Do you know? Do you know? Should be green fat and red thin

  In preparation for the banquet, Minglan was busy to the point of exhaustion; first and foremost was the problem of silver.

  At the beginning, about four or five days after the wedding, there was a distant relative of the Gu family who had a happy event to celebrate. This relative belonged to the category of "seven twists and eight turns", so it wasn't necessary for Minglan and her husband to attend in person. However, since this family was currently doing quite well and also had connections with the imperial court, they couldn't afford to ignore this relative. Therefore, Minglan sent a gift to congratulate them.

  This custom is called "following the gift". Whenever there are some connections, a bit of a relationship, as long as someone sends over an invitation to a celebratory banquet, regardless of whether you attend or not, you should send a congratulatory gift, with the thickness or thinness being calculated separately.

  The Ningyuan Marquis manor has been prosperous since the founding of the country, although the population is not particularly thriving, it is also a large family with deep roots and lush leaves. There are countless relatives by marriage and blood ties, both in the capital and outside, plus Gu Tingyan's colleagues, brothers and friends, open and secret relationships, which is a very impressive number, even if you don't count those from other places.

  It's been almost a month since the wedding, and although Minglan hasn't attended any banquets publicly yet, she has already sent out eleven and a half gifts. Among them were four for elders' birthdays, three for weddings, two for full-month celebrations of newborn sons, one for an official's promotion banquet, and one and a half for funerals - the half gift was sent together with Ningyuan Marquis Manor to show their respects.

  Minglan finally understood why large families in ancient times liked to live together. Those big families with three or four generations under one roof could receive gifts from the old grandfather's birthday all the way to the great-grandson's marriage, and the red and white celebrations would never end; of course, as a matter of etiquette, you come and I go, and the gift money for large households basically wouldn't have too much imbalance in income and expenses.

  In this way, it is clear that the Gu family has lost out and suffered a great loss:

  Celebrating a big birthday? The elderly couple next door are all at home.

  Marry a wife? Gu Ting Ye just got married, and Ming Lan won't die in a short while.

  Marry off a daughter? Rong Jie is just old enough to attend elementary school, even in ancient times it wasn't that cruel.

  Full moon wine? It's just the couple working overtime day and night, no time for this now!

  Not a single penny was received, but because of the establishment of another mansion, gifts were sent separately. Minglan stared at the account book, gasping for air, her heart throbbing with pain. She finally understood what it meant to have one's "heart cut like a knife". She almost wanted to advise Gu Tingye to just return to Ningyuan Hou Mansion.

  Gu Tingyan saw Minglan looking fine but suddenly becoming melancholic, and couldn't help but ask in surprise. Minglan replied with a sigh: "When you were away from home traveling the world, did you ever get troubled by that yellow and white thing?"

  Gu Tingyun's eyes sparkled with a smile, his left arm stretched out and rested on the armrest of the purple sandalwood chair, sipping tea slowly: "That's natural. For some time, I even had three-cash noodles for one bowl of Yangchun noodles."

  Minglan nodded, gazing at him with a worried expression and sighed: "Husband, do you know that in these days, we have given out a total of 653,400 bowls of Yangchun noodles as gifts. Alas... it's still worth attending the banquet to get some back."

  Gu Tingyan almost spat out the tea from his nose, hastily put down the teacup and laughed: "It doesn't matter. We can get it back later."

  Minglan snorted in disdain, her eyes scanning the man's high and handsome nose bridge, as she said with a smile of reproach: "The Grand Commander must have been out of touch with worldly affairs for too long. Now, this mansion has no elderly people above, nor young children below. Unless the Grand Commander is planning to take in concubines, where would he get such an honor from?"

  Gu Tingyan looked at Minglan with a sympathetic gaze and patiently instructed her ignorance: "As your husband, let me teach you something. Even if it's the hottest stove, even in the sixth month of summer, there will still be people rushing to burn it."

  This sentence is quite philosophical, but it can't hide the self-satisfied tone. Minglan immediately looked at her husband with newfound respect and sincerely admired him: "Husband, you really have a high vision!" Her eyes were full of admiration and worship; this gaze made Gu Tingyan feel much more majestic and wise, and for a moment, he felt happy in his heart, unable to help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

  "...Next moment, Minglan couldn't help but say: "If the fire is too strong, won't it destroy the stove?"

  Gu Tingyan nodded and smiled: "That's right. So we must take good care of the stove door, and can't let anyone come to add firewood at will."

  Minglan felt relieved and waved her small hand: "Yes, husband, just be careful."

  Gu Ting Ye smiled and picked up Ming Lan's neck from behind, as if holding a meowing kitten: "Wife, I'm reminding you that we're now under the same roof."

  Minglan shrunk her neck and looked at Gu Tingye for a moment before speaking kindly: "Then let's both be careful."

  ……

  Gu Tingyan was right, and indeed, from the 5th or 6th day onwards, congratulatory gifts started arriving at the gate, both from within and outside the capital. There were even gifts from distant frontier garrison commanders, as well as local officials and nobles. Some relatives who lived far away also sent gifts, with messages that roughly said: "Your esteemed household has great joy, but unfortunately I have other obligations and couldn't come in person to offer congratulations. I've specially prepared a humble gift..."

  Minglan looked at those famous posts and couldn't help but wonder - there were quite a few people she had never posted about, what kind of joy was this? Then she took the gift list to show Gu Tingye.

  Gu Tingyan scanned the list, some names made him raise an eyebrow in skepticism, others made him pause in thought as if he had doubts, and some he looked at with disdain, letting out a cold snort. However, since it wasn't too much money, he told Minglan to just accept them all.

  "Not even accepting a humble gift, I'm afraid someone will jump up in urgency." Gu Tingyan's face sank like water, and he turned to leave for the outer study.

  Minglan didn't ask any further questions, but instead hurried back to her own room to write down all the names on the list and annotate them with the subtle implications that Gu Tingye had revealed at the time, for future reference; as for the gift list, it would be handled by the servants in charge of such matters, so she didn't need to worry about it.

  Looking back at those large boxes and small baskets of 'thin gifts', Minglan suddenly felt that this money was very cumbersome, and she wished she could return it immediately to exchange for a peaceful mind. Thinking of this, Minglan let out a long sigh, only today did she feel that she had some of the aura of a transmigrated female protagonist - she actually began to view wealth as dirt?!

  Two days later, the palace also issued a reward: a large box of pearls from Nanhai, plump and round, bright and clean; a coral tree over a foot high, with a glossy red body, fresh and beautiful; both were extremely rare treasures. In addition, there was a bag wrapped in yellow satin containing 300 taels of silver.

  The reward is just a symbol, what the emperor means is: Did you guys see that? This guy with the surname Gu is my man.

  Minglan hugged a bag of silver, roughly the weight of a bag of rice, to her chest and surprisingly didn't feel tired at all. Instead, she sighed poetically: "After all, it's still more reassuring to eat the nation's food."

  This body wasn't used to labor and was quite delicate, probably because it had been pampered for too long. By evening, Minglan's two tender arms were swollen. Gu Tingye came in with a medicinal paste, his face ferocious, and scared off Dangui who wanted to take the paste from him. Then he personally helped Minglan massage her arm, his large palms overlapping as he rubbed vigorously while scolding: "Haven't you ever seen silver before?!"

  "Heh heh, I've never seen the emperor's reward in silver." Minglan puffed out a cold breath, her arm aching and swelling, but she didn't dare say it hurt. She glanced sideways, only to see Gu Tingyan's face turn solemn. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, is there something not right with the emperor's reward?"

  Gu Tingyan said in a low voice: "The emperor is now very difficult to get, and it's not necessary to reward him like this. How can we not know his difficulties?"

  "It's said that the national treasury is full, isn't it?" Minglan asked strangely, leaving behind a plump national treasury, which was one of the great achievements of the previous emperor.

  "On paper, it's all very well. But in reality, it's a different story." Kou Tingyan sneered, "The northern border, the southern Yunnan and Burma, the Miao ethnic group, and the restoration of the two Huai regions after the war... everywhere needs money, but the Ministry of Revenue can't afford to pay out. A bunch of useless things, only knowing how to cook up empty accounts!"

  "Why doesn't His Majesty issue an edict to rectify this? Even today, people still think the national treasury is full." Minglan's expression turned solemn.

  Gu Tingyan let out a cold snort: "Firstly, if the Emperor had brought this up as soon as he ascended to the throne, it would have made the previous emperor seem incompetent. Fortunately, the current Emperor has been in mourning for three years and is about to complete his filial piety; secondly..." He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should tell Minglan.

  "Secondly, in the first few years after a new emperor ascends to the throne, stability is always the top priority. Moreover, the Emperor has been away from the capital for many years and has no foundation here, so it's not suitable to make drastic changes at this time." Minglan continued slowly, "Besides, compared to corrupt officials, dealing with those who commit treason like Jing Wang and Tan Wang is even more urgent."

  Gu Tingyan felt a sudden clarity in his mind, his hand slowly releasing its grip on Minglan's smooth and pale arm. He spoke in a low voice: "The Emperor is also not easy... so this time, let's just keep the banquet simple."

  Minglan nodded solemnly.

  It was said to be a simple affair, but still a long list of names was drawn up. These people were indispensable and two days before the banquet, a stack of papers was sent out, each with a large circle on it, surrounded by many names in order, apparently simulating the seating arrangement at the dinner table. Although Liao Yong's wife thought it was childish, she couldn't help but secretly admire the ingenuity of the idea.

  "Everyone has been arranged, the outer courtyard has 15 tables for male guests, the inner courtyard has 8 tables for female relatives, and there are also 5 spare tables. Madam, is everything in order?" Liao Yong's wife bowed her head respectfully and replied, "The mansion hasn't set up a theater stage, only invited a few nuns and a troupe of singing and dancing girls to be on standby in the outer courtyard; when the guests want to listen, they can be called out. There are also places for carriages and horses to park, and areas for the servants brought by the guests to rest and eat. The outer courtyard has been arranged with people guiding the guests and serving food..."

  Minglan sat in front of the desk, item by item checking the menu and account book, arranging the silver expenditure, assigning tasks to the servants, while softly reminding them, and pointing out what was important. The group of wives and daughters-in-law standing below listened to Minglan's clear and reasonable words, and immediately put aside their careless thoughts, answering honestly.

  As the days went by, Minglan saw Su Ran more and more dignified, with a stern face every day. After Gu Tingye finished his morning court session, he had nothing to do and used to tease her into smiling and playing, but now she didn't even respond to him. He carefully observed her for several days, puzzled: "You're not feeling uncertain in your heart, are you?"

  Ming Lan relaxed her clenched jaw and let out a long sigh, bitterly smiling: "You're quite perceptive."

  The current situation is quite different. For a girl like Minglan, who was born out of wedlock, it's rare for her to be raised by her stepmother from a young age and taught how to manage the household, entertain guests, and interact with relatives and friends. Girls born out of wedlock are usually confined to the inner quarters, growing up quietly, learning needlework and reading, and then marrying obediently. Therefore, in general, high-ranking families do not take girls born out of wedlock as their legitimate daughters-in-law.

  Compared to the legitimate daughter, in terms of vision, means, talent and character, they are simply not on the same level. Of course, there will also be those who can become accomplished without needing later education or training (please give a warm round of applause for Miss Jia Tan Chun, an outstanding representative of the illegitimate daughters).

  Ming Lan hung her head down and secretly shed tears, she feared... wasn't a freak.

  In household chores, Old Lady Sheng had indeed taught Minglan for a while, but she herself was also a careless and sloppy person. Moreover, in the past decade, both her grandmother and grandson had only planned for Minglan to be a mediocre official's wife from a wealthy family.

  The biggest scene that Minglan needs to deal with independently in her expected new married life is about inviting a few sisters and sisters-in-law to have a simple meal of seven dishes and one soup at home, chatting about gossip, cracking melon seeds, and casually mentioning that your child has grown a few more teeth, my husband has brought back a little fox spirit and so on.

  Then in the long mother-in-law and daughter-in-law tug-of-war, the daughter-in-law from a humble background followed her mother-in-law around, enduring scolding and grievances, naturally learning all about household chores - unfortunately, this path was also not feasible for Minglan.

  Originally just wanted to be a workshop director in a township enterprise, who would have thought that I would become the CEO of a Forbes-ranked conglomerate? The gap between job expectations and reality is huge. The chairman is still a laid-back boss, not even providing pre-job training!

  It was supposed to be a simple meal, but the guests coming tomorrow were mostly either wealthy or noble, and some of them were waiting to find fault. Minglan had no choice but to double her efforts and meticulously plan everything. She wrote list after list, made plan after plan, thinking over and over about the guests' identities and how to entertain them properly. Someone had to count the tables, chairs, mats, wine, and dishes; serving snacks and tea during the meal couldn't be neglected; the kitchen fire needed careful attention... Minglan repeatedly went over every detail with several of the staff members, checking for any omissions, until finally calming down a bit in the last two days.

  "What if it doesn't work out?" Minglan worried.

  "Just smash it then." Gu Ting Ye smiled and went to kiss her furrowed brow, but was pushed away by Ming Lan with a slap on the forehead, puffing out her cheeks and shouting: "It seems it wasn't you who smashed it."

  Gu Tingyan grasped her small hand, nibbling on each tender finger. Minglan wanted to slap him and knock out his two front teeth, but looking at his white teeth, she hesitated. Gu Tingyan smiled, embracing Minglan's slender waist with one arm, holding her small face still with the other, and said seriously: "Don't be afraid, I'm asking you, if this meal is a disaster, will you divorce me?"

  "This...can't be, right?" Minglan tilted her head to the side, last night he was so passionate that she thought he would die on top of her, and now her waist and legs were still in a state of third-degree muscle strain.

  Gu Tingyan was dissatisfied with her hesitant answer, and his large palm forcefully pinched her, causing Minglan to cry out in pain as she twisted her waist trying to run away. He held her back, a faint smile on his face, saying: "Would the Emperor punish you for that?"

  Minglan quickly shook her head: "It won't be." The emperor wouldn't have so much free time even if he was fed to the point of bursting.

  "What are you afraid of?"

  "Some people will laugh at me." Minglan bit her lip and said in a low voice, "They'll gossip about me." - saying that she was from a humble background, indeed a useless daughter of a concubine.

  "If you've done everything perfectly, then no one will say anything about you?" Gu Ting Ye raised an eyebrow and asked quietly.

  Ming Lan was stunned, Gu Ting Ye held her and leaned against the headboard, his lips slightly sarcastic, smiling lightly: "Those who have good intentions towards you can forgive you even if you make a slight mistake; those who deliberately seek to provoke you, even if they are a heavenly fairy descending from heaven, would still complain that you can swallow half an elbow in one bite, how gluttonous, tsk, if there were seven fairies like you, Dong Yong would have to smash his cauldron and sell his iron wares just to support you..."

  "You, you...!" At first, Minglan listened with continuous nods, but when she heard the last few sentences, she suddenly became flustered and her face turned red with shame. She turned her head away from the man - that was the most depressing stain in Minglan's usually careful and cautious life, something she would very much like to forget forever, yet this detestable man kept bringing it up.

  Gu Tingyan burst out laughing, looking at her rosy cheeks like a burning fire. On the windowsill were several pots of rare and precious flowers from the Western Regions, which in the May weather were even more fragrant and intoxicating. The spring breeze scattered them, surrounding the room with their scent, making people feel refreshed and comfortable. With this beauty in his arms, he couldn't help but hold her tightly, burying his head in her hair, and softly whispered: "Is there anything else you don't understand? Feel free to ask me."

  Minglan lay in his arms, thought for a moment, took out the guest list from her sleeve, pointed to a row of names marked with cinnabar, and said: "I haven't heard of these few people, are they your friends and colleagues outside? Tell me about them."

  Gu Tingyan picked up the paper and said leisurely, "This Shi Qinran brother is the eldest son of a side branch of the Changxing Bo family. He used to study with me in our family school, although he was a bit stubborn and inflexible, but as a person, he's not bad."

  "En, let's go through the window together." Minglan nodded.

  Gu Tingyan smiled and pointed to several other names, saying: "Cheng Yong brothers are Lao Duan's younger brother, he, him, and these few have been following me in the Fifth Army Camp since the beginning."

  "Right, let's carry the rifle together." Minglan continued to summarize.

  Gu Tingyan paused for a moment, thought about it and continued: "These several were originally the imperial palace's garrison commanders, later transferred to Xuanfu and Beijiang to guard, now returned to Beijing to report on their duties, remembering that at the Eighth King's Mansion gathering, Chang Yidao went out drinking and having fun..."

  Yes, and we've also been to a brothel together...

  "...Actually, all of this is just to fool outsiders." Gu Tingyan suddenly changed his tone, "The Shu border is not peaceful, bandits are causing trouble and the king of Shu is worried about adding trouble for the emperor, so they're usually very restrained; but they pretend to go out with me to have fun, change their clothes and sneak out to kill a few bandits to vent their frustrations. One time, Old Geng almost got his arm cut off, and his wife took a kitchen knife and wanted to fight us to the death."

  Gu Tingyan finished speaking, smiling wistfully, as if recalling the passion of his past; Minglan listened with her mouth agape, her face flushing red, silently lowering her head in shame, deeply reflecting on her own petty heart.

  Gu Tingyan gazed at Minglan's changing expression, then gently pinched one of the girl's soft pink ears, a dangerous smile spreading across his mouth: "Little lass, did you just think something crooked again?"

  Minglan suddenly sat up straight, her head held high, and said sternly: "Absolutely not! I have always thought that my husband was a man of chivalry and honor, with noble integrity!"

  Gu Tingyan relaxed his grip on her ear, although he knew that this girl was not reliable in what she said, but still felt comfortable in his heart, and couldn't help but glare at her with a smile, scolding: "You don't go be a dog leg master, it's really a waste."

  The author has something to say: The outline has been modified, and the update will start. Don't bother checking during the day, it's definitely updated at night, but the specific date is not set. Anyway, it will be finished by summer vacation.

  Sorry to bring everyone inconvenience, I've been struggling for a long time.

  A while back, a reader told me that the descriptions of clothing and accessories in my novels, which often exceeded 100 words, were actually incomprehensible to her. Upon reflection, I realized she was right, so I've decided to supplement this here.

  The information collected below may not be entirely accurate, it's just a rough idea, so don't delve too deeply into it.

  About the difference between a vest and a jacket, they look similar and wear similarly. In theory, vests are relatively looser while jackets are more fitted. Another point is that jackets usually have undergarments directly underneath, but vests can be worn as an outer layer, so even if you take it off, the clothes inside can still be seen by others.

  There are roughly two types of collars: symmetrical and asymmetrical, while the collar styles include standing collar, open collar, and round collar. The patterns mostly feature intertwined flowers and branches, some of which wrap around the collar and sleeves, while others scatter across the fabric.

  The costumes in the 1987 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" are said to be the most reliable so far, and it is said that all the costume consultants at that time were masters of national treasures, such as Mr. Shen Congwen who was specifically responsible for verifying the hairstyles.

  So I'll just use these pictures as examples here. If you have a different opinion, feel free to mention it, but don't criticize me too much. I'm not an expert, I'm just writing based on reference.

  The rose-pink round-necked bib has embroidery around the neckline with floral patterns, isn't it pretty?

  The crimson silk jacket with a bright satin finish, pink-purple trim, and emerald green drop earrings - this is the slanted-collared jacket.

  Dazzling golden pheasant brocade cheongsam, I've always thought that gold is too showy for older people, but actually as long as the fabric is good and the color is right, any color looks great.

  This is what's called a Bei Jia, Baosister is wearing a rose red suspender sleeveless short Bei Jia, the oriole behind her is wearing a long-sleeved Bei Jia.

  Round-collared jacket with embroidery on the collar is simply stunning, so ancient wealthy families all raised a large number of needlework artisans, sometimes not enough to use and still have to go outside to buy embroidered products at a high price.

  Old red embroidered collar, pink small standing collar of cheongsam, can be worn in late autumn or early winter. Don't think that only Manchu people wear standing collars, actually Ming Dynasty already had them.

  Open-collared jacket with a moon-white lining, the shallow blue satin edge is three fingers wide, and the edging is an important part of ancient clothing, sometimes it can play a role in highlighting the key point.

  The purple slanted collar wrapped around the jade orchid long gown, in fact, I originally imagined that the young Minglan should have this silly temperament, it's just not enough to be charming and not enough to be sinister.

  A lake-green mandarin jacket with a standing collar and double buttons, embroidered on the chest with a branch of goose-yellow and white jade magnolia flowers, trimmed with one-inch wide deep green satin.

  Embroidered with dark flowers and silver and gold threads, the slanting skirt is actually more expensive than the embroidered one.

  A yellow goose-colored cotton-padded jacket with a bamboo pattern, I didn't expect winter cotton-padded jackets to look so good.

  Xī Fèng is wearing a purple silk summer garment. In the summer, you can wear it without an undergarment, directly over the lining of the jacket. The little sister next to her is wearing a slanted-closure jacket, with a moonlight skirt underneath.

  One in orange, one in light purple and one in pink, round neck, slanting placket, cross collar, twisted branch flowers, the colors are very eye-catching, the key is that the fabric must be good, so in ancient times there were not many ready-made clothes stores, mostly silk and satin stores, as long as the fabric was good, the flower color was good, and the embroidery was good, the style of ancient clothing was limited, but it always looked good.

  I'm exhausted, next time I'll talk about hairstyles with everyone.