CH 84

New Year's Eve - "A few days later" in Xiao Kezhi's Mouth Was About Today. (2)

New Year's Eve was coming soon.

In addition to the banquets in the evening, there were also many ceremonies to be held in the temples near Jinyang Gate during the day.

Xiao Yu got up before dawn.

When Chu Ning put on his clothes and fastened the buttons, she controlled the movements of her hands very lightly. She knew that he had been irritable and gloomy these days because of the imprisonments of several military officers. The palace servants around him would be beaten if they made him feel unhappy. Just these few days, she asked Cui He to go to Feng Yu's place. The medicine that she brought back was more than the total of the rest of the past six months.

Although he was not so harsh on his wife, she still did not dare to take it lightly. In front of him, prudence and trepidation seemed to have been carved into her bones.

"Okay, pour me a cup of warm tea." He gently flicked away her hand that was holding his collar and nodded his chin at the table beside him, but his eyes fell on her.

"To hear is to obey."

She turned around with her head lowered, knelt down on the couch, poured tea, and served it.

"Why didn't Official Zhao come to Lishan before?" After taking a sip, he put the teacup back on the table, "He used to come to see you every few days."

This seemed to be a very ordinary question, but it revealed Xiao Yu’s doubts about Zhao Yanzhou.

Chu Ning knew that he suspected someone around him had disclosed his meeting with the generals to Xiao Kezhi, so she said softly, pretending not to care, "It's one thing that Official Zhao cares about me, but he is a civil officer of the East Palace after all. He is indispensable for the general affairs of the East Palace, and it is inconvenient for him to travel between Lishan and Changan.”

She was reminding him that Zhao Yanzhou had been conscientious the whole time he had served in the East Palace in the past two years. Besides, he and Xu Rong had never disclosed to Zhao Yanzhou anything about the plan.

She didn't know how Xiao Kezhi found out, but one thing was certain—it was definitely not leaked by Zhao Yanzhou.

"Yeah." Xiao Yu looked at her, pondered for a moment, and said, "He is indeed dedicated and responsible, and the documents he wrote for me are well-written and faultless. It's New Year's Day, so I will reward him more. Yes."

It didn't seem to dispel all his doubts, but he didn't say more. After sitting down and having breakfast, he got up and went to Jinyang Gate.

After Chu Ning sent him off, she went back to the house and rested for a while before getting busy again.

In addition to preparing rewards for the palace servants, she also had to arrange for return gifts from people who greeted the Crown Prince. Fortunately, the number of people who greeted the prince this year was less than in previous years, which saved her a lot of effort.

In the evening, when everything was finally settled properly, she changed into a thicker dress, put on a little powder and makeup, and brought Cui He and two other maids to the table where the banquet was held.

The underground of the banquet room was lined with pipes that circulated the water from the hot springs. Although Xiao Kezhi usually had a frugal style, for today's night banquet, he commanded the servants to open the floodgates early in the morning to make this large area warm.

When Chu Ning arrived, she immediately felt a warm heat wave.

She took off her cloak and handed it over to one of the maids. After being bowed to by everyone, she went to her seat and sat down, waiting for the arrival of the Emperor and his ministers.

Seeing this, Madame Xu, who was not far away, lightly patted Guoer and said a few words with a smile in her ear.

Guoer twitched for a moment, lowered her head nervously, and walked in front of Chu Ning, softly calling "Your Highness."

Seeing her coming, Chu Ning immediately laughed, pulled the little girl to sit beside her, and said casually, "I haven't seen you for a few days! Guoer seems to be looking good again. How well did you learn to ride horses with Lady Zhao in the past two days?"

Guoer remembered Zhao Yue's slightly perfunctory attitude. Although she didn't like her, she wasn't as timid as before. In the past few days, she has been able to trot slowly by herself on a horse, so she smiled and nodded, "I've learned a little bit. Thank you, Your Highness."

As she spoke, she held out a small sachet and said with a blushing face, "Your Highness, I made this myself as a New Year’s gift for Your Highness this year..."

Chu Ning hurriedly took it in her hand and looked at it carefully.

The sachet was very simple, without any unique embroidery patterns. The main focus was a colorful rope securing the top, but looking closely, it was obvious that although the needleworker was not skilled in craftsmanship, she must have worked hard. The slightly crooked stitches were densely arranged and there were no gaps at all. It had to have been made with the most extreme care.

She stroked the row of stitches lightly and nodded solemnly, "This sachet is very well made. I like it so much that I will use this one as my main one from now on."

When Guoer heard this, her face turned even redder. She quickly shook her head and said, "Your Highness, no, it doesn't look good, you don't need to replace it..."

Chu Ning didn't stop but simply undid the pomegranate sachet she was carrying, took out the fragrant pieces, and put them in the new sachet, which she meticulously tied around her waist.

"Alright, this is Guoer's intentions. I have to cherish it."

Guoer looked down at the well-appreciated sachet, and she blushed, her eyes brightening. She gave her a sweet smile, then walked back to Madame Xu's side.

After a while, Xiao Yu followed Xiao Kezhi into the banquet hall.

He walked quickly to the edge of the couch and was about to sit down, but when he turned his head, he saw the simple sachet on her waist and couldn't help frowning, “At such a major occasion, why did you wear such a sachet?"

Chu Ning glanced down at the sachet on her waist, which was simple and unobtrusive, and explained softly, "Your Highness, this was just given to me by Duke Lu’s little daughter. She put her whole heart into it. How could I not put it on?"

Xiao Yu snorted coldly, took a sip of the tea she handed over, and said with contempt and displeasure, "As expected, those uncultured people are so unreliable. If someone didn’t know of this, they might assume that I gave you such an ugly thing. This prince is embarrassed."

Chu Ning pinched her fingertips and didn't speak anymore, but rather turned her head to look at the Emperor and the Empress Dowager in the main seat just like everyone else.

She happened to meet Xiao Kezhi's deep, indifferent eyes.

There was a distance between them, and the two looked at each other for only a moment and turned their eyes away tacitly.

The noisy voices and the sound of the silk and bamboo orchestra suddenly disappeared, and there was only a distant silence under the starry sky.

Somehow, Chu Ning had a hunch that from that day at the horse pastures, “a few days later" in Xiao Kezhi's mouth was about today.

After a while, the banquet began.

As usual, Xiao Yu got up first and led everyone in toasting the Emperor and Empress Dowager Qi together. After everyone was seated, the singing and dancing really began.