A piece of Japanese incense

Chapter 186 Early August 5

On the fifth day of May, the sky is clear and the air is fresh, with a gentle breeze.

Zhi Yihe got up early for the first time, hung up mugwort, and together with Yuyi, twisted thick red, green, yellow, white and black silk threads into colorful ropes, which they distributed to the guards to wear on their wrists.

"Wow! You got up really early today!" The breeze broke in through the window again.

"You rascal! You're climbing through the window again!" Zhi Yihe threw a sachet that she had just sewn with scraps of floral cloth at him.

"What are you busy with?" Hefeng caught the sachet and took out a piece of dried meat from his arms and threw it into the air. Seeing this, Fuguier ran out with the dried meat.

Zhi Yihe shook his head helplessly, and naturally tied a dragon-boat knot made of red and yellow paper into a diagonal shape around Hefeng's waist, saying, "This contains herbs such as realgar, autumn orchid, and angelica, which can drive away plague and evil spirits."

Hefeng opened his arms and smiled without answering.

Zhi Yihe pulled his hand over and tied a colorful silk thread for him.

"What is this?" Hefeng slowly raised his eyes, his gaze was like moonlight shining on the lake, sparkling with a hint of unspeakable tenderness and inquiry.

His eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the soul, but at the last moment they passed by lightly, leaving behind an ambiguous mist.

Zhi Yihe spoke softly, without even looking up, "This is called the Five-Colored Thread, also called the Five-Colored Longevity Rope. You can't break it or throw it away at will. You must take it off and throw it into the water on the first rainy day after the Dragon Boat Festival. This way, the water will take away your misfortune and illness, and bring you blessings and good fortune."

He Feng was quite happy about her initiative to get close to him. He lowered his head and looked at the colorful rope she had woven for him. He stroked her hair gently, his fingertips circling her hair, and his voice from the tip of his nose was a little lazy: "What if the weather is not good and there is no rain?"

"Then you have to wear it until the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, then you can cut it off and throw it into the river to let the water wash it away. This means that all diseases are also taken away, which means sending away disasters! There is also a saying that on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, the hundred ropes are thrown on the roof. After a month of drying, they will be picked up by magpies one by one to build a bridge for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet!"

"Oh~" He Feng smiled faintly.

"Okay! You can go out! I need to change my clothes!" Zhi Yihe turned her head and her eyes inadvertently caught the smile on the corner of his mouth. Her heartbeat accelerated. She dodged in a hurry, but couldn't help but look for him unconsciously in the next second.

Hefeng stood beside Zhi Yihe's dressing table, paused for a moment, and selected a snow-white camellia hairpin from among the dazzling array of accessories, and carefully inserted it into her bun: "I see that you and your maid have your hair full of gold, silver, pearls and jade, which is a bit too ostentatious."

Zhi Yihe avoided his gaze guiltily, touched the hairpin in front of the mirror and said, "Women dress up to please themselves! After being cooped up at home for so long, it's not easy to go out and play, so of course I have to dress up to look radiant and gorgeous!"

In the afternoon, the riverside was bustling with people, and a grand dragon boat race was about to begin. The painted dragon boats were like dragons emerging from the water, lifelike, the drums were deafening, the oars were rowing in unison, the water was splashing, and the spectators on the shore were cheering, creating a spectacular scene.

Hefeng leaned comfortably against the carved wooden railing, while Zhi Yihe followed the drum beats and shouted loudly, "Red Team! Come on! Come on! Red Team!"

"What is cheering? Hey? Why is it the red team?" Hefeng asked.

"Did you see the little brother leading the red team? He's so handsome~" Zhi Yihe did not forget to reply him in between cheering.

"Girl! Girl! We're going to win!" Yu Yi couldn't help but stand up and applaud.

Zhi Yihe lifted up Mi Luo and shouted at the top of his voice: "Ahhhhhh! Great! Handsome guy is so awesome!"

This action attracted the attention of passers-by around. Hefeng put the silk gauze on her, put his arm around her shoulders and walked under the bridge.

The rowers of the red team were lifted high by the villagers. Zhi Yihe also wanted to join them, but was stopped impatiently by He Feng.

"No! Ask that handsome boy for an autograph for me! I don't even know his name!"

While strolling, Zhi Yihe caught a glimpse of a waiter in a teahouse, all of whom were wearing red headscarves, so she led everyone into the teahouse and chose a seat by the window.

The waiter quickly came forward and served a pot of fragrant jasmine tea.

Zhi Yihe took a sip and handed the teacup to Yu Yi: "Wow! This tea is so special! Come and try it!"

The waiter praised: "This lady has really good taste! This is our store's new creation - red jasmine."

Yuyi said "Oh", "There are also red jasmine flowers?"

The waiter explained, "My lady, you may not know that this tea is called 'red' because red roses are added to it. Drinking it regularly can help regulate qi, relieve jaundice, soothe the liver and relieve depression."

Yuyi glanced at Hefeng and said casually, "This is great, young lady! You haven't been getting up early lately, so why don't you ask the shop owner to teach you how to make this tea, so that I can make it for you myself in the future."

Zhi Yihe agreed again and again: "Great! Great! I wonder if this young man could give me some advice..."

He Feng tapped his fingertips on the table, his eyes wandering between the two of them, and said slowly: "Why bother Yu Yi to run around, why not just buy this shop and let the owner come to your door and make tea for you every day, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Zhi Yihe laughed awkwardly: "That's not the case! He is a shop owner, and it's not appropriate for him to become a worker for no reason! Not appropriate."

Suddenly, there was a crowd of people outside the window and it was very noisy.

"Girl! It's the red team that just won the jackpot!"

Zhi Yihe echoed: "Yeah! I thought we'd never have the chance to see each other again, let's go over and join in the fun!"

He Feng suddenly reached out and grabbed her, and forced her to sit down without giving her permission: "Please be quiet! There are so many people here, I don't want to cause any trouble."

Zhi Yihe and Yuyi looked at each other, then sat down helplessly and continued drinking tea.

Zhi Yihe waited for a while, and increasingly felt that the signal he was receiving might be wrong.

That day, Fuguier ran to the lamp holding the white rope that he had taken out of it. At first, she and Yuyi mistakenly thought that it meant that the white rope should be burned for the sake of caution.

Unexpectedly, just after the end was burned, Fuguier snatched the rope with a grin. They then realized that after being heated by the candle, the rope actually showed words:

May 5th, red.

Zhiyihe was now very upset. It was all his fault that he had been careless and had burned important information. He had originally believed that there were not many things related to red, but he had forgotten that today was the Dragon Boat Festival. In order to avoid bad luck and bring good luck, everyone had put on belts, porcelain bottles, bracelets, lanterns, tablecloths...

In short, everything you see is red.

The laughter and chatter gradually died down, and they were ready to leave and head to the next place. However, when they reached the store entrance, the handsome young man that Zhi Yihe mentioned called them.

"Madam, please stay! During the dragon boat race just now, thanks to your strong support and cheering for us, we won the first place. If you don't mind, please accept this lantern. I hope you will accept it with a smile and pray for good luck!"

"Okay!" Zhi Yihe took the lantern without saying anything. "Thank you, this elegant gentleman! May I ask your name?"

"My surname is Shan, and my given name is Yi."

Zhi Yihe held the lantern in both hands and felt around in her wide sleeves. As expected, her fingertips touched a slightly protruding button, and then a small object popped out of the lantern stem. She quickly pressed it back and responded to Shan Yi's words: "Little brother, your name is so special!"

Shan Yi nodded slightly, lowered his eyes, and said gently, "If you like, I still have many lanterns. Why don't you give them to your friends?"

"You are so nice!" Zhi Yihe pulled Yu Yi and reached out to take the lantern, and they both walked a few steps towards the dragon boat team.

However, He Feng grabbed her collar and said coldly: "What a broken lantern! Let's go!"

Shan Yi's hand was suspended in the air, but his body did not stop and he took a few steps forward.

"This lantern is quite exquisite, and it was given to you by someone else. Why not accept it?" Zhi Yihe took a step back, grabbed Hefeng's arm, and reached out to take the lantern again.

Everything changed in a flash. The lantern fell to the ground with a thud. Shan Yi pulled out a dagger from the lantern. With a flash of the sharp edge, the tip of the dagger pointed directly at Hefeng.

Hefeng just slightly turned his body, skillfully clamped the handle of the knife with two fingers, then turned his wrist, raised his arm, and slammed the dagger deep into Shan Yi's chest with one palm.