RMACAUH Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 His body is so warm, if only this winter…

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 His body is so warm, if only this winter…

He said he would come and knock on the window, and Wei Xiaofeng really held out until midnight. He didn’t care about the cold wind blowing into the room, opened the window and kept peeking out from time to time.

He sullenly added some black charcoal to the charcoal brazier. A bit of smoke choked his nose, and he coughed a few times, preparing to open the small window completely to ventilate.

As soon as the small window was pushed open, he saw a dark figure sneaking across the pavilion corridor towards his house.

He really came!

Wei Xiaofeng’s mood was complicated, half joy and half anger. He was happy that Feng Yue kept his word and he hadn’t waited in vain. He was angry that he had made him wait so long; normally, at this hour, he would have already slept and almost woken up.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, some things came up that delayed me until now.”

“Hmph!” Wei Xiaofeng ignored him and turned around to go back into the house, where freshly added charcoal was burning, dispelling some of the cold.

“Little *fu lang*, won’t you open the door for me!”

“Aren’t you able to climb walls and windows?”

Feng Yue didn’t get angry, but laughed instead. “I can even lift the roof tiles. Shall I put on a show for you now?”

As he spoke, he raised his head and measured the height of the roof, as if he really intended to go up. Wei Xiaofeng was so frightened that he jumped up and ran out to look. “Don’t be ridiculous! If you take the tiles off my roof, do you want to freeze me to death?”

As soon as he came out, Feng Yue pulled him into his arms, smiling in a suave and unrestrained manner, affectionately rubbing his head with the tip of his nose, and whispering: “You come and open the door for me, and I won’t lift the tiles on your roof.”

“Let go, we aren’t married yet!”

Feng Yue didn’t care about these things and carried him into the house with one hand, bolting the door shut.

Wei Xiaofeng was scared to death. Taking advantage of the time he was bolting the door, he tried to run, but Feng Yue caught him again with one hand and pinned him against the door.

“Where are you running to?”

Wei Xiaofeng’s face was flushed: “This is my room, why would I run?”

“Yes, why would you run? You have to ask yourself that, don’t you?”

Wei Xiaofeng’s heart was so nervous that it felt like it was about to jump out of his throat. When he looked up to meet his fiery gaze, Wei Xiaofeng shyly rested his head against his chest. Feng Yue saw that the back of his neck to the tips of his ears was completely red.

“Why don’t you look at me? Am I not good-looking?”

“I have a sense of shame.”

“How does looking at me make you shameless?” Saying this, he lightly pinched his chin, forcing him to look up at himself.

“Have you flirted with a lot of *ge’er* to be so thick-skinned?”

“That’s not true!” Feng Yue said seriously: “However… it is indeed different from you all. The imperial family considers having offspring to be a major matter. By the time one is ten years old or so, there are palace maids and *momo* to teach one. In the military camp, there are also prisoners and courtesans. Those boorish men never avoid others when doing such things.”

Because the scene was too eye-watering, like animals mating, it made him even more disgusted.

Wei Xiaofeng’s face turned pale when he heard this, and he pushed him away: “Are you the same as them?”

“I never did, really!” Feng Yue explained anxiously: “You might not believe it, but I was very headstrong at that time and wasn’t interested in these things at all. I only wanted to fight, to go into battle and win merit.”

Furthermore, he was very disdainful of those lovey-dovey, romantic things. How could flowers and moonlit nights be as fun as knives, spears, sticks, and cudgels? All those things about dying for love were a bunch of vulgar objects!

He never thought that one day he would also become one of these vulgar objects.

“Are you that fond of fighting?”

“I… didn’t deliberately pick fights with people.”

Wei Xiaofeng also felt that he had been rather picky and mean tonight, so he took the initiative to take his hand. “Let’s not stand at the door talking, it’s a bit cold.”

Feng Yue grabbed his hand and found it was indeed cold, so he quickly pulled him to sit beside the charcoal fire to warm up.

“This black charcoal is smoky and doesn’t burn for long. How could they give you this to use?”

“Everyone burns black charcoal, so what else would they burn? A little better is red clay charcoal, but ordinary people can’t get anything else.”

When he was a child, he had used golden silk charcoal and silver silk charcoal at his maternal grandparents’ house, but those were extremely rare items, all things specially supplied to the imperial family.

“It was inconsiderate of me. I’ll have someone send a cart of silver silk charcoal over tomorrow morning.”

“Mm.” Wei Xiaofeng didn’t know what he was thinking, but suddenly fell silent.

Feng Yue scratched his chin with his fingertip, like teasing a kitten: “Why are you so heavy-hearted? Do you want to sleep? Then go to sleep, no need to worry about me.”

“I don’t want to sleep now.” Wei Xiaofeng shook his head, poking at the smoky charcoal in the brazier with a fire stick. He was just worrying about his dowry. The Wei family was a gold-swallowing beast that only ate and didn’t produce. They had received so many betrothal gifts from the Prince’s mansion, but now they couldn’t even produce one percent of that as a dowry. It was really worrying!

“Why are you frowning like this at such a young age?”

Wei Xiaofeng was naturally too embarrassed to talk about the dowry. Saying it would make the Wei family lose face, and he wouldn’t look good either.

“Why did you send so many betrothal gifts over here?”

“That’s how imperial standards are. It’s not excessive.”

Feng Yue had already lived two lives, so he immediately guessed the young man’s concerns and secretly took a breath. “It’s alright, when the time comes, I’ll have someone make up the difference, however much is lacking.”

“How can I let you make up for my dowry?! You’re not my father!”

“Your husband making it up is the same.”

“That’s not the same!” Wei Xiaofeng’s eyes were red, and he was aggrieved to the point of wanting to cry, awkwardly whispering: “I don’t want you to make it up.”

“Do you have another way?”

“No, but I’d rather lose face than have you make it up.”

Feng Yue could only helplessly say: “Master Wei is really muddle-headed. If this matter isn’t handled properly, it will not only make the Wei family lose face and damage his reputation, but also wrong you.”

“Then let him lose face!” Wei Xiaofeng stubbornly poked down hard with the fire stick, sparks and ash flew together, choking Feng Yue so much that he leaned back and coughed repeatedly.

“Are you alright?” Wei Xiaofeng stood up anxiously, using his hand to fan away the ash in front of him, “Are you burned anywhere?”

“I came here in the dark tonight, and you’re just letting me eat a mouthful of ash?”

“It’s not like I asked you to come.” Wei Xiaofeng pouted guiltily, secretly sizing him up, “Then what do you want to eat? I have Songhua candy, do you want some?”

Feng Yue was amused by him and couldn’t help but want to take advantage of him again, putting his arm around his waist and pulling him closer.

“You’ve been hiding Songhua candy?”

“I hid a little, not much.” Seeing how big he was, he wouldn’t really swallow all his hidden snacks in one gulp, would he?

He regretted asking him if he wanted to eat it.

“I won’t eat your candy, just give me a kiss.”

Wei Xiaofeng was extremely willing at this moment, and immediately asked happily: “Kiss where?”

“Hmm…” Feng Yue pretended to seriously consider it, and tapped the tip of his finger on his right cheek: “Just kiss my cheek.”

“Okay!” Wei Xiaofeng lowered his head and kissed his right cheek.

Who knew that Feng Yue would turn his face and use his own lips to receive his kiss, and even took the opportunity to stick out his tongue when Wei Xiaofeng was flustered, still wanting more.

Wei Xiaofeng’s pupils trembled, and he suddenly pushed Feng Yue away with force. Feng Yue fell backwards off the stool, clearly not hurt, but he howled in pain, “Little *fu lang*, what a cruel heart!”

“You, you libertine, I can’t be bothered with you!” Wei Xiaofeng angrily climbed onto the bed, wrapping himself tightly in the quilt, only revealing a mass of black hair.

Feng Yue shamelessly followed him up, and began to take off his clothes. Hearing the rustling sound by the bed, Wei Xiaofeng curiously pulled down the quilt to look, and that rascal had already climbed onto his bed.

Wei Xiaofeng exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, hugging the quilt and jumping to the corner of the bed, kicking him with his feet, but not daring to use too much force to really hurt him.

“Get down!”

“Go to sleep, it’s too late.”

“This is my bed!”

“We’re getting married soon, there’s no you and me. In the decades to come, you’ll have to sleep with me every day, so it’s good to get used to it early.”

It felt like something wasn’t right, but it also made sense. Wei Xiaofeng couldn’t refute it.

“Then, then you’re not allowed to steal my quilt.”

“Mm-hmm, I’m very well-behaved when I sleep.”

Hearing him say this with a sincere face, Wei Xiaofeng divided the quilt in half for him, and lay down a long distance away from him.

The quilt in the middle was suspended, and all the cold air at night poured in, making Wei Xiaofeng shiver from the cold.

Feng Yue rolled around a few times and hugged him from behind. Wei Xiaofeng struggled symbolically a couple of times, but it was too warm, so he obediently leaned against him and didn’t move again.

“Are you still cold?”

“Not cold anymore.” His body was so warm. If he could hug him like this to sleep this winter, that would be pretty good.

“Is your husband warming the bed for you making you happy?”

Wei Xiaofeng’s whole body felt hot, and his face turned red to the roots of his neck. “Don’t talk to me, I was about to fall asleep!”

“It’s you, you’re teasing me again.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Where did I tease you?”

“Your face is red.”

“My face is red, so that means I’m teasing you??” Wei Xiaofeng almost cried out to the heavens, it was truly an extreme injustice.

“When your face is red, you’re especially cute.” Making him want to bully him as much as possible.

“You’re really shameless!”

Feng Yue hugged him even tighter. “Why should I be ashamed to my darling? When the wedding night comes, I’ll see where you can hide!”

Suddenly, Wei Xiaofeng pushed him back with his hand: “Why are you pressing something against me? Take it away! It’s poking me!”

Feng Yue not only didn’t take it away, but also deliberately arched forward a couple of times: “I don’t know what it is either, why don’t you touch it?”

Wei Xiaofeng was ignorant of such matters, so he curiously reached out and grabbed it… Although it was the same object as his own, it was completely different.

He immediately realized what it was, and angrily lashed out at Feng Yue with his fists and feet, his face so red it was about to drip blood, and cursed: “There’s no way to sleep anymore, you animal! Rogue! Get out!!”

Feng Yue was beaten off the bed and rolled around awkwardly on the ground, got up and said nice things: “Little *fu lang* don’t be angry, I really won’t make a scene anymore, let me go back to bed quickly, I’m going to freeze.”

“Get out!”

Seeing that he was determined, Feng Yue sighed deeply and began to put on his clothes dejectedly. “Alright then, I really won’t make a scene anymore. Since you don’t like me, I’ll just have to go back to the Prince’s mansion and spend this long night alone.”

Wei Xiaofeng lay in the quilt with his eyes wide open, only feeling hot all over. Hearing that he was putting on his clothes and going back, he couldn’t help but feel a little unbearable, but he didn’t have the courage to ask him to stay.

If he really acted like an animal and wanted to do something, should he obey him, or not?

“Aiya!” Wei Xiaofeng sighed, pulled the quilt over his head, and was so annoyed that he couldn’t sleep.

Wei Xiaofeng tossed and turned and didn’t know when he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already noon the next day, and his mother was calling him to get up for lunch.

“How can you sleep so much? It’s already noon, and the sun is shining on your backside! If you get up this late after marrying into the Prince’s mansion, won’t people laugh at you?”

“It’s the Prince’s mansion, not the underworld. How can you not even sleep in when you go there? If that’s the case, then why would I even marry?”

Wan Lingxiu was speechless for a moment. Xiaofeng’s mouth was usually very gentle, but when he was arguing with people, it was as if it had been poisoned.

“My dear, you must never talk to your future husband like that, or he will dislike you.”

“If he makes me unhappy, I won’t talk to him like that either.”

“That’s right…”

“What’s right? I’ll just chase him away with a fire stick!”

“…” Wan Lingxiu was silent again, really worried, and then slowly opened her mouth: “Don’t get sent back home a month after you marry in, your father definitely won’t let you enter the house.”

“Does the Wei family think they’re such a great place? After I escape this den of wolves, even if I starve to death on the street, I won’t bother coming back.”

“Xiaofeng, about the dowry… your maternal grandfather hasn’t replied yet.” Wan Lingxiu didn’t have much confidence now either. She used to receive regular assistance from her family, which was also because they were looking at Xiaofeng’s older brother, Chengde.

She was just waiting for Chengde to have a promising future. If he entered the officialdom, with the wealth of the Wan family to take care of things, he would definitely be able to gain a foothold in the capital.

But two years ago, Chengde failed the imperial examination, and the assistance from her family was greatly reduced.

Xiaofeng was a *ge’er*, and they weren’t well-matched in social status. The future was uncertain, and many people were watching and waiting for a joke. She didn’t know what the result would be after he married in.

Wei Xiaofeng heard that there was no result regarding the dowry and cried out aggrievedly, covering himself tightly with the quilt, his voice muffled: “If you couldn’t do it, you shouldn’t have agreed to me in the first place!”

“I’m sorry, Xiaofeng, it’s because your mother is useless.”

Wei Xiaofeng angrily threw off the quilt, his eyes red, and began to put on his clothes with trembling hands.

Wan Lingxiu twisted her fingers, looking ingratiating: “Have lunch first.”

Hearing the movement, Sang Cai quickly fetched hot water and came in to help him wash up.

Wan Lingxiu was afraid that he would rush out without eating anything, so she quickly went to the front hall to get lunch and send it to his room so that he could at least eat something.

Sang Cai combed his hair and asked in confusion: “Why is *gongzi* in such a temper today when he got out of bed?”

Wei Xiaofeng trembled with anger: “My dowry hasn’t been settled yet! That old turtle Wei Xinhe… Wuwuwu… I have to go find him and settle things clearly!”

Sang Cai watched him cry, feeling a burst of heartache, and took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears: “Don’t cry, don’t cry yet, we have to go find him and ask. I’ll go with you.”

At this time, Wan Lingxiu brought the food, and Wei Xiaofeng angrily stuffed food into his mouth, swallowed hastily, and said vaguely: “This time he can forget about fooling me again. If he doesn’t take out the dowry, I’ll take back the betrothal gifts. If he doesn’t want this old face, I’ll let everyone in the capital know that he’s a shameless person!”

“*Gongzi*, eat slowly, don’t choke.”

Wei Xiaofeng hurriedly filled his stomach, and with an imposing manner, led Wan Lingxiu and Sang Cai towards the front hall.

At this time, Wei Xinhe had also just finished his meal. The sun was shining brightly today, and he was about to go to the courtyard to bask in the sun when he almost bumped into Wei Xiaofeng, who was walking quickly.

Master Wei pressed his heart, about to open his mouth and curse, but when he thought that he would be the Prince’s legal consort in the future, he swallowed the words of cursing his son back.

“Look at you, you’re about to marry into the Prince’s mansion, why are you still so unruly?”

“Father!!”

“Yo, Xiaofeng, what’s wrong? Look at how sullen your face is.” Madam Qin smilingly stepped forward, acting intimate.

“I… I…”

Sang Cai secretly pushed him, pressing her voice to urge him: “Speak, *gongzi*! Make him lose face!”

Wei Xiaofeng’s fist tightened, his breathing heavy. A surge of anger rushed from his throat upwards, and his voice was clear and loud: “I just came to see you, and to bask in the sun while I’m at it.”

Master Wei wore a benevolent look and smiled: “It’s good to bask in the sun, Father is also going out to bask in the sun.”

“Oh…” Wei Xiaofeng closed his eyes in resentment.

Master Wei walked towards the door with Madam Qin, humming a little tune. Wei Xiaofeng mustered his courage and stopped him.

“Father, Mother! I have something to look for you about, to discuss.”

Madam Qin was clear on what it was about, but pretended to be ignorant on the surface: “It seems to be a big deal, look at how anxious our Xiaofeng is.”

Wei Xiaofeng took a deep breath and said, “I’m marrying into the Prince’s mansion before the new year, and they’ve sent so many betrothal gifts. My dowry can’t be too shabby, can it?”

As soon as Madam Qin heard this, she immediately put on a bitter and sorrowful expression, performing her role very well: “Xiaofeng, you don’t know the high cost of living, you don’t know how big this family’s expenses are, your brother’s paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones aren’t cheap, and they’re all top-notch. In order to advance in his career, we also have to take care of relationships everywhere. He barely managed to apprentice with a great Confucian scholar in the capital. We can’t be stingy with the poetry gatherings with his classmates, can we? There has to be an apprenticeship gift, right?”

“Aiya, our family has been saving money for these years, first we spent it all on your eldest sister Miaofu’s dowry, and then we just spent it on your fourth sister Miaolun’s dowry. You also have to think about your two younger brothers, don’t you?”

Wei Xiaofeng felt a great resentment in his heart. “Wasn’t the dowry for eldest sister and fourth sister taken out of my mother’s dowry? Our family didn’t spend much! Now you’re still counting on my mother to pay for my dowry. The Wei family is such a bottomless pit, do you think my mother can produce silver?”

Master Wei’s face changed, and he said angrily: “Xiaofeng, you weren’t like this before. Is it because you’re marrying into the Prince’s mansion that you don’t respect your parents anymore? Speaking so loudly to your elders, what kind of behavior is that?!”

The more Wei Xiaofeng thought about it, the more angry he became. “I’ll just say it straight to you. My mother has no money. Whether you want to prepare the dowry or not, on the day of the wedding, the whole city will be watching. It’s the Wei family’s fifth *ge’er* getting married! There’s nothing behind me for ten *li* along the long street, and I’ll wait to see how the whole city gossips about the Wei family! Anyway, I’m going to Guangling, so I won’t be able to hear it!”

After saying that, he pulled his mother and turned around to leave, not daring to look back at Wei Xinhe and Madam Qin’s expressions.

After walking very far, Wei Xiaofeng couldn’t help but laugh, “Was I imposing just now? Was I majestic? Was I especially awesome?”

Wan Lingxiu said with relief: “Awesome! Our Xiaofeng is making a name for himself! You walked too fast and didn’t see their faces. They were holding it in for a long time and didn’t even let out a fart.”

Sang Cai snorted: “People want face, and trees want bark. *Gongzi*’s words hit the nail on the head. What kind of fart can they let out? It’s really bad luck!”

They had just walked to their own courtyard when they saw two carters and a steward carrying a large cart of charcoal over.

Steward Song’s eyes widened when he saw this cart of charcoal.

“This cart of silver silk charcoal isn’t cheap.”

Wei Xiaofeng stepped forward to look at the charcoal, and it was indeed the best quality silver silk charcoal. Afraid that he would misunderstand that they had secretly kept money to buy it, he said: “Yesterday the Prince came over to talk to me and complained that the black charcoal burned in my room was making his eyes water, and said he would send me a cart of silver silk charcoal. I thought he was joking, but I didn’t expect him to really send it over.”

Sang Cai nodded in agreement: “Then he’s quite considerate.”

Wan Lingxiu said happily: “Trouble you, please move this cart of silver silk charcoal to the woodshed over there.”

“Wait a minute!” Wei Miaolun walked into the courtyard with a cunning smile, along with her brother Wei Chengxian, glancing at the cart of silver silk charcoal and revealing a greedy look.

“Oh, Xiaofeng *didi*, you’re really lucky to be able to burn such good charcoal. I’m afraid you won’t be able to finish burning it before the new year, right? Then *jiejie* won’t be polite with you and will take half of it.”

It seemed that Steward Song had notified them to come and intercept it as soon as he saw the charcoal being delivered. Anything good they had would be taken by them.

Wei Xiaofeng stared at her steadily. “This was sent by my husband for me to use, and you want to take half of it? If you like it, ask the Prince’s mansion for some, see if they’ll reward you with some to use?”

“Xiaofeng *didi*, why are you saying such nasty things? If you don’t want to give it, then that’s fine, I can’t possibly snatch it from you, can I?”

“You guys don’t think these actions are unsightly, but you think what I say is nasty?”

Wei Miaolun had always been the one bullying people, how could it be Wei Xiaofeng’s turn to make her uncomfortable?

Hearing these words, Wei Miaolun immediately flew into a rage, putting her hands on her hips with a distorted expression. “Don’t you think that you’ll really enjoy a life of luxury after you marry into the Prince’s mansion and be above everyone else? If you think that way, you’re really stupid! Now everyone in the capital knows that the Guangling Prince lost the throne because of you. What kind of good days can you have after you marry in? You just wait and see! Don’t blame me for saying ugly things beforehand and hoping things go badly for you. You deserve this cheap life! Hmph, let’s go!”

“How can you say that?” Sang Cai was so angry that she stepped forward to argue with her, but Wei Xiaofeng pulled her back.

“What she said isn’t wrong, why are you getting angry?”

“She said nasty things!”

“She never has many nice things to say, so I won’t argue with her. Besides, what I said just now was also quite nasty, haha…”

Sang Cai sighed lightly and moved the cart of silver silk charcoal into the woodshed with the servants.

*

In the afternoon, Feng Yue was accompanying the Empress Dowager basking in the sun in the Imperial Garden, and asked with interest: “Recently, the Prince’s mansion is holding a happy event, is it bustling?”

Feng Zhao: “I heard it’s quite bustling, the third brother is also very attentive, presumably he has feelings for that Wei fifth *ge’er*.”

The Empress Dowager didn’t believe it so much. “I know this third kid the best, will he be attentive? I’m afraid not, a heartless and liverless wolf cub!”

“What does the Imperial Grandmother mean?”

“This fanfare is just to mislead people.”

Feng Zhao nodded thoughtfully: “It does seem like there is another hidden reason, everything happened too suddenly, this doesn’t seem like the third brother’s style.”

“That’s good too, he went to Guangling, which is very far from the capital, he can’t extend such a long hand. You just focus on dealing with the second kid.”

“Imperial Grandmother is right.”

At this time, Lin Huai, the chief eunuch by Feng Zhao’s side, hurriedly came over.

“Empress Dowager, Your Highness, here is an invitation for Your Highness.”

“Bring it here.”

Lin Huai handed the invitation to Feng Zhao with both hands.

Feng Zhao opened the invitation and quickly glanced at it, unable to hide his surprise.

The Empress Dowager stared at him: “Who sent the invitation?”

Feng Zhao gave the invitation to the Empress Dowager again: “It was sent by the third brother, inviting me to sit in his Prince’s mansion tomorrow. My relationship with him is not very close, there must be more to it than meets the eye.”

“Then go and see what medicine he’s selling in his gourd.”

“Yes.”