Chapter 40 World 2 (16)
Beneath the pear tree, the slender and graceful figure of the precious fan can be seen. Compared with the pure white and light pear blossoms covering the tree, it is hard to tell which one can be called the more beautiful sight.
Although this place was secluded, it wasn't deserted. As a man, Yunqi couldn't hold a long conversation with Baoshan. He took a step forward, then suddenly remembered something and tentatively asked Baoshan, "I'm leaving the house in a few days. Do you need anything to take with you?"
Yunqi's mind flashed through the various masks, hand-made clay figurines, and small and delicious snacks sold by the vendors... He had the idea of taking the treasure fan with him when he left the palace. If he took the treasure fan out of the palace, he would definitely have a good time.
But Yunqi knew his and Baoshan's identities, and without Yuwen Xuan's permission, he would not be able to leave the palace.
Baoshan naturally understood what Yunqi was thinking. She shook her head gently, and the pear blossom petals on her black hair swayed and slowly fell.
"No."
The gleam in Yunqi's eyes dimmed in an instant, and his originally tall figure looked a little lonely as he turned and left.
Baoshan naturally saw through Yunqi's intentions, but while she had some thoughts of exploiting him, she never gave him any false impressions. If there was no possibility of a relationship between a man and a woman, then all lingering, ambiguous bonds should be severed.
Baoshan believed that using lingering affection to tie a man down and use him for one's own benefit was a lowly strategy. If a man's kindness to a woman was based solely on affection, and if, after giving so much, he discovered that all his past efforts had faded away like water into a river, he would become envious and seek sweeteners.
Ambition is nurtured slowly. When the sweetness is not enough to soothe the desire in the heart, malice will arise.
It would be better not to use affection as a shackle from the beginning, so that so many unexpected events won’t occur.
Although Yunqi appears cold and hard on the outside, he doesn't seem like someone with unsatisfied desires or harboring ill intentions.
But Baoshan kept her distance from him from the beginning, only wanting to use Yunqi to learn about the world outside the palace and Yuwen Xuan's likes and dislikes, and she did not take any other benefits.
Baoshan raised her head and closed her eyes tightly, feeling only the fragrant breeze blowing across her cheeks, and the soft pear blossom petals falling on the tip of her small and upturned nose, which made her feel a little itchy.
The pear blossom petals floated in the wind and fell on the soft lips that looked like the petals of a precious fan.
Although pear blossoms are delicate, they cannot compare to the beauty's pretty color.
Miss Deng and Hua Qing returned to the yard, followed by the housekeeper's instructions.
The housekeeper's face was gentle. He didn't say it was a punishment, but just said that the palace had encountered difficulties and wanted to ask Miss Deng and Hua Qing for help.
Dozens of scriptures, each three fingers thick, clattered to the ground. Hua Qing would carefully copy them, hand them to the housekeeper for review, and then pray for blessings before burning them.
Hua Qing felt bitter, but she didn't dare to argue. She picked up the scripture resignedly.
She was not Miss Deng, who had the gold and silver brought back from the palace to use, so she could only copy it by hand.
As for Miss Deng, the housekeeper didn't let her copy the scriptures. Instead, he brought in two wooden barrels filled with sesame seeds. However, the black and white sesame seeds were mixed together, so the housekeeper ordered two barrels of black and white sesame seeds to be brought in so that Miss Deng could sort out the black and white sesame seeds herself.
"If you listen to one side of the story and believe it, it will bring disaster to Miss Deng in the future.
This sesame seed picking not only helps the palace, but also makes Miss Deng more discerning and prevents her from being deceived by rumors."
Hua Qing, who was holding the scriptures, heard this and her legs trembled slightly, and she almost fell to the ground.
Sesame seeds are tiny to begin with, and when mixed together they are even more eye-catching.
Miss Deng spent three hours picking, but only got a small bowl of white sesame seeds, and her wrists were already sore and weak.
Miss Deng was filled with resentment. She blamed Hua Qing for her nonsense and for causing her to lose face. She also blamed Yuwen Xuan for being ruthless. All she thought about all day was how to cure Yuwen Xuan's hidden illness, but he almost took her life and allowed the housekeeper to bully her in such a weird way.
Miss Deng had mixed feelings about Baoshan. Even though Baoshan pleaded for her, she couldn't feel grateful.
Miss Deng picked half of the sesame seeds from her palm and put them back into the wooden barrel.
She left the house and looked at the maid sweeping the yard, feeling more depressed.
A little maid carried a wooden basin and walked to Miss Deng.
When Miss Deng saw her approaching, she was about to move away to avoid the clean water from splashing on her embroidered shoes.
The little maid squeezed in front of her and stuffed something into her palm.
Miss Deng held the object tightly in her hand and waited until she returned to the house before opening it to check.
It was a piece of rice paper with a few big characters written on it.
On the riverside outside the city, there is a method to treat hidden diseases.
Miss Deng's heart was beating like a drum. The note on the paper asked her to meet him at the riverside outside the palace.
Knowing that she was looking for a cure for her hidden disease, he could send someone to use the maidservants in the palace to pass on the message.
Apart from people in the palace, Miss Deng could not think of anyone else.
The last time she entered the palace, the Empress had offered to help her find him. Although Miss Deng was delighted, she had waited for so long without finding a solution that she gradually lost hope. Now, however, a ray of hope had appeared, and her heart was beating fast.
Miss Deng went to find the housekeeper and said that her wrist was sore from picking sesame seeds and she wanted to go out to see a doctor.
The housekeeper asked the palace doctor to see her, but Miss Deng refused, saying that it was just a minor illness and there was no need to trouble the palace doctor. Seeing this, the housekeeper allowed her to leave the house.
Willows swayed by the river, but only three or two people walked across the bridge, and they were all in a hurry, without stopping.
Miss Deng walked towards the bridge, feeling uneasy, and said: The paper ball only has the location written on it, but not the time. Could it be that I have come too early?
As soon as Miss Deng stood still, a woman in a purple dress stepped onto the arch bridge, winked at Miss Deng, and led her to a secluded place.
The woman with the surname Feise claimed that she was a maid serving the Empress.
I made an appointment to meet Miss Deng because I found a way to treat my hidden disease.
As for why she didn't tell Yuwen Xuan directly about this method, the concubine had her own explanation.
"The Queen, remembering the past relationship between you and her, will let you have this benefit and then present it to the Prince.
Once the prince obtains this secret recipe, he will naturally look upon you with a different eye."
Miss Deng clenched the prescription in her hand.
Seeing this, the concubine continued, "This prescription wasn't issued by the Imperial Hospital, it was a folk recipe that Your Majesty found in the countryside.
You and I both know that the prince's hidden illness is that his meridians are broken. Ordinary mild and nourishing prescriptions will probably have no effect.
Although this prescription is very potent, it is the right medicine for the condition. However, for the sake of your Highness's safety, it wouldn't be too late to take it back to the palace and have it examined by the palace physician before using it."
When Miss Deng heard this, all the doubts and worries in her heart disappeared, and a look of joy appeared in her eyes.
If she could cure Yuwen Xuan's hidden illness, she would be the benefactor of Yuwen Xuan and the palace. No matter how ruthless Yuwen Xuan was, he would not be too rude to his benefactor.
Within the palace lay a secluded courtyard, vast and unadorned. The only bright spot was the pear tree in the east corner. In the past, this courtyard served as Yuwen Xuan's training ground. Unlike the other generals, Yuwen Xuan's training ground lacked a row of axes, swords, and forks, along with the eighteen weapons. Instead, he possessed only the Changming Sword.
There was no distinction between archery, horse riding, and gladiatorial combat in the yard; it was just an open and unobstructed yard.
Even though Yuwen Xuan could no longer lift a sword, under the care of the housekeeper, the yard did not become a desolate scene overgrown with weeds, but remained the same as before.
Now is the season when pear blossoms are in full bloom. The pear blossoms fall from the branches like snow and drift around the pear trees.
Yuwen Xuan stood under the tree, looking at the extremely empty yard. The blood in his chest was boiling, but he could only barely hold it back.
The rustling sound means the wind is blowing.
The white and soft petals fell slowly and mixed with the soil.
The originally pure white flowers were stained with dirt and were no longer as lovely and pitiful as when they were hanging on the branches.
Yu Wenxuan frowned and stared coldly at the pear blossoms that had fallen into the mud.
He seemed to have heard those literati and scholars chanting.
"Fallen petals are not heartless; they turn into spring mud to protect the flowers."
It’s a pity that Yuwen Xuan doesn’t understand the so-called "flower-protecting" sentiment, and can’t feel any sympathy or sigh for the pear flowers buried in the soil.
He only knew that even a flower as white as a pear blossom could be stained by the dirty and lowly soil, let alone someone who was well versed in the ways of the world.
The guard stood outside the yard until Yuwen Xuan saw him and called him in, then the guard reported everything.
"Riverside", "prescription"... The fragmented words fell into Yuwen Xuan's ears. His expression did not change, neither angry nor happy. He just waved his hand slightly and asked the guards to continue watching.
Hua Qing raised her body with a sore back and looked at the crooked handwriting she had written. Her head hurt even more.
She looked outside the house with a worried look on her face, and just in time she saw Baoshan walk in.
There is a goose yellow ribbon between Baoshan's hair, which is faintly visible among the three thousand black hairs.
Her face was as tender as a flower bud on a branch, fair with a hint of red.
Perhaps because the lotus hairpin was broken, the precious fan had no other decorations for the time being, and could only use three or two small pear blossoms to decorate the hair, which made her look more slender and fragile.
Hua Qing suddenly felt that the precious fan and the pear blossoms were a perfect match, with their extremely small and white faces and their timid nature, as if they would fall from the branches at the slightest touch of the wind.
Now that she was no longer worried about life and death, Hua Qing did not treat Bao Shan with the same earnestness as before. She just sneered and turned her head away, deliberately not looking at her. Only her two round eyes were still tightly fixed on Bao Shan, secretly spying on her actions.
Baoshan walked to her bed, bent down, and gently tiptoed to take the pink porcelain round bowl on the bedside.
The porcelain bowl was filled with clean water and contained a few dried flowers.
Baoshan soaked these dried flowers in clean water and placed them on the bed. In just one night, the bed was filled with the fragrance.
Hua Qing has always despised Bao Shan's petty thoughts, thinking that she was penniless and had no money to spend, so she couldn't afford to buy spices for fumigation.
Hua Qing deliberately bought some rich spices and placed them on the bedside, hoping to make Bao Shan envious.
Unexpectedly, the fragrance would linger on my body and bed.
But when she and the precious fan stood together, one was elegant and natural, while the other had a strong and fragrant smell, and it was extremely clear which one was better.
The ties on her chest slowly fell with the movement of the treasure fan, and entangled with the hair around her waist, looking particularly affectionate.
Hua Qing thought back to today when Yuwen Xuan spared her life because of Baoshan's request. Then, looking at Baoshan's graceful posture, her face turned cold and she turned away angrily, picking up the pen to copy the scriptures again.
——Even a violent person like Yuwen Xuan would be confused by this weak gesture.
It turns out that all men in the world are the same. When they see someone as fragile as Baoshan, they just want to embrace her and can't think of anything else.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
