box of hearts

Chapter 255
Qing Tianan sat on the table, combing her hair in a high-quality and exquisite peony bun, and around her forehead was a string of flying stars and moon-like eight-treasure wipes on her forehead. A flawless pearl was hanging between her eyebrows, as transparent as the eyes of the sky.She looked at the carefully carved faces in the banquet, and saw the unpainted side through the layers of thick powder.A mocking smile crept onto the corner of her mouth, and she held up the gold-encrusted red agate double-knot Ruyi Cup in front of her, and drank a big cup full of her true appearance in the world.

When the night is dimming, people are also slightly drunk.After removing the make-up, there are still two patches of rouge on the cheeks, which are strong and charming, with a radiant glow.

Qi She smiled and looked over, "Happy?"

Qingtian's words were astringent and affectionate, overflowing with boundless love, "Happy, but it's too much."

Qi She swept off the lychee-colored Shoushan Fuhai robe on his body, leaned on the couch, "Where is it too much?"

The room is filled with thick and warm styrax fragrance, "Magu Riding a Deer" is newly hung on the wall, and a handful of white plums are offered in a green and white glazed beauty goblet on a tall flower stand, which is fresh and pleasant.Qing Tian broke off a branch and played with it in his hand, "I know that you especially want to make me look good in front of those noble ladies, but such a ostentatious reward will not only make people criticize you for being indiscreet, but I'm afraid Get a reputation for extravagance."

Qi She smiled and wiped the two mustaches on his lips, and waved his hand, "However, ten years ago, the country's finances were on the verge of collapse, with only 600 million taels a year, and three years' income was only enough for half a year's expenditure. Taicang is short of money, and even the normal expenses such as official salary, military salary, and river management and water conservation are often in arrears. Since the implementation of financial reforms, the annual income has reached more than 5000 million taels, which has increased by nearly ten times. The income can cover the expenses of three years. In the first half of the year, this is the second time that officials across the country have raised their salaries. Now, everyone is living a hundred times more extravagant than before, why can't I? Not to mention rewarding you with 33 treasures, which is three hundred and three, and no one has the right to say a word to me. I earned it, and I made it as I loved it. Everything should be done within one's means, and frugality is naturally advocated when the country's power is weak. Wufu and people's wealth should be anointed with embroidery and spend a lot of money. "Guanzi" has long said: "If you don't spend extravagance, you can't stand for yourself." [13] For the prime minister, Be like Guan Zhong."

"For the face?" Qing Tian stopped the bouquet of white plums in front of his nose, squinted the corners of his eyes, as if he smelled something more subtle than the fragrance of plums.

Qi She smiled vaguely, "What do you want to say, ghost?"

Qingtian threw away the flower branch in his hand, and looked at him carefully, "Third brother, there are rumors spreading outside, tell me the truth, put aside all kinds of relations between monarchs and ministers, mixed grievances and grievances, do you still have the idea of ​​an emperor in your heart? "

The chiming clock outside was walking "click click", Qi She stood up and walked around twice, then raised his hand and wiped his face, "I don't know." Then he raised the corner of his mouth, "What about you? Would you like I rule the world?"

Qingtian laughed with a "chi" and turned half of his body, holding his dimples coquettishly, "I'm drunk, don't ask me."

He came over and separated her hands, and forced her eyes, "You also owe me the truth."

A pair of rose crystal pendants hung on Qingtian's ears, and her shining pupils also swayed left and right along with the pendants.Then, the bright light in her eyes was covered by the lowered lids, like clouds covering the moon.

"Recently, I have often had the same dream. I dreamed that at night, but it was so bright, there were many palace lanterns, just like the year you married the princess, there were more than that, thousands of them were dressed in red satin The school lieutenant in the gown was holding a lamp, and the sky was red. It was the emperor's wedding, and the queen's phoenix was welcoming into the palace. The common people came out to watch the fun, and I squeezed in the crowd, and then--then I Suddenly I saw you, you were riding a horse, wearing a dragon robe and a court crown, and I knew that you were the emperor who got married. I called you desperately, but you ignored me, I rushed out to pull your horse, You are riding a white flood dragon, even it recognizes me, but you still look at me as if you don’t know me. I’m holding on to your dragon robe below, and you won’t let it go, so you snap off my fingers one by one. Open, break all—" For a moment, there seemed to be infinite sorrow, but at the end, he smiled without complaint, "In the dream, it really hurts."

She stuck out the tip of her tongue mockingly at herself, while Qi She watched from the side, but her heart ached for no reason.He thought of those dark early mornings, when he separated her hands holding his robe one by one, she always turned around in a deep dream, tears overflowed from her tightly closed eyes, and then she squeezed herself tightly His hand, frowning deeply, teeth biting, nails sunken deep in the palm—it is the appearance of a person in front of the roaring wheel of fate.

Qi She held up Qingtian's hands, the armor on his hands had been removed, his fingers were slender, and the fingertips were slightly deformed, which was the imprint left by the hard labor in the Buddhist temple in Yangzhou and the torture in the Yanjiao cellar.He held her hand to his lips and kissed her.Qingtian pulled out his hand shyly, still grinning, "Did you know? At the banquet today, there are a group of rope-walking Miao girls, singing and dancing on a high string, performing hundreds of tricks. I suddenly felt that I was just like them, making everyone dumbfounded, while admiring the unbelievable, while secretly wondering when she would fall heavily." Her eye circles were red, or they were originally red , with a drunken and lingering sweetness, and giggled again.

(End of this chapter)