Chapter 82: New Year’s Eve Vigil
As Shen Zhishu was wandering around the manor, Jiang Yu’s firecrackers had already arrived.
The firecrackers were half a person’s height. Shen Zhishu circled around them, nodded, and instructed, “Set them off at night.”
“There seems to be a note on it,” Hongli poked her head over and looked for a while, peeled off the sticker, and handed it to Shen Zhishu. “Will the General take a look?”
Shen Zhishu took the note with great interest and took a closer look—there was nothing on the paper.
Shen Zhishu: ?
Did this mean she had to figure it out herself?
She had a flash of inspiration and turned it over, and only then did she see the words that Jiang Yu had written to her—
Peace and joy.
There was another line of small words at the end: I don’t know where to start, I hope the General will not mind my simple words. The firecrackers have one thousand six hundred and sixty-six shots and can last for half a quarter of an hour.
Shen Zhishu idly rubbed the note, looked at it quietly for a while, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up into a light arc.
She then flipped her hand and put it in her lapel.
Hongli winked at another attendant on the side, and just as she was about to quietly comment on her master’s behavior, she suddenly heard a report from outside—
“The mistresses have arrived.”
Shen Zhishu was a little guilty for some reason, as if she had been caught in a private affair.
She turned around in a circle in a panic, and finally got rid of this inexplicable sense of guilt. She strode forward to greet them and saw Mother Shen and Mother He arriving hand in hand, with a large group of people and… a group of animals following behind.
Shen Zhishu: ? Wait, why did they even bring two cats, a dog, and ten horses?
The crowd poured in, and it took a full half a quarter of an hour just to enter the door. The nine aunts’ eyes were shining, and out of respect for Shen Hantan and Mistress He, they did not pounce on her, but instead walked with small steps and whispered to each other.
The First Concubine said, “After a few days, Shu’er is even more beautiful.”
“Isn’t that right?” the Second Concubine chimed in. “Her complexion is rosy, and her posture is upright. It seems she has rested well these past few days.”
The Third Concubine poked her head out and looked Shen Zhishu up and down, and nodded, “Since Shu’er returned to the capital, her complexion has been getting better day by day. It’s probably because she sleeps early and wakes up early.”
“Isn’t that right?” the Fourth Concubine smiled. “I heard from the people in the General’s Manor that it’s all thanks to Her Highness Huai’an’s concern for the General’s health. She comes to the manor every day to urge the General to go to bed early.”
“Thank you, Her Highness Huai’an.”
“Thank you, Her Highness Huai’an.”
“Thank you, Her Highness Huai’an.”
Shen Zhishu: …
If you’re going to whisper, then whisper. Why are you shouting so loudly, are you afraid I can’t hear you?
She held her breath and did not spare a glance for her aunts.
Shen Hantan glanced at her, “Why aren’t you greeting them? You’re getting more and more unruly.”
Shen Zhishu’s eyes widened, “They were arranging me first, and now I’m the one who’s unruly?”
“The aunts also love you. Besides, what they said is all true, how can it be considered arranging?” Shen Hantan flicked her sleeve and snorted from her nose. “If you continue to be so disrespectful, be careful that I go to Her Highness Huai’an and complain about you!”
Shen Zhishu: …
So Shen Zhishu obediently greeted them one by one, starting from the First Concubine. Every time she greeted one, she would get a cheerful “Yes,” but when it came to the ninth one…
There was another one standing behind the Ninth Concubine.
Shen Zhishu: ???
Shen Zhishu glanced at Shen Hantan, with three words written on her face: What’s going on.
Shen Hantan looked up at the sky and pretended not to know, but it was Mistress He who said with a smile, “That’s right, there’s a new aunt. I didn’t have time to tell you.”
Shen Zhishu: …
That aunt looked quite shy and greeted Shen Zhishu with a red face. Shen Zhishu thought to herself, I wonder how long this rare and precious quiet personality will last, but on the surface, she still asked respectfully.
“That’s it,” Shen Hantan nodded with satisfaction. “You’ve been much more polite and courteous these past few days. It seems that Her Highness Huai’an has supervised you well. Her Highness is not at the manor now, so let me say something offensive. This child Huai’an is clearly a well-read and reasonable person. I am at ease with you associating with her.”
Shen Zhishu immediately took a step and circled around Shen Hantan, saying in amazement, “Mother, didn’t you advise me not to have any private dealings with her before? Why has your attitude completely changed now?”
“It was I who thought wrongly before. A few days ago, at the morning court, the Holy Majesty praised Her Highness Huai’an without reservation. I suppose that Her Highness Huai’an should be on the Holy Majesty’s side and will not easily participate in the disputes between the imperial princesses,” Shen Hantan said. “So there is no harm in you associating with her, but you must be careful and not joke too much. You must not be so unrestrained as you are with Xie Jin.”
Shen Zhishu said in a loud voice, “That’s impossible,” and seeing the rosy clouds gradually climb up from the horizon, she thought it was almost time for dinner, so she said with a smile, “I didn’t know you were all coming, so the small kitchen didn’t prepare any food. They only started cooking in a hurry two quarters of an hour ago, so I’m afraid it will be too simple.”
“It’s alright, we’ve already brought the main dishes. If you want, we can start eating now.”
“Then let’s start eating,” Shen Zhishu wailed. “I’m starving!”
Shen Hantan waved her hand, “Alright, there is no master or servant today. Everyone will eat at the same table!”
**
Eldest Princess’s Manor.
Lantiao and the other three were busy in the small kitchen.
The cooks had all been sent home for reunion dinner. Jiang Yu had also wanted to send the four of them back, but they had insisted on not leaving.
One said, “My family is all dead,” another said, “I can get silver for following Your Highness,” another said, “My family sold me, I don’t want to go back and see them,” and another said, “Where do I go home? The Eldest Princess’s Manor is more like my home.”
So the four of them were busy in the small kitchen for an hour and finally made eight hot dishes, six cold dishes, and a pot of black chicken, red date, and star anise soup.
Lantiao also took out the Autumn Dew White that was stored in the storeroom.
Rongju pouted, “This wine is very intoxicating, who would drink that? The five of us can’t finish a whole jar. We have to stay up for the New Year’s Eve vigil later. What if we pass out after drinking?”
Lantiao put it on the table without a word, “You’re the only one with a low tolerance. Yuegui and Banzhu can both drink. At the very least, Her Highness’s tolerance is definitely not bad. I’ve never seen her drunk before.”
Rongju smiled, “Are you counting on Her Highness to clean up your mess? How can there be such a principle in the world?”
“I didn’t say that, you said it yourself,” Lantiao shrugged. “If you don’t want Her Highness to drink too much, then you can drink more yourself.”
Yuegui was a slender-faced young girl who was diligently serving the dishes. As she passed by Lantiao and the other two, she gently bumped Rongju and smiled, “You’re the only one who can’t drink. In the past, you would only have a taste. I will definitely make you drink several cups tonight.”
Rongju said with a pained expression, “Then I’m doomed, I’ll definitely be drunk tonight. I’m not afraid of getting drunk, but… I’m not a good drunk. As soon as I’m flushed, I’ll be all over the place.”
Lantiao was not concerned about these words, but a couple of hours later, Rongju sat in her lap, singing a mountain song and nibbling on her.
The still sober Lantiao: …
I’m going to die.
Someone please help.
Yuegui bit her chopsticks and laughed so hard she almost fell over, “You were the one who forced her to drink just now. You’re getting what you deserve!”
Lantiao’s pretty face was full of tears. She turned her head and tried to seek help from her master, but she saw Jiang Yu looking up at the sky.
Lantiao was hopeful, “Your Highness?”
Jiang Yu said to herself, “The moon is so round tonight.”
Lantiao: “…Your Highness, it’s the thirtieth today, there is no moon.”
Jiang Yu continued to say to herself, “The lanterns are so bright.”
Lantiao: “…Your Highness—”
Jiang Yu: “The trees are so tall.”
Lantiao: …
Lantiao pulled Rongju, who had covered her face in saliva, off her and let out a deep sigh, “Then I’ll excuse myself for a while. I’ll come back after I’ve settled her.”
So Lantiao left, pulling Rongju with her. Yuegui and Banzhu stayed at their posts, holding their cups and chatting with Jiang Yu.
Yuegui took a sip of wine and smiled, “It’s hard on Your Highness. On New Year’s Eve, you only have us to accompany you. It’s quite lonely.”
Jiang Yu’s face was flushed with a faint crimson from the wine, but her eyes were clear, and it was unclear how much she had drunk. She said in a faint voice, “It’s enough to have you with me. I’m the one who doesn’t want to go to the palace.”
“In the past, there was also General Shen to accompany you,” Banzhu chimed in. “General Shen is having a reunion dinner at the Shen Residence today, so she probably won’t be coming over.”
“Why are you bringing her up?” Jiang Yu’s gaze slid from the corners of her eyes and landed on the table full of dishes. She paused and then continued, “She naturally has to reunite with her family. She’s probably having dinner at this time too.”
Yuegui nodded and continued, “Every household is having dinner at this time, so the General is naturally too. I just don’t know if she has set off the firecrackers that Your Highness sent her. The sound of those firecrackers is the most pleasant to listen to. Your Highness only got two sets in total, and you gave half to the General.”
Banzhu smiled, “The General has helped Your Highness a lot, so it is only right for Your Highness to return the favor. Didn’t you set off the other half of the firecrackers? What are you not satisfied with now?”
“Oh, it’s not that I’m not satisfied…” Yuegui gestured with her hands and couldn’t say it. After thinking for a long time, she finally came up with a description, “I was just marveling at the depth of the friendship between Your Highness and the General, like a pair of interlocking jade pendants.”
Banzhu’s small head nodded, “That’s right. The General and Your Highness have become so familiar so quickly, it must be due to fate. Our Highness is finally not alone anymore, and she has someone to discuss things with when she encounters problems… but Your Highness—”
She turned her head to the side, and perhaps it was the wine that gave her courage. She took a deep breath and asked carefully, “Forgive this servant for being presumptuous… this servant is really curious, do you have that kind of thought for the General?”
A white plum blossom swayed down from a horizontal branch. The wind outside seemed to have suddenly stopped, and a thin layer of ice floated on the water surface. Not a sound of breathing could be heard in the hall.
Jiang Yu slowly and methodically rubbed her cup. After a few breaths of silence, she asked with a blank expression, “Do you want me to have that thought?”
“This servant is not sure…” Banzhu’s voice became weaker and weaker. “I just hope that Your Highness can always have someone by your side, not just us.”
Jiang Yu looked down at the purple sandalwood table, her unclear emotions hidden in the candlelight.
She did not answer, but instead flipped her wrist, picked up her chopsticks lightly, and took a bite of the cold mixed eight-treasure silk.
Banzhu knew she had misspoken and shrank her head like a turtle, not asking any further.
She ate a bite of perch with her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart. Lantiao finally arrived late.
Banzhu was like a savior and eagerly hoped that Lantiao would say a few words to break the ice on the water surface.
Lantiao did not disappoint. As soon as she opened her mouth, she made Jiang Yu come back to her senses, “Rongju has just fallen asleep. I’ll wake her up again at the Hour of the Rat. If she can’t wake up, I’ll pour a basin of cold water on her. She must not miss the new year.”
Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow, “That’s a bit too cruel.”
“Your Highness is soft-hearted, but I am hard-hearted,” Lantiao sat down with her hands on her hips and smiled. “It’s settled then. Your Highness can just watch. The four of us will definitely accompany Your Highness to welcome the new year.”
But the three of them, Lantiao and the others, had had too much to drink and were lying on the table in a mess. Jiang Yu called out, and the three of them grunted three times.
Jiang Yu let out an almost inaudible sigh, dragged them back to their rooms lightly, and threw them onto the bed in a few moves.
She wiped their faces, tucked them in, and then went back to her inner room, sat down on a huanghuali wood chair, and casually picked up a book, reading it with a half-flat, half-faint expression.
I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight, she thought.
There has to be someone in the manor to keep watch at night.
The night was like water, the streets were full of lanterns, and the candles in the manor were not extinguished. The firecrackers became more and more intense.
The twentieth year of Qinglian was about to pass like this.
The sound of the water clock came from afar, and along with the barking of dogs startled by the firecrackers, it floated to the window.
It’s the Hour of the Rat, Jiang Yu thought.
It is now the twenty-first year of Qinglian.
I wonder what Shen Zhishu is doing at this moment… she thought idly.
Is she joking with her mother and aunts? Will those firecrackers have her shadow? After all, the Eldest Princess’s Manor and the General’s Manor are not that far apart.
Perhaps it was because there were too many firecrackers outside the manor, but the smell of saltpeter had actually seeped into the room a little.
Jiang Yu silently said to herself, “Happy New Year,” and put down her book. Just as she was about to get up and close the window, she heard another “Happy New Year” from that end.
Jiang Yu was startled and suddenly turned her head—
Shen Zhishu, with the wind and snow of the mountains and fields, was squatting on the windowsill, dusty, and then she jumped down, holding on to the window wall.
Her movements were very light and made no sound, or perhaps they were completely drowned out by the endless firecrackers.
The black cloak was lifted by the wind with the force of her momentum.
In the flickering lights, Shen Zhishu landed steadily, her face outlined in a circle of gold by the candlelight.
After meeting her eyes, she smiled and handed over a wet cedar branch.
