After lunch, Gu Yunxi asked the depot worker to prepare a pot of hot water. Then, she took a shower in the house and put on the long blue skirt and short jacket.
Gu Yunxi was excited for a while after putting on women's clothes again.
Master Leng Qingtang arrived when she was sitting at the dressing table and wearing make-up.
When he saw Gu Yunxi, he was surprised with brightness in his deep black eyes.
This dress was selected by him, from the style and the color to the size. Now it seemed that it fitted her well and outlined her slender and youthful body.
Gu Yunxi was standing in front of the Master with her hair cascading like a waterfall. It seemed that she was an orchid blooming quietly. One could see some moisture around her body since she just took a shower. She was like an elegant fairy.
The black of her long hair and the blue of her skirt met and made her face clearer and fairer. Leng Qingtan
Langtian Lane, Xijing Gate. A carriage parked on the street corner facing the Master's Mansion of the Western Depot. The curtain was lifted, under which the Eastern Depot worker, Sun Bing, jumped out. He put down the step stool and then helped Gu Yunxi down. Looking across at the Master's Mansion, Gu Yunxi was surprised. The building was luxurious and grand with its red gate and high-pitched roof. Having never been to her Master's Mansion so far, she had no idea how impressive it would be. At least this one was no inferior to the Garden where she used to live. Now that Gu Yunxi had got off the carriage, Sun Bing walked across the wide street by himself to announce their arrival at the Master's Mansion. The man had an honest and modest disposition. Along the way, he had not uttered a single word even if he was inside the carriage with Gu Yunxi. The uncomfortable silences had been hard to sustain. Gu Y
Right after returning to the Master's Mansion, Ming Lan and the eunuchs encircled the plate of flower cakes sent by Gu Yunxi dubiously. To bake the cakes, one needed to mix the yeast-fermented white dough with honey, milk, and ghee. Then, it was rolled, folded, and cut into small squares, which were later roasted. Consequently, the dough rose, and its surface was rendered layered and flakey. Lastly, topped with a layer of almond crumble, the half-an-inch thick pastry was made. Although the cooking process was time-consuming, the pastry was crispy and flavorsome. With a sweet aroma of almond and milk and the resemblance of snowy flowers, it was hence named "flower cake". Qin Zhong frowned, swallowing his saliva hard at the snow-white and delicious-smelling pastry right before his eyes. "Master, could it be poisonous?" Greedy as he might be, his suspicion remained. Yun Guaner was shrewd. She lied about her gender an
The Western Depot people halted outside the main hall of the temple. Ming Lan ordered the guards to wait here and beckoned Qin Zhong closer with the lantern. Outside the hall, he had seen the slender figure surrounded by dimly swaying candlelight. She was standing in the room center, facing away from Ming Lan towards the colossal wreck of a Buddha. Unlike the outfit from this afternoon, she was wearing a crimson long-sleeved overcoat embroidered with golden peonies and a red pleated chiffon dress. Tied around her slim waist was a colorful silk ribbon, and inserted in her high pinned-up bun was a golden hair stick with double tassels. The flamboyant red was like a fiery flame, reminding Ming Lan of the manglietia flowers he had seen on the way here. Lying around them was the boneless and tranquil night sky, and their blazing color was attractive but also mysterious, horrifying their audience for no reason.
On the way back to the Eastern Depot, the three people in the carriage were all in silence. Once one had idle time, he would spend more time imagining things. At this time, it was the elaborate-style painting booklet brought by Ming Lan that was constantly frying Leng Qingtang's mind. Those still pictures which inadvertently jumped into his eyes were so enchanting and enthralling that they seemed to be ghosts endowed with invisible lives, violently and inescapably messing around in front of Leng Qingtang's eyes. At this very moment, Gu Yunxi was sitting beside him, looking tiny and pretty. Suddenly, there were a lot of evil thoughts in his mind. If he had pushed down this graceful and svelte little girl, lying on her water-like silky body, feeling those pictures, how exciting it would have been to see her self-possessed and blissful look. Leng Qingtang only felt that the blood in his body swelled sharply, and the
Late night, somewhere in the Palace.The moon above the turret showed half of its shape, and a white figure was sitting on the eaves of the room topped with glazed tiles that looked like silver frost. After a while, a man's light voice came from the shadow below the turret, "You come to the Palace late at night and do not wear nightclothes, but instead dress up in that white outfit. Are you not afraid to be arrested as an assassin?" However, the man in the shadow gazed at him with appreciation and surprise. At this moment, as the bright moonlight draped over his white clothes on the turret, like a gauzy haze, added a heavy fairy mystery and natural quality to him. A silver mask with a tedious pattern covered half of his face, only to see that his thin lips were rising slightly. "Humph! Ridiculous…" The white man on the corner tower laughed loudly, with a tone that was full of coldness an
After the Master left, Gu Yunxi couldn't sleep well. Resting for a while, she went to wash herself, changed into the clothes of guards, and ran to the kitchenette to prepare lunch.The three cooks in Southern Residence showed great respect to her. They followed whatever she wanted to do and gave her the best of whatever ingredients she wanted to use.Today, she would cook honey stuffed ribs, chestnut roast chicken, and sour radish duck soup for the Master. She was assisted by the three cooks, who gave her some advice on the selection of accessories and the cooking temperature.The three kinds of raw meat essence, after being cut, were dipped in cold water sprinkled with salt for a moment so that the blood in the meat was drawn out. To prevent her blood phobia, Gu Yunxi asked the cooks to do this for her.The sodden ribs, chicken, and duck were piled separately and blanched one by one in boiling water.The process of ma
In the evening, Leng Qingtang and Gu Yunxi sat in the same carriage. Xiao Xiaoshen and a team of guards escorted them out of the Eastern Depot to the Master's Mansion. Leng Qingtang's mansion was not far away from the Eastern Depot. They went five miles south to Yudao Street and passed the memorial gate titled "Eternal Good Fame". The Master's Mansion was right in the alley. After they got off the carriage, Gu Yunxi saw a delicate mansion. The red door was inlaid with shining golden doornails. Two stone Kylin statues were by the side of the door, making threatening gestures with force. Gu Yunxi looked up. She could see the towering eaves, houses, and attics in the mansion even outside the grey stone wall. Some eunuchs who had been waiting by the door greeted the Master and Gu Yunxi and led them into the mansion. The mansion had four gardens with ambulatories winding through and interspersing waterside pavilions. A
Leng Qingtang never thought he would be rendered speechless by a little girl. He stopped the brush pen and looked up at her. He was even a bit lost. Gu Yunxi started to get a bit scared. She secretly guessed what the Master would do next and whether he would be mad at her like the Double Ninth Festival. She looked down quietly and secretly glanced at the Master with her split vision. She saw the Master look interested, so she was lively again. Leng Qingtang was thinking about what tricks he should use to punish Gu Yunxi at the moment. But he also quickly remembered how he scared her and made her cry on the Double Ninth Festival, so he didn't dare to try again. "Never mind. It's ok to be teased by her now and then. It's on me that I fall in love with this naughty little girl!" The moment when he laid eyes on her, his eyes and heart were filled by her every twinkle and smile. Leng Qingtang dropped the