Volume 1: The Great Wind Rises, Clouds Soar Forty-Three Cypress Leaves [8700 Additional Chapters]

  After May Day, it entered the hot summer. Chang'an was hotter than Zhao's place. The people in the Hou Mansion couldn't bear it. Fortunately, Empress Lü had given them ice from the palace last winter to store in the ice house. Using ice to cool down wasn't too difficult. By July, the heat gradually dissipated and autumn winds slowly started blowing. Zuo Si picked up his bamboo fan and smiled, "In a few more days, an autumn rain will come and the weather should turn cool."

  The speaker was unintentional, but the listener had a mind. Zhang Yan thought of the red and swollen chilblains on Lü Zhi's hands when he saw her in the Pepper Chamber Hall that day, and his heart moved.

  On this day, in the courtyard of several adjacent houses on the outskirts of Chang'an, a woman in green clothes got up early and came out with a copper basin. Suddenly, she saw a carriage drawn by four horses slowly approaching on the main road, as if bringing a golden light behind her.

  "Jingniang sister." Zhang Yan lifted the car curtain and smiled "Do you still remember me?"

  Jingniang put down her sleeves and smiled brightly.

  "I once promised my sister that after arriving in Chang'an, I would make cosmetics with my sister. Hmm, has my sister ever heard of a kind of bergamot ointment?"

  Jingniang shook her head, indicating she had never done so.

  "My grandmother suffered from frostbite every winter, and her hands and feet would be in pain. I felt sorry for my grandmother, so I searched through an old book and found a recipe to cure frostbite. Jingniang sister, listen carefully: use 1-2 liang of bay leaves, 40 apricot kernels, 0.5 fen of salt, and 3 fen of milk fragrance, then add yellow wax after heating the mixture in oil for a suitable amount of time, and store it in a ceramic bottle. I tried making it many times at home but couldn't produce the transparent gel-like substance mentioned in the recipe. Since you're skilled with your hands, I've come to ask for your help."

  Jingniang thought for a moment and nodded, beckoning them to come in and prepare the necessary items. "Since we've decided on the medicine, the only difference is in the fire timing." Jingniang gestured.

  However, after trying for dozens of days, I still couldn't grasp the timing. Zhang Yan couldn't help but feel a bit downhearted. "Looking at the recipe, it seemed simple, but actually operating it was also very difficult. If Sister Jingniang really can't make it, that's okay... yeah."

  Jingniang was so focused on studying the balm that she didn't notice a strand of her hair fall into the hot oil and slowly burn to ashes, still completely unaware.

  "Big sister" Zhang Yan pulled open Jing Niang and scolded: "Even if you can't do it, it's not worth losing your head over."

  Jingniang suddenly seemed to understand, and hastily went into the house to fetch a pair of scissors. She cut off a lock of her hair and threw it into the oil, instructing, "Wait until it's all burned up, then add yellow wax and stir slowly."

  When the contents of the pot finally coagulated into a shiny transparent gel-like substance, Zhang Yan and Jing Niang excitedly clapped their hands.

  Actually, Zhang Yan didn't think much of the balm at first, but after all the trouble she went through to get it, she unconsciously treasured it. With a newfound enthusiasm, Zhang Yan carried the newly made balm and jumped onto the carriage, instructing the driver, "Take me to Changle Palace to request an audience with Her Majesty the Empress."

  In the past, entering the palace was always announced by Empress Lü to her mother and herself before going. This time, Zhang Yan suddenly had an idea that she wanted to enter the palace, only to find out that it wasn't as easy as she thought. She waited for a while at the palace gate before a palace servant came over with a stern face to escort her in. After standing outside the Pepper Chamber for a while, Empress Lü hastily emerged from the inner chamber and asked indifferently, "Does Ah Yan have something to say?"

  Zhang Yan was taken aback and couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. The enthusiasm she had at the beginning had already flown away. She hinted to Ruo Mu to bring out the bergamot ointment, pointing to the ceramic jar and saying, "Now that autumn has arrived and the weather is getting cooler, Ah Yan remembers that last year her mother-in-law suffered from frostbite. This year, she searched for a cure in ancient books and found this prescription for bergamot ointment. It's said to be effective in treating frostbite, even earlobe necrosis. Not to mention just ordinary frostbite! When winter comes, Ah Po can use hot water to wash it off, dry it, and then apply the ointment, wrapping it with soft cloth to keep out the cold air. This way, she definitely won't get frostbite again this year."

  "Oh," she said, "I was worried that Grandma would find it inconvenient to change the soft cloth every day, so I specially found a weaver in the mansion to sew a pair of hand covers with the best cloth. Grandma, try them on?"

  Lü Cuī's expression gradually softened as she took the "hand warmer" from Zhang Yān's hand. It was made of two layers of soft cloth, leaving out the shape of five fingers. As she slipped her right hand in, she felt it was light and soft against her skin, and the shape looked good. Although the weather wasn't very cold yet, the soft cloth stuck to her hand and soon made her sweat. Lü Cuī didn't want to take it off, instead, she hugged Zhang Yān and rubbed her forehead against hers, saying "Auntie accepts your kind intentions, Ah-Yān." A smile played on her lips.

  Zhang Yan smiled and dodged away, slightly pleased with herself. "This is nothing," she said. "In the East Garden, there's a Jingniang who's very skilled and clever. She makes peach blossom powder by grinding peach blossoms into a paste, and I've heard it really has the scent of peach blossoms! When you apply it to your face, it's thin and even, and feels great." She counted on her fingers: "And then there's the rouge made with cow marrow that's even more radiant and can prevent dryness and cracking. And there's also the facial cream, lip balm, and hair oil that are all moisturizing and fragrant. I've been using them for three months now, and look, isn't my hair softer and more lustrous than it was in the spring? My mother used them too and said they're great."

  No matter what age or status, women are defenseless against cosmetics. Not only did Lü Zhi's eyes light up, but also the eyes of all the female officials and maids in the entire palace. Lü Zhi was delighted and praised, "Not bad, not bad." Then, feigning anger, she said, "Ah Yan has had these things for a long time, how come you only thought of your aunt today? You really deserve to be beaten."

  "It's a pity." Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Although I think these things are exquisite, but as the empress of the Great Han, she can't use things randomly. They have to be used well before I dare bring them to give to her."

  Lv Lian smiled for a while, then gradually became melancholy and sighed: "A Yan, you are young and fond of these things, which is understandable. But I am already old and aged, what's the use of doing these things?"

  "Hu Shuo Ba Dao" Zhang Yan stretched out her hand from her bosom to try to smooth out the wrinkles at the corner of Lü Yu's eyes. "Auntie is not old, Auntie has heard a saying that makes sense: 'In this world there are no ugly women, only those who don't know how to dress themselves up.' Auntie was the queen of the Great Han, majestic and stately, top-notch. In terms of beauty and charm, it's possible that she may not be as good as Qi Yu, but in terms of grandeur and majesty, a hundred Qi Yus can't compare to one Auntie."

  Lü Cuī's loud and clear laughter echoed inside and outside the pepper house, hugging Zhang Yān and saying "Good, good, good, you little Yān."

  "Grandma, I've heard that using the thin skin of chestnuts (ground into a fine powder) and mixing it with honey to make a paste can remove wrinkles and whiten the skin. Also, eating pig's feet, red dates, and glutinous rice regularly is good for the skin. Grandma will take care of herself well, next time when she sees the Emperor, she'll definitely make him stare in amazement."

  Everyone in the palace laughed. Su Mo hastily ordered the palace staff to record what Zhang Yan had just said. Lü Zhi asked Zhang Yan, "Ah Yan, I ask you, why do you only call me Ah Po but insist on calling His Majesty Emperor Ah Gong?"

  Zhang Yan smiled and said "I don't know either, probably because Ah Po is only my own Ah Po, but the Emperor's Ah Gong is everyone's Ah Gong."

  What he said was actually a bit off. For example, when someone called him "Lu Ji's wife", Lu Ji smiled faintly, understanding the implication.

  In the afternoon, Lang Zhongfan was ordered to send Zhang Yan back to Shangguanli. From the west gate of Changle Palace, Zhang Yan smiled at Fan Qian and said, "My uncle, it's still early, why don't we go to Dongshi for a stroll and then head back?"

  Marquis of Wuyang's son, Fan Kuai, was also a man who feared that the world would not be chaotic enough. "Exactly what I wanted." He smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

  Ma Chee-yueh passed by the Shang Kuan Li without entering and went straight to Ma Chang Tai Street towards the East City.

  Listening to the hustle and bustle of the city, Zhang Yan let out a sigh of relief, finally dispelling the faint melancholy in her heart. The carriage had been traveling for a while when suddenly she caught sight of a figure in the window of a restaurant on East Street. Fan Jue hurriedly called out, "Is that Ah He up there?"

  Zhang Yan was taken aback for a moment.

  She followed Fan Qiang up to the elegant room, where a blue-clad young man with a handsome profile sat at the side of the chessboard on a bamboo couch. Wasn't he Zhang He, whom she had thought about thousands of times in the past few days?

  The house is very close to the Changle Palace, unlike the one in Nanping where most of the residents are aristocratic families. The residence of Zhang Liang, a high-ranking official, is also located here. It's not as bustling and noisy as Dongshi Market, but it's more elegant and serene.

  "If I hadn't met Ayun and caught you, today's trip would have been in vain." Fan Jiong laughed and patted him on the shoulder, sitting down beside him and shouting "Xiao Er, bring a large jar of wine!" He then turned to ask Zhang Yan, "Ayan, do you want to drink some?"

  Zhang Yan reluctantly shifted her gaze away from the blue-clad youth and nodded. She now urgently needed a bowl of wine to get drunk.

  The turbid wine enters the mouth sweetly, and a drop of tears is hidden. Zhang Yan thought dully that before she saw him, she told herself he was not her own. But after seeing him, she couldn't help but look again and again, attaching a thread of thoughts about him to her body. The difference between seeing and not seeing is incredibly difficult.

  After hiding behind the wine jar, Zhang He was also drinking mouthful after mouthful of wine, and a flush gradually appeared on his face.

  Everyone has their own troubles and cannot be bothered with others'.

  "Want me to say?" Fan Jiong looked at him with a pained expression and exhorted, "Since he doesn't treat you as his younger brother, why must you respect him as an older brother? You do your own thing and don't compete with him for that title. Besides, people will say that you're relying on his prestige."

  Zhang He had already drunk a bit and shook his head saying "It won't work. He is my brother."

  "Looking at it, I'm really suffocating. I'd rather die in a knife fight than be slowly drained to death like this."

  Just then, a servant from the Fan family downstairs suddenly came up and anxiously reported to Fan Jie: "Young Master Hou's butcher knife has been hidden by you. He is now hastily carrying his family law and searching for you all over the street. He will be here soon."

  "Wow, so fast." Fan Jiong was shocked and quickly jumped up. "That old man is already a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, but he still treasures the knife from his past as a butcher's apprentice, not allowing anyone to put it away." He complained with a sunny and simple expression on his young face. "It looks so shabby to outsiders. And yet, no one is allowed to touch it, as if it would cost him his life. What an inexplicable weird old man."

  "Ah-hao" he hastily instructed, "I'll go find a place to hide first." Suddenly seeing Zhang Yan's sudden loss for words, he had made a promise in front of Lü Yu that he would send this little niece back home. How could he just abandon her like this and still have a clear conscience?

  Zhang He took a sip of wine and waved his hand saying "You go ahead, I'll help you send her back."

  "Thank you." Fan Jiang bowed his fist and jumped out of the window on the second floor. From a distance, he heard a burst of angry scolding from the Marquis of Wuyang, followed by the sound of horseshoes fading into the distance.

  Today, I inadvertently discovered a shocking fact: there is a batch-add-to-essence feature in the book review section management.

  What's so tiring about me carefully selecting and recommending books one by one?

  I'm crying.

  The first volume of the Great Wind Plan is written until Liu Bang's death and the new emperor's ascension. Now I really want to skip directly to the end of the volume. Or maybe I just want to start writing from the female lead getting married.

  But knowing it's just a luxury, I can only take things one step at a time.

  Today is the 20th, and there are still eight days left until the end of February.

  I hope February ends with a snap.

  But still, we have to live one day at a time.

  Then unite to ask for pink votes and hold on to the last eight days.