It was very dark in Xufu Palace, with a strong musty smell mixed with the smell of medicine, which made Mingkang feel a little unexplainable. All the windows were covered with heavy Beiqiu paper.
Princess Mingkang's hands were numb from the cold, and she held them carefully by her side without moving them at all.
His Majesty was lecturing. Through the window, Mingkang could see the black date trees under the east wall swaying in the cold wind.
Seeing that her mind was elsewhere, the Queen Mother stopped His Majesty's words.
He said, "This jujube tree bears dates every year, and when the black dates mature and fall to the ground, no one picks them up. How about next year when the dates are born, my dear son comes here to pick up dates and play with them?"
Mingkang's eyes only briefly glanced at the jujube tree, but in fact, what she was thinking about was the jasmine branches buried under the plaster somewhere on the palace wall. She still remembered that one spring, her brother carefully dug out the flower branches and let them sprout and bloom.
She lost her mind and quickly came back to her senses.
Xufu Palace is exquisite and gorgeous, with many flying little bats carved on the window lattice, which are lifelike, lively and cute. But Mingkang didn't know why, but he just hated this place.
In the afternoon, His Majesty had dinner with the Queen Mother at Sufu Palace, and Mingkang didn't take a few bites. His Majesty saw her lowering her head and became increasingly unhappy. This child could not speak since she was a child and rarely pleased him.
Everything is slow and everything is done slowly.
Before leaving, the Queen Mother of the West stopped His Majesty and asked, "Can that child come back with you?"
"We've arrived in Kyoto, but we're just resting in the outer mansion."
"I haven't seen Yantang for several years. I wonder if he has grown taller again."
"He has grown a lot. In the evening he went to the palace to see Gu Qingnian, and Gu asked him to come here."
"That's fine."
They said so. When it was getting dark, a young man came.
The young man outside the door didn't seem to be ready to come in to meet him, so he said hastily, "Greetings to your Majesty."
He was about to leave, and when he turned around a few steps, it started to rain, as if he was forced to come in.
The room was groggy, and Mingkang was writing something for the Queen Mother to read. As soon as this young man walked in, he brought an arm full of jasmine flowers.
Seeing him come in, Mingkang immediately put down the pen in his hand, smelled the fragrance that filled the room, and she immediately gave him a smile.
When the young man saw the little girl beside the desk, his eyes froze.
Mingkang walked up to him in despair, leaning forward to smell the fragrance of the flowers—and him.
She was rude.
Seeing Mingkang like this, the Queen Mother of the West covered her mouth and giggled.
She smiled and said to Yantang, "This little girl likes jasmine wholeheartedly. Don't take it too seriously."
When Mingkang heard this, he stood up slowly, pretending to be indifferent.
The young man held flowers and saluted, "Princess Wan'an." He recognized her identity at a glance.
The Queen Mother of the West looked at Ming Kang's handwriting and said, "Yantang, come and take a look at the little princess's handwriting. It is written with blood and bones. It really looks like it was written by a writer who has been writing for many years."
He came late, and after hearing that he came without having any meal with His Majesty, the Queen Mother stroked his head and said, "Just stay and have some meals with me."
I heard from the Queen Mother of the West that he was a child of the grassland, half of the grassland people, and not a pure Daye man.
The Queen Mother of the West seemed to have thought of someone and said with a smile, "He was also an unruly wild horse from the grassland back then. He came whenever he wanted and dared to leave whenever he wanted. He was very free and easy."
Yantang didn't answer, but accidentally dropped the spoon on the ground.
The Queen Mother of the West then shut up and never mentioned that person again.
Foreign men are not allowed to stay in the palace. What is strange is that the Queen Mother of the West actually kept Yantang here that night.
The nun next to the Queen Mother came in and made the bed for the princess. The nun said, "Princess, please go to bed. It's getting late."
Mingkang thought about Yantang, who was radiant in appearance and majestic in appearance.
The wind picked up, and the shadows of the trees swayed on the windows.
He heard a rustling sound, the faint sound of shoe soles on the tile floor. The sound first meandered in the hall, then gradually approached, stopped at the door, and finally entered the room.
He shrank his body inward and squinted his eyes to observe the movement in the dark night.
The visitor is getting closer and closer.
He held his breath and pretended to be asleep, waiting to see what she would do.
Princess Mingkang knelt down beside his bed, leaned down and looked at him quietly. She looked at him for a long time, and her breath tickled his forehead.
Yantang didn't move, just pretending to sleep. He didn't know what she wanted to do.
In the twelfth lunar month, the wind was blowing and the water dripping turned into ice. In such weather, she didn't wear a coat, so she squatted beside his bed and watched him.
(End of chapter)