The legendary ceremony of the first month of the lunar calendar
Yao Jing's desire to die is getting stronger and stronger! Why not wear anything else but look like a girl?
Choose a spatula or spoon? Cookware? Become a cook? In a house like this, wouldn't I be looked down upon for doing nothing in the kitchen? I can't recall any of the Twelve Beauties being skilled in cooking, and while the Rongguo Mansion doesn't exactly resemble her family's circumstances, she couldn't risk it. Choose Buddhist or Taoist scriptures? Would she be met with all sorts of melancholic stares? Choose food? Prove I'm a foodie? Will they starve me every day just to 'correct' me? Money, an abacus, and so on... It seems these days, profiteering is looked down upon. Jewelry and flowers are a safer bet, but then there's the suspicion of being vain and frivolous. As for brushes, inkstones, paper, and inkstones, Yao Jing doesn't think it's a good idea for a girl to choose these things in this day and age. There was only one Li Qingzhao.
But what’s the point of just putting a seal there? What the hell should I choose? !!! !!! Yao Jing roared in her heart.
At this moment, the people around were already getting impatient. It had been a quarter of an hour, and little Niuniu still hadn't chosen anything... The women were getting anxious. "Little Ancestor, just pick anything. No matter what you pick, we have auspicious words for you! Housekeeping skills, beauty, knowledgeable and well-mannered... Isn't it all about what you say that determines whether something is good or bad?"
Yao Jing hesitated for a long time, weighing her options again and again. This was a crucial moment. While her choice might be just a small test, it would influence everyone's perception of her and the direction of her training for the next few years. She couldn't afford to let anyone underestimate her. Finally, she reached out her right hand and grasped a seal. The maids breathed a sigh of relief, praising her future as "fortunate," "definitely destined for an imperial decree," and "wearing a phoenix coronet and bridal robe."
Mother over there also smiled broadly: "Catch another one." Father's smile was still as calm and standard as ever, so standard...it made Yao Jing want to smash the seal in her hand into his face. Your daughter is having her birthday celebration, will you die if you smile a little brightly?!
With this foundation, the rest was easy. She picked up a ruler in her left hand and a needle and thread in her right. Only after being praised for her "skillful hands" did Yao Jing finally take notice. A woman's four virtues: virtue, speech, skill, and appearance—needlework is essential. Why didn't she pick things up based on these criteria from the start? Stupid... (Yao Jing, haven't you gotten used to this yet? This isn't the age when women can run for president!)
Gender inequality is the greatest tragedy. Ever since I was little, I'd learned to speak earlier than boys my age, and my test scores were just as good as theirs. I knew something was amiss with the times, but I still hadn't formed a subconscious reaction to the current dynasty's demands on women—twenty years of education couldn't be reversed by a few months of laissez-faire.
Besides, in the future, people buy clothes in stores, so who needs needles and thread? Yao Jing hadn't even glanced at the needles and thread at first. After putting the seal down, she simply grabbed the needles and thread. She'd only just found out about the "Zhuazhou" ceremony this morning, and then she was carried here the next morning. She hadn't even thought about it yet... Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. It's too late to regret.
Her mother told her to put away the things she had picked and then pick a third one. Yao Jing was dumbfounded. Was this the way to do things during the "Zhuazhou" ceremony? Or were the previous ones wrong?
Yao Jing hesitated, but the expression on the child's face was merely endearing confusion. Her mother patiently coaxed her, "Come on, another one," but she didn't hold anything in front of Yao Jing to tease her. Yao Jing felt unsure now. She glanced at the items on the table and uncertainly picked up the brush and ink.
Finally, the ceremony is over!
Yao Jing collapsed on the table, then was quickly picked up by the nanny. Mother smiled with satisfaction, as if Yao Jing had made the right choice. Father touched his chin, nodded, and said to Mother, "Second brother is still outside. I'll go see him." Mother said, "Ask Fu Dali and Qingde to go see Second Uncle together. We'll set up dinner outside."
This "Second Uncle" was obviously E'niang's brother-in-law, Ama's younger brother. This was the first time Yao Jing had heard of such a figure in the mansion. But since uncles and sisters-in-law were supposed to be somewhat discreet, if this Second Uncle were a bit more boring and self-disciplined, he wouldn't even be worth the gossip of the maids and servants. It was normal for a little girl like her to not know about him. But, Second Uncle—poof! Another fool! How tragic!
Then, Yao Jing slowly remembered something—her daughter's one-year-old ceremony, except for her parents, siblings, a few concubines, maids, and nannies, there were no other relatives or friends in attendance! What was going on? If it was a girl's one-year-old ceremony, so male guests were not present, then why were there no female relatives or friends either?
Before she could figure it out, her father said, "I have already chosen names for the two sisters. The older one will be called Shuxian, and the younger one will be called Shujia."
Yao Jing was shocked. Her eldest brother and second brother didn't name their children according to generation, so why did the girl have a similar character in her name?
In any case, she now has her own name, but she still doesn't know her last name!
Then something even more troubling happened. Since they already had names and were over a year old, and most importantly, since the San Francisco War was still undetermined and their father didn't know how long he'd have to toss around outside, they simply arranged their teeth together. The family's custom was to sort boys and girls separately, so Da Niuniu became the "big girl," and unfortunate Yao Jing was called the "second girl."
You're such a fool! You're such a fool! Your whole family is a fool! Everyone within a ten-mile radius of your home is a fool! Yao Jing was so upset she couldn't even cry—she was allergic to the word "fool." Adding "fool" to any good name made it funny.
Not long ago, she had mocked Qing De Er, and now it was her turn. This retribution came so quickly! Second brother, second uncle, I shouldn't have mocked you!
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The tasks following the "Zhuazhou" ceremony had little to do with Yao Jing. Everyone else ate noodles, and after a symbolic mouthful, Yao Jing could only drink milk. However, her mother instructed her to put the things she had grabbed into a beautiful copper-clad wooden box, which was then locked and stored.
After the "Zhuazhou" ceremony, Standard Dad immediately packed his belongings and set off to work for Master Kang. Mother hurriedly packed a huge pile of luggage, and the main room was in a state of chaos. Yao Jing, or the second daughter Shujia, stayed in her room, mourning her birthright. The journey was long, so much needed to be prepared. And since it was wartime, they couldn't pack as if they were going on a hike. Fortunately, the family's style was elegant, without the glittering nouveau riche, so while the luggage was a bit bulky, it wasn't too conspicuous.
By the time Standard Dad left, the house was once again silent. During the period of national mourning, there were no entertainment activities to be expected, and even the neighbors were rare. Only once did Yao Jing seem to hear that some aunt had sent someone to deliver something, but Yao Jing hadn't seen this aunt, and she didn't know whether she was round or flat. She wondered: Is this a relative? Why didn't she see her during the one-year-old ceremony?
Besides that, Yao Jing only saw a handful of familiar faces each day, learning to talk every day, and couldn't even play—what could a little one expect to play with? There was nothing to distract her. She used to be able to listen to gossip, but the maids and nannies were exposed to limited information and couldn't provide Yao Jing with the specific details she needed, such as the outside world. She couldn't even find out her parents' surnames—the rules in this house were so strict, and the servants seemed so obedient that no one dared to speak their masters' names directly. Yao Jing felt extremely suffocated, but she couldn't just ask, "What's my father's surname?" on her first birthday, so she had to keep it to herself.
The two brothers used to come and play with their little sister during Chinese New Year, but ever since Standard Daddy stopped by, they seemed to be feeling the effects of the exam, or perhaps they wanted to show off their skills the next time they saw their father. Instead, they focused on their schoolwork and didn't pay much attention to their little sister. Even if they cared, what could they do with a one-year-old baby? They weren't pedophiles!
Furthermore, the two older brothers had already enrolled in the government-run schools, and with a host of classmates to compare themselves to, their competitive spirit was aroused. Besides academic subjects, riding and archery were also required exams, and the two studied even harder.
The older sister is also a girl, so they should be together to relieve their loneliness. But the older sister is not common, and the age difference is a big problem. If they were both over 20, a three-year age difference might not seem big, but now... the older sister is more than twice Yao Jing's age (in lunar years), a whole class apart.
The only time they could see her was when they paid their respects to their mother and had meals there each day. Even when they paid their respects, Yao Jing was simply carried by her nanny to the main room, with the nanny handling all the formalities. These brief encounters each day had slowly become familiar. To be fair, this sister was quite cute, though her face was a bit too serious, and her eyes had already taken on a sharp edge. Yao Jing, with her head bowed, thought to herself, after all, she was the eldest child, so she had quite the presence of mind.
Yao Jing had no choice but to learn to speak, and she learned Chinese quickly. By then, Beijing dialect was already very similar to Mandarin, though the maids occasionally had a hint of Northeastern accent. Aunt Wuya, bored, squeezed in some time to teach Yao Jing Manchu. Children have good memories, and more importantly, as long as there were no exams or analysis of subject, predicate, object, attributive, complement, noun, verb, adjective, number, and pronoun, learning a language this way was quite enjoyable.
Life was just like that; learning something new from Yao Jing wasn't boring for the time being. Her Manchu, even by infant standards, was divine. Wuya Mammy was delighted and praised, "After all, she was born from Madam's womb. The second young lady is incredibly clever." While they adhered to the rules, the mammies privately competed. If your young lady was good, and mine wasn't, how embarrassing would that be? A servant's dignity depended on their master's, so it was no wonder they were especially devoted to the young ladies.
Yao Jing thought to herself, "I don't even need to learn the Chinese you teach me. Spending twice as much time and energy on a subject, of course it's faster." Learning from scratch wasn't easy either, as she kept thinking about the Chinese meaning of the word, adding a delay to her reaction time. It was still more laborious than for a normal baby with a blank slate to remember what she was told. It was a waste of twice as much time.
Over there, the two maids Wang and He looked at each other without saying a word. Nanny Yin said, "Be careful with your words." Nanny Wuya said indifferently, "Am I wrong to praise the second young lady?" Nanny Yin pointed her hand towards the opposite door, and Nanny Wuya shut up, "I was confused. They are all the master's flesh and blood." The eldest young lady lived next door.
At this time Chunxi said cleverly: "Don't worry, maids, Aunt Zhang has already left the eldest girl's room just now. The eldest girl is learning to read now, and her maids are all around her. No one will listen to what's happening in our room." Nanny Wang changed the subject: "Amistad Zhang really cares about her own daughter." The maids changed the topic.
Yao Jing then realized that this sister was born out of wedlock. No wonder there was always a sense of awkwardness when they met. Was she already troubled at such a young age? Tanchun in the Dream of the Red Chamber seemed to be such a contradictory character. Fortunately, Aunt Zhang didn't seem like a troublemaker. Perhaps this sister could live a more comfortable life? Yao Jing thought ostrichly.
How could I possibly feel comfortable living with the title of illegitimate child?! Yao Jing kicked the mat on the kang, feeling depressed. "You and I share the same father, but different mothers." Regardless of what the indigenous people thought of this sibling relationship, Yao Jing couldn't immediately let it go.
This was an era of three wives and four concubines—oh, I forgot, it was actually an era of monogamy and multiple concubines. A third party was legal, or rather, there was no such thing as a third party. Any woman facing this situation couldn't be optimistic. Unfortunately, Yao Jing was a woman. She was a woman before she was reincarnated, and she was still a woman afterward... So, the little child was melancholy.
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