Chapter 129 Chapter 129 "I look forward to seeing you the most, and my heart is always happy."...
The New Year is approaching.
On the twenty-seventh day of the winter month, a heavy snow fell in Chang'an City.
Goose-feather-like snowflakes were blown into the air by the wind. In front of the Duke Jingguo's Mansion, Princess Shoukang's carriage had been packed up, and a team of nearly a hundred people was marching in a mighty manner.
"It's freezing cold, so we'll send you here. There's no need to leave the city." Princess Shoukang was wearing a brocade cloak inlaid with rabbit fur, and her voice was as gentle as usual.
Sheng Puzhu was held by Xie Zhiyan's hand, her eyelashes wet from the wind and snow. She nodded obediently, "Goodbye, mother."
"Good child." Princess Shoukang caressed her cheek tenderly, then looked at her son, who had been standing quietly beside her. "Sanlang, do you have anything to tell me?"
Xie Zhiyan braved the snowy wind, his figure as clear as the wind. "Tell father not to overwork himself. I'll be back to Yumen Pass after the New Year."
"Your father is not old yet, you don't have to worry."
Princess Shoukang lowered her eyes, smiled, and waved her hand again: "It's cold, take Puzhu back early."
The team set off, walked farther and farther away, and finally disappeared at the end of the street.
Sheng Puzhu looked at the vast expanse of the sky and earth. The seemingly ordinary farewell still made her feel a little depressed, but the next moment she felt warmth on her fingertips.
Xie Zhiyan raised his hand and patted the snowflakes on her shoulder. His eyes, slightly narrowed by the wind, seemed to have broken light.
The two looked at each other, their gazes filled with deep emotions, looking ambiguous and affectionate.
Sheng Puzhu looked up at the falling snow and was the first to speak: "How quickly another year has passed."
Xie Zhiyan looked straight ahead, not knowing what he was thinking. Suddenly he came to his senses, leaned over, and with an almost pious attitude, took Sheng Puju's hand and kissed the back of her hand.
His robe fluttered in the wind, and the delusions in his heart spread like wildfire. He suddenly closed his eyes, with a lot of words in his heart. He always felt guilty when he thought of the past, but he didn't know how to start.
Even though he couldn't figure it out sometimes, he knelt in the ancestral hall looking at the tablets of his ancestors, his legs bruised and numb from kneeling, he still didn't know how to make up for it.
Xie Zhiyan's heart felt bitter and full, almost overflowing. In the end, he simply took Sheng Puzhu's cold little hand tightly in his palm and said in a deep voice, "It's cold, I will take Madam back to Yunyu Hall."
The couple walked hand in hand through the corridor like a perfect couple. After entering the hanging flower gate and walking forward, they saw Nanny Du coming from the direction of the small kitchen with a food box in her hand.
"My lord, my lady." Nanny Du bowed and stepped forward to open the curtain herself.
Sheng Puzhu stepped in and was about to untie the cloak, but Xie Zhiyan got there first and served her personally.
Nanny Du was very self-aware and did not go forward, but waited from a distance. She opened the food box and saw two roasted sweet potatoes on the plate, which were filled with a burnt aroma. Honey-colored syrup was oozing from the cracked burnt skin, like crystal amber.
"Didn't my wife say the other day that she wanted to go to the manor at the foot of the mountain in the eastern suburbs to soak in the hot springs? Unfortunately, it's been snowing heavily lately and travel is inconvenient."
"It just so happened that the farm delivered some fresh sweet potatoes this morning. I thought my wife would like them, so I asked the cook to simmer them slowly over silver charcoal for an hour or so."
Sheng Puju really liked it, and when the cloak was untied, she couldn't wait to taste it.
"Be careful of the heat."
Xie Zhiyan lowered his eyes and picked up a sweet potato. He broke it slightly at both ends, revealing the golden inside that looked as delicious as the setting sun.
A sweet fragrance spread outside as he moved.
"Try it." Xie Zhiyan was not afraid of the heat. He patiently removed all the burnt parts before handing the golden potato flesh to the soft lips.
Sheng Puzhu took a bite from his hand, and the steaming hot air made the corners of her eyes turn red. "So sweet."
Xie Zhiyan lowered his eyes and wiped the honey-colored syrup from the corner of Sheng Puzhu's lips with his fingertips: "If you like it, can you ask Zhuangzi to send it to you tomorrow?"
Sheng Puzhu nodded and looked at Aunt Du again: "How much did you give today?"
Madam Du smiled and said, "Zhuangzi sent five or six baskets over this morning."
"Then send some to the third house. I heard Lingyi say that her brother Xie Huizhi had a conflict with his family and secretly went to the border. I'm sure she's worried too. It would be better to take Lingxi to the yard to enjoy the snow and roast sweet potatoes. It would be more relaxing."
Nanny Du nodded, she knew what was going on in the third room.
It was claimed that the conflict was between siblings, but in fact it was a conflict between the third wife and her son.
The third wife protected her only son as the apple of her eye. Before, Lingyi and her sister were young, so she could still control them. But now she can't control them or suppress them. Her "eye" has run away, so she is naturally anxious and angry. Although this basket of sweet potatoes is not a valuable item, it is a disguised warning sent by Sheng Puzhu himself to thank Lingyi for having someone to protect her.
Seeing that Xie Zhiyan was willing to feed her, Sheng Puzhu simply moved to the warm room, where she leaned lazily, flipped a page of her storybook, and ate a roasted sweet potato. Suddenly, she thought of her mother's home, the Marquis Mingde Mansion, and hurriedly said to Madam Du, "Pick out two more baskets of good quality ones, along with the candied fruits that were given to us at the palace the other day, and send them to the Marquis Mingde Mansion."
"Puyao has a sweet tooth. She can't eat too many sugar beans, but candied fruits and sweet potatoes are fine. She can eat them with almond tea while roasting them over the fire. It gives her an excuse to be lazy."
"Well, I'll go right away." Madam Du smiled and was about to leave when Xie Zhiyan added, "Add the jar of twenty-year-old Tusu wine from the cellar of Duke Jingguo's mansion. Grandfather likes roasted lamb, and it goes perfectly with Tusu wine."
Sheng Puzhu didn't understand what was going on. She glared at Xie Zhiyan and whispered, "Grandfather is old, and grandmother doesn't let him drink."
Xie Zhiyan pursed his lips and smiled: "Then I won't drink it, but I still have to give you this wine today."
Sheng Puzhu has a poor alcohol tolerance and her drinking habits are even more suspicious. She can get very drunk after just one glass of fruit wine.
Tusu is a strong liquor. According to the custom of Yumen Pass, drinking Tusu on the first day of the first lunar month can avoid plague.
Therefore, Tu Su is also called Sui wine.
It goes without saying that sending New Year's wine to the Marquis Mingde's Mansion at this time.
Nanny Du sent someone to deliver the sweet potatoes, but after just over an hour, a maid from the third house came back with a reply.
The snow was heavy, and the visitor stood in front of the corridor, carefully brushing off the snow on his body and bowing with a smile.
"Madam, our eldest lady specially asked me to come and thank you for the sweet potatoes you sent."
"It's snowing heavily today. The lady wanted to come in person, but unfortunately she sprained her ankle the day before yesterday and couldn't move around easily, so she asked me to come."
Sheng Puzhu nodded, and seeing the maid's joyful face, he asked, "But does your master have any good news? It looks good to me."
The maid nodded and said crisply, "There is a happy event that needs to be reported to the Crown Prince's wife."
"Our eldest lady just got engaged, and sent the matchmaker away half an hour ago."
Sheng Puzhu raised an eyebrow when he heard this, and thought of someone: "But the prince of Chengguo Mansion?"
The maid nodded: "That's right."
Sheng Puzhu was not surprised. After all, half a month ago, during the winter hunting in the northern suburbs, Xie Lingyi represented the female members of the Xie family in the polo match. On that day, she was galloping like the wind in the hunting ground, and Wei Ci, the prince of Chengguo, was in the viewing stand.
Since the Jingguo Mansion split up, the status of the third branch of the Xie family in Chang'an is naturally not as good as before, and the third wife wants to find a capable son-in-law to help her son in the future.
Even after the mourning period, the matchmaker came to the house again and again, but the third wife was still picky and not satisfied.
Wei Ci, the prince of the Chengguo Mansion, is the elder brother of the former Crown Princess. Although the Wei family is low-key, they are also a well-known family in Chang'an City. So when the matchmaker came to the door today, the third wife agreed without thinking.
As for Xie Lingyi, Sheng Puju was not worried. Given her personality, if she didn't like someone, even if the Third Lady held a knife to her neck, Xie Lingyi wouldn't even blink.
"When is the wedding date set?" Sheng Puzhu asked.
The maid suddenly lowered her head and spoke in a low voice, "The wedding is scheduled for March after the spring begins?"
Sheng Puzhu was stunned: "March?"
"Well, it seems that the prince of the Chengguo Mansion is a little anxious and wants to marry her home quickly. This servant also heard it from the matchmaker."
Sheng Puzhu was about to ask more, but Xie Zhiyan had walked up behind her without her noticing. His fingertips caressed her soft lips, and he whispered in her ear, "Wei Ci had come to me before. At that time, my grandmother was very ill. I also spoke to Lingyi privately."
Sheng Puzhu understood. This prince of the Chengguo Mansion had probably been thinking about Xie Lingyi for a long time. Now that he had finally got a legitimate opportunity, how could he wait any longer?
Not long after the maidservants from the third room left, the Marquis of Mingde's Mansion sent Nanny Gui, the most respected maidservant around the old lady, to pay her respects.
"Everyone in the family likes the sweet potatoes my wife sent."
Nanny Gui smiled before she spoke. She took out the freshly steamed lotus cake from the food box and casually said, "Princess Shoukang has gone to Yumen Pass, so you and your husband are the only two masters in the mansion. It will be a bit quiet at the end of the year. Does the old lady suggest that we go back to the Marquis of Mingde's mansion to stay up all night on New Year's Eve this year?"
Sheng Puzhu paused slightly as she held the cake with her fingertips, and blinked her long eyelashes.
Before she could speak, Xie Zhiyan turned around and said in a clear voice, "It depends on what Madam likes."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Gui's smile deepened a little, and her gaze shifted between the two of them: "Young Master is considerate of Madam."
Sheng Puzhu could see the mischief in Madam Gui's eyes. Her ears burned as she whispered, "Then please reply, Madam. My husband and I will be home on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month."
Nanny Gui bowed and was about to leave, but after a moment's thought, she turned back and respectfully bowed to Xie Zhiyan again: "The old marquis said, thank you for the Tusu wine sent by my husband."
"Why did you send Tu Su to me, my dear?"
Sheng Puzhu later realized that her father had mentioned that Tusu was New Year's wine and should be drunk on the first day of the New Year. They were young and could only dip a drop with chopsticks and mix it with tea.
Xie Zhiyan opened his bright eyes and smiled back, "Because I hope that my wife will have someone to care about her and be happy all the time."
The sound of falling snow outside the window seems to be a bustling scene at this moment.
Sheng Puzhu lowered her eyes and did not respond, as if she had not heard clearly. After a long while, she raised her head and said seriously and sincerely, "Then I wish you to always smile, encounter auspicious signs, and never be defeated."
Xie Zhiyan's silence was like a silent and long confession.
His expression was very serious. He took Sheng Puzhu's hand and kissed it gently. His voice was extremely calm because his emotions were so strong. He spoke softly, and each word sounded like a whisper of love.
"Thank you, ma'am." Xie Zhiyan knelt on one knee, and the depths of his eyebrows seemed to hide the snow that never melts on the Qilian Mountains. He looked as still as a mountain, but he was also like a tamed and gentle leopard, with a gentle and measured gesture in his every move.
Sheng Puzhu's heart was soft, and she responded with an equally gentle kiss: "You're welcome."
Xie Zhiyan raised his eyes and stared for a moment. He seemed to be in a trance for a moment, and then the dark current in his eyes surged even more fiercely. The emptiness in his body was not filled, but infinitely embraced.
His wife is the best in the world, the top class here.
As for the word "love", Xie Zhiyan thought silently as he looked at those affectionate eyes that looked like they knew how to love.
"Life is long, I long for you most, my heart is always happy."
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