As the New Year approaches, the New Year atmosphere in Taiyuan City is getting stronger and stronger. Fighting rice cakes, pasting peach talismans, hanging banners, and every household is slaughtering Su wine. The married daughter also wants to go back to her parents' home to visit relatives. As the saying goes, "With a woman goes out, birds fly to welcome the girl on the way."

As the New Year approaches, there are more social engagements. That afternoon, the Chu Palace was decorated with lights and colorful colors, and it was extremely lively. Carriages came and went in front of the gate, and hundreds of personal guards maintained order and guided the vehicles.

Today is the day when the Princess of Chu invites guests and is a festival for women. The wife and daughter of officials above the seventh rank in Taiyuan City received an invitation two days ago.

Although the invitation is clearly written and you are invited to come in plain clothes without dressing up, women's nature makes them still wear heavy makeup and gold and silver. The luxurious style that has emerged in the past one or two months has made many officials' families pay more attention to this opportunity to show off their glitz.

Shortly after noon, various gorgeous carriages came to the Chu Palace one after another. Some were inlaid with gold and silver, some were made of good pear wood, and some were tied with silk and satin, which was luxurious and rich. In fact, the poor officials and wives and daughters of the family simply refused to come to their illness to avoid being ridiculed.

Groups of beautifully dressed ladies got off the carriage and walked towards the mansion. They had their heads combed with high buns, pearls and green lights, and red powder and red vermilion, and their bodies were full of fragrance. Most of them were wearing long skirts, red robes and silk, and fairy sleeves were floating. The young and beautiful daughters followed them, with floating green elixirs and beautiful decorations. There were nearly a thousand female guests coming to the banquet, and there were bells and swallows in front and behind the lobby, which was very lively.

The place for the banquet today is located in Xuanwu Hall, the King of Chu Mansion. This is a giant hall that can accommodate three thousand people to eat at the same time. It is also the main hall of the King of Chu Mansion. It is rarely opened because it is used for the first time because it is a banquet for guests today.

Women were full of interest in the Chu Palace. They like to understand the life of the Chu Palace from the subtleties. For example, what lichen is used? Is it the legendary Persian carpet? For example, are the pillars in the main hall made of agarwood? If so, can you take a little home?

But the situation in front of the women disappointed. There was no Persian carpet, not even a carpet. It was just cleaned very clean. There were five hundred wooden couches in the main hall, two sheepskins were laid on it, and there was no agarwood. The pillars faded due to age, and the lacquer shells peeled off, making them look very old and mottled.

There were many female guests gathered in the hall. The noble lady in the head was Su Wei's new wife Ye. No one knew her origin. She only knew that she was deeply favored by Su Wei, but her wife was just a title and the official did not admit it. To be clear, she was actually a concubine who enjoyed the treatment of her wife.

Ye is quite charming and fair-skinned. She is only in her early twenties. Her hair is combed to welcome Tang Ba’s hair bun, and her hair is covered with various gold and pearls and jade, which is dazzling in the light. She wears a tight satin robes inside, a brocade cloak wrapped around her shoulders, a wide long skirt tied with a long skirt with a cloud-like silk dress and a bracelet ring on the outside. She is all the best treasures, and looks particularly beautiful and charming among a group of noble ladies.

Ye was also the pioneer of this time in the competition style. Her hair accessories and dresses were particularly eye-catching. Her comments with a little disdain came from afar, "Does there not even lichens in such a big hall? The wooden couch is also old. I don't know where to borrow it, but it actually has sheepskin. Our house treats guests with Ruixia red embroidered carpets. A blanket costs a thousand taels of silk. Look, look!"

Ye carefully found that the tableware on the table was actually engraved with 'Baiyunju'. She screamed in a sharp voice, "Even the tableware is borrowed. This is the tableware from Baiyunju Restaurant. I said why do you look familiar?"

The women were talking, mixed with Ye's sarcastic laughter, "The Chu Palace is a bit too shabby!"

The women also discovered that there were no musicians, no dancers, and no teams of charming maids to serve. There were only dozens of maids and servants who were busy like bees, posing bowls and plates, and they were all wearing cloth clothes, which was in a sharp contrast with the shiny ladies.

This surprised the ladies. Is this the maid and servant of the King of Chu’s Mansion? He was actually wearing a commoner. You should know that the maids and servants of the Prime Minister Su’s Mansion and the Prince of Wang’s Mansion were all dressed in silk.

"Mrs. Jia!"

Cheng Yaojin's wife Xiang walked over carefully. She wore a narrow-sleeved, wide-sleeved long skirt, a popular high bun, and had more than a dozen jewel-like hairpins on her head. Although she was cheated out by her cousin of hundreds of taels of silver and half of her jewelry, she suffered heavy losses, but her husband was very successful. Feihu County made great contributions in the battle, received generous rewards, and made up for all her losses.

The trend of competition for luxury this month also hit the Cheng family. Xiang made more than a dozen silk skirts on her body and bought more than twenty valuable jewelry in one go. However, she is quite stingy. In addition to being extravagant to herself, the dozen maids and servants in the family did not enjoy the benefits brought by this luxury trend. Only her two personal maids each got an old silver jewelry that she had eliminated.

Xiang has been pregnant for three months. Although her lower abdomen has not yet been raised, she has a big reaction. If she moves a little faster, she will feel chest tightness and uncomfortable. So she walks carefully and takes a lot of delicate steps. Many wives who don’t know how to find out are still secretly pointing behind her, praising her for a long and beautiful step.

She walked to Mrs. Qin Qiong, Jia, and held her arm, "Madam Jia comes with me, I'll show you something interesting."

Mrs. Qin Qiong, Jia, is thirty-seven or eight years old, and is already a grandmother. Her daughter is only one year younger than Xiang. She dresses very simply, wearing a silver hairpin, a slightly thin powder on her face, and a slightly old long skirt. Although it is a silk long skirt, the style is very old. It can be seen that her outfit is a bit out of place among all the jewel-like wives.

Mrs. Jia was born in a small businessman family, well-educated, simple by nature, and could not stand extravagance and waste. In the past month, the luxury trend suddenly blew up in the backyard of Taiyuan officialdom and made her very disgusted. She wrote a letter to tell her husband, and Qin Qiong told Yang Yuanqing about the matter, which led to today's banquet.

Perhaps because Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin had a very good relationship, Mrs. Jia also took special care of Cheng Yaojin's wife Xiang. Xiang came to chat with Mrs. Jia almost every now and then.

Jia was very disgusted with this Ye family. The golden and green on her head was as vulgar as a nouveau riche. She was about to walk away when she heard Xiang call her, and she turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"

Mrs. Jia looked at Xiang's belly with concern again and asked in a low voice: "Does it matter?"

"It's okay today. The little guy in his belly is doing well and didn't make trouble for me."

Xiang Shi smiled and pulled Mrs. Jia out. "I'll show you something, it's really surprising."

She took Mrs. Jia to the front yard, and a carriage was parked in the yard. A large group of wives were pointing around the carriage. Mrs. Jia slowly walked forward, and she felt a little strange. The carriage was very ordinary and had no decoration. Except for being a little wider, there was no difference between the carriages in the rental carriage.

There was nothing strange about the carriage itself. Mrs. Jia was surprised that such a slightly shabby carriage actually appeared in the Chu Palace.

Xiang opened the car door, looked at it, and turned around and said, "It's simpler in the car!"

All the ladies rushed forward and looked inside. They saw only a bed of lichens and a small table. There was nothing else, and there was no decoration on the wall of the car.

"Whose carriage is this? It is actually placed in the main courtyard?" the ladies asked strangely.

At this time, a little maid stepped forward to salute, "Mrs. The princess, please come to the main hall."

A lady pointed to the carriage and asked her, "Whose carriage is in the palace? Why are she parked here?"

"Report to all wives, this is my princess' carriage."

The front yard suddenly became quiet, and the ladies looked at each other. Such a shabby carriage turned out to be the carriage of Princess Chu, which was incredible.

"No way!"

Xiang asked in disbelief: "Is this really the princess's carriage?"

The little maid said seriously: "The princess said that there are still many poor people in the world who can't afford to eat, and many children die of starvation. She should restrain herself and the prince's mansion, strive for simplicity and not be arrogant or extravagant. This is what the princess told us."

"Well said it!" Mrs. Jia couldn't help but applaud. The yard was very quiet, and many ladies lowered their heads in shame.

The maid said again: "Everyone come with me! The princess invites everyone into the palace."

Everyone followed the maid into the hall. The hall had already quieted down and the ladies took their seats one after another. At this time, a guard shouted: "The Princess Chu is here!"

Just a few footsteps heard, Princess Pei Minqiu, surrounded by a group of maids, walked into the hall from the main entrance. She smiled and looked as bright as Qiuyue. Her hair was combed and her hair was tied with a bun. There was no gorgeous jewelry on her head. She only used a simple jade hairpin and a thin face. It was surprising that she was wearing a short white thin linen jacket and a long skirt, which was also made of fine linen. It was obviously a bit rough. Her outfit was no different from a poor housewife. However, the graceful and atmospheric demeanor in her every move was incomparable to any lady. She nodded to all wives one by one and walked calmly above the hall.

The hall suddenly became a little turbulent. The dignified Princess Chu dressed so simply. Some smart ladies vaguely guessed that this was the Princess Chu who wanted to set an example and to stop the recent trend of luxury competition in the backyard of the officialdom.

Pei Minqiu walked into the hall, looked at everyone, and apologized with a smile: "I invite everyone to the banquet today. If the hospitality is not good, please forgive me!"

The hall was still very quiet, no one dared to speak more, and everyone had an incomparable shame on their faces. The princess's clothes and twig dress formed a strong contrast with their jewelry spirit.

Pei Minqiu raised his wine glass and said to the ladies: "The world is far from unified, and the people have not received blessings. The soldiers are fighting bloody battles for the country ahead. When the weather is cold and cold, before the banquet, I would like to make a suggestion that each of us donate a hundred pairs of shoes and socks to the soldiers on the front line to fulfill our wishes to comfort the army."

At this time, more than a dozen maids walked in with large plates, with shoes and socks on them. Pei Minqiu smiled and said, "These shoes and socks are made by me, including my dress, which I made by myself. I didn't ask everyone to spin and weave cloth like me. Everyone can buy them. It's not expensive. This is just our wish. If everyone donates a hundred pairs of shoes and socks, then the 100,000 soldiers can feel the support and warmth behind them."

Ye bit her lip tightly, and she couldn't help asking, "Princess, you just said that your clothes were made of yarn and weaving cloth yourself. Is it true?"

Pei Minqiu smiled and nodded, "If Mrs. Ye doesn't believe it, I can demonstrate!"

She turned around and ordered the maid to say a few words. The maid went down. After a moment, more than a dozen servants came up with a spinning wheel and a weaving machine and placed it in the hall. Pei Minqiu walked to the weaving machine and sat down, tidied up the thread. She operated the weaving machine skillfully, "Crack! Crack!" The sound of looms sounded in the hall, and a thin linen white cloth gradually woven in her hands.

............

The next day, the gorgeous carriages inlaid with gold and silver were no longer seen on the streets at the city of Taiyuan. The vehicles driving out of the official's mansion turned into simple and simple ordinary carriages. {Piaotianwen Thank you to all book friends for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!