"You... wait a moment."
Jiang Yanyi said this, then suddenly turned around and ran out of the yard.
Every time she came to Feng Shuo's place, Xing Yao would go out very consciously and stay with the guards at the gate of the courtyard. He would generally not enter the house unless Feng Shuo summoned him.
Seeing Jiang Yanyi hurriedly running out of the yard, Xing Yao was surprised, but he still clasped his fists and said, "Miss Jiang, are you leaving?"
Jiang Yanyi shook his head, "No. I want to ask you, did he eat longevity noodles today?"
This "he" can only be Feng Shuo.
Xing Yao had a hint of doubt in his eyes: "Longevity noodles?"
Xing Yao's attitude made Jiang Yanyi feel a little strange. He was Feng Shuo's personal bodyguard, but he didn't know that today was Feng Shuo's birthday
But before Jiang Yanyi could ask again, Feng Shuo suddenly appeared at the gate of the courtyard and said to her directly: "I'll take you back."
Feng Shuo's behavior clearly showed that he didn't want Jiang Yanyi to ask too many questions. No matter how many doubts Jiang Yanyi had, he could only keep them in his heart for the time being.
She originally wanted to let Feng Shuo go back to his room to rest, but when she thought that he offered to send her off, and that he might have something to say to her on the way, she did not refuse.
Dusk enveloped the sky and the earth. The lantern in Feng Shuo's hand cast a small halo of light. He walked in front. The night wind made the lantern sway gently, and the shadow it cast on the ground also became swaying.
Jiang Yanyi took half a step back and followed behind him.
All the way in silence.
After passing another hanging flower gate, it was the main gate of Feng Mansion. Feng Shuo still didn't speak. Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but ask him, "When is your birthday... Why doesn't anyone in the mansion seem to know?"
As a vassal king, it was his birthday, so how could these shrewd people in the Xizhou government not come in droves to give gifts? The more Jiang Yanyi thought about it, the more strange it seemed to him.
Feng Shuo stopped and turned his head slightly to look at her. His upturned phoenix eyes were incredibly charming under the light of the lantern, but the self-mockery in his eyes was equally frightening.
He was smiling, a smile that was slightly chilly, like broken ice on a lake in the sun in the dead of winter.
"What they remember is not my birthday, but the prince's birthday."
The prince’s birthday
Jiang Yanyi didn't understand what he said.
A winter plum tree near the hanging flower gate has already sprouted many flower buds, cold and delicate, but not as stunning as his frown.
"My mother gave birth to me the year the crown prince was assassinated during his southern tour. The late emperor could not accept the fact that the crown prince had died, and for a time he treated me as the crown prince in his youth. Since then, every birthday I celebrated was on the crown prince's birthday."
He spoke calmly, and that chaotic and gloomy memory flashed through his mind like a shadow play.
After Empress Yuan died, the late emperor became violent and erratic. Every year, the palace would select the best ladies with Empress Yuan's portrait. The ladies who entered the palace all had some of Empress Yuan's shadow. Perhaps the source of his mother's pain in her life was because she had the same face as Empress Yuan.
When he was young, he also looked like the young prince.
After the death of the crown prince, the late emperor deceived himself for a while and asked his mother to pretend to be the empress, and regarded him as the young crown prince, so as to preserve the thought that the late emperor's wife and children were still alive. From then on, the crown prince's birthday became his birthday, and it was the same every year.
Even if his real birth date and time were recorded on the jade disc, who would dare to disobey the late emperor
When the late emperor was in the play, he wished he could pick all the stars in the sky for the mother and son. After waking up, he felt guilty towards the mother and son of Empress Yuan, and beat and scolded him and his mother. It seemed that only by punishing them could the late emperor offset his guilt towards Empress Yuan and her son.
Royal scandals must not be spread outside, and the mistake has been allowed to continue for so many years that everyone has regarded the former crown prince's birthday as his own birthday.
In the past, it was his mother who remembered his birthday, but now she has lost her mind and no longer recognizes him.
If Fuxi hadn't prepared a red envelope for him this morning, he wouldn't have been able to celebrate his real birthday.
Feng Shuo looked up at the starry sky and smiled gently, using his nonchalance to cover up his inexplicable disappointment: "It's just a birthday. If you miss this year, you won't be able to wait until next year. Life is still long, so what does it matter if I can't make it..."
He couldn't say the rest of the words because Jiang Yanyi hugged him from behind.
Feng Shuo was stunned for a long while before he lowered his eyes to look at the pair of delicate hands clasped around his waist.
His mind went blank for a moment before he regained some consciousness and pretended to be joking: "Jiang Yanyi, what are you doing?"
Jiang Yanyi leaned his face against his back and said with some heartache: "Feng Shuo, happy birthday!"
"As long as I'm still here, I'll help you celebrate your birthday every year, okay?"
Feng Shuo didn't say anything, but suddenly threw away the lantern, grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.
His cloak was very large, more than enough to wrap Jiang Yanyi in, and the biting cold wind was completely blocked outside the cloak. Jiang Yanyi's nose was filled with the clean soap scent of his body. Her face gently rested on his shoulder, and it was at this moment that Jiang Yanyi realized that he looked thin, but his shoulders were very broad.
There was silence between heaven and earth, and the hug lasted for a long time.
The lantern fell to the ground, and the candlelight quickly set the paper cage on fire.
Jiang Yanyi saw it and hurried to put out the fire, but Feng Shuo had his hand on her waist and had no intention of letting go.
"Don't move."
"The lanterns are lit!"
"in spite of."
"oh."
The firelight illuminated the two people hugging each other, and under the night sky, large flakes of snow slowly fell to the earth.
Fine snow fell on Jiang Yanyi's long eyelashes, cheeks, and hair. She blinked gently, and the snowflakes melted, bringing with them a biting chill.
She looked up in surprise: "Feng Shuo, it's snowing!"
Feng Shuo also looked up at the first snow of early winter, "Yes, it's snowing."
When he lowered his eyes, he raised his hand and gently brushed away the fine snow on Jiang Yanyi's hair. Looking at her beautiful smile, his throat moved, and he leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead, devoutly and solemnly.
His lips were warm, and the fine snow falling on his face was cool. Jiang Yanyi's eyelashes fluttered several times, his heart was pounding, and his brain seemed to be unable to think.
When Feng Shuo stepped back, his ears, hidden in the darkness, were already red, but his tone was calm: "If you're any later, it will be curfew. I'll take you home."
The previous words asking her to stay were just spoken on impulse. As an unmarried girl, if she did not return home at night, she would inevitably be gossiped about.
Rumors are not a knife, but they are worse than a knife.
How could he bear to let her fall into such criticism
Jiang Yanyi glanced at the sky. It was almost the hour of Xu, and there was curfew at 1:30.
She pursed her lips and said, "You haven't eaten the longevity noodles yet. I'll go back and make you a bowl of longevity noodles."
Feng Shuo thought for a moment and said, "You don't have to send it over when it's done. I'll go there myself."
Jiang Yanyi knew that he did this for the sake of his own reputation. He was of noble status, so even if he was bumped into by soldiers on night patrol, no one dared to ask any questions, so he just nodded.
Feng Shuo accompanied Jiang Yanyi all the way to the gate. The gatekeeper was smart and when he saw that they didn't have lanterns, he took another one and gave it to Jiang Yanyi.
Yang Xiu and Bing Shao always waited until Jiang Yanyi closed the shop before returning to the inn before curfew. Jiang Yanyi was afraid that they might have seen something, so he would tell Chu Changping and would not let Feng Shuo send him back again.
She planned to tell Chu Changping in person about her and Feng Shuo. Before that, she didn't want Chu Changping to hear any rumors so as to avoid him worrying too much.
It was the first time that Jiang Yanyi came back from Feng Mansion so late. Although Yang Xiu and Bing Shao were a little worried, Jiang Yanyi was the master. Since she didn't say anything, they, as waiters and guards, didn't dare to ask too much. Seeing that Jiang Yanyi returned safely, they went back to the inn.
Qiu Kui had already helped Jiang Yanyi put the charcoal basin in the room. She was wearing a quilted vest over her skirt and rubbed her hands while breathing out, "Hua Hua, it's snowing. It's so cold."
Since following Jiang Yanyi to open the shop, Qiu Kui has been eating well, sleeping soundly, and has become plump at a speed visible to the naked eye. The winter clothes that Jiang Yanyi bought for her are now a bit tight and not very convenient to wear when working.
"I'll ask Madam Chen to make you a thicker winter coat later. Go back to your room and get some sleep. You'll be busy tomorrow." Jiang Yanyi said as he rummaged through the drawers in the room and found a pair of knee pads.
This knee pad was originally made by her for Chu Changping. Now that it was Feng Shuo's birthday, she didn't have time to prepare any expensive gifts, so she could only give this to Feng Shuo. Although it was not expensive, it was sewn by her stitch after all, and it was lined with rabbit fur, so it was very warm.
"Huahua, aren't you sleeping yet?" Qiu Kui asked while yawning.
"I'll hang up the soup for tomorrow, you go to sleep first." Jiang Yanyi took the knee pads out of the cabinet and placed them on the bedside.
Jiang Yanyi had to take soup every night. Qiu Kui didn't suspect anything and just asked, "Why did Huahua take out the knee pads?"
"I can finish sewing the remaining two stitches while I'm watching the fire. It'll be good for me to have something to do and wake myself up."
"Then I'll go to sleep first. Huahua, don't stay up too late. Call me if you need help." As he spoke, Qiu Kui yawned again and turned back to his room.
Perhaps because he was guilty, Jiang Yan felt inexplicably relieved when he saw Qiu Kui leave.
Now that the weather is cold, she puts a charcoal brazier in her room at night, so Jiang Yanyi puts the parrot in her room.
At this hour, the parrot had fallen asleep on a branch in the cage. Jiang Yanyi threw a grain of rice into its feeding trough, and it just moved its eyelids and went back to sleep.
Seeing the parrot, one can't help but think of the parrot's owner, and Jiang Yanyi's mouth corners unconsciously raised.
She wrapped up the knee pads and put them on the corner of the table, then closed the door and went to the kitchen.
Before kneading, Jiang Yanyi first used a casserole to cook a scallop, pork ribs and bamboo fungus soup to enhance the flavor of the scallops. As one of the "Eight Delicacies of Grass", bamboo fungus has high nutritional and medicinal value.
The soup used to make the noodles is fresh, fragrant and delicious.
The reason why longevity noodles are called “longevity noodles” is that the noodles in this bowl are one whole strand and cannot be broken in the middle.
Jiang Yanyi is an absolute expert at kneading dough. From the toughness to the strength, he can always get it just right. Kneading dough requires a solid foundation of skills, that is, whether the dough can be stretched to be as thin as a hair.
Jiang Yanyi does have this skill, but when making ordinary noodles, there is no need to show off by stretching the noodles to such thin layers.
It takes some time to cook the soup, and Jiang Yanyi was a little worried that Feng Shuo would come too early and there would be nothing to eat.
After she made the noodles, she kept an eye on the noise outside the house, but apart from the occasional barking of a dog in the distance, the only sounds were the occasional soldiers on night patrol passing by.
Feng Shuo said before that he would come over. Could he be lying to her just to make her obey and come back
Jiang Yanyi looked at the casserole with water bubbling on the stove and felt a little confused for a moment.
***
The dungeon of the Fengfu.
A gust of wind blew in from the skylight, and the lantern on the wall flickered twice. A man in black quietly sneaked in and stopped in front of the cell where Fan Yaonian was imprisoned.
Fan Yaonian was severely punished and was huddled in a pile of straw, looking disheveled and dirty.
When he noticed someone outside the cell, he was startled at first, but when the man in black pulled off his veil, his expression turned into ecstasy. His feet were covered in blood, and he couldn't stand up. He almost crawled to the cell door: "Hurry up and save me!"
The man in black looked at him as if he were a dead object. Sensing the man's indifference, Fan Yaonian quickly realized something was wrong. A flash of fear flashed across his eyes: "No... Impossible... His Majesty still has to rely on the Fan family, he won't kill me..."
He supported himself with his hands and tried to step back, but the man in black grabbed the chain on his body.
Fan Yaonian was dragged back by the man in black like a dead dog, and the cold iron chain with a bloody smell was wrapped around his neck.
"save-"
As soon as Fan Yaonian shouted a word, the man in black suddenly tightened the chain.
Fan Yaonian grabbed the iron chain around his neck with one hand and stretched back with the other hand, trying to scratch the man in black. He opened his mouth wide but no sound came out. His eyes turned white and his scratching strength became weaker and weaker. When he waved his hand for the last time, he accidentally pulled off a token from the man in black.
At this moment, chaotic footsteps were heard outside the dungeon. "An assassin has sneaked into the dungeon!"
Fan Yaonian was completely motionless. The man in black looked outside in panic, reached out to feel Fan Yaonian's breath, and made sure that he was really dead before withdrawing.
When the jailers rushed into the cell, they saw that Fan Yaonian had an iron chain around his neck and was dead.
The man in black dealt with Fan Yaonian and headed straight for the west wing of Feng Mansion.
After crossing this yard, there is another person who must be killed.
However, the man in black stopped after stepping into the west wing, and when he looked at the person sitting in the pavilion, he immediately felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
He weighed the matter for a moment, turned around and was about to run back, but Xing Yao had already led the palace soldiers to block all retreat routes, and even the other two walls were full of archers.
Tonight is a trap set up to lure you into a trap.
The man in black was like a trapped beast that was forced into a desperate situation. His eyes were filled with hatred and he ran straight towards the wall that separated Jiang Yanyi's yard and the west wing.
As long as we can climb over that wall and capture the daughter of Jiang, there will still be a glimmer of hope.
He was very good at martial arts, and he kicked the wall and was about to flip over it, but a tea lid was suddenly thrown out from the pavilion and hit him on the back.
The cup lid was smooth and not sharp, but at this moment it broke through the flesh like a sharp weapon. The tremendous force seemed to shatter the spine of the man in black, and he fell straight down, hitting the ground with a loud noise.
It was snowing heavily, and a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground. Large amounts of blood flowed out from under the man in black, dyeing the snow on the ground red.
Feng Shuo walked out slowly from the pavilion and glanced at the dead man in black.
Xing Yao stepped forward and handed Feng Shuo a token: "Master, this person is a palace guard."
The cold wind blew for a long time today. Feng Shuo covered his lips and coughed twice: "The Fan family's spies saw it clearly."
Xing Yao nodded: "I'm afraid that the secret report that the emperor sent someone to kill Fan Yaonian is already on the way to the capital."
Feng Shuo said: "Let them fight each other for a while."
Fan Yaonian fell into his hands, Xie Zhizhou had been thrown into prison, and the Turkic prince was being hunted down these days. How could the new emperor not be panicked
If Fan Yaonian revealed that the new emperor had instructed them to collude with the Turks, the new emperor's throne would be truly unstable.
The only way is to make Fan Yaonian unable to speak again.
The new emperor wanted Fan Yaonian to die, but Fan Wei had already lost his youngest son, and if his eldest son died, he would have no son left, so he would naturally try every means to save his son.
If Fan Wei's own people saw that it was the new emperor who killed Fan Yaonian, it would be strange for Fan Wei to be loyal to the new emperor after avenging the two murders of his sons.
Once the capital was in chaos, the new emperor had no time to send troops to Xizhou, and his people could also take advantage of the chaos to bring out the Chu family and Madam Jiang and her son.
***
While waiting for the soup to boil, Jiang Yanyi took the knee pads to the stove and embroidered a few delicate cloud patterns.
She was startled when she heard a loud noise outside the courtyard wall. She listened carefully for a moment, but no sound was heard again.
She was worried and went outside with a lamp in hand to look around. Qiu Kui was always a deep sleeper. In her own words, even a thunder in the middle of the night could not wake her up, so this little noise did not wake Qiu Kui up.
Jiang Yanyi didn't notice anything unusual, so he went back to the kitchen.
The soup was almost done. Jiang Yanyi was not sure whether Feng Shuo would come, but seeing that there was still an hour and a half left until midnight, he thought about it and decided to continue cooking the noodles.
Whether he comes or not is his business, but whether he cooks or not is her feeling.
After the noodles are cooked in clear water, put them into a large bowl with scallop, pork ribs and bamboo fungus soup as the base. Put a fried egg on it, put a few slices of boiled vegetables on top, and sprinkle some chopped green onions on it. A bowl of longevity noodles is ready.
Feng Shuo still hadn't come. Jiang Yanyi couldn't help but run to the shop in front, opened the door a little and looked out.
Has Feng Shuo actually been here
But he knocked on the door and I was in the kitchen and didn’t hear it
Jiang Yanyi had a lot of various thoughts popping up in her mind, and it was at this moment that she realized how she felt when she was worried about someone.
Without waiting for Feng Shuo, she walked back feeling a little disappointed.
When passing by the yard, I suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a person standing on the wall.
Jiang Yanyi raised the oil lamp in his hand and saw that the person on the wall was wearing a dragon robe and jade belt. It was Feng Shuo.
Feng Shuo didn't expect to be bumped into by Jiang Yanyi when he was climbing over the wall. He felt a little embarrassed. He jumped lightly from the top of the wall and landed on the ground. He coughed lightly and said, "It's more hidden this way."
Jiang Yanyi glanced at his clean cloak and noticed that it was not the one he had worn before.
She held the oil lamp, her expression somewhat subtle.
Did he accidentally fall down when he was climbing the wall because of the loud noise just now? That's why he went back to change his clothes
The author has something to say: Jiang Yanyi: I can even guess this, I am really a smart guy!
Feng Shuo: ...I changed into new clothes just to see you, thank you.
Today I favor Concubine Wan, there will be another update later~
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