But one thing, as the saying goes, "Everyone has a heart for beauty." As a woman, Empress Dowager Cixi also has a nature for beauty.
There is a record in "The Record of Imperial Cigarettes": "The old lady cherishes herself very much and spends a lot of time on maintenance every day, which also makes the queen mother look like a girl at the age of 70, without a trace of old age."
How did Empress Dowager Cixi maintain it? Eunuchs and maids have their own memories. Some people say that Cixi likes to eat pearl powder, some people say that Cixi often takes a bath with liquid medicine, and others say that Cixi takes the "jade powder" prepared by imperial doctors all the year round, which makes her skin tender and her long hair black.
Yu Deling, then also called Princess Deling, was the author of Yu Xiang Lu. She personally entered the palace to accompany Cixi for two years, and some living habits were also recorded by her.
Princess De Ling mentioned that Empress Dowager Cixi loved "flowers" most in her life. No matter the flowers of any plant, she likes to stare for a long time. Because of this, the old lady's imperial garden is also full of flowers of various colors.
Not all the flowers in the royal garden are for viewing. Empress Dowager Cixi also ordered people to classify them and put them in special institutions. Some readers will definitely say that Cixi must want to take a petal bath, but in fact, these flowers are very useful, not only for bathing, but also for making tea and even eating.
Empress dowager cixi is very particular about drinking tea, and she knows the taste and efficacy of all kinds of tea like the back of her hand. When Cixi tasted tea, the eunuch needed to change the tea according to the time. In the morning, eunuchs need to offer honeysuckle tea to cheer up their spirits with its fragrance. At noon, Empress Dowager Cixi needs to drink rose light tea before lunch to guide her appetite. Before going to bed, eunuchs will also offer a cup of jasmine tea to help Empress Dowager Cixi calm down and fall asleep.
It is no exaggeration to say that Empress Dowager Cixi is absolutely a master in tea tasting, which also shows that her own concept of enjoyment is extremely heavy.
In addition, Cixi has always had the habit of eating flowers, among which there are two kinds of flowers, one is lotus and the other is chrysanthemum.
Empress Dowager Cixi's love for lotus flowers is obvious to all. Even in an old photo, Empress Dowager Cixi pretended to be Guanyin in the lotus pond, so in her view, the lotus flower should be "fairy-like". Lafayette has a hobby of eating lotus flowers. He must use the lotus flowers with dew in the morning as raw materials, and the dew on the flowers should be collected together.
Eunuchs picked lotus flowers and sent them to the royal kitchen. The royal chefs wrapped the petals in chicken oil flour, then fried them in a pot until they were golden and crisp, and put them on a plate for Lafayette to eat in his spare time. Empress Dowager Cixi eats lotus petals and drinks dew, which is euphemistically called "eating flowers and drinking dew".
Chrysanthemum is sweet and slightly bitter, but Empress Dowager Cixi still loves to eat chrysanthemum, and the way to eat chrysanthemum is very special, which is generally used as an essential raw material for hot pot.
Empress Dowager Cixi likes chicken hotpot best. The soup in the hot pot is fresh soup boiled with hundreds of chickens. After pouring the fresh soup into the hot pot, the eunuch will add several chrysanthemums to it, and then Cixi can smell the fragrance of chrysanthemums while scalding chicken slices in the hot pot. Princess Deling once had the privilege of enjoying a chrysanthemum hot pot with Cixi. She said frankly, "This hot pot is the best I have ever eaten in my life." .
Flowers have always been a beautiful symbol of human consciousness, and there are records of edible plant flowers in the history of the East and the West. According to modern science, flowers are rich in vitamins and amino acids, which helps the human body to absorb a lot of nutrients.
From this perspective, the health care of Empress Dowager Cixi can be regarded as "scientific health care". No wonder she is not old.