Li Huairou berjalan sebentar, lalu berbalik. Xiao Linzi merasa sedikit aneh. “Kakak, apa yang kamu lakukan?”
“Aku ingin melihat apa yang ingin dia lakukan! Jangan bicara.” Li Huairou bersembunyi di balik pohon dan melihat ke luar.
Dia melihat Yingyue mengambil segenggam umpan dan menaburkannya di air. Seperti yang diduga, beberapa detik kemudian, segerombolan ikan besar menyerbu.
Yingyue tersenyum puas. Keberhasilan atau kegagalan bergantung pada ini, dan tidak boleh ada kesalahan. Menurutnya, Selir Ling telah mendapatkan kembali dukungan, jadi tidak ada lagi kemungkinan baginya untuk bersama pangeran. Selain itu, dia adalah pelayan istana Selir Ling; jika Selir Ling mendapatkan kembali dukungan, dia juga bisa mendapatkan keuntungan darinya. Mungkin angan-angannya akan terpenuhi suatu hari nanti.
Yingyue tinggal sebentar, menunggu efek obatnya hilang dan ikan-ikannya menyebar sebelum dia pergi.
Li Huairou menyaksikan semua ini, dan bibirnya melengkung. Dia sudah menebaknya, tetapi itu tertulis dengan sangat menakjubkan dalam alur ceritanya.
“Ayo pergi.” Li Huairou menepuk-nepuk debu di tangannya dan berbalik.
Xiao Linzi mengeluarkan “oh” dan mengikutinya.
Li Huairou bertanya, “Apakah kamu tidak penasaran?”
Xiao Linzi menggelengkan kepalanya. “Ayah baptisku berkata bahwa jika kamu ingin hidup dengan aman di istana, kamu tidak boleh penasaran.”
“Ayah baptismu benar—mendengarkan ayah baptismu adalah hal yang benar untuk dilakukan,” kata Li Huairou sambil menepuk pundaknya.
Xiao Linzi mengipasi dirinya dengan lengan bajunya dan berkata, “Kakak, ayo kita kembali. Ini sudah siang, jadi ayo kita kembali dan beristirahat?”
“Baiklah.” Li Huairou juga sedikit gerah. Dia tidak takut matahari, tetapi cuacanya sangat panas. Terutama di era etika yang ketat ini—jangan pernah berpikir untuk memperlihatkan bahu, punggung, dan kaki. Setelah keluar sebentar, semua pakaian akan berkeringat dan cukup lengket.
Li Huairou kembali ke Paviliun Chunyi Yunhe dan berganti pakaian. Masih merasa kepanasan, dia melihat ke kolam renang di halaman belakang, dan sebuah pikiran muncul: jika berenang bolak-balik, pasti akan sangat nyaman.
Li Huairou sedang berbaring di pagar dan menatap air dengan linglung ketika suara Janda Selir Hui tiba-tiba terdengar.
“Saya sarankan kamu untuk tetap tenang. Jika kamu berani masuk ke air, saya akan mematahkan kakimu.”
Li Huairou terkekeh, “Janda permaisuri, jadi kamu sudah bangun. Aku tidak ingin masuk ke dalam air; aku hanya ingin melihat-lihat.”
“Pikiranmu semuanya tertulis di wajahmu—apa kau pikir aku tidak bisa melihatnya?!” Permaisuri Hui melotot padanya. “Betapa kotornya air ini! Dan kau bahkan tidak takut mengotori sesuatu.”
Consort Dowager Hui waved a fan and sat down beside her, staring at the water in a daze. “When the first emperor was still here, I couldn’t stand the heat and wanted to play in the water. He emptied a pool in the palace and filled it with spring water. He changed the water daily, so it was very clean. He cleared out the people in the palace, so only Fang-momo was left to wait on me and let me swim in the water.”
Speaking of the past, Consort Dowager Hui’s eyes were full of smiles.
Li Huairou didn’t expect this to happen. She was immediately interested, and asked, “What happened later?”
“Later? Later, I didn’t know who leaked this out, but the ministers all went up in arms and said that I was a fox who had charmed the lord, hurting the people and our money. In order to quell the criticism, the first emperor never let me go swimming again. Now, I don’t think about it,” Consort Dowager Hui hissed.
“Why is it like this? The pools are all built—isn’t it wasteful to leave them unused?” Li Huairou said with regret.
Consort Dowager Hui glanced around and whispered, “It’s not like that. Later, the first emperor quietly took me to go there a few times; he just didn’t let others know. Later, he became seriously ill, and so I didn’t go there anymore. ”
Li Huairou looked at Consort Dowager Hui’s expression, one with a hint of nostalgic happiness and the reminiscence of past times. Suddenly, she thought that the first emperor and Consort Dowager Hui, a couple consisting of an old husband and a young wife, may not have been what she’d thought. And the first emperor may not have completely treated Consort Dowager Hui as a stand-in—he must have been a little sincere to her. Her feelings toward him were about the same.
“You missed the good times. If it were a few years earlier, I would definitely have taken you. Now, you can only look at the water and sigh. But this consort will warn you: don’t go crazy. The pond in this garden is very deep, and you could drown. At the worst, I will ask a momo to give you a larger bathtub,” Consort Dowager Hui warned again.
“According to your words, I’m that ignorant and playful?” Li Huairou said angrily.
Consort Dowager Hui looked at her up and down. “Haha.” Then she stood up.
Li Huairou’s eyes widened—what do you mean! “Consort dowager, aren’t you looking down on me? Aren’t you? Consort dowager!”
Consort Dowager Hui was disturbed by the noise. “Momo!”
Fang-momo came over. “Alright, don’t make trouble. Come and eat some fruit. This was made according to Huairou’s recipe. It was chilled for an hour; quickly try some, consort dowager.”
Consort Dowager Hui sat down. Behind her, the maid waved a fan, and Fang-momo lifted the lid. Consort Dowager Hui looked at the bowl, tasted it, and smiled, satisfied. “It tastes good—cool and refreshing. Huairou, try some too.”
Li Huairou also had a bowl, and she’d already sat down to eat. The taste was good. The only regret was that if the milk could be replaced with yogurt, it would be even better. How was yogurt made again?
“I want this tonight. Forget it, I can’t eat it.” Consort Dowager Hui said as she finished a bowl of fruit.
Fang-momo was just about to advise that this was too cold, so it was okay to try it occasionally, but it wasn’t good to have it as a meal, when Li Huairou raised her hand and said, “Momo, I want to eat skewers tonight. Grill some lamb or beef, and it’s best to have some wine too.”
“Are you alright? Are you sure you want to eat grilled lamb on this day? Won’t you feel hot?” Consort Dowager Hui frowned.
[In traditional Chinese medicine, food is divided into five categories: cold, cool, neutral, warm, and hot. The nature of the food is not determined by its actual temperature, but by the effects it has on one’s body after consumption. Lamb falls into the hot category, and beer is in the cold category]
“Of course it’s hot, so we need to drink wine to relieve the heat! If not, you can roast some vegetables or something. Consort dowager, I tell you, when the weather is hot, you have to eat skewers to have the right atmosphere!” Li Huairou recalled the night market stalls she’d visited when she was out on a mission. Midsummer nights, food stalls, beer, skewers, and crayfish—so much life. This kind of food culture and life had long disappeared from her time.
Consort Dowager Hui was skeptical. “Momo, just do what Huairou says!”
Fang-momo gave Li Huairou a helpless look. She thought to herself that this here was a master of mischief, and the other one still followed her mischief. But no matter what, it was fine as long as the consort dowager was happy.
In the evening, the moon was rising, and a grill was set up in the backyard at Chunyi Yunhe Pavilion. Li Huairou insisted on grilling the food herself, but her skill was not good, so it burnt at every turn.
Consort Dowager Hui sat not far away. “Stop making trouble. With your skills, don’t spoil the meat. Come and sit down, and wait to eat!”
Li Huairou had to angrily put down the meat skewers in her hands. She sat next to Consort Dowager Hui.
“I have to agree with you. I thought that it would be hot eating these in the summer, but I didn’t expect it to be so delicious,” Consort Dowager Hui remarked with a smile.
“Where is the wine? Why is there no wine? Momo, eating this, you have to drink to feel the atmosphere,” Li Huairou said.
Consort Dowager Hui immediately looked at Fang-momo. Fang-momo sighed helplessly and took the prepared peach blossom wine over. “Really now, a child drinking wine! Three glasses each, and you can’t drink any more! Do you hear?”
Before Fang-momo finished speaking, Li Huairou had already had a drink. “Momo, drinking this wine is like drinking water. I won’t get drunk.”
Upon seeing this, Consort Dowager Hui also learned from Li Huairou and drank a refreshing glass of wine. She drank too quickly, choked, and coughed for a long time. Fang-momo patted her on the back, all while groaning, “Look at you, how old do you think you are, looking like a child. What are you doing drinking so anxiously in such a hurry!”
Then she glared at Li Huairou. “Don’t teach the consort dowager bad things.” Then she saw that Li Huairou had drunk three or four glasses of wine while she hadn’t been paying attention.
Fang-momo really couldn’t do anything about Li Huairou, but the consort dowager was very protective. “It’s okay, let her drink. I want to see how much she can drink!”
Then the two, master and servant, began to eat skewers. You have a glass of wine, I have a glass of wine.
Seeing this, Fang-momo couldn’t stop her. She could only let them go.
The master and servant were getting drunk, talking, laughing, and singing while drunk.
It was rare for Fang-momo to see Consort Dowager Hui this happy, so happy that she was oblivious to her surroundings. Fang-momo stared at Consort Dowager Hui for fear that she would stumble and fall.
Sure enough, Consort Dowager Hui tripped over the corner of her skirt and almost fell over. Fang-momo hurriedly supported her.
Suddenly Li Huairou pursed her lips. She pointed to Fang-momo and said, “Playing favorites! Momo, you are playing favorites! You only like the consort dowager, and you don’t like me!”
Fang-momo was speechless.
Consort Dowager Hui clapped her hands and smiled, then waved. “Come here. Momo is partial to me, and I am partial to you. Come here, the consort dowager will spoil you!”
Li Huairou lifted her head. “I don’t care! I have an older sister, and my sister has to be partial to me.”
Consort Dowager Hui snorted when she saw that Li Huairou would not come. “Your sister? Your sister now has a husband and children; even if she had you in her heart, you only get to be…” Consort Dowager Hui couldn’t count at the moment, so she simply raised her fingers. “… fourth!” But she’d clearly raised five fingers.
“Come here, come here, let the consort dowager dote on you!” Consort Dowager Hui smiled and opened her arms to Li Huairou.
Li Huairou pursed her lips and threw herself into Consort Dowager Hui’s arms. The master and servant hugged each other, talking about drunk things.
Fang- momo tahu bahwa kata-kata Selir Janda Hui mungkin bukan omongan orang mabuk. Ibu kandung Selir Janda Hui telah meninggal saat dia masih muda, dan ayahnya segera menikah lagi. Selir Janda Hui tumbuh bersama majikan tua dan istrinya, dan dia memiliki hubungan yang suam-suam kuku dengan ayah, ibu tiri, dan saudara tirinya. Setelah majikan tua pergi, satu-satunya perhatian Selir Janda Hui tidak ada lagi. Setelah bertahun-tahun di istana, Selir Janda Hui hanya memiliki sedikit kontak dengan keluarga ibunya.
Tuan dan pelayannya membuat masalah hampir sepanjang malam sebelum mereka dibawa kembali untuk beristirahat oleh Fang-momo dan yang lainnya.
Bangun pagi, kedua orang itu memegangi kepala mereka, ekspresi sedih terlihat di wajah mereka.
“ Momo , kita hanya makan bubur pagi ini? Itu terlalu sederhana! Apakah tidak ada lauk?” Li Huairou meratap, melihat semangkuk bubur di depannya.
Permaisuri Hui mengangguk.
“Saat bangun dari mabuk, seseorang perlu makan sesuatu yang ringan. Ada beberapa lauk pauk,” jawab Fang- momo datar. Kemudian dia berkata kepada Permaisuri Hui dengan nada yang lebih lembut, “Hari ini adalah pesta ulang tahun permaisuri. Permaisuri secara khusus memerintahkan para nanfu untuk mengadakan beberapa pertunjukan yang bagus. Permaisuri, kamu harus sembuh agar punya cukup energi untuk menonton pertunjukan!”
[ Sebuah kantor di istana kekaisaran yang menyelenggarakan pertunjukan drama ]
Permaisuri Hui mengangguk malas. “Aku tahu.”
Lalu dia menyeruput buburnya.
Li Huairou memiliki selera makan yang sangat baik, dan semangkuk buburnya dihabiskan dengan cepat. “ Momo , aku masih lapar. Aku mau lagi.”
Permaisuri Hui hanya menghabiskan setengah mangkuk bubur, lalu mendorong mangkuk itu dan berkata, “Saya sudah kenyang. Saya tidak akan makan lagi.”
Fang – momo mendesah, merasa akan lebih baik jika mereka berdua saling menetralisir.
