In the following winter, Feng Yuanyuan became a regular visitor. She came almost every day for ten days. Sometimes she would laugh and play with little girl Rong and several other girls. Sometimes she would come late and chat and laugh with Xianjin.
As for people, feelings are developed through interactions.
As the first month of the lunar year approached, Feng Yuanyuan began to call Xianjin "Sister Xianjin" affectionately, and even invited Xianjin to go out of the city to burn incense together two or three times in a row: "I heard that the Wanguo Temple is our national temple, and the spring water in the temple is very effective. Drinking a pot of water can cure all diseases, but it is only open to the public in the twelfth month and the first month of the lunar year - Sister Xianjin, can you accompany me to get a cup of spring water?"
The shop was busy, so Xianjin declined.
After being rejected twice, Feng Yuanyuan was a little unhappy and muttered: "...You clearly said that you would always meet any request of a young girl - if Sister Rong invited you, you would definitely go."
Xianjin:?
That's not necessarily the case.
They are all just passers-by in my life.
The only principal wife was still busy making paper pulp in Xuancheng Mansion.
In the capital city, the New Year was celebrated in a lively and bustling way. During the first month of the lunar year, all three shops held activities. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, several boards were placed at the end of the alley where "Pinxuan" was located. There were words and paintings engraved on them, saying things like "After the Lantern Festival, the family reunites. In a family, the mother comes first." There were also several large paintings on the boards, all of which were women who looked like mothers, some with a kind attitude, embroidering, some with their hands on their hips, turning the soil, and some with books in their hands, reading by lamplight at night...
On the last board, it was written "Congratulations to my mother at the hour of Chen, sending her a piece of peach paper", and then there was an arrow drawn pointing inside.
A tall figure in a black cloak with gold weaving stopped at the end of the alley, stood in front of a few wooden boards and looked for a long time, then walked slowly inside after a while.
Xianjinhou was waiting outside the side door and called out, "Grand Princess." He then avoided the crowd and led Grand Princess Bai'an to the inner courtyard, where there was a small flower room, bamboo-woven cotton curtains hung around the fences, and bronze auspicious beasts exhaled incense. The coldness of the first month in the capital seemed to have bypassed this hidden little courtyard, leaving behind only the purity and chill unique to winter.
Princess Bai'an untied her cloak and handed it to Xianjin in a friendly manner. She then sat down and sniffed the teacup: "I've heard from others that your tea is strange and delicious. It smells really strange now - some fruity aroma? Add some green tea?"
"Dried cherries from the first fruits of early spring, dried peaches from summer, dried plums from autumn, and dried hawthorns from winter, brewed with green tea, and added some brown sugar." Xianjin smiled and sat down opposite the Grand Princess Bai'an: "It's rare that you like it. Many people say that I am wasting natural resources - I actually made fun of tea."
This is not something brought over from later generations.
He had it ready long ago. When he was in Xuancheng Prefecture, although Mrs. Qu was not a very objective person, her tea was delicious. Xianjin had always been thinking about it. Now that he had his own shop, he tried his best to make it and serve his guests.
Princess Bai'an raised the corners of her lips and smiled: "No matter how precious it is, it is just an object. What matters is that the person is happy."
Xian Jin lowered his eyes and replied.
Princess Bai'an had what later generations often called a "sense of being tired of having everything satisfied" - her overwhelming demeanor and efficiency probably came from this.
Princess Bai'an talked about the signs at the end of the alley again, and her smile changed from being light and indifferent just now to being warm: "...I heard them in the palace that you are organizing some Mother's Day festival, saying that if you make paper for your mother, you will also receive a gift box and ribbon...How is this going now?"
Mother's Day in later generations is in May, but now Xianjin has set it in the first month of the lunar calendar.
Happy New Year! Celebrating two festivals at the same time makes it easier for everyone to remember.
Xianjin followed suit and laughed: "This year's promotion is average, but if it is promoted every year and persisted for ten years, this saying will eventually become a habit - who doesn't have a mother? Who doesn't love his mother? Which scholar has not learned 'Who says that the love of a little grass can repay the kindness of three springs'? I think this solar term will eventually become popular."
Princess Bai'an took a sip of tea and nodded.
Both of them tacitly kept silent about Xianjin's refusal to recognize his ancestral roots. Princess Bai'an asked about the situation of Xianjin's shop, and Xianjin asked about how Princess Bai'an spent the New Year: "... the folk New Year atmosphere is particularly strong. The fireworks beside the moat have been set off all night. I heard from the neighbors that this year's fireworks are the most beautiful in the past ten years..."
Princess Bai'an looked at Xianjin with a gentle gaze: "Really? That's great. The busyness in the palace is worth it."
Xianjin thought of Qiao Hui's busy year: from the end of December to now, a whole month, he hardly came back. Even if he came back once, he was in a hurry to take a shower, say a few words to Xianjin and then leave. He didn't mention what he was busy with, and Xianjin didn't dare to ask - since the last change of personnel, the Capital Command Headquarters has almost become a reserve guard, handling all the emperor's affairs.
Xianjin raised his head and saw the fine lines extending from the corners of Princess Bai'an's eyes. He lowered his head again and saw that the calluses on the middle finger and index finger of his right hand were very thick, showing that she had been holding a pen for many years.
Xianjin recalled Qiao Fangzhi's previous evaluation of Princess Bai'an: she was like a lone wolf, ignorant of life and death, tireless, sleeping only three hours a day and busy with endless official duties. She was the only king in the history of the Wei Dynasty, and even in the past hundred years or so, who could personally reply to every memorial.
Oh, you can even tell from the official's greetings that the local harvest has been bad recently - they flattered and tried to build relationships, but were criticized by the emperor...
It also required that the five cabinet members, two of whom would take turns to guard the Changtian Palace outside the Forbidden Palace every day, and several cabinet elders were often woken up in the middle of their sleep to be trained.
If your boss doesn't rest, there is no way you can get off work.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
