Xie Wangzhi was puzzled and looked straight at Changsheng with clear eyes: "Why?"
Changsheng didn't consider himself a reserved and upright gentleman, but looking at such a pair of eyes and thinking about Xie Wangzhi's age, he really couldn't tell the reason.
The herbs she mentioned earlier were common and commonly used to warm and nourish the kidneys. The problem was with the civet cat. The meat and bones of the civet cat were nothing more than a dish after being cooked. They could be used to make soup or wine, but the civet cat fragrance was not edible. Changsheng knew at once that Xie Wangzhi had misheard. She was still young and did not understand the hidden meaning, so she just thought it was also edible.
Civet incense is mainly used to treat sudden pain in the heart and abdomen, but if the person using it does not have this problem and is an adult man, then it is the same as musk. The effect is exaggerated, but in the final analysis, it is still aphrodisiac. To be able to give such a prescription, it is clear that the two Taoists are not good people.
Thinking about the selection of palace maids that Li Chengjing suddenly mentioned earlier, it was self-evident what he wanted to do. Changsheng couldn't control this matter, and he was too lazy to think about it. He didn't have such a big heart and couldn't save the palace maids who were about to enter the palace, but he would never tolerate Xie Wangzhi stepping on that line.
Even though it was just a guess, Changsheng felt cold all over when he thought about it randomly. The hatred and pain suppressed in his heart seemed to be coming back and would swallow him up sooner or later.
He thought a lot, but his face was calm, even with a hint of a smile. Changsheng heard himself speak, his voice was clear, only slightly hoarse at the end, he patiently explained the fabricated reason to Xie Wangzhi, it was simply persuasive: "It is still the first month of the year, there are many banquets in the palace, it is easy for court officials and clan relatives to go to this place, not to mention the two Taoists who entered the palace to make elixirs. Could it be that you want to run into them?"
"Of course not!" Xie Wangzhi chose the Shangshi Bureau because a gentleman stays away from the kitchen and rarely sees people. She would rather be blackened by the stove fire than have to wear a fake smile and deal with people. She nodded solemnly, "If that's the case, then I will definitely not wander around, don't worry."
Changsheng smiled, said nothing more, raised his chin and asked: "Is the water warm?"
Xie Wangzhi then remembered that he still had to make plum blossom soup pancakes. He let out a small "ah" and quickly reached out to test the water temperature: "Hmm, it's almost done."
She filtered out the white plum and sandalwood powder from the water, then took the water from the top, changed the basin, carefully poured the flour in, and started to knead the dough. Xie Wangzhi was good at making snacks, but not so good at kneading dough. Every time, he added flour little by little to test the dough to get the right hardness.
She tried seriously, her eyes fixed on the basin, her eyelids lowered, the outline of her face was not clear, still with a bit of childish softness, but much neater than when they first met last year. Changsheng stood by and looked at the girl unconsciously, and suddenly found that she seemed to have grown taller, and her face had changed slightly, maybe it would be more appropriate to call her "girl".
It was a natural thing, but Changsheng sighed for no reason, almost inaudibly. He looked at the girl's profile, suddenly stretched out his hand, rubbed his fingertips on the flour, and deliberately touched the tip of Xie Wangzhi's nose.
Xie Wang was stunned, and saw a sudden white spot on his face. He turned to look at Changsheng: "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Changsheng apologized quickly, raising his flour-stained hand, "Seeing you like this, I can't control my hands."
Xie Wangzhi was annoyed. He ignored the dough she was mixing and directly withdrew his hand. He also dipped his ten fingertips into the flour, raised his hand, and threatened Changsheng with a smile: "Believe it or not, I will smear it all over your face!"
"I believe it." Changsheng also laughed and took two steps back, "But you can't catch me."
Xie Wangzhi had said it casually, not really intending to come, but the small kitchen was quiet, the door was tightly closed, and only the two of them could hear the gurgling sound of the water gradually boiling in the pot. White steam was rising, and her brain suddenly twitched, and she actually dropped the dough bowl and raised her legs to chase Changsheng.
"Then you try and see if I can catch you!" She grabbed a handful of flour, "If I can catch you, I will paint you into a shadow puppet from the East Market."
Changsheng swallowed his laughter and said deliberately: "Then you try it."
The small kitchen took up an entire room. Except for the stove and the chopping board, the rest of the space was empty. If an adult man and his wife were playing around, it might seem cramped, but Changsheng and Xie Wangzhi were still young, so they had plenty of space to run. Changsheng had long legs, so he could stride over the rice and flour piled next to the stove, but Xie Wangzhi had to go around. They were clearly in the same room, so even though they were just a few feet away, he couldn't touch the corner of his clothes.
One ran away, the other chased. After playing like this for a long time, Xie Wangzhi had no strength left. She leaned against the stove and half bent over. She shook her head and wiped the sweat from the tip of her nose: "… I don't want to play anymore. I don't have the strength anymore."
"I told you long ago, you can't catch me." Changsheng was also slightly out of breath, and his face was inevitably red, but it was only for a short while, not as much as when he was practicing sword in the morning. He was much more relaxed than Xie Wangzhi, walked back to her side, and leaned over to help her, "But I think I'm having a lot of fun. You had a lot of fun..."
He wanted to ask Xie Wangzhi how she felt, and just as he was about to hold her left wrist through her sleeve, the girl took the opportunity to stop him, and quickly raised her other hand and touched his face, leaving five faint white marks.
Changsheng was stunned and looked at Xie Wangzhi in surprise.
The girl was panting slightly, her chest rising and falling under her skirt, and her slightly bulging outline could be vaguely seen. Her face was red from running and jumping, making her skin look even more radiant. Her eyes were bright and clear, with a sly smile on them, making people ignore what she had just done and just want to touch her head.
Changsheng's heart moved slightly, and his hands were faster than his brain. He reached out and touched her face. The skin he touched was delicate, like the finest mutton fat or beautiful jade.
"… What's wrong?" Xie Wangzhi blinked, "Is there something on my face?"
Changsheng hurried down the stairs, and pretended to wipe her face with his fingertips, and deliberately said: "The flour just now was not wiped clean."
Xie Wangzhi was shocked. Without waiting for Changsheng to withdraw his hand, he wiped it a few more times with the back of his hand and asked, "What about now? Is there any more?"
"No more." Changsheng didn't dare to look at those eyes again and turned away.
It was just a joke, and she had played a lot with her brothers at home, so Xie Wangzhi didn't think too much about it. But seeing Changsheng like this, an inexplicable emotion surged from the bottom of her heart, soaking her whole heart. She couldn't tell what it was, she just felt a tightness in her chest, and the most clear thing was her heartbeat.
She swallowed, looked at Changsheng's thick eyelashes and the flour marks on his face, and said carefully: "... Changsheng? Your face, um, I just put flour on it."
"Oh," Changsheng turned to look at her and said deliberately, "Can you help me wipe it?"
Xie Wangzhi hesitated for a moment, uttered "hmm" softly, and took out a handkerchief from his arms. The hand holding the handkerchief was steady, but the other hand grabbed the edge of the cuff, and the thick winter clothes were twisted into summer clothes.
Changsheng leaned slightly towards her and moved his face closer. The closer he got, the more beautiful her face looked, from the slightly cold eyebrows, straight nose, to the thin lips and beautifully curved jaw, every part of her was beautiful, so beautiful that it was shocking.
Xie Wangzhi looked at him, and he also looked at Xie Wangzhi steadily, with thick eyelashes and gold in his pupils.
"… Then I'll help you wipe it." Xie Wangzhi's mind was in a mess. She pursed her lips and stretched out her hand carefully, "Don't move."
Just as he stretched out his hand, Changsheng suddenly raised his own hand, wiped the flour stains off his face, and said with a smile: "No, keep your handkerchief."
Xie Wangzhi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to wipe his face, but then she felt a little regretful for no reason. In a short while, her mood changed three or four times. This ambiguous and difficult feeling was too difficult for her. She couldn't figure out whether she wanted to wipe Changsheng's face or not, so she simply wiped his face: "I'm going to make plum blossom soup cakes, don't bother me anymore."
Xie Wangzhi was in a state of confusion. Changsheng was not a good thing either. He was older than Xie Wangzhi, but he did not understand this kind of unspeakable little thought. When it suddenly came up, the first thought that came to his mind was to force it down. He stopped talking and stood quietly aside, watching Xie Wangzhi knead the dough.
Plum blossom soup pancakes are easy to make. All you have to do is take out the kneaded dough, roll it out thinly, press it into a plum blossom shape with a mold, blanch it in boiling water, and then scoop it into the chicken soup.
"Most plum blossom soup cakes are salty, but you can make them sweet too. Use sweet soup as the base, and add milk and dried fruits." Xie Wangzhi pushed the bowl over. "But you don't seem to like sweet food, so you can have the one with chicken soup base."
"Thank you." Changsheng had no objection and scooped a small half spoonful of soup noodles.
"Is it tasty?"
Changsheng hadn't swallowed the soup yet, so he couldn't reply and could only look at Xie Wangzhi blankly.
"I'm not asking about the whole thing, I'm asking about the noodles. Eat slowly, and we'll talk later." Xie Wangzhi was considerate and explained, "The chicken soup has that flavor, and the plum blossom soup cake has noodles. It's hard to estimate the amount of sandalwood powder and white plum. How do you think I mixed it? Will it be astringent?"
"No." Changsheng swallowed it, the scent of sandalwood and white plum lingering on the tip of his tongue, "It smells pretty good."
"Yeah." Xie Wangzhi nodded. She liked sweet food, so no one made it for her. She leaned against the chopping board and watched Changsheng eat.
Changsheng didn't eat anymore, just used a spoon to stir the chicken soup in the bowl: "During the Lantern Festival, the palace maids can go outside the palace. Do you want to go out?"
"Me?" Xie Wangzhi thought for a moment and shook his head. "It sounds good to be outside the palace, but if I don't go home... I actually have nowhere to go."
"I'm not going home." Changsheng continued to ask, "I mean, do you want to go out and play?"
"… Play?"
"Yes, come with me." Changsheng nodded, "Do you remember the powder I blew out last time? I'll take you to see it. It's much more beautiful than it was then. The East Market has sugar figurines and masks, the West Market has a lot of Hu people's things, and during the Lantern Festival there are lanterns several stories high."
He casually described things outside the palace, paused, and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to go?"
After all, he was only thirteen years old, and Xie Wangzhi's playful nature had not faded. He felt itchy when he heard it, but hesitated: "Can I really go? I don't care, but is it okay for you as for the teaching studio?"
"What are you afraid of? I've been out more than once." Changsheng made the decision, "Then it's settled. I'll come to see you before midnight on the Lantern Festival."
"Okay." Xie Wangzhi nodded vigorously, "Eat quickly, it will taste bitter if it gets cold."
Changsheng smiled and started eating the plum blossom soup cake.
While eating here, the coal ball on the stove over there finally finished a plate of shrimps, shook its ears, and raised its paws to wash its face.
The author has something to say: I love without knowing it (sigh)
There were quite a few devils in the comments yesterday, some said that I mistook jjb for jb (…) and forced the yellow players to do it; some asked me to update 5,000 words twice a day; and some wanted to make a 50jjb deal with me... I think you guys want me to die (Cang Sang spit smoke)