, secretly went to see Su Chang'an again.
But this time when he raised his eyes, he saw the cat beside Su Changan looking at him. The little eunuch was so scared that he quickly lowered his head and dared not look any more.
It was much warmer inside the greenhouse than outside, but more stuffy.
There are countless varieties of flowers, dazzling and colorful. As soon as Su Changan entered, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
The room is arranged in a peculiar way. There are small holes on the roof at every distance, and there are some bronze mirrors next to the holes.
According to the manager of the greenhouse, these are used to allow the flowers in the greenhouse to bask in the sun. They are usually covered with quilts to prevent the heat from escaping.
Those bronze mirrors are used to allow sunlight to shine on more flowers.
In addition, the reason why the greenhouse is so stuffy is that some flowers in the greenhouse do not need too much water, otherwise they will die if they get too much water.
So the palace maids in the greenhouse would take a hand basin, dip a little with their hands and sprinkle it, and then
The greenhouse itself is hot, so it naturally becomes stuffy and humid.
In addition to floral scents, the perfumes Su Changan wants to make also include citrus scents.
What's more, Su Changan is still in the trial stage.
So what Su Changan thought was that he didn't need any rare species of flowers at the beginning, just some common flowers such as orchids, roses, etc.
After all, it's just an experiment now. After we are sure that we can use a distiller to make essential oils, it won't be too late to use some flowers with unique flavors to make them. The greenhouse will be there anyway.
but
When walking out of the greenhouse, Su Changan accidentally saw some lychee shells drying in a corner of the yard where the greenhouse was.
Su Changan was a little surprised.
The eunuch in charge saw it and immediately explained, "The lychees were delivered to the palace a few months ago. Your Majesty and the Queen Mother ate some of them, and the rest were frozen in the ice cellar for fear that they would go bad. However, lychees are rare and delicate, and they will go bad even if they are frozen. So a few days ago, Shang Gong Sun took them out of the ice cellar of the Shangshi Bureau and distributed them to us."
"We have a new kid here. He had never eaten lychees before. After eating one, he was reluctant to throw away the lychee shells. He said they smelled good, so he collected all the shells and dried them there. I'm sorry to bother you, young lady."
As he spoke, the eunuch in charge glanced behind him.
The young eunuch who had been secretly glancing at Su Changan did not move at all, but after hearing the voice of the palace maid beside him, he hurried to the eunuch in charge.
But after seeing the child coming over, he was at a loss for words, so the eunuch in charge said, "Miss Chang'an saw the lychees you dried."
The young eunuch was stunned and looked up at Su Changan.
He found that Su Changan looked even better when he looked at him from closer, especially when he was looking at him like this. The little eunuch blushed and lowered his head quickly, becoming even more speechless.
Su Changan saw it and said with a smile: "I want to ask you for some dried lychee shells to make incense, is that okay?"
The young eunuch lowered his head, not knowing that Su Changan was talking to him, but he didn't dare to look up.
The young eunuch's home was in the mountains in the countryside. He used to think that the village chief's daughter was very beautiful, especially after putting on rouge. Later, when he came to the town, he found that there were many girls who were more beautiful than the village chief's daughter.
Then when he arrived in the capital and the palace, he discovered that the girls in the town were not pretty at all, and only those in the palace in the capital were pretty.
But now
The young eunuch felt that the ones in the palace were not pretty either, and the eldest lady named Su Changan was the most beautiful.
The eunuch in charge frowned and glared at the unpromising man, then looked at Su Changan and said respectfully: "Miss Changan, you are joking. It's just some lychee shells. Just give me a call and I will pack it up and send it to you with the flowers. There is no need to say all this."
Su Changan glanced at the young eunuch who entered the palace at about the same age as Su Liheng, and said to the eunuch in charge with a smile: "It's not mine anyway, so I need to ask."
Then, Su Changan looked at the young eunuch and said, "I won't ask for it for nothing. If you want money, I can buy it. If you want something else, just tell me when you give it to me."
The young eunuch pursed his lips, lowered his head, and still did not dare to say a word.
The eunuch in charge wanted to say something, but looking at Su Changan, he knew he couldn't say any more.
Su Changan took a look at the lychee shells. He didn't expect to see lychee shells in this season. He really didn't expect it, but he didn't say much.
After saying goodbye to the eunuch in charge, everyone left naturally.
As he watched Su Changan and the others leave, the eunuch in charge breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since Sun Shang Gong came to give him instructions personally last night, he has been on tenterhooks, fearing that Su Changan would be difficult to serve and that he would offend Su Changan.
Especially since this was ordered personally by Lady Sun, who represented His Majesty.
Especially since he had heard that Miss Chang'an lived in the palace at the order of the Queen Mother.
This relationship is beyond belief.
But fortunately, he found that Su Changan was easy to get along with.
Just thinking of this, the eunuch in charge turned around and looked at the young eunuch: "How stupid! You didn't even know how to pick up the great blessing that was given to you."
The middle-aged maid who had been reminding the young eunuch said, "After all, she has just entered the palace, and only you, Eunuch Zhang, can keep such a fairy-like person steady."
The head eunuch Zhang curled his lips and glared at the young eunuch: "Fortunately you are easy to talk to, otherwise, don't mention His Majesty and the Queen Mother. Just the identity of the eldest daughter of the Su family is enough to crush you to death."
Another eunuch stepped forward and said, "Don't be angry, sir, but this Miss Chang'an is really polite. She keeps smiling and talking, just like a flower."
Eunuch Zhang said immediately, "He is a scholar, well-informed and well-mannered. However, it is rare for him to speak to people like us like this. When you go to give flowers and lychee shells to me later, remember not to ask for money or anything like that. He says those words as a compliment, and if you accept them, you are courting death, understand?"
The young eunuch named Lu Cai nodded hurriedly.
But in my heart, I felt a little bit unbelievable. I just thought that such a good-looking person, with such a high status, could speak to me so gently.
It turns out that there are such gentle people among the dignitaries in the capital. I thought they were all very cruel to me.
…
Now that the work is done, it is natural to go back.
but
On the way back, Su Changan was thinking about using litchi incense to make Xiao Sihe incense, as well as other things about litchi incense.
It’s not that Su Changan was thinking about what to do, but in his previous life, he bought lychee incense, which smelled very good, so he learned how to make it.
Now that I have seen the lychee shell, I might as well make it.
If they are really good, I will keep some for myself and my wife, and take the rest to the rouge shop for the opening ceremony. They would be great as event gifts.
Along the way, Maomao kept looking at Su Changan, as if hesitant to say something.
But until they got back, Maomao didn't say anything.
After Su Changan returned, he immediately took out the small parts from yesterday, thinking of putting the musket together first.
only
What surprised Su Changan was that right after he returned, Maomao immediately looked at him and asked with concern: "Are you hungry? I'll go make you something to eat."
Hearing this, the frightened Su Changan looked at the cat, thinking that he should solve the cat's problem first, otherwise this day would be too strange!
So he dragged Maomao to the fireplace in the hall and asked, "Maomao, what's the matter? Don't say it's nothing. If you dare to say it's nothing, I will say you are possessed by a dirty thing."
When Maomao heard this, she frowned and looked at Su Changan, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.
But after thinking about it, he finally sighed, then turned his head away, not daring to look at Su Changan, and clutched the hem of his clothes, whispering: "I want to borrow money."
Su Changan thought for a moment, then asked, "And then?"
Maomao bit her lip and said, "I want to go back home in three days."
Su Changan nodded and was about to agree, but after thinking for a moment he said, "Praise me."
When Maomao heard this, she showed disgust undisguisedly on her face and even clicked her tongue.
But when I thought about the fact that I had something to ask for help, I sighed.
…
final.
After Maomao walked out of the study, he looked relieved.
Su Changan was very satisfied.
Yan Ruyu, who heard everything outside the study, looked at Su Changan helplessly.
Su Changan glanced at Maomao's back indifferently.
Although I don’t know how Maomao suddenly figured it out.
But if you think about it carefully, Maomao is just that kind of person. She was angry yesterday because her family suddenly told her about that incident and said goodbye without her permission.
She sighed, probably because she was leaving home and she hadn't prepared anything.
The reason for borrowing money was that I wanted to give my family enough money so that they could buy a house and live on when they returned home.
As for going back, it was to say goodbye.
What a weird little girl.
Su Changan looked at the cat who was rinsing his mouth frantically with the cup and sighed.
But he thought of something, so he looked at Yan Ruyu and said, "Go home with Maomao in three days. I'm afraid this girl will cry too much."
Yan Ruyu had just heard the whole process and nodded, but immediately asked back: "Didn't Maomao say that she could do it alone?"
Su Changan said: "I don't want to miss seeing her cry."
Yan Ruyu was helpless, but she also knew that Su Changan didn't want to miss the chance to see Maomao cry.
I thought, maybe he didn’t want the cat to feel miserable alone.
…
Maomao's matter went more smoothly than Su Changan had expected. After all, he was worrying about how to persuade this poisonous girl last night.
But since it has been resolved today, it’s not a big deal.
So Su Changan went straight back to his room and started tinkering with muskets, distiller and other things.
During this process, the young eunuch pulled a cart and brought the flowers that Su Changan wanted, of course, including lychee shells.
Su Changan originally wanted to give the young eunuch some money, but he refused to take it. After putting down these things, he turned around and ran away.
Still blushing.
This made Su Changan feel helpless.
But after thinking about it, he still asked Xiangluo to take some money and snacks over.
But what puzzled Su Changan was that Maomao also went to find the little eunuch.
But when I came back, I felt a little unhappy, as if what I had hoped for had not gone through.
But when he took Xuanxia to the backyard, Su Changan didn't hear clearly what was said, but he mentioned that he wanted a separate room to use as a greenhouse to grow poisonous flowers and weeds.
This scared Xia.
Su Changan didn't think it was a big deal. It would be fine if the cat returned to its normal state instead of looking weird like it does today.
Returning to the study, Su Changan opened the package and started assembling it.
(End of this chapter)
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