65 Deer Pear Juice
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Thin clouds drifted by, and a cold wind rustled. Outside the gate of Genshan Mountain, Xie Linchuan sat on his horse, overlooking the dark mass beneath his feet.
It was still early and the people in Lin'an were still asleep. Only the Imperial Street, stretching from south to north, was brightly lit, like a moving fire dragon.
People from all directions, carrying lanterns and torches, streamed into the city from the banks of the Qiantang River, outside Jiahui Gate, and along the shores of West Lake to begin their day.
Pinglin guessed what Xie Linchuan was thinking and came forward to report, "My dear, Madam Jiang sent a letter to Master Zhu in prison, saying she wanted to see the concubine named Zhang."
Xie Linchuan nodded, but was reluctant to say a word.
That night, after Jiang Qinglan was sent away, he immediately went to Zhu's house, grabbed Zhu Ming from the bed of his twelfth concubine, beat him up, and forced him to go to the Lin'an Prefecture Office.
All the maids and servants involved in this incident were sold off.
He only did not touch Zhang Yueniang, who was his friend.
Mo Shan was anxious, and he also urged his horse forward: "My dear, are you really not going to go and see me again? It's a long journey to Taiyuan Prefecture, and I don't know when I will be back."
Xie Linchuan remained silent, his calm face showing no emotion.
She looked down on him, so why would she go?
Back then, outside the Duanben Palace, Lu Fei said that he had brought it upon himself and that he deserved it. Now, how could he be any better?
After a long while, he said calmly: "Lu Fei..."
On July 11, Lu Fei, Junior Supervisor of the Ministry of Rites, went to Suzhou to discuss the compilation of the Huiyao with Li Huaiyi, President of Qiushan Academy.
On the second day of August, Li Huaiyi's younger brother, Li Huairen, rushed to Lin'an and beat the drum at the government office, accusing Princess Fu'an of poisoning his son, the former imperial consort Li Mu. This shocked the court and the public.
Emperor Chengping was furious and imprisoned Princess Fu'an and Li Huairen separately, and ordered Princess Anguo and the Dali Temple Secretary to investigate the matter together.
Others didn't understand, but Xie Linchuan didn't know that Lu Fei was killing two birds with one stone.
He had gotten rid of Fu'an's entanglement and had also given the Li family a great deal of face. Now, he was at the peak of his career and no longer had to hide his shortcomings.
Before he could finish his words, Mo Shan interrupted him, saying, "Although Lu Shaojian has returned to Lin'an, Xue Ji has opened several new restaurants, selling sashimi buffets. Madam Jiang is so busy with her business that she has never met Lu Shaojian."
After hearing this, Xie Linchuan thought for a while.
He didn't understand her, so could he understand her? She pulled up the corners of her mouth and smiled - she didn't know whether she was laughing at herself or at others.
"Go!" He pulled the reins and gave the horses a kick. Soon, the three riders were gone in a cloud of dust, leaving a trail of smoke and dirt on the road.
In the dusty storage room of Lukui Courtyard, a loud "Ah, cut!" was particularly deafening.
Tuantuan was standing on a bamboo stool, tiptoeing. She didn't care about the sneeze, but used the feather duster in her hand to sweep and poke everywhere.
We had a big cleaning at home today, and Tuantuan didn't want to be left behind. He found a feather duster that didn't shed feathers, went to the unused storage room, and started working.
Jiang Qinglan came in wearing a cloth mask he had sewn himself. Seeing the dust filling the room, he quickly pulled the silly child out:
"Have you put away your toys in our room? The Mohelo, the pottery balls, the magpie flower ornaments, and the nine-linked rings are all crammed in a mess in the cabinet."
Tuan Tuan coughed twice and curled his lips: "I'll do the big things during the day and clean up the small things at night."
Jiang Qinglan just found her adult tone funny.
He stopped her and asked her to blow her nose, and sure enough, two black blobs came out, which made Jiang Qinglan frown.
Dust during spring cleaning is the most harmful to the lungs, so she had prepared a mask long ago, but she did it secretly without wearing it.
She asked Cherry to make some deer pear juice that had been prepared earlier to drink, so as to relieve cough and clear lungs.
Luli, also known as mountain pear, is small in shape and slightly sour and astringent in taste, and has the effect of reducing internal heat and relieving summer heat.
Every summer, the people of Lin'an would collect pears, mash them, filter them, and add syrup, water, etc. to make pear water.
When Wang Huiniang brought in the deer pear juice, Jiang Qinglan had already taken Tuantuan and changed her clothes, which were so dirty that a pound of dirt could be found on them.
With only his shoes left on, Tuantuan began to somersault on the bed.
Wang Huiniang whispered, "That person agreed to meet at Shangxin Tower tomorrow."
Jiang Qinglan didn't respond, only nodded slightly. It was time to put an end to her relationship with Zhang Yueniang.
Wang Huiniang knew that she was heartbroken because she thought of that man, so she smiled and said cheerfully, "You were so busy talking that you forgot about this drink. Sister Tuan, come and drink the deer pear juice."
Tuantuan was busy all morning and was very thirsty, so he picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.
First, there's the sweetness of the pear followed by the bitterness of the syrup. Then, the tip of the tongue tastes a fine, sandy texture—that's the pear pulp that hasn't been completely filtered out.
Tuantuan loves to chew these small grains of sand and drank two big mouthfuls.
Her plan was to drink up the drink on top so that she could see the fruit pulp below more clearly.
Jiang Qinglan also likes to drink deer pear juice.
She felt that among the popular cold drinks at the time, the pickled plum juice was a bit astringent, the kumquat balls were too sweet, the coconut wine had a strange smell, and the deer pear juice was sweet and mild, just right.
But at this moment, she was staring at the deer pear juice in a daze for a while.
She remembered that year, she was probably still in junior high school. When she was doing homework at home, her father brought her a plate of pears that had been cut into pieces.
Just as she was about to eat, her mother came in hurriedly, took the pear away, and brought in a whole, peeled pear.
"Sharing pears means separation, you can't do that!" said the mother seriously.
Dad laughed out loud: "It's the 21st century, and you're still so superstitious!"
Little did they know that soon, their family would really be separated.
When she got here, there weren't many people who were sincere to her. Tomorrow, she would also be separated from one of them. Perhaps there was still...
Wang Huiniang saw her expression and interrupted her:
"You didn't drink much, but you think it's sour? I told Cherry not to pick out the pear core. I crushed the whole pear in here and only took out the seeds. We can't separate the pear."
Jiang Qinglan came back to his senses and smiled.
Wang Huiniang winked mischievously and pouted, asking Jiang Qinglan to look at the bed.
Tuantuan, having eaten and drunk his fill, stretched out on the bed and fell asleep again! The two of them smiled and left, gently closing the door.
Over there, in Princess Fu'an's mansion, the heavy red door with cloud patterns slowly opened, letting in the dusty skylight.
Princess Fu'an was forced to squint when she looked up.
Seeing the man in brocade clothes coming in, she hurried over: "Father!"
The hem of her skirt, made of black lilac-colored golden Shu brocade, was lightly gathered.
"It's me." Princess Zhao Yulou of Anguo looked at her niece, who was walking towards her on her knees, with a hint of pity. "The emperor has ordered you to become a nun at Dongxiao Palace. You will leave tomorrow."
Princess Fu'an's face changed drastically, and she prostrated herself before the eldest princess: "Aunt, please help me!"
Princess Fu'an's biological mother, Concubine Lin, was a close friend of the eldest princess. Concubine Lin died young, and the eldest princess treated Fu'an as her own daughter, raising her in her residence as a child.
Now, she was filled with hatred for her vicious niece.
"I've helped you enough. Back then, that maidservant merely accidentally spilled some tea, and the emperor pardoned her. Yet, you secretly forced her to death. The emperor governs the world with benevolence, so how could he tolerate such cruelty!"
"I covered up for you, used Baoqing as an excuse, and went through so much trouble to find you a good match with the Li family. Could there be anything I could have done to you that I have let you down?!"
Fu'an was stunned after hearing this. She stood up shakily, her eyebrows raised. "Li family, what good marriage?! Don't lie to me! You just want to use my status as a princess to curry favor with those scholars at Qiushan Academy!"
The eldest princess shook her head, extremely disappointed with her niece:
"Born into an imperial family, the people have provided you with wealth and honor for over twenty years. How could you retreat when the country needs you?"
"Besides, it's not like you're marrying off to a distant land. Suzhou and Lin'an are only a stone's throw away. Li Mu is handsome, gentle, and infatuated with you. Otherwise, why would he take the initiative to write a letter to the Lord? And yet, you killed him!"
Princess Fu'an raised her eyebrows, and her eyes danced with crazy flames:
"What gentleness, what affection! You talk all about morality, but your heart is full of thieves and whores! You only saw me kill them, but you have no idea what petty ways they tortured me!"
"I condescended to marry him, and he still dared to take a concubine. He is an adulterer and deserves death!"
The eldest princess was fully aware of the twists and turns.
Li Mu's father had a good friend named Zhou, and the two had arranged for their children to marry each other. However, Zhou's family fell into hardship and was exiled to Wuzhou, and the marriage was called off.
Later, when the Zhou family's exile ended, Miss Zhou brought her father's suicide note and came to the Li family, hoping to seek asylum.
At that time, the Li family had already decided to marry Princess Fu'an, so they kept Miss Zhou outside and prepared to find a wealthy family to marry her off as their daughter.
There were always secrets in the inner house, and someone instigated it, letting Princess Fu'an know about the existence of Miss Zhou.
Fu'an believed that she intended to seduce him, so he recruited her as a maid and beat and scolded her.
After the marriage, Li Mu, who had always disliked Fu'an's domineering behavior, felt more sympathy for Miss Zhou and fell in love with her.
But the truth cannot be hidden. One day, the two were caught in a secret meeting. Fu An was furious and forced Miss Zhou to death with a white silk cloth.
In the eyes of outsiders, Li Mu became mentally exhausted and died of illness soon after. However, the truth was that Fu An poisoned him.
The eldest princess felt a chill in her heart when she thought of the petition to the Dali Temple.
"You've miscalculated every step and made countless stupid moves. Zhou Qin and Li Mu may not be in love with each other. It's your tyranny that has caused them to sympathize with each other."
"Besides, what's her status? Even if you let your husband marry her, what's the big deal? Is she more important than you?"
Fuan used her nails, which were dyed red, to gently brush across her delicate face and giggled:
"Why should a man take a concubine? I'm a princess, and I have to share my husband with a lowly servant? Don't even think about it! Princess Pingyang and Madam Xie would never take a concubine for their husbands!"
The eldest princess looked at her for a long time and shook her head gently.
"I didn't know that you had lofty ambitions and took them as role models?" She sneered.
"Princess Pingyang of the previous dynasty commanded thousands of troops and slew the enemy in battle. Old Madam Xie was unparalleled in her wisdom and strategy. She hid the seal in Chang'an, repelled the enemy at Xishan, built ships in the South China Sea, and utterly destroyed the Kingdom of Min. How can you compare yourself to them? What are you comparing yourself to?!"
Fuan was stunned after hearing this. He covered his face with his hands, tears falling like pearls from a broken string, and he cried until he was hoarse.
Yes, she has high expectations but lacks the skills, and doesn’t have the abilities of those two... But she is a princess, can’t she even think about it?
The princess finally softened her heart, took Fu'an's hand, pulled her to the table, and softened her tone:
"The husband is the head of the wife. As princesses, we have no choice but to obey. I, too, once took two concubines for Prince Consort Lu."
After that, she ordered her maid to bring in the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and handed the Zhuge brush to Fu'an: "Be obedient, write a petition..."
Princess Fuan broke free from her hand, threw the brush away, and started to giggle with tears in her eyes:
"Aunt, do you think that if you pretend well, no one will know?"
"You treated my uncle with respect for over ten years, and gave birth to three children with him. Even after he died all these years ago, you never remarried, and it's become a legend. But have you ever loved him even a little bit?!"
"You are tolerant and generous because you don't care. You don't care! The wind blows for tens of thousands of miles, passing through Yumen Pass. Where is the person you care about? He is--"
"Pa!" In the empty palace, the sound of a slap was clear and loud.
Fuan was unable to tell the secret and could only cover his face and sneer.
There was blood at the corner of her mouth, and her face was scratched by Zhao Yulou's nails stained with marigold juice. The blood was dripping, like a crabapple soaked in blood, gorgeous but sickly.
"I always remember my identity. This is me, and it's different from yours!"
The princess's patience ran out, and she said calmly, "Dongxiao Palace is surrounded by mountains and has beautiful scenery. I hope the ancient lanterns and scrolls there can cleanse your sins."
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