Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 348 Tea Party at the Princess's Mansion
The economy of the Tang Dynasty was prosperous and people's minds were open. It was common for women to travel on horseback and show their faces in public.

However, most of them were married women who went out with their husbands.

Although unmarried women could go out, they usually traveled on horseback or with their friends, and rarely traveled with men.

During the Tang Dynasty, marriages between men and women were mostly arranged by their parents and matchmakers.

Unlike previous dynasties, women in the Tang Dynasty had more opportunities to make their own choices.

There were two major festivals in the Tang Dynasty that allowed unmarried men and women to travel. In addition to having fun, these young men and women would take the opportunity to find someone they liked.

Of these two major festivals, the grandest one is the Lantern Festival on January 15th.

The Lantern Festival represents the beginning of a new year and the renewal of all things.

The curfew will be lifted on this day and the whole city will celebrate.

Young men and women in Chang'an City would carry lanterns and walk on the streets, admiring the colorful lanterns hanging on the branches and singing as they walked.

In this romantic atmosphere, one day when you look back, you may find the figure you have been chasing all your life.

The Shangsi Festival on the third day of March is different from the Shangyuan Festival.

The Shangsi Festival is not as grand as the Lantern Festival, but it is a festival specially prepared for men and women.

Men and women feasted by the water and enjoyed spring outings in the suburbs, looking for a soulmate to accompany them for the rest of their lives.

"So, you and Lu Zhaolin met during the Shangsi Festival?" Li Zhi asked.

Princess Changshan blushed slightly and nodded slightly.

Today she and Princess Xincheng went back to the Princess Court to visit relatives.

Princess Gao An knew her intention and invited Li Zhi over as well.

When Li Zhi was chatting with his sister, he asked her how she knew Lu Zhaolin. Princess Changshan then explained how they met.

"Brother, do you know the custom of Qushui Liushang?" Princess Xincheng suddenly asked.

"Of course I know." Li Zhi nodded.

Qushui Liushang is an activity derived from the Shangsi Festival.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, then Internal History of Kuaiji, and forty-one friends gathered at the Lanting Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, where they drank wine and wrote poetry.

This group of celebrities placed a wine cup with ears on the water. Whenever a wine cup stopped in front of a celebrity, the person would be forced to drink three cups of wine as a penalty and compose a poem.

In the end, forty-one people wrote a total of thirty-seven poems.

Wang Xizhi compiled them into a book and wrote a preface, which is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" praised by later generations as "the best running script in the world".

Such elegant things naturally spread widely.

Since then, the Shangsi Festival has added the activity of Qushui Liushang. People will let the wine glasses filled with wine float down the river. Whoever the wine glass stops in front of will drink the full wine in the glass.

Princess Xincheng said, "That day, my sister and I went to Qujiang Pond. We found a spot by the water's edge. Suddenly, a wine cup floated down from upstream and landed in front of my sister. She picked it up, but there was no wine in the cup. Instead, there was a short piece of paper with a poem written on it, describing the beautiful scenery of Qujiang."

"This poem was written by Lu Zhaolin, right?" Li Zhi guessed.

Princess Xincheng smiled and said, "That's right. Nowadays, during the Qushui Liushang ceremony, unmarried men place their poems in the cups to find a good match."

"It's so fun!" Princess Gao An clapped her hands and laughed. Turning around, she saw a strange look in Princess Yi Yang's eyes.

"Sister, what's wrong with you?" she asked curiously.

Princess Yiyang blushed slightly and lowered her head, saying, "Nothing."

"By the way, a funny thing happened that day." Princess Xincheng suddenly chuckled.

"What's fun?" Princess Gao An asked hurriedly.

Princess Xincheng smiled and said, "That day, there was also a woman from the Zheng family in Xingyang. She was standing next to my sister and me. There was also a wine cup in front of her, and there was also a poem in it. Guess what it was?"

"Is it possible that the poem is not finished?" Li Zhi asked.

"Brother, you guessed wrong. That poem is very well written, even better than the one written by Prince Consort Lu." Princess Xincheng showed a sly smile.

"Did the woman from the Zheng family accidentally drop the wine glass into the water while trying to retrieve it?" Princess Gao An also put forward her own guess.

Princess Xincheng smiled and said, "Not really. Yiyang, try to guess too."

Princess Yiyang thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that there is no name in the poem?"

Princess Xincheng shook her head and said, "You are wrong. The poem not only contains the name, but also the courtesy name. The surname is Shangguan, the given name is Chun, the courtesy name is Gongbi, and the other courtesy name is Tingzhi."

For people of this period, taking two characters was a very pretentious act. It either meant they were extremely talented or they were just idiots and pretentious.

When Li Zhi heard that the man's surname was Shangguan, he subconsciously classified him as the former.

Princess Xincheng continued, "The Zheng family woman was delighted and, like my sister, waited by the water. Soon, Shangguan Chun arrived first."

Having said that, he glanced at Li Zhi.

"Brother, do you know who Shangguan Chun is?"

"There are many people with the surname Shangguan, how would I know?" Li Zhi shook his head.

Princess Xincheng said, "Shangguan Chun is Shangguan Xianggong's son."

Li Zhi was slightly stunned when he heard this.

Shangguan Yi had only one son, so isn't he Shangguan Wan'er's father?

Princess Gao An saw his expression and hurriedly shook his arm, saying, "Yeah, yeah, is there something wrong with Shangguan Chun?"

Li Zhi said nothing.

It is impossible to say that Shangguan Chun will give birth to a "female prime minister" who will go down in history.

But then again, if Wu Meiniang could not evolve into the empress, Shangguan Wan'er, the female prime minister, would have no stage in the future.

"It's nothing. I just remembered that Shangguan Chun took the imperial examination for several years but failed. His literary talent is not outstanding." He said casually.

Princess Gao An was surprised and asked, "Then how could he write such a good poem?"

Princess Xincheng said, "That's the problem. At that time, neither we nor the Zheng girl knew Shangguan Chun's background, and the Zheng girl even gave us a willow branch as a gift."

"After a while, we heard that Shangguan Chun had gone to the Zheng residence to ask for marriage, but was rejected. Curious, we went to inquire and later learned that the poem Shangguan Chun had composed that day was actually the work of his father."

After hearing this, Princess Gao An held her stomach and laughed, and the other women also smiled.

Li Zhi had a thoughtful expression.

Shangguan Yi's son was so despicable, I don't know how he ended up marrying a girl from the Zheng family.

If he remembered correctly, Shangguan Wan'er's mother was from the Zheng family of Xingyang, which meant that Shangguan Chun finally succeeded!

Princess Changshan was the most attentive. She noticed that he looked different and asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"

Li Zhi smiled slightly and said, "I just think that Shangguan Chun will eventually marry a daughter of the Zheng family."

Princess Xincheng said, "I don't believe it. If I were a daughter of the Zheng family, I would never marry him."

Li Zhi smiled and didn't explain further. The women continued their conversation, and the topic turned to a tea party hosted by Princess Changshan.

Although the Tang Dynasty had two major matchmaking festivals, these two festivals alone could not satisfy the increasingly strong emotions of young men and women in the Tang Dynasty.

Under this emotional need, a unique tea party was formed among the nobles of Chang'an, providing an opportunity for men and women who had never met before to get to know each other.

This kind of tea party is usually hosted by a couple of high status.

The hostess invites the female guests, and the host invites the male guests.

While the male guests were reciting poems and chatting, the female guests could secretly observe them.

If you like someone, you will break a willow branch to send him off.

There are many such tea parties in Chang'an City. However, recently, the most popular tea party among young men and women is the tea party at Princess Changshan's Mansion.

Princess Changshan had been married to Lu Zhaolin for a year.

She was very satisfied with her marriage, and in her joy, she began to think about bringing together more happy marriages.

When she told Lu Zhaolin her idea, the couple hit it off.

One of the couple was a princess of the Tang Dynasty, and the other was the most outstanding son of the Fanyang Lu family.

Therefore, the tea party in the princess's mansion was of a very high level. Even the women from the seven major families had been to the princess's mansion to choose their ideal partners.

There is a watchtower in the back garden of the princess's mansion, and next to it is a willow pond.

During every tea party, Lu Zhaolin would spread dozens of mats in the willow pond.

The invited young talents drank tea, played chess, recited poems and painted in Liucheng.

Those noble ladies, accompanied by Princess Changshan, stood on the watchtower and looked at the young heroes below.

Li Zhi imagined that scene and found it quite interesting. Compared with previous dynasties, the Tang Dynasty was indeed much more open.

Li Zhi still had government affairs to deal with, so he chatted with them for a while and then left the princess's courtyard.

Not long after he left, Princess Changshan and Princess Xincheng also left.

Princess Gao An thought that she had not paid her respects to Concubine Zheng in recent days, so after lunch, she headed towards Xunfeng Palace.

When he arrived at Xunfeng Palace, he heard the female official Chuchu say that Concubine Zheng was in the palace, talking with the wife of Prime Minister Shangguan Yi, so he turned around and went to the East Courtyard to look for Concubine Zhu.

Shangguan Yi’s wife’s surname was Chen. She was a descendant of Emperor Hou of the Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties and had royal blood.

The relationships between large families are always intricate and closely connected.

One of Mrs. Chen's cousins ​​married into a branch of the Zheng family in Xingyang, so she was also somewhat related to Concubine Zheng.

Concubine Zheng naturally knew why Madam Chen came.

Last night, her father Zheng Kaiju sent someone to the palace to deliver a message saying that Shangguan was interested in marrying into the Zheng family.

Shangguan Yi had already been appointed prime minister, and it was not easy for Zheng to refuse directly. Zheng Kaiju had no choice but to tell his daughter the situation and let Concubine Zheng make the decision.

Concubine Zheng was also undecided about this matter. It would be nice to be able to marry into the Shangguan family, but she did not understand Shangguan Chun's character and was unwilling to push her sister into the fire pit for the sake of a political marriage.

So when she spoke to Mrs. Chen, she tried to avoid the real issue and refused to give a direct answer.

Mrs. Chen tried for a long time but didn't get a definite answer, so she said goodbye and left.

Unexpectedly, just as Madam Chen left, a eunuch came to report that the third lady of the Zheng family wanted to see her and was waiting outside Changle Gate.

Aristocratic families would rank the unmarried women in the family according to their age.

Zheng Ruoyan is the third oldest unmarried woman in the Zheng family.

Zheng Ruoyan's father was named Zheng Kaifu, the younger brother of Zheng Kaiju, so Zheng Ruoyan was considered the cousin of Concubine Zheng.

Because of a case involving the Zheng family, a power struggle broke out within the Zheng family in Xingyang.

Zheng Rentai's family had sent Concubine Zheng into the palace, so it was difficult for Concubine Zheng's family to compete for his position as the head of the family.

Later, because of the Zheng Xuankai case, Concubine Zheng was punished, and a rift appeared in the relationship between the two families.

Concubine Zheng's father, Zheng Kaiju, brought his younger brother, Zheng Kaifu, to Chang'an. The two brothers joined forces to force Zheng Rentai to give up the position of head of the family.

Originally, Zheng Rentai refused to back down and relied on the connections he had built up over the years to compete with Zheng Kaiju.

Until February, Xiao Siye suddenly died of illness, Zheng Rentai lost his strong support, and more and more people in the clan turned to Zheng Kaiju.

Zheng Rentai had no choice but to give up the position of clan leader to Zheng Kaiju.

Zheng Ruoyan is the daughter of Zheng Kaifu.

She is nineteen years old this year and has a beautiful appearance, which is not inferior to Concubine Zheng. There is a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye, which makes her even more charming.

Concubine Zheng actually liked this cousin very much. Since Zheng Kaifu and his family came to Chang'an, she often summoned Zheng Ruoyan into the palace.

Zheng Ruoyan was also very enthusiastic about entering the palace.

It was obvious that Concubine Zheng wanted to attract the emperor's attention, but unfortunately, Li Zhi had met Zheng Ruoyan several times without any special reaction.

Zheng Ruoyan had obviously come to the palace for another reason. As soon as she arrived and paid her respects, she asked Concubine Zheng, "Sister, has the Prime Minister's wife ever been to the palace?"

"You get the news so quickly. She left and you came right after her." Concubine Zheng got up and walked over, pulling her to sit on the couch.

Zheng Ruoyan said quietly, "Sister, seeing that I cannot enter the palace, father has decided to marry me off to the Shangguan family."

Concubine Zheng asked, "Aren't you willing to marry into the Shangguan family?"

Zheng Ruoyan was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Shangguan Chun may be from a respectable family, but he's using my father's poems as a cover. I'm worried he's not a sincere man. How can I entrust my life to him?"

Concubine Zheng asked, "Do you have someone you like?"

A blush appeared on Zheng Ruoyan's face and she lowered her head.

Seeing her expression, Concubine Zheng knew that she had someone she loved, and said with a smile, "Tell me about it."

Zheng Ruoyan said in a very low voice, "I wouldn't say I like him, but I do have a certain amount of admiration for him. His name is Sima Chengzhen, the son of Sima Renzui, the Chief Clerk of Huazhou. He's not only a brilliant writer, but also proficient in music."

Concubine Zheng frowned and said, "Sima family? Their family background is not very good."

During this period, almost anyone with the surname Sima had some connection with the Jin Dynasty.

The actions of the Sima family of the Jin Dynasty were despised by the world, so the Sima family was very unpopular in the current era, and all the major clans were ashamed to marry into the Sima family.

Zheng Ruoyan frowned and said, "This is also a headache for me. If I marry into the Sima family, my parents will definitely not be happy. What do you think I should do?"

Concubine Zheng thought for a moment and said, "You just said Sima Chengzhen is proficient in music?"

Zheng Ruoyan nodded, walked to the zither platform, and smiled at Concubine Zheng, saying, "Sister, let me lend you my phoenix-tail zither. I'll play you a piece of music he composed."

Concubine Zheng's eyes flashed as she exclaimed in admiration, "To be able to create her own music is truly extraordinary."

As a daughter of the Zheng family, Zheng Ruoyan, like Concubine Zheng, received the best education since childhood and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

As her fingers slid, a melodious and graceful tune sounded in the hall.

(End of this chapter)