Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan quietly. She looked at Pei Wenxuan's profile at this moment. He was very thin, like pine, bamboo and snow. Standing in front of the hall, he was the most typical image of a civil official in the minds of everyone in Daxia.
He holds a pen in his hand and looks at the mountains and rivers.
At this moment, what Li Rong saw in him was not only his handsome features, but also the appearance of the lover that a young girl admired the most in her dreams.
The most attractive thing about a man is not how much he loves a woman or how much he devotes himself to her.
But he himself has his eyes looking at the whole world and carrying the mountains and rivers on his shoulders, yet he is willing to bow his head for you and gently brush away the peach blossoms in your hair.
Pei Wenxuan noticed Li Rong's gaze, turned around, and asked doubtfully, "Your Highness?"
Li Rong regained her composure and looked away, looking at Xie Lanqing in the prison. She smiled and said, "Master Xie, I have told you what you want to know. Master Xie should be able to travel with peace of mind now."
Xie Lanqing was a little distracted. Li Rong nodded slightly and turned to Su Rongqing and said, "Minister Su, if there is nothing else, I will return home first."
Su Rongqing saluted respectfully, Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan said goodbye to Xie Lanqing. Xie Lanqing was sitting in the prison. He did not answer, but stared blankly in one direction, as if he saw someone or something.
Su Rongqing and Xie Lanqing bowed and said goodbye, then followed Li Rong out.
When they walked out of the door, the three of them discovered that it was raining. The rain was fine and dense, falling with the snow. Pei Wenxuan asked someone to call the servants to get a carriage, and then the three of them stood under the corridor together, silent.
Su Rongqing looked at the rain and snow outside. After a long while, he slowly said, "I think what Lord Pei said just now is wrong. The operation of heaven has its own rules. It is not right to break the rules just to protect one's own desires and harm others. Lord Xie's biggest mistake was that he should not have contacted Lu Xia. There is a difference between the noble and the humble, and it is destined to be fruitless. You should have restrained yourself from the beginning. Even if you can't control your feelings, you shouldn't indulge yourself."
"Is it like Minister Su?" Pei Wenxuan looked at Yu Xue and said calmly, "In Minister Su's world, for the sake of his family, is it okay to kill his wife?"
Pei Wenxuan said, turning his head and looking at Su Rongqing. Li Rong's heart tightened, and she said coldly: "Why is the prince consort saying these unlucky words for no reason?"
"I just asked casually," Pei Wenxuan smiled and raised his hand to salute, "Minister Su, please don't mind."
"I mind." Su Rongqing said, his voice a little hoarse, "I hope Master Pei, please don't make fun of my wife."
"Minister Su is not married yet, right?" Pei Wenxuan raised his eyebrows. "Now he is protecting this status like this, does he have a lover?"
"Yes or no," Su Rongqing stared at Pei Wenxuan, not giving in, "It's not something you should joke about, Lord Pei."
Pei Wenxuan smiled, turned his head, and reminded with a smile: "It seems that Minister Su has never called me his consort until now?"
Su Rongqing's body froze, and the carriage was pulled over. Pei Wenxuan looked at the person coming, and he naturally reached out to hold Li Rong's hand, reminding Su Rongqing: "Now the rank of the prince consort is still higher than my rank as an inspector, so your highness's bad mouthing habit will be forgotten. Minister Su comes from a famous family, and he is very well-behaved. Don't make such a slip of the tongue again."
Pei Wenxuan took an umbrella from someone else, put his hand on Li Rong's shoulder, and said gently, "Your Highness, let's go."
Li Rong was carried forward by him. In the dark, where no one else could see, Li Rong quietly poked his waist with her elbow and whispered, "Are you crazy?"
Pei Wenxuan smiled but said nothing. He just held Li Rong in his arms and walked forward. After they took two steps, Su Rongqing suddenly spoke. His voice was trembling and hoarse: "Your Highness..."
Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan turned their heads together. Su Rongqing looked at Li Rong, his eyes fixed on her. He seemed to want to say something, with countless joys and sorrows hidden in his eyes. Li Rong stared at him quietly. Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, she couldn't help but ask, "Minister Su?"
Su Rongqing was called back to his senses by Li Rong's voice. Li Rong watched his eyes gradually calm down. He took a deep breath and smiled: "The New Year is approaching. I would like to wish Your Highness a happy New Year and all the best in advance."
Su Rongqing obviously seldom said such simple words of blessing. Li Rong was a little surprised to hear him say it. Then she smiled and said, "Then I also wish Minister Su a happy new year and a bright future."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Su Rongqing smiled. Li Rong turned around and got into the carriage with Pei Wenxuan.
After the two entered the carriage, they sat down on each side. As the carriage started moving, Li Rong inadvertently raised her eyes and saw a figure leaking out of the window at the moment the curtain was lifted.
A man in white clothes holding an umbrella walks in the wind and rain, the sky is high and the earth is vast, but he is all alone.
Li Rong was stunned. Pei Wenxuan poured her some tea. Holding the teacup, she leaned against the wall of the carriage and said sourly, "Don't look. Everyone has left."
"He seems not to have been in a carriage?"
Li Rong was a little surprised. With the Su family's financial situation, how could they let Su Rongqing go back?
Pei Wenxuan used the lid of the tea bowl to stir the tea leaves and said slowly, "Go back and exercise, how healthy is that?"
"You are right," Li Rong nodded, and turned to look at Pei Wenxuan, "I wonder where the vinegar that Master Pei drank today was made?"
Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything, just blew the tea leaves. Li Rong glanced at him calmly and couldn't help but said, "Stop blowing, the tea leaves are flying."
"What a pity," Pei Wenxuan raised his head, "Why didn't you fly on your highness's face to clean his eyes?"
"With a beauty to wash my eyes," Li Rong laughed, "I don't need Master Pei's tea."
"Li Rong," Pei Wenxuan put the teacup on the table, put his hands on the table, stepped forward, and said with a smile, "You really know how to poke at my heart."
"I am not used to others' habits." Li Rong also put her hands on the table and walked in front of Pei Wenxuan. "After so many years, Master Pei, the consort, still hasn't learned well."
"Your Highness, can you teach me?" Pei Wenxuan raised his eyebrows. Li Rong raised her chin and said, "You figure it out on your own."
"Your Highness, can you show me a way?"
Li Rong nodded and lowered her voice, as if she was talking about something extremely confidential: "Since you are sincere in seeking advice, I will tell you your only advantage. You must study it carefully."
"Your Highness, please speak." Pei Wenxuan cooperated with her, lowered his voice, and listened attentively. Li Rong dipped her finger in the water from Pei Wenxuan's teacup and wrote a word on the table. As she wrote, she said, "This is a secret. You must not spread it to others. Please read it, Your Highness."
As he spoke, he finished writing. Pei Wenxuan turned around and saw the word "face" written neatly.
Pei Wenxuan remained silent. Li Rong raised her hand and patted Pei Wenxuan on the shoulder: "The prince consort has this strength, and he must make good use of it."
"How do you perform?" Pei Wenxuan raised his head and sneered, "I'll give you a Thirteen Touches?"
Li Rong didn't expect Pei Wenxuan to say such a thing. She thought seriously for a moment, stepped forward, and whispered, "When? Where? I will definitely come."
"Go to hell." Pei Wenxuan pushed Li Rong, "You are a girl, but you have no dignity at all."
Li Rong laughed, fell towards Pei Wenxuan, put her hand on Pei Wenxuan's shoulder, and softened her voice: "Pei Wenxuan, have you forgotten that I am fifty years old?"
"Don't talk like that," Pei Wenxuan sat upright, pulled Li Rong away, and said seriously, "It's like a monster, it's infiltrating people."
"Now that you put it that way, I realize it," Li Rong thought, "You really look like a little Taoist priest now," Li Rong said, throwing a wink, "You're very likable."
Pei Wenxuan's expression remained unchanged, as if he was thinking about something. Li Rong sat up straight, poured herself some tea from the table, and whispered, "But seriously, why are you telling Su Rongqing about your past life? He doesn't remember it anyway, so what's the point of you telling him?"
"It's just a casual remark." Pei Wenxuan smiled, "Your Highness, don't take it too seriously."
"Come to think of it," Pei Wenxuan suddenly remembered, "How is Your Highness going to spend the New Year? Is Your Highness going to enter the palace?"
"Now that you're married, what are you going to do back home?"
Li Rong shook her head: "Let's just stay at the Princess's Mansion. You make the arrangements."
Pei Wenxuan nodded and began to think about the Spring Festival.
The two went home together, and from the next day, they began to rest according to the court regulations. Li Rong slept until she woke up naturally every day, and Pei Wenxuan got up as usual. He led people to clean the courtyard, instructing them to hang lanterns, paste spring couplets, arrange the placement of objects in the house, and personally selected incense.
From laying out large cloths to placing a vase, he did everything himself. When Li Rong woke up on New Year's Day, she discovered that the Princess Mansion seemed almost the same as in her previous life.
Li Rong walked in the courtyard, and Pei Wenxuan went to eat with her. Li Rong looked at the rockery in the courtyard and couldn't help saying, "You liked this style before, and you still like it now."
"It's not that I like this tune," Pei Wenxuan laughed, "but I always feel a little regretful that we broke up like that back then, and I always want to pretend that nothing happened."
"And then?"
Li Rong turned around and said, "It never happened. What are you going to do?"
"Then I will continue to be a newlywed couple with your Highness, doing housework together and celebrating the New Year."
Li Rong raised her eyebrows: "Do housework? You dare to ask me to do housework?"
"I'll do it." Pei Wenxuan said quickly, "You watch."
Li Rong listened and laughed: "Then I'll just watch."
Pei Wenxuan did what he said. He led Li Rong to the restaurant. Li Rong sat down and smiled when she saw the peach blossom soup.
The peach blossom soup looked good, but the details were not delicate enough. It was obvious that it was not made by her chef. She pretended to know nothing and sat down to eat the peach blossom soup. Pei Wenxuan pretended to be casual and asked, "Your Highness, what do you think of the peach blossom soup?"
"Well," Li Rong said calmly, "It's a little worse than before."
Pei Wenxuan's face was not looking good, Li Rong continued; "But, I still like it very much," Li Rong said, looking up at Pei Wenxuan, and said meaningfully, "I can finish it all."
Pei Wenxuan seemed to be delighted when he heard this. He picked up his chopsticks and said to Li Rong, "I will go with Your Highness to paste the Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters in a while, and then I will go to clean the place."
"You are just looking for trouble."
Li Rong thought he was boring, but after dinner, she still went with him to paste blessing characters and Spring Festival couplets.
At first, Pei Wenxuan was the one who pasted the ribbon, and she was directing from behind. After directing for a long time, Pei Wenxuan still couldn't paste it correctly. Li Rong was a little annoyed and scolded him, "Why are you so stupid!"
As she spoke, she walked up, took the scroll from Pei Wenxuan, and was about to paste it on the door, saying, "Put it here."
Pei Wenxuan smiled and said nothing, just watching Li Rong tiptoeing upwards. Pei Wenxuan saw that she was trying so hard to be cute, so he took the banner from behind her and pressed it directly against the wall, then looked down at Li Rong in his arms: "Your Highness, is this the place?"
When he raised his hand behind her, Li Rong felt as if she was surrounded by him. His aura was overwhelming. Li Rong didn't know why, but her ears suddenly felt hot. She whispered, "Hmm."
Pei Wenxuan pursed his lips and chuckled. He asked someone to bring the paste and pasted the couplet. The people around looked at the couplet with different expressions, as if they wanted to say something but didn't dare to. After the two of them had pasted it, Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan stepped back and saw that it was indeed crooked.
The two of them looked at it quietly for a moment, and Li Rong frowned: "I think I pasted it crookedly."
"No," Pei Wenxuan said immediately, "The horizontal couplet posted by Your Highness will not be crooked."
"But I think..."
"It won't be crooked," Pei Wenxuan tilted his head, "It's the human eye that's crooked, not your Highness's horizontal scroll. Look, it's straight when I look at it this way."
"Pei Wenxuan, you really know how to slander me."
Li Rong glared at him. Pei Wenxuan laughed, put his arm around her shoulders, and pushed her, saying, "It's all done. Let's do the next thing. Let's go."
As he said that, Pei Wenxuan pushed Li Rong into the house. Li Rong followed him, but he actually took her to the kitchen.
The kitchen seemed to have prepared all the tools, and everyone stood aside in an orderly manner. Li Rong raised her eyebrows and turned around: "What are you doing?"
"Making dumplings," Pei Wenxuan laughed, "I'll help Your Highness make dumplings."
"You can also make dumplings?" Li Rong was a little curious. "A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. Has the Pei family ever been so poor before?"
"Not really," Pei Wenxuan said, smiling as he walked to the table. Li Rong watched him take an apron from the side and put it on, then he skillfully sprinkled flour on the table and began to knead the dough. While kneading the dough, he said, "This is my parents' hobby. My father believes that only by making dumplings by himself can we celebrate the New Year. Your Highness, please sit down."
Pei Wenxuan smiled and raised his head: "Your Highness, just look at me."
The chair had been prepared long ago. Li Rong found it novel. She sat on the chair and began to watch Pei Wenxuan's performance with her chin propped up.
Pei Wenxuan made dumplings, kneading the dough, rolling it out, chopping the meat filling... His movements were smooth and seamless. He himself was handsome and had an elegant posture, so even when he was making dumplings, it looked as beautiful as a carefully prepared solo dance.
Li Rong held her chin up in admiration, but after a while, she felt bored, so she stood up, asked the servant for an apron, and went to Pei Wenxuan's side: "Can I help you?"
Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and smiled: "Your Highness also wants to make dumplings?"
"I'm free anyway."
Seeing that Li Rong was interested, Pei Wenxuan took out the dumpling wrappers and taught Li Rong how to make them.
Li Rong looks smart on weekdays, but she is extremely clumsy in hands. She wrapped several bags, but none of them were as beautiful as Pei Wenxuan's. They were all weird in shape and looked very funny.
Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan's dumplings, which were full and beautiful, and then looked at her own dumplings, which looked like a bunch of junk snacks.
Li Rong felt embarrassed and got angry. Pei Wenxuan glanced at Li Rong and patiently taught her again and again. Li Rong still couldn't wrap it well. Pei Wenxuan wanted to say something, and Li Rong got angry: "Don't say anything! Do I want you to teach me?!"
Pei Wenxuan stopped talking. Fortunately, there was no one around except the two of them, so Li Rong still had some room to maneuver.
Li Rong couldn't make the dumplings properly, and she wouldn't let Pei Wenxuan do it, so she just sat there wasting flour. Pei Wenxuan could only resign himself to his fate and let him mix the dough and meat filling for her.
Seeing that the sedan chair had not come out until nightfall, Li Rong stared at Dumpling angrily. Pei Wenxuan could not help it. He walked behind Li Rong, raised his hand and held Li Rong's hand, and whispered: "Your Highness, like this, hold your hand here."
Pei Wenxuan's breath sprayed in her ears, his voice was gentle and kind, without any impatience. Li Rong felt annoyed at first, but when she saw the dumpling in her hand suddenly become beautiful, she suddenly felt happy again.
Pei Wenxuan held her hand and told her the process and tricks of making dumplings over and over again.
After repeating this for dozens of times, Li Rong finally got the hang of it. Pei Wenxuan let go of her hand, stood beside her and made dumplings with her. Li Rong was so engrossed in the making that she raised her hand to wipe her face without noticing, and her face was stained with white ash. Pei Wenxuan looked back and found it funny, but did not dare to say anything for fear of disturbing her making dumplings.
After making hundreds of dumplings, Li Rong's dumplings finally looked good. Li Rong was delighted and turned to Pei Wenxuan and said, "Pei Wenxuan, look, these dumplings are really good looking! This is my first time making dumplings, isn't it a great success?"
Pei Wenxuan looked at her face covered in powder and holding a dumpling in her hand like a treasure, and couldn't help laughing.
"It looks good." He said in a gentle voice, "Your Highness looks even better."
Li Rong was stunned for a moment, and at that moment, fireworks suddenly rose outside, emitting a loud noise throughout Huajing. Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan could not help but raise their heads to look at the blooming fireworks. Li Rong held the dumpling in her hand and inadvertently turned her head to look at the young man beside her who was looking up at the fireworks in the sky.
"Pei Wenxuan."
She suddenly called softly.
Pei Wenxuan turned around when he heard the voice, and at that moment, he saw the girl standing on tiptoe, raising her hands to hold his face and kissing him gently.
Fireworks bloomed continuously in the night sky, sometimes bright and sometimes dim. The wind accidentally blew out the candles in the kitchen. Pei Wenxuan bent slightly and looked at the girl who closed her eyes in the night.
"Happy New Year, Pei Wenxuan."