Chapter 56 Paper No. 1 [Jinjiang Authentic Edition, September]...
About a quarter of an hour later, the ladies living in the palace complex of the six kingdoms on the north bank of the Wei River walked hand in hand to the huge square in the breeze and bright moon.
Under the bright and round moon, Qin Ying saw her mother wearing a dark purple dress with curved hems.
In addition to the familiar eldest mother, the second person he noticed was a middle-aged lady wearing a gorgeous green dress and with a cold expression.
Seeing Hu Hai shouting "Mother, Mother" in a wronged tone and running towards the cold-looking lady from afar, the little guy immediately understood that this person must be Hu Hai's adoptive mother, the Princess Han - Lady Qing, who was rumored to be on equal footing with his own mother in the harem because of her background as his grandfather's cousin.
Ji Qing took a faint glance at the baby sitting next to the eldest lady in the bright moonlight pouring down from above his head.
The emperor's eldest grandson, who had become an instant celebrity in the royal city during the long summer, now had a good reputation of being "loved by heaven and chosen by the black bird" that had spread far and wide inside and outside the palace.
Even the vast majority of Xianyang's commoners didn't know how many sons and daughters the Emperor had, but they all knew that the First Emperor had an exceptionally mysterious grandson who could communicate with the black bird in the sky! He had single-handedly overshadowed the charisma of his father, seventeen uncles, and ten aunts.
She looked at the tiny baby, who was wearing a black tiger-head hat and had bright eyes, sitting at the table with his mother, staring at the group of people with his beautiful eyes wide open.
The little fellow was so small that only his round little head could be barely seen through the table when he sat at the table. But even so, when he saw a large group of strangers suddenly appear in front of him, the little baby did not show the slightest frightened expression. Instead, he looked at these strange ladies one by one with a curious and clear gaze.
When all the ladies saw Madam Qiang smilingly taking her fair and tender big fat grandson from Madam Chang's arms, they couldn't help but gather around with envy.
But everyone just looked at the white and chubby little baby with curiosity, and no one dared to touch it. After all, there was no blood relationship between them. The baby was so small and so precious. If anything happened to him when he returned to the mansion, it would be hard to say.
A group of women surrounded the emperor's eldest grandson, smiled and praised him, then politely sat down at the table one after another.
Qin Ying was held in his grandmother's arms, carefully observing the various people in front of him.
Today's seats are mainly divided into three groups.
Princesses and princes over ten years old each had their own desk, while princesses and princes under ten years old sat with their mothers.
The three-year-old Tenth Princess had a childish face. After she sat down with her mother, she immediately took out two candies from her sleeve in a childish voice, and smiled happily at her mother with sparkling eyes:
"Mother, mother, you don't know that just now, when you and the other mothers were not here, my nephew gave each of us two candies given by the black bird!"
"Here—look, that's it!"
The tenth princess grinned and showed her mother the two candies that she was holding tightly in her little hands.
Ying Ziman's mother was a noble lady from the State of Qi, and she was much younger than the other ladies.
When Mrs. Qi looked down and saw the unique blue and white candy lying quietly in her daughter's fair and tender hands, her eyes lit up instantly.
The extremely rich milky sweetness that hits you in the face clearly shows that this candy is no ordinary product!
Seeing her daughter's happy look, she couldn't help but smile gratefully at the emperor's eldest grandson sitting in Madam Qiang's arms. At the same time, she planned to give the emperor's eldest grandson a heavier birthday gift when he turned one year old.
As soon as the Tenth Princess said this, it caused a sensation. Qin Ying saw that the rest of her aunts and uncles, regardless of age, were all happily showing their Xuanniao candies to their mothers. There were even several pairs of mothers and sons, and mothers and daughters who carefully tore open the candy wrappers and tasted them with cherishing smiles.
For a moment, a strong sweet fragrance emanated from the lady's seat.
Since her unlucky father was not present, Qin Ying immediately presented her grandmother with two colorful lollipops with a smile.
After Mrs. Qiang took the beautiful big candy, her eyes narrowed with smile.
Seeing the ladies around her either looking down at the candies or tasting them with a smile, looking so happy, Madam Qing couldn't help but lower her eyes to look at her adopted son sitting next to her.
The adopted son had a strong smell of milk on his body, and there were very tiny candy residues at the corners of his mouth. Without asking, just looking at these small details, you could tell that Hu Hai had eaten all the candy that belonged to him.
Seeing his adoptive mother's cold eyes looking at him, Hu Hai shuddered subconsciously, and then immediately pointed at Qin Ying who was sitting next to him with full of resentment and grievance, and complained loudly in his tender voice:
"Mother, you have no idea how mean Qin Ying is! He deliberately made us brothers and sisters line up in front of him to get candy, and then when it was finally my turn, he said there was no candy left. Wuuwuwuwu! Qin Ying is deliberately bullying me! Mother, you must stand up for me!"
When Qin Ying heard Hu Hai's words throwing dirty water on her, she clenched her fists. She had never seen such a shameless person in her past life or this life!
She ate the candy, but now she blames him for giving her the candy! Where's her face?!
Wang Ling, who was sitting opposite, couldn't help but frown when he heard this, and looked at his youngest brother-in-law with an indescribable look.
Mi Qiang, who was sitting next to Ji Qing and holding her eldest grandson in her arms, curled her lips when she heard Hu Hai's words. She glanced at the mother and son beside her and said with a smile:
"Hu Hai, I just heard from the other princes and princesses that this candy was given to Ying by the black bird. Ying tore open the bag in front of you brothers and sisters, and generously gave it to you aunts and uncles."
"Everyone in this palace, from Gao to Yiqi, from Yinman to Ziman, your brothers, sisters, and younger sisters have all received candies from the Black Bird. Why is it that when it's your turn, there's none?"
"You said you didn't get any candy, but where did the milky white sugar residue around your mouth come from?"
When four-year-old Hu Hai heard this, his face turned red again.
He had never disliked Madam Qiang in the past, but ever since he had a grudge with Qin Ying, he had found Madam Qiang annoying no matter how he looked at her! He snorted coldly and turned his head away.
"My candy was given to me by my elder sister! It's a fact that Qin Ying didn't give me any candy!"
Mrs. Yan, who was sitting aside watching the excitement, didn't expect that while she was watching, the excitement would actually hit her head!
When she heard that her silly daughter had actually given the precious candy gifted by the Xuanniao to the Eighteenth Young Master, she instantly became anxious! That was just ordinary honey or malt sugar! But that was the candy from outer space gifted by the Xuanniao! It was a great blessing!
Seeing her mother's anxious look, Ying Yinman, who was sitting with her mother at the table, quickly took out two large colorful lollipops from her sleeve and showed them to her mother, and patted her mother's hand softly and said soothingly:
"It's okay, mother. I'm the eldest sister. Seeing that my sister-in-law couldn't coax my eighteenth brother with honey, I naturally couldn't bear to see him crying and disrupting the palace banquet because he had no honey. Besides, look at this big candy Ying gave me later. It was also given by the black bird."
After the great shock, she was welcomed with great joy. Seeing her daughter smiling and shaking the beautiful big round candy with her white hands, Madam Yan felt angry and amused, but her affection for the emperor's eldest grandson became stronger. She clapped her daughter's hands silently without saying a word, but added a few more gifts to the emperor's eldest grandson's first birthday in her mind.
After Madam Qing completely understood the whole story of the "sugar-sharing incident" from the little princesses and princes, her pretty and cold face was filled with deep embarrassment.
Looking at the various complicated looks the ladies gave her, Ji Qing suddenly wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
It would be fine if there were no comparison, but the Tenth Princess is only one year younger than Hu Hai! The younger sister could generously share a candy with the eldest princess, but Hu Hai took the eldest princess's two candies, didn't even say "thank you", and just slipped away to eat them happily. Now he is the first to complain. No matter how you look at it, this is very uncultured!
Although it is said that "a son's poor education is the father's fault", His Majesty the Emperor gave birth to eighteen princes and ten princesses in a row. The other twenty-seven children were all generous and kind. Only the youngest son, Hu Hai, seemed greedy, cunning, selfish, and not presentable.
Even if he was young, he was still a year older than the youngest, the Tenth Princess! All the brothers and sisters had the same father and received the same education. No matter how hard they tried, the blame for their lack of education couldn't be placed on the young, humble Hu woman from Yiqu. Ultimately, it naturally fell to Ji Qing, their adoptive mother of noble birth.
Ji Qing's face was burning hot. Seeing Hu Hai frowning and trying to say something to refute her, she immediately scolded him in a low voice with a look of disgust on her face:
"Alright, shut up! It's just two candies. Did I give you less food to eat all day? Or did I give you less clothes to wear? Don't you think you're embarrassed enough?!"
Seeing his adoptive mother scolding him just after listening to his brothers and sisters, Hu Hai opened his mouth silently, then turned down the corners of his mouth, lowered his head reluctantly and closed his mouth, but the strong resentment emanating from inside to outside was almost condensed into substance above his head.
Qin Ying, who was sitting next to them, quietly observed the interaction between the mother and son.
If it were an ordinary child, he would have to feel pity for this unfortunate kid who "lost his mother early, his biological father was busy all day and was nowhere to be seen, and he could only live with his cold-natured adoptive mother." However, this child's surname was "Ying" and his given name was "Hu Hai", and the little fat boy could only roll his eyes.
There must be something hateful about a pitiful person. Just the bad reputation that Hu Hai had in history books and the sins that the system reported he would commit ten years later were enough to make Hu Hai a person with a big red cross in his heart!
He didn't care whether Hu Hai got along well with his adoptive mother or whether his adoptive mother was really educating Hu Hai. In his eyes, Hu Hai, this piece of royal mud, would have to be cleared out sooner or later.
It's just a matter of sooner or later.
Qin Ying immediately became excited when she saw her grandfather and her unlucky father walking slowly towards her in the moonlight.
Seeing that there was a strange young man following behind her unlucky father, and that he looked somewhat similar to Old Li, Qin Ying instantly understood that this man was her aunt's son-in-law.
When the First Emperor saw his grandson, a smile appeared in his eyes.
The eunuch who was following him hurried to the seats of the ladies and carried the eldest grandson of the emperor to the emperor.
As soon as Qin Ying arrived beside her grandfather, she immediately took out a colorful lollipop that was almost as big as herself from the system space. She held the plastic stick, which was thicker than her arm, in her two small hands. Under the astonished gazes of the people in the square, she used the small translator on her collar to speak to her grandfather in a sweet and childish voice:
"Ya ...
Nowadays, there is no concept of Mid-Autumn Festival, and naturally there is no custom of appreciating the moon, eating moon cakes, and family reunion. It is only because the eldest prince was born on the full moon day of Mid-Autumn Festival and happened to be crowned this year, so there is today's banquet under the moon in the palace.
The First Emperor looked at the big candy that his grandson held high in front of him. The colorful round candy plates had completely covered his entire body. The little guy's two hands holding the white round stick couldn't help but tremble slightly, which was enough to show that this was a very heavy candy.
The happy Qin Shi Huang could not help but smile widely, and he carried the person and the candy directly to the high main table.
Fusu and Li Cheng, who were following behind, had different expressions in their eyes.
Li Cheng looked at the emperor's back with envy, thinking that if his and the eldest princess' future child could be even a third as smart and cute as the emperor's eldest grandson, his Li family would be able to burn incense and run back to their hometown in Shangcai to worship their ancestors.
Fusu was happy but also a little worried.
If his father ate all of this candy, wouldn't his teeth fall out? Children can grow back their teeth after losing them, but wouldn't his father suffer if he lost his teeth?
The First Emperor, who had no idea what his eldest son and son-in-law were thinking, waited until he sat down at the main seat with his grandson in his arms. He took the big lollipop his grandson handed him, his eyes sparkling with wonder. He couldn't help but smile and nod at his grandson, praising him:
"Ying is truly filial. I think only a black bird could possess such a large and beautiful candy. It should be placed in a vase for all the civil and military officials in the court to see."
Seeing that his grandfather was going to put the big lollipop into the vase as a bouquet of flowers for all the officials to see, the little fat boy Ying couldn't help but widen his eyes and nodded his little head, thinking, "Okay."
Anyway, the lollipops are wrapped in plastic and have a long shelf life.
If the grandfather wants all officials to appreciate it, then let them do so. However, this also indirectly reveals that the people of the Qin Dynasty really crave "sweetness"!
When he saw his wife and children sitting below him all stand up from their seats and bow to him, Qin Shi Huang, who was in a good mood, nodded and waved his hand for everyone to sit down.
As the singers and dancers entered one after another, the royal banquet officially began under the bright moon.
However, not long after the palace banquet began, Qin Ying's eyelids couldn't help but be attracted to each other like magnets.
Before the palace servants brought bowls and plates of steaming hot food to the table, the little fat boy seemed to be forced to shut down. With a "bang", he fell on his grandfather's thigh, drooling, and fell into a sweet sleep.
The First Emperor also reached out to take the small blanket handed to him by the palace maid, and skillfully wrapped his grandson into a small spring roll, and then asked the palace maid to take him to the room to sleep.
As the palace banquet progressed and Qin Ying left early, the "sugar-sharing incident" that was hotly discussed among the princesses and princes before the First Emperor arrived was heard by the First Emperor without missing a word, although no princes or princesses continued to discuss it before the banquet ended.
Even though this was just a very small incident, the strong contrast immediately revealed the different personalities of the princes and princesses.
Sitting in the main seat, the First Emperor could not hide his disappointment as he glanced down at his youngest son who had a face full of resentment.
It was not until many years later that the aging Hu Hai suddenly looked back and realized that the real turning point in his journey from being the emperor's favorite youngest son to being completely abandoned and expelled by his father was not because of the "beating by Qin Ying in the Zhangtai Palace for no reason when they first met", but the "Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet under the bright moon" when he was four years old.
Because "the black bird in the sky did not give him any milk candy", even if he took "the elder sister's milk candy", his good fortune would be completely scattered.
The gift given by fate had already been secretly marked with a price. The young Hu Hai, who was completely unaware of it, was among a group of spinning and jumping dancers in front of him. He stared at the eldest son and the eldest lady sitting at the table opposite him with disgust and hatred like a poisonous mushroom growing in the darkness.
The moonlight is bright and the autumn wind is silent.
As the night deepened and the moon rose higher, the lively royal Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet came to an end.
…
When Ying, the little fat boy, opened his eyes again in a daze, he found that it was already late at night.
Lying in his little rosewood bed, the little fellow could clearly catch a glimpse of his two wet nurses sitting on the wooden floor, leaning against the big pillar, with their eyes closed, resting, under the flickering candlelight at the foot of the bed.
He was wearing a wet diaper, but he didn't feel like going to the bathroom at the moment. Instead, he yawned lazily and called up the system panel.
Seeing the colorful turntable that kept expanding, shrinking and jumping on the soft light screen in the dim room, it was clearly luring him to draw a prize. Ying·The little fat boy wanted to stretch out his little hand to hit it and use the four draw times in August. However, when his palm just touched the light screen, the little guy frowned and took his hand back.
There is no other reason. The things sold in shopping malls recently are either overly exaggerated "false propaganda" or "short weight". These unreliable products always give the little fat boy the feeling that the mall is clearing out the goods.
His chance to win the lottery is so rare! How hard it is to accumulate!
If the idiot system lets him draw a box of diapers or a can of tea, wouldn't he be at a huge loss?!
After thinking about this, Qin Ying put the system panel away again, preparing to hold a lottery during the Spring Festival, the most festive day in China.
Of course, the calendar used by the Qin Dynasty today is not the later lunar calendar, and there is no such thing as the Spring Festival, but there are lunar festivals in the system mall.
Thinking that in just over a month, it would be the beginning of October in Daqin and the new year would come.
Ying, the little fat boy, held up his eyelids, tapped the light screen with his little hand, and scheduled his next lottery draw to January next year.
Maybe, when he's a little older, he can come up with other good things.
With this hope, the little guy wrapped himself in his silk quilt, yawned, turned over, and continued to sleep soundly.
Before I knew it, the round bright moon outside the window slowly disappeared into the thick dark clouds that were floating over.
After the "boom--" thunder exploded outside the window, it was followed by the sound of drizzling autumn rain.
After two consecutive autumn rains, at the end of August, the craftsmen of Shaofu finally made paper!
It is not difficult to collect the raw materials for papermaking, and the entire process of papermaking is not very complicated. Unfortunately, the process of making paper is very time-consuming because tree bark, rags, and rotten fishing nets have to be repeatedly soaked and beaten in a dug-out pool of water.
The craftsmen in charge of printing had already thoroughly studied "woodblock printing" and "movable type printing" in late summer and early autumn, and had been eagerly waiting for the paper to be produced so that they could show their skills.
Almost as soon as the paper was produced, the printers next door took it excitedly to print.
Under Li Si's arrangement, the grand plan of "Four-Step Book Control Order" has also ushered in a new stage of summary.
On the first day of September, the imperial court held the final round of assessment for the "Zhi Dian Lang" in Xianyang City. After a fierce competition, two hundred people were eliminated, and only three were selected. The remaining top one hundred elites were finally selected with great difficulty.
What surprised all the officials was that after several rounds of assessment among the one hundred people, the one with the highest total score and the top spot was actually an unknown young woman whose ancestral home was in Qi.
For a moment, all the nobles in the southwestern town, whether they were paying attention to the selection for the minor official position of "Zhi Dian Lang" or not, turned their attention to this extraordinary woman.
You know, nowadays, the status of women in Daqin is not low. Women not only enjoy independent property rights and inheritance rights, but also have great autonomy in marriage.
Qin law strictly stipulated that if a girl in a family had no biological brothers, or a widow had no children of her own, the girl could legally inherit the title, property, land, etc. left by her father. A childless widow could also inherit the inheritance from her husband's family and use the inheritance to find a new lover.
In terms of marriage, the strict Qin laws also provided married women with a touch of warmth.
If a married woman discovered that her husband was abusing her, she could report him to the authorities. The authorities would arrest him, torture him, shave his eyebrows and beard, and parade him through the streets. This was a brutal punishment that didn't kill anyone, but it could still make someone die of shame!
If a wife discovered that her husband was secretly committing adultery with another woman, and caught him in the act, she might even kill the man who committed adultery out of anger! According to Qin law, the man and woman who committed adultery were guilty, and the wife who killed the man was not guilty.
Even on weekdays, the economic contributions made by women in weaving at home and farming in the fields were recognized by the government.
Women no longer had to follow the "Three Obediences and Four Virtues" or practice the body-destroying "foot binding." They no longer had to be locked up at home like birds, "not allowed to go out of the front door or the back door." There were no disgusting "chastity arches." In this ancient era that revered strength, healthy widows who had given birth and had inherited their own inheritance were the most sought-after and fortunate blind date candidates in the surrounding area.
When Qin Ying learned about these clauses from her mother, she was shocked.
Unexpectedly, as time went by, the legal ideas regarding the protection of women not only did not progress compared to the Qin law, but instead regressed!
His grandfather is truly a charming ancestor loved by all men and women in later generations! He is so well-rounded!
Seeing his son's eyes sparkling with admiration, Wang Ling smiled at him proudly and said:
"Ying, not only that, Qin law also clearly stipulates that women can live independently and open their own shops. About ten years ago, there was a very famous merchant in our Qinba County named Qing."
"Qing's family primarily mined cinnabar and mercury. After her husband passed away, Qing did not remarry. Instead, she stayed with her husband and continued to run the business, gradually becoming one of the seven most famous merchants in the world."
"A few years ago, because Qing had been providing large quantities of mercury for your grandfather's imperial mausoleum, your grandfather treated her as a distinguished guest. Not only did he personally receive her at the Zhangtai Palace, but upon learning that Qing was getting older and in poor health, he also sent someone to Ba County to bring her to Xianyang for recuperation."
"Wow!" Qin Ying's eyes lit up instantly when she heard this. Isn't this the famous "Widow Qing"?!
Thinking of some of the melodramatic movies and TV shows that always like to make a mess of his grandfather's love lines and arrange all kinds of inexplicable "true love", he hurriedly reached out and pulled his mother's sleeve, and asked curiously:
"Aiyaah..." (Mother, mother, where is that Madam Qing now? Can I see her?)
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