Dingjiangshan

On New Year's Eve, both inside and outside of Miyagi were bustling with activity.

Most of the shops in the outer city were only open until noon, and then they closed their doors and put up a bunch of earth reds in a crackling way, to get a good start for the coming year.

In the evening, Wei Ji went to the outer city to join in the fun, but he didn't buy anything useful, only brought back two simple bamboo lamps.

Ning Huaijin originally wanted to go out to relax, but remembered that he had asked for leave today because he was sick, and was afraid that someone who cared about him would see him causing trouble when he went to the street, so he forcibly held back and didn't go out.

The sound of firecrackers and firecrackers was endless from the afternoon until it was dark. When it was completely dark, Ning Huaijin still felt a buzzing sound in his ears. up.

At this time in previous years, he was always by Ning Yan's side, waiting to watch the new year in the Zichen Palace. This year, he suddenly didn't have to enter the palace.

After dinner, the servants from the palace came to the main courtyard to greet Ann, and took the rewards. Except for a dozen servants who had no family to take turns to serve, those who had families and mouths were all sent back by Ning Huaijin to watch the new year. .

Ning Huaijin was nearly [-] years old, but there was no mistress in charge of the mansion, and even the number of servants with attendants was small. When it came to such a big day, the mansion seemed a little deserted.

He hadn't entered the palace these days, and he didn't even go out on days like New Year's Eve, and the servants of the palace had more or less picked up some subtle rumors.If it wasn't necessary, they would seldom dare to approach Ning Huaijin, for fear that they would not know what happened to them.

Ning Huaijin didn't think so, he always had a calm temper, he read two thin travel notes with the sound of crackling firecrackers outside, and when he recovered, the sound of firecrackers outside did not know when it stopped .

In his room, only a few lamps in the inner room were lit for reading, and the candlesticks in the outer room had been extinguished several times because they were left unattended, making it extremely dark.

Ning Huaijin put down the book in her hand and stood up. When she went outside to check, she found that Wei Ji, who was on guard at night, had fallen asleep leaning against the door, and the long lead wire from the candlestick was hanging down, falling into the wax oil.

It was nothing serious, so Ning Huaijin didn't make a sound to wake him up, and walked to the corner of the room by herself, and picked up the silver scissors for cutting the candle wick from the candlestick.

The weather outside seemed to be good, the moonlight poured into the room from the cracks in the paper like silver frost, and the wax table in Ning Huaijin's hand was still emitting a scorching heat, it should have just been extinguished not long ago.

At this moment, Ning Huaijin suddenly felt an extremely inexplicable sense of loss - that feeling flashed across his heart, like a weightless light feather brushing against the tip of his heart, sore and itchy.

This feeling made Ning Huaijin uncomfortable, but when he wanted to think back, he found that the feather that teased him had disappeared, leaving only the inexplicable emotion that was neither sad nor resentful.

Ning Huaijin didn't think about it anymore, but cut off the candle wick, took the candle holder from the corner, and relit the extinguished lamp.

The light dispelled the confusion hidden in the darkness, and Wei Ji by the door was awakened belatedly by the light.

"My lord——" Wei Jifang quickly got up from the ground as soon as he woke up, took the wax table from Ning Huaijin's hand, and said embarrassedly: "The little one fell asleep."

"It's okay, you're tired too." Ning Huaijin said lightly, "It's just that it's almost time, go wash your face first, wake up, and have a New Year's Eve dinner later."

Seeing that he didn't mean to blame, Wei Ji heaved a sigh of relief, and lit the remaining lamps one by one with Ning Huaijin's hand.

As soon as Haishi passed, food was given from the palace. Ning Huaijin said she was ill and never went out to thank her, so she sent Wei Ji away.

Wei Ji's footsteps were fast, and he hurried back to the huge half of the palace in just a cup of tea.In the main hall, the servants on duty in the kitchen were quickly arranging the dishes. When they saw Wei Ji approaching, they hurriedly beckoned to make room for him, leaving the circle in the middle of the table.

Wei Ji put the big food box in his hand in the middle of the table, patted away the cold air from his body, and went to the inner room to invite Ning Huaijin—a gift from the palace. Jin came to dismantle it to see for himself.

When entering the door, Wei Ji thought about it, this year was a special year, and he didn't know what dishes Ning Yan gave him.

The two of them had been arguing for half a month and it was awkward, Wei Ji thought.No one has bowed their heads for such a long time, this New Year's Eve, your Majesty, don't give me an empty food box to shake your face.

The more Wei Ji thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he quickly shook his head, throwing out all the ominous guesses in his mind.

The waiter who delivered the food said that this year is still the same as in previous years, each family only has one dish, but the food box that Ning Yan sent to Prince Gong's Mansion has two layers, Ning Huaijin looked at the table for a while, but didn't see it. a hall of fame.

It's just that he held his breath and didn't show anything on his face. He looked at the food box for a while, then Shi Shiran brushed off his sleeves, walked outside the door, and bowed in the direction of Miyagi.

——Why did you come here, Wei Jixin said, if you really want to thank you, why hide from His Majesty.

Ning Huaijin knew nothing about Wei Ji's slander, he "thank you" according to the etiquette, then turned back to the table, reached out and opened the lid of the food box.

Wei Ji was worried all the way that this thing would be empty once he opened it, and he was staring at the food box as early as when Ning Huaijin stretched out his hand.But now when the lid was opened, Wei Ji was stunned.

"Why..." Wei Ji said, "Why dim sum?"

There was a delicate silver plate in the box, which contained several small biscuits two fingers wide, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and decorated with a plum blossom on the top.

——It’s plum cake.

Look at the amount of powdered sugar above, it was made by Ning Yan's own kitchen.

Vegetables have always been given during New Year’s Eve, not to mention big fish and meat, but most of them are the hard dishes that the imperial dining room can get. Surrounded by a pile of big fish and meat, if the lid is lifted and there is a plate of fresh mushroom cabbage and stir-fried bean dishes, it will be too shabby.

Vegetarian dishes are not good-looking, let alone dim sum that cannot be served on the table.

However, it is said that the king's heart is unpredictable, Wei Ji thought about it for a while, and he didn't understand why Ning Yan wanted to give him some refreshments during the Chinese New Year.

If this dim sum were placed in other people's homes, the whole house would definitely be surrounded by people, and then the elders of the Shang clan would ask whether His Majesty felt that his family was "not on the stage" any more. For no reason, I saw a little "grievance" from above.

"...Your Majesty didn't eat plum cake this year." Ning Huaijin sighed.

Wei Ji was wandering in the sky, thinking about the "sacred will", when he heard this sentence at first, he almost didn't realize it: "——huh?"

Ning Huaijin didn't repeat himself, he reached out to bring out the plate of pastries and put them on the table. The small plate of pastries was surrounded by a pile of pots and plates filled with chicken, duck and fish, looking pitiful.

Wei Ji realized later that he didn't realize that he didn't eat. This year, when the plum blossoms just bloomed, Ning Yan took Ning Huaijin to the hunting ground. When he came back from a quarrel, who would remember this? Wait for the little things.

After being told by Ning Huaijin, Wei Ji looked at the plate of cakes in front of him and couldn't laugh or cry. He thought that His Majesty was still young, and what he was thinking about was all children's things.

He was relieved, breathed a sigh of relief, and reached out to take the food box on the table, trying to make room for Ning Huaijin.But when I started to weigh it, I found that the weight was wrong. The food box was heavy, and it seemed that there was still something in it.

"My lord." Wei Ji quickly put the food box back and said, "There seems to be some more here."

"Anything else?" Ning Huaijin was a little surprised: "Didn't it just be one dish?"

As he said so, his hand had already stretched out, and there was an imperceptible interlayer under the food box. Ning Huaijin knocked on it, and found a small clasp on the wall of the box. The middle layer of splint was pulled away.

There is a hole in the bottom of this food box. There is a small groove about the size of a palm cut out at the bottom, and a small square porcelain jar is tightly stuck inside.

"What is this?" Wei Ji asked strangely, "It doesn't look like something to eat."

Ning Huaijin took it out of the box, unscrewed the lid and smelt it, but smelled a strong aroma of wine. The wine was not spicy like ordinary liquor, but had a slightly sweet taste. Like the fruit wine from Jiangnan.

What was Ning Yan doing with a can of wine, Ning Huaijin thought strangely.

In fact, I don't blame Ning Huaijin, after all, this thing looks too weird, hidden in the interlayer of the food box behind someone's back, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a good thing.

Forget it, Ning Huaijin thought, Ning Yan would not poison him to death in anger, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

So he picked up the silver spoon on the table, scooped a little from the small pot, put it into his mouth and tasted it.As soon as the wine was tasted, Ning Huaijin tasted it almost immediately - it was plum blossom wine.

The skills of the royal chefs in the palace and the chefs in the palace are naturally different. This small pot of wine is fragrant and mellow, sweet in the mouth, and the aroma of the wine will not overwhelm the fragrance of plum blossoms. It is really a good taste.

Ning Huaijin put down the silver spoon, feeling heavy in her heart.

He didn't understand why Ning Yan gave him such a thing. The small jar of wine was placed side by side with the plate of plum cakes, as if silently expressing some attitude, but it seemed that there was nothing.

To this day, Ning Huaijin no longer dared to guess what Ning Yan was thinking.He had always thought that he was the one who knew Ning Yan best in the world, but now it seemed that he had never known this child before.

But before he was sad for too long, there was a loud explosion outside the palace. Ning Huaijin was startled when he was distracted, and hurriedly stood up and went out to have a look.

As soon as he went out, he saw fireworks going up to the sky. At that time, the timing seemed to be considered good, and the bright light spots slowly spread across the night, from stamens to full bloom—it was Ning Yan on the night of Longevity Festival. The one you showed him.

The same.

It's just that that time Ning Huaijin stood at the gate of Zichen Hall, with Ning Yan standing beside him, this time he stayed alone in the palace, with only a few servants around him.

But Emperor Chonghua was probably young and energetic, so there was nothing he dared not do.Even if Prince Gong is separated from him by a thick palace wall, His Majesty will always find a way to let him watch the fireworks with him.

The light drawn by the embers of the fireworks fell into Prince Gong's eyes. At this moment, he suddenly saw the meaning behind the young emperor's words.

Acting like a baby is not, neither is being wronged, it is not subduing or admitting mistakes.

Instead, it is full of words that do not repent.