Her red dress was as bright as fire, and she was even brighter than the red dress, as if she was the only bright color in the bleak winter scene.
Huan Xuan's heart sank into a ball.
It turns out that she still remembered. Did she come here specially
The plum blossoms are in bloom, and she has returned happily. Perhaps she has not forgotten the promise she made that year.
He could neither speak nor breathe. The ecstasy overturned him like a huge wave, and he felt dizzy and had no idea what day it was.
But then a voice sounded, like a bucket of cold water that extinguished his delusion: "Xiao Lang, why are you here too?"
The eldest princess walked out from behind Xiao Ling, and Huan Xuan then discovered that there were several palace maids following them.
Huan Xuan asked: "What are you doing here?"
The eldest princess said, "Come and see the plum blossoms. General Xiao likes white plum blossoms. This white plum blossom is the most beautiful in the whole palace, and it has rare white petals. My grandmother asked someone to transplant it from Hongfu Temple."
After a pause, he said, "By the way, you had already left the palace and established your own residence by then."
Sui Sui looked around and said, "I seem to have been here before..."
Huan Xuan's eyebrows twitched, and he was about to say something, but the eldest princess smiled and said, "The palaces everywhere are all similar."
Sui Sui nodded and said, "Maybe I remembered it wrongly."
Her memory is not bad, but she doesn't take many things to heart. She only has a vague impression of the things she experienced in her childhood, which she has long forgotten.
The light in Huan Xuan's eyes dimmed.
"Oh, right," the eldest princess continued, "when the Crown Princess was a child, she was raised by the Queen Mother and lived in this courtyard..."
As soon as she said this, she thought of the relationship between her brother and Ruan Yuewei. She scratched her cheek awkwardly, pointed at a tall branch, and said to Xiao Ling, "That branch has a good shape. Let Sanlang break it for the general."
Sui Sui glanced at Huan Xuan and saw that he had a sullen face and his thin lips were tightly pursed. He didn't know who he was angry with, so he smiled at the eldest princess and said, "I'll fold it for you."
After saying this, she lifted the hem of her skirt, jumped lightly upwards, grabbed a thick branch, used the toes of her boots to gain leverage on the tree trunk, and nimbly jumped to a higher branch. She skillfully plucked the branch of plum blossom that the eldest princess had just pointed out, jumped down, and landed lightly on the snow, as graceful as a startled wild goose.
The eldest princess was stunned. Even after she took the plum blossoms handed to her by her smiling mother, she was still a little dazed: "General Xiao, you are so good at climbing trees. I could climb trees when I was a kid, but I was very ugly, like a lizard."
Sui Sui smiled and said, "Princess, you are so kind. If you want any more, I will help you pick one."
The eldest princess hurriedly said, "I brought you here to appreciate the plum blossoms, how can I ask you to pick flowers for me?"
Sui Sui said: "It's okay, I'm just offering flowers to Buddha."
The eldest princess added: "General Xiao looks good in red."
Sui Sui looked down at his clothes and said, "I am going to the palace to meet my elders during such a big festival, so I have to wear something brighter."
The eldest princess said, "General Xiao is born bright and beautiful, so he should wear bright-colored clothes."
She paused and said, "I remember you also wore red clothes when you entered the palace when you were a child."
Sui Sui said: "Princess, do you still remember?"
The eldest princess said, "This is the first time I have seen such a beautiful young lady. She is as beautiful as a porcelain doll. How can I forget her?"
It's not a porcelain doll, Huan Xuan thought. How could clay mold such a lively and dazzling person? At that time, she seemed to be made of light.
Sui Sui's expression dimmed.
Huan Xuan couldn't help but look at her. As soon as he saw her expression, he knew who she was thinking of.
The eldest princess also remembered that the marriage between Xiao Ling and Huan Ye seemed to have been decided after that visit to the palace, and she couldn't help feeling sad and stopped talking about sex.
After picking the flowers, the two said goodbye to Huan Xuan and left Tangli Palace.
Only Huan Xuan and an old plum tree were left in the huge courtyard.
Of course, the sparrows they buried together, the plum kernels they planted, and the graves they built are no longer found.
She only remembered that it was the day she first met his elder brother, and she would never know that there was a child who foolishly waited for a whole year for a plum pit that would never sprout just because of her careless words.
She didn't even remember meeting him.
Because they are all the chosen ones of heaven, born with blessings and raised in love. People as dazzling as the sun can only see each other. How can they remember a wild grass or a stubborn stone that they once illuminated
Huan Xuan stood there for a while, smiled at himself, and walked out of the palace gate.
…
After coming out of Tangli Palace, Sui Sui followed the eldest princess to meet the queen.
Because it was New Year's Day, the empress changed out of her monk's robes and wore a blue lotus-patterned robe. She wore her hair in a high fan-shaped bun with a white jade comb, and her simplicity and elegance exuded grace.
Her attitude was polite and distant, but there was a hint of hostility hidden in it.
Sui Sui didn't take it to heart. This was human nature. After all, with Huan Ye's support, the queen's excessive kindness and enthusiasm seemed strange. If she were in the queen's shoes, she herself would probably not be free of grudges.
She knew how the Queen treated her illegitimate son, and she also knew that she threatened her eldest son with death, but she always remembered that Huan Ye had spoken of his mother with respect so many times, and she could not assume that she had any ill intentions.
The queen exchanged pleasantries with her for a while, and gave her some gold and jade objects, palace brocade, and incense. Then she took a long and narrow red sandalwood box from the palace servant, opened it, took out a scroll of silk book, and handed it to her carefully holding the ivory axis: "This scroll of Medicine Master Sutra is Ye'er's treasured thing. I leave it to you as a souvenir."
The eldest princess's expression changed slightly, but she didn't know what to say.
Sui Sui was just stunned for a moment, then took it and said calmly, "Thank you, Queen, for the reward."
The queen spoke to them for a few more words, and then it was time to return to the Buddhist temple to chant sutras.
The two of them left the Zen temple. The eldest princess glanced at the sandalwood box in Sui Sui's hand, sighed secretly and said, "General Xiao, don't take it to heart. A mother loves her son dearly and didn't mean to offend."
Sui Sui smiled and said, "It's okay."
…
The New Year's Eve banquet was held in Taifu Hall, a palace that was tall and spacious, almost enough for horses to pass through.
Inside the palace, there were brocade tents, outside the palace, there were fires and lanterns, the courtyard was bright as day, inside the palace, the emperor and his nobles were dressed in gorgeous clothes, gold and green were dazzling.
The palace doors were wide open, and everyone drank and enjoyed the banquet facing the fire in the courtyard.
The queen also changed into her best attire and sat with the emperor in the seven-treasure tent.
The emperor was in a particularly good mood today. He usually seldom drank wine because of his illness, and only drank a little at important banquets. But today, he drank the pepper and cypress wine in the golden cup in one gulp, and said to everyone, "Today is a family reunion. There is no need to be formal. Let's have fun."
After saying this, he glanced at his wife, with a look of satisfaction and approval in his eyes.
The queen was strong-willed and stubborn. No one could persuade her of her determination. But once she figured it out, she would let it go. Tonight, she looked radiant and had the elegance of the queen mother in her past. The traces of time on her face did not detract from her, but instead added to her grace and dignity.
Because it was a family dinner, men and women did not sit separately, and couples sat together. Except for a few young princes and princesses, most of the people at the banquet were married, and they were all in pairs with their families. Huan Minggui and Huan Xuan, a pair of brothers in distress, stood out even more.
Xiao Ling was a distinguished guest and sat in the seat of honor. The eldest princess sat with him, and the prince consort naturally followed the eldest princess.
Huan Minggui glanced at everyone at the banquet, and his eyes fell on her without surprise. He said to Huan Xuan, "A beauty should wear red clothes. Only someone as bright as her will not be deprived of her beauty by clothes."
Huan Xuan didn't even bat an eyelid, just kept drinking one cup after another.
The Queen had obviously put a lot of thought into this New Year's Eve banquet. Delicacies from land and sea were presented in a stream, filling up the table, but Huan Xuan hardly touched a thing.
Everyone knew that today was his birthday, and they came up to toast him one after another. He accepted all the toasts and drank as he raised his glass.
Huan Minggui whispered, "You drink so much on an empty stomach, aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache? Eat something to fill your stomach."
Huan Xuan rarely refuted, and readily picked up a bright yellow tangerine from the golden plate, peeled it carefully, and removed all the tangerine veins. He glanced at the red figure at the table opposite him, ate a slice of tangerine, and took a sip of wine.
Huan Minggui said: "I have never seen anyone use oranges to accompany wine."
Huan Xuan said expressionlessly: "Now I see it."
He peeled the oranges quickly and ate them neither slowly. Soon half of the plate of oranges was left and the wine jug was empty. He signaled to the eunuch to refill it.
Huan Minggui sighed: "How come I didn't know you loved eating oranges so much."
Huan Xuan said: "I can only peel oranges."
A man like him is only fit to peel oranges with that young wife.
Huan Minggui rubbed his forehead and snatched the wine jug. He was already drunk.
At this moment, the man in red on the opposite side flashed like a flame.
Sui Sui picked up the wine glass, stood up and walked towards him.
Huan Xuan put the half-peeled orange back on the plate and sat up straight.
Sui Sui said: "I wish your highness a long and healthy life and endless happiness."
Huan Xuan picked up the wine glass and said calmly: "Thank you, General Xiao. I also wish General Xiao all the best and that he gets what he wants."
Sui Sui said: "I appreciate your good words, Your Highness."
The two men drank the wine in their glasses, bowed, and returned to the table to continue chatting and laughing with the eldest princess.
The queen looked at the emperor thoughtfully all the time. After a while of silence, she said to the emperor, "I will go to the back to prepare something."
The emperor knew what she was going to do, and shook her hand under the table: "Thank you for your hard work."
The Queen smiled and said, "What are you talking about, Your Majesty?"
After saying this, he stood up, excused himself to everyone, and left the hall with his attendants.
More than an hour later, the queen came back from outside, with a palace maid behind her holding a square snack table with a large red-glazed lotus bowl on it.
She walked up to Huanxuan and asked the palace servant to place the food table in front of him. She personally opened the silver-gilt lotus leaf cover on the bowl. A stream of hot steam rose from the bowl of noodles, and the fishy smell of mutton penetrated into Huanxuan's lungs along with the hot steam, making him almost vomit.
The emperor smiled and said, "This is the birthday noodles your mother made for you."
Huan Xuan bowed and said, "Thank you, mother."
The Queen said in a gentle voice: "Mother, I remember that you like mutton soup the most, am I right?"
Huan Xuan said calmly, "Mother is not mistaken."
The Queen said, "Eat it while it's hot."
Huan Xuan lowered his eyes slightly, picked up the jade chopsticks, picked up a mouthful of noodles and put it into his mouth, followed by the second mouthful, the third mouthful...
The queen looked at him like a loving mother, as if she could not tell that he had difficulty swallowing it: "The soup has been simmering for half a day, try it and see if it tastes good."
Huan Xuan picked up the jade spoon and drank the soup one spoonful after another. He took the fragrant soup handed to him by the palace servant, rinsed his mouth, put the fishy fragrant pill in his mouth, and bowed to express his gratitude.
The Queen asked the palace servants to collect the food table and utensils, and then she sat back beside the Emperor with satisfaction.
The musicians played auspicious music, and the sound of sheng and pipe mixed with the crackling of firecrackers in the courtyard. It was extremely noisy and lively, yet there was an indescribable sense of desolation.
Sui Sui tightly grasped the wine glass, drank the remaining wine in the glass, stood up and said to the emperor and empress: "Your Majesty, Queen, please forgive me for not being able to drink. I will take my leave first."
The Queen said, "Tomorrow morning, there will be a grand court session on New Year's Day. It will be inconvenient for General Xiao to travel, so it would be better for him to stay in the palace."
The emperor also persuaded her to stay overnight, but Sui Sui refused, so they gave up.
After she left the palace, the emperor rubbed his brows and said, "I am also tired. Empress, please help me back to the bedroom to rest, and let the young people stay up to celebrate the New Year."
The queen nodded: "Okay."
Huan Xuan glanced at the clock and saw that it would be more than an hour until midnight. He knew why Xiao Ling was in a hurry to leave - she wanted to go back to the inn to make that bowl of birthday noodles.
He curled the corner of his mouth sarcastically, stood up, said goodbye to everyone, and walked out of the hall.
He couldn't remember how many glasses of wine he had drunk, but he was not drunk at all. He asked his servants to prepare a horse and rode out of the palace.
Zhuque Street was deserted, and the sounds of singing, laughter and firecrackers could be faintly heard from behind the courtyard walls.
He rode his horse aimlessly for a long time, and suddenly found himself heading towards Chang'anfang without realizing it, so he turned his horse around and headed north - at that time he still had a place to go, but even that place did not belong to him.
The guard hurried the horse carefully and asked, "Your Highness, are you going back to the palace?"
Huan Xuan squeezed his horse's belly and said, "Let's go to Duting Posthouse."