Chapter 289: No Matter Card
Inside the hall, candlelight burned quietly within the glazed canopy, elongating the figures of the two people and casting their shadows on the cold golden brick floor.
Time flowed slowly as they looked at each other silently. Outside the hall, the howling north wind rolled up snow foam and violently hit the window frames.
After a long time, the corners of Yan Shixu's tightly pursed lips loosened slightly, and a hint of warmth flashed across his eyes, which had been filled with frost just now.
He slowly raised his hand, palm facing up, and silently extended it towards Wen Li'er.
Wen Li'er placed her hand into his broad yet cool palm without any hesitation.
Yan Shixu's fingers immediately closed, like a sturdy lock. The force was immense, carrying with it an unquestionable sense of possession and a subtle, comforting reliance.
He said nothing, but just took her hand, turned around, and led her step by step through the empty and silent palace, back to the warm bedroom in Zichen Palace.
The next day.
Inside the bedroom of the Purple Palace, the charcoal fire burned brightly in the gilded bronze furnace with an animal head, dispelling the severe cold of late winter.
Wen Li'er was sleeping soundly in the warm quilt. In a daze, she felt the person next to her gently lift the corner of the quilt.
She struggled to open her heavy eyelids and looked through the hazy gauze curtain at the tall figure beside the bed who was changing clothes quietly.
"Your Majesty..." Her voice was soft and full of sleepiness.
"What time is it now?"
Yan Shixu turned around when he heard the sound and saw that she had woken up. He leaned over and gently pulled up the quilt that had slipped down, tightly covering the exposed part of her fair neck.
"It's still early, only the middle of the Yin hour, you should sleep a little longer."
Wen Li'er rubbed her sleepy eyes, and it took her a while to remember that today was New Year's Day.
The first day of the new year marks the beginning of a new year.
The emperor would accept congratulations from civil and military officials, royal princes, and even envoys from vassal states in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, holding the most grand and solemn ceremony of the year.
As the Imperial Noble Consort, she didn't have to attend the congratulations, but on this special morning...
Thinking of this, Wen Li'er shuddered and no longer lingered in the warmth of the quilt. She sat up from the dragon bed, her long black hair falling like a waterfall on her shoulders.
Yan Shixu was picking up a black mink cloak when he saw her suddenly stand up. Worried that she would be caught in a cold, he quickly unfolded the cloak and wrapped her completely.
"Li'er?" He frowned slightly. "It's freezing cold, what are you doing up so early?"
Wen Li'er was wrapped in a cloak, revealing only her soft and obedient little face, and she gave him a bright smile.
"Today is the first day of the new year, and I must get up and help Your Majesty change clothes!"
"Fool."
Yan Shixu laughed: "I can do it myself, and Yongtai and the others are waiting outside, why do you need to do it yourself? Go back and lie down."
Wen Li'er walked barefoot on the soft and thick carpet, came up to him, looked up, and her eyes sparkled.
"Your Majesty, there's a saying in my hometown that if you sleep in on New Year's Day, you'll be lazy all year long! If you don't let me get up today, and I become a lazy bum all year long, staying in bed all day, Your Majesty, please don't look down on me then!"
Yan Shixu raised his eyebrows. He had never heard of this statement before.
He couldn't help but imagine her lying in bed wrapped in the quilt, refusing to move no matter how he tried to coax her...
That scene...is a headache.
He opened his arms almost immediately: "Never mind, as you say. If you are really lazy, I have my own way to deal with you."
Wen Li'er pursed her lips and smiled secretly.
She personally put on the dragon robe for him, carefully smoothed out every wrinkle, and then carefully tied the jade leather belt.
Although her movements were not as skillful as those of the palace ladies, she was extremely serious.
Finally, she took off the cloak she had just wrapped around herself, stood on tiptoe, and put it on him.
"Your Majesty, please wait a moment."
She seemed to have remembered something important, turned around and walked quickly back to the dragon bed, leaned over, reached out, and took out something from under the pillow embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon.
It was a square wooden sign, half the size of a palm, smooth and warm.
The surface of the wooden sign shows natural wood grain texture without any complicated carvings.
Only a small hole was drilled at the top, and a red rope with a peace knot was tied on it.
So simple that it's even a little crude.
She returned to Yan Shixu with the wooden sign, bent down, and personally passed the red rope through the buckle on the side of the jade belt around his waist and tied it carefully.
Yan Shixu stretched out his hand and gently stroked the surface of the cards with his fingertips.
"Li'er, what is this?"
Wen Li'er took a step back and looked at the sign again and again.
What was originally considered too simple, now hung around the emperor's waist, strangely gave it a sense of ancient and tranquil charm, as if even its simplicity had become an elegance that returned to nature.
She raised her head and met his gaze, her expression full of seriousness and piety.
"Your Majesty, this is called the 'Wu Shi Pai'. It has no ornaments on its surface, a play on the Chinese character for 'nothing'. I pray that Your Majesty, wearing this today, will enjoy peace and prosperity in the years ahead, free from illness and disaster, free from worries, and that everything goes well for you."
Yan Shixu gazed at the undisguised concern and seriousness in her clear eyes, and felt a warm current slowly flowing through his heart.
He lowered his head again, his fingertips carefully tracing the simple outline of the wooden sign, with the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"You made this yourself?"
Although it was a question, the tone was firm.
Wen Li'er's eyes widened in surprise: "How did your Majesty know?"
This "Nothing Worry" piece was indeed made by her own hands, from selecting materials to grinding, polishing, perforating, and weaving the peace knot.
Yan Shixu chuckled: "The corners... are a little prickly."
If it was made by the Imperial Household Department, they would probably lose their heads if they dared to present such crudely made ornaments.
"Ah? Does it prick your hand? Let me take a look."
Wen Li'er became nervous when she heard this, fearing that her cooking skills were not good enough and would hurt him.
She subconsciously half-knelt down, moved closer to his waist, and looked at the wooden sign carefully.
The distance was very close, and the warm breath brushed against his waist.
She stretched out her finger, trying to confirm where the polish was not done properly and whether it could be repaired.
At this moment, outside the palace door, there was a deliberately suppressed conversation.
Zhang Sicheng, who had not slept all night, came to the emperor wrapped in cold to report what he had investigated last night.
Seeing Yongtai standing guard outside the palace, he whispered, "Is Your Majesty awake?"
Yongtai had just listened carefully and heard faint voices coming from inside the hall, obviously someone had woken up.
He nodded: "Please wait a moment, I will go in and tell them."
Yongtai pushed the door open and walked in.
"Your Majesty, Commander Zhang..." asked for an audience.
However, the words he hadn't finished were instantly stuck in his throat.
What I saw was His Majesty the Emperor standing beside the dragon bed.
The Imperial Noble Consort was half-kneeling before His Majesty, her head lowered, her cheek pressed against the hem of His Majesty's dragon robe, one delicate hand resting on His Majesty's waist...
This, this, this...
This scene was so embarrassing that even Yongtai, a eunuch, couldn't help but blush!
Early in the morning, His Majesty and the Imperial Noble Consort...are in great spirits.
Yongtai hurriedly lowered his head and subconsciously stepped back.
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