novelhk Chapter 166: Eating Melon Cui Zimin
Chapter 166: Eating Melon Cui Zimin
The New Year was not very enjoyable. There were few people in the palace and it was not very lively.
The year was just average. Two consecutive years of severe cold weather affected the harvest. Even the people did not celebrate and hold the festive and auspicious lantern festivals as in previous years.
Zhao Fangyu cleaned up a new room in Yunshan Courtyard and used it as his own perfume-making workshop. As a result, Zhou Qinghe also got a brand new study room in Yunshan Courtyard and no longer had to run to the outer courtyard every day.
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, are quite harmonious.
Zhao Fangyu counted the accounts before the New Year and was happy to see that the rice shop's business was growing bigger and bigger.
Shisiniang sent a letter saying that she would return to Longxi soon.
Her wounds have almost healed, and now there is only a faint red mark on her face.
The doctor said that if I kept applying the medicine, maybe one day the red marks would disappear, or maybe they would never disappear.
There was no definite answer and what was said was not binding. Shisiniang wanted to go back to Longxi herself. She said that she was not happy running at the horse farm in the capital.
Zhao Fangyu and Shisiniang made an appointment to get together at Zhao Fangjin's small banquet at the end of the month.
Zhou Qinghe and Zhao Fangyu seemed to be in a cold war, but also seemed not to be. However, to the people around them, it felt that the two people had suddenly become much more distant.
It was as if she had returned to the time when she was first granted marriage.
Zhou Qinghe didn't show it on his face, but he was worried inside. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would go to his cheap fourth brother to chat.
"Did my second brother and my sister-in-law have a fight?"
The Fourth Prince couldn't drink as much as Zhou Qinghe and didn't want to be drunk again, so he woke up unconscious in a corner of the palace and tried to take the initiative.
Zhou Qinghe's hand that was pouring the wine finally stopped in front of him: "Did you figure it out?"
The fourth prince: "..." As expected...
Zhou Qinghe was good-looking, and even when he looked sad, he still had an indescribable elegance and grace: "It's my fault. I said something careless and offended her."
The Fourth Prince didn't understand why his second brother, who had such an invincible face, would make his second sister-in-law angry with him for so long just because of an unintentional remark.
I'm afraid it's more than just a careless remark.
"Your Highness, Master Cui is here."
The fourth prince hurriedly called for Cui Zimin to come over. After a while, Cui Zimin came slowly in a snowy robe.
The long white brocade robe fluttered like clouds and mist, and a jade belt made her shoulders look broader and her waist narrower.
Like bamboo smoke, locust rain, and cold moonlight.
With a third person present, Zhou Qinghe couldn't talk about the private matters between the couple anymore.
Unexpectedly, Cui Zimin saw Zhou Qinghe drinking to drown his sorrows, so he apologized as soon as they met and punished himself with three cups.
Zhou Qinghe and the Fourth Prince said nothing as they watched Cui Zimin drink three glasses of wine with a sad face. After just a few glasses of wine, his fair face turned slightly red, from the end of his eyebrows under his eyes, all the way to his neck.
Zhou Qinghe thought that the person must be drunk, but unexpectedly Cui Zimin was talking to the Fourth Prince calmly.
The Fourth Prince was familiar with Cui Zimin. His mother was from the Cui family, and he had been exchanging letters with Cui Zimin since he was a child.
Cui Zimin's drunkenness was all over his face. Zhou Qinghe was too lazy to move and sat in the armchair drinking alone. Perhaps it was the alcohol that was playing tricks on him, his voice was neither loud nor soft, accompanied by the smell of benzoin. Zhou Qinghe actually fell asleep in the armchair in the flower hall in this awkward position!
Fortunately, the charcoal basin in the hall was burning brightly, otherwise I would have to call the imperial physician tonight if I continued sleeping like this.
"My second brother was sleeping soundly. I came here, but was driven away by my second brother in a daze."
The Fourth Prince looked tired, obviously having not slept all day, and was squatting here guarding Zhou Qinghe.
Poor him, he was first caught by his second brother to complain to, then caught by his good brother to complain to, now his good brother is gone and he still has to coax his second brother.
Zhou Qinghe was helped by Xuanbi to wash his face, and then he gradually remembered that Cui Zimin had come just now.
It seems that she is just like him, trapped in love.
"Master Cui's fiancée has a rather violent personality?"
The Fourth Prince had no idea what was going on and could only laugh it off, but Zhou Qinghe was just asleep, not dead. The alcohol wore off and his memory returned.
Zhou Qinghe discovered the weakness of Lord Cui, who had no relatives in the court.
"He proposed to the wife he had been looking for so long without finding out more details. Who can he blame?"
At the end, Zhou Qinghe, who was rinsing his mouth with tea, did not forget to add: "Young people are impatient."
The Fourth Prince frowned as he escorted Zhou Qinghe out of the yard. After the people left, he immediately ordered someone to seal the gate of the palace.
He won't see anyone for the next three days!
Zhou Qinghe had originally gone to the Fourth Prince's residence to drink away his sorrows, but now that he had some fun, he happily came to share it with Zhao Fangyu, also hoping to ease the situation.
It was a rare occasion for Zhao Fangyu to sit under the window and listen to books. Chunshao read the storybook to her, and Zhao Fangyu sat beside her with her eyes closed to rest, while Suer applied facial medicine on her and wiped her hair bit by bit.
She has already washed up.
Zhou Qinghe picked up two tangerines and put them near the charcoal stove to roast: "Qinghe Jun Cui Zimin, do you know?"
Zhao Fangyu closed his eyes, thinking of Sun Heyun's somewhat harsh face: "Remember, if you have poor eyesight, you should marry Sun Heyun, the daughter of the prefect of Longxi Prefecture."
"Do you know her?" Zhou Qinghe remembered that Zhao Fangyu had been to Longxi, and he couldn't help but become more curious about this violent girl.
"We've met a few times and said hello when we met."
"Her family also held a Peach Blossom Banquet at that time, and I went there with my grandparents."
Even those in the capital have heard of the Longxi Peach Blossom. Zhou Qinghe recalled the famous Qinghe Jun who was trapped in love and punished himself with three cups of wine as soon as he entered the house, and said with a smile: "Qinghe Jun is trapped in love, and today he went to Xiao Si's place to get drunk."
"When I got drunk, I complained to Xiao Si, saying that I had thought he was a broad-minded and insightful person when I first heard his piano music, but I didn't expect that he would abuse his illegitimate sister in private."
Both Zhao Fangyu and Zhou Qinghe knew that any respectable family would not abuse a child born out of wedlock.
Even the most vicious mistress would only raise the girl to a certain age and then sell her like a piglet, to a widower, an old merchant or a petty official, as long as they could afford the money.
Just like a brothel madam.
Even so, I have never heard of any rumor of abusing illegitimate children. The bigger the family, the more respectable they are, and they hide everything up their sleeves. There is the Censorate in the capital, and if you can't handle the affairs inside the palace, you will be reported to the authorities.
Now, the news of Sun Heyun's abuse of his illegitimate child has even reached Kyoto. I wonder how big a fuss this will cause!
Zhou Qinghe slowly told everyone the news he knew, like fishing, placing bait little by little.
Zhao Fangyu knew that he was actively seeking peace, so he also walked down the stairs.
They are just a fake couple, they both live day by day, and they are also facing the countdown of the country's destruction and the family's demise in the future. How can they have the mind to talk about love?
History tells her that she should not be a dodder for men, but a tree that stands shoulder to shoulder with them or even taller than them, so that she can live freely.
Placing hope on a man is the most foolish behavior, and indulging in love is the beginning of a woman's downfall.
She will not respond to Zhou Qinghe's love, but this does not prevent her from being Zhou Qinghe's companion.
"Wait, you said Cui Zimin fell in love with Sun Heyun because of the Requiem at the Peach Banquet?"
As Zhao Fangyu was eating the bait, he realized something was wrong.