It was late October when Xie Wangzhi received the letter, and in a blink of an eye it was mid-December. As the letter said, Changsheng had not shown up again. The words on the Huanhua paper were clear and fluent, but there was no other news, not even Coal Ball had come. Xie Wangzhi had no way to reply.
There are many things to do in the twelfth lunar month. I heard that the emperor originally wanted to change the waterway, but somehow gave up and only summoned a team of craftsmen to rebuild the Hall of Eternal Life, but this team of craftsmen also had to ask the Imperial Food Bureau to prepare extra meals for them. The same was true in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Princess had an unexpected miscarriage in October, and has been bedridden ever since. She has not gotten better and is still taking medicine near the end of the year. The menu given to her are all nourishing and medicated meals.
Xie Wangzhi didn’t have the energy to think about immortality. Instead, the most annoying thing every day was the cold.
Clothes for deep winter are different from ordinary clothes and are not easy to make. She is a lot taller than she was at this time last year, and her winter clothes are tight on her body. Her wrists or ankles will be exposed if she moves a little. She was so cold that her hands and feet were cold even when she leaned against the stove.
It's too late to do it this year, so I can only persevere. But something happened in mid-November.
Yao Yupan entered the palace to get the money for the maids to treat her mother, but her mother was seriously ill and died within two months. She didn't even see her for the last time. That was what happened, but in mid-November, she suddenly had a dream. She dreamed of her mother, who said she was cold underground and asked her to send her winter clothes.
Palace servants were not allowed to burn paper in the palace privately, as it was unlucky. Yao Yupan burst into tears when she thought of her mother in her dream, but she was too timid and her eyes were red every day. In the end, Lou Hanyue couldn't stand it anymore and made a decision: "Burn it secretly. If no one sees it, it means it has never been burned."
Originally, if this matter was handed over to Lou Hanyue, it would definitely go smoothly, but Yao Yupan felt a heavy stone in her heart, always feeling that she was unfilial for not being able to see her mother to her grave and not burning paper clothes on the Cold Clothes Festival, and she wanted to apologize. She chose a secluded place, secretly lit a candle, and burned paper in front of the candle.
It was also her bad luck. Normally no one would think of this place, but that day Dian Gong happened to pass by and caught her red-handed.
The firewood and charcoal of the Shangshi Bureau was managed by the Sigongsi. It just so happened that Lou Hanyue was in charge of the firewood and charcoal when the Diangong came to ask for food. Lou Hanyue was a little slow and was scolded. It was considered that she had offended her accidentally. When the Diangong saw Yao Yupan secretly burning paper, he knew that she and Lou Hanyue lived in the same room, but he did not report it. He just deducted their charcoal on the pretext of something, and said to the outside that Shi Manqing was missing, and the room should be missing a quarter of the charcoal.
Originally, they should have gone to Shang Shi to discuss this matter, but since Dian Gong had the upper hand, they could only swallow their anger. But with fewer people, the room would not become smaller, and with a quarter less charcoal, the three girls could only burn it with difficulty, and huddled in their quilts at night because of the cold.
Having been frozen at night, Xie Wangzhi now sat by the stove, feeling comfortable even though his throat was itchy from the smoke from the smoke.
Today Princess Changning is hosting a banquet in Hanliang Palace, which is far from the Shangshi Bureau and inconvenient to deliver meals. So the Shangshi Bureau simply assigned a group of young palace maids to cook in the kitchen of Hanliang Palace.
The banquet was already halfway through, and it was the busiest time. The dishes that were almost finished were replaced and new dishes had to be served. The young palace maids and eunuchs came and went to deliver the food. Just as Xie Wangzhi served the immortal meat, someone urged him to finish.
It was too cold outside, and she didn't really want to go out. Fortunately, Yao Yupan pulled her sleeve and said, "I'll go and see her off."
Xie Wangzhi was stunned, and before he could react, Yao Yupan had already packed the lunch box neatly and hurried out, walking quite fast, as if she was afraid that Xie Wangzhi would catch up with her.
Xie Wangzhi was puzzled, and just then another eunuch came to urge her. She hurriedly took out the cool and crispy snacks from the other side, cut them into small pieces, put them on a plate, and handed the food box to the door.
The eunuch was in a hurry to deliver the meal, so he took the food box and left. Xie Wangzhi was supposed to go back, but when she looked up, she saw a familiar person in the side path. When she saw Changsheng, she didn't care about the cold. Seeing that there was nothing to take in the kitchen for the time being, she hurried over and said, "Can you come over to help?"
As soon as the words came out, Xie Wangzhi felt something was wrong. The reason was that Changsheng's clothes today did not look like he could help.
He was still wearing a green robe, but it was not the round-necked robe of a young eunuch, but a robe with large sleeves and a lighter color, with faintly visible dark patterns on the bottom. Changsheng was used to tightening his waist, which made him look more upright, and there was a pair of white jade hanging under his belt.
"How come you..." Xie Wangzhi felt something was wrong, "Who are you...?"
Changsheng thought it was a disaster. It was rare for him to be caught wearing a formal dress. He thought for a moment and quickly put the blame on others: "It was given by Princess Changning. She said that the New Year is coming soon, and if I wear something prettier, she will look happy. Does it look good?"
After saying that, he opened his arms and turned half a circle on the spot for Xie Wangzhi to see.
He was handsome, and this kind of dress was just right for him. Xie Wangzhi had never met Princess Changning, so he really thought she was this kind of person. So he dispelled his doubts and nodded: "It looks good. Princess Changning can appreciate this, she must be very familiar with you, right?"
"Yes, I did some work for her when I went in and out occasionally." Changsheng lied casually. In order to stop Xie Wangzhi from asking more questions, he quickly asked, "You came to Hanliang Palace, were you sent here to help?"
Xie Wangzhi's thoughts were indeed diverted, and he nodded: "It's not my turn to do it anyway, it's just cutting vegetables and plating, it's not tiring."
She looked fine, with a ruddy complexion and clear eyes. Changsheng nodded and lowered his gaze to her hand, where he could vaguely see a few faint red spots. He had a hunch that something was wrong: "What's wrong with your hand?"
"Ah, it's been cold lately, I'm a little cold." Xie Wangzhi didn't hide it, he raised his hand to show Changsheng. The girl's hands were slender and soft, with slender fingers and nails trimmed close to the fingertips. They were beautiful hands, but the knuckles were dotted with different shades of red, which was indeed caused by freezing. I'm afraid she would get frostbite if she got frozen again.
"I'm so cold." Changsheng had never been in the kitchen. "Is the work of the Shangshi Bureau so degrading?"
"No, it's quite warm by the stove. Madam, maybe we used hot water to wash clothes and vegetables." To be fair, the Imperial Food Bureau was not harsh on the maids under it. Xie Wangzhi shook his head, "It's because we haven't had enough charcoal recently, so she was frozen when she returned to her room."
"carbon?"
Anyway, he had said it several times, and Xie Wangzhi was used to talking to Changsheng, so he kept it short about the charcoal issue, and after a few words, he changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this. Last time you asked Coal Ball to deliver a letter, you only said you had something to do for a month, and you didn't even leave a place for a reply. Long time no see, it's almost the New Year, are you okay?"
Changsheng was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "Very good."
"… Yeah." When they weren't meeting, she had so many things to say, but when they really met, she could only say this. Xie Wangzhi didn't know what was wrong. She wanted to talk to him again, but also wanted to escape. After hesitating for a while, she said, "I've been out for a while. I'm going back now. Otherwise, they won't be able to find me, and I'm afraid I'll be punished."
It's easy to fool people once, but the more you fool around, the more mistakes you make. The longer you delay, the more likely it is that something bad will happen. Changsheng heaved a sigh of relief: "Okay. I'll come back to play with you next time."
Xie Wangzhi said "hmm" again and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered that he still had some preserved fruits with him. He quickly took off the pouch on his waist and stuffed it into Changsheng's hand: "These are the dried dates that were dried before winter. I picked them myself. I'll give them to you to eat or make tea with when you go back. I'm leaving now."
She didn't dare to stay any longer. She waved her hand, turned around and ran away, leaving Changsheng with only her back. Soon she slipped into the house.
Changsheng was stunned for a moment, still weighing the purse in his hand. The purse was bulging and not light when weighed. It was probably because he really liked eating dried dates, so he stuffed it as much as possible, fearing that it would not be enough.
The pattern on this purse is quite familiar. It is embroidered with a spring scene with butterflies chasing flowers. The stitching at the tips of the wings is not well done, and a few star-shaped backgrounds can be vaguely seen.
Changsheng looked at the purse in his palm and suddenly smiled.
**
Hanliang Hall was originally a summer palace, so naturally there was no floor heating. Charcoal was burned in the hall, and the heat coming out of the furnace had a faint aroma of fruit wood. As soon as he entered the hall, warmth hit him. Yao Yupan had been freezing all the way outside, so he slowed down his pace involuntarily and moved slowly over to deliver the meal.
At the banquet, tables were divided, with one table for each person. When the food was served, it was passed down one by one. By the last portion, the table was full of dishes, from cold dishes to soups, and even a pot of wine, but there was an empty table behind it, with nothing behind it.
Yao Yupan was stunned, and bravely asked the palace servant passing by: "Sister, this table..."
"It's the Seventh Prince. He may not come, and he may not know when he will come, so just leave it there." The palace servant knew it at a glance, answered casually, and hurriedly went to divide the dishes in his hand.
…Seventh Prince.
Yao Yupan was stunned for some reason. While she was in a daze, a light blue person sat down behind the small table. A young man with long hair raised his arm and casually pushed back the hair that had fallen to his shoulders, saying indifferently, "What's wrong?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me." Yao Yupan quickly took out the plate from the food box and knelt down to salute properly.
Li Qishen didn't remember faces very well, but he vaguely remembered this timid little maid, who seemed to live in the same room with Xie Wangzhi. However, he couldn't ask directly, so he thought for a moment and said, "I remember there was cherry blossom cake at the last banquet, and I quite liked it. Who made it?"
Yao Yupan's heart tightened, and he answered honestly: "Your Highness, it's a palace maid named Xie Wangzhi."
"You know her?"
Yao Yupan didn't know what Li Qishen meant. It seemed like he was asking casually, but also like he was asking deliberately. She was inexplicably nervous, grabbing her sleeves, and lowering her head: "It's my roommate."
"I understand." Li Qishen said naturally, "Reward."
“…Reward who?” Yao Yupan was stunned.
"Who else is in front of me?" Li Qishen really wanted to give Xie Wangzhi something, but he couldn't come without a reason, otherwise he would probably cause trouble for her. He felt that this palace maid in front of him could be a good excuse, "What do you want?"
Yao Yupan immediately thought of the jade that was handed to her at that time. The jade was white, and the hand was also white, like an orchid holding the beautiful jade. Her heart beat like a drum, and she secretly glanced at Li Qishen, her lips trembling, but what she finally said was something else: "Your Highness, I, I want some charcoal."
This saved him from having to find an excuse to get the charcoal, so Li Qishen agreed: "Go to the accounting department to get it after the banquet."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Yao Yupan responded, holding the food box tightly, and turned to walk out. When she came here, she wanted to move step by step, but when she left, she was in a hurry, with a bitter taste in her mouth.
She thought that she had got the charcoal and didn't have to endure the cold anymore, so she shouldn't be sad. But she couldn't help it and just wanted to cry.