Flowers in full bloom

In June, the weather gradually became warmer, and many clan schools and government schools took a half-month holiday.

Every summer, the major families and nobles in the capital would bring their families and go in groups to a lotus garden called "Jiuqu Fenghe" in Xicheng District to admire the lotus.

Some families go together, young and old sit together, drink beverages, eat snacks, and enjoy family happiness. Some families go together, chatting and laughing, and keeping in touch.

Amid the beautiful scenery of rippling blue waves and blooming lotus flowers, people enjoy the view, chat about family matters, and arrange marriages for their children of marriageable age.

At that time, there will be people playing piano, playing chess, writing and painting in the pavilion of Jiuqu Fenghe Corridor, attracting a large number of elegant people. There will also be brave vendors selling various small toys and snacks.

In short, it was very lively and interesting. Many aristocratic families, especially those with young people of marriageable age, would basically go. On the one hand, it gave the ladies in the boudoir a legitimate opportunity to travel, and on the other hand, it was actually a disguised blind date.

Old Madam Pei from the Marquis' Mansion also decided to take advantage of the fact that all the children were on leave at home to go to Xicheng District to appreciate the lotus and relax, and to take a look at Zhenzhu and Pei Feicui from the eldest concubine's house.

Pearl and Jade are both fourteen years old, and it is time for them to get married. If the marriage is successful and both parties are interested, then after the girl's coming-of-age ceremony, they will go through the three books and six ceremonies, which will also take one or two years, and the girl will get married when she is about sixteen or seventeen years old.

On the day of the trip, before noon, Zhenzhu had already rushed into the gate of Qihuayuan, yelling at Hualei to hurry up. While urging Hualei to change her clothes, she also asked Hualei if her dress looked good.

A few days after the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhenzhu took Hualei to East Street and went to the Jinxiuyuan Garment Shop run by her second sister Manou to order two dresses.

In the name of thanking Hualei for helping to open the bookstore, I insisted on ordering two sets for Hualei.

Hualei couldn't refuse the kindness, so she made a set of clothes. But it was too expensive, and she felt sorry for it. A set of clothes cost Zhenzhu 150 taels of silver.

At this time, Zhenzhu was wearing a goose yellow silver gauze dress. Originally, the dress was fitted all over the body, but Hualei asked the embroiderer at the garment workshop to change it to a slim fit on the upper body, and changed the original wide sleeves into puff sleeves.

Hualei originally wanted to change it to a short-sleeved style with puff sleeves, but considering the current conservative social environment, she chose a thin gauze material to make long-sleeved puff-like sleeves.

An inch away from the cuffs, a thin strap made of fabric of the same color is used to tighten them, turning the cuffs into a stretched lotus-edge style.

The lower body was changed into a skirt with a large hem, and three layers were stacked like a propeller on the outside, with a stretched petticoat added inside.

A big bow was made at the back of the waist, similar to the princess dress in the previous life. However, in order to avoid the title of the emperor's daughter, Hualei deliberately named it "Lolita dress"

The original silver gauze fabric flickered as she walked, exuding an air of nobility, and the layered gauze fabrics also floated in the air, like a dream.

Hualei asked Qingying to tie Zhenzhu's hair into a bun again, and pinned a few flower-shaped warm jade hairpins on her hair. She also wore the simplest teardrop-shaped warm jade earrings on her ears. She only drew her eyebrows and put on a light lip balm.

After the whole set, the already fair-skinned and beautiful Zhenzhu became even more radiant and charming, making her extremely beautiful. Old Madam Pei praised her endlessly, and even the cold and taciturn Madam Han praised her a few times.

Hualei herself is very low-key and made herself a simple set of popular styles. The light blue silk double-breasted skirt is tailored just right, showing Hualei's slender waist to the fullest.

The cuffs of the wide sleeves and the layered hem are embroidered with the simplest water ripples. When walking, the water ripples sway randomly, just like the surface of a lake blown by the wind, making people feel extremely refreshed.

Her long black hair was tied into the simplest single bun and pinned with a few blue-white jade hairpins. It was simple and clean.

Standing together with the bright and beautiful pearls, they are also very harmonious.

At three quarters past the hour of the morning, Hua Lei followed everyone from the Marquis' Mansion and boarded the carriage outside the mansion's gate. All the female members of the family rode in the carriage, while Rong Jin took Xiao Yuan and several brothers and cousins ​​from the Marquis' Mansion and rode on horseback.

Whether it was a coincidence or something else, Rong Jin was also wearing a light sky blue robe today, with a green and white jade crown on his head and a white jade pendant with a smooth texture around his waist.

He looked so heroic and handsome that Han Qingge, who was following Madam Han, looked back frequently and flirted with him.

Han Qingge's outfit today was eye-catching. She was wearing a red gauze and green skirt, which was both gorgeous and refreshing, just like the lotus flowers and green leaves in a pond in summer, with distinct colors that complemented each other.

She wore a lotus-shaped gold hairpin on her head, which was very appropriate for the occasion. She also wore gold and ruby ​​earrings on her ears, which sparkled when she walked, looking very pretty.

The only drawback is that her skin color is too dark. Maybe Han Qingge also knows that her skin color is dark, so she applied a thick layer of powder today to cover up the blemishes.

At first, Zhenzhu was eager to try riding a horse, but under Madam Han's glares, she thought that her skirt was indeed not suitable for riding, so she gave up the idea and got on the same carriage with Hualei.

The carriage traveled for more than half an hour and arrived at the Lotus Garden called "Jiuqu Lotus Corridor" in Xicheng District. After depositing the carriage and horses, the group slowly entered the Lotus Garden from the north gate.

Zhenzhu said that the Nine-Curved Lotus Corridor was built by a wealthy businessman from Jiangnan. Every summer when the lotus flowers are in full bloom, it attracts many wealthy families from the capital to visit. This year, the courtyard can be rented out to tourists for rest.

The lotus pond is about five to six hundred acres in size, with a winding wooden corridor connecting the pond in the middle.

There are pavilions interspersed in between. Walking through the wooden corridor is like walking among lotus flowers, with bursts of fragrance and beautiful scenery.

Around the lotus pond, dozens of small courtyards with two or three entrances were built according to local conditions and rented out to wealthy families who come to appreciate the lotus for rest.

The courtyards were large and small, but each one was fully equipped with everything and decorated in a simple and elegant style. I heard that the largest and most expensive courtyard would cost over a hundred taels a day to rent.

When Hualei first heard Zhenzhu say that the gardens were free to enjoy, she thought that this rich businessman was a really kind person, as he spent a lot of money to provide free gardens for others to enjoy. But when she saw these gardens, she finally understood that he was indeed a rich businessman, as he had unexpected ways of making money.

The average rent for a courtyard is 80 taels per day, so if there are dozens of them, it will be several thousand taels per day. Even if it is only rented out for one month a year, there will be tens of thousands of taels of silver in the bank, not to mention the large amount of lotus roots that can be sold in the fall. The rent alone is far more than the output of other manors of the same size.