The quiet alley was illuminated red by the lanterns. On the snow, a horse fell to the ground and wailed. The people in the princess's mansion heard the noise and hurried out to look at the horse and the person.
They saw the princess being held in the arms of Yan Erlang, who was kneeling on the ground. The princess' hair and clothes were all covered with snow, as if they had been dug out of the snow.
The servants of the princess's mansion did not dare to ask any more questions and hurried to appease the horse. After a long while, Fang Tong and others finally arrived. Fang Tong and others were relieved to see that the princess rode away without breaking down and returned to the mansion.
Yan Shang held Mu Wanyao tightly, his heart pounding, and Mu Wanyao could hear it clearly. She blinked and raised her head from his arms.
Mu Wanyao coughed a few times because of the snow, and Yan Shang finally recovered and pulled her up from the ground. He put his arm around her back and helped her up by holding her in his arms. Yan Shang would never be so intimate with Mu Wanyao in public, but he made an exception tonight, and the servants pretended not to see it.
Yan Shang held Mu Wanyao's arm with his hand, his breath just behind her ear, and her hairpin seemed to hit his mouth.
Mu Wanyao heard it on a cold winter snowy night. All the sounds were chilly, but his voice was as gentle as ever: "Are you hurt anywhere? Does your hand hurt? Is your leg pressed? Your Highness, can you take a few steps?"
Mu Wanyao also fell off her horse and suffered from headache and back pain, but being held in his arms, she really relied on his support, listened to his words, and took two steps obediently.
A little shaky.
Mu Wanyao said softly, aggrievedly, "My legs hurt."
He immediately squatted down, wanting to take a look. Mu Wan shook her head and looked down at him, and saw that his hand had already reached to the side of her skirt, and then suddenly seemed to remember that this was inappropriate, so he looked up at her, and Mu Wan shook her head with dark eyes.
Her heart was originally filled with desolation and ice and snow, but when she saw him like this, she couldn't help but pursing her lips and secretly looking at him with the corners of her eyes raised.
Being peeped at by her, Yan Shang was slightly embarrassed. He stood up and still supported her, stroking her towards the mansion, and said, "Can we let the imperial physician come and take a look?"
Mu Wan shook her head. She didn't want to see anyone in the palace tonight. Yan Shang was worried that she was really injured. He frowned and thought about how to persuade her to let someone see her injury. Suddenly, his eyebrows turned cold.
Mu Wan stretched out her hand and pointed her finger at his forehead. She said, "Why don't you say anything to me?"
Yan Shang looked down at the road and helped her up the stairs: "What did you say?"
Mu Wan shook her head and said, "I was riding so fast and I lost my concentration. I fell because of that and you were so upset. Why didn't you say anything to me or scold me? Why didn't you say that I have a bad temper and don't sympathize with you at all?"
Yan Shang looked at her, paused, and said softly: "Your Highness is hurt from the fall, why should I still talk about Your Highness? Your Highness must have been wronged in some way, right? Does Your Highness want to tell me?"
Mu Wan looked at him, then slowly shook her head.
She didn't want him to know her past, she hoped to be clean with him.
Yan Shang was silent for a moment, then he said gently: "Then I can only hope a million times that Your Highness will not be wronged again."
The two of them had already entered the mansion, and Mu Wanyao didn't know how serious her injury was. It shouldn't be serious, right? Because she could still walk. And You Yanshang was supporting her, and her mind was really diverted to his arm supporting her, and his slightly cool body temperature against her back.
Mu Wanyao wondered why he was so cold. Was he standing outside in the snow? What was he doing outside?
Mu Wan lowered her head and didn't even notice that her house was full of lanterns.
She just listened to him calling her "Your Highness" over and over again in her ear. Mu Wan shook her head in disappointment: "Why don't you usually call me 'Yaoyao'? Is it because I scolded you before and told you not to call me that, so you don't call me that anymore?"
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment before he said, "I'm afraid that if I get used to calling you that, I won't be able to change it outside... and cause misunderstandings in other people's lives."
Mu Wan tilted her head to look at him, her dark eyes staring at his elegant and handsome face: "What's the misunderstanding? Don't you want your friends and colleagues to know about your relationship with me?"
Yan Shang looked at her and said after a while: "...It's not that I don't want to, it's that you don't want to."
Mu Wan was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyes, thinking, so that's how it is.
She is so bad.
Yan Shang patted her back twice. He seemed to know what she was thinking and said softly, "Your Highness, don't blame yourself. It doesn't matter when you figure it out. I will wait for Your Highness and will not leave you."
Mu Wan shook his head and said nothing.
Yan Shang saw that she was in a very low mood and wondered what happened in the palace. He was not in a hurry. Even if Mu Wanyao didn't tell him, he would know tomorrow. The most important thing now was to make Mu Wanyao feel better.
However, he was at a loss, wondering how he could make her feel better.
In his 19 years of life, the experience he had with girls the most was with his younger sister Yan Xiaozhou. When they were young, their family traveled all over Jiangnan. Later, his mother became ill and his father took care of her, so he took care of his younger sister himself.
I help my sister comb her hair, tell her stories, sing songs, and tell jokes, and carry her around the mountains on my back.
However, Yan Xiaozhou was a different girl from Mu Wanyao. Yan Xiaozhou was pure and well-behaved, never resisted him, never refuted him, and never deliberately went against him... Mu Wanyao was different.
While Yan Shang was thinking about this, he heard Mu Wan whisper, "Can you always be so nice to me?"
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment, and for some reason, he felt a little sad. He said, "This is nothing."
Mu Wanyao raised her head to look at him, and unexpectedly saw a guilty look in his eyes. She didn't know what he felt guilty about...did he feel that he wasn't good enough to her?
Mu Wan looked at him blankly for a long time, her eyes slightly red, and suddenly stopped walking. She smiled for the first time that night and opened her arms to hug him. She sighed, "Second Brother Yan, you are so cold."
Yan Shang whispered, "Because I've been standing outside for too long... Can we go inside and hug him later?"
Mu Wanyao ignored him. She stood on the promenade on the lake, put her arms around his waist, and hugged him tightly. She looked up at his lowered eyes and whispered, "You can see that I'm in a bad mood now."
Yan Shang smiled, reached out to brush away a few strands of hair on her face, and wiped away the snow on her eyelashes: "Yaoyao is so good, you didn't lose your temper."
Mu Wan shook her head and said, "Because it was you, I didn't get angry. If someone else had pulled me just now, I would definitely be angry, and no one would be able to sleep tonight."
Yan Shang said: "How could that be? I live next door. If there was a commotion in the princess's house all night, someone would definitely come and tell me."
He blushed and said, "Didn't you say you wouldn't get angry when you saw me? I'll come to see you."
Mu Wanyao: "Will you always come to see me?"
Yan Shang looked at her and said after a while: "I may not be able to do it, but I will try my best."
Mu Wanyao couldn't help laughing and said, "I didn't ask you to swear. Why are you so serious and want to think about it? Brother Yan, you are so cute. You took my coquettish words seriously."
Yan Shang was slightly stunned, then smiled shyly. He lowered his eyelashes, which were so long that they looked like brushes.
His face is handsome, but it cannot compare to the beauty of his temperament.
He still held her in his arms, letting her hug his waist. He lowered his head and smiled slightly. Mu Wanyao felt that all the haze in her heart could be dispelled by him.
Mu Wanyao looked at him and murmured, "You are so cute, I really want to kiss you."
He turned his head and said uncomfortably: "Kiss... kiss me, will it make you feel better?"
Mu Wan shook her head.
Yan Shang raised his eyelashes and looked at her, with no intention of resisting.
Mu Wan shook her head and saw that he acquiesced, so she leaned in. Heat flowed between them, the air was a little humid, and the snow fell on his pale red lips, clearly visible. But when their lips were about to touch, she remembered something and sighed, "I can't kiss you."
Yan Shang was still stunned.
Then ask, “Why?”
Mu Wanyao: "I drank a lot of wine tonight. If I kiss you, you will feel uncomfortable and fall down again."
Yan Shang groaned, lowered his eyes, and was a little annoyed. He hesitated a little, and at this time, Mu Wanyao had already withdrawn from his arms and walked alone. Yan Shang hurriedly caught up with her, and the two entered the inner house and heard the movement in the mansion.
Mu Wanyao saw that the mansion was setting up a pole and the maids were hanging banners on it. Mu Wanyao stood outside the moon cave door and looked blankly for a while. Yan Shang, who was following behind, explained: "This is the custom of setting up poles and hanging banners on New Year's Eve to pray for peace and longevity in the coming year. We have this in Lingnan. Doesn't your highness know?"
Mu Wan shook her head in confusion.
Then she reacted, turned around to look at Yan Shang behind her, and her heart moved: "Speaking of which, I just remembered that it's midnight now, right? Why did you appear at the entrance of the alley and follow me all the way here? What are you doing?"
Yan Shang was stunned.
He was confused by her confusion and followed her: "...stay up all night. What else can I do?"
Mu Wan shook: "..."
She was overthinking it again.
She thought he came to see her in the middle of the night... Yan Shang looked at her, and he was about to guess what she was thinking. Mu Wanyao was slightly annoyed, thinking that she was too impure in front of Yan Shang. She coughed heavily, bringing his thoughts back: "So this hanging banner in my house was made by you? Don't you find it troublesome?"
Yan Shang said: "Because I want to spend the New Year's Eve with His Highness, is that not okay?"
Mu Wan shook her head for a moment and said, "...Okay."
Then she touched her face, couldn't help but glance at him, and said again: "You are so cute."
As she was saying this, Mu Wanyao took two more steps and arrived at the inner hall. She actually saw Wei Shu. She thought she was seeing things, but she saw Wei Shu standing under a lantern tree, watching the servants make arrangements. The servants paid their respects to the princess, and Wei Shu turned around, speaking clearly.
Wei Shu: "Your Highness, you are back?"
Mu Wanyao smiled at him and then looked at Yan Shang.
Yan Shang explained: "...I was afraid that you didn't want to stay with me tonight, so I called Juyuan. Don't you like Juyuan very much?"
Mu Wan shook: "..."
Mu Wanyao said: "I want to take back what I said before. You have become unlovable."
Before Yan Shang could figure out why she was so repetitive, Mu Wanyao had already walked towards the young boy Wei Shu standing under the lantern tree in the inner hall. Seeing the young boy standing under the tree like a fire tree and silver flowers, Mu Wanyao turned back and looked at Yan Shang, who was like a jade tree and Lanzhi, standing under the moon cave door.
Flying snow lingers between heaven and earth.
Mu Wanyao's heart felt warmer little by little.
She thought that the coldness of the palace banquet didn't matter, because when she returned home, Yan Shang and Wei Shu would be waiting for her.
This world is not always cold.
-----
Mu Wanyao was actually very nervous throughout the palace banquet, fearing that someone would go wrong with the procedure, so she just drank and didn't eat much.
After returning to her own residence, she sat in the inner hall with Wei Shu and Yan Shang to celebrate the New Year. The servants naturally served fruits, cakes, etc. However, Mu Wanyao was not in the mood to eat, and instead asked Wei Shu to eat more, saying that Wei Shu was still young and had a lot of time to grow.
Yan Shang sat on the other side, talking to Mu Wanyao and Wei Shu about the customs of celebrating the New Year in Lingnan.
Mu Wanyao and Wei Shu sat side by side, listening to Yan Shang telling stories. Mu Wanyao held his chin with his hand, not hiding his curiosity, while Wei Shu looked cold and tried hard to hide his curiosity... The two of them made Yan Shang feel awkward and funny several times.
Yan Shang coughs.
Mu Wanyao was impatient: "Cough, cough, cough, how many times did you cough while telling a story? Can you hold it in?"
Yan Shang: “Sorry.”
Wei Shu said softly: "Your Highness, please don't be so harsh to Brother Yan..."
Mu Wanyao smiled at Wei Shu and softened her voice: "It's okay, I won't be mean to you. Don't be afraid."
Wei Shu looked at her and thought to himself that he had grown up and was no longer afraid. But when the words came to his mouth, Wei Shu said, "Your Highness, if you have any problems, you can ask me for help."
Mu Wan was startled, guessing that Wei Shu was very thoughtful and could see that she was a little unhappy tonight. She smiled awkwardly and passed it off.
-----
The room was brightly lit and they were chatting a little when they heard an explosion outside. The three of them were startled and realized that the new year had arrived.
Mu Wanyao, Wei Shu and Yan Shang looked at each other, and then she and Wei Shu looked at Yan Shang together.
Yan Shang: “…”
Yan Shang had no choice but to say, "We should also 'explode the pole'."
Exploding poles are burning a long bamboo pole section by section, making a popping sound. With this earth-shaking sound, the plague god is driven away and the New Year is welcomed.
Mu Wanyao suddenly realized what was going on and quickly asked the maids to make arrangements. When the sound of poles popping up in the yard, Mu Wanyao was startled and shrank back. The next moment, Yan Shang reached out and covered her ears to block out the sound.
Mu Wan looked up at Yan Shang in a daze, staring at him with her clear eyes.
Wei Shu beside him also looked at him: "Second Brother Yan?"
Yan Shang's face turned red when they looked at him, he put down his hand and said, "It's just that I'm a little close to His Highness."
Mu Wanyao's face also turned red. She met Wei Shu's eyes and said with a straight face, "What are you looking at? We have finished staying up all night. Isn't it time to go to bed? Xia Rong, take Ju Yuan to wash up."
Wei Shu was taken away in a few seconds, and Mu Wanyao also got up and planned to go back to his room to sleep. He had already watched the New Year's Eve, so he could worry about the troublesome things when he woke up tomorrow.
She ignored Yan Shang, but when she stood up, Yan Shang stood up with her. When she was about to leave, he grabbed her hand from behind and turned her body around to face him. He leaned over and gently brushed his lips against hers.
Mu Wanyao's eyes widened, and for a moment she thought that he was going to force her into something, so she took a step back and leaned against the pillar.
Yan Shang took a step forward, put one hand on her shoulder, and held her face with the other. He looked down at her, his eyes clear, and the starlight shattered into a clear lake.
Yan Shang leaned over to kiss her, holding her lips and touching her teeth.
Mu Wanyao's whole body trembled, and she put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him away. She wanted to resist, murmuring, "No, no... I'm drunk, you can't kiss me. You won't be able to bear it."
Yan Shang raised his eyes to look at her and said, "Then hurry up."
He held her wrist, lowered his head and kissed the inside of her wrist again. Mu Wan shuddered, feeling like she was about to jump up from his kiss. His tenderness made her body tremble, her cheeks flushed, and she dodged.
And Lang Shang looked at her and said, "Didn't you say that a kiss would make you feel better? I want to make you feel better."
He hesitated for a moment and pursed his lips: "Shake sister."
Mu Wanyao suddenly gave up struggling and stared blankly at the man who called her "Sister Yaoyao". He touched her chin and kissed her lips again. The distance between lips and teeth, the feeling of sweetness and warmth. The ice and snow in her heart retreated layer by layer, and the flower buds hiding under the snow poked their heads out.
He kissed her again and again.
Mu Wanyao's eyes were tearing up little by little.
Snow was flying behind them, and she seemed to have lost her strength, being held in his arms and kissed. She closed her eyes, and never felt so much as she did at that moment, that a kiss could make her soul tremble and rejoice together.
I want to merge my soul with his.
I want to fight him to death.
His moist breath brushed against her face and touched her ear. In a daze, Mu Wanyao closed her eyes and felt him talking in her ear. His lips were against her earlobe, and she blushed so much that she almost fell down, but she just barely held it in.
Mu Wan calmed down for a long time before she could hear what he was saying in such a low voice.
Yan Shang was probably too drunk, he leaned close to her ear and spoke incoherently: "Yaoyao, you, you said last time that you like me more than I like you... I, I feel sad to hear that.
"I'm not as passionate as you, and I may never be as passionate as you in my life. But I am serious. I, I have always been serious.
"I've always wanted to explain to you, but I couldn't find the opportunity or the reason. Yaoyao, you know, I am a person who... particularly likes to torture myself.
"Zhao, Zhao Wuniang... you just gave me an excuse to go to you. It was me who gave up self-reflection and allowed myself to sink.
"I think about it over and over again, and I am in a state of confusion. I remind myself every day not to indulge myself, and force myself to reflect on myself every day. I am different from you. The moment I walk towards you and decide to walk towards you... that is when I indulge myself the most."
Mu Wan was stunned, opened her eyes and looked at him.
He had closed his eyes, his head resting on her shoulder, with most of his body weight on her. Of course, Mu Wanyao couldn't bear his weight, so she put her arms around him, slid down the porch column, and held the already drunk Yan Shang in her arms.
The tears in her eyes fell intermittently, as if they could not be taken back.
When she left Wuman, she told herself not to cry anymore, not to shed tears anymore. That was so weak, so pathetic.
...but I really can't help it.
-----
Snow is flying all over the sky.
The girl sat against the pillar, holding her lover in her arms, choking with sobs and unable to speak.
What did she do right to meet such a person and have such a good life?
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