Chapter 14: The day of the banquet, the plum blossoms in the front yard of the Fourth Princess's Mansion...
On the day of the banquet, the plum blossoms in the front yard of the Fourth Princess's Mansion were in full bloom, and the fragrance spread like clouds.
Mu Xue specially picked out a cloak with a green background and gold plum blossom patterns to wear to suit the occasion.
The flower hall in front for entertaining guests had been cleaned up early, with a mantle laid out and embroidered cloth covering the tables and chairs. Rong'er and a few maids were checking whether the tea sets were properly arranged.
Mu Xue was sitting in the main room, waiting for guests to arrive. The curtain was rolled up on the door frame, and a slightly cool breeze carrying the fragrance of plum blossoms blew on her face.
She wondered if the princess's mansion in Mobei could be built and if plum blossoms could be planted there.
As Dorji turned out of the corridor on the left, he looked up and saw this scene.
Amid the bustling crowd, the fourth princess sat alone, looking at the flowers.
Although it is in the midst of bustling activity, it looks like a plum blossom sealed by ice, strange and unique.
He stopped and looked quietly for a while before walking over.
After greeting each other, he said, "Thank you Princess for the snacks. They are delicious."
"I'm glad you like it." Mu Xue smiled politely, "I'll need you to take care of the guests in the front yard later. Aunt Kang will remind you what kind of relatives they are."
Since several families were invited, it was not just a family dinner. According to the current practice, male and female guests were still dining separately, with male guests in the west front yard and female guests in the east yard. Mu Xue greeted the guests outside, exchanged a few words, and then returned to the east yard to sit with the ladies. The west yard had to be taken care of by the prince consort.
Dorji nodded and agreed: "Don't worry, I know."
At this time, Mother Zhao came to report: "The people from Guo Luoluo's house have arrived."
Muxue stood up and went to the ceremonial gate with her husband to welcome the guests.
The Guoluo family is her maternal grandfather's family. Her maternal grandfather, Guoluo Sanguanbao, is currently the assistant commander of the Shengjing Internal Affairs Department. His son Daobao, Muxue's uncle, is currently working in Beijing. This time, he brought his wife and children to the banquet.
Seeing her uncle Daobao leading the family to bow and kowtow to her niece, Muxue twisted her handkerchief and felt very uncomfortable.
After the ceremony, she immediately said, "Help him up quickly."
It was also the first time that Daobao looked at his niece so closely, with a smile and a look of disappointment in his eyes.
It had been twenty years since the two sisters entered the palace. The brother and sister had never met each other again since then, and Concubine Guo Bu Yinzhu had already passed away.
He hoped to find some traces of Buyinzhu in the fourth princess, but when he actually met her, he found that he could not remember what she looked like. He tried hard to recall, but there was only a hazy shadow left, vaguely like many years ago, on the grassland in Shengjing, Buyinzhu took him to ride a horse, the sky was high and far, as if there was no end.
Although they were blood relatives, they had not been together for many years and were separated by the etiquette of monarch and subject. Daobao and Muxue only exchanged a few pleasantries, asked how Sanguanbao of Shengjing was doing, and asked whether Concubine Yi in the palace was healthy.
After exchanging pleasantries, a new guest arrived, so they arranged for Guo Luoluo to come in and sit down while greeting the new guest.
The invited band also started playing music, with various instruments and singing, creating a very lively atmosphere.
By the time all the guests who had responded to the invitations arrived and the banquet was about to begin, Mu Xue's mouth was so stiff from smiling.
In the kitchen, everyone is busy as hell!
It was the first time that a banquet was held in the Fourth Princess's mansion. The few people in the kitchen were definitely not enough, so some additional kitchen helpers were borrowed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Nanny Wu was afraid that people outside might not know what was going on and might disrupt the arrangements, so she simply placed a chair in the open space outside the kitchen and sat on it.
"Hurry up, hurry up, don't get the order of serving the dishes wrong."
The menu for today's banquet was set by Mu Xue herself. Most of it was traditional banquet style that would never go wrong, similar to what she had eaten in the palace before. Steamed lamb, sliced white meat, roast duck in a hanging oven, etc. At that time, the palace dishes were still mainly steamed and boiled, with very solid meat, without as many variations as later.
There were also two new dishes, twice-cooked pork and chicken in hot pot. After Mu Xue opened her own house, she asked the kitchen to experiment with them. She thought they tasted good, so she put them in - mainly for her own consumption.
However, there were also some guests who liked it very much, such as the wife of Prince Gong's son, Prince Haishan, Guaerjia.
Guaerjia was twenty years old, young and liked new things. She particularly liked this feast. She had been married to Prince Gong's mansion for several years. Every New Year, the palace would give her sacrificial meat, which was boiled white meat with only some salt. But because it was used for sacrifice, everyone had to eat it cleanly with a happy face.
But at the Fourth Princess's house, they actually served white meat with very good seasonings. When she dipped it in the sauce, it finally tasted good. There was also a dish of twice-cooked pork, which she had never seen before, but it looked like pork, sliced into small pieces, fried first and then stir-fried, and it tasted especially delicious!
Guaerjia wanted to ask about the specific method so that she could ask the cook to try it out after returning. So when everyone went to watch a play, she quietly approached the Fourth Princess.
Seeing that everyone had gone to watch a play, Mu Xue had hidden in a corner, hoping to have some peace and quiet. However, a woman came over to greet her, so she had no choice but to exchange polite greetings.
"I'm sorry for the poor hospitality..."
"No, today's dishes are delicious!" Guaerjia said with a smile, "Especially the twice-cooked pork, it tastes really good. I am shameless and want to ask for the recipe."
"That's easy." Mu Xue turned around and told Rong Er, "Ask the kitchen to write a list and send it to this lady."
Seeing that the Fourth Princess was such a cheerful person, Guaerjia's smile became more sincere.
"The princess is really thoughtful. Dishes like this don't cost much, but they taste great."
"As for the cost, it's indeed OK, but it doesn't matter, it's just a small amount of money."
"This small amount of money will add up to a lot. The princess has just opened a mansion, so she may not know much about it. There are many aspects of this mansion that require money."
The expenses of Prince Gong's Mansion, if slightly reduced, should be the same as those of the Princess' Mansion, right? After hearing this, Mu Xue was willing to listen to her experience and asked, "I'm really not sure, what are they?"
Guarjia enthusiastically explained what she knew.
The biggest expense was weddings and funerals. Any grand ceremony would cost thousands of taels of silver. Mu Xue was far from these things, so she didn't feel much.
However, the personnel expenses and silver used for annual rewards that were mentioned later were closely related to her.
Although the officials, maids and eunuchs in the princess's mansion all received the regular silver from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the amount was fixed and might not increase for many years. The other annual silver and additional rewards had to be borne by the princess herself. Moreover, the dozen people sent to the mansion by the palace would definitely not be enough in the future, so she had to buy more slaves.
It is roughly equivalent to the relationship between the group and the branch. The group sends employees to the branch and gives them a monthly basic salary, but the bonuses and salary increases are borne by the branch itself. Moreover, the group is only responsible for the basic salary of the initial employees with a regular salary. The people recruited by the branch are not on the regular salary and have to pay for themselves.
They work hard under you, and it's unreasonable not to give them a reward during the holidays, right? It's not too much to make new clothes once a year? And all other food and clothing expenses have to be paid by the Princess's Mansion. The expenses of this part of the staff alone will cost at least one thousand taels a year.
Mu Xue pursed her lips. One thousand taels was all she had as an annual salary.
What would happen if we add in the food expenses and miscellaneous expenses?
Suddenly, she began to worry about her future financial situation.
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