Hearing Xie Wangzhi's words, the words he had prepared before were stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered, and he felt uncomfortable. Changsheng held the purse in his hand, and it was not right to ask, nor was it right not to ask. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a tricky situation. After a moment of silence, he gave up and said, "Then let me ask you, you promised to embroider a purse for me. Why did you embroider it for him for no reason?"
"This is different!" Xie Wangzhi quickly denied.
"What's the difference?" The topic has been brought up, and no matter what, he can only bite the bullet and continue. Changsheng thought about it, deliberately lifted the purse under his waist, pretending to compare, "They are all embroidered by you, and I think this one is more detailed."
"… It's different. It's just different." Xie Wangzhi was tongue-tied and anxious, her face flushed red, her eyes misty with tears. At first glance, you'd think she was angry and crying. She was so anxious that she couldn't speak clearly, "I embroidered it for you first, and it was made of coal briquettes… How can it be the same as this?"
"I think so." Changsheng held the purse with the eagle pattern, "Unless you give me this too."
"… no!"
"You just said the same thing, why is it not working again?" Changsheng deliberately teased Xie Wangzhi and raised his arm slightly.
It was originally a matter of a purse, and since she hadn't promised it to the Seventh Prince, the other party didn't even know that a little palace maid had decided to embroider a purse for her. Since Changsheng didn't mind, she could just give it to him. But when Xie Wangzhi saw him holding the purse in his hand, she felt an inexplicable shame, as if something hidden in her heart was seen through the purse by Changsheng, making her want to push Changsheng away and run away, but also wanted to bury herself in the sand.
She was anxious and annoyed, and she stood on tiptoe to reach the purse in Changsheng's hand. But Changsheng was much taller than her, and she couldn't reach it even if she jumped, so she could only grab his sleeve and try to pull his arm down.
Changsheng would never let her do what she wanted, so he used his arms to fight against Xie Wangzhi. Both sides spent a lot of effort, and just tensed up like that, Xie Wangzhi's face flushed with anxiety, his eyes fixed on the purse that he could not reach, and he did not notice the look Changsheng gave her at all.
The young man was calm and composed, watching the girl struggling lazily, with something indescribable flashing between his brows, like a cat teasing its prey between its claws.
After a while, Changsheng's arm suddenly loosened. He was tired of playing and was ready to return the purse, but Xie Wangzhi was caught off guard and exerted force in the opposite direction. He couldn't adjust himself for a while, tripped, and fell straight onto the couch.
The tension of the cuffs was not small. If she fell hard, even if she fell on the thick quilt, her back would be in trouble. Changsheng was startled and quickly put his hands around the girl's waist to prevent her from falling over. Unfortunately, the balance point under his feet changed, and he and Xie Wangzhi fell on the quilt together.
"I..." Changsheng freed one hand in time and propped himself up on the couch to avoid colliding with Xie Wangzhi. He wanted to get up, but before he could finish his apology, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed his collar.
"Changsheng, listen to me." Xie Wangzhi grabbed his collar, not allowing him to pull away, "... It's different, it's really different."
Changsheng had no choice but to respond vaguely: "Yeah."
"I embroidered a purse for you because you are my friend. I promised to embroider a delicate and beautiful one for you so that no one can laugh at you anymore. But I didn't have that intention when I embroidered for His Highness the Seventh Prince. To be honest, it was just a way of expressing my gratitude... It's not certain whether he will accept it or like it, and I don't ask for anything." Xie Wangzhi paused, "So how can it be the same... It's different."
She couldn't explain the rest of the story. She knew that her feelings towards Changsheng and the Seventh Prince were different, but she was still young and couldn't figure out her feelings clearly. She could only repeat what she said and stared at the boy who was half on top of her.
The light from the burning candle was warm, coating Xie Wangzhi's hair, and then spreading over her face, illuminating her skin, which was warm and fair, and her dark pupils were particularly clear and soft, like a little deer. She felt a little wronged, and a little anxious, and her lips were tightly pursed, and her originally light-colored lips were pursed into a lighter line, but the edges were dotted with a light red, like a spring flower in bloom, which made people feel itchy.
Changsheng lowered his eyes and looked at Xie Wangzhi. For a moment, as if he was bewitched, his fingertips involuntarily placed there and rubbed it very lightly.
Xie Wang was stunned, his eyes widened in surprise: "...Eternal Life?"
As she spoke, her lips opened and closed, licking Changsheng's fingertips, as if she was sucking them.
The touch of the fingertips was too subtle, like a needle prick, but it didn't hurt. Instead, it felt numb and tingling, more like touching slightly hot water, ironing my heart. This feeling was too unfamiliar, but it hit me directly. Changsheng was also stunned for a moment, and quickly withdrew his hand and turned over.
"… I understand. I'll give it back to you. Continue embroidering." He coughed and returned the purse in his hand. "I was just teasing you before. I'm sorry."
Xie Wangzhi didn't mind. He breathed a sigh of relief, took the purse and put it back into the sewing basket.
"Don't continue embroidering?" Changsheng was a little confused.
"It won't run away anyway. It will be the same if I embroider it tomorrow. I'm not in a hurry." In fact, Xie Wangzhi didn't even know if he had the courage to give the purse away. He was just embroidering it for fun. "Besides, you are still here. How can I abandon my friends and do things on my own?"
"I can't embroider a purse with you."
Xie Wangzhi was not stupid. He knew it was a joke and smiled in agreement: "Who said I want you to embroider with me?"
"Well, I never said that." Changsheng followed suit.
He didn't bring up any new topic, and Xie Wangzhi didn't know what to say for a moment. He also had something on his mind. He tried to speak several times, but his tongue wouldn't listen to him and it stayed frozen in his mouth, making no sound.
Changsheng didn't say anything, and even turned his head away, clearly intending to remain silent.
It was fine when they were talking, but both sides fell silent, which made things more awkward. Changsheng was fine, and didn't show it much, but Xie Wangzhi was fidgeting, twisting his sleeves with his hands hidden in his sleeves.
After a moment of silence, the candle flowers burst open with a soft "pop". Xie Wangzhi quickly stood up and said, "I'll go cut the candle flowers."
Changsheng hummed, and watched Xie Wangzhi walk to the lamp. Before she could pick up the scissors, he said without thinking, "I'm hungry."
Xie Wangzhi turned around quickly: "Didn't you have dinner?"
"… I ate." Changsheng was not really hungry, so he said with a stiff upper lip, "It's already this late, and I'm a little hungry again."
Xie Wangzhi stared at him for a while, his brows gradually furrowed, obviously a little distressed.
If she were in the Shangshi Bureau, she could immediately run to the small kitchen to get something to eat for Changsheng, maybe some leftover snacks from the evening meal, but this was the Qingsi Palace, and there was no distinction between large and small kitchens, so she didn't have the courage to mess with the ingredients inside.
Xie Wangzhi thought about it and asked tentatively: "Um... can you eat soup and rice at night?"
Changsheng could only nod: "That's possible."
"… Then come with me." Xie Wangzhi breathed a sigh of relief and encouraged himself in his heart, "Let's go to the kitchen secretly, and I'll make you some soup and rice."
**
The ingredients cannot be moved around. Forget about the fresh meat and shrimp in the kitchen, but the leftover rice is fine. It won't be delivered to the palace tomorrow morning anyway. Xie Wangzhi filled a bowl with rice, poured filtered chicken soup on it, stirred it carefully, and then added salty and sour pickled plums, and carefully pushed it over: "There is no table, so just eat it like this. No one should come over now."
Changsheng wasn't very hungry and didn't like to eat too much at night, but when this bowl of rice was pushed over to him, the distinct rice grains were soaked in the clear chicken soup with dark red dried plums on top. The slightly sour aroma mixed with the meaty aroma of the chicken soup made people drool.
He accepted his fate and picked up the spoon. Before he put the first spoonful in, a dark shadow suddenly appeared outside and cast a shadow on the window.
Xie Wangzhi squatted instinctively, huddled behind the stove, and pulled Changsheng to his side.
After all, she sneaked into the kitchen, so she didn't dare to turn on the light, fearing that she would be seen by the night watchmen or the palace servants passing by. If they broke in, she would be fine, but Changsheng would be in trouble. The fire in the stove had been used to heat chicken soup, and it was still on, with a few thin flames on the charcoal, which illuminated a small area in front of her, so that she could see her hand in front of her.
Xie Wangzhi gently tugged at Changsheng's sleeve and whispered, "... You won't come in, will you?"
Changsheng was not afraid of people coming in: "Probably not."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man outside seemed to be against him and pushed the door open. The man who pushed the door was holding a lantern in his hand. This kind of lantern is used for walking at night. It can illuminate far. The kitchen is not too big. He can clearly see the edge of the stove from the door.
"…Mr. Cui?" Xie Wangzhi saw who this person was and was unable to react for a moment. "What are you doing in the kitchen?"
"I didn't have dinner, I'm hungry, so I came here to find something to eat. But it seems like there's no one here at this time..." Cui Shi looked around and his eyes fell on Xie Wangzhi, "Why are you here too?"
Xie Wangzhi thought he was talking about him and was about to explain, but the next moment he heard Cui Shi continue, "You came here for a midnight snack like me? Then why are you hiding, as if I dare to do anything to you."
The tone was quite familiar, with a hint of teasing or even sarcasm. Xie Wangzhi had a hunch that something was wrong, and was so shocked that she forgot the strangeness in his words. She only felt that Cui Shi and Changsheng seemed to know each other. She looked at Cui Shi, then turned her head to look at Changsheng. She couldn't figure it out for a moment, so she just scratched her face: "...ah."
Changsheng thought it was bad. He had only mentioned Xie Wangzhi to Cui Shi, and didn't say much else. God knows what extra words Cui Shi could say. He stood up slowly, glanced at Cui Shi, and coughed lightly, signaling him to shut up.
"Why are you coughing? Is it a cold? That's strange." Unfortunately, Cui Shi didn't get it at all. He just kept looking at him and said to himself, "Your Highness, it's obvious that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. As soon as you entered the kitchen, you even caught a cold."
Changsheng: “…”
The author has something to say: Changsheng: I... I'm fucking.jpg
Alas, no matter how much defense you have, it is hard to defend against a bad teammate (slowly exhaling smoke) Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: zoe, Shifangxiao1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
ifyou, Edogawa Magical Tornado Boy, Mo Ling, Cang 10 bottles; Jiang He 9 bottles; Jun Zixia 6 bottles; mushroommm, lizzebear 5 bottles; Tao Tao 2 bottles; Miao Kong, Qian Xia 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!