Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu got up and went out. There she saw Chun Tao standing at the door, looking at her with a worried look on her face. "What's up?"
Chun Tao presented a letter with both hands and said to Shen Mingzhu, "Your Highness, this is a letter from Miss Xi Yu."
Xi Yu, Li Xi Yu, was Crown Prince's fiancée.
Or rather, his former fiancée.
After the Crown Prince's death, Li Xi Yu followed her parents to the poor Qingzhou to avoid trouble. There had been no letter from her for a long time.
When Shen Mingzhu saw the letter, she remembered Li Xi Yu, who used to always have a gentle face. But when she left, her face was pale. All her former gentleness and calmness were gone. She grabbed Shen Mingzhu's hand and cried uncontrollably until she was in a daze.
Although the Li family was not a prominent one, Li's father was from a poor family who passed the imperial examination. There was no powerful noble family behind them. The Li couple had a harmonious relationship and only one daughter, Li Xi Yu. So after the incident, they took their daughter and left the capital, the land of sorrow.
It had been a long time since she received a letter from an old acquaintance.
There was only a small lamp hanging outside the house. The candlelight was dim, with a kind of indescribable drowsiness. It was still cold in early spring. When the wind blew, Shen Mingzhu couldn't help shivering. She hesitated for a long time and didn't reach out to take the letter.
"Your Highness!"
Chun Tao had been staring at her worriedly. Seeing that Shen Mingzhu was cold, she quickly said, "Your Highness, go in quickly. Don't catch a cold."
Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu nodded as if waking up from a dream. She took the letter and turned to enter the room.
There was a lot of charcoal burning in the room. When she went in, she felt the chill on her body dissipate instantly. But Shen Mingzhu's face was still extremely ugly, even colder than the biting wind outside the window.
When Shen Mingzhu went out, Xie Lang pricked up his ears. He pretended to be nonchalant, but still subconsciously listened. Unfortunately, after the door opened, the wind outside covered Chun Tao's already deliberately lowered voice, so he didn't hear anything.
Then he turned his head and saw Shen Mingzhu coming in with a letter. Her expression was obviously off, which made Xie Lang's heart sink.
No way? Who sent this letter? Even on the day when Shen Mingzhu got married and went to chop him with a sword, her face wasn't this ugly.
Xie Lang's heart skipped a beat. He casually leaned over, only to see the glistening tears in Shen Mingzhu's eyes. The candlelight on the small table was reflected in her eyes, making it even more startling.
All of Xie Lang's questions were silenced by her expression. He stood there stunned and didn't dare to move.
Shen Mingzhu wasn't unaware of the suspicion on Xie Lang's face, but she was too lazy to pay attention to him at the moment.
She sat there hesitating for a long time before looking up. She saw Xie Lang pretending to be nonchalant and saying to her, "For you to open the letter."
With that, he handed over the small knife in his hand.
Shen Mingzhu was stunned for a moment. She thanked Xie Lang, took the knife, gently cut open the wax-sealed part, and then took out the letter.
Seeing the familiar handwriting, Shen Mingzhu suppressed the sourness in her heart and read on bit by bit. At the end, she saw that Li Xi Yu said she was about to return to the capital.
Was it a good news?
Li Xi Yu was a very important person to Shen Mingzhu. The two almost became family.
She sat there to calm down for a long time. When she looked up, she saw Xie Lang looking at her. His well - defined face showed a bit of cynicism, but the nervousness in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
"You..."
Compared with comforting others, Xie Lang was better at scolding. He had never comforted anyone before, nor had he ever had the opportunity to do so. So seeing Shen Mingzhu like this, he was suddenly at a loss and couldn't say a word.
"It's okay."
Seeing Xie Lang was rarely so silent, Shen Mingzhu couldn't help but look at him a few more times and said with a smile, "Don't worry. I'm not fragile glass. You don't need to look like this."
Hearing this, Xie Lang subconsciously wanted to refute, but suddenly remembered that Shen Mingzhu had almost shed tears just now. So he swallowed all his words back. He thought for a long time and sat there silently like a stone statue for a long time.
It wasn't until Shen Mingzhu got up and was about to go to bed that Xie Lang said, "How about... how about I invite Your Highness for a drink?"
Shen Mingzhu: "..."
What was going on in Xie Lang's head? It was almost time to go to bed, and she had already changed into her nightgown. Now he said he wanted to drink?
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Mingzhu nodded under Xie Lang's expectant eyes and said, "Sure. What would you like to drink?"
Xie Lang smiled. His eyes brightened a bit. He said to Shen Mingzhu, "Since I'm inviting you, I'll get the wine."
With that, Xie Lang got up and put on a thick fox - fur cloak. He said to Shen Mingzhu, "Wait. I'll go dig out the wine."
What, dig?
Shen Mingzhu suspected she had misheard. She saw Xie Lang put on his cloak and walk out. Subconsciously, she picked up her own cloak and put it on. She followed behind Xie Lang to see what he was going to do.
When they went out, a cold wind blew. Shen Mingzhu gasped softly. Only then did Xie Lang notice that she was following him. He said, "Your Highness, go in. I'll be done soon."
"It's okay." Shen Mingzhu simply leaned against the door and said to Xie Lang, "I'll watch you here."
With that, Shen Mingzhu raised her voice and said to Chun Tao, "Chun Tao, find two guards to help the son - in - law."
Confusion was written all over Chun Tao's face, but she still found two guards as told.
Xie Lang found a hoe from some corner. When the guards came, he handed the hoe to them and directed them from the side.
"Be careful!"
"Hey hey hey! You're off. Here!"
"Get out of the way. I'll do it!"
The quiet small courtyard was unconsciously filled with a bit of vitality. Looking at this scene, the corners of Shen Mingzhu's mouth unconsciously curled up slightly. Her eyes were full of gentle smiles as she looked at Xie Lang.
After a while, Xie Lang really dug out several jars of wine. He picked them up and proudly waved them at Shen Mingzhu, saying, "Let's go! Go back and drink!"
Back in the room.
Shen Mingzhu asked curiously, "When did you bury this wine?"
She picked up a jar on the table. It was only about the size of two palms, and the bottle showed signs of age. It didn't seem to be newly buried.
"Ah."
Xie Lang handed the wine to Chun Tao and asked her to warm it up. Then he turned to Shen Mingzhu and explained, "My mother buried this Nu'er Hong."
This kind of wine was usually buried under a tree when a girl in the family was born. It would be taken out as a dowry when the girl got married.
Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu looked at Xie Lang and joked, "Where's the daughter?"
Xie Lang paused in his actions. He said to Shen Mingzhu angrily, "What? Only daughters can drink it?"
Shen Mingzhu knew that he showed such a deliberately exaggerated expression to make her happy, so she cooperated and let out a soft laugh.
When the wine was warmed up, Shen Mingzhu took a sip. The wine went down her throat without burning. The fragrance filled the air, and her whole body felt warm. It was a rare good wine, so she couldn't help but drink a few more cups.
Xie Lang wiped his hands for a long time but couldn't get them clean. He simply went out to fetch a basin of water to wash them. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Shen Mingzhu glancing at him with a calm look on her face.
What was going on? Was Shen Mingzhu angry again?