"Your Majesty, when I was young, I stayed at my grandfather's house for a few years, and then I followed him everywhere. People in the south eat spicy food, so I developed this habit."
"I see."
The emperor ate fast and ate a lot. Soon, most of the food was finished.
It was obvious that he was really hungry.
Lin Wanyi was full herself, so it was not good for her to rest, so she took the chopsticks from Dong Yuzhong's hand and served the emperor. There are some rules for serving food.
You have to give a little bit of everything, but you have to consider the emperor's taste and choose what he likes.
After eating this meal, Lin Wanyi found it difficult to tell what he liked and what he didn't like.
He is really an emperor who benefits the world, and even his meals are so balanced. After the meal, the emperor got up and walked around.
Feeling a little full, he called Dong Yuzhong and planned to go out for a walk.
Dong Yuzhong looked embarrassed and pointed outside and said.
"Your Majesty, it's very windy outside. I think it's going to rain. This spring rain is endless. It may be hard to stop once it starts. For the sake of your Majesty's body, it's better not to go out."
Although it went against the emperor's wishes, Dong Yuzhong had good intentions.
Lin Wanyi saw that the emperor's face looked a little strange. It seemed that he wanted to go out, but felt embarrassed.
So she spoke up to help Dong Yuzhong out.
"I wonder if your majesty has ever heard of the night rain in Bashan?"
Emperor Yuwen Hong looked at her puzzled.
"Isn't this the line from "Night Rain Sent to the North"? What's wrong?"
"When I was at home, I planted a lot of banana trees in the backyard, so every time it rained at night, my parents would take us brothers and sisters to the side house to listen to the rain falling. It was quite interesting for the family to sit around and talk."
"What did you talk about?"
"Everything. Sometimes we talked about interesting stories that my eldest brother heard from the streets, sometimes we talked about the encounter between my father and mother when they were young, or about the things that I did when I traveled with my grandfather's family. As a family, there is always endless things to talk about."
Lin Wanyi's eyes became much gentler when she mentioned her family.
Yuwen Hong could see that their family had a good relationship. He
lowered his eyelids and said nothing.
Unfortunately, this warm family atmosphere was what he wanted but could not get.
Born in the royal family, family affection is destined to be indifferent.
Lin Wanyi thought that the emperor would not reply, and then looked over, but saw that his face was not very good. Could it be that I said something wrong?
Just when I was worried, I heard the emperor say lightly.
"Tell me about your travels in the south."
The voice was distant, but no emotion could be heard. At this moment, Lin Wanyi seemed to see a different emperor.
No longer high and mighty, no longer majestic, but full of loneliness and solitude.
Lin Wanyi sat quietly beside the couch, thought about it, and picked an interesting topic to tell a story.
"My maternal grandfather's family is a long-standing merchant family. Our ancestors have been doing business in the streets and alleys, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. My great-great-grandfather's generation moved the whole family from Lingzhou to Shengjing City, and then settled down here."
"My grandfather followed my great-great-grandfather to do all kinds of business in the market since he was a child, so he knew a lot about business. One year, my second uncle was going to Yaozhou to collect herbs, and my grandfather happened to be going there too, so my grandmother and I went with them."
"Yaozhou is mostly inhabited by local Yao people, and there are few people from the Central Plains, so as soon as we entered Yaozhou, we changed into their clothes and spoke Yao language when talking to strangers."
"My grandfather said that if you want to eat someone's meal, you naturally have to collect firewood to make the pot. I thought this was some local slang, but my grandfather really took us to buy a cart of firewood and went to the local village to find an elder for dinner."
"When I saw the cart of firewood, I was very curious. Later, when I entered the elder's house, I realized that this was really the local custom. They used the firewood brought by my grandfather to make a fire and cooked food. After a lively meal, my grandfather handed over the list of things to buy. My second uncle told me that others think that doing business with the Yao people is the most difficult, but they are actually the simplest and kindest. As long as you sincerely help them solve their problems, the rest will naturally be easy."
Lin Wanyi's words made Emperor Yuwenhong fall into deep thought.
After a moment, he asked.
"So why do those Yao people need firewood?"
"Because those Yao people are actually people of the Fire Yao tribe. They have believed in the God of Fire for generations. If people come with firewood, they are the messengers of the God of Fire. They will naturally welcome them and help them with all their strength if they want to do things."
The emperor was surprised, and his eyes revealed disbelief.
"There is such a thing?"
"Yes, I also found it incredible when I first heard it."
"Then how did your grandfather know about this?"
Lin Wanyi covered her mouth and laughed secretly. This was her grandfather's big secret.
So she made up her mind and deliberately teased the emperor.
"Your Majesty, do you want to know the truth or the surface level reason?"
"What about the surface level reason? What about the truth?"
"The surface level reason is that naturally because my grandfather's family has been doing business for many years, so there are many ways. As for the truth..."
Lin Wanyi deliberately dragged out her voice for a long time, which whetted the emperor's appetite. Seeing that he was a little anxious, she began to explain.
"When my grandfather was young, he was favored by a girl from the Huo Yao tribe and was almost asked to be a live-in son-in-law, so naturally he knew some of the rules of the Huo tribe."
After hearing this, Yuwen Hong also chuckled.
I don't know if it was because she "made fun" of her grandfather, the cunning expression reminded him of some of his youth.
He also had some happy times before he ascended the throne.
The late emperor loved him like a treasure in his hands. Even if the court was busy, he would accompany him to laugh and play.
Unfortunately, all these became memories with the death of the late emperor due to illness, and then came the helplessness and pain of being forced to grow up since ascending the throne.
There were always people reminding him how to be an emperor who would go down in history, but no one cared that he was still a handsome young man.
It was late at night and the dew was heavy. As Dong Yuzhong said, it soon began to rain outside.
The spring rain was like oil, hanging from the sky like a bead curtain.
It hit the ground, splashing small puddles one after another, and the branches in the courtyard were also bowed down.
The candlelight cast the shadows of the two on the bright window, one listening carefully, and the other talking interestingly.
From time to time, some laughter could be heard, not loud, but it was very relaxing to listen to.
Dong Yuzhong stood outside the door, holding the whisk he had used for many years in his hand, and closed his eyes to enjoy this moment of tranquility.
Qiu Ming, who was standing next to him, came over and saw him like this, and couldn't help but ask.