so very glad to see us, and told us that our Manchu costumes
were all ready, and that she had seen them and they were perfectly
lovely. We were very hungry, and enjoyed our breakfast immensely. After
that we went to see Her Majesty. She was awake, so we went into her
bedroom. We greeted her the same way that we did every morning, and
kowtowed to her and thanked her for all the things she had sent us while
we were at home. She sat up on the bed, smiled, and said: "Are you glad
to come back? I know everyone who comes to me and stays for a while
does not like to go away from here any more. I am glad to see you (to
my mother). How is Yu Keng?" My mother told her that my father was much
better. She asked us what we did for those two days, staying at home.
She also wanted to know whether we still remembered which day she had
chosen for us to change into our Manchu costume. We told her we knew the
date, and were looking forward to it. The eunuchs brought in three
large yellow trays, full of beautiful gowns, shoes, white silk socks,
handkerchiefs, bags for nuts, in fact the whole set, including the gu'un
dzan (Manchu headdress). We kowtowed to her, and told her we were very
much pleased with everything she had given us. Her Majesty told the
eunuchs to bring everything out for us to see. She said to us: "You see
I give you one full official dress, one set of Chao Chu (amber heads),
two embroidered gowns, four ordinary gowns for everyday wear, and two
gowns for Chi Chen wear (the anniversary of the death of an Emperor or
Empress), one sky blue, the other mauve, with very little trimming.
I also have a lot of underwear for you." I was excited and told Her
Majesty that I would like to commence to dress up at once. She smiled,
and said: "You must wait until the day comes, the lucky day I have
selected for you. You must try to fix your hair first, which is the most
difficult thing to do. Ask the Young Empress to teach you." Although
she told me to wait, I knew she was pleased to see that I showed so much
enthusiasm. She asked me the first day when we came to the Court why
my hair was so curly. I showed her that I curled it with paper, and she
teased me ever afterwards. She also said that I could not pull my hair
straight in time to wear Manchu clothes, that everyone would laugh at
me, and how ugly I would look. That night one Court lady came over to me
while I was sitting on the veranda and said: "I wonder if you will look
nice in Manc