Both worlds are like dreams

The two men returned to the palace and the maid brought them ginger soup.

After drinking it, Xue Huang changed her clothes and went to feed the cat.

After feeding them, she became hungry herself.

Looking at the rain outside the window, she suddenly wanted to eat hot pot.

After telling the kitchen, they quickly prepared the food and set up a pot in the pavilion.

Mo Yunchen has never had an opinion on what to eat. He just eats whatever she eats. This is his first time eating hotpot.

However, he looked at the thick layer of red oil floating in the pot, frowning slightly, "Are you sure this is edible?"

Xue Huang raised an eyebrow, "Of course. It has been popular in Shangyang City for a long time."

Having said that, he put the mutton and into the boiling pot.

Xue Huang gave him the prepared sauce and said, "Try it."

Mo Yunchen didn't move his chopsticks.

Xue Huang picked up a piece of cooked meat and started eating it. She didn't seem to react to the pungent spicy smell.

Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten it for a while, so the taste was both familiar and satisfying to her.

Mo Yunchen picked up a piece of meat and tasted it, and frowned instantly. He drank a whole glass of wine, but couldn't suppress the spiciness.

He tried hard to hold back from having an outburst, but he felt his tongue go numb, a heat rushed straight to his brain, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

After Xue Huang finished a plate of meat, she glanced at his expression and asked, "Can't you eat spicy food?"

"I've never eaten anything so spicy before." He drank several glasses of wine in a row. "But you, eating like this will hurt your stomach."

Xuehuang scooped out all the red oil with a spoon and put the mutton and vegetables back in.

She said calmly, "Winter in Guigu is quite cold, so we are used to eating this to ward off the cold. It's not too spicy, it just looks scary. I didn't expect that you can't eat spicy food."

"Want to go back?"

Xue Huang was silent for a moment. She had said that she would go back to take a look after everything in Shangyang City was settled.

But she broke her promise again.

She was afraid. She was afraid that if she went back she would not be able to leave. She was afraid that if she went back she would disrupt Guigu's peaceful life and bring countless troubles.

Mo Yunchen said, "If you want, I can go back with you."

"Let's talk about it later." Xue Huang ate in silence.

Mo Yunchen did not continue the topic, but said: "There is something I want to ask you, I wonder if you can give me some advice."

"what's up?"

"The winter in the north is cold, and the soldiers will have to prepare winter clothes in a while. Ordinary linen wrapped in silk floss is not good at keeping out the cold, and animal skins are too bulky, and it is difficult to move when wearing armor. Silk floss is too expensive and cannot be produced in large quantities. Do you have any good ideas?"

Xue Huang recalled the four essays she had copied, which indeed recorded many ways to keep warm.

She thought for a moment and said, "We can use duck and goose down, the softest, warmest and finest hair on them, to make feather clothes. They are much lighter than animal skins and warmer than linen clothes."

"The amount needed will be huge. Even if we kill all the ducks in Beiling, it won't be enough, right?"

"When I was traveling in Southern Jin before, I found that they had a plant called cotton growing there. It was like duck down. The people of Southern Jin used it to make winter clothes, which were much better at keeping out the cold than linen. I can send a message to my second uncle and ask them to go to Southern Jin to buy some."

"With such a large amount, will Nan Jin take action?"

"That's a matter between merchants. Beiling needs something to keep warm, and Nanjin may not lack anything either. We can trade with each other and each get what it needs."

"That makes sense," Mo Yunchen smiled, "Then I'll look forward to your good news."

"I'm not here to help you."

Mo Yunchen picked up the wine glass and said, "Happy cooperation."

Xue Huang buried her head in her food, "It doesn't taste good, drink it yourself."

Mo Yunchen smiled and drank it all in one gulp.

After the matter was settled, Xue Huang immediately carried out the order. After dinner, she wrote a letter and then asked the spies from Shanhemen to deliver it.

The young man who replaced Zhuo Yang was called Lu Heng, also a descendant of Beiyuan court officials. He had followed Wei Yunzhou for many years and had been delivering messages outside.

It is said that he is Haitang's sweetheart.

Xue Huang handed him a thick stack of letters and said, "Thank you for your hard work. This time it's important. I must deliver it to my second uncle as quickly as possible."

"As you command." Lu Heng put away the letter and left quietly.

This time, the letter that Xue Huang sent not only contained a lot of information about her daily life here, but more importantly, it contained all the connections she could think of that could help Wei Yunzhou and the others.

He Xuanye is from Southern Jin, and behind him is the He family, one of the four major business families in Southern Jin.

She had given him the deer grass as a favor, and if she wanted to connect with Nan Jin this time, she could go through him.

In Wei Yunzhou's previous reply, he also mentioned that Sihai Trading Company had now reached a cooperation with Lubai Villa, and Murong Hen's Rashomon had also opened up the market for them in the Jiangnan region.

The Sihai Trading Company developed rapidly, and behind it was the Beiling royal family, so it was naturally the royal merchant, attracting countless merchants to actively cooperate.

In the long run, trade with other countries will soon be established.

I don't know if they can handle it.

And thinking about Wei Yunzhou and Xu Yao, there is no problem if these two people fight, but I don’t know if they will scare people away if they negotiate.

Time passed quickly. Xue Huang watched the camellia flowers fall and the ginkgo leaves in the yard gradually turn yellow. It was the golden autumn season again.

Nuomi Tuan and Huajuan have grown a lot and stick to her side every day, jumping around.

It seemed that they were the only ones around Xue Huang. She was having fun in the city, but she kept a distance from everyone invisibly, not making friends with anyone. She came and went alone.

She was no longer as indifferent to Mo Yunchen as before, but occasionally when she woke up from a dream, she would still look at him soberly with hatred in her eyes.

Mo Yunchen let her live freely in the mansion, but he could no longer see the lively girl she once was.

She was no longer hostile to him and got along with him peacefully, but he knew in his heart that everything she did was not from her heart.

The days in Shuanglin City became dull and simple, and they were like the most familiar strangers.

Sometimes when Mo Yunchen looked at her, he always felt that she was getting farther and farther away.

Her former nightmare was gone, but now it has become his nightmare, which cannot be shaken off.

Xue Huang thought that days like this would continue until one day when she went down the mountain for a stroll and ran into Lou Sheng.

It was too late to avoid him at that time. Lou Sheng saw her face clearly, so he kept chasing her.

He chased him all the way to the stone bridge and was stopped by the guards before he gave up.

Xuehuang sat on the wall, looking at Lou Sheng from afar who was lingering there and refusing to leave, and she felt a headache.

Mu Guang was puzzled, "If he wants to beat you, just help him. Why are you running?"

"Why should I fight him just because he wants to?" Xue Huang rolled her eyes.

"If you don't beat him, he won't leave."

"He can still break in, even if he stays there."

"Shh!" Mu Guang suddenly spoke.

Before Xue Huang understood what was meant, she heard Mo Yunchen's voice behind her, "Who are you talking to?"

Xue Huang turned her head and took a look. "Nothing. Didn't you go out?"

"I just came back. I heard that you were in trouble, so I came to see you." Mo Yunchen also jumped onto the wall and sat next to her.

"Who said that?"

"Who is that?" Mo Yunchen asked.

"Lou Sheng." Xue Huang felt helpless.

"You still don't want to fight him?"

Xue Huang said nothing.

"If you don't want to, I can come forward for you and persuade him to leave."

"No, just fight. But not now."

"You're not sure?"

Xue Huang glanced at him and said, "How about I fight you first, and then you will know whether I am confident or not."

"Okay," Mo Yunchen agreed happily, "Come to think of it, we haven't done it for a long time."

Xue Huang thought he was mentally ill and didn't bother to talk to him. She jumped off the wall and walked back.

On the way, she found several maids delivering things to her yard, including clothes, jewelry, silk quilts, dressing boxes and ornaments.

Autumn has arrived and the weather in Shuanglin City has suddenly turned cold, so we have started preparing for the seasonal change early.

But Xue Huang discovered that they gave her a guqin and a chessboard.

She was a little confused because at first glance she felt that the two things were very familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere.

"Wait a moment." She asked someone to put the things down and took a closer look at the guqin and chessboard. As soon as her fingers touched them, some familiar images flashed through her mind.

She remembered that this zither and this chessboard were Gu Qingli's things in the past.

During those three years, Mo Yunchen did not treat her harshly, so the people in the mansion were also very polite to her.

I don’t know if it was Mo Yunchen’s instruction, but there were always people giving her some things, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.

This piano has been with her for the longest time, and its sound expresses all of Gu Qingli's feelings.