Hou Ye's palm heart is a black lotus

Dengdengdeng.

Xiaowu ran in with a cheerful step. His cute little face was red from the cold, with glistening snowflakes falling on his eyelashes.

Ye Chutang's thoughts were drawn away from the letter. When he looked up, the little one threw himself into his arms.

Ye Chutang looked at her from side to side, pinched her red nose, and then looked down at Xiaowu's boots that were covered with frozen snow. "It seems like you really had a lot of fun. You're not afraid of getting cold even though you're covered in snow."

Xiaowu is naturally not afraid of the cold.

Firstly, she was wearing the new winter clothes that her elder sister had specially ordered to be made for her. It had a thick layer of fleece inside, which made her warm and beautiful. Secondly, she had been busy for a long time without any rest and was almost sweating all over. How could she be cold?
She wrinkled her nose and smiled brightly, then held Ye Chutang's hand.

——I’m not cold! I can even warm my sister’s hands!
As he moved, the letter paper fell to the ground.

Xiao Wu glanced down and vaguely saw words like "iron ore" written on it, but before she could see clearly, Ye Chutang bent down, picked up the paper, folded it, put it aside.

Xiaowu blinked.

She naturally recognized whose handwriting it was, but she didn't take it to heart.

Since Sister Su Pei'er went to Shiluan City, they have had less contact with each other, and sometimes they might not receive a letter from her for a month or so.

But now it is New Year, and she would write a letter to greet her elder sister, how normal!

My sister would receive letters from various places from time to time. She would burn them all after reading them. I guess this letter was the same. Xiaowu had long been used to it, so he quickly forgot about it.

She held Ye Chutang's hand, leaned against her chest, smiled and raised her head, letting Ye Chutang look out.

——Look, sister! Is the snowman I made cute?

Ye Chutang looked in the direction she pointed and saw a snowman standing in the yard, a little smaller than Xiaowu.

Ye Chutang smiled and said, "Oh, isn't this a smaller version of Xiao Wu? He's so lifelike!"

Xiaowu:?
How can she be so round?
Xiao Wu looked down in disbelief and gestured at her waist. She wanted to refute something, but she found that after the Chinese New Year, she seemed to have really... grown several times rounder...

His original arrogance and rebelliousness were immediately suppressed, and Xiaowu rolled his eyes around in embarrassment.

——Forget it! There’s nothing good about a snowman! Especially since Fourth Brother is not here, it’s already pretty good that she can make one like this by herself!

Come to think of it, I really miss the days when my fourth brother secretly stuffed a snowball into the back of her neck, causing her to shrink suddenly due to the cold...

Xiaowu suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he stretched out his hand to gesture.

Ye Chutang looked at it for a while and understood, "During the Lantern Festival, do you want to go out and play?"

Xiao Wu nodded sharply.

Ye Chutang thought about it and felt it was a good idea.

"Okay. Although you were born in the capital, you left early and have not yet experienced the excitement of the Lantern Festival in the capital."

Children are always playful, especially Xiaowu, who always follows her around, either in the mansion or in the palace, and has no chance to play like ordinary children.

During the Lantern Festival, the capital city must be very lively, and it would be a good opportunity to take her out for a walk.

In addition, Ye Chutang also had a selfish motive - she always felt that Xiaowu's condition had improved a lot without her noticing, and if he could have more contact with the outside world and strengthen communication with other people, perhaps he could really speak again.

Xiao Wu was immediately overjoyed when he heard Ye Chutang agreed.

——I heard there are a lot of fun things over at Xijiang Bridge! There are also shadow puppet shows! She has never seen such a thing in her life!
Ye Chutang was a little surprised. "You know all this? Who told you?"

Xiaowu looks up at the sky.

Well...she is doing very well in Beijing, okay?

Ye Chutang didn't point it out and just rubbed her little head.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say. When the Lantern Festival comes, I'll call your third brother to go shopping at Xijiang Bridge. I'll also buy some things for your fourth brother and have them delivered to Xiacheng when I have time."

It was not easy for Ye Yunfeng to come back as he was guarding the border, but it was not difficult for them to send some things over.

When going out, money and belongings are very important. Although Ah Feng never mentioned it, Ye Chutang always prepared everything for him.

Xiaowu nodded vigorously with joy.

Ye Chutang glanced at the letter, thinking. I wonder how lively the capital will be during this Lantern Festival?
……

When Shen Yanchuan came out of the imperial study, it was already dark.

Eunuch Li wanted to walk a few more steps but was stopped by Shen Yanchuan.

"Your Majesty is in poor health and needs someone by his side. Eunuch Li should go back."

Eunuch Li stopped immediately, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Shen Yanchuan raised his eyebrows slightly: "Eunuch Li, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Don't dare."

Eunuch Li waved his hands and sighed. This palace maid who had accompanied Emperor Mu Wu for decades now had a look of vicissitudes and aging between her eyebrows.

"I just think, Your Majesty... he has his own difficulties, and I hope that the prince will be more understanding. Secondly... after all, he was once Your Majesty's most beloved son, and it is not an easy thing for him to make this decision..."

Shen Yanchuan paused, and suddenly looked in a certain direction.

The palaces are numerous and the eaves are flying up, as if to hook the last ray of afterglow.

He said:

"Your Majesty is wise and will make the final decision."

Eunuch Li opened his mouth, but felt that in the current situation, it was useless to say anything, so he bowed his head and bowed deeply.

"Prince...go slowly."

Shen Yanchuan nodded, "Take good care of His Majesty."

After saying that, he turned and left.

……

It was already late at night when we returned to Marquis Dingbei's Mansion.

Shen Yanchuan stepped over the threshold, took off his cloak, and asked, "Is there anyone coming to the mansion today?"

Yun Cheng shook his head: "To reply to the master, no."

Shen Yanchuan paused and looked sideways at him.

"not even one?"

Yun Cheng responded again: "Yes. There has been a lot of panic in the capital recently, especially... the news that you entered the palace today has spread throughout the capital, so no one came to see you."

Shen Yanchuan raised his thin lips slightly in a smile.

"They are very well-informed."

"Now I'm afraid that all the officials in the court know that you secretly sent people to investigate Qingzhou a long time ago. If you can investigate Qingzhou, you can naturally investigate them as well. It's understandable that they are nervous."

Shen Yanchuan never follows the rules when doing things. Even those old-timers in officialdom are afraid of getting into trouble with him.

So after much thought, keeping a respectful distance and being neither humble nor overbearing is the most appropriate approach.

Therefore, the Dingbei Marquis Mansion is very deserted this year.

But Shen Yanchuan didn't care.

He came into the house, and the warmth from the floor instantly dispelled the coldness from his body.

I don't know how her body is now...

Just as this thought passed through Shen Yanchuan's mind, he heard Yun Cheng suddenly say as if he remembered something:
"By the way, Mr. Xie is out of town today."

Shen Yanchuan frowned slightly and looked back.

"What?" (End of Chapter)