Chapter 518: One mouthful after another [Thanks! Bow again! 45k owed]

Nanjian Tang Lane,

Rong family,

In the ancestral hall in the courtyard,

The Rong family's rise started from the generation of the Hou Jue of Hou Fu Chang; their ancestors were just a family of ordinary mud masons in Bianjing.

Counting upward, the highest-ranking person they could trace back to was the grandfather of the Hou Jue of Hou Fu Chang.

Therefore, although the Rong family was a marquis household, the number of memorial tablets enshrined behind the offering table was very small, and it couldn't be compared with families like the Gu and Xu, who were also marquis households.

The memorial tablets in the ancestral halls of those noble families were like a forest.

The three sticks of incense were held by fingers that were maintained very meticulously and inserted gently into the incense burner on the offering table, with blue smoke curling up.

Afterward,

Imperial Consort Rong bowed respectfully in front of the offering table, closed her eyes, and muttered something.

Rong Feiyan, who was beside her, knelt on the prayer mat, also closed her eyes, and prayed with her hands together; vaguely, it could be heard that she was saying she hoped her niece would be healthy.

Imperial Consort Rong opened her eyes and looked around the Rong family ancestral hall, then sighed lightly.

In fact, it wasn't just the number of memorial tablets;

The Rong family ancestral hall was also different from others,

which was that in the ancestral halls of public and marquis residences like the Zhang, Gu, and Xu, there were often plaques hanging on both sides.

Each plaque was a symbol of the literary and martial achievements of the ancestors of this family.

And the Rong family ancestral hall only had one plaque rewarded by the palace when Imperial Consort Rong was promoted to the rank of Noble Consort that year.

Rong Feiyan, who was beside her, kowtowed and stood up,

Looking at her younger sister Rong Feiyan's youthful, beautiful, and very good-looking face, Imperial Consort Rong's lips couldn't help but reveal a smile.

When Imperial Consort Rong entered the palace, Rong Feiyan hadn't been born yet.

By the time Imperial Consort Rong had established herself in the palace and began to worry because she couldn't conceive, Rong Feiyan was born.

In the time that followed, the love Imperial Consort Rong had for Rong Feiyan, who had been very cute since she was a child, was not just the mentality of an elder sister looking at a younger sister.

Today, calling Rong Feiyan to the ancestral hall, Imperial Consort Rong actually had a lot of words she wanted to say.

But looking at her younger sister Rong Feiyan, who was looking up at her very guiltily from time to time, as if she had made many mistakes herself, Imperial Consort Rong sighed lightly in her heart.

After looking at the memorial tablets in the ancestral hall again, Imperial Consort Rong turned around gracefully and said: "Let's go."

Rong Feiyan was stunned: "Ah? Sister, you..."

Imperial Consort Rong turned her head: "Why, do you want me to scold you before you feel comfortable?"

Rong Feiyan pursed her lips and shook her head.

Tilting her head, and scanning Rong Feiyan up and down again, Imperial Consort Rong said: "I originally wanted to cut the pain short and make you give up the thought directly."

Hearing this, Rong Feiyan's eyes widened directly, and she looked at her sister with her small mouth slightly open.

"But I heard the Emperor..."

Without finishing, Imperial Consort Rong stopped her words and, after pondering for a moment, said solemnly: "In two years, when people start discussing marriages and don't choose our family, don't cry."

Rong Feiyan raised her head, endured the urge to turn her gaze away, looked at Imperial Consort Rong, and nodded: "Hmm! Sister, I won't cry!"

Imperial Consort Rong turned around, and her lips smiled lightly.

Afterward, Imperial Consort Rong raised her chin gracefully and walked toward the outside of the ancestral hall.

On the way back,

Looking at Rong Feiyan, who was chasing after her with small steps, Imperial Consort Rong continued: "The cloak that was left at our home today, send it over tomorrow morning, don't delay."

"Oh..."

In the evening,

Imperial Consort Rong had already returned to the palace with the little princess.

Hui Xue Courtyard, the lights were bright yellow.

Seeing Xi Bu stood beside the table, holding a glowing copper iron (flat iron) filled with red-hot charcoal.

"Whoosh~"

Ningxiang, another maid beside the table, shook the cloak that was almost dry, then laid a clean, damp cloth on the cloak.

"I'll do it."

Rong Feiyan walked over and said.

After Seeing Xi Bu handed the copper iron to Rong Feiyan, she stood opposite Ningxiang and pulled the cloak on the table straight.

Afterward, Rong Feiyan began to iron it carefully.

"Sizzle~ sizzle~"

The copper iron touched the damp cloth and made a sound, followed by a burst of white steam rising.

"Young Lady, look, the needlework and embroidery on this cloak are truly fine and exquisite! I don't know which maid in the Xu

Ningxiang said this and gave it another strong tug.

"It should be Qingcao's handiwork. I heard Qingcao say that she once learned from a maid with exquisite embroidery skills."

Seeing Xi Bu said with a smile.

Rong Feiyan nodded.

The three mistress and maids chatted while they worked.

Soon, the cloak that Xu Zaijing had dirtied in the morning had been washed again, dried on the water heater, and ironed, becoming clean and tidy once more.

As Seeing Xi Bu took the iron from Rong Feiyan's hand, she said,

"Ningxiang, go fetch the incense cage."

"Coming."

Rong Feiyan stood by the table, looking at the cloak on it, a look of hesitation in her eyes.

"Miss, what's wrong?"

Seeing Xi Bu set the iron aside and asked, folding the cloak in confusion.

Rong Feiyan shook her head.

Before long, Ningxiang came over carrying the steamer with fine holes, looked at Rong Feiyan, and asked, "Miss, what incense should we use to scent the clothes today?"

Hearing this, Seeing Xi Bu stopped mid-sentence. Rong Feiyan bit her lip lightly, and after a moment, said, "Just use the one I usually use."

"Right!"

Ningxiang responded, went to find the incense, lit it, and placed the incense cage over it.

Seeing Xi Bu didn't say much more; she went outside the room and brought in a basin of steaming hot water.

Then, the incense cage was propped up over the hot water basin, and Rong Feiyan personally covered it with the cloak.

Two days after Rong Xian's wedding,

the solar term of Minor Snow,

at the start of the Yin hour (4:00 AM).

The north wind had howled for half the night,

not only blowing the grape leaves clean away but also chasing away the clouds in the sky.

The early morning sky remained dark,

but the stars in the night sky were twinkling,

and a bright moon hung at the edge of the sky.

The moon's clear radiance enveloped Xu Zaijing's courtyard,

and the shadows of the grape trellis were still faintly visible on the ground.

In the room lit by candlelight,

after a rustling sound,

the door was opened,

and Xu Zaijing, draped in a heavy cloak, walked out with Qingcao, who was carrying a lantern.

"Hoo!"

Seeing the white mist exhaled before him, Xu Zaijing gave a vigorous stretch.

Behind him, Qingcao covered her earmuffs with one hand and called into the room, "Mother Xia, close the door."

After saying this,

Qingcao quickly followed her young master, who had already walked a few steps ahead.

The moonlight was bright on the road,

and although they were carrying a lantern, there were still two shadows on the ground, short shadows that moved back and forth with the footsteps of the master and maid.

The two arrived near the horse racing track,

where the wide ground was almost entirely covered in a light layer of white frost.

The hour was still early,

and the surroundings were quiet,

allowing one to faintly hear the snorting of the horses eating fodder in the lit stable.

There was also the sound of the big dog moving around near the wooden house after hearing their footsteps.

Qingcao entered the wooden house, took off her earmuffs, and placed her young master's water flask on the warm water heater.

After patting the head of the big dog that followed her inside, Qingcao poked the charcoal fire in the stove.

When Qingcao sat down in front of the stove,

outside the room,

"Hiss~"

"Oh~!"

Xu Zaijing, who was putting on armor with Qingyun, let out a pained sound.

"It truly is hard to endure the cold iron armor in such freezing weather~!"

Xu Zaijing had just finished speaking.

"Qingcao! Bring out the wine gourd from the water heater."

Master Yin's hoarse voice came through.

"Oh!"

Qingcao hurriedly took the palm-sized but heavy, warm gourd and walked out, handing it to Xu Zaijing.

"Master still dotes on me the most."

Xu Zaijing said as he pulled the stopper from the wine gourd.

Master Yin smiled: "The fine wine sent by the Dou family is indeed different! It's very potent, and it doesn't make your head hurt after drinking it."

Xu Zaijing frowned and swallowed a large gulp of the fine wine, handed the gourd to Qingyun, and said while warming up, "As long as Master likes it. Before the year ends, I'll go to the Dou family again and buy a dozen more jars."

Master Yin smiled and nodded.

Afterward, Xu Zaijing and Qingyun began their training as usual.

Qingcao returned to the wooden house with the wine gourd.

After looking outside, Qingcao shook the wine gourd, listened to the sound inside, and her eyes lit up.

Then, Qingcao tilted her head back and brought the wine gourd to her lips.

A trace of the clear wine flowed into her mouth, and then Qingcao's expression instantly twisted.

Using great willpower, she frowned and swallowed the wine, then shook her head and whispered, "Where is the beauty in this?"

After a while,

Qingcao looked at the wine gourd, smacked her lips with a lingering aftertaste, and brought the wine gourd to her lips again.

One sip after another.

In the mistress's courtyard,

Xu Zaijing was eating breakfast.

Hualan, who had entered the room with Zaihang, untied her cloak while curiously watching Qingcao standing at the doorway inside.

Coming to the table, Hualan looked at Xu Zaijing with concern: "Little Five, is Qingcao sick? Why is her face so red?"

Xu Zaijing, who was holding a porcelain bowl of meat porridge and eating ginger-fermented beans with chopsticks, smiled and glanced at the head-bowed Qingcao, saying, "Sister-in-law, she's fine."

"If she's fine, why is her face so red?" Hualan asked in confusion.

"During morning exercise, I let Qingcao taste the remaining half-gourd of wine."

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, Qingcao looked up in shame, then lowered her head in shame again.

Sun Shi, in a good mood and feeling refreshed, smiled and said, "This girl drank quite a bit, yet she's still standing so steadily. It seems her tolerance for alcohol is quite good."

Xu Zaijing nodded in agreement: "Mother is right. I didn't expect this girl to have such a high tolerance."

Sun Shi shot Xu Zaijing a glare: "The Rong family sent three large carts of fine wine the day before yesterday, and you let a young girl like her drink?"

Xu Zaijing said: "Outside, others can't even get a drink if they want to!" After saying this, he picked up his porcelain bowl and finished it in one go.

"Mother, Brother, Sister-in-law, I'm off to school."

Xu Zaijing stood up, bowed, and left the room after speaking.

After exiting Quyuanjie,

although the early morning was freezing,

there were still commoners on the road from time to time, carrying lanterns or simply walking by the moonlight.

The candles were still lit in the patrol booths by the roadside,

and upon hearing the hoofbeats of Xu Zaijing and his party, patrol soldiers often came out to bow and offer greetings, receiving a reward for breakfast in return.

After walking for a while,

they reached the bridge over the canal within the city.

Xu Zaijing reined in his horse by the railing and looked toward the river.

In winter, the water was low,

and in the moonlight,

the river surface under the bridge no longer had the abundance of water and the sparkling appearance of summer and autumn.

On the river not far away, only one large boat, carrying unknown cargo, had a pale yellow candlelight lit.

Just now at the dining table, Xu Zaijing said that some people outside couldn't get fine wine even if they wanted to, and that wasn't a joke either.

It was because in the winter in Bianjing, the canal water was low and shallow, making it difficult for boats to travel on many sections outside the capital.

For Bianjing, which relied on canal transport to deliver various goods,

whenever the canal supply was insufficient during the winter season, the prices of goods in the city would rise.

Like the consecutive days of heavy snow disasters two years ago, the prices had soared to the heavens.

All the residents of Bianjing could do was prepare more supplies before winter.

"Neigh~"

The little chestnut horse snorted, exhaling a puff of white mist, and carried Xu Zaijing off the bridge toward the riverbank.

As they descended the bridge,

sparse sounds of conversation drifted over,

and a group of people happened to be crossing the bridge on the opposite bank.

Listening to the conversation among the crowd, it seemed they were people responsible for carrying cargo at the canal wharf, organized by someone to help pull boats.

As they passed each other,

"Greetings, benefactor!"

Someone in the crowd said.

Xu Zaijing looked back and saw a man bowing and speaking to Qingyun.

Qingyun exhaled white mist and bowed: "Brother Tan, you are going to..."

After some conversation, Xu Zaijing looked at the crowd bowing to him and bowed slightly in return.

The carriages and horses of Xu Zaijing and his party had already gone far away.

The foreman leading this group looked at the lantern on the carriage and said to the 'Brother Tan' in Qingyun's words: "Was that really the Fifth Young Master of the Hou Jue Yongyi's residence?"

"Foreman, I wouldn't dare to deceive you. There aren't many horses like that Fifth Young Master's mount in all of Bianjing."

The foreman nodded, and his gaze toward the father of the Tan siblings became much gentler.

Near Jiying Lane,

Xu Zaijing pulled the scarf around his neck up to cover his mouth and nose.

It wasn't that he didn't want to smell the fresh, crisp early morning air,

but he truly didn't know which household or merchant nearby had already lit their coal.

It was dark and he couldn't see any smoke,

but the smell of coal smoke made Xu Zaijing not dare to breathe deeply.

Because Sheng Hong had to attend court early,

the main gate of the Sheng residence was already wide open,

and the gatekeeper servant bowed to Xu Zaijing and his party, saying, "Good morning, Fifth Young Master!"

Xu Zaijing gave a grunt and walked forward, heading toward the school courtyard amidst the servant's words: "Brother Qingyun, it's really cold today, hurry inside to warm up."

After entering the courtyard, seeing the Sheng family maid adding coal to the stove, Xu Zaijing knew where the smoke smell on the road came from.

Lifting the cotton curtain,

feeling the warm, slightly fragrant air rushing toward him, and seeing Changbai sitting quietly beside the candlelight on the table,

this familiar scene,

Xu Zaijing had a moment of confusion.

It seemed he wasn't seeing the present, but the scene from a year ago.

"Young Master?" Qingcao behind him asked in confusion.

Xu Zaijing smiled, shook his head, and walked inside.

"Fifth Young Master, morning."

Changbai continued reading his book without looking back.

"Morning."

Two quarter-hours later,

a sound of footsteps arose,

the cotton curtain was lifted again, and looking at the three people in the school, Gu Tingye said with a sense of frustration: "Jingge'er, it's so cold, why did you come so early?"

Changbai also said, "Morning, Second Young Master," and continued reading.

Xu Zaijing glanced at Gu Tingye and continued reading, saying, "I came at the same time as usual, so where does this 'early' come from?"

Gu Tingye: "Uh..."

Not long after Gu Tingye sat down,

another person lifted the curtain and walked in with a gust of cold wind. Looking at the three people in the school, Qi Heng said urgently:

"Second Uncle, Brother Changbai, Jingge'er, have you finished the homework assigned by the scholar yesterday?"

Gu Tingye smiled and said triumphantly: "No, Yuanruo, you wouldn't have not done your homework, would you?"

Qi Heng bowed repeatedly.

Gu Tingye: "No wonder you're so early today!"

At the start of the Chen hour (7:00 AM),

the morning sun appeared, and the sky was bright.

When Scholar Zhuang walked into the school wearing earmuffs, draped in a cotton cloak, his hands tucked into his cotton sleeves, and holding a folding fan,

in Xingqing Prefecture, thousands of miles away,

Gu Tingyu stood on the repaired city wall, and against the deep blue sky, he could still see the silver moon hanging in the sky.

Gu Tingyu looked down at the city wall,

where there was a courtyard with a flag bearing the character 'Chai',

filled with carriages.

The aide standing beside Gu Tingyu looked at the courtyard and said: "My Lord, what are these Chai family carriages carrying back after delivering Wujin coal to Bianjing?"

Gu Tingyu smiled slightly and pointed to the very exquisite earmuffs on his ears: "These things. And seeds for several types of crops."

(End of chapter)