Xie Wangzhi's heart trembled, and he looked up suddenly, just bumping into those light amber eyes. Perhaps because of his half Xianbei blood, Li Qishen's eyelashes were particularly thick, with the ends slightly curled, a romantic look that many women would wish for, but these eyes on his face, floating with the warm yellow light at the moment, reflecting a little her, only made Xie Wangzhi's emotions surge, and he glimpsed some of the joy and bitterness of his youth from the depths of his pupils.
In the end, she did not refuse, but opened her mouth obediently and swallowed the porridge.
Li Qishen didn't give her the spoon, but scooped another spoonful. Xie Wangzhi couldn't spoil the mood, so he had to continue eating. One was feeding, the other was eating. There was only half of the jar left, and Xie Wangzhi was really hungry. In less than a quarter of an hour, the porridge was all gone, and there was not even a bit of rice paste left at the bottom of the jar.
"… I'm done eating." Xie Wangzhi licked her lips carefully to make sure there were no rice grains stuck on them, which would make people laugh. She put the porcelain jar and spoon back into the food box. "Then I'll go back and stop bothering you."
"Just ask the palace maid to send the food box back." Li Qishen stood up, leaned slightly towards her, and stretched out his hand, "Stars and moon meet, clouds fly across, this is a good night, lady, are you willing to go with me?"
It was just getting dark, so there were no stars or moon. Xie Wangzhi was slightly stunned at first, but then he remembered that this was a line from a shadow play, which he had heard when he and Li Qishen were visiting the East Market. The story was nothing new, it was just a lingering entanglement between a man and a woman, but the shadow puppets used were pretty and the lines were elegant, which made the woman particularly like it.
She suddenly smiled, reached out and hooked her hand around Li Qishen's, then stood up and answered from memory: "The stars and the moon will eventually fade, the clouds will pass away, and the long night will soon pass. I hope you will cherish it."
**
The situation was not good, and the Daming Palace was also depressing. Many of the hanging palace lanterns were removed. After many years, the palace, which was originally brightly lit, finally looked like a long night. The palace people were afraid of unexpected troubles, so few people came and went at night. If they happened to meet Li Qishen and Xie Wangzhi, they would greet them in a hurry and then continue walking in a hurry, without looking up from beginning to end.
Fortunately, Li Qishen didn't care. He really came out to relax. The cool night breeze blew on his face. He held Xie Wangzhi's hand and strolled around. As they strolled, they arrived near the East Palace.
Xie Wangzhi thought of what happened inside and instinctively felt disgusted: "… Shouldn't we go back?"
"Don't worry, there is neither the Crown Prince nor the Crown Princess here now." Li Qishen knew what she was hiding from, and gently shook her hand, "Why not go in and see someone."
After hearing what he said, Xie Wangzhi calmed down and exhaled slowly: "Who are you meeting?"
"Let's go in first." Li Qishen said nothing, and just took Xie Wangzhi into the courtyard.
The East Palace was specially set aside for the prince to live in. The layout inside imitated the entire Daming Palace, with rooms lined up one after another. A plaque was hung on the door of the main room, with the name of the palace written in thick ink. The largest bedroom was naturally the Lizheng Palace, but Li Qishen only passed by the door and turned to the Eight Phoenix Palace.
Someone happened to come out, dressed as a female doctor. When she saw Li Qishen, she was startled and knelt down hurriedly: "Greetings, Prince."
"Get up." Li Qishen didn't like to torment others, so he asked her to get up directly, "How is the little princess?"
"She just took the medicine and is walking around the palace now. The weather has been a little hot these days, and the little princess still has noises in her lungs, but her throat feels better and her coughing has eased." The female doctor spoke the truth, but paused here, feeling a little embarrassed. "It's just that the little princess's lung disease is congenital, and relying on medicine to keep her healthy is probably not going to work."
"I know." Li Qishen said, "Just take good care of it. Use the herbs as you like. Don't be frugal."
"yes."
The question and answer session ended here. Neither Li Qishen nor the female doctor were the type to talk nonsense. The female doctor bowed again and went out around the small path.
Xie Wangzhi heard who he wanted to see: "It's dark now, won't it disturb the little princess?"
"No. She has to walk around for a while before going to bed and drink some warm water, otherwise she will cough and stay awake at night."
Xie Wangzhi responded and walked for a while before entering the hall. Sure enough, he saw a small figure walking along the wall, followed by a maid who looked like a wet nurse.
Seeing Li Qishen coming in, the wet nurse immediately saluted, but Shu'er was a little excited and walked quickly towards Li Qishen: "Uncle!"
"Yes, it's me." Li Qishen was not the kind of tender person, but he was always gentle to the child, even though the child was born to Li Taoqi and the Crown Princess. He half-knelt down and supported the girl, "Are you still coughing?"
"I feel better, better than before." Shu'er is only eight years old. She has rarely seen people and cannot speak complicated words, but she speaks clearly. "I cough a lot at night, but I don't cough when I sleep. I don't cough when I take medicine or drink hot water."
"Okay." Li Qishen smiled, "What did you learn today?"
"Mrs. Song taught me the song 'Gathering Wild Wheat', which is the one with 'When I went there, the willow trees were swaying'! But I can't write it..."
Then there was a question and answer. Li Qishen didn't care how well she had learned. He just asked casually. Most of the time, it was the little princess who answered. Occasionally, the nurse would answer some unclear answers. Xie Wangzhi stood aside and watched. He felt that the nurse looked honest and had a good temper. She was not the kind of person who would take shortcuts. The little princess looked polite and lively, but it was a pity that the girl, who should be eight years old now, was shorter than other children of the same age. She was also pale and looked short-lived.
She was feeling a little sad, but Shu'er didn't notice it at all. He shifted his gaze to her, stared at her for a while, bowed his head and greeted her: "Who are you?"
"...Ah?" Xie Wang was stunned, "I..."
Just as she was about to say who she was, Shu'er's eyes suddenly lit up: "I know! It's my aunt! Are you my aunt?"
Shu'er called Li Qishen uncle, but Xie Wangzhi didn't dare to respond to her call of aunt. She looked at the little princess, then turned to look at Li Qishen awkwardly: "This..."
However, Li Qishen was a man who enjoyed watching the fun and teased her with a smile: "Tell me, are you my aunt?"
Of course not. Although the token had been exchanged long ago, after all, the six rituals had not been performed, so calling her "aunt" would be a shame. However, seeing Li Qishen's teasing and mischievous look, Xie Wangzhi touched the gold bracelet on his wrist and made up his mind: "... Yes! I am your aunt."
Li Qishen was shocked.
Shu'er smiled, revealing a slightly smug expression, and raised her hand to pull Xie Wangzhi's sleeve: "I knew you were my aunt! So can you write?"
"… I guess so." Xie Wangzhi was a little embarrassed, "What do you want me to write?"
"Write "Gathering Wild Wheat"! Come here..."
The little princess was in high spirits, and Li Qishen did not intend to stop her. Even if the nurse felt it was inappropriate, she could only let Shu'er do whatever she wanted. For the next two quarters of an hour, Shu'er would pull Xie Wangzhi and Li Qishen. When she was making a fuss, you could not tell that she had lung disease. She was no different from an ordinary child.
Shu'er kept making noises until her usual bedtime. She knew she was not feeling well, so she took medicine when necessary and slept when necessary. Only at the end did she reluctantly pull Xie Wangzhi's sleeve and ask, "Aunt, will you come to accompany me tomorrow?"
Facing the girl's sparkling eyes, what else could Xie Wangzhi do? He could only bite the bullet and answer, "Come on."
Shu'er was happy. She waved goodbye and obediently let the wet nurse and palace maid help her wash up.
Li Qishen finished his work and took Xie Wangzhi out. When he stepped out of the palace gate, he couldn't help but laugh at her: "You are just soft-hearted and you have lost yourself. Shu'er is young, but she has a good memory. You really have to come over tomorrow."
"It doesn't matter. I don't have much to do in the palace anyway, and I can't help much. It's good for me to come and play with the little princess and make her happy." Xie Wangzhi didn't care, and suddenly thought of Shu'er's lung disease. "By the way, I see that the little princess is quite close to you, but you and the prince... um. Doesn't she know? And the prince and the princess..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Qishen understood and said calmly, "Shu'er was abandoned."
Xie Wangzhi was shocked: "What do you mean?"
"The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess are not going out for fun. This trip to Shuzhou must be called fleeing, so naturally they cannot be large-scale. The fewer people and things they bring, the better. Shu'er has a lung disease and cannot do without the medicine in the palace, and she cannot withstand the bumpy journey. Besides, a girl..." Li Qishen ridiculed the Crown Princess for favoring boys over girls in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. He was afraid that Xie Wangzhi would feel uncomfortable, so he just brushed it off. "Instead of going to Chengdu, it's better to stay in the palace, just in case there is a glimmer of hope."
He went on to say, "As for what happened between me and the prince, there's no need to let Shu'er know. I have any conflicts with her father. I am her uncle."
Since they share the same blood and have the title of uncle, he will take care of this child, just like when he was in the Longxi Li family, he would rather be trapped in the Daming Palace than defend the Chang'an City and wait for the time when the world is settled and at peace.
"Changsheng," Xie Wangzhi was silent for a moment, then said seriously, "You are a good person."
Li Qishen: “…”
"Although it sounds like a good thing, I always feel it's a bit weird." He couldn't tell what was weird, so he raised his hand and rubbed it.
"I was complimenting you." Xie Wangzhi was puzzled. His interruption swept away all his worries. "Then tell me, what should I do?"
The two of them were arguing as they walked, and now they had come to a secluded place where the only remaining palace lanterns could not illuminate them. There was only a crescent of moonlight at the corner, flowing through the grass and trees like silver water.
Li Qishen stopped, bent down slightly towards Xie Wangzhi, and said with a smile: "Come, kiss me?"
Xie Wangzhi was startled, looked over in surprise, and then was even more surprised to find that the man in front of him was not joking.
“… Stop it. You have no shame.” She held it in for a while and only managed to say this. Even in the night, one could see that her face was flushed, and the faint red spread all the way to the corners of her eyes.
Having said that, Xie Wangzhi looked around, made sure there was no one around, stood on tiptoes, and suddenly kissed Li Qishen on the face, but they separated immediately.
The author has something to say: Immortality is a strange branch of the law of evil called the type that will make you feel uncomfortable if you don't take advantage of others (.)
There is no plot that I can't make up, and no love that I can't have (OK, it's me.jpg)