Si Yiluo stood under the eaves, watching the snowflakes change from sparse to dense, watching the sky change from bright white to pitch black, and the red lanterns illuminated the white snow.
The sound of silk and bamboo stopped, the snowy night suddenly became noisy, and the adults who came to attend the banquet left one after another.
In Emperor Yao's palace, the chamberlain brought in a woman in red. Wei Heyan exited, exchanged a look with Wan Zhong, and said, "Have a good time tonight."
Wan Zhong bowed his body and sent him out of the palace before turning back. On such a night, listening to the movements inside had turned from torture to numbness for them.
Eunuchs, besides serving their master well, what else can they think about...
In the carriage parked at the entrance of the palace, Si Yiluo leaned against the carriage and closed his eyes to meditate. When the carriage curtain was lifted, the cold wind blew in the smell of powder.
A faint female voice asked: "Don't you have to serve the emperor tonight?"
Wei Heyan felt that the smell of powder was unpleasant, so he sat far away from her and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"The Emperor is in a good mood tonight and has favored a dancing girl."
Si Yiluo did not comment on this.
But I heard him add, "This dancer comes from Prince Yu's palace. Like the two in your palace, she learned how to serve people."
Si Yiluo, who was shot unprovoked, didn't know what comment to make at this time.
The son sent the woman to my bed...
Wei Heyan did not mention this matter again and was silent all the way. When he returned to his house, the first thing he did was to wash up.
After briefly washing up, Si Yiluo sat on the edge of the bed and wiped his hair until it was half dry before waiting for him to come out. The skin on his hands was soaked and turned white, and it seemed that his hands had experienced some extremely painful torture.
"What happened to your hand?"
Wei Heyan's eyes looked unhappy and he wiped them with a handkerchief over and over again.
"dirty."
Si Yiluo was speechless.
"According to what you say, do I have to chop off both hands?"
The two people in her house liked to get close to her whenever they had nothing to do.
Wei Heyan seemed to have just remembered the people in her house, he shouted and warned: "If you dare to touch them, I will chop them wherever you touch. I don't mind cutting them into five pieces and executing them in Lingchi!"
He had a mysophobia, perhaps because he had seen a lot of dirty things when he was a child, and his cold and awkward personality was not developed without reason. Si Yiluo was very lucky that he was willing to open his heart to her in this life.
"I understand, Lord Governor."
The snowy night is silent and the red candle tent is warm.
Welcome the Spring Festival with the bursting of warm and festive firecrackers.
Uncle Fu carried a bunch of firecrackers on a bamboo pole, and Chang Jinchan ran over to light the firecrackers like a child. After the crackling sound, red pieces were left on the ground.
The steward took out the red envelope that he had prepared long ago, and the servants dispersed happily after receiving the reward.
Shen Moran looked at the red confetti on the ground in a daze.
Distant memories popped up. At that time, she and Zhou Yu were still in love. During the Chinese New Year, Zhou Yu took her to watch dragon and lion dances on the street, old ladies on stilts making faces, and took her to visit temple fairs and watch the Aoshan Lantern Festival.
…
Because she loved watching, the theater troupe was stationed at the house until the Lantern Festival, which was celebrated on the 15th day of the month.
"I heard that at this year's Chenghuang Temple Fair, three opera excerpts will be performed at the same time. Who can win more prizes? The most popular "Jing Meng" is also sung. Let's go and see it later!"
"Okay, it is said that tonight's Aoshan Lantern Festival is really lively. There are no duplicate lanterns in Manhuang City. This is the only time a year that people are allowed to watch the lantern festival in front of the Meridian Gate. We must not miss it!"
The chatter of the servants reached his ears. Zhou Zhan looked at the absent-minded Shen Moran, held her hand, pulled her into his arms with more force, and whispered: "Follow me!"
"I also want to go to the Chenghuang Temple Fair, cousin——"
Chang Jinchan turned around and saw that her cousin and cousin-in-law who were standing behind her just now were gone.
Only Hongying was left looking at her expectantly, waiting for her instructions.
"Where's my cousin?"
Hongying groaned, looked left and right, and replied in a low voice without confidence: "I don't know."
Chang Jinchan said angrily: "You are so inept, how can you fight against the people around your cousin..."
She didn't know whether she was worried about Hongying's future or her own future. Prince Zhan's palace was so big, where could the sick man go? He must have gone back to the main hospital to rest!
Chang Jinchan rushed to the main hospital and saw her frail cousin lying on the bed with a weak look on his face, while his cheap cousin-in-law was busy serving him.
During the many days since she came to the house, her cousin was either lying on the bed or leaning on a chair, looking as if he might not survive for a few days. Her admiration slowly dissipated, and she even felt a little sympathy for Shen Moran.
"Cousin, come...ahem..."
The violent coughing made people wonder if he was going to cough out all his internal organs.
Shen Moran gave him some relief and water. By the time he could say a word, it was already time for a cup of tea.
Chang Jinchan even forgot what she was going to do.
"Cousin is here... Ahem, if cousin wants to go out to play, please bring more guards... Ahem, let Uncle Fu accompany you personally. It's all my fault for not living up to expectations and treating my cousin so slowly..."
After gasping for breath, Chang Jinchan didn't know what she felt in her heart, nor did she know what her cousin had experienced in the capital these years...
"Cousin, you must take good care of yourself. I don't have to go out to play."
At the end of the sentence, her tone was a little disappointed, and Zhou Zhan said with a smile: "It's okay, young girls like to have fun, and my body has always been like this... Today is the Chinese New Year, and my cousin will pay more money from the account..."
Chang Jinchan wanted him to get better as soon as possible and wanted him to go out and play with her, but reality would not go as she imagined. She looked back three times every step of the way.
"Cousin, then take care of yourself..."
Zhou Zhan coughed and waved his hand towards her, and his weak voice reached her ears as if he was going to go. She felt a little guilty and would bring some gifts to her cousin later...
Zhou Zhan stood up and locked the door from the inside. He took out several human skin masks from the cabinet and compared them on Shen Moran's face. He chose the one that fit the face shape and kept it. He took one at random.
Then carefully put the remaining mask back into its place.
"After the old ghost disappears, we should save some time on human skin masks and medicine for pretending to be sick."
Shen Moran reached out and touched it. The material of the mask was very soft. She didn't know what it was made of. The skin texture was clearly visible, and even the pores were clear.
"It needs special medicine."
He took out a small porcelain bottle, rubbed it gently on her face and put the mask on her face. It felt like a woman's face, cool and cool.
The skin color of the mask is similar to her own skin color, so there is no need to cover up too much.
Shen Moran looked in the mirror, and a stranger's face appeared in the mirror. She tried to smile, showing her big white teeth. The person in the mirror was also the same as her.
"It's funny. Why do you have to pretend when you go to see Mr. Xie?"
The last time he took the opportunity to tease her, wasn't it just because he had a human skin mask on his face?
Using the same method to cover his face with the mask, Shen Moran turned around and saw that the frail Prince Zhan was no longer in the room, replaced by a frail scholar.
Put on ordinary common clothes.
"Don't worry, madam, my husband will definitely earn a lot of fame for me this spring!"
He bowed his hands in a decent manner. Shen Moran thought it was funny and put her hands on her hips and cursed: "Sun Erhe, if you fail the exam again this year, I will take my children and remarry!"