16 Chapter 16 Herbal Fragrance
"What do you want to do?"
"Do you want to enter the palace?" Yuliu looked at Yunhe and asked.
As the words fell, the little snow rabbit that had been sitting quietly on Yunhe's hand suddenly arched its back, and its soft fur rubbed against Yunhe's palm, leaving a tingling sensation.
But Yunhe curled his fingertips slightly, savoring Yuliu's question carefully, and did not lower his head to give the snow rabbit any glances. He just raised his hand and smoothed the fur along the curved curve of the snowball.
Yun He looked at Yu Liu, a faint smile on his lips as he nodded slightly in agreement: "Since we are leaving the palace together, I would like to take this opportunity to go to the palace with you and visit the Fourth Prince's wife on the way, right?"
After hearing this, Yuliu nodded and did not ask Yunhe why he suddenly changed his mind and was willing to enter the palace today.
I just think it's fine this way.
But nevertheless…
Yuliu looked past the bustling crowds of the downtown area and spotted the magnificent imperial sedan parked a street away. She said to Yumei, "Yumei, why don't you go and bring it over? The palace's white-maned horses are fast. Let's get to the palace quickly and don't keep my sister waiting anxiously."
In fact, given Yumei's status, she was not worthy of using such a gorgeous palace sedan. Today, she received the order from His Majesty the Fourth Prince to use this sedan to pick up Yuliu into the palace, and that was the blessing she received.
Now that Yuliu had spoken personally, Yumei naturally did not dare to let "Miss Su" ride in the Yuqing Courtyard's small private sedan again. She responded by casually calling a eunuch behind her and leading the sedan over.
If Yuliu hadn't said this, Fangyue wouldn't have noticed that there was a palace sedan parked over there. She just thought that the items used in the palace were indeed well-trained and well-educated. A white jade horse as tall as a floor stood on the street, with its head lowered, neither trying to climb the ladder nor snorting, and it was as well-behaved as a fairy-maned horse from an ink painting.
"If you hadn't told me, I almost wouldn't have noticed. But why did Yumei park the sedan so far away? It wasted the time going back and forth!" Fang Yue felt more and more puzzled as she spoke, her brows furrowed. "Could it be that she wanted to hide such a magnificent sedan and took the opportunity to sit in it herself?"
Yuliu was not curious at all about what kind of selfish motives Yumei had, because Yumei would never have such selfish motives again after today.
Yuliu waved at Fangyue, and Fangyue thought that she was suspicious of others behind their backs, which violated Yuliu's taboo. She spoke out of turn and walked forward to admit her mistake.
But Yuliu wanted to say something else: "Fangyue, today is my first time entering the palace to see my sister. It's neither moral nor logical for me to go empty-handed. You said earlier that Yumei prepared some food before leaving the palace this morning. Why don't you take a shortcut back home and get some snacks for me? However, remember to be careful when plating them. You can take a carriage directly to the palace gate and hand them to me."
As she spoke, Yuliu tilted her head slightly, looked at the direction where Yumei left, and smiled innocently: "The palace has strict rules and regulations, I think these little things from the people should still be a novelty for my sister."
Yuliu gave instructions to Yumei and Fangyue in a few words, and did not avoid Yunhe in his words.
After all, she was very vague about her plan to deal with Yumei, and even Fangyue didn't notice.
Even if Yun He had thought of something, he probably wouldn't ask any further questions because of his usual indifferent nature and his passion for medicine.
The white jade sedan chair in the palace was indeed fast. A street was dozens of miles long. After Yuliu said a few words, he could already hear the platinum bells hanging on the four corners of the sedan chair, making crisp sounds like bamboo strikes as it moved.
Fangyue sat on the carriage outside the axle and waved to Yuliu.
Anyway, it was only a few steps away, so Yuliu was not in a hurry. So he stood there with Yunhe, waiting for the white jade sedan chair to drive to them.
That’s what Yuliu thought.
But at the moment when Yumei waved, Yunhe suddenly took a few steps forward, and his steps brought up a little spring breeze. Yuliu sniffed and smelled a faint herbal fragrance.
So strange.
After being boiled into a decoction, the Chinese herbs looked like a pile of dead tree hay, bitter and astringent, but the herbal fragrance on Yunhe's body was fresh and mellow, dancing in the spring breeze and spreading over.
At that moment, Elm Willow vaguely recalled the lush green mesophyll that grew when the willow tree in his yard sprouted its first tender bud.
Yunhe stood with a straight back and upright shoulders, like a sunshade canopy standing beside the elm and willow.
Compared to the initial alertness when Yunhe approached, when she still wanted to take a few steps back, now that Yuliu was standing under Yunhe's figure, she actually felt a little accustomed to it.
At least we don’t have to be exposed to direct sunlight anymore, right?
Yuliu was still immersed in the gently blowing spring breeze with half-closed eyes. Shu Huai's sigh had not yet begun. When he was about to ask Yunhe what he was doing by suddenly taking these steps, Yunhe seemed to have realized something and turned around to look at Yuliu.
Although Yun He looked as calm as usual, there was a subtle hesitation in his tone: "Just now, you sent Yu Mei away and specifically instructed Fang Yue..."
The elms and willows bathed in the warm spring sun suddenly opened their eyes.
At this moment, Yumei, who was a few steps away, jumped off the carriage and was walking towards him. Yuliu looked at Yumei who was smiling in front of him, and heard Yunhe's voice falling into his ears. He suddenly felt that his soul and body were about to be separated in an instant.
"...Do you want to do something?" Yun He seemed to move closer, his tone as seductive as a thread, as if he wanted to draw something out.
"What is Mr. Yun saying?" Yuliu looked into Yunhe's eyes and felt for a moment that he seemed to already know her intention.
But her expression remained unchanged. With her usual smile, she pointed at Yumei who was walking behind Yunhe. Her clear, peach-shaped eyes curved slightly, full of innocence: "Me? I just want to see my sister soon. What else can I want to do?"
Upon hearing this, Yunhe stood aside with his hands behind his back, glanced at Yuliu, and looked at her quietly for a few moments without saying a word.
Yuliu smiled on the surface, but perhaps only she could feel how boiling the blood in her heart was. Her heartbeat was pounding like thunder, making her eardrums feel weak.
The spring breeze was still gentle. Yunhe and Yuliu stood very close to each other, and their sleeves were tangled together for a moment due to the breeze. The two of them looked at each other, one tall and one short, and no one spoke.
Yumei approached, her eyes moving between the two of them for a moment. Her intuition, honed from years of experience in the palace, made her keenly aware that something was wrong with the atmosphere. She didn't dare to look at the two of them any longer, and lowered her head, trying to reduce her presence.
The first one to speak was Yunhe.
"She's here." Yun He nodded, as if he really believed Yu Liu's words, and said, "Then let's go?"
He left as soon as he said he would, as nonchalantly as if the earth-shattering question just now had not come from his mouth.
Yuliu followed him into the carriage, but perhaps because she was too nervous, she slipped and almost stepped on air when she was going up the stairs. Fortunately, Yunhe got on the carriage before her. As if he had expected it, he turned around quickly and held Yuliu's slender white wrist, silently resolving the risk of her making a mistake in front of the carriage.
Yuliu looked at Yunhe's broad hand holding her wrist through her sleeve, and at first she felt nothing.
But at this time, calmness seems even more wrong.
Whether it's the fear of missing a step or the relief of surviving a disaster when being supported, there should be some reaction.
Yuliu wasn't even surprised at how Yunhe quickly turned around and reached out to steady her the moment she missed a step.
If it were under normal circumstances, she might smile, quietly say thank you to Yunhe, then turn the page on the previous conversation, sit in the car as if nothing had happened, waiting to meet Fangyue in front of the palace gate.
But Yuliu felt that her current reaction seemed a little numb.
This is not normal.
Yuliu suddenly remembered that when Yunhe first introduced his identity to her, she had the idea that Yunhe should stay here to heal her heart disease.
But why was her first reaction to Yunhe introducing heart disease to herself?
Could it be that in some forgotten time and space, she once doubted herself, and thus planted such a seed in the deepest part of her consciousness?
Yuliu is not quite used to herself like this.
Yun He, who has lost his memory, is the disadvantaged person who knows the least about this world, but why does he always seem to be able to keenly understand the thoughts and ideas of her, the book traveler?
The feeling of getting along with Yunhe was really strange. Yuliu couldn't describe what kind of feeling it was, but there was an inexplicable restlessness in her heart.
But she felt the strength supporting him and the constant warm body temperature from the clothes on her wrist, and she couldn't attack Yunhe.
So Yuliu raised her arms slightly, actively declined Yunhe's support, hid her hands in her long sleeves, turned around and looked at Yumei who was standing beside her, said nothing, just frowned slightly.
Yumei was used to seeing Yuliu smiling at everyone she met, so she naturally thought that the gentle girl was a good-tempered and easy-to-control little lamb. But when she suddenly saw her frown for the first time, she felt something was wrong in her heart.
Yumei was originally Yuliu's personal maid, so naturally she had to take care of everything in her daily life, including food, clothing, housing and transportation. Not to mention that the palace sedan was high and needed to be carefully supported by others, even for daily travel in the carriage, which lady in the capital would dare to let her personal maid stand by and not help her get in or out of the carriage?
Even if Yumei was an insider sent by the Fourth Prince, she could not be allowed to neglect her duties like this.
What's more, Yuliu's current identity is not a "concubine" who cannot be shown in public, but the long-lost sister of the Fourth Prince's wife. Even if the Fourth Prince meets Su Yuliu, he has to treat her well for the sake of the Fourth Prince's wife.
"Young lady, calm down, young lady, calm down!" Yumei figured this out and immediately realized she was in the wrong. Her knees gave way in fear and she knelt down with a plop. She explained anxiously, "It's all my fault for not noticing and frightening you!"
Yuliu was just feeling a little bit noisy at first, but not "angry". However, after hearing Yumei's cry of injustice, he really didn't want to let himself down. He took advantage of the situation and put on an act, mixing old and new grudges together to vent out the unfamiliar restlessness.
Yuliu narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Yumei kneeling outside the carriage, and suddenly chuckled with a hint of anger: "Sister invited me to the palace to meet you, and this is your attitude? Who gave you the courage?"
"Then tell me, how do you want me to calm down?"
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