Chapter 1068: Test Jiang Xiaoan's sincerity first
When he reached the Moon Cave Gate, he suddenly turned back and quietly placed the prepared golden candied dates on the railing: "Remember that you are afraid of suffering, so this is for you."
He left in a hurry before he finished speaking, his scarlet official uniform brushing past the vermilion columns, startling a pair of embracing old men.
As dusk fell over the eaves of the princess's mansion, Jiang Xiaoan paced in the study, holding a sweat-soaked pulse case.
The so-called "extinction" syndrome was actually a record of diarrhea for more than a month after trying the herb.
He crumpled the pharmacopoeia in annoyance - if he confessed now, Fudong would definitely expel him from the sect;
If he really drank the sterilization soup, he looked at the plaque on the wall that read "Healing the World with Medicine" and felt a bitter taste in his throat.
"Perhaps we should prepare some temporary sterilization medicine?"
He pulled out the Poison Sutra and suddenly stopped: "No, deception is not the right way..."
The night wind lifted the rice paper on the desk, revealing the "Hundred Poisons List" given by Fudong many years ago. On the title page was written in beautiful small calligraphy "A Doctor's Heart is Kind".
When dusk fell, Xiao Zhan stepped into the inner courtyard and saw Jiang Xue leaning on the couch reading a book.
The warm light danced on the mutton-fat jade candlesticks, making her flowing black hair glow like silk.
Even though she is five months pregnant, she still maintains a slim figure, with only the soft silver silk ribbon tied around her waist outlining her round curves.
"Are you reading "Strange Stories of Nine Provinces" again?" Xiao Zhan handed the black cloak to the maid and noticed the yellowed volume in her hand.
Jiang Xue looked up at the voice and her eyes fell on the indigo cloth bag in his arms: "Xiao Wei sent something again? Is it a swaddling cloth embroidered with koi fish or tiger-head shoes inlaid with pearls?"
As she spoke, the corners of her eyes slightly raised, and her face, which had become increasingly gentle after pregnancy, was dimpled.
Xiao Zhan placed the package on the rosewood table, and the golden nanmu chessboard was shaken slightly: "You guessed it right. The one from the Lan family must have emptied all the thirteen embroidery workshops in Jiangnan."
"The last quilt I sent you was embroidered with eighty-two pairs of children, and even the strands of their hair were clearly visible."
Jiang Xue gently stroked her abdomen, her fingertips tracing the lifelike lotus pattern on the bellyband: "Such delicate embroidery, it's as if they treat our Yaoyao as their own daughter."
"The Lan family's young man became a child son-in-law before he was even born."
Xiao Zhan reached out and fiddled with the moon-shaped pendant on her earlobe, but his tone was full of sourness: "The marriage of our precious daughter was snatched away by that couple."
Jiang Xue grabbed his rebellious fingers, and a smile on her lips melted the ice like spring water: "General Lan's courage in the battlefield, Xiaowei Xiulou's talent, such a family background brings up a child..."
"Even if I were a reincarnated immortal, I would not be worthy of Yaoyao."
Xiao Zhan interrupted her and ran his fingertips across her slightly bulging belly: "I dreamed yesterday that she was wearing a pomegranate skirt and chasing butterflies. She looked a lot like you when you were young when she just came of age."
There was a rustling sound of bamboo leaves outside the window. Jiang Xue looked at the withering tuberose on the table and suddenly held the back of her husband's hand and kissed it softly:
"When we are old and gray, you will read the latest storybook to me and I will draw the turtle on your chessboard, okay?"
Xiao Zhan interlocked his fingers with hers, and a wisp of green smoke rose from the gilded incense burner, blending the two people's shadows into a full moon-like circle.
He suddenly remembered that when he was seventeen years old in the Imperial Academy, Jiang Xue also grabbed the corner of his sleeve and drew a puffy bird on the title page of "Mountain and River Records".
A gilded bell necklace rolled out of the package, and its crisp sound awakened the parents from their reverie.
Jiang Xue picked up a light yellow dress, and suddenly stroked her forehead and chuckled: "Xiao Wei even prepared the golden abacus for the one-year-old ceremony, and I, her own mother, am just a spectator."
"Why not sew a pair of amulets for Yaoyao?"
Xiao Zhan took out a Pisces jade pendant from his arms: "Use the gold thread on your wedding dress to embroider our names on it."
Amid the crisp sound of candle flames popping, Jiang Xue looked at the two smiling faces reflected on the jade pendant, and suddenly felt that those exquisite embroidery works were not as precious as the starlight in the eyes of the person in front of her.
"After a couple of days off, how about I take you to the market to find what you need?"
Xiao Zhan made the suggestion while sorting out the books on his desk.
Jiang Xue was about to respond when there was a knock on the door and Fu Dong's hesitant voice: "Your Highness, is it convenient to talk?"
After Xiao Zhan tactfully left, Jiang Xue looked at her personal maid twisting her clothes, and reached out to pull her to sit on the couch beside her.
Fu Dong lowered her head and stared at the dark pattern on her skirt. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito: "This morning, Imperial Doctor Jiang stopped me and said a lot of things. I...wanted to agree with him."
"This is a happy occasion, why are you so sad?" Jiang Xue gently stroked the back of the maid's slightly cold hand.
The setting sun that came through the window lattice cast a warm color on the two people's overlapping sleeves, and Fu Dong's eyelashes trembled lightly: "If we still can't stay together after trying, I'm afraid that even the friendship of working together is gone..."
The warm teacup was placed in the palm of her hand, and Jiang Xue's voice was wrapped in the warmth of memory:
“That year, the war in the northern border was intense, and Yun Che and I communicated through the flames of war. I was afraid that every silk letter would become my last.
Later, he rode his horse 300 miles to break through the blockade, and without even wiping the blood off his armor, he asked me, "If the city is breached tomorrow, will you bow to heaven and earth with me today?"
The maid looked up in astonishment and saw a gentle light in the corners of her master's eyes: "At that time I said, 'If I am destined to die, I must be your wife in the Xiao family tree.' You see, love does not allow for hesitation."
The fingertips lightly touched Fu Dong's heart: "Is the one beating so hard here right now because of the friendship between close friends or the love between young men and women?"
"He said he wanted to teach me how to swim..."
Fu Dong suddenly burst into laughter and said, "It's boring to say that I always feed the fish on the pleasure boat."
The girl, with blush on her ears, clutched the Pisces pendant on her waist and said, "I want to see his stupid look when he gets choked by water."
Jiang Xue tied the mint sachet to the maid's wrist with a smile: "You didn't feel this nervous when you carried me out of the fire that year. Jiang Xiaoan, this kid..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a dull thud of something heavy falling to the ground outside the window and the corner of a dark blue robe could be vaguely seen hastily flashing past the corner of the eaves.
Fu Dong lowered his head to organize his thoughts, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the corner of his clothes.
When the morning light shone obliquely on Jiang Xue's shoulders, she finally told him the whole story.
Jiang Xue looked at the tea leaves floating in the teacup, and suddenly realized that the tea soup had gone cold three times - every turn in this story was strange, but Fu Dong's eyes were filled with unguarded trust.
"Perhaps this is a clever story made up by Master Jiang to comfort you?"
Jiang Xue swallowed the question and gently held Fu Dong's trembling hand.
Outside the window, the parasol trees rustled. She looked at the falling leaves and thought to herself:
If this lie can protect the light that has rekindled in Fu Dong's eyes, it would be better to test Jiang Xiaoan's true heart first.
At this moment, Jiang Xiaoan was staring at the swaying candlelight on the ceiling.
The sandalwood pillow made his neck feel hot, so he simply turned over and sat up. The red candle on the desk was already half burnt out.
During the day, Fu Dong's thoughtful eyes lingered in front of his eyes. He was looking forward to the green shadow coming through the window, but was also afraid to see the frosty questioning in her eyes.
When the window frame creaked slightly, he almost knocked over the celadon brush washer on the desk.
The moonlight flowed over the red veil like water, and the faint light reflected by the silver hairpin in Fu Dong's hair stung his eyes.
At this moment, she was standing in the moonlight that looked like broken silver all over the ground, just like the woman who ran into his arms holding a glass lantern during the Lantern Festival that year.
"I'm preparing the Mingqian Longjing tea."
In his panic, he knocked over the teaspoon, and the crisp collision sound tore through the silence in the room.
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