Liu'er was fiddling with the vase on the table, as if no matter how she arranged it, it didn't suit her taste.
Upon hearing this, she glanced at the rain outside and smiled, saying, "Aunt Yun said it will probably clear up tomorrow, and I think so too."
The rain in Beijing is usually a light drizzle, unlike the Qingnan area. I passed through there a few years ago at this time of year, and it was flooded. I wonder what it's like now.
That happened several years ago. At that time, floods breached the dikes, submerged many villages, and caused countless deaths and injuries.
Jiang Yimian turned her gaze from the window to the few exceptionally vibrant roses in the vase on the table, and asked curiously, "Is the flooding in the Qingnan area severe?"
Aunt Yun happened to come in from outside and heard this, so she quickly said, "It shouldn't be serious, right? If it were serious, how could everything be so peaceful? It's the flood season in Qingnan for the past half month, and floods are common."
However, the imperial court is quite busy. Although the situation isn't severe, the annual floods and disaster relief efforts are a headache.
I don't know how those people in the Ministry of Works managed to keep Qingnan from flooding every year.
Liu'er asked curiously, "Isn't it serious? I passed by there a few years ago, and it looked quite serious."
She still remembers passing by a place where refugees were being resettled; a simple thatched hut was packed with people.
With so many people homeless, it doesn't seem like a minor issue.
Aunt Yun thought for a while before saying seriously, "I guess it's because the government's disaster relief funds have improved in recent years. Qingnan has floods every year, but I haven't seen many refugees fleeing, so it must not be serious."
Liu'er thought it made sense. After all, there were floods every year, and the government officials must have learned from experience and had certainly taken good care of the refugees.
Jiang Yimian understood. No wonder Lu Cijian hadn't come to see her in the past few days; he must have been busy.
Although the Censorate wouldn't necessarily have to go along to provide disaster relief, it was related to the Ministry of Works after all, so the Censorate would definitely have to spare some attention to supervise it.
Aunt Yun's gaze fell on the few fresh roses on the table, and she asked curiously, "Where did these roses come from? They're so beautiful, and they even seem to be two-colored."
Several yellow and white roses were arranged in a glass vase, with the most beautiful one in the center, so beautiful that it was hard to look away.
Liu'er glanced at Jiang Yimian with a smile before saying, "Indeed, the yellow and white roses, I wonder which florist cultivated them, the colors are so beautiful."
Aunt Yun leaned over to take a closer look at the two-colored roses, and said with a smile, "The person who sent these flowers is really thoughtful. I wonder where they found them."
Everyone says that Lady Bai, the wife of the Minister of Rites in the capital, loves roses the most. Her mansion is filled with roses of all colors, a truly beautiful sight in their season. But today, I see that the flowers in the Minister of Rites' mansion are not as beautiful as these two-colored roses.”
Jiang Yimian looked at the roses and smiled unconsciously.
Ever since the white-tailed eagle gave us the camellia, it has been giving us all sorts of things every day, sometimes cute wooden carvings, sometimes exquisite clay sculptures.
After arriving in the capital, the white-tailed eagle became even more frequent, mostly visiting various flowers and plants of different colors that were not easy to find.
Now, the exotic flowers and plants that can be seen everywhere in the mansion have given Wang Fengqin the idea of planting them.
These few bicolor roses were specially brought to Baoxiangfang by Liu'er by Wang Fengqin, who said that keeping them by her side and seeing such beautiful flowers would lift her spirits.
Just then, Ashu's voice rang out from outside, "Shopkeeper, a young master is looking for you."
Jiang Yimian looked at the person in front of her, dressed in the official robes of the Censorate, and asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly come to see me?"
This was the first time Lu Cijian had come to see her since arriving in the capital.
This was also the first time she had seen Lu Cijian in his official uniform.
The young man was dressed in a dark robe with gold thread embroidered patterns on the cuffs and hem, which made his figure appear exceptionally upright.
He exuded a cold and aloof aura, yet his handsome and refined face softened even that aura.
His slender figure really did resemble those frail civil officials.
But at this moment, a faint smile appeared in those peach blossom eyes, and the words she spoke were enough to make one blush, "I came because I missed you, Mianmian, have you missed me?"
Jiang Yimian sighed helplessly. Meeting those alluring peach blossom eyes, she didn't answer. Instead, she lowered her head to avoid his burning gaze, her eyes falling on the delicate little basket he was carrying. "What's this?"
Lu Cijian smiled and said, "I don't know if you like Tianxiangzhai's pastries, but I bought some since I was passing by."
Jiang Yimian took it, lifted the silk on the small basket, and picked up a lotus-shaped pastry to savor it.
It has a sweet and refreshing taste that melts in your mouth without being too cloying.
She nodded and smiled, saying, "It tastes good."
The little girl ate the pastry in her hand in small bites, a strange light flashing in her eyes. She looked like a greedy little cat, now that she was full, she seemed to be obediently waiting to be petted.
Lu Cijian's eyes flickered slightly. He reached out and touched her fluffy head, chuckling softly, "It seems that lotus flower pastries are more useful than flowers."
Jiang Yimian paused, glanced at the roses in full bloom on the table, a sly glint in her eyes, leaned closer to Lu Cijian, and said earnestly in his ear, "I like flowers or lotus pastries, I like anything you give me."
The warm breath sprayed onto Lu Cijian's neck, sending shivers down his spine as if it possessed some kind of magic, making him freeze for a moment.
But the instigator, with a wicked grin, tried to distance himself from him.
Lu Cijian simply reached out and pulled the person into his arms, lifted the other person's chin, and lowered his head to kiss him.
Their lips met, and Lu Cijian gently kissed the person in his arms, slowly and patiently, like a hunter with great patience.
But just when the other person wanted to catch their breath, he kissed them deeply again, sucking the saliva from their mouth.
He only reluctantly released the person in his arms when the person in his arms gently patted his shoulder, as if they couldn't take it anymore.
After catching their breath, Jiang Yimian finally asked, "I heard from Aunt Yun that Qingnan experiences floods every year around this time. Why is that? Doesn't the imperial court have anyone to manage it?"
Lu Cijian said, "Of course there is. Every year there are disaster relief funds and officials from the Ministry of Works to handle it, but it is still the same every year. Fortunately, it is not too serious, so it has not attracted much attention from the court."
Jiang Yimian nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
As the two were talking, a rapid knocking sounded at the door. "My lord, the Censorate has urgent business to attend to."
Lu Cijian was taken aback, and after a while, he responded, then looked at Jiang Yimian and said helplessly, "I'll go back to the Censorate first."
Jiang Yimian hummed in response but didn't say anything more, though she felt inexplicably uneasy.
Although the Censorate is usually busy with official duties, there are no particularly urgent situations. However, judging from Wang San's hurried tone just now, it was clear that something important had happened.
Jiang Yimian looked out the window and felt that the drizzling rain suddenly intensified, and even the water droplets falling from the eaves seemed like rain columns pouring down.
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