Yu Shu moved to the room on the east side. Early in the morning, she was woken up by the sunlight shining into the room. She was not unaccustomed to the new environment. Perhaps because she drank some wine last night, she had a good sleep and got out of bed refreshed.
There was water in the room that she had a maidservant fetch before going to bed last night. She used it directly to wash up, not expecting anyone to serve her early. First, this wasn't Wangji Tower. Second, there were two delicate young ladies living in the backyard. Those two servants were definitely not enough to order around.
Sure enough, when Yu Shu changed her clothes and strolled around the yard, she saw the two servants bustling in and out of Zhan Xueyuan's and Cui Yun's rooms.
When it was time for breakfast, the little eunuch from last night came again with a food box. There were many kinds of breakfast, but the amount was not as much as last night. It was enough for Yu Shu to eat alone. Obviously, the people from last night were not included.
This was also true. Noble Consort Xue's subordinates took care of Yu Shu because of Xue Rui. There was no need to involve the young ladies and young masters. However, Yu Shu suspected that it was also because Eunuch Qiu didn't know what was good for Zhan Xueyuan and the others last night.
Only breakfast was prepared for her, so Yu Shu ate in her room. She wasn't as childish as Zhan Xueyuan, showing off a few mouthfuls of food in front of others. She wasn't afraid of others secretly saying that she was giving preferential treatment.
Yu Shu leisurely finished her breakfast and went to the door to call for a maid who was free to come in. She asked her to wash the bowls and chopsticks and wait for someone to deliver the food at noon. She also asked, "Has everyone else eaten breakfast?"
However, the answer was somewhat beyond Yu Shu's expectations. They were still hungry.
Yu Shu folded her handkerchief and wiped her mouth. Looking at the rising sun outside, she shook her head and sighed —
Noble Consort Zhan was still not as powerful as Noble Consort Xue.
.....
At a quarter past seven in the morning, Official Wang of the Ministry of Rites came to find them with two people carrying a large box. He gathered the six people in the empty front yard.
Yu Shu watched as he asked someone to open the box. There were several bronze tools of different shapes inside, and she could tell that they were heavy.
"Today, I'll teach you how to identify and retrieve weapons. I'm sure you're all familiar with the etiquette that was passed down earlier. These six weapons were passed down by the Sacred Ancestor, since …"
Lord Wang gave a long speech, mainly explaining that the mission of the six of them during the Sacred Ancestor Day of Sacrifice Ceremony was to protect the six artifacts and follow the Sacred Ancestor closely to worship the ancestors.
These six bronze artifacts were a book, a sword, a ruler, a cauldron, a ruyi scepter, and the Eight Trigrams. They respectively represented Emperor Anwu's achievements in pacifying the Nine Prefectures and governing the world.
It was just right for the six of them to take one weapon each. However, according to the rules of etiquette, women should not use sharp weapons, and men should not be weak. Therefore, Lord Wang assigned Wen Shao 'an and the other two teenagers to take the sword, the tripod, and the ruler. The rest were left with the book, the ruyi, and the eight trigrams.
Looking at the remaining three bronze artifacts, without waiting for Lord Wang to make arrangements, Zhan Xueyuan spoke first, "I'll take the Ruyi scepter, Yunyun takes the Eight Trigrams Plate, and Yu Suanzi takes the bronze book. How about that?"
Cui Yun quickly nodded and said, "Let's do it this way."
Among the Six Artifacts, if one were to compare the level of metaphor, the tripod would naturally be the best, followed by the Ruyi Scepter. The Eight Trigrams Plate was, of course, the symbol of the Yi Masters. The two of them did not decline modestly and directly picked the best one.
Lord Wang turned to look at Yu Shu. Seeing that she didn't have any objections, he nodded and told the assistant officer behind him to record it down. He told them, "These six artifacts are fake. They are for you to practice using. Wait until the ninth day of the fifth lunar month, then you will hold the real artifacts."
Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun happily went forward to hold the bronze artifacts. Yu Shu picked up the bronze book indifferently. She weighed it in her hand and found that it was about the same weight as she had imagined. She then looked at the ruyi scepter and the eight trigrams in the other two girls' hands, and the corners of her mouth immediately curled up.
After that, Lord Wang didn't ask them to do anything else. After teaching them the basic hand gestures, he set up an incense burner and moved a chair to the side to keep time for them. He asked them to stand in a line for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.
The young people didn't care and looked relaxed. At the beginning, they all held the hand gestures and stood in a more standard position. However, before Lord Wang could drink a second cup of tea, someone started shaking the incense burner.
Lord Wang saw this and frowned secretly. He didn't know that among the six people, five of them hadn't eaten or drunk anything that morning.
Wen Shao 'an and the other two teenagers were fine. They had stayed to freeload on Yu Shu last night, so they could bear it in the morning on an empty stomach. However, Zhan Xueyuan, who was angry last night and didn't eat, and Cui Yun, who comforted her for the whole night, suffered.
The two girls hadn't been able to eat their fill after traveling for a whole day yesterday. Moreover, because of their resentment towards Yu Shu, they had chatted for half the night. They were tired and hungry. How long could they stand with a copper lump in their hands?
What's more, compared with the thin bronze book in Yu Shu's hand, the ruyi scepter and the eight-trigram plate were much heavier.
Yu Shu calmly looked at Zhan Xueyuan, who was standing on her left. Zhan Xueyuan's face was pale and his forehead was sweating. She took pleasure in his misfortune and thought, 'The person who seems to be at a disadvantage may not necessarily be the one who gets the advantage.'
After a while, Zhan Xueyuan couldn't stand it anymore. She staggered forward and half squatted down. The bronze artifact in her hand fell to the ground.
"Xueyuan," Cui Yun took the opportunity to put down her sore arm and went forward to help her.
"Ahem!" Lord Wang coughed heavily and stood up unhappily. He said seriously, "How long have you been standing? Didn't you eat this morning?"
It had to be said that Lord Wang was telling the truth.
"I …" Zhan Xueyuan felt embarrassed and wanted to say that they really didn't eat, but she saw Yu Shu's figure from the corner of her eyes and swallowed her words. She thought that if Yu Shu heard what she said, it would prove that no one brought her breakfast this morning. Thinking of the embarrassing scene at the dining table last night, she bit her lips, feeling wronged and resentful.
To fight back, she rubbed her arm and pushed away Cui Yun's support. She held the ruyi scepter and stood up again.
Yu Shu raised her eyebrows and thought, "At least you have some backbone."
They stood like this for half an hour. Except for Yu Shu and Wen Shao 'an, even the two boys couldn't stand it and put down their utensils twice, let alone Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun. They almost had to rest after standing for a while.
Lord Wang didn't look good. This was related to the ancestral worship ceremony, so he couldn't afford to be careless. Usually, he had to be polite to these young ladies, but now he didn't have to worry. He first nodded to Yu Shu and Wen Shao 'an, and then coldly said a few words to the other four.
However, before he finished, Zhan Xueyuan, who was embarrassed and tired, covered her stomach with cold sweat and bent down.
"Ouch …"
Seeing this, Lord Wang stopped talking and hurriedly asked someone to help her back to her room. Sun Jun and another young man took the opportunity to follow them, so that they wouldn't be scolded again.
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