Wealth and glory seek stability

Dragon Boat Festival.

Everyone in Wu'an Palace got up early. The masters in the palace got up early to bathe and burn incense. Baili Changkong only married one wife, Xia, and there were three direct descendants in the palace.

Baili Yanchen, the eldest son of the first wife, stood behind Xia in court robes. Baili Rongyu and Baili Yanhua, the eldest sons of the second wife, stood in the back row, holding incense in their hands, and performed rituals to worship their ancestors under the guidance of Xia.

The female members of the family lined up outside, and Jian Xi and others were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall.

I thought it would be over after I finished worshipping my ancestors in the morning, but it turned out to be just the beginning.

Xia, as well as the current Prince of Wu'an, Baili Yanchen, Qin, Baili Rongyu, and Baili Yanhua all returned to their own courtyards, bathed and changed clothes again, and when it was almost dawn, they took a carriage to the palace.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor would invite all his ministers. As a royal relative and the only royal family of a different surname in the Xuanyuan Dynasty, Wu'an Prince's Mansion naturally had to enter the palace.

Jian Xi didn't know what was going on in the palace. After Xia and her group left, she was called to the kitchen to make steamed buns.

Jiaoshu is glutinous rice wrapped in rice dumplings leaves. The fashion in Beijing is to wrap some candied fruits in jiaoshu, steam it in a steamer and eat it with sugar or honey for a unique flavor.

In the center of the Magnolia Courtyard, Mother Wang had already brought a large basin of glutinous rice and a bundle of bamboo leaves. "This year, the Madam has instructed that we must celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival properly. All the girls in the Magnolia Courtyard who are free should come out and make some glutinous rice dumplings together. We can eat them when the Madam comes back later!"

This was a rare happy event, and upon hearing the news, all the maids who had no servants on hand came out.

Jian Xi took a small bowl and scooped some glutinous rice and candied fruit.

Caiyun and Lai Xi could no longer sit still and watched Jian Xi's actions eagerly.

"Okay, here it is, you guys pack it!"

Lai Xi was the first to lose control and took two pieces of zong leaves, then -

I don’t know where to start.

But she was thick-skinned and didn't feel ashamed at all, "Sister Jian Xi, can you make jiao shu?"

Jian Xi can make simple rice dumplings. Although jiaoshu and rice dumplings have different names, their methods are similar.

He picked up the bamboo leaves, rolled them up twice with both hands easily, put two red dates at the bottom, covered them with glutinous rice, wrapped the bamboo leaves tightly, and tied a beautiful and firm rice dumpling with the hemp rope next to it in just a few strokes.

The fist-sized rice dumplings were so delicate and cute that the three of them were stunned.

who am I?

where am I?

What just happened?

Lai Xi gave a dry fake smile: "Haha, making glutinous rice dumplings doesn't look difficult." But the movements of his hands either caused the rice to leak out or the dumplings turned out to be a mess.

Caiyun chuckled: "I think your brain knows how to do it, but your hands don't."

Lai Xi disagreed, "No, I saw Sister Jian Xi making it very easily, why is this zongzi so disobedient in my hands? Can it recognize people?"

Several people were amused by Lai Xi's remarks.

Caixia was more skillful and finally tied a zongzi with some difficulty. It didn't look as tight as Jianxi's, but she was already very satisfied. "Look, it's not bad. I just need to make a few more."

Jian Xi nodded and instructed Lai Xi on how to wrap it tighter, saying, "Cai Xia is right, practice makes perfect. You will learn it after wrapping a few more. It's like this at the beginning."

There was a happy atmosphere in the Magnolia Courtyard.

"Sister Chunyan, do you think it's okay to wrap it like this?"

"That's right, you wrap it first."

“I think Jian Xi’s packaging is pretty good, I’ll go take a look.

The atmosphere in the yard is very relaxed.

A large basin full of glutinous rice dumplings was wrapped and the kitchen maid carried it to the kitchen steamer. The charcoal fire underneath was burning brightly and the whole palace was filled with the fragrance of glutinous rice and rice dumplings.

The only legitimate master left in the mansion was the second wife, Qian. The second master, Baili Yanxi, was exiled to the fourth rank. Qian did not have an imperial edict, so she could not enter the palace to pay homage.

Qian stayed in the mansion to take charge of the preparations for the palace.

Jian Xi didn’t know how the Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated in the palace, but there were really a lot of rules to follow in the palace.

Thinking back to my past life, because of the fast-paced life, all kinds of traditional cultural customs have been forgotten in the torrent of history.

The preparations in the palace were very thorough, and they were very humane, including preparing rice dumplings for the maids to play games with.

According to the custom of the Xuanyuan Dynasty, people must eat rice dumplings all day long during the Dragon Boat Festival, and those who can afford it will even build a stage at home.

The Wu'an Palace was even more luxurious. It had its own special opera troupe, so one could listen to any opera they wanted at any time.

Summer was approaching and the number of mosquitoes increased. Each servant in the mansion was rewarded with a sachet and a colorful rope woven with colorful silk threads, which could be worn on the hand to bring good luck and ward off evil.

The people in the kitchen are the busiest on this day. They start kneading dough in the morning and making various pastries and snacks.

After Xia and others returned from the palace, they would hold a rice dumpling banquet and set up a stage for a play.

Caixia took some mulberry, hemp and colorful silk threads.

"I've got the materials. You can help me make some small brooms and dustpans. Hang them on your body today and throw them away tomorrow. Then you can sweep away all the filth next year."

"Great! I just don't know what to do!"

"I'm here to help too!"

Jian Xi didn’t know how to make such small items, but after following Caixia and making two, she began to become proficient at it.

Lai Xi looked incredulous, "How could that be? Sister Jian Xi doesn't know how to do it either, how come you can do it so quickly? I watched for a long time but still can't learn it."

Caiyun said jokingly, "Don't you know that your sister has always been deft with her hands? You should stop competing with her. You should just wait for them to finish making it so that we can wear it." She didn't know how to do it either. She tried to do it with her hands for a long time but still couldn't do it.

Lai Xi tried to make a few and then stopped, as if he had completely given up resisting. "Oh, my hands are really clumsy. Forget it. I won't make any more. I'll go to the kitchen and watch Mama Liu make pastries."

In a short while, Caixia had woven several small brooms. Each of them was as long as two finger joints and looked very delicate as they were woven with colorful silk threads.

I found a piece of colorful silk thread and tied three small brooms in an orderly manner.

"Sister, let me help you put it on." Caixia said as she tied it to Jian Xi's belt.

Jian Xi followed Caixia's example and helped Caixia and Caiyun tie their belts around their waists.

Lai Xi came over excitedly holding a bunny-shaped pastry, "Look! This is the bunny that Mama Liu and I learned to make. Does it look good?"

The little rabbit has a round body and its eyes are dotted with red beans.

"It looks good. Come first and I'll help you tie this on."

Caixia looked at Jian Xi's movements and seemed to have some feelings. "This colorful rope should be tied by the oldest elder in the family, carrying the elders' good wishes."

Caiyun said again, "Sister Jian Xi is our elder, we will all be fine in the future." Her little face was full of determination.

Lai Xi is the most heartless person. "Of course, look at how good these noodles are. We will definitely get better and better in the future."