The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu.
It's New Year's Eve again. Every household is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. The children put on new cotton-padded clothes, the old people are busy making dumplings, and the adults carry back the barbecue knives. They celebrate the New Year happily.
Today's palace seems surprisingly deserted. Feng Qingge allowed the servants to go home to celebrate the New Year. The only empty palace in Ruoda is Feng Qingge, Xiao Liuyue, Xue Xichen, and the invited guests.
Mu Qingfei.
"Get out! Get out! Get out! Don't interrupt my cooking!"
Xue Xichen drove Xiao Liuyue out of the kitchen without any dignity and glared at each other, "If you don't know how to cook, don't come in and make trouble for me! Go back to the living room and drink your tea! I will call you when the meal is ready!"
"Junior sister, you are so heartless..."
Xiao Liuyue was pushed out of the kitchen by Xue Xichen, with a bright smile on her face. He did not leave, but stood at the door of the kitchen and quietly watched Xue Xichen picking vegetables, his eyes gentle, like clear water.
The sky was getting darker, and the sound of firecrackers on the street became more and more intense. Xue Xichen listened carefully, and sadness passed through her heart. It had been a long time since she had spent the New Year so relaxedly.
"Xichen, I'm coming!"
A pair of hands held her down, and his voice was warm and full of concern, "The weather is cold and the water is cold, your body can't bear it."
Xue Xichen withdrew her hand with a cold attitude, as if she didn't want to have too much physical contact with Feng Qingge. She said lightly: "How dare you trouble the prince for such a trivial matter, let the little girl do it!"
Feng Qingge's doubtful eyes fell on Xue Xichen. He noticed that Xue Xichen had been deliberately alienated from him during this period. He asked in confusion: "Xichen, why? What did I do wrong? Why are these things happening these days?"
**Have you been avoiding me?"
"Where! Your Majesty, you are overthinking it!"
Xue Xichen refused indifferently, picked up the vegetable basket and walked to the well in the backyard. Feng Qingge froze on the spot, dazed. Xiao Liuyue crossed her arms over her chest and looked at it coldly, as if she was watching a farce of life.
Xue Xichen fetched water from the well, poured it into the vegetable basin, and washed the vegetable leaves. Her sleeves accidentally slipped down and got some water stains on them.
Suddenly, a pair of hands stretched out and held her up.
Xue Xichen looked back in shock and looked at the person beside her. Surprisingly, it was Phantom.
Phantom!
Xue Xichen opened his mouth and wanted to call out, but the Phantom involuntarily looked away the moment Xue Xichen looked at him.
Xue Xichen lowered his eyes and said nothing, and continued to wash the dishes in his hands. The phantom also moved away at that moment, and the black figure disappeared into the darkness, as if he was deliberately hiding his figure.
Mu Qingfei walked slowly from the brightly lit inner hall. He raised his voice and said happily: "Qingge, where is the firewood? If there is not enough firewood, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up the new year!"
Feng Qingge came out of the kitchen, took a deep look at Xue Xichen who was washing vegetables by the well, and said softly: "There is firewood in the backyard, let's go get it."
"good!"
…
The dishes are cooked, the wine is warmed, the table is full of delicious food, and the room is fragrant. Everyone except Mu Qingfei is eating the dishes in silence with their own thoughts, and there is no joy at all in watching the New Year's Eve.
Mu Qingfei was in a good mood today. He and Xiao Liuyue frequently encouraged each other to drink, and they drank it all in one gulp. They were relaxed and happy, without any of their usual deep calculations.
On the other hand, Feng Qingge and Phantom were a little unusually quiet. Phantom was already taciturn, so it was understandable that he would not speak when he was eating. But Feng Qingge was usually the most talkative, and today she rarely spoke many words. It was really
Surprising.
There are clusters of bonfires that warm people's hearts.
The room is harmonious, and the seemingly calm atmosphere actually stirs up a heaviness that depresses the heart. Everyone eats and talks about other things. No one mentions the court, no one discusses political affairs, and everyone calmly enjoys staying up late.
Peace. But behind this calmness, there is a dignified and depressing uneasiness.
"There should be a dinner party in the palace tonight?"
Xiao Liuyue raised her wine glass and asked seemingly unintentionally.
Feng Qingge was silent, but Mu Qingfei smiled and said: "It is precisely because I don't like that kind of atmosphere that I came to Qingge's house to seek some peace and quiet. No matter how lively the dinner in the palace is, how can I have a good chat with my close friends over wine?"
Feel free to write freely.”
Xiao Liuyue chuckled and drank the wine from the glass, "Prime Minister Mu has a very important position in the court. Didn't the emperor summon the Prime Minister to the palace for the banquet?"
"Being summoned to the palace every year for a banquet is really tiring. It's rare that I can take a sick leave this year, and I can enjoy the peaceful days of half a day's leisure."
Xue Xichen drank wine quietly, listening to Mu Qingfei and Xiao Liuyue chatting with each other. She tilted her head and asked curiously: "Is there a New Year's Eve watch in the palace?"
"No!" Mu Qingfei said with a smile, "Today is the first time in my life that I can finally stay a year longer."
Xue Xichen smiled and spread her palms unceremoniously, "Prime Minister Mu, you can keep the New Year's Eve. But you still have to give me this red envelope!"
Mu Qingfei laughed loudly, "In the past years, no one has ever asked me for a red envelope, and I never kept one around. Aunt Xue, if you suddenly ask me for a red envelope, I can't get it out right away!"
"Ah, how could this be like this!" Xue Xichen's eyes widened and she pointed out righteously, "You are the first prime minister of the Celestial Empire! How can you be so stingy and not even give a New Year's red envelope! The red envelope is a lucky gift! This is the Chinese New Year!
Custom! Aren’t we celebrating the New Year! You must give this red envelope!”
Mu Qingfei touched his body and felt troubled. "Aunt Xue, Qingfei is really unprepared today, why not tomorrow..."
"Xichen, please don't embarrass Xiang Mu!"
Xiao Liuyue took out a red envelope from her arms and stuffed it into Xue Xichen's palm, "I knew you would ask me for it tonight, so I prepared it this morning. Here! New Year's money for you!"
"Wow! Thank you, senior brother!"
Xue Xichen smiled happily and held her in her arms happily.
She took an apple, handed it to Xiao Liuyue, and said happily: "Senior brother, I'm giving you this apple to bring you good luck. It must be safe and sound!"
Xiao Liuyue took it and bit into it.
Mu Qingfei looked at the pot full of rice and said, "Aunt Xue, you have cooked too much rice in this pot! Can the few of us finish it?"
"You don't know something about this!" Xue Xichen said with a smile, "This pot is called 'New Year's Rice'."
"New Year's Eve dinner?"
"Every other year's meal means there are leftovers every year, and you can't finish them all year round. This year you still eat the old rice. This every other year's meal is usually cooked with a mixture of rice and millet, so that it is yellow and white, which is also called '
There is gold and silver, a bowl full of gold and silver, a 'gold and silver rice'."
"Gold and silver rice? Interesting!"
Mu Qingfei had been alone since he was a child. He had never kept the New Year's Eve, and he didn't know that there was so much emphasis on keeping the New Year's Eve. He found it very fresh.
"Xiang Mu, everyone in the world says that you have a lot of knowledge. You can fly in the sky, crawl on the ground, as long as you can name it, there is nothing you don't know. So, I will test you now!"
"Don't dare! Aunt Xue, please tell me."
Xue Xichen asked with a smile: "Excuse me, Prime Minister Mu, where did the custom of staying up at the age of thirty come from?"