After dinner, Zhong Mingwei urged Ah Chou to move the bedding and pillows. Ah Chou reluctantly rolled up the bedding and carried it into the room. Then Zhong Mingwei stared at the loose straw mat in her hand and suddenly his face darkened.
Ah Chou said hurriedly: "I'll go and throw it away right now."
Zhong Mingwei didn't say anything, but his face looked much better. He obviously agreed with Ah Chou's words, so Ah Chou had to put the bedding on the bed. Then he went out again with the straw mat. But she was such a stingy girl that she couldn't bear to throw the straw mat away. She tiptoed back to the original room, rolled it up and put it against the wall. In order to avoid being discovered by Zhong Mingwei, she put the straw mat behind the door.
Ah Chou curled her lips in pride at her own cleverness. She would never throw away such a good mat. Maybe it could be used again in the future.
When Ah Chou returned to the room, Zhong Mingwei was already sitting on the edge of the kang. He waved to Ah Chou and said, "Girl, help me get on the bed."
"You want to sleep on the bed?" Ah Chou looked surprised. "Don't we always sleep on the kang? You don't need to move. I'll just sleep on the bed."
"Come and help me." Zhong Mingwei didn't want to waste time talking to her and repeated it again.
"Okay then." Ah Chou nodded and paused. Then he said, "Wait a minute, I'll make the bed for you."
Ah Chou climbed onto the bed while talking. She spread out the rolled-up mattress. When she was about to get out of bed, she remembered that the quilt on the bed was hers. She immediately became embarrassed. When she was about to get out of bed to get Zhong Mingwei's quilt from the kang, she heard the man behind her say, "It's okay. It's all the same."
"Oh." Ah Chou responded softly, and did not change the bedding. But he was muttering in his heart, how can it be the same? I sleep on the mattress you slept on and cover myself with the quilt you covered myself with. How can I sleep well?
But Ah Chou was obviously worrying too much. After she washed the dishes and boiled hot water for both of them to wash up, she was already so sleepy that her eyelids were fighting. She helped Zhong Mingwei onto the bed, then climbed onto the kang herself, resting her head on Zhong Mingwei's pillow and covering herself with Zhong Mingwei's quilt. She felt no pressure at all and fell into a deep sleep.
Zhong Mingwei couldn't sleep, as the bed underneath him was filled with the scent of Achou. It wasn't a fragrance, but that indescribable scent of a young girl. This scent of Achou was too alluring to Zhong Mingwei, especially in the dead of night, when Achou was lying on the kang not far from him.
The candle was still on, and the flame was flickering, just like Zhong Mingwei's heartbeat at this moment. He slowly turned his head, and as soon as he saw the girl's sleeping face, he was busy looking away.
"Puff!" Zhong Mingwei blew out the candle.
"Zhong Mingwei." In the darkness, Zhong Mingwei heard the girl's vague voice, like a whisper, as if it was right next to his ear.
"What's wrong?" Zhong Mingwei's temples were twitching violently.
"You...you're not reading?" Ah Chou's voice became even more vague, followed by the sound of turning over, "Why, why did you blow out the lights so early?"
In the darkness, Zhong Mingwei took a deep breath and exhaled gently.
"No more watching it. I'll watch it tomorrow." After a while, Zhong Mingwei said softly.
"Oh, then when you have some free time... read me the stories in the book..." Ah Chou's voice became even softer, and in the end he could hardly make a sound, "I like... listening to stories the most..."
"Okay, I'll read it to you," Zhong Mingwei said softly, with unusual tenderness in every word, "but I have to wait until you grow up."
August 15, the 32nd year of Jiasheng.
The capital.
Cining Palace.
The Empress Dowager worships Buddha and has always been practicing in seclusion in Mount Wutai, rarely coming down the mountain, so this is the first time in ten years that the Empress Dowager has celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in the palace. His Majesty naturally attaches great importance to it, so on this day His Majesty Zhong Zhiheng had a Mid-Autumn dinner with the Empress Dowager in the Cining Palace. As for the other concubines and princes, although they were eagerly looking forward to coming, His Majesty issued an oral order early in the morning, saying that this year's Mid-Autumn Festival would be spent only with the Empress Dowager and her son. Naturally, this hurt the concubines who had dressed up beautifully early in the morning.
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