How To Polish A Pearl

Chapter 43 - Drying

A/N: Surprise! I have a few more chapters lined up for you now!

⊂ (▀▿▀) つ

Even before his mind is awake, his heart knows that he is alone. It's not the fact that there is no body pressing against his back or that his breathing is the only sound in the bed chamber. It is the lonely feeling from his empty hand that tells him that Wen Ke Xing has left before he woke up.

It has been like this for almost a week now. He doesn't see him for the entire day and then as soon as he is about to drift into sleep, the silence is broken by approaching light footsteps and the silent movements of the blanket. An arm would appear around his waist and the same cold hand would come searching for his. For the past couple of nights, it had been followed by gentle and almost unnoticeable kisses by those familiar cold lips at the back of his shoulder and another at the base of his neck just below the strand of pearls. Two kisses that always sent shivers to places he had actively started to suppress in order to be able to sleep.

The first two nights he had only gotten a few moments of sleep here and there, yet Wen Ke Xing had always managed to sneak away when he was asleep, never waking him up. He wouldn't say that he had already gotten used to having his husband next to him in bed, but he had started to sleep for longer periods throughout the nights as the week had progressed.

However, those spoken words on the first night had been lingering in his thoughts more than he wanted to admit. If he is trying to cure his craziness, why doesn't he just get it over with like he did the first nights...? I mean, he could try but he wouldn't necessarily succeed.

A different trail of thoughts sparks somewhere deep, somewhere not related to his logical thinking. Immediately shutting it down, not allowing anything like that even be thought about or even nearly thought about, he opens his eyes. Almost jumping out of bed, the strand of pearls glistens as they move against his skin in the soft light from the candles. Time to get ready for the day ahead. He has impatiently been waiting for a week now. Time to proceed with the last step of drying out the inflorescences. I am so close.

Putting on the inner robe that he had left hanging at the side of the bed the night before, he walks with rapid steps out of the bed chamber. He is not surprised that there is someone there waiting for him by the table.

"Good morning Daiyu." He says with his usual morning voice, totally oblivious of how this soft and slightly sleepy voice made others react to him. Specially since he was just walking around in his inner robe draped loosely around his slender waist and the silky trousers.

"Nu Zhuren, I brought you your usual breakfast. Do you want to have your morning bath first or breakfast first?"

Smiling, as this had been their conversation every morning for the past week and his answer was always the same, "Eat first." For some reason, this maid seemed to have been chosen to be his personal one. A fleeting thought of whether or not Wen Ke Xing knows about this arrangement flickers through his mind as he walks towards the table.

With a smile on her lips and with fluid movements, she pours the white tea with hibiscus infusion that has become part of his morning routine. Putting it on the table in front of the chair where he always sits in the mornings and evenings, though for some reason that she could not figure out, never during lunch.

Sitting down on his usual chair, he adds the usual spoon of honey to the tea before taking his first sip looking out the window screen. Not only is this the only seat that actually has a view, but the view also include part of the walkway up towards Jianchan. Not that he had noticed. That much.

Eager to get started on the flowers, he almost inhales the rice congee along with two cups of tea before he rushes off towards the hot spring. In less than five minutes he is fully dressed and ready for Daiyu to comb through his hair and arrange it in the usual soft ponytail.

"Nu Zhuren seems happy today", she says whilst tightening the metal hair clasp around the top of the ponytail, her voice soft and her eyes searching for his in the mirror.

"Yes, today is going to be a good day." Aware of the eyes that are seeking his but actively not meeting them, he continues, "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, Nu Zhuren. Everything you asked for has been prepared, except for the coal. They were burning it in the kitchen when I collected the food. They should be here with it soon."

Eager to get started he dismisses her with a wave without paying any attention to her reaction, "Thanks Daiyu, you can leave now."

"Of course." Lingering a bit too long, she gives up and walks with heavy footsteps towards the door.

Not even waiting for the door to close behind her, Zhou Xu has already left for the back room. The next step of the drying process starts today and if everything went according to plan, it would be ready by tomorrow. Tomorrow...

Six low and wide urns have been placed on top of a metal grill at the center of the room. Opening the lids, he confirms that they are half full of fine white sand. He is swift as he takes the inflorescences down from their drying rack and starts to divide them between the urns. Halfway through, he hears approaching quick footsteps outside in the hallway. A group of ghosts arrive with the glowing hot coal and Zhou Xu directs them as they place it under the grill, spreading it out evenly before returning to the kitchen for the next batch.

With a scoop, he pours sand on top until each inflorescence is completely covered before placing the lids back on top, just in time for the last coal to arrive. Making sure there is enough heat under the urns, he is satisfied and dismisses the ghosts with the instruction to come back with a new batch of hot coal every four hours. The urns needs to stay hot for twenty-four hours for the florets to have completely dried out. This last step was the most crucial step as the added heat during the last of the drying process would change the chemical of the florets to what he needed. Or at least, that is what the scroll had said.

Walking back to the front room, he feels a little bit restless. For weeks, he has been focused on the task in front of him whilst trying his best not to have too high hopes that this is going to work. Picking up one of the scrolls from the table by the shelves, a scroll that he had brought back from Jianchan after taking care of Wen Ke Xing, he opens it again. The plant he had found looks exactly like the one painted in the picture.

He had found the scroll searching through Wen Ke Xing's entire chambers and something inside him had clicked. Like he instantly had known that this is what he was searching for. The text hadn't explicitly told him what this herb would do, but somehow, he had just known. Like his core could recognize it, even if his mind didn't.

Without knowing really how, he finds himself walking along the pathway up towards Jianchan. That particular scroll hidden amongst the others that he has already finished reading as well. I am just returning the scroll and picking up some new ones. Nothing more. Surreptitiously in and out without anyone seeing me.

≧❀‿❀≦