冬至前七日，铅灰色的云层终于在紫禁城上空崩裂，碎玉般的雪沫子簌簌落下，给太和殿的琉璃瓦镀上三层素白。苏锦璃踩着铺了厚毡的丹陛往乾清宫走，鎏金铜缸里的积雪映着她石青色斗篷的影子，领口白狐裘上凝着的冰晶随着步履轻颤，恍惚间像撒了把碎钻。怀中暖手玉尚留着江砚晨课时的余温，却抵不过腹中突如其来的一阵翻搅。
乾清宫的明黄帷帐低垂，暖炉里银丝炭烧得正旺，龙脑香混着墨香在空气中织成朦胧的纱。皇帝穿着月白常服蹲在紫檀雕花案前，手里的狼毫蘸着朱砂，在明黄洒金笺上涂画。太后戴着老花镜坐在软榻上，翡翠护甲轻叩着案头的《食宪鸿秘》："皇上这蚂蚁画得倒像，只是这树杈怎的弯弯曲曲？"寿安公主趴在桌角，藕荷色宫装拖在地上，正用胭脂膏给纸上的狐狸点眼睛，那畜生嘴里还叼着串用辣椒籽粘成的璎珞。
"苏锦璃来了？"皇帝猛地回头，狼毫上的朱砂溅在龙纹袍角，"快！快让御膳房备锅，朕今早梦见你做的蚂蚁上树，醒了嘴里还留着辣味儿！"他说着将画纸揉成一团，露出底下压着的菜谱——上面用朱笔圈着"粉丝要选山东龙口"，旁边歪扭扭写着"多放辣椒，江砚家的那种"。
Su Jinli was about to kneel in greeting when a sour feeling suddenly welled up in her throat. She leaned against the golden pillar carved with dragons and began to retch. Half of her stone-blue cloak slipped off, revealing the lotus pattern embroidered on her moon-white vest. Jiang Yan had entered from the side hall at some point, his dark official robe still stained with the scent of Wenyuan Pavilion ink. He rushed over and grasped her waist, the mist on his crystal glasses obscuring the white air he exhaled. "Madam? Did you catch a cold?" His fingertips touched the brocade pouch at her waist, which held the chili powder she had ground this morning, now wrinkled from her grip.
With a clatter, the Empress Dowager's jade Buddhist beads fell onto the gold bricks. The old woman stood up, leaning on an agarwood cane, her pearl necklace swaying rapidly. "Quick! Call Imperial Physician Zhang! Bring me the thousand-year-old ginseng from my storehouse!" Princess Shou'an was so frightened that she dropped her rouge brush. The hem of her pomegranate-red skirt knocked over the inkstone, and the ink spread across the bright yellow carpet like a suddenly blooming black plum blossom. "Sister Su, are the chili peppers irritating you? The other day, I snuck some chili powder from your sleeve and it made me cough!"
From outside the palace, the jingling of rings and pendants echoed. The Empress entered, holding the Concubine's hand. The phoenix-patterned pheasant on her robe shone faintly in the candlelight. The Concubine, with her silver-and-jade nails, picked at the rouge between her armor. "Sister," she said, "you see, this commoner's body is indeed more precious. But a little smell of cooking fumes..." Before she could finish her words, the Empress's gaze stopped her. Her pair of oriental pearl earrings shone coldly on her temples.
When Imperial Physician Zhang trotted in, medicine chest strapped to his back, Jiang Yan's hand was still tightly gripping Su Jinli's wrist pulse, the sweat from his palm soaking the soft satin beneath her sleeve. The old physician stroked his goatee for a moment, then suddenly set down his pulse pillow and burst into laughter, his white beard shaking like falling snow. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Madam Jiang...is pregnant!"
The Qianqing Palace was suddenly so quiet that one could hear the soft crackling of the charcoal fire in the stove. Su Jinli stared at Jiang Yan, stunned. Behind his glasses, his eyes suddenly flushed red, spreading from the corners of his eyes to the tips of his ears. She remembered three years ago in the dilapidated temple in Yangzhou, when Jiang Yan had woven a ring out of reed leaves and placed it on her finger. In the dilapidated temple, which was drafty, he had breathed out white air and said, "When I win the top spot in the imperial examination, we'll have a child. We'll sprinkle chili peppers in our porridge, just like you do."
"Good! Good!" The emperor was the first to react. He threw the recipe in his hand to the ground, and his dragon boots stomped on it, leaving cinnabar marks everywhere. "Jiang Yan, you kid! You're really good at hiding it!" He patted Jiang Yan's shoulder hard, shocking him so much that his official hat tilted. "I want to be... what was it? Oh, right! Uncle! When the child is born, I will make him the 'Chili Guard'!"
The Queen Mother's eyes narrowed in laughter as she clapped Su Jinli's hand, the jade armor knocking against the black jade bracelet on her wrist. "Great! I can finally hold my grandson!" She suddenly pointed at the Queen, "What are you still standing there for? Go get me the longevity locket I've been saving for ten years! The one with the pigeon-blood ruby!"
The empress's face paled, and the pearl drapes on her phoenix corona swayed slightly. She bowed, her voice trembling with a barely perceptible tremor: "Yes, mother." Turning, she accidentally knocked over the gilded incense burner in her sleeve, sending ambergris ash scattering at Su Jinli's feet like a silent sigh. Concubine Shu followed behind her, a smile playing on her lips, her fingertips digging into her palms, the freshly stained balsam flower juice cracking tiny lines on her nails.
Jiang Yan squatted down and carefully gathered Su Jinli's cloak. His fingertips brushed against her slightly swollen belly, which was still flat, yet seemed to bear a tremendous weight. He suddenly remembered that last night, while proofreading the "Qimin Yaoshu", he had circled the phrase "Pregnancy should eat spicy food" with a red pen. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like a premonition. "Madam," he looked up at her, his eyes shining brightly behind his glasses, "we...are having a child."
Su Jinli looked at his bewildered expression and suddenly felt like laughing, but her eyes welled up first. Outside the window, the snow fell even more heavily, pattering against the glazed tiles of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, staining the copper bells on the eaves a stark white. She leaned into Jiang Yan's arms, listening to the Emperor yell, "Let the little grandson call me 'Cooky Grandpa,'" the Empress Dowager ordering the imperial kitchen to "stew some non-spicy tonic quickly," and Princess Shou'an's question, "Would my little brother like eating ants climbing trees?" Suddenly, she felt that the thick walls of this deep palace didn't seem so cold anymore.
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