Laba

As the saying goes, after Laba Festival it is the New Year.

Even Ren Beixi did not expect that Prime Minister Li, who was supposed to be in charge of the overall situation in the capital, would suddenly come to Xianyu City with his wife.

In Li's mansion, Prime Minister Li, wearing a robe, handed the gift in his hand to the head maid.

"I've been so busy with affairs in the capital that I was planning to come celebrate your birthday this year, but I'm late." The old man leaned on his cane, looking very much wasted by the affairs of state. He raised his head slightly and saw the plaque in the hall, then said slowly, "Practice the vow to be reborn. Yu Qing, I wonder if the person I care about has passed away."

Li Yuqing paused slightly. She was used to being decisive and swift. She looked at Li Fuyin who was sitting in the hall and wiping his tears. She just said.

"Why don't you and your younger brother come with me to Yunchuan Temple tomorrow to pray for the children."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ren Beixi, who had returned home to pick up Guiyao, arrived together. He has now retired to be a good husband, and even his clothes are custom-made by Guiyao according to her preferences.

Li Yuqing was originally dissatisfied with the fact that his son ate his wife's food for free, but after all, he knew that his son had suffered setbacks in the capital, so he did not say much. Looking at his current appearance, he could not help but miss Ren Dingshan. What would he think if he saw his son like this?

As soon as Gui Yao walked in, she was slightly stunned by the voices of the elders in the hall.

Especially when she saw Prime Minister Li, the guilty feeling that had finally disappeared from Gao Shun came back again, and she subconsciously tried to pull Ren Beixi's hand away.

The man paused slightly, then said in a calm voice, as if no one was around, "It's okay, don't worry."

Guiyao always felt it vaguely.

This person quite liked the way she was acting stealthily now.

She cleared her throat.

"Today is Laba Festival. My uncle has made a pot of Laba porridge in the kitchen. He has added many medicinal herbs to it. You may want to come with us and warm yourself up."

Outside the kitchen, Xu Qing helped serve the Laba porridge.

A small spoon scooped it in and it was steaming hot.

Prime Minister Li took a deep breath, and as he tasted the food, his eyebrows knitted into an eight shape.

"This Laba porridge not only has the taste of medicine, but also the fragrance of plum blossoms." He looked at his wife beside him and asked her to taste it. His wife just nodded, and suddenly seemed to remember something and sighed.

She was a little sad: "Every New Year, Jiaojiao would go to the mountains to pick wintersweets and put them in the yard. The fragrance... now I can no longer smell it."

Only the sadness is gone.

"My Yueming doesn't like flowers, but she likes to make some sweet things, like Laba porridge. At this time of year in previous years, she likes to add some sugar to the white porridge." Li Fuyin took out his handkerchief to wipe his tears again.

Seeing this, Guiyao could only speak.

"Prime Minister Li, is His Majesty okay now?"

"He's perfectly fine."

"Mr. Li, why didn't Brother Huang come with you today?"

"Today is the day to go home, not to work."

Guiyao clapped her hands and asked Momo, who was chewing fruit nearby, to come over and act cute.

This big black dog has completed a huge transformation from "You guys are back" to "What is this thing" to "Miaomiao, you are not allowed to look at him" in just one year.

To be honest, life is so hard. I didn’t expect that I would meet my love rival at this age!

Miaomiao is just being tsundere. Everyone in the world should like our pretty little cat, right?

Mo Mo didn't think so, but he just stayed close to Miao Miao, just like now, the dog saw the cat didn't move, so fine, I, the dog, won't move either.

“Woof woof!! Woof woof woof!!”

A yellow dog suddenly ran out from the corridor not far away.

Dahuang wagged his tongue, with a healing smile on his cute face and speaking in Northeastern dialect, and jumped in front of Guiyao and sat down obediently.

"Good dog." Guiyao touched Dahuang's head.

When she rolled up her sleeves and looked up, she breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was only Huang Shiyu. But she was a little confused. Although he was very familiar with her and Ren Beixi, he had never come to the backyard without being informed.

She narrowed her eyes, but heard Huang Shiyu bow to everyone, then carried a person over from the pavilion and spoke with a serious expression.

"Prefect, when I came back from the canal today, I saved a young man who had fainted on the roadside. Since the New Year is approaching and it's hard to find a doctor on the street, I brought him here..."

Gui Yao's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly.

no.

How could this happen?

She quickly stood up and checked the man's breathing. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. She just breathed a sigh of relief when she turned around and saw that Prime Minister Li almost fainted.

After a moment of silent shock, my uncle asked Huang Shiyu to carry the man to the nearest room.

Prime Minister Li recovered, his cloudy eyes fixed on Ren Beixi, who was supporting him beside him, and said in a breathy voice, "You have done a great job in keeping it a secret. I never thought that His Majesty would be here."

Ren Beixi raised his eyebrows slightly, as if thinking of the news from the capital. Since the Queen disappeared, His Majesty has been staying in the palace most of the time except for the morning court. It is indeed surprising that he suddenly appeared in Xianyu City.

"He doesn't look well. Madam has been nursing him for the past half month. Yesterday he said he wanted to go to Yunchuan Temple."

Prime Minister Li listened to Ren Beixi's usual steady voice.

He said with a headache, "Your Majesty is worth a million dollars, but you fainted. Aren't you worried?"

Ren Beixi didn't say anything else.

It was not appropriate to allow outsiders into the bedroom. After a while, Gui Yao walked out and gave Ren Beixi a reassuring look. She turned around and scooped another bowl of Laba porridge. Through the hot steam, she grabbed the sleeve of the man behind her and leaned close to his ear.

"Pretend."

The porridge smelled hot. She saw that he was not surprised. When she got closer, her voice was a little greasy: "Husband, he is too suspicious."

Otherwise, he could become the emperor.

Knowing that a distinguished guest would arrive in Xianyu City today, he fainted, half-faking it, and tried to scam Huang Shiyu on the road he had to take back to the city. It was clever, but Huang Shiyu really did save anyone he saw, and he was really eager to save people.

She took Ren Beixi in to see Gao Shun who was receiving acupuncture. This man suffered some pain because he came to his father-in-law unexpectedly.

Ren Beixi placed the freshly prepared porridge on the table. His uncle nodded slightly and left the room.

Gui Yao sat aside, holding her face in her hands: "Why do you have to be like this?"

The snow outside the window fell softly. Looking over, the two puppies in the yard were wagging their tails. Miaomiao curiously stretched out her little paws, wanting to scratch the snowflakes. The bowl of Laba porridge was also stained with melted water stains.

Gao Shun lay on the bed, wrapped tightly in the quilt, but his phoenix eyes under his long eyelashes were filled with a hint of satisfaction.

He just played along.

The changes in Xianyu City are faster and more frequent than those in the capital. The fleeting clues must be captured immediately by those in power. The brother surnamed Huang in Xianyu Mansion is now in charge of the opening hours and trends of many merchants in the city. It would be great if I could get to know him.

He drank the warming Laba porridge and smiled slightly: "I went to Yunchuan Temple to get a talisman for Jiaojiao. I just hope that she...is safe."

If he is alive, I want to see him in person; if he is dead, I want to see his body.

From the first moment Gui Yao saw Gao Shun, his paranoid thoughts were the first thing that came to her mind.

But Guiyao was helpless and sighed.

I'm so sorry, she's down.