Oriole Line

The secret talks lasted for more than an hour before all the details were finalized.After Xie Kun left, Zhou Yan rubbed his temples, and his eyes fell on the map again. If his mother was still alive, he would be very happy to know that the Central Plains was about to be recovered by him.His mother seemed to appear again in front of his eyes, with slender eyes, high cheekbones, and always red lips.Mother said that they were the first batch of red and blue flower petals in Luoyang collected by the virgins. They were repeatedly pestled and made into the shape of peony petals. daughter.Zhou Yan didn't like his mother's rouge. The color of that rouge reminded him of the blood on his mother's body when she died. The bright red gushed out continuously, which was far warmer and more alive than her mother's rouge.

"Brother Huang." A soft and soft voice came from the apse.In the dim light and shadow of the Wanquan Palace, a young girl in a palace costume stepped out. Her appearance was seventy to eight times similar to that of her mother, with slender eyes and high cheekbones.But the corners of her eyes drooped slightly, showing innocence, and a layer of rouge was applied on her cheekbones, which was the popular Xiaoxia makeup, which weakened the sharpness of her cheekbones.

"Why are you here?" Zhou Yan's tone was rarely relaxed. The person who came was his only sister, Princess Nanping.The first emperor Zhou Shao had many princes and princesses, but in Zhou Yan's heart, only Nanping could be regarded as siblings.His mother died in the Seven Kings Rebellion shortly after giving birth to Princess Nanping, and Nanping traveled south with Zhou Shao when he was still a baby.Later, Concubine Qi doted on the harem, and Nanping was originally the eldest princess, but she was rarely taken seriously. It was not until Zhou Shao came to the throne that Nanping was specially given the position of eldest princess.At the canonization ceremony, Nan Ping, who had been unknown since he was a child, wore gorgeous palace attire and lit bright rouge. At that moment, Zhou Yan seemed to see his mother.

"I made soup and sent it to the emperor." Nanping put the food box on the table and took out a bowl of white fungus and lily soup. , Delicate and charming.

Zhou Yan took a sip and praised: "Nanping's craftsmanship is getting better and better." Nanping was thin and thin, so although he was nearly twenty years old, Zhou Yan felt guilty for a while when he looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.The princesses of the Jing Dynasty were usually married when they were around 16 years old. The former emperor Zhou Shao was in poor health and never cared about the marriage in Nanping. After he became the throne, he had so many things going on that he rarely even went to the harem once.

"After the new year, Nanping will be twenty." Zhou Shaorou said.Although Zhou Yan usually strategizes, he has a rare tenderness for this only sister, "Twenty is not young."

Nan Ping lowered his head, his rouged face turned even redder, adding a bit of girlish shyness.

"If Nanping falls in love with any young talent in the court, the emperor will make the decision for you. The first emperor and mother are gone. People say that the elder brother is like a father, and the emperor is in charge of your affairs."

"Nanping... listen to Brother Huang." Nanping said softly.

Zhou Yan smiled, held Nan Ping's hand and said, "Brother Huang will never wrong you."

52, 52.

Wuchang, the winter solstice.

A few days ago, it snowed heavily in Wuchang, and the whole city of Wuchang was covered in silver.Pu Chen went out of the city to inspect the military camp every day, and he wore a thick woolen cloak when handling military affairs.This day was the winter solstice, and it got dark very early, so Pu Chen gave the soldiers half a day off.Most of their family members were in the city, and Pu Chen asked them to go back early to reunite with their families.

When his black and green horse was stomping and approaching the Governor's Mansion, Pu Chen felt a burst of urgency from the inside out, mixed with a trace of unresolved sweetness.In the past few months after communicating with Wen Tao, they have been in a state of ecstasy and unconsciousness almost every day.Fortunately, Beiyan's army has been broken, and there is no news from Jiankang. He and Wen Tao keep a secret that only they know.

Both of them are at the young age. Although they have cooperated for a long time and shared the same bed several times, the contradiction between familiarity and unfamiliarity with each other's bodies is the most breathtaking.Clearly Pu Chen pinched Wen Tao's neck when he first saw him, but to this day, he is still fascinated by the lines and texture of his neck, especially the welt marks on the front of his neck.The welt marks all over Wen Tao's body are definitely a death spot for Pu Chen, both distressing and taboo.The scar on the front of the neck is usually invisible when wearing a coat, but it is faintly visible when there is only a middle coat indoors.Wen Tao's skin is very sensitive, and these welts will still itch and swell from time to time even after such a long time, sometimes when there are outsiders present, Wen Tao unconsciously scratches the welts on the front of his neck, and a small patch of red appears , Pu Chen felt that his mind went blank, unable to do any thinking.

The worst thing is Tang Yu, who often talks to the Patriarch, and suddenly the Patriarch's expression changes, and then he is thrown out in a different way. He has never felt that the Patriarch is so moody.Recently, the owner of the house got a good silver fox scarf for Wen Tao from nowhere.It was a top-quality silver fox with shiny fur, and it wrapped around Wen Tao's neck, giving him an extra layer of nobility that would keep people away from him thousands of miles away.Only Tang Yu was puzzled, he understood that it was cold and he had to wear a scarf when going out, but why did Wen Tao still wear a scarf when there were two or three braziers in the house?Tang Yu took the time to ask Pu Chen when Wen Tao was away, Pu Chen thought for a while, and said in a secretive way: "Wen Tao injured the Sanjiao Jing in his hand during the Beiyan battle, and the Sanjiao Jing is connected to the shoulder and neck. In cold weather, you must wear a scarf to protect your meridians." Tang Yu suddenly realized that he no longer had any doubts.

"If you see him forgetting to wear it next time, please remind him." Pu Chen still reminded him.Tang Yu nodded naturally.

After Tang Yu left, Wen Tao turned out from the back room, chuckled and said, "I'm talking nonsense again."

Pu Chen laughed heartily, pulled Wen Tao into his arms, and stretched his hand under the silver fox's collar. Under the silver fox's furry texture was Wen Tao's warm skin.Wen Tao tore off the silver fox scarf and complained: "It's so hot, if it wasn't for you, why bother wearing this?"

Pu Chen stroked the welt on Fu Wentao's neck, and said in a low voice, "I don't like others to see it."

Wen Tao snorted softly: "Tang Yu is not an outsider, it's not like he didn't know about your beating me before."

"That's fine in the past, but not now." Pu Chen buried his head in Wen Tao's warm neck, Wen Tao let out an inaudible snort, their civet cat began to bark, and they fell into the deep bed curtain again ...

Pu Chen was thinking wildly, unknowingly he had already entered the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion.As soon as the door was opened, Wen Tao was actually making dumplings.He arranged the wrapped dumplings in a row in an orderly manner, and when he heard the sound of Pu Chen coming in, he didn't stop, said hello, and continued to be obsessed with his dumpling making business.

Pu Chen laughed a little and said: "Let the cooks do this kind of thing. Today is the winter solstice, and everyone in the house eats dumplings. How can you help?"

Wen Tao deftly made a few more dumplings and said, "I just like making dumplings."

Pu Chen knows Wen Tao's temperament, he doesn't look strong at all, and even because of his good-looking face, people mistakenly think that he is easy to bully, but in fact, Wen Tao's decisions rarely change, even in his best days. When being bullied, Pu Chen knew very well that he would not be forced by anyone.

Seeing that Wen Tao had no intention of stopping at all, Pu Chen dragged a chair and sat next to Wen Tao watching him pack.He used to eat dumplings during the winter solstice and Chinese New Year, but he never paid attention to it, and he didn't know how dumplings were made in the first place.He watched Wen Tao's movements of flying up and down, and was a little fascinated: "Why are you so proficient?" He wanted to try it, but Wen Tao tapped his wrist and said in disgust, "Clean your hands before doing it."

Pu Chen obediently cleaned his hands, shook his sleeves, took a piece of Wen Tao's dough and began to imitate it. Wen Tao glanced at it and remained silent. fraudulent.Sure enough, the dough was sticky when held in his hand, stuck to his hands, and he couldn't take it off even after putting it in the sink. When Pu Chen used his strength, the dough broke in an instant.The first dumpling wrapper was killed.

Wen Tao grinned at the corner of his mouth: "I didn't even dry my hands."

Pu Chen looked at Wen Tao's hand, then at his own, and hummed, "Then why didn't you say it earlier?"

Wen Tao blinked: "You didn't ask me."

Unconvinced, Pu Chen cleaned his hands again and dried them carefully.According to Wen Tao's movements, take the skin, add a trap, and fold it in half up and down.As a result, this time, after wrapping half of the dough, I found that there was too much stuffing, and Pu Chen couldn't get it out, so he had to pull the dough and try to wrap it.Unsurprisingly, the second dumpling wrapper was killed.

"Hey, I don't believe it anymore." Pu Chen took another dumpling wrapper.This time, he learned from the previous experience, and only added a little stuffing, which made it much easier to pack, but the skin was much more, so Pu Chen had to fold it inside, and now the whole sheet was covered. The ugliest dumpling was born.Wen Tao’s dumpling skins are thin and round, like rows of soldiers ready to go. Pu Chen’s one is not to mention a size smaller, but also crooked. With its extremely thick dumpling sides, it looks like a dumpling. A crooked turtle shell.

"Hahahahaha..." Wen Tao couldn't hold back his laughter.

Pu Chen was outraged and complained, "Taotao, where did you learn how to make dumplings?"

Wen Tao's smile subsided a little, and he made another one slowly, and said slowly: "I used to want to eat dumplings during the winter solstice, but my family couldn't afford meat. The neighbor's house is a martial artist for a rich family, so I went to make dumplings for them." Dumplings. There are no children in their family and the population is small. I wrapped them carefully, so they gave me some to take home. In the beginning, I was also taught by the martial arts teacher of that family.”

"How can you