In the middle of winter, the north wind is biting, silver-gray clouds are galloping in the sky, the cold current is rolling, and a heavy snow is brewing.
The small courtyard in the deepest part of the west side of Zhenbei Hou Mansion looks quite desolate, and few people set foot there in the past.
It is said to be a small courtyard, but it is actually just three or two huts. Even the windows are broken. It may be too remote and dilapidated, and there are no neighboring houses around.
The walls of the house are reflected with old cracks everywhere, and they are even more mottled after being wetted by rain and snow. Just looking at them, no one would have thought that this was the courtyard of the Beihou Mansion in the powerful town of Beijing.
Chaoli's face was pale, and his long hair was hanging down wantonly. He was lying on the couch wearing only his underwear, covered with a thin and patched quilt.
Her gaze was straight ahead, but without focus, and she held a white silk handkerchief in her hand.
"Gah!"
The door was opened, and Qing Yi stepped in eagerly carrying a bucket of hot water that was barely smoking. She turned around and immediately closed the door with one hand.
However, the cold wind was relentless and still poured in from the door.
Chao Li raised his right hand, covered his lips with a silk handkerchief and coughed violently. His palm-sized cheeks, which were originally pale, turned slightly red.
Qing Yi put down the wooden bucket in his hand, not even caring that the water spilled out and wetted his shoes and socks.
In fact, she spent a lot of effort to get this bucket of hot water. Even though there was not much heat left in the water at the moment, she waited for a full hour before finally bringing it back.
At this moment, she was not worried about the bucket of water, but worried about everyone on the bed.
"Miss, why are you coughing again?"
Qing Yi felt sorry for Chao Li, biting her lip in distress, tears in her eyes and not daring to fall. It was only in the past six months that she called her Miss again, no longer the Crown Princess.
Chaoli coughed for a long time before she calmed down. She gently took off the silk handkerchief from her lips and put it into the quilt, showing a faint smile to Qing Yi.
"Qingyi, I'm fine."
Upon hearing this, Qing Yi's tears finally burst into tears.
"How can it be okay? Miss has always been weak in body and bones. She has been struggling with this for half a year, but she still doesn't feel better. On the contrary, by the way, hot water, the slave brought hot water back, so Miss can soak her feet. Those bastards look down upon others,
When I asked for hot water, I was pushed back and forth, making the young lady wait for a long time." Qing Yi paused, raised his sleeves to wipe away his tears, and continued to speak hesitantly, "Miss, why don't you talk to the prince, the prince?"
The corners of Chaoli's mouth curved again, and his brows were full of gentleness, but he interrupted Qing Yi's unfinished words.
"Silly girl, I want to eat lotus cake."
Qing Yi didn't say anything, but Chao Li knew exactly what she wanted to say, which was just to be soft to that person, make the big thing a trivial matter, and make everything go back to before.
It's a pity that I can't go back.
Qing Yi's face was full of joy, "Miss, wait a minute, I will do it for you right away."
After finishing his words, Qing Yi stood up.
Compared with the hot water that has been basically cooled just now, it is more important for Chaoli to have an appetite.
In the past six months, Chaoli has never once taken the initiative to say that he wanted to eat.
Therefore, Qing Yi happily ran to the kitchen.
However, Qing Yi didn't notice that when Chao Li was talking to her, her left hand on the inside pinched her thigh hard, and veins appeared on the back of her hand.
After Qing Yi left, Chao Li took out his right hand from the quilt and spread out the silk handkerchief in his palm.
In the middle of the neatly folded silk handkerchief, there is a dazzling bright red, and the albizia flowers embroidered on the edges look even more delicate because of the bright color.
Chaoli lifted off the quilt, put on his coat, walked slowly to the door, and opened the door.
At the end of the year, the weather is cold, the wind and snow are coming, and everything around is white.
Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. It seems that next year will be a good harvest year, but she probably can't wait any longer.
There wasn't too much snow at this time, so Chao Li walked out slowly with his body hunched over, making light footprints one step at a time.
As if aware of the biting coldness, she coughed a few times.
This time, she didn't cover her lips anymore, letting the redness in her throat spurt out, and scattered red plum blossoms bloomed on the snow and clothes.
It was only a few breaths away, but it was particularly difficult to walk towards Chaoli. The petite figure moved forward slowly, obviously speechless and indifferent, but extremely lonely, and his whole body seemed to be shrouded in sadness.
Finally, she walked to the crooked neck jujube tree in the courtyard.
The withered yellow leaves, following the whistling wind, threw themselves into the embrace of Mother Earth.
Chaoli stretched out her hand tremblingly, wanting to gently touch the crooked-neck jujube tree. It was also the place she had walked around the most in the past six months, and was also her favorite.
Just when he was about to hit the tree trunk, Chaoli's body couldn't hold on anymore and fell softly, hitting the snow.
The past events came to mind one by one like a fleeting glance. Chaoli was breathing rapidly, and it was like a fire was burning fiercely in her lungs, as if countless blades were scraping her intestines.
"Miss!"
A shrill roar sounded, and Qing Yi crawled and knelt beside Chaoli, lifted her up, and wiped the blood from her lips.
It turned out that Qing Yi only realized something was wrong when she was walking halfway. In the past, her young lady never made any requests. The young lady knew that their situation was like this, so it was impossible for her to make things difficult for her to eat lotus cakes.
Besides, you can't eat lotus cakes at all in this season, because there are no lotus flowers in the house in winter. The only possibility is that the lady wants to take her away.
Chaoli opened the corner of his mouth with difficulty, his eyes a little helpless.
"Don't cry."
The body is no longer effective, the heart is riddled with wounds, and living is actually a suffering.
"No, no!" Qing Yi burst into tears, "Miss, what are you doing, why are you in this situation?"
Chaoli held up a bitter arc and moved the silk handkerchief in his hand.
Without it, all love and sense of propriety will be lost.
"Pay him back for me."
Chaoli raised his hand with all his strength, trying to pass the silk handkerchief to Qing Yi, but it was in vain.
Qing Yi trembled all over, "Miss, you are so stupid."
Stupid? You are stupid even if you think about it.
After three years of marriage, I feel more sad than happy.
She should have known that the man had no heart, but she jumped in, held her true heart in front of him, and let him trample on her wantonly.
That's all, that's fine.
If there is an afterlife, I only wish that I would not know you.
Chaoli's consciousness was completely blurred, her throat was slightly itchy, and a mouthful of blood sprayed on the albizia flower silk handkerchief in her hand.
Finally, he stopped breathing.
Chaoli felt his body light up and tried to wipe away the tears from Qing Yi's face, but he could only pass through her cheeks in vain.
After a while, Qing Yi tremblingly picked up Chaoli and walked out slowly.
Too light.
Until now, Qing Yi didn't know how thin her young lady had become.
"Miss, Qing Yi will take you home."
After returning to consciousness, Chao Li suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for air, his face turned cold.
After a while, Chaoli sat up, wiped the tears from his eyes, looked at Gu Hanzhang's figure still standing under the albizia tree, and murmured to himself.
"Gu Hanzhang, Chaoli, the one who loves you the most, died in the winter. Your waiting cannot be eliminated."