63 Coated Tofu
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In early summer, the ground is covered in dense shade. Clusters of bayberries, dark red, hang from the trees in the imperial gardens, attracting birds to fly around them.
Under the eaves corridor outside the Liubei Palace, Emperor Chengping and Princess Anguo were sitting and talking, with the emperor's eldest grandson Zhao You standing beside them.
A palace maid brought freshly picked bayberries and placed them in a carved glass bowl, which made the fruits look rich and beautiful.
Emperor Chengping had always been suspicious and somewhat unkind to his sons, but he was very kind to women - his sisters, daughters, and children.
He especially doted on the eldest grandson Zhao You, simply because the child was too sensible.
The emperor's eldest grandson, Zhao You, was only ten years old this year. He had been gifted with intelligence and good manners since childhood. Just now, when Emperor Chengping asked him to sit, he insisted on standing to serve.
Princess Anguo waved her round fan, smiled at the handsome young man, and thought to herself: The prince is weak, but he gave birth to a good son.
Emperor Chengping suddenly asked, "Why did I hear that the third son of the Xie family is going to join the army? He's the only son of the Dongping Palace, and Xie Yan doesn't care about him anymore?"
Emperor Chengping's tone was flat, and no trace of sadness or joy could be heard.
The eldest princess was a kind person and was close to the ladies of the noble families. Sometimes, when it was convenient for him not to get involved, it would be much easier to get things done through her.
The princess personally picked up a dark red bayberry and handed it to Emperor Taiping. "Parents should repay their children's debts. How can the Prince of Dongping control his temper?"
Emperor Chengping took the bayberry, played with it in his hands, and showed an unfathomable look.
The debt of his children... His princes were all very mature, but the princesses were spoiled. Fu'an married and went to Suzhou, only to become a widow. Baoqing, on the other hand, was still childish.
Thinking of Baoqing, he glanced at the eldest grandson beside him. How come his nephew is more mature than his aunt? He smiled slightly and handed the bayberry to the eldest grandson: "Eat it!"
The emperor's eldest grandson thanked him, took the bayberry and ate it, then said:
"These days, my grandson often sees the maids in the mansion crying quietly, and he thought the maids were punishing them. But when he asked, he found out that it was because Prince Xie was getting married, and they couldn't stand it."
Emperor Chengping chuckled. Of course he still remembered the incident of sending the bid during the Dragon Boat Festival.
The princess picked another bayberry and handed it to Emperor Chengping, saying with a hint of sarcasm:
“So there’s always something to conquer.”
"That boy Linchuan joined the army because of Jiang Yuan's daughter. That girl, true to her surname, despised Linchuan because he was a favored child. He couldn't learn, so he joined the army."
The emperor laughed heartily: "This matter is not over yet." Thinking of his own youth, he sighed, "What a love-sick child!"
The bayberries were fresh and juicy at this time, sweet with a hint of sourness. The princess loved them very much. After eating several, she slowly said, "Not only is he infatuated, but I see he also has a sense of propriety."
The emperor's eldest grandson ate bayberries and thought about his own things in silence.
Xie Linchuan's grandfather, Xie Shan, was a loyal minister who helped Emperor Jiande conquer the world, and his disciples and descendants were spread all over the world.
Now Shi Liang, who is guarding Xining, and Zhu Congda, who is guarding Hejian Prefecture, are both closely connected with him.
But Xie Linchuan abandoned these places and went to Jiangning. He asked the Jiangning pacification envoy for a letter of recommendation to Yang Mao of Taiyuan Prefecture.
Yang Mao was born into a poor family and was imprisoned when he was young for fighting with fellow villagers.
Emperor Taiping personally promoted him from prisoner to General of the Jinwu Guard. He was grateful for the emperor's grace and never formed a clique for personal gain, earning him the emperor's trust.
With him in Taiyuan, Emperor Chengping no longer had to worry about the Liao Kingdom invading the border, and he could also check and balance veteran generals like Zhu Congda who had their own troops.
Emperor Chengping smiled a smile that was indistinguishable from joy. He did not respond to the eldest princess's words, but instead asked the eldest grandson, "You'er, what do you think?"
The emperor's eldest grandson was startled and said slowly:
"My grandson is young and doesn't understand what my aunt meant by propriety. I only remember that at the palace banquet when the Liao envoys came to Beijing, Second Prince Yelu Wang spoke out wildly, and only Crown Prince Xie dared to challenge him."
Emperor Chengping was silent for a moment, squinted his eyes, and looked at the bright sky:
"At the last palace banquet, the Second Prince of Liao was right. A good man should go to the northern border to gain some experience...
"Jiang Yuan said that the Liao Kingdom is watching us covetously. If we suppress our military power for a day, we will be in danger of national destruction. Don't I know that?"
He put the bayberry into his mouth and ate it, then called the guard to pass the secret message to Yang Mao.
The eldest princess waved a peony fan, glanced at the eldest prince casually, and maintained an elegant smile.
——
When Jiang Qinglan returned to the Xinghua Restaurant, lunch was already over. Only a few customers were in the drinks section, waiting for the cherries to be made while they bought jasmine melon ice.
Jiang Qinglan had just opened the curtain when he heard a faint roar from the Lukui Courtyard: "Practice, practice, practice, practice, bullshit!"
Then, there was a "bang" and the door was kicked open.
Wang Huiniang put one hand on her waist and rushed out like a fighting cock, waving the palm-leaf fan in her hand so hard that the wind blew violently and her hair flew everywhere.
"Oh, are you really angry?" Jiang Qinglan said with a half-smile. She still had a lot of gossip in her mind, but it seemed she had to put it aside.
"Bah!" Wang Huiniang spat outside.
"That Zheng Wang, he's been training Hu Zi in martial arts all day. The academy is closed today, and I don't know when they slipped away. Our Hu Zi will study and take the imperial examinations in the future, why would he practice martial arts?"
"Hey! I don't agree with that." Jiang Qinglan rarely refuted her. "Practicing some martial arts is enough to strengthen your body, even if you can't fight in the battlefield and defend your country."
History books describe the Song army as being numerous but weak, and being defeated as soon as they fought the enemy.
Thinking of this, Jiang Qinglan couldn't help but look worried.
"That's true," Wang Huiniang said with a worried look on her face. "But I see that Hu Zi has been so engrossed in his training lately that he hasn't paid attention to his studies. How is he going to take the imperial examinations in the future?"
As they were talking, they saw two people coming back from outside side by side. They were sweating profusely, as if they had just been fished out of the water. They were still chattering about some boxing and footwork.
Seeing the strange looks from their side, the two of them just nodded and went to the backyard again, without wasting a quarter of an hour.
"Huzi!" Wang Huiniang raised her eyebrows, "Have you finished your homework?"
The two people were so excited about the conversation that they turned a deaf ear to it and walked away, leaving Wang Huiniang alone and angry.
Jiang Qinglan had no choice but to promise that emphasizing martial arts does not necessarily mean neglecting literature, and that he would definitely keep an eye on Hu Zi's homework for her. Only then did Wang Huiniang feel relieved.
After a few days, the weather became hotter and the sun got higher. Zheng Wang and Hu Zi no longer went to the open space outside to practice boxing and kicking. Instead, they practiced a few moves in the restaurant when there were fewer people around.
Wang Huiniang saw this every day and endured it again and again. Sometimes she would scold Zheng Wang a few words, but Hu Zi would still speak up for his uncle Zheng.
Jiang Qinglan just laughed when he saw it, thinking that Brother Zheng's move was brilliant.
He looked honest and kind, but it turned out that he was just like Yang Song, a man of great wisdom who appeared foolish.
In the past few days, because of what Mrs. Xie said at the Liang family, no one dared to cause trouble at the Xinghua Restaurant, and life was peaceful and harmonious.
They continued to put up the various stewed dishes from last summer, and replaced the previous porridge with the cold noodles that Zheng Wang was good at.
There are not only the common locust leaf cold tea, but also silver thread cold tea, chamomile cold tea, and bamboo shoot cold tea.
Some noodles are thin, some are thick, and the toppings also vary depending on the meat and vegetable ingredients. In short, the cold noodles are made into various shapes.
Xue Qi, in addition to the three Xueji auction houses on Imperial Street, has opened a new one near Yuhang Gate in the north of the city. He also said that he has already selected locations in Suzhou and Jiangning.
And her previous idea - a buffet - has already been realized in one restaurant.
Xue Qi took the high-end route this time and opened a Xue family "authentic store" by the West Lake, specializing in lake fresh sashimi. Jiang Qinglan has been busy recently and has not had the time to go and see it.
So, today I have to meet Zhang Yue Niang again. This was an appointment we made earlier.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, after Xie Linchuan submitted the bid at West Lake, Zhang Yueniang wrote a letter saying that the sisters of the Zhu family gnashed their teeth when talking about Jiang Qinglan and threatened to come to the Xinghua Restaurant to cause trouble.
Later, she wrote several more letters, each of which simply said that someone wanted to harm Jiang Qinglan.
She thought about it and was worried, so she wanted to ask Jiang Qinglan to meet her today.
But as a concubine, it was not easy for her to go out, and she could not go far. So the two of them met at Shangxin Tower, not far from Zhu's mansion.
At this time, the agreed time was approaching, so Jiang Qinglan discussed some things in the store and went to Lukui Courtyard to change clothes.
She walked under the magnolia tree and saw Zheng Wang coming out of the utility room with a small round winnowing basket in his arms and a smile on his face.
When he got closer, Jiang Qinglan could see clearly that the winnowing basket did not contain anything valuable, but rather a bunch of upright mung bean sprouts.
Although thin, it stood very steadily and looked full of life. It must have just sprouted, and the top buds were still half-wrapped with mung bean skins.
Jiang Qinglan was puzzled: "Bean sprouts are cheap, you can buy a lot for five cents, why bother growing them yourself?"
Zheng Wang smiled innocently and scratched his head: "How can the ones I buy outside compare to the ones I make myself? I don't know what they add to it. I'm afraid it will upset my stomach if I eat it!"
Jiang Qinglan just nodded and walked away, thinking: Fortunately, Brother Zheng is a person from ancient times. If he lived in modern times, he would have to buy everything and would be worried to death.
Returning to her room, she changed into a blue jacket with dewgrass and a three-pleated skirt with silver frost.
Seeing the dazzling array of items on the dressing table - all of which were rouge and powder given to her by Wang Huiniang and Zhang Yueniang, she suddenly felt inspired and started drawing her eyebrows with a willow charcoal pencil.
Soon, Wang Huiniang opened the curtain and came in.
She was already filled with anger, and when she saw the two caterpillars on Jiang Qinglan's eyes, she screamed, "Auntie, what are you drawing?!"
Wang Huiniang, with a look of disappointment, snatched the charcoal pencil from her hand and lightly drew two willow-shaped eyebrows, not forgetting to scold her:
"Tell me, you're a daughter of an official family, you don't know how to embroider, sew clothes, or put on makeup. You even draw your eyebrows like this. What did you do at home before?"
Jiang Qinglan didn't wear makeup originally, at most she would put on some lipstick. But when she came back from Liang Mansion that day, she saw all the young ladies with willow-shaped eyebrows and beautiful faces, and she became interested.
Who knows? I’m still new to it.
Since she had someone to help her, she was naturally happy and at ease. She smiled and pointed to the bamboo bookshelf filled with books: "Of course I went to read. Otherwise, how would I teach Hu Zi his homework now?"
Seeing that Wang Huiniang was still angry, she asked her again, "Did Hu Zi make you angry again?"
"Where is he?!" At this time, Wang Huiniang was applying powder to her. She shivered, and the white powder flew all over the place like snow.
Jiang Qinglan held his breath and listened to her talk.
It turned out that one day, Wang Huiniang said she wanted to make stir-fried bean sprouts with meat, and asked Zheng Wang to buy bean sprouts.
But he was very strange. He bought a bunch of mung beans and said he wanted to grow bean sprouts himself, which made her unable to eat stir-fried bean sprouts with meat until now!
"I offered him twenty cents to buy a large basket, but he refused and insisted on making it himself. He looks so poor, he feels so cramped in a sedan chair and so shaken on a horse—he doesn't know how to enjoy his blessings!"
Jiang Qinglan waved away the white powder flying in front of him and chuckled, "You misunderstood him. He said that the food outside was not good and gave him a stomachache, so he went to the trouble of making it himself."
Wang Huiniang was stunned for a moment, and she pressed the powder puff on Jiang Qinglan's face, not moving.
The year Zheng Wang brought Hu Zi's father's coffin back, she ate bean sprouts given by a neighbor and got a stomachache...
"Sister Hui? What are you thinking about?"
After a long moment, Wang Huiniang blinked, smiled, and softened her voice: "Nothing. What are you going out for today?"
Jiang Qinglan was also preoccupied with his own affairs and didn't notice her strange behavior. "Go see Yue Niang."
She uncorked the jasmine perfume and let the sweet but not greasy, strong but not overpowering aroma flow through the room.
Wang Huiniang was a person who hated evil. Although she felt sorry for Zhang Yueniang's difficult life, she still felt sad for her willingness to be a concubine.
She said softly, "Then I won't go with you."
He then instructed, "By the way, regarding the last incident with Bao Ge'er, Jiang came several times but was unsuccessful. She was also very stubborn and insisted that Bao Ge'er kowtow to you. You'd better come back early."
Jiang was the mother of Chunjie'er and Baoge'er. She lived across the Chunbo River. Her husband's surname was He. The couple ran a small business and were often away from home.
Chun Jie'er often came to buy breakfast, and Jiang Qinglan always charged very little but gave her a lot of meat. The He couple were grateful and occasionally gave her some local specialties like white radish.
That day, Baoger fell and broke his head, and blood was flowing. Chunjie was scared and ran to Xinghua Restaurant to look for him.
Jiang Qinglan rushed over, first used some medicine to stop the bleeding, and then asked a doctor to come and see him, and only then did the turmoil subside.
It was also on that day, on the banks of the Chunbo River, that Xie Linchuan stopped her - and she made him very angry again.
This is all before.
Jiang Qinglan nodded after hearing this. She lightly applied some lip balm and combed her hair carefully with a comb dipped in jasmine perfume.
"I will definitely be back before the hour of You."
——
The main gate of Lu Mansion.
Just as Lu Fei was about to get on the carriage, two little boys jumped out from the threshold, ran towards him with their chubby legs, and hugged Lu Fei's legs on the left and right.
The two children tilted their heads back and said in baby voices, "Uncle, don't forget to buy some wosi candy and osmanthus chestnuts when you come back!"
They were only three years old, so their speech wasn't very clear. But in this sentence, the first part was clearly spoken in unison, and only the latter part was different.
The two glared at each other, pouting their lips, then looked up at Lu Fei and said loudly:
"Wosi candy!"
"Osmanthus chestnuts!"
Lu Fei picked up the two boys, one in each hand, and smiled slightly: "Uncle will buy Pei'er's silk candy and Yu'er's osmanthus chestnuts."
Lu Yun took the child, feeling somewhat worried. Since being dismissed from his post, he had taken over the Lu family's business, but he also paid attention to state affairs.
"Actually, you don't have to go in person this time. You're in the middle of a storm right now."
As the Junior Supervisor of the Secretariat, Lu Fei, at the behest of Emperor Ping, was responsible for compiling the "Hui Yao". Qiushan Academy in Suzhou was a place of literary inspiration and a leader in the field of pure learning, so naturally he had to visit and meet its talented scholars.
But the last time Princess Fu'an married into the Li family, the dean of Qiushan Academy, Li Huaiyi, was the great uncle of Princess Fu'an's ex-husband, Li Mu. Now, Princess Fu'an was interested in Lu Fei, and everyone in Lin'an knew about it.
Lu Fei, however, had his own plans and said calmly, "I must go personally on this trip, brother, don't worry."
After saying that, he got on the carriage.
Carriages were traveling along the Imperial Street, and vendors were selling snacks, fruits, jewelry, beads, and fine wines, with all kinds of shouting going on.
When we were almost at Dongqing Gate, we saw vendors selling cold drinks on their shoulders.
"Ice balls—lactose real snow—snow soaked bean curd water—plum blossom ice cream—"
Lu Fei had been resting with his eyes closed, but when he heard the last item, he suddenly opened his eyes, lifted the curtain and saw that the peddler had already gone far away.
However, outside the main gate of Shangxin Tower, the hem of a girl's blue skirt flew up, and he was stunned when he saw it.
Yanshu, who was riding on the side of the road, saw this and looked over there: "My dear, do you want to go to Shangxin Tower for a visit?"
"No need." Lu Fei lowered the curtain.
In Shangxin Tower, Jiang Qinglan climbed the stairs to the second floor and thought to himself: What is snow-soaked bean water? I have never heard of it. Is it a new variety this year?
The competition among merchants in Lin'an is quite fierce. If she didn't have the wisdom of a modern person, it would be difficult for her to make money.
When we arrived at the private room, Zhang Yue Niang was already waiting there.
I haven't seen her for nearly half a year, and she seems to have become a little plumper. She is wearing a Wu silk dress and a Shu brocade skirt, with dazzling gold hairpins and green jade bracelets. She must be living a good life.
Jiang Qinglan thought to herself: I must not tell her that her son is not dead and is still being raised in the Song family.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, after meeting Zhang Yue Niang's son, she originally thought that Madam Song was vicious and must have other cases on her hands, and she could find some trouble with her.
But for some unknown reason, Mrs. Song was divorced by the master of the Song family and her whereabouts are unknown.
Now, the Song family has married another mistress, who comes from a small family. She is very kind and treats Jin'er well.
Even so, Jiang Qinglan secretly sent people to look after him.
When Zhang Yue Niang saw her old acquaintance, she quickly stood up and tears welled up in her eyes as soon as she blinked.
Jiang Qinglan asked, "Why are you crying?"
Zhang Yueniang sniffed and carefully wiped the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief: "Don't worry, my lady, I'm just happy."
The two held hands and talked about their recent situation in detail.
The mistress of the Zhu family is kind. Although there are many concubines, they live in peace as a whole, and Zhang Yue Niang has no worries about food and clothing.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, she heard that some of Zhu Ming's sisters were heartbroken, some were indignant, and there was a lot of chaos. She then realized that it was Master Xie who gave the token to Jiang Qinglan.
"They didn't come to cause you any trouble, did they?" Zhang Yueniang said worriedly. "These young ladies from royal families are all very spoiled. They gnashed their teeth when they talked about you."
It's troublesome. I did look for her, but I don't know if there was anyone with the surname Zhu among the young ladies in the Liang Mansion that day.
Thinking of Miss Liang's arrogant and respectful appearance, Jiang Qinglan burst out laughing: "It doesn't matter. They can't call me ugly. They only dare to do this much."
Then she told him about how Mrs. Xie had protected her.
After hearing this, Zhang Yueniang finally felt relieved and took the food box beside her: "Then let's not talk about those things. Come, try this, I made it myself."
On the blue and white plate, there are pieces of golden tofu.
The tofu were obviously fried, with a wrinkled layer of bean skin on the outside, occasionally a little burnt yellow. Some were soft and fluffy, while others were plump.
There are also two dipping saucers.
One is a dry dish, made with red dogwood powder, dark blue Sichuan pepper powder, and snow-white salt powder; the other is a wet dish, which contains red bean paste oil, green onions, and coriander.
Tofu with batter!
Cheap and delicious snacks from Yunnan stalls! Jiang Qinglan ate a lot of them when he traveled to Dali.
Pick up one, dip it in dry sauce first, then soak the tofu skin with red dogwood powder and put it into your mouth.
When the teeth touched, the tender and smooth tofu pudding burst out. Although there was no sound, it seemed as if you could hear a "pop" sound.
The filling is smooth and tender, the tofu skin is chewy, and there's also the spicy aroma of dogwood powder and the numb, sweet aftertaste of Sichuan pepper powder. Several flavors and textures blend together to perfectly complement each other.
Jiang Qinglan thought as he ate: Sister Hui is from Lin'an, so her taste is a bit light; Brother Zheng is from Bianliang, so he likes salty food; Tuantuan, a child, likes sweet food; and Hu Zi, a young man, always wants to eat meat.
In fact, their tastes were somewhat different from hers, except for Zhang Yueniang, whose taste was most similar to hers—she didn't like pork, but especially loved mutton, and her taste was more sour and spicy, not sweet.
Like this tofu with coating, no one else, not even herself, can make it taste the same.
After that, Jiang Qinglan chatted with Zhang Yueniang while eating tofu and drinking jasmine drink, feeling very satisfied.
After half an hour, Jiang Qinglan felt a little dizzy. Thinking that he was sleepy from eating too much and drinking too much, he wanted to say goodbye.
Zhang Yue Niang was a little nervous. She took her hand and said, "My lady, don't worry. Yue Niang has something else to ask of you." After that, she stepped back and bowed.
Jiang Qinglan had no grudge against her, it was just that he was a little disappointed when she left with Zhu Ming.
But everyone has their own choices. Now that she is doing well, Jiang Qinglan is relieved. He rubbed his temples and said:
"Just tell me. As long as I can do it, I will try my best." He took another sip of jasmine drink and forced himself to cheer up.
Zhang Yue Niang blinked her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks like beads.
"My dear, you must remember that if I do anything to offend you, my original intention must be good."
Jiang Qinglan's heart tightened. What did this mean?
She wanted to stand up immediately, but she felt dizzy, her steps became weak, her legs went limp, and she slumped down in the rose chair.
"You..." She pointed at Zhang Yueniang, but could not utter another word. On the small table, there was still a lot of tofu with batter left, and the jasmine drink was almost empty.
——
In Lingquan Courtyard, Xie Linchuan had just returned from Jiangning. When he heard about Liang Chan, he smiled coldly.
His cousin has always been arrogant. If he were here, he would make her spit out two teeth.
And there is Princess Fu'an Zhao Yunshu, this sinister and vicious woman...
Thinking of Zhao Yunshu, he asked Pinglin: "Where is Lu Fei?" Why didn't Lu Fei protect her when he was not there?
Pinglin was about to speak when Zhu Ming interrupted him, saying, "It seems he went to Suzhou to edit a book."
Zhu Ming came specifically to drink with Xie Linchuan. He chased Ping Lin away and poured him a full glass.
"Why are you talking about him? You're going to the North soon. Let's drink well today, brothers!"
Xie Linchuan frowned: "What kind of wine is this? Why is it so strong?"
He never gets drunk even after drinking a thousand cups, so why did he feel groggy after just two cups today?
Zhu Ming chuckled, "Tie Xue Lou's latest Yao Lu wine, freshly brewed, has a stronger punch. We two brothers won't go home until we're drunk tonight!"
"I've already made arrangements with that bitch at home. I'm going to sleep in your yard tonight!"
Half an hour later, Xie Linchuan was drowsy and asked Zhu Ming to help him to the inner bedroom, where he fell onto the small couch behind the desk.
Zhu Ming chuckled: "Liu Guang, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold, I won't disturb your good fortune!"
Xie Linchuan's mind was buzzing and he couldn't hear clearly what the other party was saying.
With trembling hands, he poured a cup of tea, drank it, and stumbled towards the bed, forgetting that the cup was still in his hand.
He sat down on the bed and was about to fall down, but when he glanced at it, he felt that something seemed wrong: Why is Pinglin so careless? Why is the quilt... not folded?
Xie Linchuan shook his head, as if trying to get rid of the drunkenness, and leaned sideways.
The night wind suddenly blew up in the yard, blowing up the fallen leaves on the ground, making a slight rustling sound.
The room was so quiet that one could hear someone breathing. He peeled back the quilt bit by bit, and suddenly, his pupils widened.
Her dark hair flowed freely, her eyebrows were like willow leaves, and her closed eyes made her eyelashes appear even longer. Her lips were crimson, like the color of the sweetest cherries. Her skin was as white as snow beneath her slender collarbone.
There is also a light scent of jasmine in the air.
This...what is this?
His hands froze and his heart was pounding: Was it a dream?
The candlelight flickered, casting a dark shadow on her face, and her dense eyelashes trembled slightly.
He is a genuine man, full of vigor and vitality. With the person he loves so easily at his fingertips, how could he not have desires?
She was so sweet and sweet when she was asleep, but so cold and unkind when she was awake.
"If you do that, I'll go to the Lin'an Prefecture Office and beat the drum to report my misfortune. I won't live any longer, and neither will you!"
"You want me to live or die? When I'm alive, it won't be as you wish. Even if I die and go to the underworld to see my father, I will never regret it!"
"Yes! He understands me better than you!"
He withdrew his hand. She would be angry. She was very tolerant of others, but she was harsh on him.
In the courtyard, clusters of gardenias were in full bloom. The sweet, rich scent drifted through the house as the night breeze blew. Smelling the fragrance, he regretted his decision.
Would you mind just touching her eyes?
These bright, clear eyes always concealed so much thought and calculation. Yet, they were also cold, ruthless, and heartless, especially towards him...
His hand moved closer slowly and cautiously, as if this beautiful dream was a bubble that would be popped if he wasn't careful.
A gentle breeze blew, and the candlelight flickered. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, slowly disappearing into her cloud-like black hair.
The remaining tear marks at the corners of the eyes indicate that the tears just now were not an illusion.
A thought flashed through his mind, and Xie Linchuan stopped breathing.
Outside the window, it began to rain, the raindrops pattering on the lotus leaves and falling into the pond. A cool breeze spread everywhere.
Xie Linchuan suddenly stood up, took a step back, and looked carefully again. It was indeed her!
He turned around abruptly, and his misty purple robes blew up a gust of wind, causing the green curtains at the head of the bed to move slightly.
"Hirabayashi!"
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