The 126th time

  At this time, the side hall had already set up a dinner table, and the twelve large windows were all open. There was no sign of luxurious decorations, but only eight corners with half-person-high white-based Qinghua Ru porcelain large flower vases placed on the floor, inserted with various fresh flowers, which looked simple, warm, and elegant, yet not lacking in spirit and charm.

  The May spring light outside the window, dyes the weather moist and comfortable. From the direction of the lotus pond in front of the hall, a faint and clear breeze comes, with the sound of gurgling water following the wind. Along with the petals of pale-colored jasmine flowers and a few sprigs of green leaves floating on the water's surface, the hall is cool and warm, fragrant and refreshing. All the ladies are delighted and refreshed, praising without end.

  The cold dishes and fresh fruits were all set out, and Minglan led the female guests to take their seats. After everyone was seated, she instructed the servants to bring up the hot dishes and warm wine. She also had lighter fruit wines and freshly squeezed fruit juices prepared for the young ladies. The maids then brought in the steaming dishes and bowls, and everyone picked up their chopsticks.

  The Gu's family held a banquet for the first time, and Ge Daigne spared no effort to show off her culinary skills. In addition to the usual dishes such as chicken, duck, fish, and meat, there were also many rare delicacies from the mountains and seas. There was a dish of sautéed duck with mountain mushrooms and wood ears, a dish of sweet and sour pineapple ribs, a dish of bamboo tube sesame silver eel soup, and another dish of double mushroom sauce braised pork chops, which was exceptionally fresh and delicious. The guests were very satisfied with the meal.

  The women didn't drink as much as the men, and with guests present, it wasn't suitable for the host's female family members to come and toast Minglan with wine. Also, with elders and mothers around, the girls were reserved and hadn't suggested playing poetry or drinking games, so everyone just quietly ate and chatted.

  After a while, Minglan ordered someone to set up an opera in the small octagonal pavilion in front of the hall. A group of musicians brought drums, boards, qudi, and sanxian instruments. Several well-dressed young women entered the pavilion one after another, and after asking the older female guests to point out the tune cards, they began to play the instruments, and the oily and powdered actors sang in a lingering tone.

  Between the halls and pavilions, there is a shallow pool of emerald water, with only a narrow stone bridge about two feet wide and five or six steps long. The sound of the water floats, separated by the flowers and trees, and looking across the water, it's as faint as misty haze, the scenery and sounds are both extremely good.

  After listening for a while, the old lady couldn't help but praise: "These few girls you've invited are great, the songs they're singing are good, and this place is arranged well; it's a feast for both our ears and eyes."

  Minglan listened and stood up with a smile to thank her, while Di Second Madam said quietly beside her: "It's all the emperor's kindness, such rewards, brother and sister are really blessed."

  Mrs. Huan, who was sitting opposite, hastily took over the conversation and smiled: "That's also a matter of having such thoughts, if it were me, even if I were given such a good place, I wouldn't have thought of such a good idea! Brother-in-law is indeed from a family of scholars."

  Wang was delighted and couldn't help but laugh, Minglan's face turned slightly red as she humbly said: "Elder sister Huan has overpraised me, this design wasn't even thought of by me, it was actually the previous Mr. Xiong Lishan who left behind a draft for this arrangement, I just copied it."

  "Ah, you! You're too honest for your own good. I was just praising you and you go and spill the filling!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, Minglan felt embarrassed and lowered her head. Erniang took the opportunity to say: "This garden of yours is really lovely, I don't want to leave after coming! Looking at this big house, it's also empty, I wonder if I have the fortune to be a companion with you? Let's move in together, it will be more lively!"

  Minglan smiled slightly and looked at the ladies of the Gu household, who seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Most of them glanced at Second Madam Shi with a hint of blame in their eyes, but Second Madam Shi pretended not to notice and continued to wait for Minglan's response.

  Mrs. Tai's face was burning with anger, she was extremely resentful in her heart. Mrs. Piao Er had no shame, not only did she lose face in front of the guests, but also lost face for all four houses in front of everyone.

  She pulled Binger's wife's arm hard, forcing a smile and saying in a low voice: "What are you talking nonsense about? Your husband is still here, where are you moving to?" Binger's wife didn't know whether she was really foolish or pretending to be foolish, and actually said straightforwardly: "Then why don't we just move this house over?"

  This made Lady Lian even more displeased, and just as the Fourth Old Mistress was about to scold her with a face full of anger, Yu Lan suddenly leaned in close to Yuan Wenyin's ear and said: "Didn't you already separate households? Why are you still relying on living together? Are you trying to save money on food?" As soon as she finished speaking, Yuan Wenyin pushed her hard and gave her a stern look, telling her to shut up.

  The tone of this sentence is neither high nor low, it seems to be a whisper between Yuan Wenyi and others, but it also makes everyone hear clearly. The female guests from outside suddenly became happy, smiling and watching the good show in the inner courtyard of the Gu's residence, all secretly thinking: even if they were to move over, it should be Shao's wife and Zhu Shi who shared a room, what does it have to do with you, a divorced sister-in-law?

  Gu Tingyu is the lady of the manor and cannot move out of the manor, Gu Tingwei is the biological son of the dowager and needs to serve his widowed mother, so he also cannot move; those who are in the same branch and share the same room as them have not made a sound, but instead it's the fourth house's Dianmeng who has set her sights on Shangyuan, truly shameless!

  As soon as Rulan spoke, all the women in the Gu household, except for Old Lady Gu and Zhu Shi, felt a wave of embarrassment and couldn't help but glare at Mrs. Biao with anger. Especially Fourth Old Lady, who had been chatting idly just now, saw that Tingying was elegant and refined, with a clear and bright demeanor, and they all rather liked her. They each had several sons and nephews in their households who were of good appearance and character, and it seemed like there would be a good marriage match soon, but Mrs. Biao had just ruined everything!

  Even with Mrs. Bi's thick skin, she couldn't withstand such intense stares and had to lower her head.

  Minglan turned her head and remained silent, as for the division of the family, she had only recently learned about the hidden circumstances surrounding it.

  When the Ku Yin case broke out, Old Master Gu's family was on the verge of collapse. Afraid that the whole family would be destroyed, he hastily divided up the family property to hide some of it away. But a few months later, the White family entered the scene and the great disaster vanished into thin air. Eldest son Gu Houye had been stationed at the border for many years, so the Fourth House and Fifth House still lived in the Hou Mansion. After Gu Houye returned to Beijing, the matter of dividing up the property was never brought up again.

  At this moment, Mrs. Lu, who had been listening to the play with her eyes narrowed, suddenly spoke up. She murmured weakly: "Alas... I'm old and my ears are no good. When you people talk, I can't even make out what's being sung."

  The old lady let out a sigh of relief and hastily said, "It's all our fault for disturbing you." Then she glared at Mrs. Bing Er with a forced smile on her face and said heavily, "You all stop chattering and listen to the music!"

  It wasn't until then that the room finally quieted down; Minglan shook her head silently, sighed, turned around to gaze at the pavilion on the water like a Penglai Paradise, and ignored them, focusing on calming herself down to appreciate the music.

  Because there was no opera stage, most of the female guests were pointing at the literary drama excerpts.

  Mrs. Lu chose the "Training Son" section of "Single Knife Meeting" (it's said that her son, who was over 50 years old this year, has not been very obedient recently), Mrs. Ta chose the "Returning to the Case" chapter of "The East Window Incident" (which tells the story of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law misunderstanding each other at first but eventually making up), Wang chose the "Returning the Pearl" section of "Qin Tai Ji" (after her husband had been with countless women, he finally realized his wife's goodness, reformed himself, and the couple loved each other until they were old), then others also successively chose their favorite tunes.

  The one with the highest click-through rate is none other than "Liu Yun Qiao Chuan". Several female relatives each clicked on a section, and Minglan roughly calculated that they almost clicked through the entire "Liu Yun Qiao Chuan".

  This play has been popular for nearly a hundred years since its premiere in the previous dynasty and is especially loved by women.

  The story goes like this: In a certain dynasty, a famous courtesan met a young scholar who had just passed the imperial examination. Although they came from different worlds, they fell deeply in love at first sight. Later, the scholar bought the courtesan's freedom and married her, but his family refused to accept her because of her past as a prostitute. The courtesan was strong-willed and left him a note before running away, advising him to marry a noble lady instead.

  The Flower Gentleman searched everywhere for his loved one but to no avail, and had to follow his parents' orders. Years later, the newly widowed Flower Gentleman was appointed as a touring inspector of the border, and while on patrol, he coincidentally encountered a large-scale invasion by the Jiehu people. The Flower Gentleman led the soldiers and civilians in resisting with all their might, but they were vastly outnumbered, and just as they were about to be overwhelmed and killed, with no reinforcements arriving, the Flower Gentleman had already placed his sword against his neck. At this moment, suddenly there was a great commotion in the Jiehu camp; the Flower Gentleman seized the opportunity, hastily ordering the defending soldiers to launch a surprise attack, and they succeeded, resolving the crisis.

  It wasn't until after the battle that it was discovered that a woman had spent a large sum of money to buy 500 cattle, then set fire to their rear ends, imitating Tian Dan's fire cow array, and let the herd rush from the unguarded rear of the Xiongnu slaves. The Flower General was suspicious and only found out after inquiring carefully that this woman was none other than the courtesan.

  In the end, it's a grand reunion finale, with the talented young man and beautiful woman living in harmony, growing old together, and surrounded by children and grandchildren.

  This story is very cliché, but it's also very touching, because this play is based on a true event, telling the legend of the previous dynasty.

  That Tan Hualang, surnamed Gao and named Quan, was a renowned young master from the south of the Yangtze River. He achieved great success in his youth, passing the imperial examination at the age of 16 and serving as an assistant to three emperors. His life was marked by great rises and falls, bringing good fortune to countless common people. Later, he was recorded in the official historical biography "Biographies of Famous Ministers".

  And his wife was even more legendary, because she was indeed a courtesan from the Qinhuai River, later known as 'Liu Li Furen'. Originally, this kind of not very good identity, even if it couldn't be hidden from people at that time, at least on paper, some articles were written to fool later generations. But this Madame Gao was really too famous, and their affairs were also too big, even if they weren't written in the official history, they were still all over the unofficial histories.

  At this time, a light drumming sound suddenly came from the Octagonal Pavilion, gradually becoming urgent. The four musicians plucked the three strings with their ten fingers, as if crying and complaining, like pearls scattering all over the ground, startling and moving. Minglan raised her eyes to look at Zhu Shi beside her, then looked at several of her sisters-in-law, only to see that they were all excited and intoxicated. Minglan knew that the most wonderful part was coming:

  Gao Yun returned home from the border town and begged his parents to accept Liu Li as a concubine, but Liu Li refused. She sighed to her lover and said: "I love you very much, but I also love myself very much."

  She said that she had been despised and belittled for half her life, but after shedding her humble origins, she was determined to stand up straight and live with dignity in the second half of her life. So she opened a workshop, recruited apprentices, did business, and earned a respectable living for herself. Moreover, she is now living very happily.

  Gao Yun was determined to marry her, but the Gao family on his mother's side refused to agree. This matter became known throughout the land, and even the streets and alleys were eager to discuss it. In the end, Gao Yun resolutely gave up his promising career, resigned from office, and was expelled from the ancestral temple by the Gao family, and driven out of the house.

  Then, the couple who suffered from the criticism of the world retreated to the mountains and fields of Yongzhou, living a simple life, supporting each other through thick and thin. Gao Yun was devoted to reading books, writing, studying, teaching his children, while Madame Liu led the poor local people in opening up the mountain, digging mines, storing water for irrigation.

  For a whole decade, emperors had changed, but Gao Zhan's fame spread far and wide again with his monumental works that discarded the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism. Scholars from all over came to seek his teachings, and the imperial court issued three decrees summoning him back to office. After that, he rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a high-ranking official, and was thrice summoned back to the capital. He eventually became a Grand Preceptor, with countless disciples under him, and was finally enshrined in the Temple of Loyal and Good Ministers and the Biographies of Famous Ministers.

  And as for Madame Gao, from a singing girl to a super first-class imperial concubine, Madame Liu's life is even more legendary than a legend.

  At that time, Minglan read this passage (official history + unofficial history) and asked Mr. Zhuang, "Can mines be privately opened? Doesn't the government manage them?"

  "Other mines are not allowed, but Mrs. Liu is an exception." Mr. Zhuang said, "Because this mine is neither gold nor silver, nor copper or iron, nor coal or salt, but a kind of strange 'quartz' that can be used to make glass, and the government doesn't even know what it's for."

  Glass! Yes, glass.

  Minglan's pupils contracted slightly as she glanced around at the open windows, which were inlaid with bright and clean glass. Some of them were large pieces of transparent glass, while others were small pieces of colored glass inlaid into patterns of flowers and birds, shining brightly and making the hall look spacious and bright.

  In ancient times with low technical level, Mrs. Liuli conducted precise experiments time and again, first burning some small glass trinkets to earn some initial funds, more than a decade later, she made convex lenses for use as telescopes or magnifying glasses, and more than a decade after that, she finally thoroughly revolutionized the technique, burning and producing large area flat and solid thin glass.

  This Ms. Luli should be a newcomer — Minglan gazed out the window in a daze — from her remaining experimental manuscripts, she still majored in science and engineering.

  This profession is really great, Minglan sighed with her head down, feeling very envious.

  A soft applause broke out in the hall, and then the woman's singing voice suddenly became low and deep. The information in her eyes was as old as heaven and earth, even Minglan, a pseudo-literary youth, had to admit that this was really a good show.

  Because this play was written by a great talent of the previous dynasty, who was a disciple of Gao's family. In his seventieth year, he dreamed back to his youthful days of studying at midnight. At that time, they often saw the white-haired old couple Gao and his wife walking hand in hand along the riverbank, still deeply in love.

  The old man woke up with tears all over his face, filled with gratitude and admiration. He picked up his pen and wrote this masterpiece to commemorate his deceased teacher and teacher's wife. The great master's work is naturally different from others. "Liu Yun Qiao Zhuan" has a gentle and moving melody, the lyrics are elegant and refined, and many of the lines can almost be directly turned into poetry. It is indeed a rare and excellent work.

  Minglan looked at the faces of the women around her, some with envy, some with worry, all with a hint of emotion. Beside her, Zhu Shi let out a soft sigh and said, "Alas... for a woman to become Madame Liu Li like this, it's worth it."

  The existence of Mr. Luli has become a symbol, a beacon that tells women that there are indeed such deeply emotional good men in the world, they just haven't met one yet.

  As for Minglan, Mrs. Lian was a signal that told her she had an old friend here.

  From her grandmother, Minglan had heard some stories about Empress Jing'an.

  She was born into a prominent family, naturally beautiful, and intelligent from a young age. At three years old, she could compose poetry, and at five years old, she could paint (it's as if she had a past life). Her poetry and lyrics were breathtakingly beautiful (Tang poems and Song lyrics). At fifteen years old, she was chosen to be the imperial son's proper wife, and at twenty years old, she was crowned empress. Old Lady Sheng had met her in the palace during her youth, but just two years later, Empress Jing'an passed away at thirty-seven years old.

  "Why did she leave so early?" Young Minglan asked.

  "Because she shouldn't have entered the palace as empress in the first place." Old Lady Sheng's face was filled with a mixture of sadness and nostalgia, "Her character is as noble and untainted as the snow lotus on the mountain peak. She isn't gullible, but sincere towards others; she isn't ignorant of schemes, but disdainful of them. And that filthy place in the palace didn't corrupt her. Hmph! Those treacherous people really think they've won? But none of them will have a good end!"

  That was the only time Minglan saw her grandmother reveal such deep resentment and hatred.

  The official version is that, due to the instigation of the treacherous imperial concubine, the emperor and empress had a falling out. The empress became infatuated with the art of mirror-making and set up a small workshop within the palace, where she spent her days busily engaged, no longer inquiring about matters of state or willing to see the emperor again.

  "Make a mirror?" Minglan exclaimed.

  "Yes." Old Lady Sheng said with a smile, "Empress Jing'an said that she found a formula in an ancient book, which can make mirrors on glass, hundreds of times better than copper mirrors. She was extremely intelligent, and after one or two years, there would be great progress... unfortunately..." Old Lady Sheng's face sank, and Minglan didn't dare to ask again. Before Empress Jing'an could make the mirror, she had passed away.

  "She once said that the thing she regretted most in this life was being a prodigy when she was young, and her talent and beauty were renowned throughout the land." Old Lady Sheng's voice was choked with sobs as she sorrowfully said, "What a burden fame is!"

  According to Kong Niangniang, Empress Jing'an destroyed all her poems and paintings from childhood to adulthood before she died, refusing to leave behind a single word or piece of paper.

  What happened next was revealed exclusively by Kong Yinniang.

  After hearing the news, Emperor Wu was as if he had lost his soul and refused to believe that Empress Jing'an had died of illness. He immediately arrested all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital, ordering them to perform an autopsy, killing one for every clue they couldn't find, until the tenth physician finally detected poison and deduced that it was a slow-acting toxin, and Empress Jing'an had been poisoned for almost three years.

  In the Fengyi Palace, Emperor Wu sat beside the corpse for a day and night. In just a few days, the originally majestic and heroic Emperor Wu suddenly became violently angry and suspicious. From then on, his temperament changed greatly, he trusted no one, thoroughly investigated the palace, executed over a thousand palace eunuchs and consorts, and stirred up several major cases, throwing countless officials into prison for interrogation.

  Huang Guifei was forced to commit suicide, and her clan was exterminated; Shu Fei and Li Fei were ordered to take their own lives, their fathers and brothers were also forced to commit suicide, and the rest of their family members were demoted to commoners. Zhuang Fei was thrown into the Shen Xing Si (a prison for imperial consorts) where she was subjected to severe torture before being put to death, and her clan was also exterminated... Almost all the consorts above the third rank were not spared, and those who were unlucky even had their families implicated. Among the four feis, only one, Xian Fei, was left behind, but a few years later she too died of fright; among the nine pin, only one, Wang Chongyi, escaped, but later became mentally unstable. Overnight, more than half of the imperial harem was emptied out.

  To be honest, the people who harmed Empress Jing'an were certainly not without their involvement, but there were also many who were wrongly accused. At that time, Emperor Wu was like a mad beast, biting anyone he saw, and no one dared to advise him; fortunately, Empress Jing'an had a gentle and filial son, namely the former emperor Renzong, whose advice Emperor Wu could still listen to.

  Such a bloody storm lasted for three years; in the late Wu Dynasty, the emperor even began to believe in the words of Taoist priests, holding all-night rituals to summon spirits, but the emperor was not a fool, and after executing many charlatans, he nearly lost hope.

  One night, he suddenly woke up from a dream and galloped to the Mausoleum of Filial Piety overnight. He ran to the coffin of Empress Jing'an and cried bitterly, saying some nonsense words. Then, at dawn, he galloped back to attend the court; after that, it became a habit.

  Hearing this, Minglan couldn't help but sigh - if I had known earlier, why bother in the first place!

  The imperial physician had previously stated that with Emperor Wu's physical condition, living to be 70 or 80 would not be a problem; however, even the best body can't withstand COSPLAYing as Huang Lao every day. One time, Emperor Wu caught a cold and developed a low fever, but despite the advice of his officials, he still rode horseback all night to visit his wife's tomb at Maoling. The next day after returning, he had a high fever that wouldn't subside, and soon passed away.

  This story made Minglan sigh repeatedly, but Old Lady Sheng felt extremely relieved when she told it!

  Because of this, the emergence of mirrors was delayed for decades until a few years ago when the new emperor ascended to the throne and the sealed relics of Empress Jing'an were finally unsealed. The emperor ordered the craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department to work according to Empress Jing'an's manuscripts, and soon they produced clear glass mirrors that could reflect people. Although the process was very troublesome and not yet widespread, Gu Tingye, as the emperor's right-hand man, immediately received a standing mirror and two small hand-held mirrors inlaid with pearls and jade.

  Madam Lian and Empress Jing'an, worlds apart in their rebirths. Minglan believes they are both lovely people, but unfortunately, one succeeded while the other failed. These are the only two fellow provincials that Minglan can confirm so far.

  In addition, more than a decade ago, there was a strange incident. The family of the Minister of Revenue had a daughter who, after falling seriously ill, became eccentric and insisted on opening a shop to do business. After coming of age, she also entangled herself with several princes, dukes, and young masters from noble families, behaving recklessly and unscrupulously, often using her wild and arrogant words to stir up the young sons of aristocratic families.

  Her reputation was ruined, and people avoided her like a plague. By the time she was twenty, no one asked about her marriage, and her father's career was cut off. Her sisters couldn't marry into good families either. Later, she was locked up in the ancestral temple, but unexpectedly, she escaped and sold herself to a brothel, becoming a courtesan. She declared, "If Madam Liu can do it, why can't I?"

  However, she never met a Gao Yun, but instead encountered many scoundrels who played with her and then left, even spreading rumors about their romantic affairs with this self-abandoned high-born lady, tarnishing the entire family's reputation.

  In ancient times, under the patriarchal clan system, a woman with both parents and elders was not qualified to 'sell herself', once her family found her, they would take her back, and then there would be no news of her again, it is said that she was drowned in a pond.

  Minglan was puzzled by this crazy behavior, wondering if it was a brain-damaged person from the modern world who had traveled back in time or an ancient brain-damaged person. Since there was no conclusive evidence, she couldn't be certain whether this person was her fellow countryman or not.

  In the vastness of it all, there seemed to be a predestined fate; she knew that she would probably never run into an old acquaintance again. Among her fellow townspeople, some were world-renowned, while others were unknown and unremarkable. And she, roughly speaking, belonged to the latter category.

  Or, in this era, in different places, there are also fellow countrymen like her who live a serious and hardworking life, not daring to shock the world, not daring to take risks, living seriously, taking responsibility, integrating into society, and passing through this life quietly.

  That's pretty good too.

  At this thought, Minglan suddenly smiled lightly, and this smile fell into Zhu's eyes, feeling both strange and weird. At the moment when Minglan's eyes met and parted, her small teeth bit her lips, as if secretly hiding a kind of interesting secret, enjoying herself alone, with a kind of unusual charm in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, with a hint of mischief and a bit of playfulness.

  Zhu thought to himself with a lowered head: It's strange that Second Brother has been bewitched.

  The author has something to say:

  Strive for normal sleep, next time must update before midnight!

  Okay, a certain portal released an advertisement:

  Recruiting two lists of character relationships, one is for the people in the Gu manor, and the other is for those outside the Gu family who have appeared so far.

  The bonus is meager, just a small fraction of what was sent, thank you! Bowing!

  I'm counting on all of you readers, I originally wanted to do it myself, but I have no energy, I'm exhausted.