Chapter Thirty-Seven: Cherry Blossom Memories

  The Wen Xuan Building was just an inn, even if this inn produced a lot of jinshi, it shouldn't have entered the imperial court's eyes. At least most people in the capital thought so. However, among these majority, neither Baili Zhao nor Yue Yao were included. The Great Zhou dynasty obtained the world by force and governed the world with literature. On the dragon throne sat the emperor, below the dragon throne were scholars.

  The Wenxuan Pavilion looks like an inn, but it's actually more than just a simple inn.

  Almost all scholars in the world know that there is a place called Wenxuan Pavilion, almost all candidates who take the imperial examination want to enter Wenxuan Pavilion to read and wait for the exam, and all of this is because - Wenxuan Pavilion has a library. The name of the library is simple yet majestic: Wanjuan Building.

  The Wanjuan Building is known as the first collection of the Great Zhou folk, and Mu Xuezhe, the head of the Hanlin Academy of the Great Zhou, has mentioned the books in the Wanjuan Building to his students more than once, with many flattering words. What people don't know is that this old scholar even spoke astonishing words in front of his proud students, thinking that the richness of the books in the Wanjuan Building was actually better than those in the imperial palace.

  What is referred to as "Luan Huan" is a cave dwelling of immortals in legend and also the place where the heavenly emperor's books are stored.

  The inner courtyard of the Great Zhou dared to be named "Lang Huan", which also explains the richness of the books in this pavilion. However, compared with the Wanjuan Building of the Wenxuan Pavilion, Mu Yuan still felt insufficient.

  In fact, Wanjuan Building is the most fundamental reason for the prosperity of Wenxuan Pavilion.

  After hesitating for a long time, Baili Zhou still didn't speak up.

  Yue Yao continued to speak: "In addition to the account books of Wenchang Pavilion and other industries near Pingjing, there are also industries in Anhui, Hubei and other places. Among them, there are all kinds of things, including medicine shops, cosmetics shops, spice shops, etc. Although they are not big, they are all well-known brands in the local area. Just as I was about to take a closer look, Yuan Zhen had already returned!"

  He didn't continue speaking, but Baili Zhao already understood. When Yuan Zhen returned, he found Yue Yao secretly entering the study room. After flipping through the account book, how could they let him off easily? The two of them started fighting, and it seemed that this was the reason why.

  "Yuan's martial arts are indeed genuine. But what kind of path is this?" asked Baili Zhao suddenly.

  "This point, Yue Yao didn't need to consider much and quickly responded: 'In my opinion, it should be the long-lost Luoying Palm.'"

  Bai Li nodded, and didn't ask any further. He had asked about Yuan Zhen's martial arts skills only to try to find out about his master, but the Lost Palm technique had been lost for many years, so it was clear that he couldn't provide any clues.

  "This matter you don't need to worry about!" With a faint smile, Baili Zhao calmly spoke: "Yuan Zhen was originally her personal maid, I think these properties should not be Yuan Zhen's own."

  Yue Yao was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly looked enlightened.

  Just by looking at his face, Baili Zhong knew that he had misunderstood again, but he was too lazy to explain himself to Yue Yao, so he just raised his hand and said: "It's late!"

  Yue Yao knew when to stop, knowing that Baili Zhao had the intention of sending him away. He didn't say another word and quickly stood up to take his leave. After Yue Yao left, Baili Zhao remained seated properly in his wheelchair. Inside the house, the candlelight cast a red glow, illuminating one person and one shadow. At this moment, there was an inexplicable sense of loneliness.

  After a long time, a maid walked in quietly and called out softly: "Your Highness!"

  Although the voice was small, it still made Baili Zhao, who was lost in thought, slightly startled. He furrowed his brow and looked at the maid, but ultimately did not scold her, instead calmly instructing: "Bring some water!"

  …………

  The next morning, Yuandai woke up to find that the sun was already high in the sky. When Wenshu came in to attend to her washing, Yuandai thought of Du Ruo again and asked: "Is Du Ruo better now?"

  Wen Ping replied: "I just went to see her this morning, and she told me that she had improved a lot. However, judging from her appearance, it doesn't seem so!"

  Yan Dai nodded: "Since that's the case, after we finish breakfast, you can still accompany me to go see her!"

  Wen Ping was about to say something when a low voice suddenly came from outside. Since there were only three people living in this courtyard, including her, Xiao Chengyan and Ling Yuexuan, Far Dai didn't pay much attention to it. After finishing washing up, Far Dai sat down in front of the dresser, and then she heard Cui Yi's voice: "Miss..." As soon as she said that, Cui Yi had already lifted the curtain and walked in.

  In the mercury glass, the figure of Cuiyi was clearly reflected, and in her hand, she was still holding several small baskets. Yuandai had not yet asked a question when Wenshuang on the other side slightly raised an eyebrow and asked: "What's inside these baskets? These baskets look quite unusual!"

  Cui Yi replied, "The sister who was waiting outside said that this was sent by the people of Pushe Shadow Mountain Villa for Miss. She said it's a cherry!"

  Yuan Dai Ting heard it was "cherries" but couldn't help but burst out laughing, remembering that Baili Zhao had said there were still several baskets left yesterday evening, saying they would be sent today, but didn't expect them to arrive so early. "How many did you send in total?" she asked aloud.

  Cui Yi replied, "There are three baskets in total, all of them are here! This basket is small, I weighed it, and one basket is about two kilograms!"

  After some thought, Yuandai instructed: "Since there are three baskets, we'll keep one and send the other two away. One basket will be sent to Miss Xiao, and the other to Miss Shi. The remaining basket can be shared among you few people to taste! Don't forget Du Ruo!"

  Cui Yi was shocked and couldn't help but ask: "And what about Miss? Doesn't she want to try some?"

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "I tasted it yesterday! Although this thing is not a rare treasure, but now in the cold winter month, it's quite hard to come by! You take it to them first, don't delay, and come back later!" Cui Yi heard Yan Dai say so, and responded with a sound, then took two baskets out the door. But even after Yan Dai finished dressing up, she still didn't see him return.

  Wen Ping couldn't help but shake his head and say: "This girl must have gotten held up somewhere again!"

  Yuan Dai didn't mind, smiled and said: "Let her go!" As she spoke, she stood up, glanced at the small basket on the table, nodded slightly and smiled, saying: "This basket is really well-made!"

  The basket on the table that held the cherries was woven from a type of vine, and the vine itself was also unknown what kind it was. It had a natural reddish-brown color, and after being skillfully woven, the outside of the basket was adorned with light green silk cut into leaves and pink palace flowers, making it look even more exquisite.

  Wen Ping smiled and nodded: "Indeed, it's done with great ingenuity! It's hard for them to have spent so much thought on this!"

  After a glance, Yuan Dai said: "If I'm not mistaken, this cherry should be a local tribute presented to the palace!" It's only because it's a tribute that so much manpower and material resources would be spent on transporting it thousands of miles away in haste, and so much thought would be put into decorating it.

  Wenping took a closer look, but shook her head and said: "If it's a tribute, there should be a seal on it. There isn't one here!" She had previously served by the side of Old Lady Xiao for a period of time. Old Lady Xiao and the current Empress Xiao in the palace were originally close relatives, and their relationship was very close, so from time to time, things would be bestowed upon them. Wenping remembered clearly that whenever boxes of things were bestowed upon them, they all had imperial seals on them.

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "You're not clear about this! All tribute goods that are presented to the emperor must be inspected once they arrive in the capital. After all, it's a long way to the capital, and it's hard to guarantee that nothing will be damaged along the way. Especially for fresh produce like melons and fruits, it's even more so. Just think about it, if something is brought into the palace and when it's opened, it's discovered that it's been bruised or bumped, who can bear the blame?"

  Yuan Dai said, and then bent her fingers to tap lightly on the rattan cover: "Therefore, these things are mostly re-selected and packed in baskets, sealed with a seal, and sent into the palace after entering the capital. And these, because they did not enter the palace, that is to say, these cherries were selected by the tribute envoy as tribute goods."

  However, the cherry blossoms I had yesterday were personally tasted, knowing that their color is bright red, big in size and sweet in taste, absolutely not inferior. So there's only one possibility left - these cherry blossoms were specially selected by Gongshi and sent to Baili Zhao to taste the freshness.

  Although Wenjing felt that Yuande had a point, she couldn't help but say: "Why did Miss decide that this was a tribute? Could it not be that the wise prince loved to eat cherries and had someone transport them thousands of miles just for him?"

  Bi Xuan looked at Wen Ping and asked seriously with a strange expression: "Do you really think so?"

  Wen Ping was taken aback for a moment, then pursed his lips and sighed: "Looking at Prince Rui like that, he really doesn't seem to be the kind of person who loves eating cherries!"

  Nodding in agreement, Yuandai said: "Actually, it's good that he doesn't like to eat!" Seeing Wenshuang's bewildered expression, she added with a smile: "If he liked to eat, wouldn't I have even less to eat?"

  She burst out laughing, and Wenping felt helpless and called out: "Miss..." In his heart, he was both angry and amused.

  After smiling, Yuandai waved her hand and said: "Forget it, let's not talk about this nonsense. You open the basket and leave some cherries behind. The rest, take the basket with you and come with me to see Du Ruo!"

  The house where Du Ruo lived was in a small brick house at the back of the courtyard. The two walked to the front of the house, and Wen Ping lightly knocked on the door three times. Inside the house was quiet and still, without a single sound. Wen Ping raised his hand to knock again, but was stopped by Yuan Dai: "No need to knock! If no one responds, it's likely that she is sleeping soundly, why bother waking her up!"

  Wenjing thought about it and felt that there was some reason to it, so she stopped knocking on the door and quietly pushed it open to enter. Yuandai also followed closely behind her.

  The room was not small, but it was for the maidservants to live in. It wasn't exquisite or luxurious, but it was clean and comfortable. All the utensils inside were complete. With a glance, Far Dai had already seen Du Ruo lying on the bed, half asleep. Under her slightly furrowed eyebrows, Far Dai walked over.

  She walked to the bedside, Yuande raised her hand and first used her palm to test Du Ruo's forehead temperature, then frowned. Wenping was originally quick-witted, seeing this, he hurriedly put down the cherry basket on the table in front of the bed, and himself went forward, pulling out Du Ruo's hand from under the quilt.

  After feeling the pulse for a moment, Yan Dai finally said: "This girl's thoughts are too heavy, and more than half of this illness is caused by herself! Wenping, you stay here to take care of her. I'll go back and write a prescription, and then let Cuiyi send the medicine over and replace you!"

  Thank you for your support, it's my greatest motivation.