The last night of the first lunar month.
The lights in the imperial palace in Jiaosong County were dim.
This palace was renovated on the basis of an ancient temple. Due to the rush of time, most of the original temple's appearance was retained. Only furnishings and decorations were added, and the garden, rocks, trees and grass were renovated. It looks like a place for nobles to practice meditation.
In the northwest of the palace stands a towering and huge main hall, where Dai Yu, the god who is said to be in charge of the five souls and five ghosts, is enshrined.
The eyes of the huge statue emitted a soft light in the darkness. It was actually carved from a piece of stone containing luminous gems.
Under the statue, the young emperor walked slowly, still carrying the coldness that lingered outside the temple.
He looked at the statue's peaceful and expressionless face and lifted the brocade curtain that had been covering the altar.
Under the brocade curtain is a filigree hollow golden ball sitting on a nanmu tray. If you look closely, you can see layers of gold inside the ball, and a faint emerald green color can be seen.
Next to the tray, the cold hand warmer exuded a slightly bitter citron scent, which was somewhat similar to the man's scent.
He was about to reach out to take the hand warmer when footsteps were heard behind him.
Su Wei retracted his sleeves and turned to look at his eunuch.
After a simple salute, Shan Jiangfei dismissed the palace guards on night duty at the palace gate, and stepped forward to carefully take off the heavy crown for the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Lieutenant Ding just reported that the person has returned to his residence. Your Majesty can rest assured."
Shan Jiangfei's voice was very soft, obviously he was only speaking to the person in front of him.
Su Wei leaned lightly on the soft couch and hummed softly when he heard the words, indicating that he understood.
Shan Jiangfei was about to put the crown back into the lacquer box prepared by the Ministry of Rites when he caught a glimpse of the extinguished heater on the altar and his expression changed.
"Didn't Your Majesty bring a hand warmer just now?"
The emperor glanced at the stove and said calmly, "It probably fell after I changed my clothes."
General Shan flew forward and put the heater away, his tone rather self-reproachful: "After all, I'm not from the palace, so I'm so careless. This is my fault for the mistake. Your Majesty, please punish me."
"It's just a heater, what's the point of punishing you?"
Shan Jiangfei didn't say anything for a while.
The person in front of him had black hair tied up high, revealing the crown. His slender neck protruded from the cross collar, and each vertebra was clearly visible. On his fair skin was a circle of red marks caused by the heavy headdress.
With a sigh, the eunuch took out a small bottle of medicine from his sleeve and applied it on the red mark.
"Your Majesty, why are you so careless about your own health? The weather is still cold, and the ceremony is very complicated. Your Majesty can let me do it for you."
The translucent cream was spread across the skin by the fingertips, gradually revealing the heat that penetrated the bones. Su Wei half closed his eyes, and his expression finally softened.
"A Fei's impersonation of me is now about 70% similar. If I hadn't seen him up close, I would have fooled even Uncle Wang. But this ceremony is in the public eye, and I have to personally bestow the sword. If those old guys on the stage today knew about it, I wonder what they would think of me later."
Shan Jiangfei found it a little funny: "Isn't it the same in previous years? Why haven't I seen Your Majesty worry about these things..."
As soon as he said this, he realized something was wrong and quickly apologized, "I made a mistake, Your Majesty, please don't blame me."
The emperor clearly had no intention of punishing anyone, and simply said, "It would have been fine in previous years, but not this year."
Her slender fingers slowly touched the relic beads, as if she was thinking about something else.
The eunuch knew without even raising his calm eyebrows that the man in front of him seemed to be distracted.
"Is there anything on your mind, Your Majesty?"
Su Wei pointed to the colorful candied fruits in the exquisite lacquer box on the small table nearby.
“Why are there no almonds in this?”
Shan Jiangfei was stunned for a moment, seemingly a little surprised by the answer, and then quickly said, "I'll have someone prepare it."
The emperor turned his palm over, and there was a shriveled object in his palm.
"I want this one."
Dan Jiangfei moved closer and could barely see that it was a dried, wrinkled almond kernel.
"This is a wild apricot kernel. I'm afraid it can't be found in the palace. I can ask someone to go to the east market to look for it..."
The man paused and put the dried almond kernels back into his sleeve.
"Forget it. This little thing isn't worth the fuss."
After this back and forth, Dan Jiangfei became more and more certain of his guess.
He walked to the side, picked out the burnt incense ashes in the stove, added some calming incense, and carefully lit it.
"It's getting late. Your Majesty has worked hard all day. It's time to rest."
The emperor looked at the quietly burning incense burner and suddenly stood up from the couch.
"I don't want to sleep yet, but I feel a little bored."
Shan Jiangfei was stunned again.
He had been serving the man in front of him since he was nine years old, and as long as he was within the palace walls, he was the emperor's shadow.
As inseparable as he is, I have never heard this cold and aloof person complain about being bored.
While he was in a daze, Su Wei had already made up his mind about the idea that had been circling in his mind for a long time.
"How far is the villa where Marquis Qinghuai is staying from the palace?"
Shan Jiangfei suppressed the strange feeling in his heart: "If I drive, it will take about an incense stick of time."
Su Wei nodded, then said leisurely, "Send someone to Qing Huaihou and ask the Right General to come and apologize in person."
Shan Jiangfei responded calmly, but he had to ask cautiously, "In the middle of the night, if Lord Qinghuai were to ask, what is the accusation...?"
"Didn't she lose the sword I gave her at the festival? She deserves death. As for the method of execution..." The man paused, "I need to think it over carefully."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
