The wife of a woman collecting herbs cannot be bullied

Chapter 236

After sending the people in Zhuangzi back, Shi Chuying also began to officially enter the rhythm of preparing for the New Year. This is her first year as a wife of another family. The old house also came to ask if they would like to go back for the New Year. The two declined. Well, since the mansion is opened alone, it is another family, so let's live on our own.

The last ancestor worship in the Great Chu Kingdom is the winter solstice, and the Chinese New Year is mainly a celebration. It is only a symbolic offering to the ancestors and ancestors in the ancestral hall. There is no big sacrifice. They just go back to the old house to participate in it.

Chinese New Year is going to look like Chinese New Year, and everything is indispensable. Shi Chuying and Chu Xu discussed and assigned errands, and the separate supervisors went to work on their own. The two of them checked the situation every night. Shi Chuying felt that there were so many things to do. After coming down, she actually saved a little more effort than when she was celebrating the New Year in Wangyun Mountain.

There are several major events during the Chinese New Year: one is the attire inside and outside the house, and the festive atmosphere depends on this. This aspect was regulated by Chu Xu and the stewards of the outer courtyard in advance, and the necessary things were prepared and discussed with Aunt Yue. Hand it over to Shi Chuying for a decision;
In detail, this matter is also very complicated, and any omissions will affect the atmosphere of the New Year.Fortunately, several guest officials from the outer courtyard had rich experience, so they directly wrote down the gist.

For example, painting, their mansion is a new mansion, so there is no need for that;

Another example is the 'Fire Tree', which is a tall 'tree' made artificially. Lanterns of various sizes and colors are hung on them. They are lit every evening from the evening before the New Year's Eve until the fifteenth day.The more lights on this 'fire tree', the brighter it is, which symbolizes the more prosperous and happy life of this family in the New Year.

This kind of tree is generally entrusted to a place outside that specializes in tying fire trees. It has a designated style for tying, and there are also ready-made tying.Generally, there are at least three lanterns, and there are five, nine, eighteen, etc., and the most densely packed small lanterns can hang 81 lanterns in total. Lighting is also an extremely troublesome thing, counting the candles consumed, it is too much for ordinary people, only those families of princes and nobles will try it.

Chu Xu and his family decided to hang 36 lamps, which are covered with colored glass on the outside and lit with sheep wax inside. Each lamp is as big as Chu Xu’s fist, and the shapes are fish-shaped, rabbit-shaped, plum blossom, peach, and pomegranate. etc.

The second extremely important thing is the payment of wages.If you are in a hurry to celebrate the New Year, you need to pay at least half a month in advance. By the way, the inner and outer courtyards will submit the reward details, and the accountant will calculate the amount and settle it on a daily basis.

Shi Chuying and the others hurried to pay everyone's wages on the tenth day of December.

One color of brand new copper coins, each with an extra month's money as a reward, stringed with red strings, and several large baskets full of them were placed in the counting room.The manager of the accountant asked each courtyard to collect money according to the order and time scheduled in advance. Although there were many people, they were busy but not chaotic.Qinghao and Qingai also went to help in the counting room.

The steward sang his name, and one person came up to collect the money, Qinghao and Qingai gave the money according to the sung amount, and the other was in charge of watching the painting.If it is true that there are those who cannot come to pick them up, there needs to be a steward who is responsible for picking them up, and then the general steward will agree to send them away.In short, everyone who came out of the counting room was full of joy, and their mouths were all grinning.

In addition, there are gold and silver trees for red envelopes and money making during the New Year's Day. Shi Chuying still adopted the method when she got married, and ordered two hundred pairs of five-dollar gold and silver trees from the silver building in advance, and made them into plum blossom shapes. , peanut shape, carp shape, unicorn shape, and made a hundred pairs of seven-dollar gold and silver trees, only made in the shape of a little tiger.These small trees were strung together in strings of four or six, packed in different loads, and graded for later use;

Shi Chuying also specially made 25 gold and silver coins that are shining with gold and silver, and all of them were weighed out from the warehouse and taken to the gold and silver building to order, all of which were pure silver and pure gold.These ones still use strings of ten and weigh a penny, and they are worn in strings of [-] for rewards. The little girls who are in charge of stringing the strings like to envy them.

Then there is the arrangement of New Year wine.

Dachu people have the custom of taking turns to invite relatives and friends to invite New Year's wine during the New Year.Of course, annual wine is limited to some very close relatives and friends.Generally speaking, there is half a month before the Chinese New Year, and each family starts posting among themselves to discuss the time to invite each other for the New Year wine. Some people have different circles of relatives and friends, so it is difficult to finish it all at once. If necessary, please invite them two or three times There are all of them.

Anyway, during this one-month holiday, the people of Dachu were either treating guests or being treated, at least half a month was spent in banquets.

After discussing it with Shi Chuying, Chu Xu and Shi Chuying decided that their family would have to invite him twice, one time to invite relatives with good relations in the old house and clan, and another wave to invite his colleagues and friends from the guard camp.And Shi Chuying didn't have any close relatives or friends in Beijing, so let's ignore it for now.

In the evening, the two of them washed up, changed into homely clothes, and sat opposite each other on the warm kang in the living room, lighting a lamp and cooking oil to make a list.

Shi Chuying was wearing a goose-yellow soft satin jacket embroidered with plum blossoms buttoned up at the waist, and light green cotton silk trousers. On her head, she casually pulled up a Japanese bun, which was fixed with two pearl hairpins. Facing the beads that look like jade but not jade, the delicate snow-white neck is exposed from the shallow cross-collar.

As the saying goes, looking at a beauty under the lamp, let alone a person who was originally beautiful, but now under the dim candlelight, she is even more beautiful.Even though Chu Xu was on guard every day, he still couldn't help swallowing when he looked at it now.

"You say it, and I'll record it!" Shi Chuying prepared a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked Chu Xu to dictate the people he wanted to invite and explain how the relationship is. for reference.

"Okay!" Chu Xu took a sip of tea before tapping his fingers and speaking slowly.All rooms in the old house are invited, but the elders who came last, except for the old general, should only come if they have peers.

(End of this chapter)