Xie Wangzhi certainly couldn't accept such a big red envelope, so he quickly pushed it back: "No need, I can't accept this."
"how?"
"Isn't New Year's money given by elders to children? I see that you are not that old, not much different from me, and not even an adult. How can I accept your money?" Xie Wangzhi thought for a moment, raised his hand and touched the pearls on his hair, "Besides, I have already received a lot of things before. Here, this is it."
She deliberately turned her head slightly, slightly tilting her face, so that Changsheng could see the decorations on her hair. Young palace maids of this age had their hair tied in a bun, and usually had to follow palace rules to wear hair accessories, one or two flower hairpins would suffice, but during the New Year they could be more casual and wear something bright. When Changsheng came to the Shangshi Bureau, he saw many young palace maids along the way, wearing whole silk flowers on their heads, the colors were quite eye-catching.
But Xie Wangzhi was different. The hair accessories on her head were still as plain as ever. She only replaced the flower hairpin on one side with the hairpin given by Changsheng. There was a small pearl in her jet-black hair, which could not be noticed if one was not careful.
"Why do you want to wear this?" Changsheng found it funny. "It's not in good condition. It's too plain."
"Because I like it." Xie Wangzhi didn't care at all. He pushed the pearl hairpin into his hair casually and said seriously, "It's not the gift that is valuable, but the thought. I like it and think it looks good, so it is the best. It's perfect for me to wear."
Changsheng smiled, and seeing Xie Wangzhi's words were firm, he nodded and shook the red seal in his hand: "Really don't want it?"
"I really don't want to."
“… Never mind.” They were originally copper coins, and although they looked full, they were less than a penny of silver. It was just for good luck, so Changsheng did not force it and took back the red envelope.
Xie Wangzhi took out a purse from his sleeve, held it in both hands, and handed it to him: "This is for you, as a gift."
As Changsheng had said, there was a cat head embroidered on the purse. It was pitch black with a pair of amber eyes, and you could tell it was a coal ball. There were a few dark green grass leaves embroidered next to the cat head. They were slender and must have taken a lot of effort to embroider.
Changsheng guessed that it would be difficult to take out such a purse within a few days: "How long did it take to embroider it?"
"I embroidered it in my spare time. I embroidered a few stitches when I had time. I didn't count carefully." Xie Wangzhi didn't understand why he asked this. He thought he felt it was not good. He pursed his lips and suppressed the sadness that suddenly surged in his heart. "Don't you like it? My embroidery skills are not very good. When I invited the lady to the embroidery workshop, I didn't take it seriously..."
"I like it." Changsheng interrupted her, took the purse from her hand, hung it directly on the belt, and stroked it with his fingertips, "I like it very much."
If she could hang it up neatly, it meant she really liked it. Xie Wangzhi immediately forgot the awkwardness just now and became happy: "I was too anxious this time, so the embroidery is not good and detailed. I will embroider another one for you in the spring next year when I am not busy. It will take me more time and it will look better than this one."
"No need. You said it yourself, a thoughtful gesture is rare, this is good, I like it very much." Changsheng lowered his eyes, and stroked the undulating patterns with his fingertips. Suddenly he thought of something, "Will you tie your hands when embroidering this purse?"
There are always mistakes when embroidering. One mistake can easily lead to a puncture. One or two stitches are nothing. Xie Wangzhi nodded: "Why are you asking this?"
"My mother used to tie her hands all the time," Changsheng said. "She was a Xianbei, and she could only sew and mend, not embroider. At that time, my brothers and sisters all wore purses and sachets with embroidered patterns on them. My mother was afraid that I would be looked down upon, so she also embroidered for me."
Xie Wangzhi felt that this story was quite sad. He swallowed and said as calmly as possible, "So your mother really treated you well. What did she embroider for you?"
"Well, she treated me very well." Thinking back to the woman with a blurred face, Changsheng could smile a little. Unfortunately, things were still the same afterwards, and there was no joy at all. "She pierced her hands with holes and her embroidery was not good. But I liked it. I took the sachet out and met my brother in the yard."
"… Then what?"
"The sachet my brother was wearing was embroidered by an embroiderer, it was very beautiful, so he laughed at me, saying that I was the same as my mother." The words were quite harsh at the time, but Changsheng was very calm and repeated them lightly, "He said that my mother and I were born poor, and we picked up ashes and regarded them as treasures."
Xie Wang was stunned, and didn't know what to say for a moment. She had never lacked anything since she was a child, so she especially cherished the gifts given by others. She always felt that treasures were easy to get but thoughtfulness was hard to obtain. Moreover, it was the sachet embroidered by her mother herself. Even if it was not well embroidered, it was from her mother's hands, and every stitch was the mother's love for her son.
She thought Changsheng cherished it very much and must really like it. Children are always easy to satisfy, maybe Changsheng will be very happy when he gets it, and his mother will kiss his face.
But in his brother's words, the sachet was not worth mentioning, just because it was not embroidered so well, and it also stepped on Changsheng's bloodline.
A bitter feeling welled up from the bottom of his heart. Xie Wangzhi held back the sudden tears, looked up at Changsheng, and said firmly: "Forget about this matter. Don't remember your brother. He is a bad man. I will embroider for you in the future. If he says that the embroidery is not good again, then tell me and I will ask my brother to beat him up."
It was a sad thing, but when he heard her say this seriously, Changsheng was amused. As time passed, he was not that sad: "It doesn't matter, we won't see him again anyway. You haven't answered yet, have you ever pricked your hand?"
"Yes, I have." Xie Wangzhi thought Changsheng meant that he had entered the palace as a eunuch and had lost contact with his family, so he would never see that brother again. She didn't think much about it and stretched out her hand to show Changsheng, "Right here, because you have to press against it, it's easy to get stabbed if you're not careful."
Since the last time the charcoal was removed, the room was warm again, and the red marks on Xie Wangzhi's hands from the frostbite had also healed. His skin was white, his joints were smooth, and his nails were trimmed just right, making people want to try to touch them. If there was anything wrong, it was on the side of his index finger. It was not very obvious, and you could vaguely see the pinhole, probably because it was fresh and had not faded yet.
Changsheng stared at the hand, his heart suddenly moved slightly, and his fingertips touched a few needle holes.
The impact was very light, not a big deal, but it shook both sides.
Xie Wangzhi had the tattoo on his left hand, where his index finger was rarely used and on the side, so the skin was particularly delicate; Changsheng used his right hand, and he had to write all year round, so there were thin calluses on his fingertips, which were not visible but felt very clear. When he touched it, it felt particularly clear, not like the fingertips touching, but more like a direct touch on the apex of his heart.
Xie Wangzhi's breath was choked, her face quickly turned red, and her heartbeat was a little chaotic. She felt confused. It was just a touch on her hand, not to mention that it was a wound. There were thousands of ways to explain it, but her mind was in a mess, and she couldn't say a word. She was so embarrassed that her face turned red, and she looked at Changsheng fixedly.
Changsheng wasn't much better either. He was so confused that he didn't even understand why he reached out just now. Although he had never touched a girl's hand, he wasn't so stiff. It felt like someone was holding down his head and hitting it with a hammer for ten times. He felt dizzy and only felt his face was hot.
After holding it in for a while, Changsheng spoke first, and withdrew his hand seemingly unintentionally: "Excuse me. Does it still hurt?"
"It's been so long, why does it hurt?" Xie Wangzhi breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew his hand, put it behind his back awkwardly, and cleared his throat, "Well, didn't you say we were going to play? Where are we going?"
"I'll take you there." Although it wasn't the right time, it was better than standing there in a stalemate. Changsheng coughed and said, "Let's go, let's go watch the fireworks."
As they started walking, they were no longer face to face, so Xie Wangzhi felt better, nodded, and followed Changsheng. She didn't dare to look at him again, lowered her head, and looked at the embroidered shoes under her skirt, so she didn't notice the light red at the end of the boy's eyes.
The night sky was very beautiful tonight. It was a sunny day during the day, and the sky at night was a deep indigo color, like a curtain, gathering the stars. Changsheng raised his eyes and looked at the sky, and suddenly thought of Taiye Lake.
He and Xie Wangzhi would indeed never see the third brother again, because the third prince drowned in Taiye Lake seven years ago.
In the palace, it was normal to flatter and demote others. At that time, Changsheng's mother had long fallen out of favor, and even her allowance was often deducted. Anyway, Li Chengjin was no different from being dead. Where could an orphan and a widow go to complain? The gold in Changsheng's eyes had already appeared. His long black hair and pale skin made him look a little weird, and he became the object of amusement for the princes and princesses.
The third prince was born to Chu Fangyi. Although Chu Fangyi had long been out of favor, a ten-year-old prince could walk around the palace as long as his mother was of a good family. He got tired of playing with crickets and birds, so he set his sights on Changsheng. He was afraid that the palace servants would tell Li Chengjing or Chu Fangyi, so he secretly avoided the palace servants and chose the time near dusk to trick Changsheng to a remote place by the Taiye Lake.
He wanted to drown Changsheng in the Taiye Lake, but he didn't expect that the moss on the edge of the lake was not cleaned up, and he slipped and fell into the water. The third prince was originally a good swimmer, but when he fell into the water, he was flustered and couldn't hold on to the shore. Instead, he sank down, and he struggled hard but only choked on a few mouthfuls of water.
Changsheng was standing by the Taiye Lake at that time. He knew he should shout loudly immediately, perhaps a palace servant passing by could hear him, so that the third prince could survive. But he couldn't shout, as if someone was strangling his throat and whispering in his ear.
-Let him die.
Changsheng didn't shout out in the end, and watched in silence as his half brother sank into the water little by little. The Taiye Lake was too deep, and when the ten-year-old child sank, the ripples gradually returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
The water of Taiye Lake is as flat as a mirror and the sky is clear. The sky is reflected in the water. Clouds float on the water and dragonflies dot the surface of the lake before flying away in a flash.
After walking in silence for a while, Xie Wangzhi still didn't dare to look at the boy beside her, but she felt that this was not a good idea. After hesitating for a long time, she stole a glance at Changsheng and quickly looked away: "Well, Changsheng... what are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Changsheng smiled, "I was wondering when the fireworks would start."