Xiao Zhi and Lord Qin

During the New Year, the festive atmosphere of family reunion and joy did not permeate the cold and fortified palace walls at all, giving this towering behemoth a tinge of human warmth.

The bright red palace lanterns are still hanging high from the top, but apart from the occasional chirping of birds, there are only delicate tassels shivering in the cold wind.

Xiao Zhi and Concubine Hui always look sullen and taciturn every day.

Recently, the Ministry of Officials found out a group of problematic officials and sent the list to the emperor.

The emperor opened his mouth and sent it directly to the Ministry of Punishment for strict investigation.

Now, within a few days, the account of the Ministry of Accounting had a rough idea and sent it over.

Xiaozhi knows in his heart that this account can only be seen now, and it is difficult to say clearly what the actual situation is.

Concubine Hui would ask about General Li every day.

Xiaozhi felt that every moment was in a state of anxiety, with no fixed number, until the last day of winter vacation, the Lantern Festival.

Xiao Zhi felt that tomorrow morning he would finally be able to see Mr. Qin in a legitimate way, so that he could see what he looks like now, whether he has lost any weight?The dark circles under the eyes are probably heavier, right?

Sometimes he still thinks, why do they care about the emperor's mess?Lord Qin has already left, it would be fine if... Lord Qin didn't come back.

This year's Shangyuan Festival, the palace has nothing to do, and Concubine Hui is not in the mood.

Xiao Zhi looked at the account of the Ministry of Accounts, and felt that he was neither daring to spend money recklessly nor in the mood.

It was only dusk when Concubine Hui, who was staring at the candlestick, suddenly told him that she wanted to go home and take a look.

Xiao Zhi naturally agreed.

Because they were afraid of trouble during the festival, they took an unidentified carriage and did not bring eunuchs and maids.

This year's Shangyuan Lantern Festival in Beijing is still very lively and full of voices.

Xiaozhi and Concubine Hui were sitting in the spacious carriage, the guards outside the carriage were clearing the way, but the cheerful laughter could still be heard.

The little one seems to be infected, and through the gap in the curtain, he can see the warmth of the ever-changing lanterns on the wide long street outside the window.

Concubine Hui has no interest in these.

Not long after, the carriage arrived at General Li's mansion.

Concubine Hui stood in front of the gate and looked at it for a while before going in.

Because the emperor and the imperial concubine came to visit unexpectedly, most people in the mansion had gone out for the festival, only a few servants were left guarding the front yard.Some old servants who knew their young lady recognized her immediately and rushed towards the old lady's yard.

Concubine Hui didn't wait in the living room, she took the emperor straight to the backyard, and rushed all the way to the courtyard where she lived.

Xiaozhi followed her, and as soon as she entered Concubine Hui's boudoir, she saw her tossing and turning in the room by herself. Not long after, she found an exquisite orchid-shaped lantern.

Concubine Hui sent someone to put candles on the lantern. When the bright candlelight penetrated the pink, blue and purple veil, her originally sullen face gradually smiled along with the light, and she said to the little one with a little pride: "My brother made it for me on the Lantern Festival before. Does it look good?"

Xiao Zhi saw a few lifelike colorful butterflies painted on the light gauze, and sincerely admired: "It's beautiful!"

Concubine Hui frowned, staring at the door behind Xiaozhi, but suddenly burst into tears, with a look of grievance and sadness on her face.

"Aunt~"

Xiaozhi turned her head following Concubine Hui's voice, and a middle-aged woman was leaning against the door. Seeing her turning her head, she hurriedly bowed down, but Concubine Hui rushed to stop her: "Your Majesty, you don't need to be polite. Care about these."

Xiao Zhi didn't have time to say a few words of politeness, Concubine Hui had already said to him quickly: "Your Majesty, why don't you take a stroll in this mansion, the winter plums in the East Courtyard are no worse than those in the Imperial Garden, and my concubine and Auntie are a bit afraid of homely words. I want to talk for a while."

Mrs. Li was frightened and prepared to help Concubine Hui take over the emperor's anger. The emperor nodded amicably, greeted Mrs. Li politely, and led the guards outside the door to leave.

Concubine Hui sat the dumbfounded Mrs. Li and closed the door.

Xiao Zhi asked the servant of Li's mansion to lead the way, and when he arrived at Tiananmen Square, the servant who was trembling all the way hurriedly kowtowed and left.

Xiao Zhi looked at the indistinct Lamei in the dark night and fell into silence.He found a stone bench and sat down. When he looked up, he saw the bright moon in the sky, accompanied by a few scattered stars in the sky.

Suddenly, there was a sound of firecrackers, and colorful sparks ignited in the air, which drove away the coldness of the moonlight and became noisy and lively.

After a while, every house lit up fireworks one after another, and more firecrackers sounded. Xiao Zhi raised his eyes and saw the sparks shining in his eyes, but he didn't feel crowded at all.

The moon watched quietly, and before the puff of gunpowder smoke cleared, another beam of fire burst into the sky, exploded, and scattered colorful and bright sparks.

When Xiao Zhi saw fireworks for the first time, he always felt that people crushed the stars, dyed them with various colors, and hid them.

When we are happy, we hate to see others lonely and sad, even the moon.So, whenever everyone wants to celebrate, they send crumbled stars to the moon, even if it's fleeting.

But Xiaozhi felt that he didn't want to be a willful star who often hides, nor did he want to be a firework that soothes loneliness but is fleeting. He wanted to see Master Qin, and he wanted to see Master Qin for the rest of his life.

……

Sitting in the carriage, the little heart kept beating wildly.

He no longer remembered how he told the guards beside him that he was driving to the Qin Mansion. When he regained his composure, he found that he was sitting in the carriage and had already traveled a certain distance.

Soon, the carriage stopped.

Xiao Zhi felt a little regretful in his heart, feeling that he was too impulsive, but in the next second, he got off the carriage without hesitation.

Standing in front of the Qin Mansion's door, he comforted himself that he would not disturb Mr. Qin, just take a peek at him and leave.

With the emperor's order, Xiao Zhi had already quietly stood outside Lord Qin's room.

He followed the maid who brought hot soup into the room, and hid behind the screen, Mr. Qin was bent over and lowered his head, still busy at the desk in front of the window.

When the maid left, Xiao Zhi was not willing to leave with her, he wanted to stay a little longer, and she would come to collect the bowls before leaving.

The room was very warm with the stove burning. Mr. Qin was wearing a very nice sky-blue thin shirt. His long hair was tied neatly behind his head, and he could clearly see the undulations of Mr. Qin's back outlined by the thin gown. Graceful lines, narrow waist, wide but slightly thin shoulders, and the exposed white and slender neck...

"Does it look good?" Master Qin's sudden voice pulled Xiao Zhi back from his thoughts that were drifting further and further away. He was extremely flustered and didn't know how to explain it.

Master Qin turned his head and looked at him with a smile, and said softly, "Come and have some soup."

Most of the panic in Xiao Zhi's heart was extinguished by Master Qin's smile, and his eyes fell from Master Qin's smiling face to the distressed desktop on the desk for a moment.

An orange had been peeled in a mess, Master Qin's clean hands were full of orange liquid.

Lord Qin smiled awkwardly, stood up and went to find a handkerchief to wipe his hands clean.

Xiaozhi walked over silently and put the already horrible orange aside, took another orange from the fruit plate on the table, found a knife and cut it into pieces carefully.

Master Qin sat down and explained: "I want to see if I can peel it off directly."

Xiao Zhi silently complained in his heart, so it turned out that Mr. Qin would also want to be lazy.

Master Qin gathered the official documents of the case into a pile, pushed the hot soup in front of Xiao Zhi, and said with a smile: "Eat it while it's hot."

Xiaozhi scooped up a Lantern Festival with the spoon in his hand, and stared down at the soup bowl, only to realize that it was a bowl of sweet soup.

Mr. Qin ate the orange petal by petal, and looked at the little one with its head buried in the back of its head with great interest. The back of the emperor's head is really round.

"Master Qin, don't you want to eat it?" Xiao Zhi vaguely said with a whole Lantern Festival in his mouth.

Master Qin rolled his eyes and shook his head: "Eat slowly, don't worry, go back after eating."

After hearing this, the little one quickly changed to taking small bites, but it was such a small bowl, no matter how long it took to swallow it slowly, the little one would eat it all.

On the way back, Master Qin sent him to the gate, holding a lotus lantern he got somewhere and gave it to Xiao Zhi.

Sitting in the carriage with the lotus lamp on his shoulders, Xiao Zhi struggled all the way whether to tell the truth to Concubine Hui.But when he took over Concubine Hui from the Li Mansion, Concubine Hui didn't ask him where he had gone, but just looked at the lotus lantern in his hand with a strange expression.

Sitting in the carriage with a lantern in their arms, the two looked at each other, both thinking that the other was very strange.