Sugar pills
Unfortunately, when I tasted the plum wine that Mei Sheng made a few months ago after lifting the red lacquered lid, I found that it had been aged for too long and the taste was not quite what I had imagined.
This is different; it's almost too little, which means you can't drink it.
Seeing this, Mei Sheng instructed a maid to go to the small kitchen to fetch some rare wine, pour it into a delicate, openwork silver pot, and then pour it into the warm bowls of the two people.
Just then, Pei Jue finished his plum wine, and the waiting maidservant, with great insight, poured him another cup of wine.
Pei Jue took a small sip, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked with a smile, "What?"
This was a question asking Mei Sheng why she was looking at him that way.
Mei Sheng ate a lot for dinner, so she drank very little wine. When the maid came forward to pour her more wine, she had no choice but to cover the cup and silently refuse.
Disturbed by the maid, Mei Sheng dismissed her horrified thoughts and shook her head at Pei Jue without saying a word.
Just then, the wind picked up, and the few scattered flowers nearby swayed from side to side, as if startled. This reminded her of what she had just said about her friend, and her expression became unfocused.
She had no idea when Pei Jue summoned the servant to bring her several sheets of Zuo Bo paper and a bamboo brush, until Pei Jue asked her a question that brought her back to her senses.
Several types of pigments, such as azurite, cinnabar, and malachite, were laid out on the small pearwood table...
"how?"
Pei Jue slowly unfolded the snow-white paper, on which Mei Sheng sat sideways in a rattan chair, swaying in the wind, with an indelible sorrow in her eyes.
With just a few strokes, the artist has captured the essence of Mei Sheng's spirit perfectly.
At first glance, it was a painting of excellent skill, but Mei Sheng only said, "Master's painting is superb."
But what's missing? Mei Sheng thought to herself, perhaps it's that sense of freedom and unrestrainedness.
Seeing that Mei Sheng was losing interest, Pei Jue put down his brush, propped his chin on his hand, and asked with a smile, "Mei'er, would you like to paint?"
The sound was like a thunderclap, and Mei Sheng was now completely awake. She should have denied it outright, but as her mind raced, she seemed to recall her unfinished map of the Pei residence.
Just as she took the pen and paper, the maid who was pouring wine suddenly stepped forward, poured Mei Sheng a cup of tea, and winked at her.
Mei Sheng understood. When Cao Rongniang saw that no one was serving her, she sent a maid to her side, which was also a way of keeping an eye on her.
"Of course I'm willing, but there's something I need to ask you, sir."
After seeing this, the maid obediently retreated to the corridor.
Pei Jue didn't look at the maid, but simply put down his pen and stared straight at her: "What is it?"
Mei Sheng glanced at the maid's position and lowered her voice, "I just wanted to ask you, sir, were all the wines we drank just now sent by the Cao family? Should I go to the Cao family tomorrow to express my gratitude?"
Pei Jue clapped his hands and laughed loudly. The laughter startled the maids and servants around him, but they were all law-abiding people and did not do anything else.
"Mei'er, you..."
After a sigh, Pei Jue said that she hadn't drunk much; it was he, Pei Jue, who had drunk a lot. If anyone was going to go, it would naturally be him.
Having completed the task assigned by his aunt, Mei Sheng naturally didn't care about Pei Jue's thoughts and ideas, nor could she control them.
Pei Jue was perhaps in a good mood, as he did not mention Mei Sheng continuing to paint, and drank quite a bit of wine by himself.
Before long, a few streaks of red appeared at the corners of his eyes, making him seem more tender.
The wind grew stronger and the night deeper. A maidservant replaced the incense in the room with calming sandalwood, placed it in the incense burner, and then closed the doors and windows.
The mattress and quilt on the bed were replaced with high-quality materials, and the curtains were tied up before being sprinkled with water to remove dust.
The maid inside finished tidying up and then closed the door, quietly leaving. After a short while, only the two of them remained.
A clean set of nightgowns lay on the bed. Mei Sheng remembered Han Zhou's instructions before leaving and felt annoyed.
With no one around, she glanced at the man lying silently on the bed before turning her gaze around the room.
When they reached the place where Pei Jue usually handled official business, they paused for a few moments, then pulled out a simple topographical map from the bottom of the desk and quickly glanced at it.
After restoring everything to its original state, Mei Sheng stepped forward again, approached the bed, and asked gently, "Master, are you asleep?"
When she called out, there was absolutely no response. Mei Sheng had no choice but to turn around, intending to go out and go back to her room to sleep.
The moment his hand touched the door, before he could even exert any force, he caught a glimpse of the person swaying as they stood up and commanded into the air, "Grind the ink."
Seeing this, Mei Sheng was so shocked that his palms sweated. After staring at it for a few moments, he went to his desk, picked up the ink stick, and began grinding with trepidation.
She had intended to treat it as a normal matter and move on, but Pei Jue sat in his chair for a long time without opening the documents on the table. He simply leaned back in his chair, intently watching her every move.
Captured by such a burning gaze, Mei Sheng felt a surge of doubt. Before she could shake off these doubts and let them settle in her mind, she saw Pei Jue grip her arm tightly and move it gently.
In the blink of an eye, she was sitting on his lap!
As soon as she regained her senses, she felt the hairs on her body stand on end. Compared to the thrill and panic she felt when she woke up and saw him yesterday, this was even more dangerous.
Pei Jue leaned closer, his thin lips, heavy with the scent of alcohol, brushing against her earlobe. His fingers casually rested on her waist, draping her in a relaxed embrace.
He noticed the struggle of the beauty in his arms and saw that she wanted to break free from his grasp. He felt dissatisfied, but the slight trembling and panic made his anger vanish in an instant. Pei Jue couldn't help but say gently, "Don't be afraid."
Upon hearing this, Mei Sheng still struggled to get up. Although Pei Jue had occasionally offended her these days, he had never done this before. The look in his eyes clearly showed ill intent, which was completely different from before.
This behavior completely disrupted the seemingly peaceful and harmonious atmosphere of drinking, and Mei Sheng felt a sudden bitterness in her heart, and was extremely annoyed.
The candles on the table burned fiercely, their flames flickering overhead. The shadows of the two figures were reflected on the soft white gauze opposite them, making it easy to see that the two shadows were both real and illusory, inseparable.
Before Pei Jue could even slip his hand inside his clothes, something hard pressed against his hand. After a slight hesitation, he reached out and pulled it out, asking, "What is this? Candy?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Sheng felt as if a savior had arrived.
Inside the candy wrapper is the sleeping potion from the white jade bottle. Just a small amount might allow one to feign unconsciousness and escape this calamity in this critical moment.
Or, feed it to Pei Jue. He drank quite a bit tonight, a mix of different kinds of alcohol, and he's probably already quite drunk. If he eats it, no one will know until tomorrow morning.
How did Mei Sheng know that Pei Jue was somewhat drunk?
Pei Jue stopped what he was doing, intrigued by the candy wrapper. He used his index finger to peel back the wrapper, took out a small candy, examined it for a moment, and asked doubtfully, "Is it sweet?"
Before Mei Sheng could make a decision, she witnessed a horrifying scene: this person had actually eaten one.
He must be drunk.
This person doesn't usually care whether the candy is sweet or not, and probably doesn't like candy. Maybe he's very knowledgeable and can smell it just by his sense of smell!
The next moment, he grabbed Mei Sheng's chin and kissed her.
Pei Jue's phoenix eyes seemed to be veiled by wine, yet his movements were without hesitation. As his lips met Mei Sheng's, he passed the pill to her.
Once again trapped in Pei Jue's grasp, Mei Sheng was terrified, but she was too weak to escape. The pill went into her mouth, and her face turned red. She immediately tried to spit it out.
"Try it, it's sweet."
Pei Jue, slightly out of breath, gazed at the beauty with her alluring eyes and slightly parted cherry lips, which resembled a snow plum blossom on a branch, its crimson color almost deceiving.
After saying that, he continued what he had been doing, chewing slowly until the pill gradually dissolved between their mouths before releasing Mei Sheng.
Mei Sheng didn't care about anything else. Once Pei Jue relaxed, she hurriedly pushed him away and finally got free. Just as she was about to leave, she felt dizzy. So she spotted the kettle on the small table, squeezed it tightly, poured out the water, and splashed it on her face.
That idiot won't die!
After a moment, she realized that the scene before her had returned to normal and was no longer as distorted as before, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking up, I saw the person slumped over the desk, fast asleep.
Beside her, a small window was blown open by the strong wind. The room grew colder, and Mei Sheng became more and more awake. She propped herself up on the wooden frame, pulled off her wet outer garment, and crawled into the warm bed.
As for Pei Jue, let him freeze; it would be best if he froze to death!
Seeing that there were still several maids keeping watch outside, she had no choice but to get up, wrap herself in the quilt, blow out the candles, and then go back to bed to sleep.
The next day, Pei Jue was awakened by a chill. As soon as he got up, an outer garment fell off his body. Pei Jue knew at a glance whose it was.
He frowned, went forward and closed the small window that was letting in a cool breeze. Before he could even utter a reprimand, Mei Sheng pushed open the door, holding a bowl of honey hangover tea.
"Sir, you're awake. This tea helps with the hangover, drink some quickly."
After saying that, she put down her tea, picked up her outer garment from the ground, patted it, and Pei Jue had no choice but to suppress his anger and ask, "Why didn't you call me?"
There was no intention to hold her accountable, but Mei Sheng still frowned and said aggrievedly, "Master insisted on staying here last night. I'm not strong enough to move him."
These words sounded rather pitiful. Pei Jue calmly put his hands behind his back and nodded, indicating, "Put them down."
Well, this outer garment is of little use to him, but she did put in the thought.
As for why he didn't call anyone in, he remained silent, clearly thinking about the reckless things he did last night.
Pei Jue said slowly, "Go and pack up. We'll leave the city in a quarter of an hour."
Then, he beckoned Han Zhou out the door, walking quickly as if the wind were rising from his feet.
Mei Sheng clenched her clothes, furious. "How can someone be so healthy?"
Pei Jue took the riding whip handed to him and listened to Han Zhou's report. Now that they had detoured to Liangcheng, the returning caravan was approaching Wu County. If he didn't hurry to meet them there, Qing Yao might be exposed.
With winter approaching, Wu County is bustling with affairs, and Pei Jue is bombarded with letters urging him to write. However, his stay in Liangcheng these past few days has yielded some results.
As soon as he mounted his horse, Pei Jue suddenly breathed in a breath of cold air, and his throat became itchy and dry, causing him to cough a few times on the spot.
Even his head was spinning, and he couldn't help but smile wryly.
Han Zhou frowned and asked softly whether he should call a doctor or tell Miss Mei. Pei Jue shook his head and refused, then squeezed his legs tightly around the horse's belly and galloped away.
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