“A dragon and phoenix coat?” The young maid shook her head, bewildered, “Back Miss, I don’t think …… never heard of it before ……”
Ito Nana-chan said with a smile, “The dragon and phoenix coat is one of the traditional dresses of Chinese women, usually red or gold, with a lot of very fine embroidery on it, very gorgeous and beautiful, and there is also a kind of Xiu-ho, which has been improved recently, also very beautiful and particularly festive to wear.”
The maid said with a bewildered expression, “Miss, we Japanese women get married …… There is no need to wear the Chinese wedding dress …… Wouldn’t it be a bit too strange ……”
Ito Nanaeko waved her head mischievously and said shyly, “If you marry a Japanese man, you naturally wear a kimono, but if you marry a Chinese man, you must wear a Chinese wedding dress to fit the occasion. Besides, as the Chinese saying goes, if you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken, if you marry a dog, you must adapt to the customs of the man.”
“Ah?!” The maid said in horror, “Miss, the lord is so traditional, if you were to marry a Chinese, he would be furious with you!”
Saying that, the maid realized that she had said the wrong thing and quickly slapped her mouth and said reproachfully, “Sorry sorry sorry, I was just making an analogy ……”
Nanaeko Ito smiled faintly and said seriously, “If I did marry the man I wanted to marry, I’m afraid Father-sama would be even happier than I am.”
The maid could not resist asking, “Miss …… When you say that, do you have your heart set on someone else?”
Ito Nanaeko smiled at her and said, “Don’t be so gossipy, learn more about traditional Chinese culture when you have time I might be useful in the future.”
The maid quickly nodded and said, “Yes Miss, I will definitely go and learn more ……”
Ito Nanaeko smiled and nodded her head, and seeing that she was also packed up, she said to her and the other maid, “You guys go ahead and help in the front room, I’ll go and get Father-sama.”
The two maids respectfully withdrew, and Nanaeko Ito went out of her boudoir alone to pay her respects in her father’s room.
In the traditional Japanese family, the rules between the eldest and youngest were relatively strict, and if she went to her father’s room, she would do so respectfully, rather than knocking on the door in a blaze of glory.
When she arrived outside her father’s room, she found Koichi Tanaka in his wheelchair at the entrance to the corridor, not far from the door, polishing a beautifully crafted pool cue in his hands.
When he saw Nanaeko Ito, he hastily straightened his body and said respectfully, “Miss.”
Ito Nana-chan hastily made a gesture of silence, stepped forward and asked in a low voice, “Tanaka-san, is Father-sama inside?”
Koichi Tanaka nodded respectfully and said, “His Excellency is a little tired just now and said he was going to his room to rest for a while.”
Nanaeko Ito asked him, “I heard from my aunt that Tanaka-san was playing pool with father-sama, he seems to have not touched the cue for a long time recently, how was it? Did you enjoy yourself?”
Koichi Tanaka laughed bitterly, “At first it was fine, but halfway through the game he suddenly said it was silly to run around the table in a motorised wheelchair, so he didn’t really want to continue.”
With that, he raised the pool cue in his hand and said helplessly, “His lordship even dropped his favourite cue, luckily it didn’t break, the brand has long since gone out of print.”
Nanaeko Ito nodded gently and sighed, “Father-sama has become an eccentric old man with an eccentric temper nowadays, but obviously he has just turned fifty today ……”
She knew her father, stubborn, hard-tempered and with a high opinion of himself.