Chapter 1
When winter comes, white snow indicates a good harvest.
In the prosperous times of Qingzhao, a month before spring, the red-tiled roofs of the palaces were covered with snow. Under the imperial city, the nine markets in the east and west were decorated with lanterns and crowded with people. Take Dongmen Street as an example, where you can see all kinds of rare treasures. Walking further, at the other side of the bridge, a seven-foot wooden stall was hung with red lanterns, some single and some in a row, which was particularly conspicuous in the market, and passers-by turned their heads.
Of course, Feng Huanhuan, the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion, is no exception.
How can we miss the red lanterns that glow in the night on New Year's Eve? Look, Feng Huanhuan doesn't look like a lady at all, and runs faster and faster towards the lantern stall...
"Miss, Miss! Wait for me!"
The maid Feicui was chasing after him, panting. Her plump body was bouncing from side to side, and her green skirt was stained with a layer of flying dust. She ran for a while, then stopped for a while. Her tired eyes were blurry, but she had to tiptoe and shout, "Miss, wait for me..."
Feng Huanhuan—of course she heard it. But, she only had eyes for the two lanterns—
"This phoenix is so pretty. Oh, this one is also pretty. It's Kunpeng!"
The vendor was a middle-aged woman, stout and with a face full of rings of frost. She smiled and saw that the young girl looked like a daughter of a wealthy family. She had two gold ingot-shaped buns with thumb-thick braids. She was really cute, so she said a few more words:
"Girl, you are not very old, so you should not be married yet, right?"
Feng Huanhuan raised her eyes, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and nodded.
The auntie laughed and said, "These Kunpeng and Phoenix lanterns cannot be hung together. They are not blessed by the gods. Even two people who love each other will be separated."
Legend has it that the north of the Netherwater is an extremely cold land. At the bottom of the Netherwater in that extremely cold land, there is a piece of spiritual ice that is ten thousand years old - the Heart of the North Netherworld. It is the coldest in the three realms. After hundreds of millions of years, the spiritual ice turned into Kunpeng, which can fly and travel.
He is the god born from heaven and earth—the Lord of the North Sea.
One day, the child God of Beiming met the little phoenix who had sneaked out of the Red Sun Continent. Seeing that God of Beiming was alone, the little phoenix tricked him back to the Red Sun Continent.
From then on, the two of them grew up together as childhood sweethearts.
Bei Ming God loves Shen Feng, and Shen Feng also loves Kun Peng. But Shen Feng grew up, and one day, she fell in love with the dragon prince Ao Zhuozhi. Dragon and phoenix are auspicious, and it is natural that they love each other, which is the best fate. But Kun Peng's bitter love has become a burden to Shen Feng. She drove Kun Peng back to the extremely cold land, set up the God Locking Formation inherited by the Phoenix Clan, and threatened that she would not see him again for three thousand years.
From then on, Kunpeng's deep affection became a drama that people talked about with relish.
From then on, Kunpeng’s obsession made him an unblessed god in the eyes of the people.
Feicui listened carefully, especially when she heard about the part that was not blessed. She was shocked and didn't care about her weak legs and feet. She stepped forward to snatch the Kunpeng lantern and threw it back to the stall.
"Miss, we don't want this lantern anymore." Then he said, "Please don't think I'm nagging you. We should avoid such weird things."
Still not satisfied, Feicui took out a green silk from her bosom and kept wiping Feng Huanhuan's hands. Her round face moved and her little mouth chattered non-stop, "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for one. Miss will be coming of age in March, so you'd better be more careful. The eldest master said that the most important thing for a girl is to marry a good husband."
"I know, I know." Feng Huanhuan said perfunctorily while listening.
For some reason, she felt a dull pain in her heart, and the suffocation made her breathless. But then she thought again, it was probably because she had just run too hard and felt a little uncomfortable. However, she was skeptical about those legends.
Just as she was stunned, a hand with distinct joints slowly passed in front of her eyes, took the Phoenix lantern into its hand and took it away.
She raised her head somewhat displeasedly, and unexpectedly met a pair of black pupils——
He was a dignified man, wearing a black silk scarf with cloud patterns, and a circle of fire fox fur around his neck, which looked very warm. Just standing there, he looked like half a city wall. He had sharp eyebrows and star-like eyes, long eyelashes, a high nose bridge, and a sharp jaw. On his black hair, there was a crown that looked like ice, with a faint blue hue.
Where did this young man in black robe come from, and why is he so handsome?
Feng Huanhuan tilted her head, unable to hide the smile in her eyes.
Feicui looked at the man, then glanced back at her young lady. It was really embarrassing. "Miss, Miss!"
Feng Huanhuan came back to her senses all of a sudden. Feicui pulled at the corner of her clothes. Her chubby face was simple, but her eyes were full of the message: "Let me see how you can lie."
Um - she shrank her neck, forced a sweet smile, and said, "I... just now, I was thinking about whether to have lotus leaf roast chicken for dinner."
Feicui obviously didn't believe it. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a deep, muffled laugh behind her and they both turned around at the same time.
The young man in black robe did not leave, he must have heard all the stupid words. Feng Huanhuan's face flushed, her heart pounded, she stammered for a long time, unable to utter a word.
The cold wind was a bit biting, but her whole body felt like it was on fire, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose.
Soon, the man seemed to see her embarrassment and spoke first: "The Divine Phoenix does not love Kunpeng."
When he said this, the profile of his face was mixed with the feeling of the candlelight being extinguished, which made her heart inexplicably ache.
"It's just a legend. I like Kunpeng more." Seeing the man's silent face, she added, "I like Kunpeng's ten thousand years of devotion."
This time, he should laugh, right?
After Feng Huanhuan finished speaking, she picked up the Kunpeng lantern that she had just discarded, and her eyebrows curved: "Well, I want him to spend the New Year with me."
Her face was like frost and snow, her almond eyes were like autumn water, and her cherry lips were curved like the moon. The light pink rouge at the corners of her eyes was like a budding flower, holy and pure. Her light pink pleated skirt was embroidered with peony flowers, her necklace and ribbon were dotted with small cherry blossom petals, and two small hydrangeas were hung in front of her gardenia-colored wide-sleeved jacket, which was smart and cute.
At the age of 16, she gently twists the red cage with her orchid fingers, and her rosy face smiles with all the joy of the city. She is like a holy jasmine flower.
Han Fengci was so fascinated by what he saw that he lowered his head and laughed, "If Kunpeng knew, he would definitely be happy."
He actually laughed!
This was their first meeting.
What a handsome and cool young man in black robe! She gently grasped the lantern pole in her hand, and returned to the Shangshu Mansion and hung the Kunpeng lantern on the cloud-patterned top in front of the wing door.
I take several glances at it every day when I go in and out.
That day, Feicui saw her young lady sitting under the wintersweet tree on the eaves of the corridor again, staring at the broken lantern with her chin in her hand, and she was very angry.
Ever since that young man appeared, the young lady treated the lantern as if it were her eyeball.
Then, she placed the bird's nest soup with osmanthus honey in her hand on the stone table with a clang.
"Miss, please stop looking. You have been looking for several hours."
Feng Huanhuan calmed down and said with a smile: "Fei Cui, he said his name is Han Feng Ci. The dusk snow is not cold, but the north wind is sad and winter is gone."
I don't know when I can see him again.
"I know, I know. You've been talking about it for several days. New Year's Eve is approaching, so Miss should hurry up and prepare to exorcise all the evil spirits and ghosts. Don't get involved with them."
At this point, Feng Huanhuan stood up and dragged Feicui out of the house. She ran to Fude Pavilion west of the city gate and plopped down on the table. Before she could catch her breath, she shouted, "Boss, give me a nine-foot-long broom!"
This frightened the shopkeeper Liu who was calculating carefully with an abacus. He raised his eyes to calm down and grinned: "Oh, isn't this the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion? Please come in quickly."
Feng Huanhuan didn't care about all that. She strode into the cabinet following the instructions of Manager Liu.
On both sides of the pavilion were wooden racks made of tall sticks, reaching up to the top of the clouds. They were filled with all kinds of underworld objects, including rune paper painted with cinnabar, colorful guide banners, artificial flowers hooked on coarse cloth, and nanmu boxes. Feng Huanhuan looked and searched along the way, looking everywhere: "Boss, where did you hide the broom?"
Shopkeeper Liu had just returned from the warehouse in the backyard, holding a seven-foot-long broom with rice ears in his hand: "Miss Feng, look, is this what you want?"
Feicui was holding back her laughter. Liu Luoguo was short to begin with, and the broom was as tall as a seven-foot-tall man, completely blocking him. From a distance, it looked like a golden rice broom walking. In this dark and gloomy place, it was quite appropriate. But Feng Huanhuan didn't have the heart to think so much. She looked left and right, circled around the broom, and nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, yes, yes, that's it. Shopkeeper, how much is this?"
Shopkeeper Liu barely managed to stick his head out from among the rice stalks, revealing his eight large white teeth. "Miss Feng, not much, not much, five taels of silver."
"It's a fair price." Feicui looked at Liu Luoguo with a high eye and said as she pulled the green purse on the ribbon.
At this moment, I suddenly heard a woman's voice behind me, "Is the shopkeeper here?"
The master and servant turned around and took a closer look, and it turned out to be Bai Tao.
Feng Huanhuan wanted to pretend not to see it, but Bai Tiao's maid spoke first. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Boss, we want a golden-spiked broom too." Her aura was even greater than that of her young lady.
Feng Huanhuan's anger was instantly ignited, and she felt that the master and servant must have done it on purpose. So she put her hands on her waist, gnashed her teeth and walked forward, scolding: "Bai Tiaozi, don't buy the same thing as me!"
“It’s white potatoes.”
Bai Tiao wore a wide-sleeved white jacket embroidered with green bamboo and green leaves, a white lining with a red and blue chest-length skirt, a white chest band with a purple border, dotted with lifelike green grass, and two purple ribbons hanging down in the middle. Her Lingyun bun was perfectly fitted without a single stray hair, and she wore a purple jade Ruyi cloud-shaped hairpin with a pair of purple jade and silver earrings. She had long and thin eyebrows, a lotus flower hairpin on her forehead, half-opened fan-shaped eyes, and petal lips that opened and closed, which made people want to take a second look.
She still looked calm and composed, which was what Feng Huanhuan hated the most.
So she lowered her head, stamped her feet, puffed out her cheeks, and scolded her: "You look like a rabbit anyway. Look at your two big buck teeth. Are they from chewing peas?"
Bai Tiao didn't get angry with her and continued calmly: "I am the Tiao of Purple Wei! Look for Purple Wei, the flowers are blooming in the warm season. The purple flowers in the mountains in summer are the most beautiful."
She held her head high and her back straight. In Feng Huanhuan's impression, even if a huge problem happened, she could still stand among the ruins with dignity, and her fan-shaped eyes would always look down at people like this.
In comparison, her unreasonable behavior always stands out.
She was a little exasperated and retorted, "Zaimei is just a wild pea, rabbits' favorite food!" After she finished speaking, she made a face at Baitiao, pulled Feicui out, and did not forget to turn back to tell the shopkeeper to deliver the rice ear broom to the Shangshu Mansion.
"Miss, you always spoil that lawless Feng Huanhuan." Bai Tiao's maid felt sorry for her mistress. Every time she met the domineering Feng Huanhuan, the mistress always suffered.
"Handan, be careful with your words! Miss Feng is the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion. How can a maid like you name her? If someone hears it, the Prime Minister's Mansion will not be able to save you!"
Handan was not intimidated by Bai Tiao's words and said unconvincedly, "Miss, I just feel sorry for you. Ever since that incident, Feng Huanhuan has been rude to us. Why should we endure it? Besides, you were also a victim in that incident."
"That's enough! Handan!" Bai Tiao frowned and glanced at him angrily, "If you mention that again, I will have no choice but to send you to live on a farm outside the city. When that happens, don't blame me for disregarding the relationship between master and servant."
Handan had already knelt down when Bai Tiao scolded her, "Miss, I was wrong. I will never say anything bad about Miss Feng again. I just feel sorry for you. You and Miss Feng grew up together. We have been close friends since childhood. It's a pity that this friendship is gone just like that."
A row of pale yellow wind chimes hung on the eaves of the corridor, tinkling as the breeze blew. Bai Tiao looked into the distance with a faint smile on her face, "How can there be everything in the world? Meeting and accompanying each other is better than anything else. After a few years, when dust returns to dust, who will still remember who?"
Handan nodded, not quite understanding, and looked at Bai Tiao, her hair fluttering on her forehead, and the melancholy in her eyes was hard to ignore. Every time the young lady looked at Feng Huanhuan's back, she always felt sad.
After looking for a long time, the timing was right, and Shopkeeper Liu dared to stick his head out and interrupt: "Miss Bai, you are visiting our shop, do you need anything?"
As she asked this, Handan took a step forward and stood in front of Bai Tiao, "Otherwise, I must be here to buy something, am I here to go shopping?"
Manager Liu's eyes were rolling around, his eyebrows were thin, his eyes were small, his face was sharp, and he wore a round hat with black diamond pattern on it. The two mustaches on his face were floating up and down when he spoke. When he smiled, his mouth was always tightened inward, as if he couldn't smile. He looked like a rat that everyone wanted to kill. Handan didn't want to look at Liu Luoguo any more, so she said, "Give us one of your golden brooms."
When Shopkeeper Liu heard this, his face changed instantly and he slapped his thighs with both hands, "Oh, what a coincidence, there is only one that big one."
Seeing that Handan was about to step forward to argue, Bai Tiao stopped her and said, "Handan, let's go."
Handan turned around in disbelief, "Miss!"
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