Chapter 58 World Three (Nine)

Baoshan returned to the side courtyard. A mother-of-pearl and red sandalwood five-stringed pipa lay horizontally on the soft couch. Its smooth, soft, and radiant luster emanated a faint sheen, evidently well-cared for. Baoshan's bare hands gently plucked the strings, producing a clear sound like shattered jade.

She lowered her eyelashes, pondering the maid's reply. When the people of Lin'an City built their houses, they paid attention to the harmony of mountains, rivers, and water, so that each would complement the other. Therefore, between the piled rocks, a narrow stream would often be diverted, creating a lake in the courtyard. But because of Xiao Yujing's preferences, the water and marshes were eliminated one by one, leaving only the lake scenery among the trees. The depth of the lake was determined by Xiao Yujing himself, and it was several feet deeper than the usual ornamental lake. On the day the lake was built, Xiao Yujing stood to one side, gazing deeply at the calm water for a long time before leaving.

Baoshan's soft fingertips glided over the taut strings, the tinkling sound echoing in his ears. Every like and dislike is inherently justified. There's no such thing as an innate love, nor is there an out-of-nowhere hatred. Baoshan frowned slightly, remembering how Xiao Yujing had blurted out the word "mermaid" in bed. He then stared intently at the aquamarine beaded hairpin in her hair, and for a moment, his mind seemed to clear, and things gradually became clear.

Xuezhi walked in from outside and asked Baoshan what meal he wanted.

Bao Shan glanced at the jade hairpin on her head. The color was transparent and it didn't look like an ordinary item. She said in a gentle voice, "This jade hairpin is extremely elegant."

Xuezhi's palms trembled slightly. She turned sideways to avoid Baoshan's sight of the jade hairpin. "Just some worthless little things."

Baoshan looked at her like this and understood: this hairpin was probably a reward from Wang to reward Xuezhi for her "loyalty" and "telling the truth."

Bao Shan frowned slightly: "I just had some soup, so I don't feel hungry anymore. I just want to try a few snacks.

Now is the season when osmanthus flowers are in full bloom. If we could wash the osmanthus flowers, mix them into the dough, and then make them into small snacks, it would be interesting."

Seeing Xuezhi's troubled expression, Baoshan asked softly, "Is it a little difficult? If it's difficult to accomplish, it won't be a big deal if you skip a meal."

Xuezhi was slightly shocked. Wang had just told her to take good care of herself with the fan, but she didn't even use it for food.

If Wang Shi was dissatisfied and pursued the matter, it was because of her own incompetence, unable to prepare some sweets made with osmanthus flowers. Xuezhi forced herself to agree: "Don't worry, I will arrange it right away."

Looking at Xuezhi's hurriedly leaving figure, Baoshan's face was cold.

Since I have used her information to exchange for benefits, how can I be worthy of the green jade hairpin in my hair if I don’t put in more effort?

The snack made with osmanthus flowers that she wanted was not just a simple osmanthus cake, and Xuezhi needed to spend more time thinking to prepare it.

Osmanthus flowers are easy to pick, but it takes a lot of effort to come up with interesting ways to incorporate them into pastries.

Ever since Xuezhi was reprimanded by Wang and pointed at Baoshan, she no longer dared to show her dissatisfaction on her face.

But I always want to use her information to exchange for some benefits, which requires a lot of hard work. I have to see if I can still pay attention to her actions after being physically and mentally exhausted.

After Xuezhi left, Baoshan randomly found a little maid serving in the side courtyard, and after a few indirect questions, she got the information she wanted.

Xiao Yujing was very good at swimming.

If he doesn't like water, it's not because he's afraid of it.

In Yangzhou, Mum invited storytellers to tell strange stories to spice up their lives. Among them was the story of a mermaid – if you pray sincerely, a little mermaid will appear and make your wish come true.

As a well-read scholar, he should not have believed such a rumor, but he believed it anyway. So this story is not what he heard now, but probably the most ignorant one in his childhood.

Xiao Yujing's childhood...

Baoshan's guess gradually became clear.

It turns out that he is a person with mental illness.

Xiao Yujing is extremely serious in his work, especially in his official duties.

He swung his red brush around, then wrote a line of tiny calligraphy on the rice paper. The characters were the size of peas, but the strokes were clearly connected, and there was a hint of his unique style.

His handwriting reflects his personality. In the eyes of his colleagues, Xiao Yujing is gentle in his dealings with others, but his handwriting is extremely cold and aloof, with a sense of alienation that keeps people at a distance.

Xiao Yujing sorted out several volumes of books, and his slightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

He placed the goat-hair brush on the Duan inkstone, and as he raised and lowered his arm, a thin silk ribbon fell from his sleeve.

Seeing that the red ribbon was about to fall into the Duan inkstone and be stained by ink, Xiao Yujing stretched out his hand and held the ribbon in his palm.

He stretched out his palm, only to find that it was not a ribbon, but a woman's belt. He had foolishly wrapped it around his wrist yesterday and had not taken it off all night. Today, he was so busy with official business that he had not even noticed it.

There were wrinkles in Xiao Yujing's brows. He spread out the belt in his hand. The breeze blew, and the belt seemed to be more graceful, almost floating away from Xiao Yujing's hand.

Xiao Yujing clenched his palms, firmly grasping the blue belt. His eyes were filled with confusion: how could such a thin belt be hung around his waist?

A white and slender waist appeared in his mind. Xiao Yujing was suddenly shocked. It was natural that such a slender waist could be tied. It was just his lack of knowledge.

When he was off duty, an enthusiastic colleague wanted to put his arm around Xiao Yujing's shoulders, but he avoided them without leaving a trace.

"Come with us and have some fun."

Xiao Yujing smiled faintly and said, "It's really hard to get away from all the things going on at home."

The colleague wanted to persuade him again, but looking at Xiao Yujing's eyes as deep as the water in the pond, he could not utter any words of persuasion that he had prepared in his mind.

Several colleagues stood together, watching Xiao Yujing's figure gradually disappear into the distance. He had a tall and handsome figure, and his every move revealed the demeanor of a scholar.

A sigh echoed from the crowd: "Mr. Xiao's appearance and demeanor make me, a plain-looking person, feel even more ashamed."

"The other day I carefully selected a fresh flower and pinned it in my hair. I was originally proud and arrogant, but then I met the number one scholar.

Suddenly, I felt like the flowers had lost their vitality, and the pride in my heart was gone."

This dynasty values beauty. Men love handsomeness, and women love beauty.

Moreover, most men enjoy wearing flowers in their hair, but Xiao Yujing was very popular because of his looks. When he was parading in the streets and riding horses, he made the other two runners-up and third place winners feel uncomfortable. When they arrived at the Six Departments, more and more people began to compare themselves with Xiao Yujing secretly.

A murmur arose among his colleagues: "But Xiao Langjun today looks a little different from before."

"What's the difference?"

"It's hard to explain, it seems like there's more of a fireworks feel to it."

When Xuezhi presented the snacks, more than half an hour had passed and there were faint traces of sweat on her forehead.

She placed a few plates of snacks on the table and explained, "It took a lot of effort to light the fire."

This seemed like a way of showing off one's achievements, but Baoshan didn't respond. Her beautiful eyes were just staring at the snacks.

This dish is made by grinding osmanthus flowers into powder, sprinkling it on half-cooked dim sum, and then steaming them together.

That dish is made by making osmanthus nectar and kneading dough with the nectar water.

Baoshan tasted one and found it very delicious. Then he tried a small piece of each dessert and asked Xuezhi to call everyone from the side courtyard over to divide up the remaining desserts.

In the side courtyard, apart from Xuezhi, who used to be with Wang and now accompanies Baoshan, she has seen many good things.

The others usually did menial work and had never worked with such delicate pastries. Even the sugar used to knead the dough had been sieved more than a dozen times until it was soft and sweet when eaten. They held the pastries in their hands and thanked Baoshan again and again.

If there was anyone in the room who was dissatisfied, it was Xuezhi.

God knows how much effort she put into getting these things.

He lost face and begged the chef in the kitchen, and even used his own pocket money to bribe him.

When the master saw that he had been paid enough money, he stood up from the stool leisurely and kneaded the dough with his washed hands.

Why did she work so hard? It was to let Baoshan know that she had wasted so much time and energy just because of a simple word from her.

So that Baoshan would regard her as someone she could trust, and tell her all her intimate words in the future. Then she could use these words to please Wang. But Baoshan seemed oblivious, distributing the snacks to everyone and even giving herself an extra portion.

Xuezhi held the two small and exquisite snacks in her hands, feeling depressed, but she didn't know who to vent her anger on, so she could only endure it alone.

Baoshan, holding her pipa, slowly walked onto the blue brick stone bridge. There was a pavilion for people to rest here. Baoshan chose a stone bench to sit down, and gently played the pipa with her bare hands, and the clear and melodious sound of the pipa came out.

This place is surrounded by trees and the deep lake makes it even more quiet, which is extremely suitable for practicing pipa music.

Baoshan frowned in deep thought, gently caressing her soft hands, the sound of the pipa moved, her lips slightly parted, humming the tune of Yangzhou City.

The song is a human song, but the people are not worldly people.

Baoshan was dressed in a simple and elegant outfit. Her long black hair was tied up with a carved silver hairpin and combed into a simple bun. The hair that was not tied up fell like a waterfall. In order to make it easier to play the pipa and prevent the hair from getting tangled in the strings, Baoshan gathered her hair together and let it hang in front of her chest.

The inky black hair makes the fair face look even smaller and gentler.

She also wore a silver bracelet on her wrist, which was not engraved with patterns but with layers of waves that came one after another.

The silver bracelet seemed a bit heavy, hanging on the slender wrist of Haoyueshuang, falling straight down. People felt frightened when they saw it, worrying whether the silver bracelet would hurt the beauty's body.

Every move of the beauty is beautiful, especially when her eyes are lingering and fixed on one place, which makes people envy the pipa even more. It is obviously an inanimate object, but it can be held in the palm of the beauty's hand, carefully touched and played with slowly.

The soft Wu dialect is charming and coquettish. The most unintentional coquettishness makes people's hearts surge and their faces flush.

This song is extremely simple, and it is a tune that Baoshan learned when he was young.

There are mermaids in the sea, waiting for their lovers to return.

Unfortunately, the mermaid was destined not to wait, because her lover had already had his wedding night and was very happy.

Under the corridor, Xiao Yujing had a deep look in his eyes, and it was unknown how long he had been standing there.

He looked at the precious fan in the pavilion. The clear lake reflected the soft appearance of the precious fan.

The lyrics she sang were somewhat different from the official language of Lin'an City, being softer, but one could still vaguely understand the words.

This kind of springtime complaints can only be circulated among the young ladies.

Xiao Yujing frowned and thought to himself: Stupid mermaid.

And - the overly weak treasure fan.

Xiao Yujing raised his foot and walked towards the pavilion. As he got closer to the treasure fan, he could see their reflections clearly on the lake.

Baoshan, dressed simply and concentrating on playing the pipa, was completely unaware of anyone approaching. Her ignorance and fearlessness made her very similar to the legendary mermaid.

To lend some veracity to the rumors, the teahouse attendants would often claim, "Someone has seen it with their own eyes." According to them, someone had personally witnessed the mermaid while out at sea, and they were incredibly beautiful. Yet, they knew nothing about the outside world. After the person prayed for cried a few tears, they softened their hearts and readily granted the wish.

Xiao Yujing stood still, and Baoshan seemed to sense something and raised his head quietly.

Seeing Xiao Yujing's figure, the precious fan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her beautiful eyes seemed to be flowing through spring water, and were exceptionally clear.

Only then did Xiao Yujing realize that she had a pair of almond-shaped eyes, which were slightly widened in surprise, like a frightened deer lost in the woods, and then drooped in panic, making it impossible to tell her expression.

But Xiao Yujing guessed that those eyes must be panicked and uneasy.

Bao Shan's palm tightened slightly, and was pulled by the taut strings.

With a "dong" sound, a strange sound came from the pipa.

Bao Shan's fingertips turned red from being pulled by the strings, and her eyes trembled slightly.

The pain was so severe that tears welled up on her face, but she barely endured it and looked at the pipa in her hand.

Seeing that Pipa was safe and sound, Baoshan breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Yujing suddenly spoke up and called out, "Treasure Fan."

Baoshan's body stiffened.

This was the first time Xiao Yujing called her name.