Seeing this, Qiu Ye smiled and said, "Your Majesty must be tired. I'll give you a massage later so you can feel better."
Su Wanyan nodded, then realized Huang Ye wasn't there: "Where's Huang Ye?"
"Today is the 25th of the month, and Sister Huangye has gone to the city to go to the market."
When they arrived at a new place, the first thing they wanted to find out was when the market was open.
Fucheng has a market every five days of the month, namely the 5th, 15th, and 25th. The market is always very lively and is a good day for the government to purchase goods.
In addition to purchasing items for their masters, the women would also buy their daily necessities on this day.
Huang Ye didn't go to the market alone; she gathered all the maids and servants of the Prince's mansion to make purchases. The city market was one of the ways the mansion made its purchases. If they found a good one, they could negotiate a long-term cooperation and have the vendors supply the mansion with goods on a regular basis.
Su Wanyan knew this.
"Do you know when Yu Nanqing went out?" Su Wanyan asked again.
Qiu Ye smiled and said, "I knew Your Highness would ask, so I paid special attention. The Prince left around dawn and said he would be back for lunch."
As they spoke, Su Wanyan had already rinsed her mouth with fragrant tea.
Qiuye packed her things and left, and soon brought out breakfast.
For breakfast, there was a small soup, which was one of Su Wanyan's favorite breakfasts. The rest of the dishes included flower cakes, spring rolls, and fresh soup. When she took a spoonful, a familiar taste filled her mouth.
Su Wanyan looked up: "Did Yu Nanqing make this?"
Qiuye smiled and said, "The baby soup and mushroom soup were made by the Prince. The flower cakes and spring rolls were made by the kitchen at the Prince's order. They are all the Empress's favorites. Your Majesty, please eat them while they are hot."
Yu Nanqing is like that; no matter how busy he is, he will always make time to prepare breakfast for her.
Even if not all of them, I'll still rush to make one or two dishes.
Su Wanyan wasn't one to waste food, and she ate the entire breakfast on the table.
After finishing breakfast, Su Wanyan had a lot of free time.
Seeing that Su Wanyan was bored, Qiuye suggested, "Your Highness, would you like to take a walk around the manor?"
Su Wanyan's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this: "That's right, I've been here for about ten days now, and I still haven't seen what this mansion looks like."
Go shopping whenever you want.
After tidying up briefly, Su Wanyan took a stroll around the main courtyard.
On the day of the wedding ceremony, all she knew was that there was a hot spring in the courtyard, built behind the main house, and that there was a connecting corridor between the main house and the hot spring.
Apart from that, Su Wanyan was still unfamiliar with other places.
Su Wanyan thought this mansion was similar in scale to the royal palaces in the capital, but after touring around, she realized that it seemed to be several times larger than the mansions in the capital.
The pavilion in the backyard of the main courtyard alone had already amazed Su Wanyan. There were also the Four Seasons Garden, the tea garden, and the bamboo forest in the courtyard. Seeing that there were other places, Su Wanyan didn't want to explore anymore.
Leaving through the back gate of the main courtyard, one arrives at the central courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, surrounded by green hills and clear waters. Su Wanyan initially thought she had traveled through time and space to the wrong place.
Driven by curiosity, she continued walking, not knowing how long she had walked. Everywhere she looked, there were corridors and pavilions. Although the scenery was pleasant, Su Wanyan found it boring after walking for a while.
Why don't I see any other courtyards? That's so strange. Where exactly am I?
This reminded Su Wanyan of the time when she was married into the Prince Gong's mansion in place of him. Because the mansion was so large, she often didn't know where to go or what to do, just like she was now.
It has to be said that people in ancient times knew how to enjoy life. To live in such a large place, one would have to hire countless maids and servants.
"Would Your Highness like to visit the library?" Qiu Ye suggested, seeing Su Wanyan wandering aimlessly.
Su Wanyan perked up immediately: "Okay, where is the library? Lead the way."
"Your Highness, please come with me."
Su Wanyan underestimated this mansion. She thought that the main courtyard alone would be enough to surprise her, but she did not expect that the library in the mansion would shock her even more.
The library was built on a mountain.
Su Wanyan initially thought it was a rockery, but upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't.
The mountain truly rose from the ground, seemingly filling the entire backyard. Su Wanyan had been walking on the mountain without realizing it.
The winding paths in the backyard seem to follow the contours of the mountain.
Climbing up the mountain, you can see a pavilion halfway up the mountain, and further up, you'll find a library.
The library is surrounded by white jade railings. The ground is flat and spacious, enough to accommodate hundreds of people. Standing in front of the library and leaning against the railing, one can see the entire mansion below.
The scene before her eyes left Su Wanyan speechless. It turned out that the area from the front courtyard to the main courtyard of the mansion was only the tip of the iceberg. Just by standing at the top and counting, there were eighteen buildings, and each one was an independent courtyard.
Apart from the main hall in the front yard, the back yard is the most magnificent and spectacular part of the main courtyard.
And this was only one side of the story that Su Wanyan had seen. After going around to the back door of the library, she saw more than twenty more books.
Su Wanyan was a little confused: "Where did this place come from?"
Looking from the front gate of the Prince's Mansion, although the mansion is not built in the bustling city, the street in front of the mansion is still lively. If it is in the city, where do all these places come from?
Qiu Ye smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you may not know this, but the Prince's Mansion is built around the mountains. There are natural lakes, ponds and streams in the mountains. There are about thirty-six independent courtyards of different sizes in the backyard. The rest are Buddhist temples, scripture pavilions, star-gazing platforms and viewing pavilions."
Su Wanyan leaned against the stone railing, a gentle breeze blowing against her face. She rested her chin on her hand and muttered, "So extravagant."
As the saying goes, "You can't see the true face of Mount Lu because you are in the mountain itself."
She went to and from the front yard every day without realizing that the mansion was so big.
Su Wanyan asked curiously, "This mansion must be quite famous, right?"
Such a large mansion must not be newly built; she guessed it must have been left over from a dynasty before the Great Jin Dynasty or an even earlier historical dynasty.
Sure enough, as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Qiu Ye explained, "I heard that this was built in the first year of the Qing Dynasty and was the residence of Prince Xiangzhou."
The Qing Dynasty was separated from the Great Jin Dynasty by five dynasties, and has a history of about four or five hundred years.
The mansion must have been renovated. Su Wanyan suddenly wondered if Yu Nanqing had asked the Empress Dowager for this mansion.
Because such mansions were definitely recorded by the imperial court and used by the royal family.
Who was the previous head of this mansion?
Su Wanyan perked up; wasn't this the library?
She rushed forward and opened the door to the library.
The entire library spirals upwards like an elephant tower, with a dragon head carved on the top, surrounded by the twelve constellations, and the outer edge is also carved with constellations.
The walls of the entire library were covered with jade slips.
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