Chapter 27 The twenty-seventh round of the glitz of the Inner Palace

When the Queen Mother Yi was young, she was really a graceful, bright and beautiful girl, which was often praised by people in the palace. What a charming look!Elder Yi also pays great attention to Yi's own appearance and grooming.As far as the jewelry, gold, jade and other accessories that Yi wears every day, it will take Yi Fei a lot of time to carefully select or replace them; and each time Yi Fei selects and uses a small part, its value is beyond ordinary people. I dare to speculate.In fact, this kind of waste is absolutely unnecessary. I think the word "flashy" is the most appropriate word to describe it!The Empress Dowager has long unconsciously developed this habit of advocating pomp; although the ancient rules in the palace and all the internal codes ordered by the ancestors have never taught Yi how to choose Yi's jewelry, How to pay attention to Yi's clothes, but Yi naturally likes to do this, who can restrict Yi?Even if Nei Kudun collapsed because of Yi's personal habit of being flashy, he had to obey the destiny!

One day, by accident, I got a very rare opportunity to understand some of the empress dowager's own real thoughts on personal decorations. In the morning of this day, after we went down to court with the Queen Mother, there were no major incidents disturbing us, and the Queen Mother was resting casually.Suddenly the chief eunuch Li Lianying came in excitedly, kowtowed as usual, and hurriedly said: "Lafayette, just now there was a memorial from Zhang Zhidong, and at the same time, officials sent a batch of tributes to present." As soon as the news arrived, I saw that the Empress Dowager's face was filled with joy; this is not the author's intentional sarcasm of Elder Yi, it is indeed the case!Moreover, Yi was not happy because he heard that Zhang Zhidong had a tribute, even if someone else sent him some tribute, Yi was also generally happy; Yi Zhen was as happy to accept tributes as children are happy to receive toys.In addition, those ministers seemed to have a glimpse of Yi's mind, and even more interestingly, they continued to present all kinds of extremely ornate gems and pearls, or rare Western goods on the outside market, almost every day. There must be several batches, as if disregarding the blood, vying to fight for the queen mother's wealth; so in the secret room of the queen mother's treasure storage, I tried to absorb all the princes, ministers, generals, and governors of other provinces. , Fuyin, and many tributes from foreign envoys to China, until a very astonishingly huge number was integrated.I don't think anyone will be able to guess its value; even the Queen Mother herself may not be very clear about it!A small part of it was bought by the inner treasury with money, because the queen mother's desire is very big. But not everything is perfect, even if it is fine, it may not be in line with the Queen Mother's ideal.So Yi would often send those eunuchs out to spend money and effort to find some special pearls, jade or gold stones for Yi; The ones on the ground are generally to be found.So the amount of money spent every time to find a treasure is really appalling!It's just that this kind of treasure that was specially purchased, but it was hidden separately, as part of the national treasury.As for those sent by various parties and designated as tribute to the Queen Mother, they are considered the Queen Mother's private property.

Speaking of Zhang Zhidong, there is probably no reader who does not know his name, right?At that time, he was serving as the governor of Hubei and Hubei, but when I was a child, he had not achieved such a prominent position, and he seemed to be serving as the governor of Hubei.Our home at that time was in Shashi, very close to Wuchang, the provincial capital of Hubei, and we had a lot of contacts with each other. Later, my father was ordered by the Holy Spirit to take over as the governor of Hubei Province. , so my whole family moved to Wuchang with my father, so my father and Zhang Zhidong became very close friends, and the residences of the two families were not far from each other, so everyone moved around very lively.As for our two sisters, perhaps because there are several young girls in his family, we can't help coming and going, and I'm going to stay at his house for almost two days; in this way, I naturally got to know this person He is a well-known politician, and it is also known that he has a hobby of collecting all kinds of calligraphy, paintings and antiques, especially all kinds of rough jade.The unpolished jade he collected is seldom vessels or ornaments that have been manually carved, but whole or large strips of unpolished jade.After he collected this kind of thick jade, of course he had to think about it, but he didn't immediately use it for any utensils.Although there are wives, concubines, and misses in his family, he never makes this kind of jade into ornaments and rewards Yimen.He just scraped and polished a large piece or a long piece of rough jade, cut it into smaller pieces or pieces, and put them in a beautifully decorated brocade box. , with glass on them so that he could take them out and appreciate them when he thought of them.

In order to have these early impressions, when I heard Li Lianying say what kind of tribute Zhang Zhidong sent officials to bring, I secretly guessed that they must be several pieces of jade.Jade wares can be said to be a unique kind of treasure in Zhang Zhidong. Not only does he have a collection of so many precious jade materials, but also in his home, there are several expert jade craftsmen who wait on him all the year round. Whatever is made of that piece of jade can always be done according to his ideal.Although the wages of those jade workers are very expensive, and the work is very time-consuming, for a high-ranking official like him, some are really not a problem, although they can afford it.

I remember several times when I was in his house and saw someone bring a few pieces of rough jade that had just been excavated from the rocks or soil, and sell them to him;After buying it, he took it directly back to his study, where the several jade workers he kept for many years worked.At that time, because I was still a very young child, I didn't have to avoid people. I went into his study and ran around. I often saw a piece of rough jade about one foot long and one foot wide, and about seven inches thick. The craftsmen polished it over and over again, and finally there was only a small piece of two or three inches square, and only about one inch thick, and the rest were regarded as unusable waste materials. The remaining small piece was really valuable A huge buttress!Not only is the jade color even and clean, but there is not even a single speckle. The so-called "beautiful jade is flawless" can really be used to praise the jade materials hidden in Zhang Zhidong.

Of course Zhang Zhidong was not only presenting tribute to the Empress Dowager for the first time, but he had never presented any jade before, so the Empress Dowager could not guess what he was presenting.So Yi told Li Lianying before it was too late: "Bring his stuff up!" The official sent by Zhang Zhidong was naturally not a high-ranking official, and he was definitely not qualified to come to see the Queen Mother directly, so he had to wait respectfully outside the palace gate; Li Lianying went out in person and took in the things he was holding. We were eagerly waiting to see Zhang Zhidong's tribute. As soon as Li Lianying arrived, he immediately caught our eyes together on his hand; It is a small glass box with exquisite decoration, inside which are three small glass boxes which fit well. Their designs and colors are exactly the same as the big one above, obviously it is a specially made set. But the three small ones inside are more delicate than others.We have only seen this set of exquisite and lovely brocade boxes, but have not seen the main items inside. We already feel that this tribute is really extremely precious!

Since the queen mother thought that she couldn't see clearly through the glass cover, she instructed me to go forward and open the box first, and then took out the smaller boxes one by one for a closer look.The first small box contained a pair of jade earrings. ——It really is jade, I never guessed wrong. ——The jade color of this pair of earrings is so even and smooth that I have since detested the few jade wares I own; There are many hidden jade rings, jade bracelets, jade hairpins, etc., no matter how numerous they are, but there is no spot like this pair of jade rings, and the color is gorgeous, but it is really impossible!Although I am not the person responsible for keeping the empress dowager's ornaments, but because I have seen many opportunities, I can be sure that this suspense is correct; it is the color and expression on Yi's own face when the empress dowager is appreciating this pair of jade rings carefully. , also clearly expresses this meaning.

The raw material of this pair of earrings must be the purest and most beautiful piece of jadeite. Jadeite is originally a kind of jade, so it is collectively called jade. —as green as the brightest linden leaf.They are made in the same style as the two crescent moons, and the width is about an inch.The queen mother picked them up carefully, and held them up to the side facing the light, facing the light, and then carefully examined them; under this perspective, Yi couldn't help but feel more and more happy.turned to us and said: "Look! How beautiful it is! Can you say that you have ever seen a purer jadeite than this one? No matter how carefully you examine it, you don't need to find some spots! It is really hard to find such a rare piece of jadeite." Not an easy task!"

good!Our Chinese standard for appreciating jade is to take purity and flawlessness as the first prerequisite; especially jadeite, its color is often too dark here and too shallow there, and it is really difficult to ask for uniformity, so Ordinary jade craftsmen inevitably use a delicate carving technique to deliberately cover up those unsightly spots.Therefore, anyone who is good at distinguishing the quality of jade takes the natural form as the top grade; and now this pair of crescent-shaped jadeites can be said to be no more natural! "Really, among the various jade wares in our collection, there is really none that can compare with it!" The Queen Mother praised proudly.

To be honest, at that time I really liked it very much, wishing I could get it and try it on myself, but of course this delusion cannot be realized, so I turned to the Queen Mother and said: "Since it's such a good method, why don't Lafayette put them on and have a try?" At this time, I was really excited like a child. Others were secretly laughing, but the queen mother herself didn't laugh at all. Yi not only didn't smile, but also suddenly restrained Yi's original smile, and only slowly turned her body backwards, looking at a rather large dressing mirror, as if she was I looked at Yi's old face, and said nothing for five or six minutes, which made me very uneasy.

"No!" After a while, Yi Cai left the mirror and said in a gloomy voice, "Now we can't look as good-looking as before! There seems to be no vitality on the face, how can we wear such bright ornaments? . . . But these earrings are so delightful; we must have them when we have a day of merriment, when our spirits may be more refreshed!" Unexpectedly, this very exciting suggestion of mine actually aroused Yixu's deep emotion, which made me not know what to say. Fortunately, Yi didn't want to feel depressed any more—in fact, it's useless to be depressed, how can an old man return to his youth? ——Still put that pair of earrings into the brocade box, and picked up a pair of jade bracelets from the other two brocade boxes.The raw material of this pair of jade bracelets is pure white jade, as white as mutton fat; although it is not as bright green as jadeite, the firmness of the jade and the luster of the jade have its own loveliness .What's especially rare is that they are generally free of mottled spots, even if you shine them in the sun, you won't be able to show a single trace of mottled lines.We infer this pair of jade bracelets from every mottled or cracked jade wares we see every day, and we can't help but marvel at its purity and preciousness!From this, one can imagine that the price Zhang Zhidong spent to search for such two pieces of uniform jadeite and pure white jade must be astonishing!If the work and silver spent on carving and carving are added to him, this amount is really rare for anyone to guess. The Empress Dowager placed the jade bracelets on Yi's palm and stroked them silently. It seemed that their smoothness and smoothness had produced a feeling that made Yi feel very comfortable. Even after touching them for a long time, she still couldn't bear to let go; but in the end , Yi touched her sad thoughts again, and lazily put them back in place. "Even this pair of bracelets is not what we can wear now!..." Yi repeated it three or four times, which meant that what Yi said was indeed an undeniable fact. "The hairpin rings and hairpin bracelets we wear today are most suitable for things made of bamboo and stone-colored coral! Their color is darker and darker, so that they don't match our old and tired face." , and how much conflict there is between the two absent-minded eyes, but it doesn't look so eye-catching." Yi's self-reporting words are really good. Although I tried my best to make a few words to comfort Yi, I immediately felt that it was too difficult to express and I shrank. At the same time, it made me think more clearly Why in the past few years, every time Mr. Yi changed some accessories, he had to go through 10 to 20 minutes or even an hour or two of contemplation and selection. for the sake of beauty.It is said that when Yi was in her young age, she paid more attention to the selection of all accessories than now, and often changed them several times a day when she was happy; at that time, Xianfeng really loved Yi like a baby, and often sent people out to find all kinds of ornaments. Priceless pearls and emeralds were used for Yi's decoration, and those emeralds and jewels seemed to be more attractive because of Yi's delicate and charming radiance.Now, Yi is an old lady, and the jewels and emeralds used in the past can no longer match her face; but no matter what, Yi's beauty will not be completely destroyed after all, at least three or four points are left. Keep it!If there is a day when Yi Xin feels very happy, or if she does not suffer from insomnia overnight and has enough time to lie down, then Yi's spirit will suddenly cheer up, and ruddy blood needles will appear in Yi's body like the morning glow. On the cheeks, it seemed that ten or twenty years of age had faded; although the few wrinkles on Ina's forehead still remained undisguised.However, in these days, there are still three or four tenths of Yi's youthful appearance that can be restored. The Empress Dowager saw that we didn't pay much attention to Yi's statement that she couldn't wear these pieces of jade. She was afraid that we might not understand Yi's meaning, so she gave another practical proof to explain.Yi said: "Do you still remember when King Su Fujin came to the palace three or four days ago?" This was three days ago, and of course we all remember it!Su Wang Fujin was also a well-known beautiful woman, who often went to the palace to meet the Queen Mother.But when Yi came this time, we had a discussion behind our backs. Everyone said that Yi's appearance didn't seem to be as beautiful as before; One thing seemed striking and out of place, but no one could pinpoint it with certainty.Although the queen mother didn't wake up with Yi Pan very often, Yi had already discovered it very clearly, and today, Yi explained it to us by the way. "Now, King Su Fujin can no longer be considered a young woman! No matter how much powder Yi puts on, the many faint wrinkles on Yi's face can no longer escape other people's eyes! The last time Yi came When I was young, You Qi was much older. What is the reason? Can you understand it? Actually, it is very simple, just one sentence, that is, Yi never knew the secret of wearing emerald or jade ornaments. Emerald or jade ornaments Ornaments are indeed a very beautiful and beautiful thing, but in fact they are only suitable for people who are happy and young, not to mention the smiling faces of moving people to set them off; An older person, or a person with a very decadent spirit wears this kind of ornament, and the result is bound to hurt both sides. How do you say this? That is to say: people's old and Wearing these things made of emerald or jade makes it more obvious, even if this causes the things themselves to appear dull! So these things can really not only increase the beauty of people, but also expose people's tiredness! You see! What a fashionable pair of emerald earrings Su Wang Fujin wore that day! But we can't see any lovely color in them. In fact, they may be very good, not even inferior. For example, the pair that Zhang Zhidong sent now were covered by their owner's gloomy complexion; and at the same time, the owner's complexion was exceptionally pale because of the pair of earrings sandwiched between the two sides. Old and tired, it really looks like a piece of dead wood with a history of more than ten years!" After listening to Yi's explanation in this large article, we all felt that it could not be more accurate.Some people may suspect that this is because of the discord between the Queen Mother and Su Wang Fujin, so they criticize Yi so much; but I understand the character of the Queen Mother, and I know that Su Wang Fujin really has nothing to displease the Queen Mother Place, Mr. Yi's words are really just to express some of Yi's own thoughts on the choice of accessories. So the Empress Dowager placed the jade wares sent by Zhang Zhidong as before, taught Li Lianying to hold them, and handed them to the person in charge of collecting treasures for collection. Perhaps the Empress Dowager completely forgot about them from now on. , Maybe when Yi is in a happy day, she will still think of taking them out to wear, this is anyone's guess! Judging from these tributes, Zhang Zhidong can be regarded as an old statesman who is well-versed in the world and full of judgment. He did not present other things to the Queen Mother, but presented this pair of emerald earrings and A pair of jade bracelets is really very smart!He was famous for his meticulousness and ability, so this time he presented these tributes may have some deep meaning.The first point, I think it’s because summer is coming soon, women are used to wearing emeralds and rough jade ornaments in summer; the second point is that he himself knows that this kind of thing is most suitable for young people. The character he used to dedicate to the Empress Dowager secretly meant that in his mind, the Empress Dowager was still a very young person!If this is the case, then he has really used his thoughts extremely deeply.But maybe I have misunderstood his true meaning, or his true meaning is just a very ordinary desire to show some filial piety to the Queen Mother. This is not only the case for all kinds of accessories, but also for the clothes, the Queen Mother always chooses them very carefully.The Empress Dowager has a deep study of color tones, which colors are suitable for one, and which colors can not conflict with herself, she knows as clearly as an artist; so before the morning court every day, when we eight female officials When we are all dressed up and waiting for Elder Yi in the Yi palace, Yi often has to carefully look at the clothes we are wearing one by one, and if there is something that is not satisfactory, he will inevitably shout loudly: "This robe is wearing the wrong one again! Don't you feel it yourself? Go and change at once, go! Go! Remember, no other color will work—in fact, you have to change to a blue one." That's right! Don't make any more mistakes! . . . A dress like the one you are wearing at the moment is really disgusting to see." Sometimes, the female official who was reprimanded might not be able to understand what Elder Yi meant, and although she didn't dare to disobey openly, she inevitably hesitated, so the Queen Mother couldn't stop explaining clearly to Yi.For example: "Don't you understand? When we are not very happy, all the colors that are too light or too obvious will disturb our minds! Like the pink robe you are wearing at the moment, it is like this .Its color not only does not match your own face, but also makes us look at it strangely dazzling, so it must be changed!" Among the high-status women in the palace, Concubine Jin—that is, Concubine Zhen's younger sister—is the most stupid person. In such matters, Yi is often the one who is ordered by the Queen Mother to change her clothes.I can say that if there is no one else to guide her, the clothes she wears will never satisfy the queen mother, so the queen mother does not often ask her to be together.When we meet, I have to teach Yi to change clothes, and I know that Yi is very stupid, so I don't even bother to explain the reason to Yi, just tell Yi which one should be changed, and let Yi change accordingly.Fortunately, the Empress Dowager can patiently remember many of the clothes we own for us (because most of them were rewarded by Yi), and what Yi said is always owned by Concubine Jin, so it is not too embarrassing for Yi. It is certainly a very flashy habit for the queen mother to choose clothes and accessories so happily, but to put it nicely, is it not the expression of Elder Yi's artistic thoughts?I have fallen in love with Yi's specialty since I saw how beautiful and suitable her clothes are every day in the palace. I still often refer to Yi's criteria for choosing clothing to replace my own. Clothes and accessories can win the sympathy of most people.