Chapter 382 New Year’s Eve (Part 1)

On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Cao Yong took Cao Song, Cao Shuo and others to prepare various things to worship ancestors.

On New Year's Eve, we need to worship our ancestors. The sacrificial utensils used to wash and prepare the offerings must be prepared by the children and their wives, and cannot be done by the subordinates. Only by letting the ancestors enjoy the offerings they have personally bought by their descendants can they express their devotion.

Chu Yu was pregnant and was busy in the kitchen for half a day, but he couldn't stand it anymore. Zhao Jia asked her to go back to Wutongyuan to rest first, and wait until the plate was loaded before coming over.

Although Chu Yu felt embarrassed, his body was weak and he was still persuaded to return to Wutongyuan.

In the kitchen, Zhao Jia prepared food here. What she needed to prepare in person was some fried fruits, all of which were made before, so she just wanted to put it on the side of the stove.

Cao Yong and Cao Song had prepared once in the capital, and it was a bit of tricks to wipe these sacrificial utensils, but it was the first time that Cao Shuo and Cao Xiang brothers were.

Because there are many people in the Cao clan in Jiangning, there are special people to deal with this matter during sacrifices, and their brothers do not need to join in.

Seeing the two of them squatting there, clumsyly holding the loofah and wiping the sacrificial vessel, Cao Yong had to give some advice from it. The two brothers responded with red faces, but they were not very quick in their hands.

At this time, those who value "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen", let alone their brothers, even Cao Yong has just cooked several times because of his hobbies.

Unlike Cao Song's strongness, Cao Shuo and Cao Xiang brothers are a bit thin. Cao Yong thought to himself that when the weather is warmer next spring, should we hire a riding and shooting master for the two brothers? Nothing else, it is also good to exercise your body.

In addition, there are also the fourth sister, Wuer, Niu Niu and others. They don’t have much fun all day long, just listening to the old nanny talking about the past.

After that day, Cao Song lay down for two days and drank a few pairs of medicines and spread it. But in front of his brother and brother, he couldn't hold his face down and just lowered his head and worked "hugging" and "hugging".

Cao Xiang was beside him, and saw sweat on his forehead, and whispered: "Second brother, take a break, don't be tired!"

Cao Song muttered, "It's okay!" But he didn't stop and still worked.

Cao Yong looked at Cao Song, and when he saw that he was sweating, he was afraid that his health would be very tiring. He said, "Okay, it's not for this moment. There is still half a day left! You just went back and found your sister-in-law and took a list of the offerings. Let's go one by one to see what's left!"

Cao Song wiped his sweat, looked at the tall sacrificial vessels piled up beside Cao Yong, and said, "Brother did the most at noon, and I was tired even if I thought about it. Brother, go and rest!"

Cao Yong said: "I'm not tired. I've worked for two years and know the key, so I'm quicker. Don't talk too much, go quickly!"

Cao Song scratched his head, looked at the concubine's brother Cao Xiang next to him, and said, "The fourth brother is the youngest, don't be tired, go run errands!"

Cao Xiang hurriedly shook his head and said with a red face: "Second brother, my brother can't clean it up here. I have only been working on a few items in half a day, so I haven't done much work!"

After hearing this, Cao Song stood up and went to Wutongyuan to find Chuyu to ask for a list of sacrificial vessels.

The back kitchen, the whole sheep and pigs have been steamed, and there are five-color sugar offerings, five-color cake ingots, five-color fruits, five-color fresh fruits, five-sea, five-vegetarian, five-shell, five-dried rice, grain, pasta, and so on.

Zhao Jia married into the Cao family for many years. Before she arrived in Jiangning, she had bought sacrificial objects, but it was far less abundant than before. She was also a little proud as she looked at the table on the kitchen floor.

He counted the things in front of him in his heart. Seeing that he was almost ready, Zhao Jia called out a wife and told her to take someone to Cao Yong and his brothers to get the sacrificial vessels, and then asked someone to go to Wutongyuan to invite Chu Yu to come and pack the plate.

Because things were complicated in the twelfth lunar month, Chu Yu was weak after getting pregnant, so he felt a little tired and leaned on the soft couch to rest. She heard that the kitchen was loading sacrifices, so she got up and brought Xiyun and the others to the kitchen.

On the side of Cao Yong and his brothers, Cao Song had already taken the sacrificial vessel list. Cao Yong asked him to cross the sacrificial vessel list with the sacrificial vessel list and then moved it aside to put it aside.

When the wife came, Cao Yong and the others had already cleaned up, so they asked them to carry the packed up to the kitchen first.

When Zhao Jia and Chu Yu arrived, they also brought the sacrificial vessels. The two of them cleaned their hands under the maid's service and began to load the plate.

Both pigs and sheep were selected as one and a half feet long pigs, and the lambs were lifted. Then there were one plate of chickens, ducks, gooses, meat and fish, two plates of sacrifice cakes, steamed buns, and one plate of longevity peaches and dates. The rest were counted as five or five. Marsh sugar five, zhitang five, candied fruit five, fruit five, and fruit-embedded sugar five, followed by five-color sugar offerings, five-color cake ingots, five-color fruits, and five-color fresh fruits.

In addition, three entries of tea and wine were prepared, and there were dozens or hundreds of plates inside and outside.

After packing up these, it was almost the beginning of You (5 pm). The ancestor worship at this time was different from later generations. Most of the ancestor worship was worshipping at the middle of the year or the fifth day of the first day (3 pm to 5 pm), but at this time it was from the afternoon to the evening before the New Year’s Eve dinner.

In order to show solemnity, they must dress according to their grade when worshiping ancestors, so Zhao Jia and Chu Yu went back to change their clothes.

When it was the right time for You, everyone was fine, came to the ancestral hall, divided Zhaomu, and stood on the left and right. Cao Yong was the main priest, Cao Song accompanied the sacrifice, Cao Shuo offered titles, Cao Xiang offered silk, and the remaining statues held incense and presented worship mats. These were replaced by Cao Shuo and Cao Xiang.

Amid the rituals and music, offering titles, worshiping sacrifices, burning silk, and sautum wine was only a matter of a quarter of an hour. Then everyone went to the main hall of the inner courtyard - Lanyuan, where the portraits of Cao Yong's grandfather, great-grandfather and great-grandfather were hung on the main hall.

The ones that were loading plates in the kitchen just now, except for the pigs and sheep and several tables of viewing tables placed in the ancestral hall, the others were all sent to the altars in the hall one by one.

It took me half an hour to finish it.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was prepared in Zhaojia’s house, with a table on the kang and a table on the ground, separated by a screen in the middle.

Each table contains twenty dishes, eight dishes, and two dishes. There are five plates of fruits, four plates of dumplings, and one plate of rice cake and steamed buns.

Chu Yu asked Zhao Jia to sit in the main seat and sat on his side with him. The fourth sister and Wu Er were also carried on the kang from their breasts and sat at the table in a regular manner.

Cao Yong and the four brothers sat on the ground.

Seeing that their brothers were sitting upright, Cao Yong remembered the scene of Mr. Zhuang and Wei Hei and others eating New Year's Eve dinner together every year.

The key to getting along with each other is to get along with each other. Although he and Mr. Zhuang and Wei Hei are not connected with each other, they are like family members.

Seeing that the brothers did not respond, Cao Yong lifted his chopsticks and signaled everyone to start the meal.

There are few people, and because of Cao Quan's Xiaoqi, he did not serve wine, so the meal was not very delicious.

Zhao Jia sat on the kang, picked two pieces of stewed meat, put them in the bowls of Sijie'er and Wu'er, and then picked up a few chopsticks and stir-fried duck.

While she was tasting the dishes in her mouth, she looked at Chu Yu quietly. Seeing that she really didn't eat much meat, she ate vegetarian food and said, "No matter whether it suits the taste or not, it's better to eat more chickens and ducks to supplement it. You are not eating alone, and there is still a small one in your belly!"

Chu Yu smiled and agreed. She was not picky about her diet, but she had eaten with Cao Yong in the past few years. Her taste was a little light and she had no appetite for those greasy ones. However, since Zhao Jia had advised her, she didn't want to listen, so she picked up the shredded ham and ate two chopsticks.

Zhao Jia nodded and said, "That's it!" As he said that, he looked at Chu Yu carefully.

Because he was only three months pregnant, Chu Yu was not pregnant yet. Zhao Jia was still a little worried. She put down her chopsticks, touched Chu Yu's arm, and said, "This is not possible. If you don't have two taels of meat on your body, how can you raise a child? You should make up for it."

Seeing her so earnestly caring, Chu Yu lost two points of dissatisfaction with her, and said with a smile: "I ate a lot every meal, but I was not fat. When I was pregnant with Tianyou, my chin was several layers, so fat that I finally gasped when I walked. I don't know why, but I just didn't get any flesh."

Zhao Jia looked at Chu Yu's expression carefully and said, "I see your face getting thinner and thinner, tender and much smoother than before pregnancy! Look, this fetus is a daughter!"

Chu Yu had heard Madam Ye mentioned that the tip of her belly was a boy and a round belly was a girl. She had never heard of the expression of her face. Therefore, she asked curiously: "Really? How did the second wife see it?"

Zhao Jia said with a little pride: "I gave birth to five sisters and sisters of Sister Ying. If I don't know this, it would be a joke. If this face turns rust, it's mostly a boy; if the face becomes thinner and thinner, it's mostly a daughter."

Although Chu Yu also liked his daughter from the bottom of his heart, he was anxious to have a child for the eldest son. After hearing Zhao Jia's words, she smiled, but her expression was a little sad.

When Zhao Jia saw this, he hurriedly advised: "It's all the old sayings that the old man passed on, but it may not be the case. Even if we have a little daughter, it is not necessarily worse than brothers. You and Brother Meng are still young, and you already have the eldest son in front of you. Whether this is a boy or a daughter is a happy event!"

Chu Yu nodded and smiled, "I thanked the second wife for her enlightenment, so my niece-in-law can't help it. Even the old man said that his daughter and son love each other!"

Zhao Jia smiled and said, "That's what he said, look at his usual coaxing the fourth sister and Wuer and the others to speak, so he is patient!"

Chu Yu just laughed, and when he thought of her husband's "patience", he felt helpless.

His "patience" can't last for a few days, especially for the children. It turned out that Tianyou was there, and he loved Tianyou and was willing to hold his son. However, after his son urinated on his body for a few times, he wanted to lift him up and never hug him in his arms again.

Now, with Hang Seng, he started to coax every day. After he woke up twice by Hang Seng's cry, he frowned when he looked at Hang Seng. When he was fine, he patted Hang Seng's butt and raised his face to say a few words.

Perhaps men are like this. They have not experienced the pain of ten months of pregnancy, and their patience with children is incomparable to those of being mothers. I am afraid that when I get old, I can unconditionally tolerate and be kind when facing my grandchildren.

Not only does ordinary people's family do this, but also the imperial family does.

*

The imperial family banquet is being held in the Forbidden City and the Ganqing Palace.

The princes who had already opened the palace all brought their wives, concubines and children into the palace; the same was true for several married princes living in the palace, and the young princes who had not married sat with their biological mothers.

The empress, concubines and concubines have had thirty-five princes in the past few decades. Not to mention the death of the young, there are twenty-three people who have been lighted.

In addition to the eldest prince and the second prince who were included, the thirteenth prince who was confined to himself, and the sixth prince, the eleventh prince, the eighteenth prince and the nineteenth prince, the other sixteen princes were all at the table.

At Kangxi's table, the Empress Dowager asked the Empress Dowager to sit at the main seat. Kangxi and the Imperial Concubine Tong Jia were with each other sideways. There were two more seats, but they attracted the speculation of the princes, namely Hongxi, the second son of the deposed prince, and his legitimate wife Borjigit.

Concubine De, Concubine Yi, Concubine Rong and Concubine Hui took several other decent concubines to sit on the left and right tables. Although they all had smiles on their faces, their expressions were quite meaningful.

The concubines are like this, and the princes think more.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, in order to subdue the Han people, they increasingly advocated Confucian ethics, "the king, the minister, the minister, the father, the son and the son". In the eyes of the world, it is natural for the eldest son to inherit the throne. "The abolition of the legitimate son and the abolition of the illegitimate son" and "the abolition of the eldest son and the abolition of the young son" are all unethical matters.

Therefore, from the beginning of the deposed crown prince, the words of the crown prince were constantly spread. Later, Kangxi became annoyed and attacked the remaining crown princesses a few times, which made those corrupt scholars know some of their positions. However, although there were fewer words of reincarnation of crown princes, the statement of establishing the crown prince became more and more popular.

It was the North Korean envoy who had no intention of meeting Hongxi, and when he saw Hongxi, he met with the crown prince. Although Hongxi was the concubine's son of the second prince, he was the eldest grandson of Kangxi. Speaking of inheriting the throne, he was more qualified than his uncles.
Chapter completed!