Armor Set

After eating and drinking his fill, Director Nian had the waiter clear the table and serve tea before bringing over the box.

He opened the lid, slid it in front of Chu Chen, and said with a smile, "Young Master Chu, sorry to trouble you!"

Chu Chen smiled and nodded, then looked into the box. It turned out to contain three nail guards.

These nail guards were actually finger protectors—the kind of nail covers worn on the fingers by empresses and imperial consorts in the Qing Dynasty palace dramas everyone knew so well.

In fact, nail guards were not unique to the Qing Dynasty. The custom of growing long nails in China had a long history. According to Han Feizi, during the Warring States period, all the attendants around Han Zhaohou, the ruler of Han, grew long nails.

Chu Chen had once come across a Han Dynasty nail guard made of celadon jade, but he had been unable to afford it at the time and could only regret letting it slip through his fingers. Actually, nail guards had already been very common during the Ming Dynasty, let alone the Han Dynasty.

By the Qing Dynasty, however, Manchu women favored long nails, and the custom of dyeing them with balsam flowers or henna had existed for a long time. Thus, gold and silver nail covers were made to protect them.

The most representative figure when it came to decorative manicures was Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled from behind the curtain. She wore decorative metal or cloisonné nail covers on her little and ring fingers, making her nails appear longer and displaying her noble status.

On top of that, there were now countless Qing Palace dramas, which had made nail guards representative objects of the Qing Dynasty.

Generally speaking, common nail guards