Although he thought this, Qiguang still couldn't resist opening the envelope. He just wanted to see the handwriting, not caring about what she said.
To his surprise, the letter contained not a single word, but only a drawing of osmanthus flowers and a full moon.
Qiguang was stunned, a hint of sarcasm still on his lips, but the memories of the second year of An Tai swept in like a storm.
That Mid-Autumn night of that year, the moon hung in the sky like a silver plate.
He had promised to watch the moon with Su Jun, but he broke his promise.
Before the palace banquet, he was ordered by the emperor to be under house arrest for reasons of disrespecting the crown prince and opposing him with words.
Because he and the Crown Prince were about the same age, in order to emphasize the Crown Prince's position, every time there was a conflict between him and the Crown Prince, regardless of the reason or who was right or wrong, he would be punished.
Chu Huan was used to this favoritism, but this time it wouldn't do.
He begged the emperor to punish him tomorrow, and to mete out a heavier punishment was fine, after all, it was just some flesh and blood.
However, his plea for mercy only made the emperor more determined to punish him, believing that this would teach him a deep lesson and make him remember that the Crown Prince was the heir apparent and his sovereign. He couldn't show disrespect to the Crown Prince.
It was late at night, and the room was pitch black. Qiguang sat on the ground with his knees drawn up, thinking that he had let her down; Su Jun would certainly never speak to him again.
Suddenly, someone knocked on his window.
The moonlight shone through the open window, Su Jun stood gracefully outside, scowling playfully: "The emperor has punished you again?"
Chu Huan twitched the corner of his mouth, but couldn't force a smile. He didn't want to show himself in an embarrassing position in front of Su Jun.
The biological mother died early, and the emperor did not designate a new foster mother. No one cared about him, and he grew up in the palace recklessly.
And because he was a son of a lesser consort, and his age was close to the Crown Prince's, the emperor wished to crack open his skull and etch the words 'Respect the Crown Prince' into his brain.
However, Su Jun always noticed the subtlety in this. She skipped over this question and pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve.
Inside the handkerchief embroidered with osmanthus flowers, there were two mooncakes.
"Here, the mooncakes I made especially for you. I haven't broken my promise, you know."
There is a custom in the folk of Da Qi during the Mid-Autumn Festival, where mothers make mooncakes for their children.
The other day, when they talked about this, Su Jun jokingly said she would make mooncakes for him. He thought it was just a casual joke.
He didn't expect Su Jun to actually make the mooncakes.
The mooncakes were about half a palm in size, and they bore the character "Fu" on them, the most traditional and simplest of characters, but they represent the most primitive and sincere wishes.
In accordance with the tacit understanding of the then aristocratic families, young ladies stand in the kitchen and give instructions to the servants, which is equivalent to cooking personally, showing sincerity.
As for actually requiring a noble young lady to get her hands dirty in the kitchen... that's just a sign of your own immaturity.
Chu Huan looked at the mooncakes with their perfectly round shapes, assuming they would all be like that, and he bit into one, making his face suddenly contort.
The mooncakes with red bean filling tasted both salty and sweet.
Su Jun's eyes crinkled in laughter.
She held onto the window frame and leaped into the room, saying: "I accidentally mixed sugar and salt when making the filling, and when I tried to fix it, I added too much sugar. The filling tasted well when I made it, but I didn't expect it to taste like this after baking. Surprising, isn't it?"
Chu Huan was indeed surprised, but not because of the taste, but because Su Jun had actually cooked.
"Is it really you who made them?"
Su Jun: "Of course! The baking process is done by the servants, but all the previous steps were done by me personally!"
Chu Huan bit into a large piece again, chewing slowly. Although it tasted terrible, his heart suddenly brightened.
Su Jun picked up another mooncake to have a bite, but was stopped by Chu Huan, "This is for me."
As an artist who understands the value of creation, it is natural for Su Jun to be happy to see that what she has made is being cherished in this way.
But -
But it really isn't very good.
Su Jun counted on her fingers: "I made a total of five mooncakes. My father ate one, my brothers divided one, I ate one, and the remaining two are all for you."
"Since I promised to make mooncakes for you, I left the most for you!"
Chu Huan's throat was dry and he was surprised: "You ate it yourself?"
Su Jun: "Of course, it's my first time cooking, but I didn't expect it to taste so bad. When I saw my father eating it, I thought I did a good job."
Chu Huan felt like he had lost. A statesman who had served three emperors could eat it without showing any sign of discomfort, and he was determined to do the same next time, next time he would definitely be able to!
As for why Su Jun didn't make a new batch of filling at that time, it's not specified in the passage.
Please, children who have been pampered and loved by elders since their birth, who are golden and precious, willing to roll up their sleeves and cook is worth praising over and over again from their elders. The taste is of little consequence.
Since it was her first time making something, even if it was bad, it couldn't be thrown away.
Moreover... perhaps it still tasted good at that time, at least the filling had a decent flavor.
But after baking, the taste became strange.
At least Su Jun herself was unwilling to throw it away; after all, didn't she herself drink half a pot of water to finish eating the mooncakes?
"Why don't you turn on the light?"
Su Jun looked around the room and couldn't find a candle. She looked at Chu Huan in confusion, suddenly understanding the reason behind it, this was a punishment.
In the darkness, Chu Huan was at a loss.
Su Jun's lips moved, but she didn't say anything. She pushed the window as far as it could go and smiled: "This is even better, we can appreciate the full moon."
Chu Huan whispered softly: "Well, there will be candles next time."
From a child to adulthood, he had been accustomed to such seclusion, so he had never developed the habit of stockpiling candles. He would have to prepare some next time, though.
Su Jun leaped onto the table, her shins crossed and swaying back and forth, her dark hair occasionally brushing against the papers on the table. With her jade-like complexion and blooming beauty, she is a quintessential Eastern beauty.
"Of course, you should prepare candles, Chu Huan. Not only do I need them, but so do you. If I find out next time that you don't care about yourself, I won't pay attention to you anymore."
"Okay."
The warmth in the room flowed gently until Chu Huan finished eating the mooncakes. Su Jun said, "You broke your promise today."
Chu Huan: "Sorry, there won't be a next time."
Su Jun: "You're lying, you didn't send anyone to give me a message. If it weren't for me asking someone else, I would have been standing there waiting for the whole night."
Chu Huan knew it wouldn't be the case. She was different from him. Su Jun would be looked for if she didn't return after a long time.
But this was indeed his mistake. He thought Su Jun would know about his house arrest, and he assumed that since she couldn't see him, she would go back. He hadn't expected that she would come to find him.
The room is dimly lit, without any candles.
Chu Huan's side profile had clear lines, his eyebrows were like swords, with sharp peaks and cold stars in his eyes that exuded a fierce and decisive aura of killing.
Su Jun was aware that there were private discussions in the palace, with many saying that Chu Huan had a bad temperament, unpredictable and not easy to deal with, like a wild wolf.
But she saw a hint of pitifulness at this time.
Su Jun: "If something like this happens again, you have to send me a letter."
Chu Huan: "No, they will read it."
Su Jun looked at him strangely, wondering why it would matter if others saw the letter, just a letter writing that he had missed an appointment.
But she respected her friend's preferences, frowning and thinking for a moment, her eyes scanning over the chrysanthemum embroidered on the handkerchief, she slapped her hands together and said: "Then you won't come, draw a chrysanthemum next time."
"This is a secret just between us two. Even if others see it, they won't know the reason."
Chu Huan enjoyed the secret known only to the two of them, and didn't refuse.
He knew that this was something that wouldn't actually be used, but he didn't say anything to the contrary.
He was different from Su Jun, who could make the guards turn a blind eye to let her in, but he couldn't find anyone to send him a message.
Because he was under house arrest.
Su Jun thought this was the father educating his child, but in fact, it was the emperor punishing a subject.
Su Jun has a father who protects her and the Empress Dowager also loves her, so the emperor will only think that it's just childish play. However, Chu Huan doesn't have any elders to protect him.
If the emperor really scolds them, Su's father can compensate for the guards, but Chu Huan cannot protect the guards who are letting him in.
The guards won't do anything extra for him.
This agreement about osmanthus flowers has never been used because Chu Huan will never break his promise.
I didn't expect to use it here.
Under the encirclement of the Huns, Su Jun feared that the messenger might not deliver the letter, and she was also afraid that the letter might fall into someone else's hands, so she used the secret code from her youth.
A promise made during the Mid-Autumn Festival night, please don't come this time.
