Chapter 132 Chapter 132 "I really like you."...
On a snowy night, the lights are like broken stars.
Sheng Puzhu was wearing a thick cloak and was half held in Xie Zhiyan's arms. She was holding a hot water bottle in her arms and was wrapped thickly from head to toe, but she didn't feel cold.
After the blessing lanterns were lit, Lu Zhoudu suggested setting off fireworks and firecrackers.
After the sound of firecrackers woke up all the dozing maids in the mansion, Fu Yunzheng rubbed his hands, exhaled a breath of cold air, and said righteously, "It's the first day of the new year, and the lotus lanterns for making wishes haven't been lit yet."
"The lake is frozen, how can we light lanterns?" Sheng Mingya gave him a fierce look.
Fu Yunzheng sneered, and he found a big stone from somewhere and dug a hole in the lake. He was going to force a few wishing lanterns in.
Sheng Puzhu watched from the side with a clenched fist, and really admired the perseverance of the eldest son of the Fu family.
A group of people dawdled from midnight until almost 3 a.m.
Sheng Puzhu followed the habit she developed in the Jingguo Mansion. She did not get enough sleep and could hardly wake up. Sheng Mingshu was weak and never had to get up early. Not to mention Puyao and Mingya. Since the sisters had not gotten up yet, there was no reason for the younger sister to get up early.
As for Xie Zhiyan, he got up before dawn and inadvertently came under the nose of the old marquis Sheng Baiya. Before the game of chess began, Lu Zhoudu also came with a pot of tea in his hand, which was said to be brewed by himself.
The two men looked at each other, then inadvertently looked away. Xie Zhiyan raised his eyebrows, and Lu Zhoudu sneered secretly. Everyone looked down on the other.
As for Fu Yunzheng.
He traveled all the way from Yumen Pass without sleep and finally arrived in Chang'an on New Year's Eve. Even if he wanted to get up early, even a body made of iron could not bear it, not to mention that he was not very smart.
When the sun rose at daybreak, Fu Yunzheng got up and prepared to show himself in front of his elders. However, Xie Zhiyan and Lu Zhoudu had already finished their walk with Old Marquis Sheng.
Xie Zhiyan thought for a moment, then nodded towards Fu Yunzheng, saying, "Good morning."
Lu Zhoudu followed suit and nodded: "It's really early."
Fu Yunzheng clenched his fists, but unfortunately his elders were present and he couldn't put up a good fight.
Three days passed in a blink of an eye. No matter how thick-skinned Fu Yunzheng was, the elders of the Anguo Mansion could not afford to lose face. The person who came to pick him up personally knelt in the ancestral hall as soon as he returned.
With Lu Zhoudu's cleverness, he naturally found a suitable reason to leave Mingde Marquis Mansion.
Sheng Puzhu stayed at home for nearly half a month before returning to the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion with Xie Zhiyan.
The Lantern Festival is approaching, and there will be a banquet in the palace. All officials will attend with their families. This is the first palace banquet held by Xiao Heyin after he ascended the throne, so he naturally attaches great importance to it.
Sheng Puzhu went to bed early and woke up at dawn. Since she couldn't fall asleep, she simply leaned on the couch and read a storybook. Although the sound of turning pages was very light, Xie Zhiyan also woke up.
He reached out out of habit, pressed the person into his arms and kissed him, his voice hoarse as if he had just woken up: "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Sheng Puzhu shook his head: "It's rare for me to get up early, so I won't sleep."
"Are you hiding something in your heart?" Xie Zhiyan said it all.
Sheng Puzhu dropped the sketchbook in his hand and said without trying to hide it: "I'm thinking about my brother."
"What do you want him to do?" Xie Zhiyan frowned.
"Brother, if I stay with He Yin, will I be nameless and without status?"
"Linlang Pavilion's jewelry has been selling well recently. Tonight at the Lantern Festival Palace Banquet, there must be a young man who wants to show off his beauty. I heard that last year's third place winner was also very handsome. Some court officials have suggested that Heyin choose a son-in-law and recommended Pei Xuzhi."
The more Sheng Puzhu thought about it, the more she felt that her brother was in a bad situation. She pursed her lips and said, "I wonder if He Yin will have three husbands and four concubines."
Xie Zhiyan snorted coldly. Although this had nothing to do with him, he still felt that the three words "Tanhualang" were harsh, and "Pei Xuzhi" were even harsher.
"What good ideas does the lady have?"
Sheng Puzhu blinked her sore eyes and said worriedly, "Oh, no, after all, I'm not good at vying for favor, and I can't come up with any ideas on this kind of thing."
"How about you, my dear, help me think about it?"
Xie Zhiyan's slightly raised lips stiffened, his deep eyes filled with emotion, and his voice suddenly became a little cold: "Am I really good at it?"
Sheng Puzhu was completely unaware and took it for granted: "Isn't it?"
Xie Zhiyan sneered, loosened his grip on her slender waist, and sat up, hugging the quilt: "No."
Sheng Puju was stunned, thinking that Xie Zhiyan might be angry, but she couldn't guess why he was angry for no reason.
The man got up early and continued to practice sword in the small garden as usual, then went back to his room to take a bath and have breakfast together.
During the New Year holidays, Sheng Puzhu was very busy. Although there was no elder in the family to take charge, he had to prepare all the favors he had to deal with from various people in the mansions, as well as the account books collected from various farms, the expenses during the holidays, and the rewards for the servants in the mansion.
After finishing her work in the conference room, she looked at the time and decided to prepare to enter the palace after lunch.
Nanny Du came forward with tea and said, "Madam, there's something going on in the palace. My husband has already gone there."
Sheng Puzhu nodded, but didn't take it to heart, thinking that Xie Zhiyan really had something to do.
Before nightfall, she entered the palace in a carriage. The Hanyuan Palace was bustling with singing and dancing. The bloody scene from the fight for the throne years ago was long gone.
The Shangyuan Palace Banquet was held according to the auspicious time calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.
Sheng Puzhu sat together with the sisters from the Marquis of Mingde's mansion. With her current status in the palace, she didn't need to be so nervous and cautious, so she had the leisure to watch Hu Ji dancing and enjoy the performances of the young men from various mansions.
Last year's third place winner was a man named Shen. Not only was he handsome, but he was also an excellent writer. Because he had the same surname as Shen Ce, when he was performing, Sheng Puzhu couldn't help but take a few more glances at him and then began to compare him with his brother in every aspect.
When Pei Xuzhi asked for an external appointment at the palace banquet, she was puzzled again and looked at him a few more times.
After all, Chang'an has good feng shui, and the place Pei Xuzhi wants to go is Lingnan, which is mountainous and has tough folk customs. As a former half-acquaintance, she is of course curious.
In Xie Zhiyan's eyes, Sheng Puzhu's behavior was just like the Lantern Festival banquet. His wife, who always behaved dignifiedly, had her hair swaying gently with her hairpins and her lips were as red as ripe cherries after drinking, and she was looking at the third place winner with drunken eyes.
It is not enough to look at the third place winner named Chen, we also have to compare him with the former third place winner named Pei.
A jealous man has no rationality, especially since he'd been sulking all day, yet Sheng Puzhu hadn't even glanced at him. Xie Zhiyan stood up, his cold fingertips stroking Sheng Puzhu's snow-white neck. He nodded to Xiao Heyin, who was standing high in the hall, and then, in full view of everyone, he lifted her up and said, "Madam, you're drunk. I'll take you home."
Sheng Puzhu opened his lips, wanting to refute.
Xie Zhiyan, using the cloak to cover his face, brazenly bit the small red mole on her earlobe. His expression was gloomy and unclear. "Madam, you are very drunk. I will take you back home to sober you up."
The Yunyu Hall was very quiet. Nanny Du had led everyone out early and had filled the bathroom with water and prepared flower petals. Hearing that the two had left the table halfway, the cook had thoughtfully prepared a table of dishes and warmed up Sheng Puzhu's favorite fruit wine.
The carefully prepared dishes have gone cold and the charcoal fire in the small stove that was used to warm the wine has gone out.
Sheng Puzhu was carried out of the bathroom by Xie Zhiyan. She was exhausted and her mind was hazy. As for what Xie Zhiyan asked, she gave a bunch of confused answers, and now she couldn't remember a single word.
"Madam, are you still hungry?" Xie Zhiyan placed his palm on the back of her neck, which was bitten red. Although the force was not strong, the slow and leisurely stroking made her moan softly, and the skin on the back of her neck trembled again and again.
Sheng Puzhu was extremely hungry and felt her stomach growling, but fortunately, she had suffered many setbacks and still had a strong sense of crisis: "I'm not hungry, I'm full, I'm almost dying of stuffing."
Xie Zhiyan smiled faintly, "At the palace banquet, you clearly only ate a bite of rose cake, two slices of rouge goose breast, and a thumb-sized braised lamb chop. You also touched the glutinous rice and golden jujube soup in the bowl with your lips. The jujube soup was so bad that you couldn't even swallow it."
"Oh, I almost forgot, there's also half a cup of pomegranate wine."
Sheng Puzhu was surprised at first, and then when Xie Zhiyan's cold lips kissed her spine, she couldn't help but shudder: "Why is my husband looking at me?"
Xie Zhiyan lowered his eyes, and his bony fingers slowly penetrated her soft lips. He smiled and said, "Because my wife is beautiful."
At this point, he suddenly uttered a sigh, and his unusually clear voice suddenly became very deep: "Is the Tanhua Lang surnamed Chen handsome?"
Does it look good?
Sheng Puzhu felt that he was not as good-looking as Shen Ce, so he blinked in confusion, not realizing that every word the other party said was full of jealousy: "Well, not as good-looking as my brother."
"What about Pei Xuzhi?" Xie Zhiyan asked expressionlessly.
Sheng Puzhu was puzzled: "Why mention him?"
Xie Zhiyan smiled and said, "I thought Madam liked it?"
Although he was smiling, the thin, slightly upturned corners of his eyes had a sharp curve that had never been seen before.
"My dear, you are acting strangely tonight." Sheng Puzhu muttered and struggled in his arms.
Xie Zhiyan didn't let go, his expression looked very serious, and every question he asked was full of warning.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Sheng Puzhu couldn't guess, so she didn't want to guess anymore. She was a little annoyed and simply closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
How could Xie Zhiyan let her have her wish? He kissed her awake, put on his clothes again, and then ordered Madam Du to clear the table and set up a new one.
"Why are you angry, my dear?" Sheng Puzhu's eyes flashed.
Xie Zhiyan kept his lips closed and did not answer. Instead, he picked up the chopsticks and patiently fed her food mouthful by mouthful.
Sheng Puzhu's cheeks were swollen from eating so much that she became restless. She touched Xie Zhiyan's Adam's apple with her fingertips and could clearly feel it rolling up and down uncontrollably under her touch.
"Why are you angry, sir?"
Xie Zhiyan pursed his lips but still didn't answer.
Sheng Puzhu frowned and rarely spoke to explain, "The new number one scholar is named Shen, and he is showing off his talent and skills. Naturally, I am worried about my brother."
"As for Pei Xu... Young Master Pei, I was just a little shocked that he invited me to Lingnan."
Xie Zhiyan remained silent, his dark eyes looking at her quietly.
Sheng Puzhu, who was clearly in the right, felt strangely guilty: "I was worried about my brother when he showed off his talents at the palace banquet, so I took a few extra glances."
"As for the others, there shouldn't be any more, right?"
"There's more." Xie Zhiyan said coldly, still expressionless.
"what else?"
Sheng Puzhu felt like a playboy hanging on the edge of a cliff. As long as Xie Zhiyan didn't say anything, she couldn't help but want to coax him, even though she was not very good at coaxing people.
"Hu Ji." Xie Zhiyan stared at her without blinking.
Sheng Puzhu: "Even Hu Ji is not okay?"
Xie Zhiyan turned his head and touched her rosy cheek with his lips: "No."
"Xie Zhiyan, you are too overbearing." Sheng Puzhu accused him, his chest heaving slightly.
Xie Zhiyan did not deny it. He kissed the rosy lips in front of him, especially fiercely. Every suck was filled with jealousy: "I am indeed domineering, because I am jealous every day."
"When I think back to the day my wife was born, I knew her. It was a pity that our destiny wasn't there, and we couldn't grow up together. This is a great regret in my life."
At this point, Xie Zhiyan suddenly became gentle, but he kept the kiss lingering high, unwilling to give enough, until Sheng Puju whimpered from her throat, tilted her slender neck, and her almond eyes were misty.
In the dim light, the two people's breaths intertwined.
Xie Zhiyan lowered his eyes. Although he looked down on her, he said regretfully, "I owe my wife a lot."
Sheng Puju's eyes were very clear, like the water transformed from the white jade flower. After a brief eye contact, her snow-white fingertips gently scratched the corner of Xie Zhiyan's eyes.
"Is it because you always feel indebted that you are jealous?"
Xie Zhiyan did not deny it. He has always been paranoid.
Maybe he has been like this since childhood, or maybe it was because he was exposed to killing too early, and the life in the palace was always emotionless. Even when facing his parents, he was cold most of the time.
Sheng Puzhu suddenly stopped being angry and said seriously.
"Xie Zhiyan, I like you too."
“I really like it.”
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