Chapter 278 This is a small step for Ou Qing
August 11 is a good day to sign contracts, conduct transactions, open businesses, or form alliances.

In Kunning Palace, Queen Xia was putting on makeup with the help of two female officials.

The aesthetic taste of women in the Ming Dynasty was similar to that of modern women. They pursued simplicity, elegance and purity, which is what later generations called nude makeup.

The emphasis is on a face as white as cream, eyes as white as lacquer, and eyebrows as dark as smoke. Every detail is exquisite, and the goal is low-key, luxurious and meaningful.

Two female officials used thread to trim Queen Xia's eyebrows. The curved and thin eyebrows were the favorite of women of that era.

The facial makeup is done by smudged white powder on the forehead, nose and chin, also known as the three-white method.

At this moment, the eunuch's voice was heard from outside: "Your Majesty has arrived!"

The next moment, the voice of Emperor Zhengde came in: "Empress, it's almost six o'clock in the morning, are you still not ready?"

"His Majesty."

Queen Xia turned her head, her skin was as white as jade, her eyebrows were as delicate as beautiful eyebrows, and her eyes were as bright as autumn water. She looked at Emperor Zhengde with affection.

Such a godly face, even Emperor Zhengde was stunned.

He turned his head to look at Zhang Yong and said, "Zhang Banban! The Queen isn't ready yet, why are you rushing her?"

"Yes, yes, I was a little anxious. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Zhang Yong decisively took the blame and bowed to Queen Xia to apologize.

"Forget it, forget it. The Queen is magnanimous and won't blame you." Emperor Zhengde waved his hand and said, "I'll wait for the Queen outside."

"Yes!" Queen Xia couldn't help but chuckle after hearing this.

At the same time, the entire Chongwenmen Street was controlled by the Jinyiwei, and the people had to take detours or stay at home. Only the scholars who had participated in the imperial examinations and the students studying in the Imperial Academy were qualified to enter the street to visit.

When they walked into the street, they found that there were masters from the East Factory patrolling around the Weiyang Palace Huangzhuang store. These masters were in groups of three, and each of them had a bulging temple and sharp eyes.

Outside Chongwenmen Street, soldiers from the Five Cities Military Command were patrolling with swords. With such a triple protection, even if Dongfang Bubai came, he would have to behave himself.

The officials from the Honglu Temple were responsible for maintaining order on the scene. They did this kind of thing frequently and were very experienced.

As the auspicious time arrived, a red carpet was rolled out from the Weiyang Palace Huangzhuang store directly to the street. An official from the Honglu Temple with an excellent image and temperament and a loud voice stood on the left side of the gate, with a piece of white paper two meters long and three feet wide placed diagonally behind him.

The most skilled artist from the Ministry of Rites, the Jiaofangsi, sat on the other side, playing "Shuilongyin" and "Jiuzhoutong" composed by Ou Zanghua.

Three consecutive cannon shots attracted everyone's attention.

Mingzan of the Honglu Temple said loudly: "The opening ceremony of the Weiyang Palace Huangzhuang store has officially begun!"

Then, the first carriage drove over from Chongwen Gate, and the Honglu Temple Mingzan said in a loud voice: "Please invite Lord Ou, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Minister of the Honglu Temple, and his wife to walk on the red carpet!"

Ou Zanghua got off the car first and held out his hand to help Liu Qing get off. The two smiled at each other, walked across the red carpet and came to Mingzan. After taking the pen from Mingzan, he wrote seven words on the white paper: Ou Zanghua, Minister of Honglu Temple

After returning the pen to each other, the two stepped over the threshold and walked into the store.

It was Liu Qing’s first time here. He saw luxuriant flowers and trees in the garden, winding clear streams, and pine trees growing out from between the strange rocks, like a green canopy.

There are rockeries on the surface of the pool, with running water flowing through it, and winding bridges on both sides.

There are two-story wooden buildings on both sides of the garden, with wide and flat stairs and a stage in front.

The left and right junior officials of the Honglu Temple, Cao Yu and Meng Zhao, were in charge of the reception here. When they saw Ou Zanghua and Liu Qing coming in, they immediately welcomed them to sit down.

After Ou Zanghua arrived, Yang Shen and his wife Wang arrived. When he saw Ou Zanghua, Yang Shen walked over happily and said, "Jingyu, your entrance design is very interesting. It makes me feel like I'm back to the time when I was selected as the top scholar. Did you design it according to the style of the imperial examination ceremony?"

'No, I designed it based on how future stars would walk on the red carpet.'

Ou Zanghua thought so in his heart, but said: "Brother Yongxiu still understands me. That's right, I referred to the Chuanlu Dadian!" "Haha. I knew it!" Yang Shen laughed proudly.

It was Wang's first time to participate in such an activity. She was excited but also a little nervous. When she saw Liu Qing was there, she felt like she had found her group, and she started chatting with Liu Qing.

Afterwards, amid the call of names from the Honglu Temple, the invited bigwigs arrived one after another. Some came with their wives, some came alone, and Duke Chengguo even came with his entire family.

The four kings of the cabinet, Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu and Fei Hong, were all present.

However, Li Dongyang came with his stepson, Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu came hand in hand, and Fei Hong brought his two children to watch the fun.

The reception area, which was originally quite empty, gradually became lively as people arrived.

Just then, there was a burst of cannon fire outside the door, coming from far away and getting closer, exactly nine times.

"Welcome to the Emperor and Empress!"

Everyone outside the store knelt down and kowtowed, shouting, "Students pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress!"

Whether they are taking the imperial examinations or studying in the Imperial Academy, aren't they all ultimately serving the court and being loyal to Your Majesty?
How could they not be excited when the person they were loyal to was right in front of them?

"No need to formality, just stand." Emperor Zhengde looked at the students around him and said in a calm voice.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Zhengde smiled and waved to the crowd, and walked to the signing area with the empress. Mingzan from the Honglu Temple immediately handed over a pen. After Boss Zhu took the pen, he wrote a line of words at the top of the first row: The old man Jintang and his wife have arrived.
Many people don’t know that Emperor Zhengde’s calligraphy is among the earliest among the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Shanxi Province is one of the few surviving wooden buildings from the Liao Dynasty. There are 52 plaques and 6 couplets hanging inside and outside the pagoda. Among them, "Junji Shengong" was written by Emperor Yongle Zhu Di, while "Wonder of the World" was written by Emperor Zhengde.

What is even more surprising is that Emperor Zhengde’s painting skills had reached perfection.

According to Xu Qin's Records of Ming Dynasty Paintings, Volume One, Imperial Paintings, Wu Miao was also good at painting. He once saw a small colored painting of Zhong Kui with calligraphy written by Emperor Zhengde.

His works handed down from generation to generation include "Growing Old with Green Pine", "Qi Stone Prolonging Life" and "Babies Playing".

His calligraphy and painting are lively and elegant, and his level is comparable to that of Emperor Xuande and Emperor Chenghua.

I don't know how the story spread through the generations, but it became that Emperor Zhengde couldn't even write properly, and he and Emperor Tianqi were collectively known as the two most bizarre illiterate emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

The eldest brother on the list just doesn't like all kinds of nonsense, doesn't like listening to scholars' lectures, and hates listening to ministers arguing over trivial matters.

As Emperor Zhengde and Empress Xia entered the garden, everyone stood up and saluted, saying, "Your Highness and Empress, we pay our respects to you."

Emperor Zhengde smiled and raised his hand, saying, "My dear ministers, please don't be polite. Today is a good day, and the most important thing is that everyone is happy."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Zhengde looked at Ou Zanghua standing beside him and asked, "Mr. Ou, you told me earlier that there would be a surprise at the opening of the imperial farm today. What is the surprise?"

"Your Majesty, the first surprise has been prepared. Please take a seat and watch." Ou Zanghua said with a smile and bowed.

"Okay, okay." Emperor Zhengde immediately pulled Queen Xia to sit down, and everyone cooperated with an expectant look.

At this time, the artists from the Jiaofangsi came onto the stage. As they plucked the strings of their zithers, the music of "Drunk in Taiping" began to play.
After hearing the prompt, the seven craftsmen guarding the pool outside the imperial farm began to exert their strength one by one and pressed down hard on the pool.

Under this pressure, water gushed out from the pipe, rushing nearly ten meters into the sky, and then fell down like fireworks in the sky.

When the guests saw this scene, they couldn't help but exclaimed.

Then, accompanied by music, the seven fountains were sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes crossed, sometimes turned into arches, and sometimes bloomed like flowers, which made everyone amazed.

Who would have thought that Ou Zanghua would create a musical fountain in the Ming Dynasty that could only be seen hundreds of years later?
(End of this chapter)