Chapter 689: We have Western watches, so how far can muskets be?
Shen Xia was a little embarrassed. When she got married, Gu Ziyan and Xia Shuran had already added makeup for her. Now she was adding more. The point was that she would get married again!
Shen Xia smiled and said, "I'm very happy that you guys are here. There's really no need to send anything."
Gu Ziyan handed it to Shen Xia: "It's not a very valuable thing, don't be so polite."
Xia Shuran also said: "Yes, yes!"
Seeing them say this, Shen Xia did not refuse and decided to return the gift later.
My brothers are all on holiday today and are also at home.
Shen Xia chatted with Gu Ziyan and the others for a while.
I could have started putting on makeup at this time, but then I thought it was still early.
He went back to the cloakroom and took out three women's watches.
The clothes at this hour are all brightly colored, so Shen Xia also took out a light-colored watch.
Su Yao likes bright red, while Xia Shuran and Gu Ziyan like light blue and light green respectively.
Gu Ziyan and Xia Shuran looked at Shen Xia curiously and asked in unison: "What is this?"
Shen Xia smiled and said, "You will know when you open it."
Su Yao called directly, and ended up looking at the watch inside.
Su Yao looked at Shen Xia in surprise.
Gu Ziyan and Xia Shuran looked at the small thing in the box and didn't quite understand.
Shen Xia raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a smile and said: "This is the goods that Third Brother took the trouble to carefully purchase from the other side of the ocean. It is an authentic Western timepiece."
"Third brother is planning to open a watch shop in our capital. After all, the water drop clocks and hourglass clocks used nowadays are not very convenient to use." Shen Xia could only say this to explain the origin of this thing.
Gu Ziyan shook her head in confusion, indicating that she still did not understand the mystery. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "How can this little thing accurately display the time?"
Su Yao, who was standing by, understood what was going on after hearing Shen Xia's explanation, so she took the initiative to say, "Come on, let me teach you."
Gu Ziyan nodded hurriedly and said, "Okay! I'll trouble Sister Su Yao."
Su Yao explained patiently and carefully, and it took about a quarter of an hour before she successfully taught the two of them how to read the time.
Since this Western timepiece was marked with clear and easy-to-understand Arabic numerals, Su Yao also taught them how to recognize and read numbers.
Shen Xia stood quietly aside, watching Su Yao teaching seriously with gentle eyes.
After Gu Ziyan and another person had mastered the basic skills, Su Yao pointed to a small window on the edge of the dial and told them that they could also check the date here.
It’s a pity that the date displayed on the watch is based on the national calendar, while people now use the lunar calendar in their daily lives, so at the end of each month, you have to adjust the date manually.
After some trial and error, Gu Ziyan gradually understood a little bit. She said thoughtfully, "So that's how it is. Two full circles of the watch hand represent the twelve hours of the day."
Su Yao smiled and nodded slightly to express her affirmation: "Yes, that's right."
Xia Shuran also stared at the Western watch in his hand and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh my! This thing is so practical!"
Shen Xia nodded: "I also want to make it practical, so I want to popularize it so that everyone can have a unified concept of time."
Gu Ziyan smiled and said, "This is really useful!"
"What is so good."
Everyone listened to the sound and looked at the door.
Everyone saw that it was the eldest princess.
Gu Ziyan, Xia Shuran, and Su Yao all bowed
"Aunt Jin An." Gu Ziyan
"Greetings, Her Royal Highness the Princess." Xia Shuran and Su Yao said.
Shen Xia looked at the eldest princess and said, "Mother, you are here. Come and sit down."
The princess laughed and said, "What are you talking about?"
"Mom, please wait a moment."
Shen Xia then went back to the cloakroom and took out a few watches.
Shen Xia picked out an exquisite pocket watch and said, "Mother, this is for you."
Shen Xia thought that the princess would prefer pocket watches, while simple people would like wristwatches.
The princess smiled and asked, "What is this?"
Shen Xia then slowly explained to the princess how to look at this thing and what it was used for.
The princess laughed and said, "This is Western goods!"
Shen Xia was surprised: "Mother has seen it, but the ones she has seen before are not this small, they are all very big, and she also knows that this is used to record time."
When Shen Xia heard this, she realized that what she had said before about Western goods was actually nonsense. Now it seemed that they had Western watches, so how could muskets be far behind?
Shen Xia was confused.
But she quickly came to her senses and decided to talk about this matter later. Even if she told the emperor now, he might not believe her.
Forget it, don't worry about it.
Since the eldest princess already knew this thing, she would recognize it after Shen Xia just said a few words.
After Shen Xia finished teaching.
The eldest princess kept the gift given to her by her daughter.
Su Yao began to put makeup on Shen Xia. It must be said that Su Yao's technique was amazing. She made Shen Xia look like she had walked out of a painting.
Gu Ziyan looked at Shen Xia in surprise: "So beautiful!"
Shen Xia smiled and said, "Then Sister Zi Yan can also ask Qing Yao to help with her makeup when she gets married."
When Gu Ziyan heard this, her face turned red with embarrassment. How could they be talking about her marriage?
Su Yao smiled and said, "No problem at all. By then, the store can add a little more business, that is, door-to-door bridal makeup."
Xia Shuran smiled and said, "Sister Su Yao is even more business-minded than me!"
The four of them were talking and laughing.
According to traditional customs, the woman's mother must comb her hair herself, and she must also recite a series of auspicious words.
The eldest princess smiled and said, "I finally have the opportunity to comb Yuan'er's hair. I really have to thank our ancestors for their protection."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xia responded playfully, "Oh, mother, you are being too polite. If you like to comb Yuan'er's hair, then from now on, I will go to you every morning to comb my hair when I get up."
The princess couldn't help but smile and nodded when she heard this, saying, "Haha, that's great! This way, I can make up for all the days I didn't have time to comb your hair for you."
Because the hair accessories needed for a wedding are extremely complicated and exquisite, even though the eldest princess has already read the auspicious words, the person who is responsible for the auspicious hairstyle still has to complete the entire hairstyle.
When everything was ready, the eldest princess carefully took out an exquisite and gorgeous crown from the side, gently placed it on the table and slowly opened it.
She said to Shen Xia gently, "This is something your father prepared specially for you."
Shen Xia thought that the gifts her father had prepared for her were all placed in the princess's house next door, but she didn't expect that the princess's mother had brought them over, and there was also a wedding dress in it.
Shen Xia thought that the clothes and crown that Song Yun prepared for her yesterday were also nice.