150. Handmade Amulet

The next day, when Mo Yanzhi woke up, Han Tingxuan was still asleep. He looked at his husband's face and kissed him on the cheek.

He knew that Han Tingxuan had worked hard.

After the kiss, Mo Yanzhi carefully got out of bed.

After getting dressed, Mo Yanzhi ate two fruits before summoning Sun Luo.

Sun Luo knelt outside for the whole night. It was said that when he stood up, he even fell to the ground. It took him a long while to get back on his feet again.

The place where Mo Yanzhi met Sun Luo was not the imperial study, but the Dejun Palace where was quite a distance from the imperial study. However, Mo Yanzhi chose this palace on purpose.

Since the beginning of the dynasty, the Dejun Palace has always existed. The emperors would meet officials who made mistakes but had contributed to the country, or who made mistakes by accident.

Meeting an official here meant that the emperor did not want to give up on this official.

Sun Luo knelt outside the palace last night. It was a signal that the emperor ignored him and wanted to give up on him. But now the emperor chose to meet him here.

The emperor kept his hope low and now brought it up.

At last, the emperor had made his statement.

This time, the Sun family would only be severely punished, but it would not be destroyed!

When the emperor summoned Sun Luo, only the chief steward Zhou You was serving him while the other she-man servants were waiting outside.

Therefore, only the three people in the hall knew what the emperor said to Sun Luo.

Was that the case?

No, there was a fourth person, and this person… was still asleep.

It was Prince Chen’s husband, Han Tingxuan.

Han Tingxuan slept very well. When he woke up, it was almost lunchtime.

He had a big yawn and sat up.

Only a few secret guards knew that he was here, and these secret guards were completely loyal to him and the emperor.

"Shadow One," said Han Tingxuan.

Soon, Shadow One appeared in front of Han Tingxuan.

Han Tingxuan didn't mind yawning in front of Shadow One. He yawned again and leaned against the dragon bed.

"Where's the Emperor?" Han Tingxuan asked directly.

"His Majesty is now in the imperial study." Shadow One answered.

Han Tingxuan glanced outside. Yes, it was indeed not early. He was hungry, so he said, "Send some food. Don’t tell the emperor anything about me."

"Yes," Shadow One accepted the order.

Han Tingxuan asked again, "How did he handle Sun Luo's case?"

"He issued some decrees in the morning meeting. Over a dozen officials who are related to the Sun family have been removed for various reasons. Most of the vacancies have been filled up by the Emperor. Both Nangong family and Dongfang family had won two vacancies, while the other two are neutral."

Han Tingxuan was not surprised and nodded.

"Sun Luo knelt outside the whole night?"

"Yes, all night," Shadow One said.

Han Tingxuan smiled. "At that age. Are there any problems?"

"No problem," Shadow One answered briefly.

"Where did His Majesty meet Sun Luo?" Han Tingxuan asked again.

"Dejun's Palace."

"Mmm... It's there... No wonder... OK, I got it. Go get some food."

"Yes, if you will excuse me!" Shadow One left quietly.

Even though Han Tingxuan had seen many times when the secret guards did that, he was still very surprised every time.

But come to think of it, his male wife has such ability. What a pity that a modern man couldn’t learn such cool and dashing moves in the world of martial arts!

According to his estimation, Tian Yusu would arrive at the City of Capital tomorrow morning.

Which meant that he still had an entire day and night to spend with his male wife. Not bad!

With that thought, Han Tingxuan's lips curled upwards. He had a gift to send his male wife during the day and one night!

As soon as he thought about it, Han Tingxuan summoned Shadow Two to prepare something for him.

Not long after Shadow Two left, Shadow One came with food.

Han Tingxuan was hungry, so he gulped a lot.

After this meal, Shadow Two, who had been waiting for a while, came in. The reason why he didn't come in just now was that he didn't want to disturb Han Tingxuan while he was having a meal.

It turned out that he made the right decision. If Shadow Two had come in earlier, Han Tingxuan would not have had the time to have breakfast!

The thing that Shadow Two brought was a square red cloth, a square black cloth, some yellow paper, and some cinnabar.

Han Tingxuan started to work on the table.

There was such a superstition in his hometown. When your wife was pregnant, as a husband, you had to make an amulet for your wife and your future baby to bless their wellbeing.

With the blessing of the amulet, your wife would give birth to your baby safely, and your baby would live in peace for the rest of his life.

Although with the progress of technology and time, not many people followed the old fashion. After all, not many people bought superstitious anymore.

However, when Han Tingxuan thought about his first child who had just died before he was born, he decided to do so and follow the tradition strictly.

As the tradition said, when a husband did this, his wife or anyone else was not allowed to see it. And there must be no disturbance. Therefore, Han Tingxuan told Shadow One before he started that no one was allowed to come in, especially Mo Yanzhi. Unless he walked out.

Shadow Two brought needles and threads. Han Tingxuan put the red thread through the needle and held a red cloth.

He first sewed the two corners of the red cloth. Although it was very simple, it was still a little challenging for Han Tingxuan, who had never done any needlework.

However, Han Tingxuan was not commanding his needlework. All that mattered was his heart.

Just like tradition said, as long as the husband was sincere enough, the amulet would take effect.  The sewing skill was not that important.

After the two corners of the red cloth were sewn, Han Tingxuan did the same thing to the black cloth.

Han Tingxuan spent more than ten minutes doing this.

Then, Han Tingxuan unfolded the yellow paper. There were two pieces of yellow paper.

Han Tingxuan drew two hearts on the yellow paper with cinnabar, one overlapping the other.

Then, he solemnly overlapped the first piece of yellow paper with the second piece. Then, he bit his finger and pressed his blood in the middle of the yellow paper.

Then, he silently counted the time in his heart. After 120 seconds, Han Tingxuan removed his finger.

Blood penetrated the first piece of yellow paper and sunk onto the second piece of yellow paper.

With a closer look, the color of the second yellow paper was lighter, but the heart shape was similar to the first one.

The second piece of yellow paper symbolized the baby. The hearts represented the father and mother's love for the baby.

After doing this, Han Tingxuan wiped away the blood on his fingertip with a handkerchief without leaving any traces.

Then he carefully separated the two pieces of yellow paper and flattened them.

Then, Han Tingxuan dipped his finger into the cinnabar and wrote on the first piece of yellow paper in Chinese calligraphy: My Love, my wife. And also, Husband, Han Tingxuan, at a corner of the yellow paper.

However, Han Tingxuan liked to prepare for everything. What if his male wife accidentally lost it and others might see this amulet?

Therefore, he wrote “My love” in characters, but “my wife” in modern spelling, aka, Pinyin.

The final four words: husband, Han Tingxuan, he wrote all of them in Pinyin.

Even if others saw the paper, it would not be evidence.

What's more, his calligraphy was not easy to recognize. Especially the used modern style which was quite different from ancient ones.

After finishing the first one, Han Tingxuan started writing the second one.

First was: My love, my son. Then: Father, Han Tingxuan. He still used Pinyin. It was even more possible for a child to lose it than a grown man. So he used Pinyin just in case.

After finishing it, Han Tingxuan coated the two needles with cinnabar. Then, he rubbed the yellow paper into a ball and held it in his palm. He sat quietly and made a wish to the yellow paper.

After a while, Han Tingxuan opened his eyes and solemnly placed two balls of yellow paper into the red cloth and the black cloth.

The red cloth was for Mo Yanzhi while the black cloth was for the baby.

The cloth was sewn up to only half the size of a palm.

Han Tingxuan thought about it and decided to make two incense bags. He didn't need to personally make incense bags.

Hence, Han Tingxuan put away everything and summoned Shadow One again.

However, the person who appeared this time was not Shadow One but his male wife.

Mo Yanzhi had already been waiting outside for a while. Since Shadow One told him what Han Tingxuan had said, he did not dare to go in. However, he was a little worried because he did not know what his husband was doing.

So when he heard his husband’s voice, he rushed in.

"Yanzhi? You are here." Han Tingxuan was very happy when he saw Mo Yanzhi.

Mo Yanzhi immediately asked, "Hubby, what were you doing just now?"

Han Tingxuan smiled mysteriously. "Yanzhi, this must be kept secret. I can't tell you before you give birth to the baby, but there is little thing I can tell you. I made two things for you and the baby. Now I need to hide these two things. Yanzhi, I need them to make two incense bags… "

"I will do it, "said Mo Yanzhi immediately.

Han Tingxuan was overjoyed. "That is perfect. But do you have the time?"

Mo Yanzhi smiled. "Of course I have. It's just two incense bags. It doesn't take much time.”

Han Tingxuan smiled and kissed his male wife. "My wife is awesome."

Mo Yanzhi ordered Shadow Two to get materials. Mo Yanzhi’s speed was not something Han Tingxuan could compare with. Since the incense bags were for him and the baby, the incense should not be strong. Therefore, Mo Yanzhi chose fresh ones.

He finished two incense bags within just one-quarter of an hour. However, neither of them was sealed because Han Tingxuan was going to put something secret into them.

Mo Yanzhi looked away while Han Tingxuan put things into the bags.

Han Tingxuan carefully put his amulets in the bags and told Mo Yanzhi to sew close the mouth of the incense bags.

After finishing this, Han Tingxuan said, "Yanzhi, bring these two incense bags with you. Don't take them off unless showering. Put one of them on the baby after he is born."

"Okay!" Mo Yanzhi smiled happily.

Then, Han Tingxuan personally put the incense bags on Mo Yanzhi and hid them under the clothes.