Chapter 165 Fragrant Snow Sea

Daiyu looked reluctant. Yuan Hongqu and Granny Shi exchanged a glance, and Granny Shi nodded and took the invitation to sort it out.

"Daiyu, the old plum tree in the southeast corner of our flower courtyard is in full bloom today. Let's go take a look together."

Yuan Hongqu took Daiyu's hand.

"All right."

Daiyu looked dejected, but she still held Yuan Hongqu's hand, and the two walked hand in hand into the garden.

In the southeast corner stands a plum tree called Dragon Plum, which has been there since the Lin family was founded, and its age is unknown.

The saying "a single tree can create a scene" perfectly describes the Longyou plum tree in the Lin Family Garden.

Before you even get close, you can smell a faint fragrance of plum blossoms, a cool and refreshing scent that instantly dispels any gloom in your heart.

From a distance, the plum tree branches and trunks appear to be gracefully winding, with occasional white plum blossoms dotting the branches, like clusters of snowflakes that have not yet melted.

As Daiyu approached, she saw a jagged, rugged path beneath the tree, with branches extending far beyond the rocks.

She reached out and easily touched a plum blossom.

"Although there is a poem that says, 'Plum blossoms are three parts less white than snow, but snow is less fragrant than plum blossoms,' I think the plum blossoms in Longyou are no different from snowflakes. The plum blossoms have not yet bloomed, but when they do, won't it be a sea of ​​plum blossom fragrance and snow?"

"How about we have them erect a stone tablet here tomorrow and write the words 'Fragrant Snow Sea' on it?" Yuan Hongqu said with a light smile.

“Granny, Xiangxuehai is in Suzhou. Our family only has this one Longyou plum tree, which is not worthy of the name Xiangxuehai.” Daiyu pouted, thinking that her family’s tree was worthy of the name, but if a stone tablet were erected here, it would be a laughing stock for outsiders.

This plum tree in Longyou is over three zhang tall. Its main trunk is divided into three branches, which in turn branch out into countless smaller branches, spreading and twisting. The area covered by the branches is about five zhang square.

Such a large plum tree is truly a rare sight in the world.

“We used to live in the south, and I often heard people talk about Xiangxuehai in Suzhou. I longed to go there, but I never went. It’s a real pity.”

Daiyu stood under the tree, her brows slightly furrowed.

A gentle breeze blew by, and a few petals drifted down. She tilted her head slightly, watching the petals fall, and reached out to catch a few, as if catching snowflakes falling from the sky, gently and carefully.

All of this seemed like a dream, and Yuan Hongqu couldn't help but think of the scene of Daiyu burying flowers in her memory. A slight pang of sadness welled up in her heart, and she spoke again in a low but firm voice:

“A plum grove can be called a sea of ​​fragrant snow because it covers a large area; our old plum tree has been passed down through several generations of the Lin family and is already over a hundred years old. We have a long history. This long history is enough to make a single plum tree also called a sea of ​​fragrant snow.”

"Granny, let's erect a stone tablet then," Daiyu said softly, blowing away the petals from her palm.

"In a few days, when the plum blossoms are in full bloom, if you like, you can invite your friends to come and admire them together," Yuan Hongqu said softly, brushing the petals from Daiyu's hair.

As Daiyu smelled the cold fragrance, she felt that she really had to get to the bottom of something.

"Granny, was it a mistake for me to be made a princess?" Ever since Daiyu was made a princess, she had felt uneasy. She knew that she was made a princess not entirely because of her own abilities, but mostly because of Granny Yuan.

Moreover, in her opinion, there was nothing good about being a princess; it only added a lot of inexplicable troubles to her life.

"Daiyu, Lord Lin came in a hurry before the New Year, but dared not show his face in public... Do you know why?"

"Granny, I asked you why, but you wouldn't explain it to me clearly. Is this related to my becoming a princess?"

“After you became a princess, you had the golden book and silver seal. You were no longer just the daughter of a salt inspector. You had the mark of the royal family. Those people hiding in the shadows who wanted to use you to deal with your father would be making an enemy of the royal family. They dared not take that risk.”

“I once heard my father say that he was a close minister of the emperor and had an extraordinary relationship with the current emperor. Why would they dare to harm my father?” Daiyu couldn’t understand it at all.

“Yu’er, I don’t understand the ways of officialdom. If your father is really as he says, he would be willing to risk his life to repay the emperor’s favor,” Yuan Hongqu said after thinking for a moment.

Daiyu thought about it carefully. Given her father's character and personality, he must be completely devoted to the Emperor. She was terrified and tugged at Yuan Hongqu's sleeve, asking urgently, "Granny, my father's situation is so dangerous. Did he send me to the capital to entrust me to my maternal grandmother?"

Yuan Hongqu sighed inwardly and said softly,

"Lord Lin may have thought that way before, but later he entrusted you to me. Last year, he even came to the capital, afraid that you would overthink things, and he still wanted to see you in that crisis. I guess that now you are the most important person in his heart, and the Emperor, whom he wants to serve, is the second most important person."

"Now that I've become a princess, will I be able to help my father in some ways?"

“Of course you can. Your current status ensures that no one in the capital would dare to use you against your father. Doesn’t that relieve your father of any worries?” Yuan Hongqu said carefully. “Young Princess, do you still think this title is a burden?”

Daiyu smiled and shook her head, but her worries about her father could not be dispelled.

"Granny, my father is a civil official, so why is his job so dangerous?"

"The world is bustling, all for fame; the world is bustling, all for profit."

Daiyu immediately understood: her father's existence was blocking others' path to wealth.

"Granny, what can I do for my father now?"

"Be a proud little princess and put your father at ease."

Daiyu nodded without speaking. The two of them quietly gazed at the twisted old branches of the plum tree in Longyou. Following the branches, they thought it should grow naturally, but it strangely meandered to one side. Although it was crooked, it was surprisingly harmonious, as if it was meant to be that way.

Most things in this world are just as unexpected.

Yuan Hongqu didn't know how the plot would develop. According to the original timeline, Lin Ruhai died in office when Daiyu was twelve years old, which was about four years later.

The events that occurred during those four years are ambiguous. The biggest event was Qin Keqing's death, but by then Daiyu had already gone to Yangzhou because Lin Ruhai was also nearing death, and Daiyu returned home to care for him.

Now that she's by Daiyu's side, let's change as much as we can. If fate decrees that Lin Ruhai is destined to die, then at least Daiyu, with her status as a princess and her own desperate protection, will surely escape an early death.

"How did this young lady from the Lin family get made a princess? All she did was answer a question. Are royal princesses so worthless these days?"