Little Cardamom

"Is the princess awake?"

"Not yet."

"Then is breakfast still hot?"

"Leave a porridge and let it simmer. At this time, it's better to prepare lunch earlier."

…

As the sun rose, people in the dining room of the Dingbei Prince's Mansion asked from time to time, "Wang Concubine can get up." When they asked about Sizheng, they were still not up, and the servants murmured for a while.

Those with good intentions folded their hands in front of their bodies, raised their chins slightly, and pretended to be high-spirited: "I see that you don't need lunch anymore, just wait and prepare dinner."

"Why? The princess is out of the palace?"

The good-for-nothing wanted to show off, but it happened that a servant woman who knew the inside story brought a basket of water spirits into the kitchen, and couldn't wait to talk: "You don't know? Last night, Qi'an Hall called for water four or five times. Tsk tsk, it's almost morning, how can the princess get up!"

"what?"

"Is there such a thing?"

Everyone unconsciously gathered together and pricked up their ears.

There are a lot of rough women who have given birth in the kitchen, they are used to talking, they are naughty and not shy, and they don't blush or heartbeat when talking about the lengths of these houses, and they still have a bit of energy.

"From Fugui's family, isn't your daughter working in Qi'an hall, is Qi'an hall really so noisy?"

"That's not it. Don't look at our prince's cold face all day long. It takes a lot of effort. This princess has only been in the house for a few days. See Tian'er's tossing around at night, and the whole yard can listen to it. My daughter-in-law The one who was on duty in the tea room said he didn't sleep well all night, so he heard the princess crying and shouting tenderly."

"I've heard that too, especially last night, it was called four or five times! Later I heard that the princess cried for a while and lost her temper, otherwise there would be trouble."

"The concubine looks like a fairy, and she is very delicate. How can a man not love her when she sees it? My eyes are straightened when I look at it. And the skin is like soft tofu, white and thin, I am afraid it is a You can get water when you pinch it, I walked in the garden a while ago, and the sun shines on it, it is really dazzlingly white."

"I also see that the concubine is very attractive to people, but even a person like our prince who talks about how brave he is usually can't get down on the beauty's couch."

…

The servants in the kitchen talked embarrassingly, the little girl blushed and ran away after listening to it a few times, but what these servants said was not exaggerated.

The water in Qi'an hall didn't stop last night, and even a girl like Su Xin Lue, who had no experience in human affairs, could faintly feel that Your Highness...seemed to be tossing too hard.

The young lady of their family was fine at first, but she cried a lot for a while in the middle, and she also whimpered at the end, but she was probably too dumb, and her voice dropped a lot.

On the last trip, Su Xin sent water in, and after a quick glance, she saw her young lady with messy hair, wrapped in a quilt and nestled in His Highness's arms, like a rabbit anxious, her eyes were red, her voice was low and hoarse, and she didn't know what to do. He said something, and suddenly bit the man's neck hard after speaking.

Su Xin was so frightened that her legs gave way, and she almost knelt down to intercede for her young lady.

But His Highness didn't even frown, and responded in a low voice: "Okay, resettlement."

Although there is no emotion, but in response to the charming atmosphere in the room, it seems to be somewhat deceiving.

After running out of water, His Highness asked for some medicine.

The red candle in the room was quiet for a moment before it went out.

When the surroundings were completely silent, the sky was already covered with a faint gray light.

Jiang Xu was in good spirits, he didn't delay at all early in the morning, got up to practice his sword, went back to the house and had breakfast, and then went out as usual. Only Ming Tan fell into a deep sleep, from Chenshi to Sizheng, he had no intention of waking up at all.

After sleeping until noon, Ming Tan slowly woke up, and after waking up, his eyes were blank for a while, his head was empty, he half leaned on the couch, very tired, and didn't really want to get up.

It happened that Lue came in with a box of gadgets, and Fushen said happily, "Miss, you're awake. Miss Min sent someone to deliver something, saying that it was a new kitty item in the past two days, from the other side of the Western Region. , would you like to see it now?"

It's okay not to mention it, but when Bai Minmin is mentioned, Ming Tan becomes furious.

The culprit!

"dont see!"?

Lue was stunned, at a loss, thinking that she had done something wrong.

Ming Tan was furious, and said again: "Find out the ugly flower handkerchief that Bai Minmin gave me last time, and bring me a pair of scissors."

Lue was at a loss, said yes, and carefully put down the box, hurriedly searched for the ugly handkerchief that Bai Minmin had embroidered earlier, and sent it to the bedside together with scissors.

Without even thinking about it, Ming Tan picked up the scissors and cut the ugly handkerchief twice, and then ordered angrily: "Put it in the box for me and send it back to Duke Chang's mansion, just say I'm here today!" Just break the handkerchief with her, Bai Minmin!"

Lue: "...?"

"Ah Choo!"

Bai Minmin, who was forced to become a female celebrity in Changguo's mansion and was embroidering mandarin ducks, suddenly sneezed loudly. She rubbed her nose and was still thinking: Could it be that some young master took a fancy to it in the recent acquaintances? her?

It is not known whether any young master has a crush on Bai Minmin, but in recent days, Lu Ting, Lu Dianshuai, the deputy commander of the palace, clearly has a crush on Zhou Jingwan, Miss Zhou's family.

Zhou Jingwan was at the age of marriage, gentle and beautiful, full of talent, there were originally many young talents who came to Zhou's family to propose marriage, but since Lu Dianshuai also went to Zhou's family to propose marriage, those young talents before were all inexplicable. It fell silent.

First, a Hanlin editor went to Hualou, and was read by the censor, saying that it insulted the Qinggui of the Hanlin, and was reprimanded.

Later, the son of the servant boy rode a horse in the street and injured a street vendor. The defendant went to the Yamen and paid a sum of money. He also injured his leg and had to stay in bed for half a year...

Whether these things are small or not, the only connection is that they all went to Zhou's door to ask for marriage.

Everyone seems to have realized the joint, and gradually, the number of marriage proposals from last week's family became less and less.

Zhou Jingwan's marriage has been chosen since Ming Tan was given the marriage, and now Ming Tan is married, no matter how delicate her daughter is, she has to be on the agenda.

But now in this situation, Zhou's mother, who was not in a hurry to pick things out, couldn't help becoming anxious, and Zhou Jingwan was even more frightened, worrying every day that no one would ask her to marry her, and in the end she would only marry that handsome Lu Dianshuai.

Spring is in full bloom in April. Ming Tan invites Zhou Jingwan to visit the house to enjoy the flowers.

She renovated the palace and rebuilt the flower garden. When the exotic flowers and plants arrived, she invited a talented woman from Zhou to write an inscription for the flower garden.

As for Bai Minmin, her idleness has not dissipated, and her post has not been sent to Duke Chang's mansion, but Bai Minmin came here uninvited by the Zhou family's carriage.

Zhou Jingwan was originally weak, but recently she was depressed and even thinner.

When Ming Tan and Bai Minmin pressed her to ask, it was hard for her to speak, and she talked about her marriage that seemed to be stumbling in the dark.

"You look down on Lu Dianshuai like that?" Bai Minmin was puzzled, "I think Lu Dianshuai is pretty good."

Zhou Jingwan: "He's pretty good, why don't you marry?"

Bai Minmin was choked up: "Then he asked you to marry him? What does it have to do with me?"

She turned her head and asked Ming Tan again: "Isn't His Highness Dingbei Wang familiar with Lu Dianshuai? Why don't you ask His Highness what this Lu Dianshuai means?"

Ming Tan paused.

Since the last time she was quarreled and lost her temper in the bed, she and her husband haven't said a few serious words.

As soon as her husband was busy with military affairs, he didn't go home for a few days. He is also a boring gourd when he is at home. If he doesn't take the initiative to pick up some topics, he can sit at the table and read military books all night;

Second, she was unable to have **** until the letter date, a man who could only see some emotions in the bed, had no **** for a few days, and looked a little cold;

In the past three years, she was also a little frightened by the tossing, and she was not very willing to get close to him.

"What are you thinking about?" Bai Minmin shook her hand.

"Nothing." Ming Tan took a sip of tea as if nothing had happened, "When my husband comes back, I'll ask him."

Bai Minmin didn't think too much, and went on to comfort Zhou Jingwan: "Shuai Lu Dianshuai's behavior seems to be something inevitable, and it's not just a whim. In my opinion, you don't have to be so resistant to him. Wait for A Tan to ask My lord, it's not too late for you to understand and make a conclusion."

Zhou Jing moved gently.

But Ming Tan accepted this job, feeling a little distressed in his heart. She has just passed her monthly letter, so if she asks today, why does she feel a little bit like a sheep looking for trouble?

After hesitating until Jiang Xu returned home, when he heard that he went straight to the study, Ming Tan gritted his teeth and decided to go all out for Zhou Jingwan.

She specially changed into a tighter set of clothes, the neckline of which covered her neck, and went to the study with a cup of bird's nest porridge that had been simmering on the fire at noon and a plate of jade belt cake.

"Your Highness, the concubine is here." A guard announced at the door.

Jiang Xu raised his eyes: "Go in."

Jiang Xu's study room is spacious and simple, with numerous ancient shelves in his eyes, on which are mostly military books and short weapons. There are also sand tables, chess tables, and narrow couches for rest.

Ming Tan only took a glance, then looked away, walked to the table, and said softly: "I heard that my husband is busy with business, so I didn't have dinner, so Ah Tan made bird's nest porridge and jade belt cake by myself. Husband, please try it, business matters. , the body is more important."

Jiang Xu: "..."

A few days ago, when he had a good time, his little princess would tell him that his nose was not his nose, his eyes were not his eyes, and for several days he would ignore him. For a while he said that he was not feeling well, and for a while he said that Guishui came, and he would kick him if he accidentally touched it during placement, so he simply slept in the study for a few nights.

This is today, he paused, and looked at the bowl of bird's nest porridge and the stack of jade belt cakes.

"You did it?"

Ming Tan nodded and explained how he made it: "This bird's nest porridge is simmered very delicately. It has been simmering over a warm fire since noon. Someone must watch over it while it is simmering. Every half an hour, take a spoon and move it in the same direction. Stir for a while, the bird's nest porridge simmered in this way can melt in your mouth.

"There is also jade belt cake, which is made of glutinous rice flour, sifted three times, and then mixed with water, lard and white sugar after a fine sieve, layered on top of each other, and then steamed on high heat. The number of layers and the degree of steaming are different. It is very particular, otherwise it would not be so crystal clear, with a dense taste..."

Jiang Xu tasted it, and it was indeed quite different from his usual porridge and snacks.

He subconsciously glanced at Ming Tan's hands, her hands were neat and clean, still stained with Danko, completely untouched by Yang Chunshui.

He confirmed: "You did it yourself?"

"Yes," Ming Tan took it for granted.

Jiang Xu paused for a moment, then suddenly put down the porcelain spoon: "Go out, I have important things to do."

Ming Tan didn't understand, so: "Husband don't use any more? Ah Tan personally..."

"My king doesn't like to hear people lie, you go out first."

"...?"

"Why did Ah Tan lie?"

Ming Tan was dumbfounded.

"You said you did it yourself." Jiang Xu raised his eyes to look at her, his eyes were straight and quiet.

Ming Tan met his gaze and didn't dodge at all: "I did it myself. If you don't believe me, you can ask the kitchen staff. I personally ordered the kitchen, how much ingredients to use, and how much fire to use. , and personally went to the kitchen twice, all the witnesses and evidences are there!"

Jiang Xu was silent, and found that the two people's understanding of "in person" was greatly different: "You said you did it yourself, did you do it yourself?"

"Otherwise, why don't you let me roll up my sleeves and make a face?!"

Straightforward.

Jiang Xu: "..."

Ming Tan is about to die of grievances, this is her own exclusive secret recipe, although it looks the same as ordinary ones, but the taste is quite different. The stinky man drank her porridge and tasted her snacks, and even slandered her for lying! He is not worthy!

Thinking of this, she packed up the bowls and spoons, and was about to leave with the food box.

"Wait." Jiang Xu grabbed her wrist.

Ming Tan broke free with a flick of his hand, walked to the door and pushed it open.

And Jiang Xu also got up, and grabbed her wrist again behind her, this time with a little force, Ming Tan was pulled back two steps, and could not help turning around and crashing into his arms.

The door to the open room of the study was just pushed open by Ming Tan, and the warm and cool spring night breeze blows in.

Shu Jingran stood outside, and the guard who was about to report also opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

excuse me.