Chapter 166: Warm Morning Light, Message from the Guest House
The morning light, like molten gold, streamed through the windows of Shufangzhai, falling on the crabapple tree in the courtyard. Dewdrops on the petals were illuminated, and the wind blew them down, dripping onto the bluestone slabs, creating tiny splashes of water. Little Swallow was perched on the porch railing, a blade of grass in his mouth, watching Little Table practice his newly learned "shadowless kick."
"Bang!" The small table stumbled and nearly knocked over the flowerpot next to it. Mingyue was so frightened that she quickly held on to it: "Eunuch, be careful! This is the orchid that Empress Ling Fei just gave me!"
"Guai guai long di dong!" Little Mosquito ran out of the house, holding a freshly steamed meat bun in his hand. "Why practice kung fu? Let's eat breakfast first! The imperial kitchen made crab roe buns today. If you don't eat them now, the little bugs will eat them all!" As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Little Bug squatting on the stone table, holding a bun and imitating the pigeon's cooing: "Coo choo - it smells so good!"
Little Swallow chuckled, and the grass in her mouth fell to the ground. "Can you four behave yourself? If you keep making trouble, Rong Mama will come to lecture you." Although she said that, she raised her foot and kicked the leg of the small table. "That move just now was wrong. You should straighten your waist, like me--" As she spoke, she turned in a circle on the spot, the moon-white skirt of her tight dress flying, like a swallow spreading its wings. "See? Qinggong requires leveraging the force, not just kicking!"
"Little Swallow!" Ziwei came out of the room carrying a bowl of bird's nest porridge. The cuffs of her light purple palace dress were embroidered with lotus flowers. "You're running around right after breakfast. Be careful not to get a stomachache." She handed the porridge to Little Swallow with a helpless smile in her eyes. "Yongqi and Erkang are waiting for you in the room. They said they have something important to discuss."
Little Swallow took the bowl of porridge and drank most of it in just a few gulps. She wiped her mouth and ran into the house. When she passed by the stone table, she snatched the crab roe bun from Little Mosquito's hand and said, "Thank you!"
"Oh my bag!" The little mosquito stomped his feet and chased after it for a few steps, but was pulled back by the little stool. "Stop chasing me, Princess is just teasing you. Yesterday we were telling the story about Sun Wukong and Red Boy. Today we should talk about the Flaming Mountain, right?"
Inside, Yongqi was helping Erkang sort through the files on his desk. The sleeves of his royal blue dragon robe were rolled up, revealing half of his fair wrists. Seeing Xiaoyanzi running in, he quickly stood up. "Slow down, be careful not to fall." He handed her a cup of warm tea. "I just ordered almond tea from the imperial kitchen. You like it."
Xiaoyanzi took the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, then wiped her mouth. "Tell me, what's the important matter? Have you found out about Nanny Li's new tricks?"
Erkang flipped open the file and pointed at the record: "I had someone check Nanny Li's whereabouts. In addition to going to the Imperial Garden, she has also been frequently visiting Eunuch E's residence. Eunuch E is a close confidant of Lord Emin, and Concubine E has been frequenting the Imperial Concubine recently."
"E Min? Concubine E?" Xiaoyanzi frowned and tapped the table with her fingers. "I remember my previous life... well, I heard that E Min was not a good person and always wanted to climb up the social ladder." She swallowed the "previous life" in time. Fortunately, Yongqi and Erkang didn't notice.
Ziwei was sitting by the window embroidering a handkerchief. Upon hearing this, she whispered, "Sister Efei is very arrogant. At the previous enthronement ceremony, she looked at us with a somewhat cold gaze. Could it be that she and Concubine Gao have teamed up?"
"It's very likely." Yongqi pointed his finger at the words "E Mansion" on the file. "E Min has always been trying to gain influence in the court. If he can use Concubine Gao to suppress us, it will only benefit him." He looked up at Xiaoyanzi, his eyes gentle but firm. "But don't worry, I've asked Guard Zhou to keep a close eye on Eunuch E's movements and report any news."
Just as Xiaoyanzi was about to speak, Xiaozhuozi ran in with a letter in his hand. "Princess! Brother Liu Qing sent someone to deliver a letter, saying something about the guesthouse!"
Xiaoyanzi's eyes lit up, and she snatched the letter and opened it. The letter was made of rough hemp paper, with Liu Qing's handwriting written in a flamboyant style: "Sister Yan, business is booming at the hotel. We hired a hardworking young clerk yesterday. Ertai came to help early this morning, saying he wanted to teach Liu Hong how to do accounting. The two of them argued at the counter for half the morning, and Liu Hong even threw her abacus..."
"Hahaha!" Xiaoyanzi slammed her hands on the table with laughter. "I knew Ertai was obsessed with Liu Hong! Accounting? He can't even keep track of his own account books, and he's trying to teach others!" She handed the letter to Ziwei. "Look, look, Liu Qing said that when Liu Hong threw the abacus, Ertai was so scared that he almost crawled under the table!"
Ziwei took the letter and smiled as she read it. Her fingertips traced over the words "Jinsuo learns to keep accounts and writes '收' as '瘦', making all the guests laugh." Her eyes were full of warmth: "Jinsuo has also learned to manage the guesthouse. That's great."
"That's right." Yongqi walked over to Xiaoyanzi, looked into her smiling eyes, and softened his voice. "I have a day off this afternoon. Do you want to go out of the palace and visit the guesthouse? I can bring them some snacks from the palace."
"Okay, okay!" Xiaoyanzi nodded immediately, then remembered something and turned to ask Erkang, "Erkang, are you going? Ziwei must be missing Jinsuo."
Ziwei's cheeks flushed slightly, and she gently pulled Xiaoyanzi's sleeve: "Don't talk nonsense."
Erkang smiled gently, "I have to accompany my mother to the temple to burn incense this afternoon, so we can go another day. But I asked the servant to send some pens, ink, paper and inkstone to the guesthouse. Ziwei said Jinsuo wanted to learn calligraphy, so it might be useful."
As she was speaking, Caixia came in with a freshly embroidered handkerchief. On it were two mandarin ducks playing in the water, with fine stitching. "Gege, this handkerchief is finished. Would you like to give it to Concubine Ling?"
"Send it!" Xiaoyanzi took the handkerchief and looked at it over and over. "Ziwei, your embroidery is really good, much better than the embroiderers in the palace! I'll deliver it myself later and tell Concubine Ling that we want to leave the palace this afternoon." She suddenly remembered something and leaned close to Ziwei's ear. "Oh, by the way, Qing'er asked Xiaodengzi to bring a letter yesterday, saying that she has collected some storybooks and asked us to pick them up on our way out of the palace."
Ziwei's eyes lit up: "Is it the Peony Pavilion we talked about last time? It's the only copy she found after searching for a long time."
"That's right!" Xiaoyanzi clapped her hands, turned around and ran out, "I'm going to tell Empress Ling Fei, you wait for me!" The moon-white figure went out of the courtyard in a few jumps. The wind brought by the hem of her skirt made the wind chimes under the corridor ring "ding-ling-ling".
Yongqi looked at her back and shook his head helplessly, then turned to Erkang and said with a smile: "With her temper, when will she be able to calm down?" Although there was a hint of anger in his words, his eyes were full of doting.
Erkang looked at the crabapple tree outside the window and said softly, "This is good. If I become too calm, I won't be Xiaoyanzi anymore." He turned to look at Ziwei and saw her stroking the mandarin duck handkerchief with her head down, her cheeks slightly flushed. He handed her a cup of hot tea and said, "It's cold, drink some to warm yourself up."
Ziwei took the teacup and her fingertips touched his hand. She shrank back as if burned, and the tips of her ears turned red.
Half an hour later, Xiaoyanzi came running back, waving a bright yellow badge in her hand. "Done! Concubine Ling has approved it! She also asked us to bring some extra osmanthus cakes, saying that Liu Qing and the others like sweet things." She shoved the badge at Yongqi and said, "Hurry up and get ready. We'll leave after lunch!"
Xiaodeng came over holding the storybook, with a mysterious look on his face: "Princess, Xiao Luzi just told me secretly that Li Ma was punished by Concubine Gao to kneel this morning. It seems that it was because the birthday banquet yesterday was not properly organized."
"Serves her right!" Xiaoyanzi pouted. "Let her do it again!" Suddenly, her eyes rolled and she patted Xiaodengzi's shoulder. "Xiaodengzi, come with us out of the palace this afternoon and help Qing'er bring the storybooks back. Xiaowenzi, you go too and bring some snacks to the children in the compound."
"Guaiguai, long, dong! We're leaving the palace!" Little Mosquito jumped up with joy and the meat bun in his hand almost fell to the ground.
Xiao Dengzi also smiled from ear to ear: "Great! I've been wanting to go to the guest house to try the braised pork made by Brother Liu Qing. I heard it's even more delicious than the one in the imperial kitchen!"
The sunlight grew warmer, scattering in every corner of Shufangzhai. The shadow of the crabapple tree stretched out, like a floral carpet covering the bluestone slabs. Yongqi was helping Xiaoyanzi arrange her cloak for leaving the palace. Ziwei sat at her embroidery frame, adding a budding magnolia to her unfinished screen. Erkang was grinding ink nearby, occasionally looking up at her, his eyes filled with tenderness that could bring tears to his eyes.
The wind chimes in the corridor still swayed gently, bringing a lingering warmth. Little Swallow hummed a Jiangnan tune as she packed snacks into her lunch box, occasionally arguing with a mosquito. On this ordinary morning, without the dark clouds of the palace, only the warmth of family and close friends, like sunlight filtering through the window lattices, gradually filling my heart with a sense of peace and brightness.
The carriage for leaving the palace had already been prepared, waiting for the afternoon sun to warm up. Loaded with joy and anticipation, it drove towards the guesthouse outside the palace, towards those waiting relatives and stories. And the haze lurking in the darkness seemed to temporarily recede a little in this warm and cozy atmosphere.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
