The difference between good wine and bad wine is firstly the taste, and secondly the headache after waking up from a hangover.
The wine he drank with Lao Chang yesterday was his treasure, and he was reluctant to experiment with mixing wine for Xiaozhu. When he woke up in the morning, he only had a slight headache.
Xiaohuan wet the towel and walked over to help him wipe his face.
Li Yi took the towel from her hand and said, "I'll do it myself."
He wiped his face, Xiaohuan took the towel from his hand, put it back in the basin, turned around and walked out.
When he put on his clothes and got out of bed, he always felt that something was wrong.
He didn't feel this way just today. Ever since he came back from Cangzhou, he always felt that something was different from before, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't remember anything.
He sat at the table and frowned. This feeling made him very uncomfortable.
They got up late this morning. Ruyi and the others had already finished their breakfast. Xiaohuan brought the hot food in, put it on the table, and walked out again.
Li Yi picked up the chopsticks and stretched them halfway. The expression on his face was startled. He knew where the difference from before came from.
Quiet, too quiet.
In the past, when he got up, Xiaohuan would stand by the bed, hand him a towel, and while he was wiping his face, she would tell him what was happening among the maids in the house.
When he was eating, Xiaohuan would sit next to him or opposite him, holding his chin with one hand or both hands, and watching him eat in a daze. When he noticed her, she would smile stupidly and her eyes would turn into crescents.
When he was writing in the study, she stood aside and polished the ink. After polishing the ink, she walked around behind him, put her hands behind her back, stood on tiptoes, and read what he wrote, even though she didn't know many words at all...
…
Not anymore.
She would also hand him a hot towel in the morning, but would not sit across from him during meals. When she was in the study, she finished polishing the ink and then left by herself, for fear of disturbing herself.
Several times, Li Yi saw her sitting alone in the yard in a daze. Xiaohuan used to be in a daze a lot, but rarely like this recently, she would stay in a daze for several hours.
Li Yi feels a little guilty. Since arriving in Shuzhou three years ago, he has been in a chaotic place, Wu State, and he rarely has any free time...
She likes to listen to herself tell stories the most. How long ago was it in her memory that she sat in the yard and told her a story while letting her squeeze her shoulders?
It was so long ago that he lost track of it.
No one can replace the meaning of Xiaohuan to him, not Xiaocui, not Xiaozhu, not even Ruyi and Ruyi.
In the days when he first came to this world, when he was most hesitant and helpless, the person who stayed with him was not Ruyi or Ruyi. Xiaohuan at that time was still a cute and adorable little maid.
I will hang around him, like to listen to the stories he tells, and like to eat the meals he cooks...
She is always chattering and seems to have endless things to say. When did she become taciturn?
Ruyi walked in from outside, sat next to him, and said softly: "Mr.
Li Yi raised her head, looked over and asked, "Does your husband know what day tomorrow is?"
"March 21st."
March 21st is not his and Ruyi's wedding anniversary, nor is it Ruyi's birthday, nor is it Ruyi's birthday. March 21st... is Xiaohuan's birthday.
Li Yi looked regretful. If Ruyi hadn't reminded him, he would have even forgotten Xiaohuan's birthday.
Ruyi saw the expression on his face and knew that he had remembered it. She looked at him and said softly: "After this birthday, Xiaohuan will be twenty years old."
Li Yi sighed lightly: "The little maid has grown up..."
"Xiaohuan is my maid in the same room. I know that my husband used to think Xiaohuan was too small. However, she will be twenty years old today. If the maid who is in the same room does not have the same room, she will be an ordinary maid, and others will not show it to others.
Dare to say, but what will you think of her in your heart..." Ruyi looked at him, shook her head, and said: "Xiaohuan will not tell my husband these things, and my husband will not think of it himself..."
Li Yi's eyes were slightly distracted. In his memory, the little maid was always the one wearing a bun or a bun, dangling in front of his eyes.
He didn't realize that Li Duan was already four years old and Yong Ning had grown into a big girl. In a few months, Shouning would be considered an adult even by the standards of future generations...
The little maid, in fact, is no longer the little maid...
…
Xiaocui had just coaxed Li Mu to sleep and walked back to the courtyard that belonged to her and Xiaozhu Xiaohuan. Xiaozhu was packing things in the room. She walked in and took a look, then walked out and asked the person sitting in the courtyard in confusion.
Xiaohuan said: "Xiaohuan, we are leaving in a few days, why don't you pack your things - what are you doing here, eating sunflower seeds?"
"My uncle likes to eat, but he doesn't like to eat it. I'll peel some for him." Xiaohuan turned around and smiled and said, "You guys go ahead and pack it away. I have nothing to pack. I can pack it up half an hour before I leave."
Xiao Cui looked at the bowl full of melon seeds in front of her and her scratched fingers, grabbed her hand, and said angrily: "Are you stupid? Your hands are like this, why are you peeling them off?"
Xiaohuan pulled his hand back, rolled his eyes, and smiled: "It's okay..."
"you!"
Although Xiaohuan was always so gentle and soft-spoken on weekdays, when something happened, Xiaocui could never be more stubborn than her. She went back to the room angrily, glanced outside, and said dissatisfied: "Why do you think this girl died like this?"
What’s wrong with your mind!”
Xiaozhu came over, sighed, and said: "She hasn't been stubborn for a day or two. It's better to worry about Xiaohuan than ourselves. Xiaohuan is much luckier than us..."
…
"Have you heard that the prince and princess are going out again..."
"I've heard it, I've heard it from Sister Xiaozhu and Sister Xiaocui. They have to go out for a long time this time. I really envy Sister Xiaozhu and Sister Xiaocui for being with the Second Madam and the Third Madam.
, take them with you wherever you go..."
"She is the maidservant of the second wife and the third wife. She will be the maid in bed in the future, which is different from us..."
"That's not necessarily true. Look at Sister Xiaohuan. She is still the maid of the princess's wife. She has been with the prince for how long and she hasn't been taken away yet. Do you think it's because the prince doesn't like her..."
"I think it's possible. Xiaohuan doesn't look like Sister Xiaozhu or Sister Xiaocui. She looks stupid. How could the prince like..."
"Shut up!"
…
There is King Jing's Mansion in Kyoto, there is King Jing's Mansion in Ruyi City, and there is also King Jing's Mansion in Shuzhou. When I left Kyoto, I left some maids to look after the house, took some away, and left some in Shuzhou, in Ruyi City, and on the house.
Of the maids, only a few were with her when she was in Kyoto, and the rest were newly recruited later.
The one who started to scold harshly at this time was the maid named "Xiao Qing".
When she was in Kyoto, she worked in the palace. In Ruyi City, she was also the eldest maid in the palace. She was considered a small housekeeper. Her status among the maids was only lower than that of Xiao Huan and the other three.
Her face was full of sullenness at the moment. She looked at the two chatting maids and said angrily: "How do I usually teach you? Are you allowed to say such things?"
Perhaps it was because Xiaoqing's usually amiable image had been deeply rooted in people's hearts. A maid glanced at her mouth and said, "Sister Xiaoqing, what we said is right..."
"That's right, that little ring looks so silly..." Another person also helped.
"You..." Xiao Qing raised her eyebrows and was about to scold, but suddenly she looked behind everyone and bowed: "Your Majesty..."
Li Yi glanced at the two maids in the crowd indifferently, waved his hands, and said: "Let's pack our things today and go back to where we came from..."
The two of them turned pale and fell to their knees with a thud: "Your Majesty..."
Li Yi waved his hand: "Let's go, before I change my mind..."
When the two heard this, their bodies trembled and they broke into cold sweats. They immediately got up and left in a hurry.
The faces of the other maids were also slightly pale. They knew that when the prince said that he had not changed his mind, he did not mean to forgive them. It was a taboo for them to criticize behind their backs as servants. Among those wealthy families, they had to sink their ponds and fill their wells...
No one expected that the prince, who was usually pleasant and never said harsh words to anyone, would be so angry because they said something bad about Miss Xiaohuan...
Li Yi glanced at the maids. Although his eyes were gentle, everyone shuddered when they thought of those two sentences he just said plainly.
…
In the third year of Jingping, March 21st.
It was a very ordinary day. Li Yi was sitting in his study, looking at a map of Qi.
Xiaohuan pushed the door open and came in, placed a small bag on the table, and whispered: "Uncle, I peeled some melon seeds without skins. You ate them earlier. They won't taste good after a long time..."
"Okay." Li Yi nodded.
"Uncle, remember to eat. I'll go down first." Xiaohuan smiled sweetly and turned around, with a trace of imperceptible disappointment on her face.
This trace of disappointment quickly turned into a smile. She sniffed and walked out of the study.
She only took one step and couldn't take another step.
