Chapter 5 Cold Food Festival
The night is as dark as ink.
The cold wind howled through the dilapidated window frames.
There was no light in Feiyan Pavilion.
Ling Zixia sat on the cold edge of the bed.
She carefully put away the Gentiana resurrection plant.
She hid it close to her body within the collar of her dress.
The vibrant vitality of the magical grass could be felt through the fabric.
Bringing her a faint warmth.
It also brought endless mysteries.
Who put it here?
Are there any old friends of my father hiding in this mansion?
A sound of heavy footsteps came from afar.
The footsteps stopped at the gate.
The gate was pushed open roughly.
The creaking sound was particularly harsh in the quiet night.
Ling Zixia immediately calmed down.
She turned back into her timid self.
The door was kicked open.
A tall figure walked in with two little maids.
The person who came was Huamei, the most powerful maidservant beside Li Ruolan.
Huamei was holding a food box in her hand.
There was an undisguised look of gloating on her face.
She slammed the lunch box down on the dusty table.
The sound made the dust on the table shaken up.
"It's time to eat."
Huamei's tone was full of charity.
The maid behind her took out a tray from the food box.
There was only a coarse porcelain bowl with a chip on it on the tray.
There is also a pair of bamboo chopsticks full of burrs.
The bowl contained half a bowl of cold rice that had solidified into lumps.
A few withered yellow vegetable leaves lay listlessly on the rice.
A distinct smell of sour food permeated the cold air.
This was the first dinner for the new concubine of the eldest son of the prime minister's family.
Ling Zixia stood up from the edge of the bed.
She walked slowly to the table with her head lowered.
She looked at the bowl of food that even the servants wouldn't eat.
She didn't speak.
Huamei really enjoyed her submissive look.
"Why, not to your liking?"
A snarky smile appeared at the corner of Huamei's mouth.
"My lady said that the daughter of a guilty minister does not deserve hot food."
"You should be grateful for this bite of food."
Another little maid also echoed.
"That's right. If it weren't for the eldest master's mercy, you would have gone to the laundry department to clean the toilet."
Their laughter was sharp and piercing.
Ling Zixia remained silent.
She tucked her hands into her sleeves.
The nails turned slightly white due to the force.
Huamei saw that she didn't say anything.
I feel a bit boring.
Her eyes swept around the empty room.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you."
She seemed to suddenly remember something.
"The charcoal supply in the mansion is tight this winter."
"Madam has instructed that charcoal should not be delivered to remote courtyards like Feiyan Pavilion."
This sentence is more vicious than that bowl of rotten rice.
The winter in the capital is extremely cold.
There was no charcoal fire for heating.
A frail woman simply couldn't survive it.
This is to freeze her to death here.
"You should reflect on the sins your father committed here."
Huamei finished speaking.
She left with two little maids.
They didn't even close the door when they left.
The biting cold wind immediately filled the entire room.
The wind blew Ling Zixia's thin clothes tightly against her body.
She walked slowly to the door.
He stretched out his frozen and stiff hands.
She closed the shabby door again.
The room fell into darkness and silence again.
There was only the sound of the wind howling outside the window.
Ling Zixia returned to the table.
She looked at the bowl of cold rice that smelled sour.
There was no trace of disgust in her eyes.
Instead, a hint of cold mockery flashed across his face.
She held up a finger.
Her fingertips were pale and slender.
Her fingertips lightly touched the rim of the bowl.
That moment.
An invisible force flowed from her fingertips into the bowl.
The solidified cold rice in the bowl actually began to emit a hint of heat.
The mold stains on the rice grains faded away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The original sour smell disappeared.
Instead, there was a rich aroma of rice.
The few withered yellow leaves became green and juicy again.
The whole bowl of food looked as if it had just been served from the pot.
It is even sweeter than the ones carefully prepared in the prime minister’s kitchen.
Ling Zixia withdrew her fingers.
She picked up the rough bamboo chopsticks.
She picked up a handful of rice.
Put it into your mouth calmly.
The rice is warm and soft.
With a hint of sweetness.
She ate in small bites.
The movements are graceful and calm.
As if she wasn't eating leftovers.
But it’s some delicacies from mountains and seas.
at the same time.
Outside the courtyard wall of Feiyan Pavilion.
Huamei did not go far with the two maids.
The three of them huddled in a corner sheltered from the wind.
They were whispering to each other and gloating over other people's misfortune.
"Sister Thrush, do you think she will freeze to death tonight?"
A little maid asked, rubbing her hands.
"I wouldn't freeze to death, but I'd definitely get seriously ill."
Another maidservant took over.
"By then, there's no need for Madam to do anything. She will be dead on her own."
A smug smile appeared on Huamei's face.
"This is what happens when you offend your wife."
"A daughter of a criminal, really thinks she can rise to prominence and become a phoenix?"
"Just wait, within half an hour she'll come out crying and begging us."
The three of them were talking.
A strange fragrance suddenly wafted out from inside the wall.
The aroma was overbearing and rich.
It is the taste of newly cooked rice.
"Hey, what's that smell?"
A little maidservant sniffed.
“What a delicious smell of food.”
Another maid also smelled it.
Huamei's expression changed slightly.
The smell didn't seem to be coming from the main kitchen.
It seems like... it came from Feiyan Pavilion.
How is this possible?
There was clearly only a bowl of rotten rice in that yard.
"Could it be that she has hidden a small kitchen for herself?"
A maid guessed.
Huamei immediately rejected the idea.
"Impossible. She just arrived at the mansion and doesn't even have a servant. How could there be a small kitchen?"
"Even if you hid some food, you can't make a fire in a shabby place like this."
The aroma of the food became stronger and stronger.
The three of them had their stomachs growling.
A strong sense of uneasiness rose in Huamei's heart.
She felt something was wrong.
"Let's go back and take a look."
She was accompanied by two maids.
He pushed open the gate of Feiyan Pavilion again.
This time their movements were very gentle.
The three of them tiptoed to the window of the main room.
There is a small hole in the window paper.
The thrush came to the entrance of the cave.
She looked inside cautiously.
Just a glance.
She froze in place as if struck by lightning.
In the dim room.
The woman who should have been shivering in cold and hunger.
Sitting upright at the table.
She was nibbling at a bowl of steaming rice.
White steam was rising from the coarse porcelain bowl in front of her.
The aroma of the food came from there.
Thrush's eyes suddenly opened wide.
She stared at the bowl.
She recognized that bowl.
It was the chipped bowl that she had just delivered personally.
The food inside was indeed rotten cold rice.
But now.
Why did that bowl of food become like this?
"What's wrong, Miss Thrush?"
The little maid behind her asked curiously.
Thrush didn't answer.
She felt a surge of anger rising to her head.
She was fooled.
This seemingly weak bitch must be playing tricks.
She pushed the door open.
She rushed in aggressively with two maids.
"Good on you!"
Huamei pointed at Ling Zixia and shouted sternly.
"How dare you hide food, you bitch!"
Ling Zixia seemed startled by the sudden intrusion.
The chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground.
She stood up from her chair in panic.
His face was full of fear.
“I…I didn’t…”
She stammered in her defense.
Huamei didn't listen to her explanation at all.
She rushed to the table.
She wants to upset this bowl of rice.
She wanted to see what this bitch was up to.
She stretched out her hand.
He swept it fiercely towards the coarse porcelain bowl.
An extremely cold light flashed in Ling Zixia's eyes.
She took a step back as if frightened.
My body "accidentally" bumped into the corner of the table.
The table shook violently.
Thrush's hand had not yet touched the bowl.
The soup in the bowl spilled out because of the shaking.
A spoonful of boiling hot soup splashed right onto the back of Huamei's hand.
"ah--!"
The thrush let out a shrill scream.
She felt as if she had been burned by a red-hot iron.
He suddenly withdrew his hand.
The two little maids were startled.
They hurried forward to check.
I only saw it on the back of Huamei's hand.
The place splashed with soup.
It became red and swollen at an alarming rate.
There were even patches of dense red rashes on it.
It looks painful and itchy.
"My hand! My hand!"
The thrush screamed in agony.
She scratched desperately with her other hand.
But the more I scratched, the more itchy it became.
The more itchy it is, the more painful it is.
Ling Zixia stood aside.
There was an expression of fear and innocence on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sister Thrush."
Her voice trembled slightly with fear.
"It's... you suddenly rushed in and scared me..."
"I didn't mean to..."
The two little maids looked at Huamei's painful expression.
He looked at Ling Zixia again, who looked innocent.
For the first time, fear appeared in their eyes.
There is something wrong with this bowl of vegetable soup.
This new concubine.
It is definitely not as simple as it seems.
They hurriedly helped up the thrush who was almost fainting from the pain.
He fled from Feiyan Pavilion in a miserable state.
Silence returned to the room.
Ling Zixia slowly bent down.
She picked up the pair of rough bamboo chopsticks on the ground.
She wiped the chopsticks carefully with her sleeve.
Then she sat back down at the table.
She looked at the bowl of touched food.
She continued to enjoy her dinner calmly.
Just then.
There was another sound of footsteps outside the courtyard gate.
This time the footsteps were neither hurried nor slow.
Calm and powerful.
Every step seems to be in a fixed rhythm.
The footsteps stopped at the gate.
A slender figure appeared at the door.
The person who came was Zhao Wenxuan.
His eyes were as deep as the sea.
He was staring at her in the room without blinking.
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