Hupo nodded. She was currently weaving bags. "Milady, do you want to go and sleep for a moment?"
Her mistress was truly suffering a lot because of her work.
She had to wake up so early in the morning… When Hupo thought about it, her heart ached.
But she could not help. She could only embroider a few more items and exchange them for silver when spring arrived.
Chu Yue did not need to sleep. She had already slept for a long time when she reached the temple. She continued training her body and jumped around. Then, she found out that she was hungry and realized that she had been so angry with the monk that she forgot to eat breakfast.
So, she grabbed a handful of jujubes and said, "Hupo, shall we eat long-grain rice before noon?"
"Alright." Hupo put down the bag she was weaving and went to soak long-grain rice. When she came back, she said, "Milady, our dried meat and sausages taste really good."
The master-servant duo could already eat the dried meat. Hupo had originally been worried that they would taste horrible, but to her surprise, even though they did not look elegant, they tasted really good. When they made stir-fried salted vegetables or stir-fried Chinese cabbage, the dried meat would go really well with them
"This is a rare secret. Only one family has it," Chu Yue said.
Before noon, she did not go over to cook for the monk. She just ate with Hupo and made soup with carrots and pork ribs.
She had to admit that these dishes were very simple.
Hupo felt that her mistress had suffered greatly, especially when she saw her mistress finish a huge bowl of rice and quite a lot of meat because she had a great appetite. She also drank a lot of soup with carrots and pork ribs.
Once Chu Yue finished eating, she said with great satisfaction, "Eat more. If you eat more, you'll be in better health."
Since she had started to train, her appetite had become larger, and because of that, her body naturally became stronger.
Last time, when she had just taken a few steps, she was forced to catch her breath. Her body was very delicate, to the point that Chu Yue could not stand it.
But she had honey, jujube, and birds' nests as supplements to nourish it, and the monk had personally brewed medicine for her some time ago. It might have tasted disgusting, but its effect was really good.
For example, when she had her period at first, she was in so much pain that she could only lie in bed. But now, the symptoms were much weaker.
Once Chu Yue finished eating, she played a game of pitch-pot before she went to bed for a nap. She had already forgotten about the monk a long time ago.
*****
The monk had been waiting for her for half a day, but she did not arrive, and he felt rather resigned about it.
When evening arrived, Chu Yue still did not come.
Eunuch Feng was waiting for his master to return to the palace with him, so he naturally knew that his master was waiting for the widow to arrive. 'That widow is seriously getting a little too egotistical. I won't mention the fact that she's angry at my master for the moment, but how could she throw a tantrum at him?!'
Eunuch Feng felt his heart clench for his master, because he had been waiting for two hours outside the courtyard, but the widow still did not come. He went to Yingda in private and said, "Go over and give a reminder to that widow. Tell her to exercise better judgment!"
She should stop at the right time. If she truly made the master angry, she would definitely suffer.
"The master said nothing," Yingda replied and ignored him.
Eunuch Feng felt gloomy. "You're a failure of a servant. Do you need the master to tell you before you do anything at all?"
"I will do whatever the master tells me to do."
Yingda insisted on keeping to his principles. Besides, the widow was someone with her own thoughts. She would not listen to him.
Hence, Eunuch Feng could only go over to advise his master. "The former emperor misses you a lot, Master. He hopes that you can go back quickly and keep him company for a few days. The winter this year is cold and harsh, and while we have been serving the former emperor attentively, he still wishes to see you the most."
The monk was brought up by his father since he was young, so they naturally shared a deep relationship. When he heard about being missed, he hesitated for a moment before he said, "Make preparations. I'll go back tomorrow."
He left a letter to the widow, and the next morning, he went back to the palace. In the letter, he said that he went out to travel the lands for a while and would return after that.
Yingda sent the letter to the courtyard. Chu Yue had intended to go over to make food the next day, so she opened the door and saw the letter early in the morning.
When she read the contents, her expression turned dark.
Was the monk throwing a tantrum at her now? He was telling her not to go over?
'Fine, if you don't want me to go, I won't! I don't care about you!'
Once Hupo got up, Chu Yue said, "Hupo, it's boring staying at the mountain all the time. Let's go out and take a stroll." .
What should she do when she was angry with her boyfriend?
The worst plan would be to stew in her room. A slightly better plan would be to turn that anger into a ravenous appetite and start binge eating. An even better plan would be to go out and buy stuff, and the best plan would be to go with the even better plan, but also add fooling around to it.
Prince Qin did not give her a lot of money. It was only fifty taels of silver. But if she added the silver she had been earning, it would be enough for her to have fun.
Hupo wanted to stop her. "Milady, it's snowing and very cold outside. Besides, we don't have a carriage."
"It's nothing major. We can just hire a carriage," Chu Yue said.
She was worried about letting Hupo hire a carriage on her own, so she went down the mountain together with her. The master-servant duo walked for a long time before they arrived at the nearest town.
They did indeed have carriages.
"Where is the closest city?" Chu Yue asked directly.
"That would be Xiang City. You'll reach it in half a day," the carriage driver said. "Xiang City will be celebrating its ice sculpture festival tomorrow. It's the liveliest day in Xiang City."
"Let's go there." So Chu Yue brought Hupo to that place.
Just as the carriage driver said, they reached Xiang City in just half a day. Chu Yue led Hupo to the largest restaurant, and they rented a room there.
Even though it was a little expensive, it was safe and had great reputation.
"It's cold. Why did you come here, Milady?" Hupo brought hot water for her mistress.
Chu Yue washed her face and thought in her heart that she was there to seek entertainment and be happy. But right then, she was not in the mood to go out. She had been sitting in a carriage for most of the day, and her butt was about to become numb.
"Clean up a little. Then, we'll go out and have steamboat for dinner," Chu Yue said.
Steamboat and hot pots provided the same type of food through different methods. It was absolutely great to eat them during this season.
The ingredients in the mountain were limited. They did not have mutton or anything of that degree. She could only get some pork ribs or make some dried meat and sausages.
Hupo went out with her mistress, but she was not quite used to ordering things to eat in public. "Milady, should we ask them to bring the food into our room?"
"We're going to be staying here for a few days. I don't want our room to smell like steamboat," Chu Yue said.
"Then, we can ask for a private room," Hupo said.
Chu Yue just let her do whatever she wanted. But the private rooms in the hotel were not really isolated private rooms. The staff just used two screens to separate an area from others.
When an employee brought them to a private room, the other rooms around them were already filled, and they were all full of men.
Hupo felt extremely uneasy.
But Chu Yue did not mind. "Why are you worried? We have screens separating us."
Then, she said to the employee, "Give us a steamboat and two plates of yearling mutton."
The employer took note of her orders and made some recommendations. "My dear customer, would you like peach blossom wine? It won't make you drunk, and it tastes like dessert. Many of our female customers like it."