Afraid of being laughed at by foreigners! What are the incredible rules for Cixi to eat?

Speaking of this Cixi, a lively hedonist, although she didn't make any contribution to the Qing Dynasty all her life, she actually aggravated the decline and corruption of the Qing Dynasty, but I have to say that Cixi really attached great importance to enjoying this fast. It is said that the first person in China to sleep in Simone Kopmajer's bed was Cixi. There are many examples of Cixi enjoying herself. Although Cixi knows nothing, she doesn't want others to know. So afraid of being discovered by foreigners, what are the strange rules for Cixi to eat?

When Cixi came back from abroad, she found that the outside world was much more advanced than she had imagined, so she recruited three female officials from abroad and asked them to help her with some translation and information transmission.

Cixi liked one of the female officials very much and even invited her to dinner. In the Qing dynasty at that time, in fact, no one could eat with Cixi, not even the empress.

When the female officer and Cixi eat together, because the foreign etiquette is that everyone sits down to eat together, the female officer is very uncomfortable when she sees other people standing by and watching.

Cixi saw this and told the female officer that this was a rule set by her ancestors. Although she knows that such a rule is pedantic to foreigners, she can't help but break it herself, but if she is in front of foreigners, she won't do it herself.

The female officer didn't say anything after listening. She just observed how other people ate after eating, and found that both the queen and the female officer ate standing up, and only she could sit with Cixi.