Farewell Flower Festival

In the kitchen, Eunuch Wu had prepared the skin and stuffing, and was waiting to wrap them. After the two came over, Eunuch Wu first demonstrated the process of making dumplings to Mu Tianling, and he easily pinched out a circle of beautiful lace. Chao Yan kept praising Eunuch Wu for his ingenuity, and then looked at the dumplings made by Mu Tianling, where the skin was broken. Chao Yan kindly reminded him to be gentler, but he snorted, seemingly not appreciating it.

Chaoyan was too lazy to care about him and focused on making her own dumplings. Mu Tianling glanced at her, his mouth twitched slightly, with an expression of "what the hell is that?" Chaoyan looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction, carefully pinched the edges of the dumplings that were as round as a full moon, and after finishing, she made another full moon dumpling. Mu Tianling opened his mouth slightly as if to ridicule her masterpiece, and listened to her muttering to herself, "One for the prince, one for the uncle, and one for me." He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, and his expression unconsciously added a touch of softness. The three of them gathered together to make dumplings like this, which made him feel a long-lost warm atmosphere. For the first time, he felt that the winter in this cold palace was also a little warm.

After the steaming dumplings came out of the pot, Mu Tianling looked at the conspicuous full-moon dumpling in the bowl. He felt that after being cooked, it looked more like a steamed bun, which had a subtle sense of funnyness. When he poked it with a spoon, it became even more subtle.

"It turns out that His Highness likes the dumplings made by Xiao Lian so much that he is reluctant to eat them." said Eunuch Wu.

Chao Yan said: "Then I will pack more for Your Highness next time."

Mu Tianling: “…”

……

After the winter solstice, there were two more heavy snowfalls, and in the blink of an eye, New Year's Eve was approaching.

It is the busiest time of the year in the Inner Court. The embroiderers and craftsmen there work overtime to make custom-made clothes and jewelry for the concubines in each palace. People come and go in the palaces, and the whole place is bustling with joy.

It was still deserted outside the Xueyin Palace, without a single visitor. Compared with the lively atmosphere outside the palace walls, it seemed even more desolate and lonely, like a deserted island isolated from the outside, forgotten by everyone else. The end of the year was approaching, and the imperial kitchen was extremely busy. Meals were not delivered on time as usual, sometimes an hour late, sometimes an hour late. However, Aunt Sun did not send anyone to deliver meals like Aunt Li did before.

Although it was deserted and bleak outside, it was a different scene inside. The people inside did not just get through the New Year perfunctorily just because no one was interested.

Chao Yan started urging Mu Tianling to write couplets and the word "Fu" a few days ago. She followed Eunuch Wu to learn how to cut paper-cuts. In the evening, Eunuch Wu would go out to search for some ingredients and would never return empty-handed.

On New Year's Eve, Chao Yan got up early in the morning and pulled Mu Tianling away, who was still practicing boxing in the yard, and asked him to help paste up couplets and blessing characters. Eunuch Wu was busy in the kitchen. The ingredients he had collected these days were enough to prepare a New Year's Eve dinner.

When Eunuch Wu came over with breakfast, Chao Yan was directing Mu Tianling to paste the horizontal scroll of the couplet, sometimes asking him to move it to the left, sometimes to the right. She felt that he was about to lose his temper, so she said okay and complained in her heart that she really couldn't do anything about it.

Eunuch Wu looked at the four characters written on the horizontal scroll and praised, "May everything go well. This is a good meaning." Chaoyan also praised, "The characters are well written." Mu Tianling hummed and walked into the house. Chaoyan raised his hand to his mouth and asked quietly, "Uncle, does His Highness not like others to praise him?" Eunuch Wu smiled and replied, "His Highness is very happy." Chaoyan thought to herself, why didn't I see that he was happy?

After breakfast, Eunuch Wu asked Chaoyan to go back to the room to try on the new clothes to see if they fit. She was once again moved by Eunuch Wu's attentiveness and thoughtfulness. After pasting the couplets, she couldn't wait to go back to the room to try on the new clothes.

After changing into new clothes, she sat in front of the dressing table and began to dress up, applying rouge, drawing eyebrows and lipstick. The hair that was originally covering her right eye was pulled up. It was the first time she showed her whole face. She felt a little embarrassed. The scar on her face was almost invisible. With some powder, it was even less noticeable.

Chaoyan looked at the face in the bronze mirror and sighed in her heart that it looked too much like her. She then looked at her makeup for a long while, wondering if she had dressed up too well. However, when she thought of Mu Tianling's reaction when he saw her later, she suddenly became a little excited. She quickly drove away the thought. She didn't dress up for him. New Year, new atmosphere, and she wanted to greet the future with a brand new self.

After opening the door, she first stuck her head out and looked around. She was still a little embarrassed to go out, so she raised her hand and touched the area around her right eye. She could no longer feel the rise and fall of the scar. To be honest, she didn't expect the scar to heal so quickly. Although it had been three or four months, such burns would be almost impossible to heal even if she returned to the modern world without any treatment. Perhaps it was because she traveled through time and space, so her physique was special. However, it was a good thing to be able to restore her appearance. Moreover, this face looked so much like her. Perhaps she had some kind of fate with this world.

Mu Tianling was practicing calligraphy in the room when he saw a figure peeking out of the door. When Chao Yan peeped in again, he was startled by the person who suddenly appeared at the door.

When he saw that face, Mu Tianling was a little dazed. It was the first time he saw Chao Yan dressed up so carefully, and his heart seemed to be hit by something out of the blue.

Chaoyan poked her finger nervously, still expecting him to say something, as long as it wasn't derogatory. Mu Tianling bent down, leaned closer and stared at her face. Chaoyan felt her heart pounding, wondering why he was so close to her, was there something wrong with his eyes?

"You..." Mu Tianling paused, and Chaoyan felt her nerves tense up as well. She didn't know what would come out of that mouth. In the end, he stopped talking and turned away. Chaoyan was furious, as if the ice cream she had just picked up fell to the ground, making her angry. Then she heard him say, "Come here and grind the ink." She was so angry that she wanted to take off her shoes and hit him on the back of the head. After calming down for two seconds, she followed him and ground the ink reluctantly, muttering to herself countless times.

After writing a few words, Mu Tianling asked casually, "How did your face get better?"

Chaoyan: “…” Do you think I’m getting better too quickly?

Mu Tianling glanced at her and said, "But she looks a little better now than before."

Chao Yan forced a smile and said, "Your Highness is now more pleasing to the eye than before."

Mu Tianling said: "Don't have any improper thoughts, I am not interested in you."

Chaoyan laughed in her heart, as if someone was interested in you.

When Eunuch Wu saw Chao Yan, he praised her in person. She was very satisfied and the anger she had received from Mu Tianling immediately disappeared. She happily waited for the New Year's Eve dinner.