Xue Zhi coughed lightly, and like a magician, he pulled out a brocade box from his arms.
After the brocade box was opened, a red gold thread-threaded ruby hairpin lay inside. The ruby was particularly gorgeous, and it was incomparable to the one Xue Zhi had bought for him from outside.
Zheng Xiu exclaimed as soon as she saw it, "What a beautiful hairpin!"
Xue Zhi smiled, took the hairpin and pinned it on her loose half-tied bun, "As long as you like it."
Xue Shao glared at his father angrily, and gave him two gifts. He was so thoughtful!
Zheng Xiu was afraid that the hairpin would fall and break, so she held it up with her hand and asked, "It must be very expensive, right? How much money did you spend on it?" Xue Zhi handed over all his family assets to her. Normally, he would receive more than 100 taels of silver notes and some loose change to keep on his body for future use.
Xue Zhi scratched his head and said, "I didn't buy it. I melted a small golden sword that my father gave me. This ruby is also from the scabbard." Usually, when a rich family has a newborn baby, they will make a small golden lock or a small golden peanut. But the military family of the Duke of Qing's Mansion made a small golden sword.
Zheng Xiu hurriedly took down the Bushaku and said, "Why did you melt such a commemorative thing? I can't accept it."
Xue Zhi advised, "You can keep it. Anyway, it has been in the warehouse for many years and is of no use. It's not a waste to make a Bushaku for you and wear it often." Xue Shao also encouraged her, "Yes, mother, father prepared it specially for you. It looks so beautiful on you. Besides, even if you don't want to accept it, this Bushaku can't be changed back." Zheng Xiu took the Bushaku in her hand and rubbed it repeatedly, and said with a smile, "Okay, since that's the case, I will accept it. I will take good care of it and live up to your kindness." After
talking for a while, Zheng Xiu ate a few more mouthfuls of noodles and then got up to change clothes and wash.
The family had breakfast together, and Zheng Xiu went to Changfeng Garden as usual.
When Qiu Rui saw her, she smiled and congratulated her, "I congratulate the second wife on her birthday. I wish the second wife and her twins a hundred blessings and a long life."
Zheng Xiu's birthday was not announced to anyone, and only her family and the people in Haoye Hall knew about it. In addition, Princess Guihe was ill at the time, so she kept a low profile. Unexpectedly, Qiu Rui also knew about it.
Zheng Xiu helped her up and said with a smile, "It's just a birthday. Miss Qiu Rui doesn't need to be so polite." Then she asked Minghui to take out a purse and handed it to him.
Qiu Rui did not refuse, accepted the gift, thanked politely, and welcomed Zheng Xiu in. Cakes and tea were already prepared on the table.
Zheng Xiu didn't rush to drink tea, and asked, "Is the princess feeling better today?"
Qiu Rui smiled and said, "In the past few days, I have been turning the princess over and massaging her according to the method you gave me. Today, when the princess got up, she said that half of her body was not so uncomfortable anymore. She also asked the imperial physician to check her pulse, and he said that she was recovering well." "That's good." Zheng Xiu then took the teacup and took two sips. It has to be said that the tea in Changfeng Garden is better than that in Haoye Hall. After drinking it, the fragrance lingers on the teeth and cheeks, and the mouth and tongue become salivating. Qiu Rui prepared Dongting Biluochun on this day, and Junshan Yinzhen two days ago. She picked new tea for her.
Princess Guihe inside heard that Zheng Xiu was here again, so she asked the old nanny to come out and pass on the message that Zheng Xiu was allowed to come in.
Zheng Xiu thought that after coming here for so many days, Princess Guihe could finally see her, which was faster than she thought.
There was a folding screen with a light relief of red plum blossoms in the snow in front of the bed in the inner room.
Zheng Xiu stood outside the screen and asked Princess Guihe how she was.
Princess Guihe was thinking for a long time, and finally said a complete sentence, "I heard that you taught Qiurui that method?"
Zheng Xiu said, "I looked it up in a book, copied it down and gave it to Miss Qiurui." In fact, she wanted to say that she had studied a lot of knowledge about acupuncture points and meridians at that time. If Princess Guihe was willing to let her press them, the effect should be much better than Qiurui's. But after thinking about it, she didn't say it out loud.
Princess Guihe didn't say anything for a long time, and there was a bit of silence for a while.
The old nanny smiled and said, "If the second lady can give Qiu Rui more guidance, our princess will surely recover faster."
"That's good, but I don't know if the princess is willing..."
Princess Guihe just said "hmm".
Zheng Xiu then went around behind the screen. Princess Guihe was sitting on the bed with a veil on her face.
Zheng Xiu didn't look at her face for long, and asked Qiu Rui to demonstrate how to massage her again, and then gave her some guidance on the intensity and position of the massage. Then she also reminded Princess Guihe that if she had the strength, she could try to walk with someone's help.
It was not easy for Princess Guihe to let someone massage her, but she was unwilling to practice walking like a cripple with half of her body on Qiu Rui. No matter how much the old nanny and Qiu Rui persuaded her in the past few days, she just refused to give in.
She was born into a noble family, was proud and enjoyed being looked up to by those around her, and naturally did not want to show any more embarrassment to the servants.
Zheng Xiu did not say anything at the time. After instructing Qiu Rui, she saw that Princess Guihe did not seem to be interested, so she withdrew.
Qiu Rui continued to massage Princess Guihe for a while before coming out.
Zheng Xiu had some ideas, and said, "I see there is nothing at the head of the princess' bed. If she has any requests, it will be difficult for her to call for help. It would be better to put a bell or a whistle or something like that, so that you can go in and see when there is a sound. Also, since the princess does not want to walk in front of people, it would be better to find two crutches and put them in the room, so that she can exercise by herself whenever she wants to move. "
Qiu Rui listened quietly, bowed and said, "Second Madam is very thoughtful. I will ask someone to do it now."
Zheng Xiu nodded, but she was planning to make something in her heart - crutches are indeed inconvenient for stroke patients with half of their bodies paralyzed, and it is easy to fall. Princess Guihe is proud and arrogant, and letting her fall to the ground and unable to get up would probably be more painful than killing her. In this era, there are no medical facilities dedicated to rehabilitation, and rehabilitation is very difficult. It would be better for her to draw a picture according to her memory and find two skillful craftsmen to make some.
At noon, Zheng Ren brought Zheng Yu to the Duke of Qing's Mansion to celebrate Zheng Xiu's birthday with her, so Zheng Xiu returned to Hao Yetang early.
Bai Zhu stayed in the kitchen the whole morning, and together with Da Chu, prepared a very sumptuous meal.
Zheng Ren gave her a small Western mirror that she could carry in her purse. He asked someone to buy it for her. It was not expensive, but very thoughtful. Zheng Yu gave her sister a string of wooden bracelets. The wood was not rare, it was just a string of sandalwood. But he bought it with his pocket money that he had saved for a long time.
Zheng Xiu was very happy to receive many gifts, and her appetite was better than usual.
After lunch, Zheng Ren sat for a while and took Zheng Yu back. Zheng Yu had caused trouble in the mansion of Duke Qing before, so Zheng Ren had not allowed him to come to the mansion for a while. He was brought here because it was Zheng Xiu's birthday.
Zheng Xiu was going to take a nap, but she lost her sleep when she thought about making rehabilitation equipment for Princess Guihe. She called Minghui over and asked her if there was a carpenter in the mansion.
There were carpenters, but carpenters were men's jobs and lived in the front yard. Although Minghui knew this, it was not convenient for the servants in the backyard to go to the front.
Zheng Xiu thought about waiting for Xue Zhi to get off duty in the evening and then ask him for help. She first drew two sketches on paper with a pen. One was two parallel long wooden poles standing on the ground, allowing people to walk in the middle holding on to the wooden pole curtains. The other was a three-dimensional four-legged bracket in the shape of a small ladder, with two handles on top, which could be used as a walking stick. But this kind of four-legged bracket is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, which is much more stable than a walking stick.
She was not satisfied after drawing for a long time, for fear that the carpenter would not understand it. Later, she asked the maids, but no one knew how to draw. There was no other way, so he had to bite the bullet and continue drawing. After repeated revisions, he finally drew the final draft and wrote some text annotations on the side.
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