"Taoist, when does spring begin?"
Mao'er's voice interrupted the Taoist's contemplation. As soon as the Taoist lowered his head, he met her sparkling amber eyes.
"There's still more than a month."
"More than a month!"
"What's wrong?"
"Are we leaving Changjing again?"
"Yes."
"You won't be able to see her in the future, right?" The calico cat turned to look outside as he spoke, obviously talking about the Wu heroine who had just left, "Just like Shu."
"It may take many years before we see it."
"right……"
"Is the Sanhua Empress reluctant to part with her?"
"Well……"
Mao'er raised her head and stared at her. Those eyes were really beautiful. There were doubts and thoughts in them, but they still looked pure. After a while, she said: "Empress Sanhua just thinks that the heroine is stupid. Maybe Without Sanhua Empress, it will take a long time to learn calligraphy well, and Sanhua Empress thinks she is a bit powerful, so she might learn it quickly..."
"Afraid that she will surpass Sanhua Empress without realizing it?"
"..."
Mao'er stared at him blankly, wanting to refute in his heart, but couldn't say anything, so he just stared at him blankly.
"This is called reluctance," the Taoist said to her.
"Is this why you can't bear it?"
"It's a form of reluctance, called caring."
"Well?"
"Sanhua Empress does not know something, and the forms of reluctance are ever-changing. Some are easily discovered by us and can be known on the spot, while others are hidden deep and will not be discovered until a long time later." The Taoist calmly faced the cat in front of him. Er said, seeing her thoughtful expression, he immediately said, "But if Sanhua Empress doesn't want to be surpassed by the students of that year when we meet again many years later, she should put more thought into her studies."
"you're right……"
Mao'er thought thoughtfully and nodded subconsciously, but quickly asked in confusion:
"Is the prince the emperor's son?"
"Yes."
"Why would he hack to death the person who was helping us?"
"Human affairs are complicated and difficult to explain." Song You was silent for a while before saying, "There are rules in the world, and these are the rules in the world now."
"Unreasonable!"
"Miss Sanhua is reasonable." Song You echoed her, "This is a disease of the times. Small things are useless, big things are troublesome, and it will take a long time. Let us go and see other places in the world first."
"Then where will we go in the spring?"
"Go south."
"Southside."
"Going south is Fengzhou, and there is Mount Ye in Fengzhou. I wonder what the emperor and the imperial master are doing there." Song You said to her calmly, "That is another world, and it is also outside the world."
"Beyond the human world..."
The cat repeated his words, lay down motionless, and stared at him.
The Taoist also sat still, as if in trance.
There are more and more ghosts in the world.
It seems to indicate that the underworld will be completed.
There must be more than just the Imperial Master in the Ghost City of Yeshan. The emperor’s plot is the Lord of the Underworld, the Underground Ghost Emperor. However, gods are different from humans. This emperor may be a great emperor. He can be an emperor, but it is not feasible to be the lord of the underworld who is far away from the human world and will not abdicate. Morality is more important to gods than ability. What's more, Song You is still not sure whether the war in the north that started more than 20 years ago and ended in the past two years is related to this. What if the human emperor ruined tens of millions of lives in the north in order to become the ghost emperor and speed up the construction of the underworld? He could be the Ghost King.
Song You has more doubts.
In short, you have to go to Yeshan first to see it.
There is no need to be too hasty. The fact that this kind of thing can take decades as a span is already the result of the artificial promotion of the national preceptor and the emperor. Normally, it may take hundreds of years to evolve.
…
Several days passed in succession.
Wu Nuxia has not come back for several days. I wonder if she has found Doctor Cai. However, the government came to invite Empress Sanhua again, and invited Empress Sanhua to catch ghosts outside the city, and earned another reward.
Just in time for the winter solstice.
The winter solstice is the day with the longest night and shortest day of the year. The yin is strong and the yang is weak. For Changjing people, it is also somewhat different from most other solar terms——
Officials are on holiday during the winter solstice.
Officials take a three-day holiday. Affected by this, many workers in Changjing will also take a day off. Even those who work hard to make a living without a holiday often treat themselves to something good to drive away the cold.
The streets are also very lively on this day.
There was a tradition of drinking mutton soup during the winter solstice in Song You's hometown, so he took Sanhua Empress' newly earned money and took her for a walk around the West Market, saying that he would cook her a pot of mutton soup.
Sanhua Empress understands the truth and knows that it is appropriate to use money to buy meat to eat. It is better than using it to buy other useless things. Going out to catch rats and exorcise evil spirits for people to earn money and then use it to buy meat is actually not much different from going out to catch rabbits and fish and come back to eat them. It is more convenient, but why she has to eat mutton makes her a little puzzled.
Mutton is the most expensive.
"Mutton is a winter tonic. It can protect against wind and cold and replenish qi and blood. It is very suitable to eat mutton in winter."
The Taoist said to her as he walked.
Mao'er always had a lot of questions, doubts in her heart, and wanted to ask a lot of why, but she was a cat, and there were so many people here, so she couldn't speak, so she had to hold back and silently follow the Taoist to watch him spend money.
I saw that the Taoist first bought a few kilograms of mutton, bought two crucian carp, cut a small square of tofu, searched most of the Western Market, bought a handful of pea tips, and bought a lot of spices for the next time he left Beijing. Be prepared. It is not that easy to buy all these spices and ensure the quality after leaving the capital. At least you have to prepare enough to go to Yangdu.
I've bought all the spices, and I smell the smell. I feel like it would be a bit uninteresting if I didn't buy a pound of beef and half a chicken.
The Taoist turned back to discuss with Mao'er.
Mao'er didn't express his opinion, but he thought he was willing to do so.
The Taoist spent a lot of money, so he took his things and the cat and walked slowly through Changjing. When he got home, he started busy.
Sanhua Empress transformed into a human form and sat in front of the stove to light the fire. While lighting the fire, she raised her head and stared at his movements. I don't know whether it was pure confusion or a subtle expression that he had spent more money:
"Why did you buy two fish to make mutton soup?"
"Ms. Sanhua doesn't know something. In my hometown, crucian carp is always added to mutton soup." Song You smiled, and even though he was busy, he still talked to her, "Ms. Sanhua, does she know how to write fresh characters?"
"Know."
"How to write it?"
"Write like this!"
The little girl took out the firewood she had chosen to help herself burn other firewood from the stove, and made a few gestures in the air.
"Fish and mutton are delicacies, so in my hometown, mutton soup must be added with crucian carp. The crucian carp is fried and boiled, and then cooked with mutton. The soup is as white as milk and very delicious." Song You is very patient.
"Then it's not called mutton soup, it's called fish and mutton soup."
"Miss Sanhua is smart."
"You can also call it fresh meat soup!"
"Sanhua Empress draws inferences from one example."
"Can I add a mouse?"
"..."
"Fish is delicious, so are rats. It must be better."
"..."
"Why don't you speak?"
"Ms. Sanhua has an innovative spirit."
"Innovative spirit?"
"Praise."
"Yes!"
The little girl nodded seriously and continued to put firewood.
With a breath, the fire in the stove quickly grew louder.
After lighting the fire, she looked up at the Taoist being busy.
It was cold outside and there was a fire in the stove, which made the small space in front of the stove extremely warm. In addition, this small space was too small, so it seemed even warmer. Sanhua Empress likes this kind of environment. In addition, the Taoist priests in front were busy making various noises and talking to her. As the fireworks rose, it was easy to give her a sense of peace of mind.
If only I could keep the fire burning.
Empress Sanhua couldn't help but think.
However, the Taoist in front quickly and quickly stewed the beef and chicken, and the mutton soup began to stew.
The Taoist wiped his hands and felt a little free.
When he lowered his head again, the little girl looked up and stared at him, her eyes seemed to be able to speak, but she didn't know what she was talking about.
"What does Sanhua Empress want?"
"I want the Taoist priest to cook it more slowly."
"Can."
"Why don't you ask why?"
"Because I was the same age as Empress Sanhua, and I also liked to make fires when I was a child." The Taoist smiled and looked at her, "When I was a child, I would ask my master every day if he could take a bath, because if she wanted to take a bath, she would need a big pot. The hot water can keep the fire going for a long time, but it’s a pity that she is a lazy person.”
After hearing this, Sanhua Empress only felt that nothing could be hidden from him.
"You seem to be very smart!"
"Only slightly inferior to Sanhua Empress."
"But……"
Sanhua Empress blinked her eyes a few times, and a new doubt came to her: "We are already full from eating fish and mutton soup, why do we need to buy a chicken?"
"It won't go bad in the winter, so you can eat a few more good meals."
"But you are going to visit the fox in a few days, ask her something, and buy a chicken, so we have to buy two chickens in just a few days."
After buying two chickens in just a few days, Sanhua Empress felt that life was not like this.
"What you said makes sense..."
The Taoist lowered his head and stared at the little girl.
The little girl also stared at him.
The two seemed to exchange opinions.
Not long after, the mutton soup was cooked. The Taoist added salt, tasted it, put it in a casserole, and then took out the braised chicken and beef from another pot, and found out where he had come from on the first day back to Beijing. Yun Chunlou put the basket that was given to him when packing the meals, and two figures, one large and one small, one holding a casserole and the other holding a basket, went out and quickly headed towards Hexian Tower.
It's cold today, and there's even a hint of snow falling in the sky, but there are still many pedestrians on the street. The Taoist priest and the girl walked by, and I don't know how many people were attracted by the wafting fragrance.
The Taoist walked very fast, and the little girl also moved her legs very fast.
There are more people in Hexian Tower.
Because the officials of Dayan took a rest during the winter solstice, the most powerful and elegant people in the city were all free today, so they naturally wanted to visit Miss Wanjiang, who was seriously ill.
When Song You arrived outside the door, he saw how many dignitaries had gathered inside. At this time, they had all changed out of their official uniforms. They had just cleaned themselves up and put on clothes commonly worn by literati, so as not to look tacky. The gifts are either rare medicinal materials, expensive pills, or exotic fruits and vegetables shipped from far away places.
There was a lot of worry and anxiety on everyone's faces.
"I heard that Miss Wanjiang is in poor health again..."
"Isn't that right? The last time I heard Miss Wanjiang playing the harp, I was lucky enough to listen to half of the song downstairs when winter just entered. The lingering sound lingered in my ears. In January, I didn't know the taste of meat, and I only felt that the fairy music was nothing more than that. I was still thinking about it when I got back. A colleague is bragging, well, I just hope that song doesn’t become a perfect tune.”
"I haven't heard Miss Wan Jiang's piano for a long time. I really miss the days of drinking and listening to the piano. At that time, I just felt normal. But now that I think about it, it is clearly a palace on earth."
"Is Miss Wanjiang still not welcoming guests?"
"I met him a few days ago. His face was pale and he was coughing badly. He had to be helped by the maid when he walked."
"I am jealous of talented people..."
"I asked my classmates in the army from the north to send some good white mushrooms. I just hope that the servants of Hexian Tower can accept them on behalf of Miss Wanjiang."
"I also asked someone from Fengzhou to buy some pomegranates and put a lot of effort into it. I heard that Miss Wanjiang doesn't eat meat and eats only fruits and vegetables in her life. Alas, I only hope she can recover as soon as possible. Without the sound of her piano, The sky in Changjing is a bit darker."
As soon as the Taoist priest and the girl reached the door, they couldn't help but stop and listen to these sounds.
The girl tilted her head, puzzled.
If she hadn't been holding the casserole and couldn't tell it apart, she would have started scratching her head by now.
(End of chapter)
