The two returned to the palace, and Chengde brought the zongzi wrapped in each courtyard, which was one of the only few opportunities in a year to interact with the prince, and each courtyard was very active.

Mai Jiu looked at the various and varied zongzi on the table.

Chengde began to introduce them one by one: "This is sent by Master Liu of Qingqiu Courtyard, this is sent by Master Lin of Baihua Courtyard, this is sent by Miss Wei of Zhumengxuan, this is sent by Miss Youning of Qingyun Pavilion, and this is sent by Miss Qingyin of Yanshengwu." ”

Sang Huai'an didn't listen attentively, but directly picked up the zongzi sent by Baihuayuan and gently pulled the rope tied to it.

"This king didn't eat your bag this year."

Mai Jiu saw that Sang Huai'an had already opened the dumpling leaf and took a bite, she gritted her teeth and muttered in a low voice, "I didn't pack it, and this didn't delay you from eating." ”

Chengde saw that Mai Jiu had been staring at the prince, so he asked, "Master Mandarin, don't you eat one?" ”

Mai Jiu pouted: "Forget it, I don't really want to eat it." ”

Chengde moved his eyes to the prince and said, "This is sent by Qingyun Pavilion, and Miss Youning is crying and shouting, saying that you must let the prince taste it." ”

After Sang Huai'an finished eating the zongzi, folded the zongzi leaves in half and put them on the table, and replied, "This king said last year, she doesn't have to, she almost didn't poison this king last year, do you want to do it again this year?" After speaking, Sang Huai'an raised his eyes and looked at Chengde.

Chengde was so frightened by the prince's eyes that he took a step back, and he hurriedly explained, "The slave told them a long time ago, and Qingyun Pavilion will forget it this year, but Miss Youning's enthusiasm is too high, and the slave can't stop it." ”

Mai Jiu looked at Chengde's anxious appearance and laughed out loud: "Is it as terrifying as you say?" Then I'm going to try it. ”

Chengde frowned and shook his head to look at Mai Jiu, who did not raise his head but reached out and picked up a zongzi.

"Is that so? I guessed that such a strange-shaped zongzi was wrapped by Lu Youning. ”

Chengde's facial features were about to wrinkle together, and he nodded quickly. Sang Huai'an next to him didn't think it was a big deal, dragged his cheeks and looked at Mai Jiu with a smile.

Mai Jiu held the zongzi in her hand, she looked at Chengde and then at Sang Huai'an, and said suspiciously, "Is it really so evil?" She put the zongzi close to the tip of her nose, and the fragrance of zongzi leaves came to her face, and she sniffed it carefully and said, "It smells quite normal." ”

Chengde wanted to stop "Master Mandarin, there is something inside, the slave still advises you not to open it." ”

The more this happened, the more curious Mai Jiu became, she raised her eyebrows and gently pulled the rope tied to the zongzi. Everything was fine at first, but as the dumpling leaves peeled off, Mai Jiu seemed to see it.... Green unidentified objects and... Scrambled eggs?!

She has seen meat dumplings when she lives so old, and even the red date dumplings are messy ham, bean paste, and egg yolk, but she is the first time she has seen a rice dumpling filled with leeks and eggs today.

Mai Jiu gasped, sure enough, there was something inside.

Sang Huai'an smiled bitterly a few times, pulled back his face and said, "This king ate cabbage and pork stuffing last year. ”

Mai Jiu raised her eyes to look at Sang Huai'an, she twitched the corner of her mouth and silently put the zongzi back on the plate: "I also saw her garlic-scented melon seeds last time. ”

Sang Huai'an nodded and said, "This king has now refused the food she made. If the king knew that she entered the palace to poison the king, the king would have killed her and would not bring her back. The more Sang Huai'an spoke, the more he gritted his teeth.

Mai Jiu smelled the gossip. The women in the mansion all have mysterious and unpredictable backgrounds. She asked tentatively, "Lu Youning, she... Where's my mother's house? ”

"Her family is a boat gang in the South." Sang Huai'an replied.

Mai Jiu continued to ask tentatively, "Then is she... How did you get in? ”

Sang Huai'an frowned, he didn't know what the person in front of him was asking for, these were all explained by him after Lu Youning entered the mansion last year.

Mai Jiu looked at Sang Huai'an's suspicious expression, she patted her empty braincase and said with a hippie smile, "My head is not very good, I forgot." ”

Sang Huai'an smiled helplessly, he looked at the person in front of him smiling. Sure enough, it's still so stupid that I don't remember.

"This king went south to the frontier last year to fight a water battle, but unexpectedly encountered a sneak attack by the enemy, and half of our personnel disappeared into the sea, and in the end it was Lu Lao's boat that saved our lives, and finally assisted us in repelling the enemy army."

"Lu Youning usually doesn't seem very shrewd, but she is very good at water, when the boat was damaged, the king was also injured by a knife and jumped into the water, and it was Lu Youning who pulled the king onto the boat. After that, our group rested and recuperated in Lu Lao's bed, and the king recovered his injuries and planned to set off to return to Beijing, only to find Lu Youning hiding in the wooden box halfway. ”

Mai Jiu was fascinated by what he heard, and casually opened a zongzi and took a bite.

Sang Huai'an continued: "She cried and begged the king to take her back, but the king had no choice but to let Lu Youning write a letter back home, but unexpectedly, Lu Lao thought that the king and Lu Youning had a private agreement for life before taking her away. ”

Mai Jiu carefully tasted the zongzi in her mouth, and she suddenly felt that something was wrong and looked down. Sure enough, it was leek eggs, and she left the zongzi aside in disgust, poured a cup of tea and drank it all in one gulp.

Sang Huai'an looked at the cute appearance of the person in front of him, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly: "You don't have to take Lu Youning to heart, it is estimated that she will go back when she is tired of playing in the capital." ”

"It's okay, how can the palace be so big that it can accommodate her little girl, let her live." Mai Jiu likes this heartless, nervous Lu Youning very much, every time she sees her, she seems to see her when she was a child, and now she has long lost such happiness.

Mai Jiu saw that Sang Huai'an was silent and explained, "You don't have to take it to heart, I am quite happy with her." ”

After dinner, Sang Huai'an actually proposed to take Mai Jiu out of the house to play.

Mai Jiu jumped up and down excitedly, she heard Sang Huai'an say that Da'an at night was more lively than during the day, and if she was lucky, she could catch up with the lanterns today.

Da'an will hold a monthly tour of lanterns in the summer, and the lanterns are basically put by talented and beautiful people who have not yet married, and later some blessings will be placed in it. The content is basically the thoughts of the family and their own basic situation, mate selection criteria, if you meet the right one, go to the place written in the lantern to meet.

Hundreds of lanterns float along the river, the scene is really spectacular, and there are always more people watching the lanterns than putting them every time.

Out of the palace, Mai Jiu pulled Sang Huai'an and went straight to Zuiyun Building, she was not interested at all, she only knew that Zuiyun Lou had a new signature dish - braised lion head!

The two of them found a place by the window and sat down, and the shopkeeper brought a pot of herbal tea. Mai Jiu reported the name of the dish with a familiar road: "Hosta chicken, night shrimp, braised lion's head, straw mushroom egg drop soup, and finally a lotus seed paste." ”

These are the most famous dishes in Zuiyunlou, Mai Jiu has heard Zhihua talk about it several times, and every time she goes out of the house, she wants to come and try it, but she is forced to have no money.

She looked at the silver sitting in front of her and asked intimately, "Do you have anything you want to eat?" ”

Sang Huai'an said to the shopkeeper with an expressionless face: "The hosta is out of the chicken, and the lotus seed paste is not necessary." ”

Mai Jiu's face was full of question marks, and she tilted her head and frowned at Sang Huai'an. The shopkeeper looked at Mai Jiu and hesitated, "Look at you, this..."

Sang Huai'an glanced at Mai Jiu's expression and explained: "The amount of hosta chicken is a little too big, the lotus seed paste is too sweet, and they need to wait for a long time, you just had dinner and haven't been more than an hour, so don't eat so much." ”

Mai Jiu smiled helplessly at the shopkeeper and said, "Okay, that's it, hurry up." ”

Sang Huai'an looked down through the window at the crowd of people coming and going. Mai Jiu also looked down through the window like Sang Huai'an, and she didn't say, "It's really lively." ”

The hawkers shouted loudly; A few children squatted on a street corner with watermelons in their hands and nibbled on them; Two or three girls walked side by side, holding hands, talking and laughing.

"When Gusu was on Wuqi, King Wu was drunk in the palace. Wu Ge Chu dance is not finished, and Qingshan wants to win half of the day. The silver arrow gold pot leaks a lot, and it looks like the autumn moon falls into the river waves. Sang Huai'an said the poem unhurriedly.

Mai Jiu looked at Sang Huai'an, and she roughly understood what Sang Huai'an wanted to express. It is a poem that implies the tragic end of the absurd monarch who is content with the present and the miserable end of happiness and sorrow by describing the sunset and the sunset, the sunset, and the autumn moon falling into the river.

She slowly turned her head to look out the window again, but her mood was completely different from what she had just been, and she didn't think about anything.

The sound of the shopkeeper putting the dishes on the table pulled Mai Jiu's thoughts back, and the atmosphere of the table was a little cold at this time, Mai Jiu picked up the chopsticks and put a shrimp in his mouth, and Mai Jiu made a satisfied voice at the moment of entering his mouth: "It's delicious." ”

Sang Huai'an was expressionless, as if he was thinking about something. Mai Jiu tried her best to liven up the atmosphere, and when she finally came out, she didn't want to see the people around her always have a bitter face. She picked up a quick shrimp and sent it to Sang Huai'an's mouth.

Sang Huai'an noticed the movement, he came back to his senses, smiled, opened his mouth and took the shrimp.

"Isn't it super delicious?" Mai Jiu asked.

Sang Huai'an nodded.

The shopkeeper brought braised lion's head and straw mushroom egg soup one after another. Mai Jiu looked at the braised lion's head on the table, his eyes were straight, the fat and thin meatballs were ruddy and shiny, with a few cloves of emerald green vegetables, and the dark brown soup was drizzled around, Mai Jiu sighed that it was worthy of being the signature dish of Zuiyunlou.

Sang Huai'an held his cheek with one hand and stared at the person in front of him, and the appearance of Mai Jiu gulping down food made Sang Huai'an raise the corners of his mouth inadvertently.

No matter how noisy the soldiers are outside, he would rather stay by his beloved's side and die of old age.

After Mai Jiu ate and drank enough, she beckoned the shopkeeper to come to settle the bill, she looked at Sang Huai'an and waved her hand magnificently: "Come, take out the silver." ”

Sang Huai'an lowered his head and took out the money bag with white eyes, he put the silver on the table and said, "Don't look for it." ”

The two of them walked in the bustling crowd, and everyone walked in one direction, presumably to see the lanterns.

In the crowd, Sang Huai'an grabbed Mai Jiu's hand, dragged her over, and let her stand in front of him, and his other hand put on Mai Jiu's shoulder, so he walked with her towards the place where the lantern was playing.