Tan Xiang Ying Yue's errand boys didn't expect to get so much reward money, and they were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. You Yuji also ordered that if there were family members around, they could be given five days off and come back on the third night of the New Year. Half of the people in the yard happily packed up and went home, while the other half either had no family or their families were too far away and had to stay, but they were also very satisfied with the reward money they received.
Everyone in Tanxiang Yingyue had a genuine smile on their face, which was very different from the atmosphere in other parts of the palace. Other places were still discussing the fire yesterday, with some expressing surprise and others expressing fear.
"Madam," Madam Jing walked quickly across the corridor, "The Zhao family sent over news that they have found out what Madam Fang put in the wine. But it doesn't seem important right now."
Madam Jing had a smile on her face. Now that Madam Fang had been driven away, she felt a sense of great satisfaction and was in a good mood.
You Yuji thought about it, because this matter would trouble Jiang Chun, and Jiang Chun's impatient temper might lead to some crazy thoughts. In order to prevent Jiang Chun from running here, she planned to take some time in the afternoon to go to Zhao's house and explain the matter to her.
When several aunts came to pay their respects today, Chun Xing did not come, saying that she had caught a cold.
Cuiyu was in a good mood and chattered a lot. Sometimes she would talk to Hongzhan, and sometimes she would let the maid look at her newly bought jade bracelets.
Hongzhan coped with it reluctantly. She always had a smile on her face, but the smile looked stiff no matter how you looked at it.
"Hey!" Cui Yu raised her voice, "How could I forget that someone got into trouble? You must be in a bad mood now, right?"
Hong Zan quickly raised her eyes to You Yuji who was sitting at the top seat, and said hastily, "Aunt Cui, please don't talk nonsense. I, I have nothing to do with that person any more!"
As she spoke, she once again raised her eyes to secretly look at You Yuji's face. Until now, she still hadn't figured out why You Yuji had left her alone in the flower hall for a whole day. Fang Qingyi had an accident last night, and now she was sighing and worried that she would be implicated.
After all... before she was promoted to concubine, she knew something about Fang Qingyi.
Bao He walked in quickly with a smile, shouting as he walked: "Something big has happened! People outside are talking about it like crazy!"
Cuiyu smiled and continued: "Look at your expression, it must be a good thing!"
Bao He nodded heavily, and then vividly recounted the story of Fang Qingyi's head being cut off. Rumors spread from one person to ten, and then to a hundred. As the rumors spread, there were many versions, and they often differed from the original truth. However, the differences were only in the foreshadowing or the sequel, and the description of the human head lantern was retained. Perhaps, the real human head lantern was already horrifying enough, and there was no need to add any more embellishment.
Anyway, according to Bao He's narration, Fang Qingyi was sent back to the Marquis' Mansion last night and suffered inhumane abuse. Everyone in the flower hall felt a chill down their spines after hearing this.
Especially Hongzan, her face was pale and bloodless, and the hand holding the teacup kept shaking, and the tea lid knocked against the teacup, making a knocking sound.
Cuiyu was originally making fun of Hongzhan for being timid, but as she listened she began to feel a little uncomfortable and took a big sip of hot tea to warm herself up.
Si Que walked in from the side door and sat down next to You Yuzhi. While peeling sugar-roasted chestnuts, he listened carefully to Baohe's exaggerated description.
“… That’s roughly it!” Baohe finished recounting the several versions he had heard.
Cui Yu sighed and said with emotion: "What evil spirit has Aunt Fang offended? It's too cruel!"
Si Que put the peeled chestnuts into his mouth and ate them. Listening to Cui Yu's words, he nodded in agreement.
You Yuji turned her head and looked at him.
Si Que looked back, smiled, and asked, "Sister, do you want to eat?"
As he spoke, he was already peeling another sugar-roasted chestnut.
You Yuji stared into Si Que's eyes for a while, then lowered her gaze and took the candied chestnuts he had just peeled from between his fingers and put them into her mouth. The beige candied chestnuts brushed against her soft red lips and slowly sank into her mouth.
Si Que took another look at her lips.
"Sister!" Cuiyu looked at You Yuji eagerly, "Can you come over and have some food today?"
Today is New Year's Eve, Madam must have a lot of delicious food here! After what happened last night, the princess and the prince are both bedridden, and Madam will definitely not go to the front yard to eat New Year's Eve dinner. Although the mansion has no worries about food and clothing, Cuiyu feels that the food in her small courtyard is definitely not as good as Madam's.
Besides, she couldn't stand loneliness. It was really uncomfortable for her to spend New Year's Eve alone.
"Of course." You Yuji smiled gently, "It's just right to try roasting a whole lamb using the method from my hometown."
Cuiyu's eyes brightened even more, and she couldn't wait to eat the roasted whole lamb!
Zhenxu came in and said that the two stewards of the You family had come to report something, and You Yuji got up and left the hall to go to the study. Si Que's eyes fell on the hem of You Yuji's skirt.
The hem of her light purple skirt gently brushed the ground, and he suddenly felt a little itchy in his heart.
You Yuji suddenly stopped at the door, turned sideways, looked at him tenderly, and said with a smile: "Eat less chestnuts, we still have dumplings to eat later."
She smiled faintly and walked out.
Si Que held the candied chestnut in his hand for a while, and then placed it on an empty white plate beside him. Then he continued to peel the candied chestnuts, separating the skin and flesh one by one, and neatly placed the glutinous and fragrant chestnut meat on the plate.
Cuiyu pulled Baohe and asked about Fang Qingyi. Hongzan felt sick to her stomach and found an excuse to leave in a hurry.
Si Que peeled all the sugar-roasted chestnuts in the paper bag, stroked the round chestnut flesh with his fingertips, and straightened out the two chestnut fleshes that were not properly lined up with an expressionless face.
After Chen Anzhi fainted last night, he had been having intermittent fevers, occasionally speaking incoherently. The imperial physician from the palace had been staying in the mansion and did not dare to leave easily.
The wound on the princess' back was very painful, and the cold sweat on her forehead never disappeared. At first, the King of Jinnan gave her a lot of pain-relieving soup, but later she shook her head and refused to drink it. Medicine is three-quarters poison, and she was afraid that drinking too much painkillers would be bad for the fetus in her belly.
Prince Nan Jin stayed by her side almost without taking off his clothes.
When the princess couldn't bear the pain, she squeezed the hand of the King of Jinnan to relieve the pain. When the pain eased a little, she felt a wave of self-blame in her heart.
She always felt that she was a failed mother who had not educated her children well. She even raised a niece with such a vicious mind and was completely unaware of her niece's viciousness.
Instead of blaming others, she blamed herself for being useless. The King of Jinnan saw through her thoughts and couldn't help but comfort her.
After Chen Lingyan woke up, she cried for several times. She had a small burn on her chin, but no other injuries. But a girl's face is so important, she lay on the quilt and cried bitterly.
In the afternoon, Chen Anzhi's fever finally subsided.
Wang Shan heaved a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat off Chen Anzhi's forehead with a wet towel, and said with a smile: "It's good that Grandpa is awake, it's good that he is awake! We still have to eat the New Year's Eve dinner today!"
Chen Anzhi stared blankly at the rooftop, saying nothing. During the half night and most of the day when he was unconscious, he had a long dream. In the dream, it seemed that he was going through his life of the past twenty years all over again.
In the dream, he looked at his past self like an outsider. For the first time, he looked at his past actions as a bystander.
It turns out that he really is an idiot.
He was in great pain in the dream, but he didn't dare to wake up. He really didn't know how to face the reality after waking up.
It turned out that the nightmare that had caused him so much pain was real. The pampered life as a prince for the past twenty years was really just a dream.
"My Lord, why are you crying?" Wang Shan panicked. "Is your injury hurting again? I'll get you some painkillers."
Chen Anzhi was still staring at the roof in a daze and didn't hear Wangshan's words at all.
Wangshan hurriedly turned around to pour water, and the sound of water falling into the porcelain cup covered up Chen Anzhi's weak words.
He said, “It’s OK.”
Fortunately, he did not die in a dream and in a daze, and fortunately, he did not kill his mother because of his stupidity.
His hands at his sides slowly clenched the mattress beneath him, his bloody hands staining the mattress. The pain from his hands was also offset by his determination at this moment.
When You Yuji left the hall, she told Si Que that they would have dumplings for lunch. Si Que thought she would eat with him. But he didn't expect that the kitchen would actually deliver twelve exquisite dumplings. Twelve dumplings, each with a different filling.
But You Yuzhi did not eat with him, nor did she even invite him over.
Si Que sat under the window, holding a copper coin in his hand, and his slender fingers slowly flipped the coin.
Just as he was considering whether to take the initiative to go to You Yuji's room to eat with her, he saw through the open window that You Yuji's door was pushed open by a maid. You Yuji stepped out, her light purple dress wrapped in a fluffy white fox fur, the fur blowing gently in the wind, brushing against her delicate neck.
Madam Jing was also dressed formally. Even Zhuo Wen was waiting in the courtyard.
Is she going out
Si Que paused in his slow flipping of the copper plate and watched You Yuzhi walk out of Tan Xiang Ying Yue until her figure could no longer be seen.
It’s New Year’s Day, where are we going
After a long time, Si Que put down the copper coins between his fingers, sat down behind the piano, and played the piano to pass the time.
An afternoon passed in the blink of an eye.
Si Que was just killing time, but all the servants of Tan Xiang Ying Yue pricked up their ears, as if they were listening to the crescent moon, mesmerized.
There is double reward money, and you can also listen to the best piano in the world.
I had a really happy New Year!
But Liu Feng, who worked beside Si Que, felt something was wrong and went to Ting Yun for advice. Ting Yun finally made the sleeping pills she wanted. She slept well yesterday and looked good all day.
Tingyun listened to the piano music coming from next door and said, "Children should not meddle in adult affairs."
Liu Feng blinked, feeling unconvinced—how could she be a child
Tingyun didn't explain. He took the hot water that had just been boiled on the stove and poured it on the tea. Then he smiled and took the tea to the next room to give to Si Que.
Liu Feng followed.
As the sky gradually darkened, the two sparrows sitting on the branches flapped their wings and flew away one after another.
When You Yuji appeared in Si Que's sight, Si Que's long fingers that were playing the piano stopped instantly. He pressed down with his fingers, interrupting the half-song with a humming sound.
You Yuji walked forward with a smile on her face, talking to Lady Jing beside her. She walked through the corridor and went straight back to the house. She didn't seem to notice that the window of the east wing where Si Que was hiding was open, nor did she see that Si Que was looking at her.
Tingyun knocked lightly on the door and came in to serve tea.
Si Que took his hand off the strings and watched the light in You Yuji's room turn on. He asked, "Where did Madam go today?"
Liu Feng was about to speak when Ting Yun answered first: "Maybe he went to the Pear Garden to listen to opera with Madam Zhao."
Liu Feng looked at Ting Yun in confusion. Didn't Madam go to the Zhao residence as a guest? Why did she go to the opera again? And how did Ting Yun know
Tingyun's expression remained unchanged, and he respectfully placed the hot tea next to Sique's hand.
She quietly looked at Si Que's face, and sure enough, her face darkened in an instant.
You Yuji returned to the house, took off her white fox fur coat, and immediately went to the inner room to change clothes. Just as she took off her coat that was stained with cold air from outside and went to get her home clothes, the door of the small room was pushed open.
You Yuji was startled, but thinking that the person who came in without knocking could be no one else but Si Que, she didn't even look back and continued to get dressed.
Si Que walked behind You Yuji and suddenly hugged her. His arms around her gradually tightened, a little tight.
"Aque?" You Yuzhi called him in confusion.
The author has something to say: I haven't sent out red envelopes for a long time, and 88 of them are randomly dropped in the comment section of this chapter, fuck
The second update is still after 12 o'clock~