"Toxian—"

Dong Xian listened to the order, and when he came in, he saw Murong Jin staring at the two pieces of candy that were rolling down and sighing again and again, the openwork plates on the table in front of him were already empty, and he felt that his Royal Highness was rarely childish today, and he couldn't help but feel funny, but he didn't dare to look at it. He only said: "Why is Your Highness sighing again and again today? ”

Murong Jin said absentmindedly: "I don't know." ”

Dongxian: "......"

Murong Jin said: "Princess Xueji said that my gift was too expensive and refused to accept it, then she also grew up in the palace, she should have seen everything, and it is not rare." Dongxian, what kind of gifts do you think I should bring to thank you? "Before, Murong Jin asked Dongxian to send some gold and jade gifts, but they were all returned.

Dongxian smiled and groaned: "Your Highness atons for your sins, and the slave doesn't know what a princess of this size should like." ”

"Also, people are girls," Murong Jin couldn't help but say annoyedly, "I don't have anything that girls like here, but if I don't go to thank them, it will be a little cold, go, and I can't find anything to cover my hands." Alas......"

Dongxian looked at the master who was distressed, how could he think that His Highness's words today were slightly more than usual......

Murong Jin stared at the openwork plate for a long time, and then instructed Dongxian: "You go to the imperial food room to get some crystal osmanthus candy, rose quenching clouds, pine nut candy, sugar plum blossoms, and then put some red dates rock candy, take some of each and put them in a small snack box, find a delicate and small food box to ride, and tell me when you are ready." ”

After hearing this, Dongxian couldn't help but smile and said, "Your Highness, all you have prepared is sweet candy food, what if Princess Xueji doesn't like sweets?" ”

Murong Jin said: "How can there be children who don't like sugar? Just do as I say. ”

"Yes."

When Dongxian returned, Murong Jin had already changed into a newly cut white brocade robe.

"Let's go, follow me to the Xizhao Palace."

Dong Xian carefully led a pear wood food box carved with birds and followed behind Murong Jin and walked in the direction of Xizhao Palace.

The location of the palace is actually not very good, and the name "Xizhao" is because only when the sun is slanting to the west, there is an afterglow shining into the palace, and there is always a little darkness during the day. It's been idle for a long time, and now that this Princess Xueji is here, she sorted it out.

The door was closed, Dong Xian went up and buckled the door, and after a while, a young attendant came to open the door, "Who?"

Dong Xian said: "Your Royal Highness has the grace of saving the life of my master, and I have come to thank you today." ”

The chamberlain frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "It turned out to be the Fourth Prince, please wait for the slave to report first," and at the same time sent a message inside, "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince is here." ”

"Come in, please."

The Xizhao Palace is not big, but it takes twenty or thirty steps to reach the inner and outer parts of the stay.

Inside, a girl in an emerald skirt walked out, Ying Ying bowed, and her voice was sweet and glutinous, "Xue Ji has seen the four princes, Your Highness, please come in." ”

"I couldn't get up from the couch a few days ago, so I can come to visit in person today," Murong Jin bowed, "Murong Jin thanks the princess for saving her life." ”

Liuli hurriedly shook it in the same way, and said with a smile: "Your Highness is really tormented by Xueji." ”

Murong Jin gave Dong Xian a look, and Dong Xian immediately handed the food box to Murong Jin knowingly.

Murong Jin put the food box on the ebony table, "You probably don't like the things you sent a few days ago, I don't know what you lack, and thinking that you are probably not rare, I thought that some of the candies in the imperial food room are good, so I brought some to you." These are all made by the best Li Imperial Chef in the Imperial Dining Room, and the taste should be different from what you have eaten in Xiqin. ”

Liuli looked at the food box with complicated eyes, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness." ”

"You come and try it, see if it suits your taste, if you don't like it, I'll find something else," Murong Jin lifted the lid of the food box, took out the small boxes inside one by one, and explained one by one, "This is crystal osmanthus candy, this is rose quenching clouds, this is pine nut candy, sugar plum blossoms, and this, this is red date rock candy." ”

Liuli leaned over with some curiosity, and saw a small celadon plate in the delicate snack box, riding a plate full of all kinds of sweets—the transparent sugar recipe was scattered with orange dried osmanthus flowers; The rose-red flower sugar is molded into a multitude shape, and there seems to be milk in the base of the white transparent sugar cube below, as if it is a cloud stretched by the wind; Sugar plum blossom is the glutinous rice flour kneaded with plum blossom juice kneaded into the shape of plum blossom, blanched and then soaked in sugar water, crystal blossoms, it is very good-looking; The amber syrup wraps the uniformly sized pine nuts and is made into a four-cornered dumpling shape, and there are silver filament traces left by the pull on the sugar surface, which is full of color; There is also a round ice ball-like red date rock candy, and the same spherical red date paste in the center reflects the whole sugar red......

Murong Jin moved one of the boxes in front of Liuli, "Taste it." ”

Liuli looked at the box of pine nuts with his eyes fixedly, and only after a while did he carefully and gently pinch one, and then looked at it at a few angles left and right, up and down for a while, and then put it in his mouth, carefully tasting the taste. Pine nut candy is very small, just one bite at a time. The sweetness spreads from the tip of the tongue, it is not greasy, it is very moist, and the sugar body is hard, but very crispy. The smell of pine nuts mixed with syrup fills the mouth, chewing and fragrant, making people unbearable to swallow.

Murong Jin held his breath and waited for Liuli to finish chewing carefully, before asking, "What's the matter, can you still close your mouth?" ”

Liuli nodded shyly and said softly, "It's delicious." ”

Murong Jin smiled and said, "That's fine, if you like it, let them go to the imperial dining room to get it in the future, Imperial Chef Li is very talkative," and suddenly thought of the special status of Liuli, and said, "If you feel inconvenient, I will often send someone to send you some, don't be troublesome." ”

Liuli looked at Murong Jin a little distracted, the person in front of him should be a few years older than himself, his face was a little thin but beautiful, his long eyebrows and handsome eyes, there seemed to be autumn water and cold stars in his eyes, he was extremely bright, and the corners of his lips were raised when he smiled, delicate but quiet.

Murong Jin: "But if you don't like it, don't force it." ”

Liuli said: "Xue Ji likes it very much, thank you, Your Highness." ”

Murong Jin said: "It's just a few small snacks, why bother to say thank you." ”

Liuli said softly: "I haven't eaten sugar since I was a child, thank you Your Highness for letting Xue Ji taste sugar." ”

Childhood... There is no .... Ever eaten sugar ...... Murong Jin looked at Liuli, a little incredulous.

Liuli continued: "When I was a child, my mother went early, and there was only one serious grandmother in the palace, who would only let me learn things, read and write, and if I didn't learn well, I couldn't eat, let alone these sweets. ”

Murong Jin looked at the clear eyes and was stunned, and then smiled: "It's okay, I'll invite you to eat candy in the future." ”

Leave to smile and not speak.

Murong Jin asked, "By the way, when you saved me that day, did you think of someone?" ”

Liuli was slightly surprised: "How could His Highness think like this?" ”

Murong Jin said: "Because, you seem to be very afraid of my death......

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

Murong Jin smiled bitterly: "Because there are many people who want me to die, I feel very surprised to be rescued." ”

At that moment, there seemed to be a trace of pain and helplessness flashing from Murong Jin's eyes, but he couldn't catch it.

"Thinking about it, Xue Ji was rude, Xue Ji remembered his brother for a while, so he lost his temper, and asked His Highness for forgiveness."

The brother who stayed behind, is it the one who is now in the Western Qin Palace, or is it ......

Liuli said: "The former three emperor brothers of Xue Ji drowned, just in front of Xue Ji, but Xue Ji couldn't swim in the water, so he couldn't save the three emperor brothers." Therefore, when His Royal Highness set in the water that day, Xue Ji wanted His Highness very much to live. ”

Because he can't wet the water, he can only watch his third brother drown little by little. Liuli will never forget the despair in the eyes of the third brother when he sank into the icy lake, but the third brother still told her through the thick lake: live.

"Xue Ji and His Royal Highness are not familiar with each other, but Xue Ji hopes that His Highness will live well."

Live well? Alive. Murong Jin smiled: "Thank you, princess, Murong Jin wrote it down." The princess saved my life, and if there is a need in the future, Murong Jin will do her best to help. ”

After chatting a few more words, it was getting late, and Murong Jin was inconvenient to disturb more, so he resigned.

After Murong Jin left, he stared at the boxes of candy and felt that something sour was overflowing in his heart. She was made the empress dowager since she was a child, so the people around her told her since she was a child, "You will be the empress of Western Qin in the future", so even if she has never been as high as those people's waists, no one treats her as a child. Everyone forgot that she was just a child.

Since I left my memory, there has been no candy around. She almost forgot that there was such a thing as sugar in the world, and there was also sweetness in the flavors. In fact, so many years have passed, and I almost forget this taste. But Murong Jin's box of candy reminded her that there was still a sweet taste in a life full of suffering, and she suddenly felt very wronged.

Liuli carefully pinched a piece of osmanthus candy, a red date rock candy, and a pine nut candy into his mouth, and stuffed his cheeks full. There is the floral fragrance of osmanthus in the mouth, the rosin of pine nuts, and the jujube fragrance of red dates, but it is more sweet. It's very sweet, the three sugars are mixed together, the sweetness is very greasy, and the tip of the tongue is a little numb. But Liuli couldn't bear to chew it, couldn't bear to swallow it, and was reluctant to spit it out.

Because, really, it's sweet.

Note: The title of this chapter comes from Su Shi's "Sending Jinshan Township Monks to Shu to Open the Hall" - Ice Tray Recommends Amber, How Beautiful is Frosting.

Ice tray: refers to a celadon plate.

Amber: The color of sugar.