Self-help guide for non-professional young masters

"My lord, just now someone knocked on the door of the palace, left a basket of green plums and ran away. I saw that the tops of these plums were a little red, and they should have been sent from the south. It has been snowing in the capital recently, so I can't taste them." If it tastes like this, I will make my own decisions and keep it.”

Butler Liu deliberately picked a plate of blushing ones and brought them to Xiao Beicheng, watching him fiddle with the charcoal fire in the small clay stove with a bamboo stick without raising his head, and said: "You stay behind closed doors these days, come to visit I don’t even see anyone here, and no one else is allowed to go to Suyun Temple to offer incense, and I don’t say a word all day long, just stare blankly at the folding fan left by my husband, I’m very worried about you.”

Xiao Beicheng stopped his movements, put down the bamboo stick after a long time, put his hands in his sleeves, looked at the frozen lotus pond, sighed and breathed out a mouthful of white mist, finally glanced at the plums sent by the other party.

"The appearance is good, but it's a pity that this king has never liked this sour taste... Speaking of which, he seems to be unable to taste the taste when he is sick. He always eats a few pieces of sour plum soft cake when he is free. I once ridiculed him for being sour..."

Talking like this, he ordered the servant girl to bring a small casserole and rock sugar, moved the teapot on the clay stove, and fried green plums with weak tea.

Those plums were picked out by himself with a knife, and then cut into thin slices. When the water boiled, they were poured into the tea soup. After simmering for half an hour, it was the most refreshing plum soup in midsummer. After another hour, it was plum soup. up.

Xiao Beicheng also asked: "You said that when it was snowing in the early winter, would he accuse me of doing something inappropriate if he drank it?"

"My lord..."

Butler Liu hesitated to speak.

It's been more than a full month, Junziyou's May [-]th is almost over, but he still hasn't been able to get out of the haze of death.

The two were relatively silent in the Huxin Pavilion, when the plum soup was fried, Xiao Beicheng put it on a plate, took a sip, and suddenly burst into tears.

"Sour and bitter, it really is the taste in my heart..."

Seeing this, Butler Liu hurriedly poured all the rock sugar on the plate into the casserole, stirred it with a spoon, and added some to the plate for him.

"My lord forgot to add sugar. Plums are already sour, but when added to the tea soup, it will be even more bitter. If you don't add some sugar, it will be difficult to swallow. Try it now."

The man tasted it, and his expression eased a little, "It tastes better, so I took these and sent them to Suyun Temple. He likes to eat sour food, but he didn't taste this king's handicraft much before his death. After he leaves, he has to leave something to think about, otherwise what should he do if he doesn't come back..."

Butler Liu couldn't bear to tell him that after he left, he would never come back again, so he smiled at him hesitantly, and comforted him: "Don't worry, my lord, sir, this life is not blessed, and you will live a long life in the next life. You are here Wait for him, wait for him to be reincarnated, when the fate comes, we will definitely meet again."

Xiao Beicheng wanted to answer, but coughed a few times from his throat.

Yesterday Dr. Jiang was invited to feel his pulse, and he said that his body was bad because of Junziyou's death.

Steward Liu sighed, and tried to persuade him like a child: "My lord, it's getting cold, let's go back to the house."

"Alright."

He helped the man up, walked in the opposite direction to Yonghe Tower, and sent him to Nongyu Xiaozhu.

These days, Xiao Beicheng lived there alone, and all the furnishings in the house kept the appearance of Jun Ziyou before his death, and no one was allowed to enter the door except Steward Liu.

He said that those servants, including Shen Ci, were all clumsy, afraid that people would damage things, so they always cleaned them by themselves.

King Jin, who had never worked before, took a feather duster every day, dipped a cotton cloth in the water from the deep well in the cold weather, wiped off the accumulated dust little by little, and carefully preserved the traces of the man's presence. .

Thinking that Nongyu Xiaozhu was better heated than the other courtyards, Steward Liu acquiesced in allowing him to live here. Every night when he came to see him with a lantern, the man would hold Junziyou's belongings and sleep by the side of the bed.He had to persuade him before he woke up in a daze, and he was willing to take off his outer shirt and go to sleep, and he had to visit several times in the night, for fear that the man would kick the quilt and catch the cold.

Steward Liu sometimes even felt that it was the gentleman's exile that stimulated the lord too much, so he followed the traces left by that person in his life and lived himself like that person.

Later, when I saw Xiao Beicheng often in a trance, and secretly saddened by that person's belongings, I realized that only love can make people thinner day by day.

He waited for Xiao Beicheng to take off his outer shirt, seeing the man's pale face, he persuaded him to take a nap in the afternoon, not wanting him to sneak out again while he was not paying attention, so he brought Xiao Hei to help supervise the man.

Although Xiao Beicheng was heartbroken by Junziyou's death, he understood the priorities. After lying down, he chatted with Steward Liu, and the latter fed him a mind-soothing pill specially made by Dr. Jiang, and also ordered it to calm the nerves Incense, and he fell asleep after a while.

Steward Liu tucked up the quilt for the person, and went out after confirming that there was nothing wrong. When he returned to the Huxin Pavilion to clean up, the plum soup was already muddy.

He hurriedly turned off the fire and stirred it with a bamboo spoon, but it still couldn't change the fact that things had been messed up.

Steward Liu was also a little distressed. While tidying up, he recalled how Xiao Beicheng had cooked the plum soup. He was only halfway through when Shen Ci came to report: "Housekeeper, someone is here."

"My lord said that I will not see anyone during this period, and if anyone comes, I will send them away."

"It's... Minister of the Ministry of Justice, that jumping chicken surnamed Ye."

Steward Liu fiddled with the paste, "What is he doing here? What kind of heart does the weasel pay for the chicken?"

"That's right, I also feel that his purpose is not pure, it must be because our prince has been nesting in the mansion for a month, never going out to meet people, even the emperor didn't ask questions, so he thought the prince was easy to bully, so he came to the door Show off your might. Look at me and beat him back..."

"Wait, you're right. If he just wants to make the prince heartbroken, he can do something when the husband passes away, but he hasn't done anything for more than a month, so the purpose is not simple. It's better to let him in. , I'll go meet him."

After all, Steward Liu handed over the chores to the servant girl, changed into solemn clothes, and went to meet Ye Lanchen in the reception hall.

When he arrived, Ye Lanchen was standing in front of the courtyard, looking at a dead branch growing in the landscape paved with gravel, stretched out his hand to brush away the snow on it, and when he saw Butler Liu came, he got up, Chaoren nodded slightly.

"Although I came late, I still want to express my condolences to the prince for being late. I trouble Housekeeper Liu to pass it on."

"Thank you, Mr. Ye, for your concern. The prince is in a bad mood these days. He won't see anyone who comes. Please forgive me."

"Of course, I can understand the prince's mood. When I passed the death test a few years ago, I didn't think about food and drink, and it was difficult to understand the mysteries of life and death. Later, I gradually understood that birth, old age, sickness and death are reincarnations in the world, and people have to experience them. "

Without the domineering aura of the past, Steward Liu secretly sighed that he hadn't seen him for a few days. This person is really a different person. Could it be that Jun Ziyou's death also made him figure out something...

Thinking in this way, he invited people to take a walk in the garden, looking at the winter scene, Ye Lanchen was quite emotional.

"Times have changed, things have changed, people have changed. Think about it three years ago, when Jun Ziyou first arrived in the capital, I was at odds with him. We were in conflict with each other, and we all wanted to fight each other to death. But when he left first One step, when I really lost this troublesome opponent, my heart felt empty again, and I was really sad, so I thought that before May [-]th, when the prince is not so sad, I will come and see him, and I can count it as an expression of my heart."

"I would like to thank Mr. Ye on behalf of the prince. There are not many people who can see things like you. No matter what, I have to thank you for remembering, sir. After he was demoted, many people who came and went were afraid of being implicated. , I was alone when I left, and I felt sad when I saw him."

"It's not a big deal, the dead are the greatest, and the past grievances and grievances will be wiped out. If I can, I would like to personally burn a stick of incense for him."

"Your Excellency Ye doesn't know something. The prince is heartbroken because of this. He still refuses to believe that his husband is dead. He has never gone to Suyun Temple to see it, and he refuses to let others see it. Only Qingchen who enshrined him in Suyun Temple Daoist Priest, and Jiang Temple, who worked with him in Dali Temple in the past, are keeping the incense burning before his death. If your lord wants to go and see, just wait a few days, the prince will be in a better mood."

"That's fine, you've suffered a lot these days. It must be very difficult for the prince to be so depressed. Maybe some words are out of place, but I still want to ask a question, does Junziyou have any connection with the high officials in the court?"

Butler Liu was startled. Although he guessed that Ye Lanchen's purpose was not simple, he didn't expect him to ask so straightforwardly.

However, Steward Liu is a person who is used to storms, and his answer is also impeccable, "Mr. was an official in the court, and it is normal to get to know some officials. I am just a servant of the palace, so I don't know too much. And I think, the most Isn't it you, Master Ye, who knows which officials Mr.

The two looked at each other, and said in their hearts at the same time: "Old Fox", they laughed at the same time, and they were polite to each other.

Ye Lanchen said: "I'm taking the liberty of this, since the prince is in a bad mood and doesn't want to see anyone, then I won't bother you anymore and I'm leaving."

"I still need to go and see how the prince is doing, so I will send you off not far away. Please forgive me. Shen Ci, send off Lord Ye quickly for me."

It wasn't until watching the other party leave that Steward Liu let go of his smile, and looked back at Nongyu Xiaozhu with a calm expression.Surprisingly, Xiao Beicheng was leaning on the railing, with his coat draped over his shoulders, lightly sipping on his cigarette, exhaling slowly, watching his every move.

After a long time, he leaned on the railing and said melancholy: "Zhu Lan is dead now, let alone the people who lean on the railing..."

Steward Liu asked, "My lord, have you seen everything?"

"Ye Lanchen would go to the mansion to inquire about the facts. He just wanted to know two things. One is whether Jun Ziyou really died, and the other is whether this king really fell into a slump because of his death."

Speaking of this, he coughed a few times, butler Liu hurriedly said: "My lord, you should go back to your room, it's cold outside, it's not good for your health, please smoke less..."

He helped the man back to the room, but he heard the man smile wryly, "He never persuaded me to smoke to harm my body, but because of his asthma, I restrained my cravings unconsciously. But now, I can't see it anymore. It's the person who made me cautious, what's the use of paying attention to it..."

"My lord..."

"They want to investigate the old cases from that year, so let them investigate. There is no need to hide it. If they really come to the door, it will not hurt to reveal that Junziyou is Lin Fengchi."

"But my lord, this will definitely involve you, isn't it contrary to the original plan?"

"so what?"

Xiao Beicheng asked quietly, put down the cigarette rod, held the folding fan in his hand, and carefully unfolded the fan, his fingertips lightly brushing over the word "Three Questions".

"He even lost his life because of me. I owe him this..."