Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 273 Osmanthus Forest

Pei Feicui, the daughter of the eldest concubine, was taken care of. In addition to attending all the classes in the girls' school, she was required to follow Zhenzhu to learn the business of the shop every four days. If she didn't go, she would have one less dowry in the future. So in the past two years, Pei Feicui lost a lot of weight, but she also learned a lot.

Half a year ago, Pei Rongjin recommended Pei Feicui to be married to the eldest son of a fifth-rank official from a poor family in Shangjing City, which was a very good thing. So now Pei Feicui has changed her previous inferiority and cowardice, and she is sitting in the carriage with confidence, talking and laughing.

When we were still some distance away from the Ten-mile Osmanthus Forest, we saw an obvious increase in carriages on the road. The customs of the Great Sheng Dynasty were relatively open, and when it came to such important festivals, many adults from aristocratic families would allow their children to go out together to play and relax, and sometimes they would invite three or five friends to come out together to drink tea and appreciate the osmanthus, so there were more carriages on the road.

After finding the teahouse where the carriage was stored and leaving the horses and carriage with the servants, Hualei and the others slowly walked towards the osmanthus garden. There were many peddlers guarding their stalls on the roadside, selling all kinds of snacks and gadgets, and Hualei's stalls were dotted among them from time to time.

I looked carefully at several of my own temporary stalls. I found that some of them were already very busy, especially the small stalls selling meat floss and moon cakes, which already had people queuing up behind them to buy their food.

Today, Hualei specially assigned a group of people to help these stalls, fearing that there would be too many people and they would be too late. In addition, a dozen guards were sent to blend in with the sales staff to secretly watch over these stalls. As he walked along, he saw that his own stalls were busy but not too busy, so he felt relieved and followed Zhenzhu into the osmanthus garden with peace of mind.

The ten-mile osmanthus garden is not just a casual ten-mile. The winding east-west main road that runs through the osmanthus garden is actually more than ten miles long. On both sides of the main road, there are various activities and small stalls parked on the roadside.

Those who want to participate can stop at any time, and those who don’t want to can just watch.

Of course, some activities require you to pay a few copper coins yourself. For example, in the game of throwing arrows into a pot, you need to pay ten copper coins, ask the boss for five bows and arrows, and then stand within the specified distance and throw the arrows into the pot. If all five arrows hit the target, you can play again for free. If only four arrows hit the target, then the ten copper coins are used up. Not to mention if you get less than four arrows, if you still want to play, you have to pay another ten copper coins.

For example, in the one-legged cockfighting activity, you only need to pay five cents, stand in the cockfighting arena designated by the boss, hold one leg with your hand, and fight against others in the "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" manner. You must not be pushed out of the cockfighting arena by others within the specified time. The one who is left in the arena at last is the winner, and the boss will give you a small gift to take away.

Of course, there are also free activities, which are mostly organized by the Imperial College and the Ministry of Rites. For example, calligraphy, painting, poetry recitation, etc. If your calligraphy and painting are good, and can be recognized as excellent by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College, you can get small prizes.

According to the information Rong Jue had inquired about, if one could get an excellent grade from the teacher at the venue, he would be given a silver ingot of ten taels, and these works would be presented to the Minister of Rites, the Chief Academician, and even to Emperor Shengwu.

One to three works will be selected as the best and announced in the last half day of the event. Then you can get the prize money. As for the amount, it is said that it is different every year. Of course, the rules of each event are slightly different. And there are some changes every year.

Of course, most of the people who participated in these activities were young ladies from prominent families.

If you are particularly confident in your music, chess, calligraphy and painting, you can challenge it. If you are shortlisted, it is not a big deal to get ten taels of silver ingots. If you can get the final best, it means that your talent has been confirmed, which is very beneficial for your marriage and so on.

Although the evaluation criteria are based on the teachers of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College and are somewhat subjective, being able to pass the sharp eyes of both these teachers and the Ministry of Rites and receive excellent evaluations is indeed a symbol of one's own strength.

It is said that Ruyi won two first-class awards in playing the piano and chess during such a Mid-Autumn Festival event. Her reputation for talent spread throughout the capital city at once, and she earned a reputation as a person with both talent and beauty, and both civil and military skills.

At this time, Hua Lei and his group slowly entered the Osmanthus Garden from the east entrance.

As soon as I entered, I saw Jiang Yunqi standing on the side of the road. He had obviously calculated the time and place to wait for Zhenzhu. And Bai Yunhe, who I hadn't seen for a long time, was also behind Jiang Yunqi, leaning against a tree, holding a fan in his hand, looking at Hualei and the others.

Bai Yunhai and several other boys of similar age were impatiently gesticulating with their small wooden swords. Several people greeted each other and walked away together.

Not long after walking, I met my acquaintance Gui Jingan, who was chatting with a friend under an osmanthus tree, and was accompanied by several of his brothers Gui Jingrui and others. So, they exchanged greetings again, and then walked together, and the team became stronger.

Then, a very strange phenomenon occurred. Jiang Yunqi stood next to Zhenzhu blatantly, wanting to talk to her, so Hualei wisely tried to avoid Zhenzhu and give them some space. But it was unknown whether Zhenzhu was shy or for some other reason, but she held Hualei's arm tightly.

Rong Jin let Rong Yu and Rong Jue inadvertently insert themselves between Jiang Yunqi and Zhenzhu, vaguely blocking Jiang Yunqi's approach. He stood on the side of Hualei and Feicui, talking to Xiaoyuan beside him.

The road in the Ten-Li Osmanthus Garden is indeed very long, but not wide. As a result, Hua Lei and a few others almost filled up the entire road, causing great inconvenience to pedestrians coming from the opposite direction.

Hua Lei sighed softly, feeling a little tired for Jiang Yunqi. Really, they were getting married soon, and he was finally waiting for his fiancée here, wanting to talk, but these blind brothers-in-law were still blocking him and guarding him tightly. What were they doing? Hua Lei really didn't understand Rong Jin and Rong Yu's actions.

In Hualei's mind, it's totally fine for so many people to get together, talk and chat. There's nothing to be shy about, as long as they don't hug each other or rub shoulders in a busy street that affects the appearance.

There are so many people in this Osmanthus Garden, what can Jiang Yunqi do? Even if he wants to hold someone's hand, he probably doesn't dare to do it?