Mu Chun didn't know that he had been clearly arranged by Emperor Hongwu and his uncle Feng Cheng and was about to participate in the Southern Expedition.
At this time, he was in the palace, giving Hu Shanwei a Lantern Festival gift.
Hu Shanwei was copying scriptures for his deceased mother in the study. He pretended to be sick to hide it from Empress Ma. It was a rare opportunity in life to have free time, so he thought of copying scriptures to pray for his mother.
Mu Chun sat on the Luohan bed, watching her copying the scriptures out of boredom. He didn't dare to make any sound or noise, as copying scriptures required a calm mind.
Seeing that the ink on the inkstone was almost used up, he went to add water and grind the ink. He was not good at this, so he used the ink stick as a spear and the inkstone as a shield, and ground the ink with the force of fighting, splashing ink spots everywhere.
Hu Shanwei glanced at him and said, "Master Mu, there is no need for you to condescend to grind ink for me. You can just rest aside."
Mu Chun wiped the ink spots on the desk awkwardly, and some ink was also stained on his palms and wrists. He went to the copper basin to wash his hands and saw a bottle of fermented seeds on the washstand. He immediately had an idea.
Fermented honey is a mixture of honey, oil, scented powder and spices, which is packed in a small bottle the size of a snuff bottle. It is similar to a 500-year-old hand cream and is applied to the skin after washing hands and face. It protects the hands and cheeks from being white and moisturized, without barbs or chapped skin. It is generally used for wiping hands in the palace.
When Hu Shanwei worked as a copyist among the common people, he definitely could not afford such expensive fragrant honey. Not to mention wiping his hands, he would not even dare to be so extravagant to wipe his face.
After entering the palace, fermented rice became a common item, and female officials received a monthly allowance of it, regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter.
Mu Chun picked up the fermentation pot and poured the honey into his palm as hard as if he was hitting a wall. He poured out more than half of the pot, and a spiral of snow-white fragrant honey piled up in his palm.
"Ouch, I accidentally poured too much." Mu Chun yelled and ran to the desk, "I'll give you some, don't waste it."
Without waiting for Hu Shanwei to refuse, Mu Chun snatched her pen, held her hands in his palms and rubbed them slowly. The suddenly rising body temperatures of both of them quickly melted the pool of fragrant honey, which was rubbed and evenly applied on the surface of the skin.
Reason told Hu Shanwei that she shouldn't indulge Mu Chun's insolence, but her emotions made her reluctant to break free from the tenderness of their hands kneading her in the sweet honey.
This moment was so beautiful that she couldn't bear to leave.
After experiencing a passionate love, how could Hu Shanwei not see Mu Chun's hidden feelings? He didn't say it because he knew she would refuse.
He was arrogant and rushed into the palace to put out the fire. She looked calm, but she couldn't help but feel happy.
Every time Mu Chun tested her, he was like a skilled chef, carefully controlling the degree of saltiness, trying to figure out her taste, and increasing the flavor again and again, to make her adapt to his cooking method and gradually become addicted to his "taste".
He pushed harder and harder, becoming more and more outrageous each time, and each time he had a reason, and he could attack or defend. On the snowy night of parting at the Qin/Wangfu, he hugged her, using the excuse that the snow was too deep and would wet her shoes and socks. There is too much sweet honey today, don't waste it.
Every excuse he made seemed to be full of loopholes and could be easily exposed, but he knew that she would not expose them, because she also needed an excuse.
Just out of Wang Ning's tiger's den, into Muchun's wolf's den. The matchmaker was too attentive, always tying red strings around Hu Shanwei's ankles, one after another. But the red string was very fragile, and it would break if there was a slight mistake. How painful it was to break up the relationship, and the soul was tortured every day...
After a brief moment of tenderness and affection, a fear surged in Hu Shanwei's heart. Mu Chun felt the little hand in his palm stiffen slightly, so he let go immediately, ignoring the red streak between her earlobes that looked like dripping blood, and said, "It's done, you continue copying the scriptures."
Mu Chun's method of dealing with Hu Shanwei was guerrilla tactics: if the enemy advances, we retreat; if the enemy stays, we harass; if the enemy is tired, we attack; if the enemy retreats, we pursue.
For example, now is the time to “retreat when the enemy advances.”
Mu Chun retreated to the Luohan bed to eat some snacks. Hu Shanwei picked up the pen and continued to copy the book. As soon as she started writing, the pen tip became soft and weak, from thick to light, which was different from the previous handwriting. Copying scriptures requires a calm mind, but her mind was already in chaos.
At this moment, Hu Shanwei was like Fahai who was seduced by the green snake. On the surface, he was copying scriptures at his desk like an old monk in meditation, but his heart was as chaotic as the dancing cherry blossoms in March.
On the rice paper, stop writing halfway here.
Hu Shanwei put down the brush and gently blew dry the ink on the paper.
Muchun, the annoying little devil, shamelessly raised his head and asked her, "Why don't you write anymore? You haven't finished copying yet."
The whole room was filled with intoxicating spring colors, and Mu Chun immediately became the King of the Kingdom of Daughters. He said he was not afraid of the rules and regulations, and asked the holy monk quietly, "Is my daughter beautiful? Is she beautiful?"
Hu Shanwei's heart was so excited, but he couldn't say a word of blame, so he could only use ink to cover up his feelings. He couldn't pay attention to him, or he might lose control...
The enemy retreated and I chased. Mu Chun clung to him like a fairy, "Hey, you are so weak, let me help you blow."
Mu Chun stood on the other side of the desk, face to face with Hu Shanwei, and leaned over to blow the ink. He puffed out his cheeks like a frog, pouted his pointed lips like an oil bottle, and got closer and closer to Hu Shanwei's lips.
Feeling the breath on his lips, Hu Shanwei's head buzzed like a wild bee. He stretched out his hand and slapped Mu Chun's pouting mouth open like chasing away a fly, "Don't come over here - don't spit on me and taint my writing."
The enemy advances, I retreat. Mu Chun no longer insisted and stepped aside.
There was a brazier burning in the study in winter, the ink dried quickly, and Hu Shanwei folded the rice paper.
Seeing that she had finished her work, Mu Chun leaned over to ask her, "There is no curfew in the capital during the Lantern Festival. You can go out to cure all diseases. It's very lively. Let's go together."
During the Lantern Festival, there is a custom in the capital city to wear moon-white clothes to ward off all diseases. Hu Shanwei is currently recuperating outside the palace and has more freedom to travel.
"No." Hu Shanwei refused without a second thought. The last time she went to the hospital for a hundred diseases was with her then-fiancé Wang Ning. They held hands for the first time and walked a long way along the Qinhuai River, where the jade pot shone and the fish and dragons danced all night.
After that, this festival became a taboo for her and she no longer celebrated the Lantern Festival.
The enemy is stationed here to harass us. Mu Chun knew why she didn't go, but he insisted on dragging her out, "If you don't go, it means you are still thinking about him."
Hu Shanwei was so angry that he slammed the jade paperweight on the desk and said, "Nonsense!"
Mu Chun deliberately provoked him, "Then go ahead. I will believe you if you go. If you don't go, you will be guilty. Now he is going to be a father, why do you have to hide? If you don't dare to go out, I will look down on you."
"I—" Hu Shanwei gritted his teeth, "I'll go if I want to."
Hu Shanwei went inside to change his clothes, put on a moon-white mink fur coat, and went out. Mu Chun also changed into moon-white clothes and waited outside with a red fox lantern. Hearing the movement at the door, Mu Chun turned around and smiled, a cunning smile exactly like the fox lantern in his hand.
Hu Shanwei was stunned. She used to think that no one in the capital was as suitable to wear moon-white as Wang Ning.
Now it seems that she was wrong.
After five years, Hu Shanwei went out to treat illnesses again.
Flowers are the same every year, but people are different every year, and the same is true for the Lantern Festival. Since Hu Shanwei could remember, at this time of year along the Qinhuai River, the lantern trees on both sides are like two twin silver dragons, crossing this ancient yet brand new city.
When she and her father first arrived, they were overwhelmed by the prosperity and inexplicable elegance of the city. She worked as a copyist in Tibet when she was seven years old. During the Lantern Festival, her father held her hand and walked with her to buy snacks. No matter what kind of snacks she asked for, her father would satisfy her. The father and daughter depended on each other. The Qinhuai River was too long, and she was often too tired to walk halfway, so her father carried her on his back to play.
She hugged her father's neck. His back was broad and she felt warm and safe lying on it. It was a rare leisurely and happy time in the year.
Later, when she grew up, it was no longer convenient for her father to hold her hand when she went to the ward for illnesses. At the age of twelve, she became a young lady, the most beautiful girl in Yinglingfang, with an outstanding appearance and wearing a moon-white dress. She looked like a daffodil bud waiting to bloom by the Qinhuai River.
Passersby frequently stopped to look at her. Although her father was annoyed, he also felt proud that his daughter had grown up. He lamented that he was getting old and wanted to find a suitable man to take over and continue to protect her.
After careful selection, Wang Ning was chosen.
During the Lantern Festival when she was fourteen years old, she and her father went to cure all diseases. The daffodils were in full bloom, and they admired the flowers under the lanterns and the beauties under the moon. The more they looked, the more beautiful they became. Then she was spotted by a group of scoundrels, who teased her. Before her father could do anything, a young man flew over and kicked the leading scoundrel, sending him flying into the Qinhuai River. With three punches and two kicks, he knocked down four of them, and the scoundrels dispersed.
That was the first time she met her fiancé Wang Ning. Before that, when the two families got engaged, they had never met each other. They had only heard of him but never seen him.
When Hu Shanwei was copying books, she always thought it was ridiculous that the characters in the books fell in love at first sight. She thought the author was lazy and didn't bother to write about the process of falling in love. But when she saw the majestic and handsome Wang Ning that night, she was a little crazy. She could also read the word "stunning" in Wang Ning's eyes.
So this is love at first sight. How lucky and wonderful.
The father was very pleased with Wang Ning. He used the excuse of back pain to sit on a stone bench by the river to rest. "You young people, go to the front and watch the dragon and lion dances. I'll wait for you here."
That night, by the Qinhuai River, carved carriages were parked on the Tianjie Street, BMWs were racing on the Imperial Road, gold and jade were dazzling, silk and silk were fragrant, and flowers filled the road.
She and Wang Ning saw nothing and were oblivious to all the beautiful scenery, because no matter what they saw, what was always imprinted in their hearts was each other.
The carved carriage is him, the BMW is him. The golden jade is her, the Luo Qi is her.
After that, on the Lantern Festival, my father simply didn't go because Wang Ning would always pick him up early at the door of the bookstore.
Just like that, after three years of sweet time, a Northern Expedition brought Hu Shanwei, who was in the clouds, down to hell.
For five consecutive years, the two silver dragons in the Qinhuai River remained, but there was no trace of Hu Shanwei.
Encouraged by Mu Chun, Hu Shanwei once again set foot on this land, but things and people have changed. Hu Shanwei was about to follow the silver dragon to revisit the old place, but Mu Chun grabbed her wrist, led her to the pier under the bridge, and boarded a pleasure boat.
Muchun was well prepared. The houseboat had a fireplace and windows, so he could go back and forth several times without having to walk a single step.
Mu Chun said confidently: "You are now an official appointed by the court. Safety is the most important thing. There are crowds of people, so be careful of assassins."
Hu Shanwei sat down in front of the window, thinking to himself that you are the most dangerous person.
On the Qinhuai River, there are the sounds of oars and the shadows of lights. When she used to walk on the shore, she felt that all these scenes could be painted, and all the painted boats were scenery. Now she is in a painted boat, looking at the two banks, and she feels that the shore is like an endless, never-ending stage, performing the joys and sorrows of the world, which she never gets tired of watching.
Hu Shanwei was watching intently when a pleasure boat came towards her and passed by her boat. The river was narrow in this section, and when the two boats, one east and one west, passed each other in parallel, they were only two fists apart.
She saw two people in the boat enjoying the scenery on the shore. The woman's belly was as big as a drum, and the man was holding her waist. They were Princess Huaiqing and Wang Ning.
Perhaps it was telepathy, Wang Ning turned back subconsciously and saw Hu Shanwei on the boat parallel to the opposite side, and a man who was lifting the copper kettle on the stove and brewing tea. Just from the back, Wang Ning knew it was Mu Chun.
Hu Shanwei and Wang Ning looked at each other. At that moment, time seemed to go back. Scenes flashed through their minds, and finally froze on the night when they fell in love at first sight.
The two parallel boats continued to cross each other. At the moment when each other was about to disappear, they both felt relieved, nodded and smiled, and became close friends. After going through all the hardships, they were still together, and they smiled at each other and their love was gone.
Mu Chun thought that the boat should have passed by, then he turned around and handed the brewed tea to Hu Shanwei. Seeing her calm expression, he thought that it was no coincidence, it was all carefully planned. He had learned from Captain Shi that Princess Huaiqing was going to take a night cruise on the Qinhuai River with Wang Ning on a painted boat tonight, so he pulled Hu Shanwei on board. It was time to put an end to it all.
The author has something to say: The house is full of "spring" colors that make people intoxicated. Muchun, the second spring, wants to take the lead.
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№18 Netizen: A Shuang Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2019-01-15 20:32:34 Reviewed chapter: 85