No one is allowed to bully my Xu Zhiwan.
The cardamom has been cooked into porridge
. In the twilight, the stars are sleeping scattered in the sky. Smoke was curling up in the
small yard. Hsu Chih-wan wiped his sweat with his handkerchief and said to me, “Add more firewood.”
I sat in front of the stove and stuffed another piece of wood into it.
The flames rushed up impatiently, and the sawdust made a crackling sound between the chewing of the stove fire. Then the oil squeaked in the pan, and Xu Zhiwan picked up an egg and knocked it open by the stove.
The eggs slid into the pan. There was a sound of “prick”.
I threw a handful of dead twigs into the stove and said, “I can’t believe you can cook.” As he shoveled the eggs
, Hsu Chih-wan said, “Awesome, I..” When I was a child, my mother liked to cook, and my father said that this was a talent that was not on the table. When I was a child, I followed my mother to do this secretly on the stove, and my father said that we were not doing our proper work.
I said, “Maybe your father wants you to be a lady of a good family. You don’t need to work so hard.” Grand Ma
ester Xu was a civil servant who was highly regarded by his father. When he was young, he gave up the inheritance of his ancestors and relied on his talent and learning to get into the top three. Rank among the ministers. Because of his outstanding talent and learning, he was appointed as the first assistant of the crown prince, and his future was limitless.
Until now, there are still people in the court talking about his elegant demeanor at that time, young talent, white clothes Qing Xiang. As an official, he was upright and incorruptible, and even when his daughter made a mistake, he was not allowed to plead for mercy.
Such a gifted scholar, such a strict teacher, will not relax his demands on his daughter.
Hsu Chih-wan wiped off his sweat again and shoveled the vegetables into a small dish beside him. A contented smile rippled over his face: “But I don’t want to be a lady of a good family. I practiced playing the piano and doing the whirling dance when I was young, but I still feel happy to cook.” Subconsciously,
I asked, “Why?” As a matter of course
, Hsu Chih-wan said to me, “You see, when you play the piano, you’ve heard it hundreds of times. When you dance, you can’t see it, but when you cook, it’s different. Every time you cook, you can eat it and enjoy it.”. If it tastes good, you can eat it all the time.
“Besides, I like eating, but I don’t like singing and dancing. In that case, why don’t I save the time for singing and dancing and do what I like?”.
I silently nodded, just thought, Xu Zhiwan and Xu Daxue’s character seems to be poles apart, now it seems that her sophistry eloquence is inherited, but Xu Daxue’s tongue can be used for literature and foreign negotiations, Xu Zhiwan said his own big crooked reason.
Today’s dinner was prepared very simply. Two bowls of plain noodles were steaming on the wooden table in the hall, decorated with a few small rapes. On one of the bowls, there was a slightly yellow fried runny egg.
Hsu Chih-wan pushed the bowl of noodles with eggs in front of me and said with a slight sense of embarrassment, “These are the only ones in the kitchen. This egg was brought by Ah Huang last time. There’s only one left.” “No,”
I said. “You’re still sick. You should have some meat and fish.”
Hsu Chih-wan said with a smile, “You’re a guest. You eat. I can cook it myself often. You can try it and see how my cooking is.” The noodles in the
bowl were hot and fragrant, and I could not refuse again, so I picked up the runny egg with chopsticks. The edges of the
egg are slightly charred, and there is a “snap” sound when you bite into it. The yolk is soft and glutinous, and the center overflows with a little egg liquid, which flows on the tip of the tongue, with a fresh and fragrant taste. The aftertaste is endless. Seeing my admiring expression
, Hsu Chih-wan split his eyes into two cracks: “It’s delicious, isn’t it? Ah Huang brought it back from the mountains with a basket. The eggs she finds are always especially delicious.”
She didn’t eat noodles either. She just held her cheeks and watched me eat. She said to me, “You see, if I were born in a place like this in my next life, I’d be a little cook in the mountains. When I’m free, I’d go to the town for a stroll.”. If you’re lazy, how about lying down at home?
She frowned again and said, “But it’s a pity, your Highness. It seems that you have a long life to live. Maybe I won’t meet you in my next life.”
Twilight rubbed slowly on the table, and my heart moved slightly. “Do you want to see me in the next life?” I asked.
Hsu Chih-wan shook his head and said, “No.”
My heart suddenly sank.
Hsu Chih-wan said with a serious look on his face, “Your Highness, you are so silly. If you ask me such a question, if I say I want to see you, don’t I expect you to die early?”? Why shouldn’t your father behead me on the spot and dismember me by five horses?
I said, “If you don’t think about life and death in this life, do you want to meet me in your next life?” Holding his cheek
, Hsu Chih-wan thought earnestly for a moment, then said firmly, “No.”
She added, “I don’t want to meet your Highness.”
She thought for a moment and then added, “But I want to meet you.”
My heart walked slowly between loss and joy. Pretending to be calm, I asked, “What’s the difference?”
Xu Zhiwan said, “It’s a big difference, okay? You are the third royal Highness, the king, and I am the minister.”. I can never call you by your first name, just like you and Cao Xiliang. Although you are so close to each other, he still has to call you your Highness respectfully, and all of a sudden the distance is far away.
I thought, Xu Zhiwan or worry too much, with Cao Xiliang’s EQ, certainly can not notice the difference between the three royal Highnesses and Li Huai. “That’s not difficult,”
I said. “If you think Your Highness looks like a stranger, you can call me by my name.”
Hsu Chih-wan picked up the bowl and said, “I’ve already said that it’s taboo to call someone a name. I’m still calling someone a name. I’m stupid. Besides, your name is so hard to pronounce. It’s better to call me Ah Huang than to call me Ah Huang.” After a pause,
I said, “If you find it pleasing to your ears, it won’t hurt to call me that.”
Hsu Chih-wan glanced at me for a moment. The sun was sinking, and a sly smile oozed from his eyes. “Oh, are you sure?” “That’s nothing,”
I said. “Zuo is just a name. If you like Ah Huang, you can call me that when no one else is around.” “Ah Huang,”
said Hsu Chih-wan, nodding his head to the point.
I accepted the good advice and gave a hum.
Looking at her happy face, two moments flashed through my mind. I asked, “Ah Huang’s name always sounds familiar. You seem to have mentioned it just now, but is it your good friend in the mountains?” “Of course she’s my good friend,
” Hsu says solemnly. “She’s always been with me when I’ve been in the mountains.”
I nodded to myself and said with a smile, “Then don’t confuse us in the future.”
Hsu Chih-wan took a sip of the noodle soup and said, “No, Huang is already dead.”
She put down the bowl of noodles and lowered her eyes with some sadness: “Last time, I went out only two days ago, and no one was watching her. One of them was not careful, and she was killed by Ah Hei at the foot of the mountain. Speaking of which, my fence..”
Hearing this, I raised my hand to interrupt her, and a trace of uneasiness flowed through my heart:
“Wait a minute, Ah Huang, it’s …”
Hsu Chih-wan picked up a chopstick of noodles and said, “Oh, it’s a goose I raised.”
I did not speak for a long time, and my feelings were really complicated.
Perhaps the expression on my face was too wonderful, so Hsu Chih-wan comforted me by saying, “Ah Huang, take it easy. You see, I’m a dying man, and I won’t be able to call you for a few days.”
I sighed again in my heart. You can’t live if you
do evil to yourself. “How about this,”
she said with a smile. “If we meet again in the next life, how about you call me Ah Huang?”
She broke her fingers and said with a smile, “But make it clear that in the next life you call me Ah Huang, but I have to be your teacher, too. That’s only fair. Then I’ll teach you etiquette, and I’ll teach you a lesson, and I’ll beat your hands..”
At the mention of death, at the mention of death, her face was full of yearning, and her white jade face seemed to shine. I put the bowl down, hesitated for a moment, and then asked her, “What if you are still far away from the next life?”
Hsu Chih-wan frowned, as if he were thinking about the problem I was talking about. “That’s going to be difficult,” he said. The
candle flickered and made a “crackling” sound. This assumption did not make her particularly happy. On the contrary, her expression looked very solemn, as if she was thinking about something serious.
I looked into her dark eyes, took a deep breath, made up my mind, and said, “You won’t die.”
You’re just hurt. Just rest for a while. Before. I lied to you.
This lame lie, at first, was due to her misunderstanding, which caused me to play a prank for a while, and then went on to know what Xu Zhiwan’s wish would be.
Now, my heart is full of regret.
I never thought that this deception would make her yearn for it.
Looking at her stupefied expression, I felt a burst of sadness in my heart, such as the tide beating sand, hitting without trace.
Xu Zhiwan, why do you look forward to the afterlife so much?
Xu Zhiwan’s expression lasted only a few seconds before she returned to normal, and she smiled noncommittally. Then he picked up a chopstick noodle and ate it carefully.
She took a sip of the noodle soup, looked at the bowl of noodles, smiled and said, “Now I can call you Ah Huang for a long time.”. You’re not worth it.
Her face was as light as if nothing had happened.
I don’t know why, but my heart is getting tighter and tighter. After
eating the noodles, we set foot on the way home.
The night dew and frost were heavy, the stars were shining in the sky, and Xu Zhiwan was holding the lamp. We were silent all the way across the river and through the crowded streets.
Hsu Chih-wan stopped at the gate of the Hsu Mansion and said to me, “All right, I’m here. Go back.” Her
smile was the same as before. She turned around and was about to knock at the door. I grabbed her by the sleeve. She turned around curiously. I whispered, “I’m sorry.” “It’s all right,”
she said with a smile. “I didn’t lose anything. It’s a good thing you said it early. Otherwise I’d have to do it for a few more days. I’m really tired when I think about it.”
I was speechless, and she urged me, “Well, you go quickly. I have to go home.”
I answered softly, and before I left, she stopped me again and said, “Your Highness, the road is dark at night. Take this lamp with you.”
I took the lamp from her hand, paused, and said, “In the future, you can still call me Ah Huang. You don’t have to call me Your Highness.”
Hsu Chih-wan said quickly, “Well, well, that’s what you said. Don’t go back on your word. You’re the son of a tortoise bastard.”
He spoke so fast that there was not even a pause in the middle.
I couldn’t help smiling, and she grinned at me, revealing two rows of white shellfish teeth. My heart slowly relaxed, nodded to her, held the lamp and turned away. When I
reached the corner of the street, I stopped. It was already late, and the crowd in the street gradually stopped. Although I had been sent to the door, I didn’t know how the Xu family was on night duty and whether it was safe. I had to watch her walk into Xu’s house.
I stopped at the corner, hidden behind the wall, quietly watching Xu Zhiwan’s back. When
she saw that I was far away, she turned around and knocked on the door. She knocked on the knocker twice. The door of Xu Mansion creaked and opened slowly. When the boy who opened the door saw her, he immediately bowed in embarrassment, and his nervous voice floated haltingly in the air: “Young lady, it’s you …” You’re back, you.. Just a moment, madam.. Madam, she.. Still smiling
, Hsu Chih-wan said, It’s all right. I’ll wait a moment. Relieved,
the boy thanked her again and again and said, “Then I’ll trouble the young lady. Wait a minute. The little one, the little one will go back to her ladyship.” The door of
Xu Fu creaked and slowly closed again, leaving Xu Zhiwan standing alone at the door of his house. The red lantern in front of
Xu’s house dragged her shadow very long. The pages of the
book clattered over and over on the table, and the paper on the table was already piled up in a thick pile.
I rubbed my hands and put the pen on the penholder.
The sun was already shining overhead, and it was actually lunchtime. With a bitter face, Tsao Hsi-liang said to me, “Your Highness, this copy is a copy. You should let me have enough to eat before I copy.” “Pass on the meal,”
I said to Joy.
Tsao Hsi-liang sits at the table as if ringing a bell. “Rice, rice, I don’t even remember. I haven’t seen you in my life.”
I raised my chopsticks and tasted a few chopsticks, but I had no appetite. The maid picked up a piece of crisp roast suckling pig and put it on my plate.
I looked for a long time and put down the chopsticks again.
Cao Xiliang ate a mouthful of meat and drank a mouthful of tea. “Don’t worry,” he said to me. “I’ll send someone to take all this to Xu Fu secretly in the afternoon.” “I’m not worried about that,”
I said, eyeing the crispy suckling pig.
I haven’t seen Xu Zhiwan for half a month.
Tsao Hsi-liang picked up the shrimp from his plate and stuffed it into his mouth. “Don’t blame yourself too much,” he mumbled.
I paused and said, “I don’t blame myself.”
Cao Xiliang scratched his head and said, “I don’t know how to comfort you. What else do you want to bring her?”? I’ll take them there in the afternoon.
I shook my head. After
Cao Xiliang finished his lunch, he consciously went to the West Chamber and continued to copy books at his desk.
I stood in front of the courtyard of the West Chamber and looked out. Two or three points of greenery oozed out of the window, imprinted with the early summer sun, shining in waves.
This light is born facing the sun, bright and shining.
Unlike that day, the light oozed from the lantern, yellowish and dark red, although it was bright, it was more frustrating than dark.
That day, in front of Hsu Chih-wan’s door, I saw her standing alone under the lamp. I felt pain and anger in my heart. I pulled her sleeve and said, “Let’s go.”
Hsu Chih-wan looked back in a daze and said, “What’s the matter with you?” I looked at her face, full of surprise in the reddish light, but not grievance.
Without grievance, a woman who mistakenly thought she had walked in front of life and death finally returned to the door, but was rejected. In this situation, it is normal for her to be sad, angry and even hysterical.
But there was nothing on Xu Zhiwan’s face.
My expression must be very scary, Xu Zhiwan did not finish this sentence on the mouth, honestly bowed his head and did not speak. I pulled up her sleeve and said, “Let’s go.”
“Where are you going?” After
two steps, there was a loud shout behind her. Hsu Chih-wan’s pace slowed for a moment. I pulled her and whispered, “Go.”
“I’m here. You don’t have to be afraid.”
She raised her head to look at me. The light was only at the end of her hair. I could not see her expression clearly. I could only vaguely recognize two points of light in her eyes. I took her hand and did not stop. There was a sound of rapid footsteps behind me. A pair of hands stopped us at the right time.
I stopped with an expressionless face and clenched Xu Zhiwan’s hand silently. Look at them coldly. Several servants in
front of me saw my expression, looked at each other hesitantly, and then stepped back with their heads down. A shrill female voice sounded from behind: “Yo, what’s going on?”? Where are you going if you don’t go home at night?
A woman dressed in brocade came up from behind, and the little servant girl beside her was carrying a lamp and shining her eyes. She could vaguely see that she was a beautiful woman, but she was no longer young. Her eyes fell on Hsu Chih-wan and I, who were holding hands. Her face darkened slightly. She opened her mouth and said, “It’s a big night. How can a lonely man and a lonely woman behave like this?”
I clasped Hsu Chih-wan’s hand and said with a sneer, “So madam knew it was night, and she knew it was too late for a woman to be safe outside. I thought madam didn’t know how to be polite, so she ordered the servants to let Hsu Chih-wan be stopped outside when he was already at the door.” When the maids and servants
around her heard this, they lowered their heads even lower. The Brocade woman’s face turned ugly. “She hasn’t been home for a few days,” she said. “The family has been turned upside down looking for her. Even the master is angry and sick. I just want her to wait outside the door.”. It’s not like she’s really not allowed in the house!
When Hsu Chih-wan heard the news that Grand Maester Hsu had fallen ill, my little hand stiffened. I turned my head and whispered to her, “Don’t be afraid.” Then he looked at the woman and said, “Madam said that the family had been turned upside down in order to find Chih-wan, and that Chih-wan had come back and needed to wait outside the door. Don’t you think it’s self-contradictory?” Besides
, when I look at the faces of the men in the house, it’s clear that they’ve got the lady’s orders. When Xu Zhiwan was just standing outside the door, no one came to ask a word. I took her away, but I couldn’t wait for someone to open the door. It was clear that someone was peeping inside the door. I’m afraid if I don’t take her away tonight, Hsu Chih-wan will have to stand at the door for half the night! There was silence
all around, and the servants and maids did not dare to utter a sound. The Brocade woman blushed and shouted, “We don’t need an outsider to interfere in the affairs of the Hsu family!”
I gave a sneer and said, “I’ll stick my hand in it.”
The Brocade woman was so angry that she could not speak. She pointed at me with her hand and said, “Good, good, very good.” She turned around and shouted at the servant who was bowing his head behind her, “Why are you all standing there! Why don’t you call me right away!
The servants stared at me timidly with the tips of their eyes, not daring to come forward with the sticks in their hands. Brocade’s face was even uglier, and her trembling fingers pointed one by one: “They can’t move, can they?”! If anyone does not come forward, the family law will serve him.
The servants looked at each other, half closed their eyes, waved the stick in their hands and rushed up. The stick rushed up along the wind. I grabbed it with a little force in my hand. The stick came from the servant’s hand. He turned around in the air and rolled down to the ground wailing. Behind him, the servant shouted to rush up again. I pulled the stick back. The body of the stick was whirring.
The servants fell to pieces and rolled all around. Ouch! The stick was withdrawn with a “rustle.” The tip of the stick touched the face of the Brocade woman, and suddenly stopped when it was about to touch the tip of her nose. She gave a pale scream and fell to the ground.
I slowly withdrew the stick and said, “Madam, I have offended you.”
She limped to the ground, patting herself on the chest. The little maids beside her had long since disappeared, and all the servants around her were lying on the ground moaning. She had to get up in a mess, but her resentful eyes passed over me and stared straight at Hsu Chih-wan behind her. “Good, good, very good,” she said.
I took a step forward quietly, covering Hsu Chih-wan behind me, and said, “Madam, why do you blame Hsu Chih-wan? It was me who did it. If you want to blame me, blame me too.”
Angry eyes turned from behind me to me, and there was a biting chill in the middle of the night. She gritted her teeth and said, “Blame you?”? After all, she is a member of the Xu family! You’re an outsider. What kind of hero are you? What qualifications do you have to come to my Hsu family to be in charge?! With a sneer,
I said, “Madam, if you can tell me that my act of taking Zhiwan away from the Hsu family was a so-called act of heroism, you can see that you know in your own heart what kind of life she is living in the Hsu family!”! You think you are a member of the Xu family, but you don’t treat Zhiwan as well as I am an outsider. How do you feel, madam?
“How can I treat her without being judged by a gigolo?” Cried the Brocade woman, turning to the groaning servants on the ground! Get up! Take down this fanatic for Madame Ben! The servants
lying on the ground looked at each other and groaned more loudly on the ground. Brocade’s face turned bright red, and I looked at her coldly. She looked at me with a look of resentment. She seemed to have lost her sense of propriety. “What are you proud of?!” “Justice is in the hearts of men,”
I said.
The Brocade woman gasped, then burst out laughing and said, “All right, all right. Justice is in the heart of man. That’s right.”
“Do you think you’re helping her now? It’s ridiculous. Ha ha ha. If you can help her this time, can you help her every time?”
Xu Zhiwan stayed behind and scratched my sleeve. I looked back at her. She smiled at me and said a word silently to her mouth.
My heart ached, like thousands of ants swallowing it. My heart was full of holes, and I held her hand more tightly. I turned to look at the Brocade woman, and my voice was hoarse.
“Why not?” I said.
Brocade’s face turned even uglier when she was provoked by my words. She pointed at me and said, “Well, well, what a pair of rapists!”
“Ching Niang, shut up!”
An angry and weak voice sounded from behind. Xu Zhiwan’s little hand in my hand was stiff again. Her pale little face seemed to be a little whiter. Little by little, she gently pulled her fingers away from my hand.
I looked down at her, and she looked up at me with a comforting smile.
I slowly let go of my hand, then turned around and said, “Hsu Tai-fu.” Grand Ma
ester Xu came from behind, thinking that he had just come out of the bedroom, wearing only a robe. His faintly angry expression suddenly froze after seeing my face clearly. The voice of
the Brocade woman, still weeping, suddenly rang out in the night sky: “Sir, look at this. I know I won’t be home for a few days, but I brought back a gigolo from outside to bully me in front of the servants. I..”
“All right, shut up!” Grand Maester Hsu roared in a low voice, and the cry of the Brocade woman behind him broke out. Grand Maester Hsu threw his hand at me, saying in a tired voice, “Your Highness, I have offended you a lot. Don’t blame me.” After the
initial surprise, his expression had returned to calm, but his face was especially pale. It seemed that the brocade woman was not lying. Xu Taifu was really ill. “I have nothing to offend,”
I replied. Staring at him, I added, “It’s just Hsu Tai-fu. You’ve always been known for your impartiality in the court. Needless to say, you’re very strict.”. I only know that Taifu has an iron face in the court. But he didn’t know that in this family matter, he could let his daughter get no fair treatment at home.
Hsu Tai-fu’s weak voice rang out from the wind: “If I have not been brought up well, I will reflect on myself.”
He turned his face and looked at Hsu Chih-wan, who was next to me. With a hoarse voice, he said, “Wan-er, you..” Are there any injuries?
Hsu Chih-wan said, No, I.. Very well, thanks to the care of the Third Royal Highness and the Fifth Princess.
Hsu Tai-fu turned around and bowed deeply to me. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter,” he said.
Hsu Tai-fu was so knowledgeable that even his father was very respectful. Today, when I saw Hsu Chih-wan’s situation, I asked him to hold him accountable. Now, seeing his concern for Hsu Chih-wan, I opened my mouth and said, “Hsu Tai-fu is polite. Hsu Chih-wan was caught in a fire, choked on smoke, and hurt his head. He was in a hurry for treatment. He didn’t return home until a few days ago. It was Wei Ling who accompanied her all the time.” I just sent her home.
He nodded and said, “I will thank the five princesses in the future.”
I said, “Now that Hsu Tai-fu knows that Hsu Chih-wan has come back, and has cleared up the misunderstanding that she hasn’t returned home these days, I have been entrusted by Wei Ling to ask Hsu Tai-fu to take more care of Chih-wan.”
He nodded and said, “That’s natural. Thank you, Your Highness and Princess for your concern.”
I looked back at Xu Zhiwan, her eyes were calm, aware that I looked at her, smiled at me, showing two small tiger teeth.
I took out a prescription from my sleeve and handed it to Xu Taifu. “This is her prescription,” he said. “Take it twice a day and decoct it on time.” There was silence
all around. From the moment Hsu Tai-fu opened his mouth to say the first word to me, the Brocade woman and the servants lying on the ground dared not even utter a moan. I turned to Hsu Tai-fu and nodded. “She’s home safe and sound,” I said. “It’s time for me to go back to the palace.” After
a pause, he added, “I believe that Hsu Tai-fu’s incorruptibility is the same whether it’s state affairs or family affairs.”. They won’t indulge some people to do evil, and they won’t let your daughter suffer any more unredressed injustice. The figure of
Xu Taifu’s long bow could not get up for a long time, and I looked at Xu Zhiwan again. In the dim
light of night, she said to me silently, “Don’t worry.”. At
one glance, half a month passed. The news came from the trustee of the Xu
family, saying that Xu Zhiwan needed to stay in bed because of illness and suspended the ritual.
I also asked someone to inquire, and learned that since that night, Mrs. Xu had been grounded, stayed in the house to copy books, and was not allowed to go out. Xu Zhiwan did take good care of himself at home, but when he recovered, he had to copy the female precepts three hundred times to make an example of others.
Xu Taifu’s way of handling life is not happy, but has been out of the house, and then put the beak down, to Xu Zhiwan’s reputation is not good, so I called Cao Xiliang every day, day and night to copy the book, and then secretly sent to Xu Fu in the name of Wei Ling, to avoid her fatigue.
Outside the window, the sun was rippling like a wave. I listened to the chirping of birds near the window. I picked up my pen and continued to write. I took a hazy nap. Between the pages of the book, Xu Zhiwan’s silent face appeared that night. “It’s all right, I’m not afraid,”
she said.
I wrote the first word, full of writing, and the breeze rustled the pages.
That night, Mrs. Xu’s question finally made me see my heart clearly.
Why not, Xu Zhiwan. What
‘s up.
Record No.: YX01zwpMEkpMOORRK
I don’t want her to come back and suffer bitter
cardamom has been cooked into porridge
for a long time
.
