117 Chapter 117
◎The bed is a little cold when you are alone.◎
It was the nineteenth day of the winter month, two days before Wei Che’s birthday.
It was already the hour of Si, the sun was shining brightly outside, and the frost and snow on the eaves had just melted.
The melted water droplets rolled down the eaves and made a tinkling sound when they landed on the ground.
Xu Qinghe was gradually awakened by the sound. He raised his eyelids and saw an arm lying across his body.
She raised her hand and struggled, and the person behind her was naturally awakened by this action.
"It snowed yesterday and it's cold this morning. Let's lie down for a while."
Wei Che nuzzled her neck and held her arms tighter.
"What time is it? Why haven't you gone to the office?"
As soon as she said this, she froze in shame and anger.
Not for anything else, just because her voice was so hoarse that she could hardly make any sound.
Of course she knew it snowed yesterday.
The snow started falling at 11:00 PM and stopped around 9:00 AM, lasting for three hours.
The sound of the bed frame shaking in the room started and stopped, stopped and started again, mixed with a few gentle moans.
By the time she changed into her pajamas and returned to her clean bed, the snow outside had stopped, leaving only the faint whistling of the wind.
Recalling the nightmare he had last night, Wei Che couldn't help but bury his head in her neck and smiled softly.
Xu Qinghe felt more and more annoyed, but this man had always understood her temper very well. Before she really got angry, he had already eagerly gotten out of bed and poured her a cup of warm water from the copper kettle on the table.
She drank the warm water and glanced at Wei Che, who tactfully poured another glass.
Only after she drank three glasses of water did she feel alive again.
"Today is the first day of the Winter Solstice holiday, so you don't have to be on duty."
Wei Che drank the remaining half of her glass of water and suggested, "Since it snowed last night, if you don't mind the cold, why don't you go to the other courtyard to enjoy the snow today?"
The villa is located in the suburbs of Beijing. Unlike the densely populated areas in the capital, the snow scenery there is more natural and vast, and it makes people love it just thinking about it.
"It's too cold. I won't go."
The girl on the bed didn't even look at him and rejected him decisively.
Wei Che touched his nose and watched the girl lie down again with the quilt wrapped around her.
Yes, after all the trouble she had last night, even if it wasn't so cold today, I think she would be too lazy to go, let alone enjoy the snow with me with a smile on her face.
Since she is not going, no matter how beautiful the snow scene is, it is hard to arouse people's interest.
Anyway, they still have a long time to live, so there is no need to rush. Wei Che thought so, and finally went to bed with them to catch up on some sleep.
By the time the two of them actually got up, it was already past noon.
After lunch, Xu Qinghe sat in front of the dressing mirror and let Nanzhi put makeup on her. It was obvious that she was going out.
"Aren't you unwilling to go out because you feel cold?" Wei Che leaned on the couch, his eyebrows slightly raised, and the mockery in his eyes was brighter than the warm sun outside.
Xu Qinghe put on a pair of sparkling pearl earrings. The person in the bronze mirror, with just a little makeup on, looked like a fairy.
"It's cold outside, but I want to see Jing'an."
Wei Che stood up and walked forward, staring intently at the person in the mirror. He stretched out his long fingers to fiddle with the glistening pearl, a smile still on his lips. "Could it be that she was transformed from a furnace? Why is it that I'm not cold when I see her, but I'm freezing when I watch the snow with me?"
Xu Qinghe looked at his slender knuckles in the mirror, and vaguely felt that they were still covered with a layer of wet liquid...
Her face flushed and she quickly slapped his hand away in embarrassment.
Wei Che hissed in a pretentious manner: "Since you want to go out, I'll go with you."
"If you dare to follow me, go to the study and sleep." Xu Qinghe glared at him.
Finally, she put on her cloak and hood, covered herself tightly, and went out with the hand warmer.
Even though Wei Che had promised not to follow, Xu Qinghe still kept a few things in mind. Not only did he take a detour on the way, he also quietly changed cars. After going around in circles, he finally arrived at the restaurant in a very secretive manner.
In front of the door, Lin Xiao, dressed in a plain dress, had been waiting for a long time, blowing air into her hands to keep warm.
Xu Qinghe handed the hand warmer to her and urged her to go in quickly.
After entering the private room, Nanzhi pulled Lin Xiao to warm up next to the fumigation cage.
While warming her hands, she looked the little girl up and down and said with a smile, "I've been used to seeing you in men's clothes these past few days, but today you suddenly changed into a skirt and I almost didn't recognize you."
Lin Xiao was not only wearing a plain dress today, but also had no hair accessories on her head. She only braided her black hair into a braid on one side, and her face was also very plain.
Xu Qinghe also looked at her, and thought of how she looked in men's clothes a few days ago. She felt like something flashed through her mind. She wanted to catch it, but failed.
Noticing that Lin Xiao was still wearing plain clothes, she asked, "Why are you dressed so plainly today?"
Girls of this age love beauty and would like to be dressed in red and decorated with colorful ribbons every day.
Lin Xiao pursed his lips slightly and said with a smile, "Today is my brother's death anniversary."
Although he was smiling, his eyes were mostly filled with sadness.
Xu Qinghe didn't say anything, but just quietly moved his eyes away, his thoughts drifting away.
She thought of the high-spirited Major General Xie Qi on the battlefield, and also of the frivolous and extravagant Prince Wei Che of the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Lin Xiao blinked frantically, thinking he had said something wrong that had upset the princess. When he was about to open his mouth to make amends, he heard the princess suddenly ask, "Is Brother Meng's tablet here?"
Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the princess wanted to pay tribute to her deceased brother.
She quickly responded, "Yes, yes, in my room."
Xu Qinghe and Nanzhi lit three incense sticks for General Meng Chen. After the worship, they returned to the private room in the building to check the accounts.
When everything was over, she asked about the portrait again.
Lin Xiao shook his head: "The other person in the portrait has never been found."
Xu Qinghe first looked at the portrait of the slightly thin spy on the table, sighed inwardly, and then shifted his gaze to the window.
The sun outside is about to set.
At this time, it was no longer appropriate to visit the Qi Mansion, so he had to choose another day to go.
On the way back home, she passed by Tianxiangzhai and suddenly stopped the carriage and ordered Nanzhi to buy some snacks.
The streets are bustling with dense crowds and the lingering smell of fireworks.
The stalls and shops were crowded with people, but most of them walked in groups, laughing and chatting with the people next to them.
Traveling with friends and family should be the most common and easiest wish for ordinary people, but it is also a future that the fallen soldiers of the Southern Frontier Army could not even dream of.
Nanzhi got into the car with some snacks, and when she looked up, she saw the princess pushing aside the curtain and looking out. There was the same sadness in her eyes as in Lin Xiao's just now.
"There are several beautiful plum trees in the Duke's Mansion. It snowed yesterday, and the red plum blossoms against the snow are the most beautiful. Princess, why don't you stop by and take a look?"
Appreciating the beautiful scenery always makes people happy. After all, when she was in the southern border, the princess’ favorite thing was the sight of red plum blossoms reflecting the snow.
Xu Qinghe looked at the snack box and said, "Let's go back to the dormitory."
Any later and the snacks will get cold.
Although she had never seen the beautiful sight of red plum blossoms reflecting the snow with her own eyes, she still received a red plum blossom today.
“Sister-in-law!”
Just as he was about to return to the courtyard, Xu Qinghe was brought back to his senses by a sweet and soft voice.
She saw Wei Yun running towards her excitedly with her short legs, blinking her bright eyes and looking at her breathlessly.
Xu Qinghe squatted down and straightened the little girl's messy hair.
"Why are you running so fast?"
Wei Yun whispered, "I'm hiding from my little girl."
Her mother always forbade her to have much contact with the princess's sister-in-law, but there was nothing she could do. She really liked this sister-in-law who looked cold but was actually a very good person.
"I picked this especially for my sister-in-law. Do you like it?" Wei Yun smiled and presented a branch of red plum blossoms in her hand.
Xu Qinghe accepted the flower branch, raised the corners of his lips, and said softly, "I like it."
Wei Yun likes all kinds of beautiful flowers. She not only likes to appreciate them with her eyes, but also likes to smell them with her nose.
When I sniffed lightly, a sweet aroma came from the food box in the hands of the maid beside me.
When Xu Qinghe was young, she was as greedy as Wei Yun, so she opened the food box, revealing a variety of snacks inside.
"I went out of the house today to meet the princess, and I bought some snacks from the shop on the way. Yun'er, take a look, is there anything you like?"
Wei Yun thought for a moment and finally chose the one that looked the most beautiful.
A piece of wisteria cake is not something worth cherishing.
But today Xu Qinghe doesn't want to give it to others.
"These wisteria cakes are most fragrant when they're fresh out of the pan. They're no longer tasty now. I'll have someone buy fresh ones for Yun'er tomorrow. I'll give you the rest today, okay?"
Not only are there delicious snacks today, but there will be more tomorrow. Wei Yun happily responded with a "yes".
Wei Yun was very cute, especially her pair of bright black eyes, which were the most endearing. When she smiled, her eyebrows and eyes curved, as if they could melt all the snow in winter.
Xu Qinghe could vaguely see some of Concubine Jin in the little girl, and he could understand why the Duke of Fuguo doted on this concubine in the mansion so much.
But apart from Aunt Jin and Duke Fuguo, she always felt that Wei Yun's appearance was very similar to a portrait in her memory.
But she had painted so many portraits before that she couldn't tell which one it was.
This doubt followed her back to Fengheyuan but still had no answer, so she had to put it aside for the time being.
After walking around the bedroom, Xu Qinghe found that Wei Che was not there. She asked Nanzhi to put the food box on the table and asked the maid beside her, "Where is the prince?"
The little maid lowered her head and dared not answer.
Nanzhi scolded her in a low voice: "The princess is asking a question, why don't you answer it quickly!"
The maid immediately knelt on the ground and said tremblingly: "My princess...I dare not say..."
Xu Qinghe: "Since you don't dare to tell me, then he must have gone to a place that he can't tell me."
Since getting married, Wei Che has never set foot in places like taverns and gambling houses again, but there is one place that he has been to several times, whether sincerely or insincerely.
"...He went to Yichun Tower?"
The little maid trembled and said, "Yes... Today, as soon as the princess left, the prince left. When he left, he took some jewelry from the storeroom and said... that he was going to Yichun Tower to have some fun."
These maids were personally selected by the prince and the princess. Even so, the indentures were in the hands of the princess.
Just based on how the prince was obedient and protective of the princess, they naturally knew who they should listen to the most in Fenghe Courtyard.
It is normal for the princess to be unhappy that her husband, who had finally turned over a new leaf, returned to his old ways and went to brothels to have fun.
The little maid huddled tightly together, hoping that the princess would not implicate herself when she got angry.
Unexpectedly, the princess just said "hmm" lightly and sent her away.
Wei Che didn't come back until the lights were about to go out at night.
Nanzhi looked at the cold cakes on the table and called out hesitantly, "Princess?"
If the pastry is left overnight, it will probably become cold and hard and difficult to eat.
But Xu Qinghe said, "Don't worry about it, just leave it there. You can go down and rest too."
She let down the heavy curtains and huddled under the quilt.
Nanzhi had clearly used a hot water bottle to warm the bed, but Xu Qinghe still felt a little cold.
Until half past midnight, the cold wind was still howling outside the house.
Accompanied by the incessant whistling of the cold wind, Xu Qinghe finally fell into a drowsy sleep.
At this moment, the rear window was pushed open silently.
【Author’s words】
Rehabilitation
Gratitude for companionship
Gratitude and Never Abandonment
I will continue to work hard
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