“… That’s it. The second half is not complete yet.” Changsheng had no idea what Xie Wangzhi was thinking. He put down his hand and said in a relaxed tone, “I’ll play it for you later when I finish it.”
Xie Wangzhi's eyes were still sore, and she was afraid that Changsheng would notice something was wrong, so she quickly said "hmm" and nodded. She didn't know what to say in this situation, and her mind was in a mess. After thinking about it, she simply pretended to be interested in the phoenix-headed konghou and moved a little closer: "Can I touch it?"
"Why do you want to touch everything? This isn't a coal ball." Changsheng said this, but with a smile on his face, he leaned back and said, "Touch it. But be careful not to touch the side of the string. If this thing moves, the sound will change."
Hearing his words, Xie Wangzhi wanted to retreat for a moment. She was familiar with music theory, but only with the seven-stringed zither, and had never touched a phoenix-head konghou. According to previous reports, this konghou was brought from outside, and she was afraid of accidentally breaking it, so she didn't dare to move the strings. Her fingertips carefully touched the phoenix head, and her fingertips pressed on the carved patterns, stroking it inch by inch.
"When did you start learning konghou?" The pattern rubbed against his fingertips little by little. Xie Wangzhi looked at the gold and jade on it and spoke casually.
"I can't remember, I really started playing this after I was ten years old." Changsheng did not hide it, "At that time I knew my mother was gone, I didn't know what to do, so I just changed to learn a musical instrument. It happened that the konghou was difficult to learn, and it took a lot of effort, so I didn't think about it anymore."
He was not very sad when talking about the past. After all, it was too long ago and there would naturally not be a portrait of a Xianbei woman left in the palace. Changsheng even forgot what his mother looked like. He only remembered that her maiden name was Fei Que, that she had fair skin and golden eyes, and that she wore several gold bracelets on her wrists, which were engraved with Tuyuhun patterns.
Murong Feique was vague in his memory, and so was he, who had just lost his mother. Changsheng remembered how he learned to play the konghou from He Jing, and even remembered that he couldn't even tune the strings at the beginning, and Heming rushed over to help him, cursing.
But he just couldn't recall his mood at that time. He forgot what he was thinking about when he sat alone all night, playing the fourteen strings of the guzheng.
Changsheng raised his hand and rubbed his face, then spoke with a slight smile, "Let's not talk about this, it's all in the past. Do you want to learn konghou?"
Inadvertently seeing another secret, Xie Wangzhi held back for a long time and could not say his apology. Changsheng was calm and composed, and it was really rude for her to keep harping on the matter of someone else's mother's death.
She pursed her lips and tried her best to smile: "Okay, but I'm not very smart, and I've only learned piano before... I don't know if I can learn it."
"It's just for fun, don't worry about it. Besides, it's almost the same as the zither." Changsheng dodged to the side and raised his hand to signal, "Come here. The konghou needs to be held and played, come closer."
Xie Wangzhi glanced at him, carefully moved over, and sat in the seat he had given up. Recalling his previous appearance, she half-hugged the konghou, with her thumb and index finger on the strings. She didn't dare to pluck it directly, and swallowed: "Is that so?"
"Yes." This is quite realistic. Changsheng was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile, "Try it, use this position."
He stretched out his hand, tapped the side of Xie Wangzhi's fingertips lightly, then tapped on the string, "Pick this one."
At this time, Xie Wangzhi didn't care about letting him touch her hand again. Following Changsheng's instructions, she used a little force on her fingertips and plucked the string. She didn't dare to use too much force, and this time it was too light, and only a very weak sound was heard.
The sound of the guzheng disappeared in a flash. Xie Wang was stunned. He looked at the strings blankly, then at his own fingers.
"Too light." Changsheng said, "A little heavier."
Xie Wangzhi nodded and tried another string.
“… This time it’s too heavy.”
"How about this?" Xie Wangzhi recalled the fingering techniques of playing the piano, carefully held his breath, and tried to do it again.
"It's lighter."
Xie Wangzhi didn't believe it and dialed again: "What about this?"
"It's too heavy." Changsheng said.
“… Then I’ll try again.”
For the next half moment, Xie Wangzhi kept staring at the string that Changsheng had first touched, rubbing it with her fingertips again and again. She felt that the strength should be about the same, and the sound was indeed that way, but Changsheng didn't nod, saying "too light" or "too heavy", anyway, the strength was not right.
"... No, I tried my best." Xie Wangzhi sighed and put down his hand, "It's really too difficult..."
Before she finished speaking, she suddenly thought of something and looked up at Changsheng.
As she expected, the young man squatting in front of her held his chin with one hand, smiling, her image reflected in his light amber eyes, his brows relaxed, vaguely cunning, like a cat that had slipped away after doing something bad, but chose to squat on the wall to watch its owner get angry.
Xie Wangzhi understood, his face flushed with anger: "... You lied to me!"
"I was just kidding. Actually, the third time is right." Changsheng was not flustered at all, "Well done."
"Now that you are praising me, do you think I won't be angry anymore?" Facing such a smiling face, Xie Wangzhi wanted to be angry but couldn't. However, he refused to give in and said this with a deliberately stern face.
But she didn't hold it back. After a while, she couldn't hold it back anymore, so she smiled and cleared her throat, "I don't want to learn it anymore. I still like the piano more."
"It's my fault, don't be angry." Changsheng admitted his mistake quickly and reached out to help Xie Wangzhi up.
After playing for a while, the sun was setting. Xie Wangzhi stood up, looked at the position of the sun, and calculated the time: "I should go back. There are many banquets in the palace these two days. I am afraid that the ladies-in-waiting will ask us to make some soups and milk cakes."
"Don't you want to see the plum blossoms?"
“… Not yet, let’s talk about it when I’m free.” Xie Wangzhi thought for a while, “I should be freer after the fifth day of the New Year, you can come find me. By the way, remember to bring plum blossoms, I’ll make you plum blossom soup pancakes!”
Changsheng was used to Xie Wangzhi always wanting to feed him, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll come find you then."
Xie Wangzhi responded. She was really in a hurry to go back. She said goodbye casually, turned around and ran out in a hurry.
Changsheng suddenly smiled as he watched the girl turn the corner of the palace road and disappear into the woods. He bent down slightly, intending to move the phoenix-head konghou back to its original position, but his fingertips unconsciously plucked one of the strings, which happened to be the one that Xie Wangzhi had plucked repeatedly before.
It was just a sound, which passed in an instant, but Changsheng was slightly startled. After a moment, he raised his hand and gently twisted his fingertips.
**
From the first to the fifth day of the first lunar month, the palace held a banquet to entertain ministers, royal family members, and ladies of the inner and outer courts. Xie Wangzhi guessed correctly that there were some simple dishes at the banquet, or some noble person asked for sour soup and porridge after the banquet. All these tasks were placed on them, and they were busy until the seventh day of the first lunar month, when she had some free time.
Playing music at the banquet was the responsibility of the Music Bureau. Xie Wangzhi guessed that Changsheng was also busy, so he didn't ask anyone at the Music Bureau. He just waited until the eighth day of the first lunar month. Only then did Changsheng slip into the small kitchen on the pretext of something. Sure enough, he brought a bag of freshly picked plum blossoms and some coal briquettes.
To make plum blossom soup cakes, you need white plums. Xie Wangzhi rinsed the white plums and sandalwood powder with boiling water and set them aside to dry. The chicken soup was ready anyway, and kneading the dough was not a big deal. You just had to wait for the water soaked with white plums and sandalwood to cool down. Xie Wangzhi rubbed his hands, saw that the coal balls had also arrived, and found some freshly boiled shrimp.
"At noon, Greenhouse Hall ordered grilled shrimp. They are all freshly caught shrimp. Zhang Dianshan said that the remaining shrimps are for us." She pointed at the plate with shrimps. "Hanyue doesn't like shrimps and thinks it's troublesome to peel them, so she gave them all to me. If you like it, I can fry it, just like the chicken we ate before, it's the same way."
Changsheng didn't like to eat oily food, so he shook his head and said, "I'll save some for the plum blossom soup cake."
"The soup noodles won't fill you up, so why save them?" Xie Wangzhi knew he didn't want to eat them, but he didn't care. He pushed the plate to Meiqiu and said, "Then give it to Meiqiu."
At noon, the dish of grilled shrimp was served. The shrimp were fresh, but they were cooked through, not killed alive, and could not compare to freshly caught birds or freshly sliced fish. Coal Ball squatted on the table, walked around the plate several times, his whiskers trembling, his nose twitching slightly, and he sniffed the shrimps, but was reluctant to eat them.
Xie Wangzhi thought it was not used to eating with shells on, and looked at Changsheng blankly: "Is it inconvenient to eat? Then I will peel the shell for it?"
Changsheng gave in and pressed Meiqiu on the back of his neck. Meiqiu was caught off guard and the hair on his tail stood up for a moment, but he didn't dare to hit Changsheng. Under the pressure of his master, he opened his mouth and took a shrimp.
"No need. No one plucks or guts the birds it attacks, so they're still eaten anyway."
"That's right." Seeing that the coal briquettes were easy to eat, Xie Wangzhi felt that he was being too suspicious, and turned his gaze back to Changsheng, "You only come to play with me at this time, have you been busy recently?"
"Not bad." It was hard to say whether Qingsi Palace was busy or not. As long as Li Chengjing didn't go crazy, Changsheng would always be free. He looked around the small kitchen and said, "There will be a banquet in the palace these two days. You must be very busy, right?"
"It's actually not that bad. I used to make desserts, which tend to be sweet and use glutinous rice. The nobles don't eat this after drinking. On the contrary, Hanyue is good at making sour soup. She has to cook several large pots every time."
"Is there no other female official in the Imperial Food Bureau who is good at making soup?"
"Of course there is, but I've been busy lately." Xie Wangzhi thought for a while, "I don't know whether it's true or not. I heard it occasionally. I heard that it was the soup requested by the Changsheng Palace. But it's not for filling the stomach, it seems to be considered as a medicinal meal. Your Majesty has been taking pills recently, and he has to take this soup with it."
Li Chengjing was not good at other things, but he was quick to make a decision on this matter. The two Taoist priests introduced by An Guangxing had only been in the palace for a few months, but they had already made the elixir. Even the list of medicinal soups for the elixir had been sent to the Shangshi Bureau. What else could Changsheng do? It was not his turn to taste the elixir anyway, so he could only sincerely wish Li Chengjing to eat more furnaces.
He sneered in his heart, but didn't show it on his face, as if he was just curious: "Do you know what's in the soup?"
"... I'm not sure." Xie Wangzhi really didn't know about this, and he wouldn't deliberately ask about it. He shook his head honestly, "I only heard Dianshan mention it occasionally, saying that deer antlers, deer blood, and Toosendan seeds were used... probably these things."
She thought for a moment, "Oh, there's another thing, I don't know what it is. It seems to be from the southwest road. There's a kind of civet cat in the mountains that produces fragrance. I took the civet cat's meat and bones... and it seems there's also a kind of ointment."
Thinking of the idea of longevity, he suddenly felt that it was not enough for Li Chengjing to just take elixirs. It would be better for him to drink cinnabar and mercury directly, so that he could enter the Xuanyuan Hall as soon as possible and be placed together with the spirit tablets of his ancestors.
He closed his eyes and said carefully, "You should stay out of the palace lately. It's best not to go to the East Palace, the Hall of Eternal Life, and the Hall of Elephants if you can avoid it."
The author has something to say: First day into v, update a little early_(:3)∠)_
After the update yesterday, there were quite a few Baocai readers in the comment section. Unfortunately, the comment section is closed now, so I will retrieve it myself.
The number one Baocai reader said that the sound of my kowtow was too loud, too loud, too loud…
The second Baocai reader, bang bang bang on the spot, and then said he was bowing to me. Lost in thought.jpg
Reader No. 3 Baocai said that I can skip meals, but I cannot stop writing.
I understand. I am just an emotionless typing machine. You are really talented. I found a ghost.jpg
Anyway, thank you all for your favorites!!! Thank you for subscribing, every jjb you spend will become your hair!!! (nonsense)