Chapter 180: Tangyuan, reunion
There was a "bang" sound of something heavy falling to the ground in the bathroom.
Gu Zongci was startled: "My Lord, are you okay?"
King Zhenbei's voice was a little rough: "Something happened."
Gu Zongci thought about the Prince of Zhenbei rushing back from the northern border, and he had barely slept a wink. Upon arriving in Beijing, he went to the palace to meet with Emperor Jing'an. Now that he heard his daughter had come looking for him, was he too excited and feeling unwell?
Several bad thoughts flashed through his mind as he was about to rush into the bathroom.
"Or have someone bring two more buckets of water. This little water isn't even enough for me to wash my feet."
“…”
Gu Zongci clenched his hands into fists at his sides. If he could beat him, he really wanted to go up and punch him twice.
He said with a straight face, "Manman is the most talented woman in the capital. She is surrounded by delicate girls and elegant scholars. Don't be as rude as you were in the barracks and scare her."
Gu Zongci didn't want to stay here for a moment. After saying this, he hurried to see Shen Qingtan.
When King Zhenbei heard Gu Zongci's footsteps leaving, his heart followed Gu Zongci away.
But thinking of Gu Zongci's words, the King of Zhenbei saw a horsehair brush on the basin stand, threw away the towel in his hand, picked up the brush and scrubbed his whole body.
After washing three buckets of water in a row, he smelled his arms and found no unpleasant odor. He took down the black robe that was prepared beside him. He paused, put it back, rummaged through the trunk, found another set of clothes, and put them on properly.
He sat in front of a bronze mirror, combed his hair neatly with a comb, and specially picked a jade crown to wear.
After dressing up, he looked in the bronze mirror and saw the man in the mirror. He had thick eyebrows, a pair of fierce eyes, and a messy, unkempt beard, which made him look particularly fierce.
The first time he dressed up as a scholar, he felt uncomfortable all over and looked awkward no matter how he looked at it. Moreover, the attire did not suit his face at all, like a monkey wearing clothes, a bit out of place.
He tugged at the wide sleeves, wanting to pull them off and replace them with the narrow sleeves he usually wore, whatever was most comfortable.
But when he thought of his daughter who was waiting for him in the tea room, his heart was torn into two parts: one part wanted to see her as soon as possible, and the other part was afraid that his appearance would scare her.
He frowned, took out a dagger from his sleeve, trimmed his beard into a neat shape, and then went to the tea room impatiently.
The moment he was about to enter the door, he became more and more uneasy, fearing that he had not packed properly and would leave a bad impression on his daughter.
He hesitated for a moment, retracted his foot from the stone steps, and walked to a water tank beside him, in which was a delicate water lily.
Looking down, he saw the serious face reflected in the water. He pressed his two index fingers to the corners of his mouth and pulled up a smile. He stared at it for a while, keeping the corners of his mouth in this arc, and stepped into the tea room.
Gu Zongci was the only one in the tea room, and no one else was there.
His expression froze on his face: "Where's Manman?"
Gu Zongci's face turned strange when he saw the King of Zhenbei's new look. This man didn't dress properly on a daily basis. Even when he wore a round-necked long robe, he would lift the hem of the robe and tuck it into his belt, and tie the sleeves and calves tightly for convenience.
We have known each other for decades, but this is the first time I see him wearing a jade crown.
The King of Zhenbei lived a rough life, while his sister lived a refined life, so much so that he couldn't figure out why his sister fell in love with a barbarian no matter how hard he tried.
Until this moment, when he saw King Zhenbei dress up to meet his daughter because of what he said, he suddenly understood.
He took a sip of tea and said, "Manman has something to do, so I'll go back first."
King Zhenbei felt the ground beneath his feet collapse and he fell down.
He ran out of the tea room and pushed open the gate. A ball of incandescent light rushed towards him from behind the door.
[Daddy, this cake is Dingsheng Cake. Mom said eating this will help you win the battle.]
The delicate and soft little girl stood in front of him, holding a box high in her hand. Inside the box were pieces of snow-white and soft rice cakes.
[Daddy, when you come back, Manman will bring you some glutinous rice balls.]
【My mother said eating glutinous rice balls brings happiness and reunion.】
"Manman wants to eat tangyuan. Let's wait for Daddy to come back and eat together. We need to be together, and no one can be missing."
The scene of the last time I saw my daughter before going to war fourteen years ago came to my mind.
The King of Zhenbei's eyes were red, and he lowered his head, only to see a girl holding a bowl in both hands and holding it in front of him. The bowl was filled with round dumplings.
Shen Qingtan looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with clear eyes. He was wearing a green lotus-colored cross-collared, wide-sleeved straight-bottomed robe, a jade crown on his head, and had a gentle beard.
This scholarly attire is in stark contrast to his resolute and handsome face and his majestic aura.
Gu Zongci's words flashed through her mind: "Manman, your father is a military man. The barracks are full of men, and they are used to being casual and unrestrained, unlike the civil servants in the capital. Don't be fooled by his rough appearance. In fact, he is very meticulous and remembers every word his relatives say."
"When you were little, you looked at lion cats a lot and hugged your father's neck, saying you liked cats. He asked someone to find out where there were lion cats, and he personally went to the border of Liangzhou to bring one back."
"That lion cat, you named it Tangyuan. They took good care of it until its lifespan was over, and then they buried it."
Shen Qingtan was touched and realized that the King of Zhenbei dressed like this specially to see her.
Before coming to Gu's house, she felt a little timid and helpless.
Although they are her biological parents, she has never met them, so they will feel very unfamiliar to her and she doesn't know how to get along with them.
Compared to their feelings for her, she was afraid that her unfamiliarity would hurt their feelings.
But when she actually saw the King of Zhenbei, she saw how red-eyed he was, a tough guy who was so brave and invincible on the battlefield, when he faced his own daughter.
The feeling of restraint and awkwardness dissipated, and she became much more comfortable.
Shen Qingtan held the bowl in both hands and handed it forward: "My uncle told me that you like sesame-filled dumplings. I made this myself, would you like to try it?"
Prince Zhenbei looked down at her bright smiling face, with curved eyebrows and eyes, exactly like her mother's.
His throat was blocked and he dared not make any sound, fearing that the scene before him was just his imagination.
He slowly raised his hand, and with his rough fingers, he lightly touched the porcelain bowl. The warmth of the white porcelain bowl passed through his fingers, so real.
It wasn't like the many times when he reached out to grab the dumplings, only to find his hand was empty.
King Zhenbei was nostalgic for the warmth of the porcelain bowl. He held the bowl in both hands, his lips slightly raised: "Okay, I'll try it."
Fourteen years later, he finally received the dumplings sent by Manman.
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