Chongfei Manual [II]

Chapter 125.1

Wei Luo closed her eyes slightly and pretended that she didn't see the sight of Zhao Liuli teasing her.

A palace servant girl carried an eight-sided bright red tray engraved with a waterfall scene with both hands as she walked forward. She was wearing a green court robe embroidered with flowers. There were two cups of tea on the tray. Wei Luo would offer these two cups of guanyin tea (a type of fruity oolong tea) to Emperor Chong Zhen and Empress Chen to show respect. Wei Luo picked up a colorful tea cup with a daffodil pattern, then she walked forward to Emperor Chong Zhen and respectfully said, "Imperial father, please drink this tea."

(Below is a picture of that type of tray.)

Emperor Chong Zhen had past his forty birthday, but he hadn't changed much during the last ten years. His body was healthy and his spirit was hale and hearty. She could see that Zhao Jie's face resembled Emperor Chong Zhen's face in several aspects. The emperor took the cup of tea from Wei Luo's hands, lowered his head to take a sip, and said with a smile, "Very good. This emperor remembers you. You were Liuli's study companion as a child, right?"

Wei Luo nodded. She was only six years old at that time. Almost ten years had passed since then. She hadn't expected that the emperor would still remember.

Since Emperor Chong Zhen had drunk her tea, he naturally had to give her a present. The emperor ordered the palace servant behind him to bring an item forward. It was a set of four burnt red calligraphy items with a flowering lotus pattern. "This emperor has heard that your calligraphy skills are pretty good. This emperor has kept this private collection of stationary items for a long time. Coincidentally, this set of brushes is suitable for writing regular script (a type of calligraphy style), so this will be your present."

Wei Luo walked forward to give her thanks and saw a high-quality ink stone that was placed on the tray. A certain thought appeared in her mind and she blushed.

Last night, while they were doing that, Zhao Jie had deliberately asked her, "Ah Luo, doesn't it seem like we're grinding?"

Wei Luo didn't understand at first, so he bit her ear and explained, "Grinding will produce ink just like your body."

Wei Luo desperately wished that she could kick him off the bed at that moment.

Seeing this ink stone right now and thinking of Zhao Jie's words, Wei Luo's thoughts naturally went crooked. When she looked back, she coincidentally met Zhao Jie's seemingly smiling eyes. Zhao Jie was really hateful. Even at this time, he was still in the mood to laugh at her. Wei Luo looked away, picked up the other cup of tea, and offered it to Empress Chen.

Empress Chen drank the tea and also gave her something. It was a hairpin with golden rats gnawing at young melons from flowering vines and a pair of matching earrings. The hairpin was exquisitely made with clear lines. The golden rats had rubies for eyes and golden flowers surrounded the golden rats. The flower petals were as delicate as a cicada's wings. Every aspect was very vivid and lifelike. Empress Chen said, "Chang Sheng personally selected this hairpin. Do you like it?"