Chapter 124: Going North to Rehe: Kangxi's Imperial Calligraphy, Xiuyu's Craftsmanship...
The Qing Dynasty originated from outside the Great Wall. It was much cooler outside the Great Wall than inside the Great Wall. In summer, the capital was extremely hot. Although Xuanye was born and raised in the capital, his family was outside the Great Wall after all, and he was still afraid of the heat. Although living in Changchun Garden was slightly cooler than the Forbidden City, it was still a bit hot.
So, Xuanye selected a piece of land in Rehe and ordered people to build a garden. Naturally, the pavilions and towers in the garden were all designed by Xiu Yu.
From the capital to Rehe, Xuanye and Xiuyu sometimes rode horses and sometimes took cars, and the journey did not seem very long.
Arriving at the Rehe Palace, Xiu Yu dismounted from the carriage, looked at the palace gate, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty hasn't named the palace yet?"
"It would be better if you wrote it yourself." Xuanye held Xiuyu's hand and led her straight into the palace. "The people I sent out to survey the area all said it was cool in Rehe. But on the way here, they didn't feel it was very cool either."
"Isn't it said that the temperature difference between day and night is huge here? It's hotter during the day, but it's not like in the capital, where you want to ice every corner. At night, it's even cooler." Xiu Yu said this, but then she paused, looking at the newly built pavilions and towers, a moment of daze. She had visited the Mountain Resort in her time, but she had never imagined that most of its pavilions and towers were hers.
"What are you thinking about?" Xuanye waved his hand in front of Xiuyu's eyes. "Are you stunned by the completion of the temporary palace? Logically, you shouldn't be. Changchun Garden also has a lot of your handiwork, but you didn't seem so surprised when you saw it completed."
Xiu Yu came back to her senses and said, "I'm not surprised, I just think this is a bit interesting."
"What's so interesting about this?" Xuanye pulled Xiuyu along as they walked by the lake. "You know what, it's definitely much cooler inside the palace than outside."
Xiu Yu nodded slightly, but without replying to Xuanye's question, she asked, "Your Majesty, what name do you want to give the palace?"
"Since we're here to escape the summer heat, the word 'escape the summer heat' is a must." Xuanye pondered for a moment, then looked at Xiuyu: "Escape the summer heat...what?"
Xiu Yu pursed her cherry lips and said slowly, "Summer Resort?"
"Great!" Xuanye immediately clapped his hands in approval. "The name of the Summer Resort is excellent. I'll write out the four characters in a moment and have them make the plaque, which will be hung up soon."
Xiu Yu's mind moved: "How about letting Yu'er make this plaque?"
"You?" Xuanye was a little skeptical: "You can do the work of a carpenter?"
"Your Majesty, please don't forget that I also dismantled telescopes and bird guns in the past. Carpentry is naturally no problem for me."
"Don't brag." Xuanye scratched Xiu Yu's straight nose as if no one was around.
Xiu Yu said in a low voice, "Ke Jing and the others are watching from behind. You must pay attention to the emperor's dignity."
"This is not the Forbidden City." Although Xuanye said this, he still agreed with Xiu Yu and took her arm as they walked towards the island in the middle of the lake.
At night, it was still a little cold in the palace. In the bedroom on the island in the middle of the lake, Xuanye was sitting behind the desk wearing a cloak, writing with a brush.
Xiu Yu personally carried a bowl of red bean paste across the Moon Gate and said with a smile, "Third brother, you haven't finished writing these four big characters for so long?"
"I wrote a few." Xuanye glanced at the crumpled paper he had thrown on the ground and sighed, "If you want to do the carpentry yourself, shouldn't I have written these four words carefully?"
"Drink the red bean paste before writing." Xiu Yu placed the porcelain bowl next to Xuanye and took out the pen he was holding: "It's still hot."
"Shouldn't we put some ice cubes in it and eat it cold?" Xuanye asked this, but he had already scooped up the red bean paste in the porcelain bowl with a spoon.
Xiu Yu sat aside, casually held a book in his hand, and was about to open it to read.
Xuanye put the spoon down again and said, "Yu'er, why don't we write these four words together?"
"What do you mean?" Xiu Yu was puzzled.
Xuanye had stood up and walked over to Xiuyu. He took her wrist and pulled her behind the desk. He placed the brush in her palm and held it with her. He whispered in her ear, "I have decided. No matter how this one turns out, I will use it."
Then, with a quick stroke of the pen, the four big words "Summer Resort" appeared on the paper.
Xiu Yu smelled the scent of ink and looked at the four familiar yet unfamiliar words in front of him. For a moment, he had a feeling of unreality, as if this scene had happened a long, long time ago, in exactly the same place, with the same people, the same actions, and the same words.
Xuanye gently hugged Xiuyu, rubbed her cheek, and said, "Yu'er, I suddenly feel as if you and I had written the four words 'Summer Resort' together a long time ago."
"Do you think so too?" Xiu Yu frowned slightly, "I thought..."
"I actually have this feeling from time to time." Xuanye murmured, "I met you a long, long time ago, as if it was in the previous life, or the life before that."
Xiu Yu smiled, and suddenly she didn't know what to say. How could an atheist believe in past lives and present lives? However, belief and disbelief, existence and non-existence, have never been the same thing.
That night, the two of them lay in the same bed, and they were both quite selective about their seats.
"Yu'er, are you asleep?" Xuanye squinted his eyes and suddenly asked this question.
Xiu Yu turned over and said, "Maybe it's because we just moved to a new place. It takes a day or two to get used to it."
"It's because I dream when I fall asleep." Xuanye clasped his hands together in front of his chest. "In my dreams, there are you and me, good things and bad things. When I wake up, I feel very tired, so maybe it's better not to sleep."
"Is it always like this?" Xiu Yu frowned slightly. "Then doesn't the imperial physician feel anxious when he takes Ping's pulse?"
"It happens occasionally, and the imperial physician just changes a few medicines." Xuanye said, yawning: "The Duke of Zhou is here, go to sleep."
Xiu Yu stopped having wild thoughts and fell asleep with Xuanye.
The next morning, when Xuanye woke up, Xiu Yu was not lying next to him.
While Liang Jiugong was helping Xuanye get dressed, Xuanye asked, "Where is Concubine Yi?"
Liang Jiugong replied, "Your Majesty, Master Yi has prepared breakfast for you and said he was going to look for some wood."
"Go find wood?" Xuanye frowned. "Looking for wood suitable for making a plaque." Xuanye said while glaring at Liang Jiugong, but he felt relieved. After all, if the four words he and Xiu Yu wrote together were finally made into a plaque by Xiu Yu himself, the significance of this palace to the two of them would be more than just a place to escape the summer heat.
Finally unable to resist his curiosity, Xuanye finished his breakfast, quickly sent away the ministers who came to report to him, and left the island in the middle of the lake and went to the mountain.
When I saw Xiu Yu again, I saw that she had really changed into a carpenter's outfit with light blue patterns. She was holding a saw in her hand, with her left leg on a long bench, and was concentrating on sawing the big piece of wood.
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