On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the red clay charcoal stove in the warm chamber of the Marquis's Mansion baked the frost flowers on the lattice window until they turned soft. Jiang Wan leaned lazily against the brocade couch, her fingertips shuttling across the embroidery frame. The twin lotus on the goose-yellow satin had already bloomed halfway, their emerald seedpods dotted with fine rice pearls that gleamed faintly in the candlelight. When Lu Jingyuan lifted the curtain and entered, fine snow lay upon the shoulders of his dark cloak like a sprinkling of crushed diamonds, and the edges of the food box exuded a rich, oily aroma mixed with the sweet, clean scent of almonds.
"Tiring your eyes again." He sat down beside her, the pine scent of snow rushing over her with a brisk, frosty chill. His fingertips lightly brushed against the dark bruises beneath her eyes, his tone laced with tenderness. "Were you revising account books until midnight again last night?"
Jiang Wan smiled softly and handed over the embroidery frame, the silver threads tracing a gentle arc in the candlelight. "The scent sachet you gave me was taken apart so I could study the embroidery technique, but now it's finally fit to be seen." As she watched his fingertips brush across the embroidered surface, she suddenly remembered the slightly reddened tips of his ears the first time he had ever given her a sachet.
Chapter 139