You Yuji looked at Princess Que who was smiling at her, and was stunned for a moment before she smiled gently: "Okay, I'll go get it for you right away."
She put down the teacup in her hand and walked quickly to the inner room. After entering the inner room, she ran straight to the closet. While searching for a coat for Si Que, You Yuji was wondering in her heart -
The princess called her sister? Was she older than the princess? You Yuji tried to recall, but was not sure of the princess' age. Perhaps the same age
You Yuji suddenly realized that when married to the same place, the concubine calling the mistress sister was a "rule" that represented the harmony between wives and concubines.
You Yuji held the white cotton cloak in her arms, but her eyes were somewhat dim. Obviously, she did not want her relationship with Princess Que to be that of a mistress and a concubine.
But she changed her mind and felt relieved. The princess had always been aloof and arrogant. When the princess called her like this, it always meant that the princess was willing to get close to her, not to mention that the princess gave her newly brewed wine. You Yuji felt a little sympathy for the fact that they were both strangers in a lost country. No matter what, it was always a blessing to meet and make friends with old friends in a foreign land. You Yuji thought to herself that she had to be better to the princess in the future.
She went out holding Si Que's cloak. Liu Feng and Zhen Xu had already brought up the charcoal brazier and were making a charcoal fire. Si Que was sitting on the wooden couch under the window, and was instructing Liu Feng to take down the tea on the round table at the door and bring up a new set of hot tea.
You Yuji walked over quickly, unfolded the cloak, and wrapped it around Si Que. She stood in front of Si Que and bent over to tie the collar for him.
She slowly came out of the habit of mourning for her father. Today she did not wear plain white clothes, but purple, which she liked in the past. But it was not pure purple, but a gradient blend of lavender and white. Although it was cloth, it still had a layered and ethereal feeling when wrapped around her graceful figure. She did not like silky satin fabrics, and wore gauze in summer and cloth in winter.
She bent over, the lavender fabric of her skirt brushing against Si Que's legs. She moved closer to adjust the collar of Si Que's neck. The soft lavender fabric piled on Si Que's legs. The chest-high neckline could not cover the snow-white skin under the collarbone. The cool breeze blew in from the window, making her skirt tremble like waves.
Si Que shifted his gaze from the skirt fluttering in the wind across her chest and looked away at the slowly burning charcoal fire.
"Are you still cold? Or you could close the window?" You Yuji asked softly.
"It's not cold." Not only is it not cold, it's also a little hot.
You Yuji placed his palm on the back of Si Que's hand. Si Que hesitated for a moment and barely managed to pull his hand back. You Yuji felt the temperature of his hand, smiled, and said, "It's good that you're not cold."
She loosened her grip and stood up, letting the skirt material brushing against Si Que's legs move away.
You Yuji sat down on the other side of the small table on the wooden couch, took out the pot of sweet wine with a smile, and poured two cups. She first poured a cup for Si Que, handed it in front of him, and then poured one for herself.
You Yuji took a sip and first tasted the refreshing sweetness with a hint of grass on the tip of her tongue. After the wine had entered her throat, she could taste the light spicy flavor of the wine.
After tasting the wine, You Yuji slowly smiled and looked at Si Que and said, "I didn't expect the princess to be able to mix drinks. The taste is sweet at first and then mellow. It is indeed a fine wine."
No one doesn't like to be praised.
"The slight intoxication after drinking makes people addicted, and they want to drink every day. As time goes by, they become more picky about the taste, so they make their own wine." Si Que paused, "If you like it, I will send you some of the wine I brew in the future."
Si Que turned his gaze away from You Yuji, his long eyelashes drooping. He picked up the glass of wine in front of him.
"Okay. Thank you in advance, Princess."
Si Que took a sip of wine and said calmly, "You're too polite, sister."
You Yuji thought so too. The princess took a step forward and called her sister affectionately. She kept calling her "princess" all the time, which was too distant. She raised her eyes and smiled gently: "Then call me Que Que from now on."
He was savoring the sweet wine in his mouth, but before he could swallow it, he heard these words and the wine that he hadn't swallowed fled as if frightened. Si Que tried not to choke and cough, but his face turned a little red.
After a long while, he recovered and raised his eyes to look at You Yuji who was smiling at him, and said with a smile: "Sister, you can call me whatever you want."
The smile between You Yuji's eyebrows became more and more brilliant.
Liu Feng, who was standing by, was amazed as his eyes turned back and forth in his black and white eye sockets. The princess always hated people getting close to her. She still remembered that a few years ago, a drunk dandy came to confess his love to the princess, praising her beauty like a goddess, and calling her Queque, Aque, Queniang with a silly smile...
And then... that person naturally didn't see the sun the next day.
You Yuzhi took a piece of cake from the box and handed it to Si Que.
"My friend made this. She never did any kitchen work before, but recently she suddenly got interested in it. Maybe she's smart, she made it so well after just learning. Come and try it."
Si Que originally wanted to say something, but after hearing You Yuji's last word of address, he was still a little uncomfortable. He just silently took the pastry that You Yuji handed over and took a bite.
"How does it taste?" You Yuzhi asked.
"good."
You Yuji also ate a piece and said happily: "If Chunniang knew that her cooking skills had received so much praise, she would definitely be happy."
"The daughter of the Jiang family?" Si Que asked.
"That's right. We have known each other since childhood and have a good relationship." You Yuji was a little surprised, "I didn't expect you to know her too."
Si Que ate his cakes leisurely and said, "I've heard a little bit about her hot temper."
Thinking of Ah Chun's impetuous appearance before she got married, You Yuji couldn't help but laugh. After all, they were both from Sijing, so they had many topics to talk about. Whenever You Yuji mentioned someone, Si Que would think about it and know who she was talking about. You Yuji was a little surprised. She thought Princess Que was aloof and aloof, but she didn't expect that she knew a lot about other people's affairs.
Even some of the rumors You Yuji had heard before could be obtained from Si Que. The people she knew could also be connected to him in a roundabout way.
Tiny snow flakes were floating outside the window. You Yuji and Si Que were drinking and chatting together. In this depressed moment in a foreign land, they felt a bit happy as if they had met an old friend.
The aroma of the wine makes this pleasure even more enjoyable.
The wine in the pot was quickly finished, and Si Que asked Liu Feng to bring a few more pots of wine.
"These are the ones I usually drink. Sister, try them and see which one you like better." Si Que looked at the blush on You Yujie's cheeks.
You Yuji doesn't drink often, but she has a natural drinking capacity, just like her father. She is not drunk at all, but her face will turn a little intoxicating red after drinking a little. In the past, her beauty was imprisoned by herself. With the indulgence of wine, her every move, every frown and every smile is full of natural charm.
Si Que thought of a word—
Beauty.
In recent days, Si Que understood what it meant to be tempted by beauty.
Desire then arises.
You Yuji tasted several kinds of wine in turn and chose the strongest one. She raised the glass and shook it towards Si Que, her eyes twinkling. Si Que came to his senses and drank the wine in the glass.
When You Yuji poured more wine, she accidentally knocked over the glass, spilling the wine all over her body. She frowned and stood up, hurriedly using a handkerchief to wipe the wine stains off her body.
The wine stains were hard to wipe off, so she turned her head and told Zhenxu to go back and get her clothes.
"Be careful not to catch a cold if the cold wine gets on you. Change my clothes first before you bring them over."
You Yuji nodded. She glanced at the fine snow outside the window, stood up and walked to a corner where she couldn't see the window, and began to untie the straps around her chest.
Si Que was originally looking at her, but seeing this, he turned his gaze away, looking at the scattered snow outside the window, and said, "It's too cold with the window open, sister, you should go inside and change."
"Okay." You Yuji put her hands on the half-open collar and went inside.
After a while, Si Que lowered his eyes, the expression on his face faded, and returned to that expressionless face.
Over the years, he has been used to doing things as he pleases. The prince said that he knew he would die young, so he indulged himself.
Probably
But that’s not entirely true.
But the reason was no longer that important. What was important was that he had gotten used to the feeling of doing whatever he wanted and enjoying the excitement of playing games.
He especially likes to gamble with his own safety.
It's probably because I'm lucky that I always win.
For a man who even used his own life as a bargaining chip, there was nothing he dared not do, and nothing he could not afford to lose. He even had a faint desire to lose.
How could a man like him touch a woman
Just because you are used to wearing women's skirts doesn't mean you can forget the responsibilities of men.
This world is too harsh on women. If you touch someone, you have to take responsibility. The premise of taking responsibility is to be alive.
And living is a kind of shackles.
He longed for crazy freedom, complete control over life and death, and even longed for a grand death after a complete defeat.
Si Que took a sip of the liquor, and taking in the rich aroma of the liquor, he looked at the falling snow outside the window and slowly curled his lips, pulling out a bright and strange smile.
Be responsible for a woman and stay with her for the rest of your life
No, he doesn't want such a vulgar life.
He chose to indulge himself.
So, this woman cannot be touched.
Si Que put down the wine glass in his hand indifferently.
You Yuji came out from the inner room, her voice full of laughter: "Queque, your skirt is too long."
Si Que turned around.
You Yuji grasped her snow-white skirt and turned around, the hem of her skirt swaying like a suddenly blooming petal.
Si Que picked up the wine glass again and took another sip of the liquor.
He lowered his eyes to glance at the remaining wine in the glass, and felt happy again because of a sudden idea - this time he wanted to take a gamble on when he could remove the poison from You Yuji.
Not long after, Zhenxu came over with You Yuji's clothes, and You Yuji went to the inner room to change her clothes.
This first snow of winter came suddenly and stopped quickly.
You Yuji looked out the window and saw a faint shadow of plum blossoms. She suddenly became interested and said, "Drinking and chatting happily when the first snow falls is a refined thing. So is admiring plum blossoms. Shall we go to the plum forest and take a look?"
You Yuji didn't wait for Si Que to reply. She naturally placed her palm on the back of Si Que's hand and immediately said, "Can you handle it? If you feel tired, we can do it another day."
"I'll accompany my sister." Si Que smiled.
You Yuji invited Si Que to appreciate the plum blossoms because You Yuji wanted Si Que to go out for a walk more often.
Si Que changed his clothes and put on a veil before leaving Yunxiao Pavilion. He didn't like people praising his beauty, especially men looking at him, so when he went out, he often covered his eyes with a veil.
This was the first time Si Que walked out of Yunxiao Pavilion. The servants in the palace could not help but secretly look at him. Seeing that he was wearing a veil and a white veil to cover his face, they could not help but feel disappointed. When Si Que came to the palace that day, he did not wear a veil. Some servants had seen his face, and they all praised him with the servants who had not seen him. He looked like a fairy goddess in the sky. Those who had never seen him were naturally curious and scratched their heads.
When the two of them walked into Merlin, there were no more curious looks.
This first snowfall was so gentle that the ground was not covered with white. The red plum blossoms on the branches were only slightly stained with white.
You Yuji stood under a red plum tree, looking up at the red plum blossoms on the branch. The light through the snow fell on her face, adding a layer of tenderness to her charming features.
"Do you regret it?"
A strange male voice suddenly sounded behind her. You Yuji was startled and looked back.
Chen Qi stared deeply at You Yuji's face and asked again: "Do you regret choosing Chen Anzhi that day?"
Chen Qi was one of the three princes that the Empress Dowager Cixi asked You Yuji to choose that day.
You Yuji said in a gentle, polite and courteous voice: "Prince Qi."
Through the white gauze of the veil, Si Que glanced coldly at Chen Qi.