Chapter 59: The Little Prince is Moved by Jiangnan 1
The moonlight was hazy, and the mountain breeze gently brushed across his cheeks. His hair stuck to his forehead, feeling a little itchy. Luo Qingling cleared his throat, looking unnatural.
We agreed on hunting, but how did it turn into a horseback ride...
The young man behind her stretched out his hands from her waist and lightly grasped the reins. The two of them sat on tall horses, one in front and the other behind. Qin Yanheng half-hugged Luo Qingling, and the latter huddled in his arms. They walked all the way in silence.
"Young Prince, are there really wild animals in this forest?" Luo Qingling asked knowingly.
Just after Qin Yanheng gave the order to hunt, many soldiers rode their horses into the mountains and forests, and captured several prey animals in the blink of an eye. Only Qin Yanheng and the other two were left empty-handed.
Qin Yanheng, who was standing behind him, hadn't spoken for a long time. Luo Qingling was about to look up at him when Qin Yanheng stopped her.
"Ms. Luo, have you dreamed about anything recently?" The voice was clear and mellow, with a hint of smile.
Qin Yanheng struggled for a long time before finally expressing his doubts. He wanted to know if he was the only one who had dreamed of an immortal, and he also wanted to know if Luo Qingling was the jade stone that could subdue him.
"What does your highness mean?" Luo Qingling was puzzled.
It seems that I didn’t have the dream... Qin Yanheng was a little disappointed. He shrugged his head and continued walking forward.
He wasn't entirely sure what was going on between them. Luo Qingling must have wanted to marry him, otherwise why would she have sent the portrait to his palace? But she seemed barely 18 years old, still young. Could she possibly understand the meaning of marriage?
Although he did not like people approaching him with ulterior motives, especially under the guise of marriage, he saw through Luo Qingling's thoughts from the beginning and thought that after catching the monster, the two would have no further contact. However, he did not expect that this matter would be as simple as he thought.
As for what he himself was thinking, Qin Yanheng didn't know. He only knew that he didn't reject Luo Qingling's approach, and even... he even had some vague expectations in his heart.
So he brought the person out under the guise of hunting, intending to ask him some questions, perhaps Luo Qingling also knew about the Golden Jade Marriage Stone. But when the words came to his lips, he didn't know how to start.
Qin Yanheng frowned, looking unhappy. He changed the subject and asked indirectly, "What are your plans after resolving the issue of General Luo?" He couldn't just go back to that cold frontier and stay there forever.
"Of course I'll stay in the capital with my father!" Luo Mansion in the capital is their real home.
She wants to stay in the capital!
Qin Yanheng's eyes lit up, his gloomy mood swept away. He couldn't help laughing, and his shoulders shook. Joy surged in his heart, and he seemed unable to stop smiling. Suddenly, he leaned forward and rested his chin on Luo Qingling's shoulder.
"Do you know why I want to ask the saint to give you a fiefdom in Jiangnan?" Qin Yanheng said with a smile.
"Your Highness, didn't you do this to give me a reason to go south with you to investigate my father's injustice?" Luo Qingling turned his head slightly. The young man on his shoulder had eyebrows like swords and a face like a jade.
On his shoulder, Qin Yanheng's narrow, long phoenix eyes turned, his long eyelashes fluttering for a moment. He parted his thin lips slightly, staring intently at Luo Qingling's intertwined fingers, and chuckled softly, "Yes, and no."
As for why he asked for it, Qin Yanheng himself didn't understand, but he just wanted to ask for a reward for her.
After going around in circles, they saw flickering fire and returned to the camp.
Seeing that Prince Rong'an and Madam Luo returned empty-handed, Madam Luo's cheeks flushed, her almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked a little sleepy. The young man behind her had a smile in his phoenix eyes and a gentle expression.
Everyone took a glance and lowered their heads, not daring to make any more jokes, for fear that they would really have no meat to eat soon.
*
Three months later, Nine-Curve Bridge.
It was dusk at this moment, the mountains were golden, fires were lit in the village not far away, and the aroma of rice wafted in the air.
The carriage for the southern tour slowly went up the bridge. Luo Qingling raised his hand to lift the curtain and looked out. In front of him was a big bridge with some patterns carved on it. It looked like it was quite old. There was a vast expanse of white under the bridge and the water surface could not be seen clearly. The whole bridge was covered with dense "white clouds" as if it was leading to the fairyland. It was really strange.
"After crossing this Nine-Curve Bridge, you will reach Xiaoyun Mountain."
Inside the carriage, a young man in white clothes, with black hair draped over his shoulders, leaned against the window sill, looked at Luo Qingling with half-open eyes, and explained with a smile on his lips.
Yesterday, a sudden downpour had struck. To prevent the others from camping outdoors on the mountaintop, Qin Yanheng rode his horse in the rain, leading the way. This took several hours, leaving him completely soaked and with a high fever. Luo Qingling couldn't bear it any longer and asked him to come up and rest, but he was unceremoniously aboard the carriage, smiling playfully.
I slept until now, how shameless!
Luo Qingling curled his lips and asked, "Where is Xiaoyun Mountain? Aren't we rushing to the city? Why did we turn into the mountains?"
Seeing that the gate of Si'an Prefecture was right in front of him, and that the descendants of the important official his father had accidentally killed were last seen in this city, Luo Qingling could no longer bear it and just wanted to get into the city as soon as possible.
"The royal family has a villa at the foot of Xiaoyun Mountain. We'll rest for a few days and wait for Xuanying to go into the city to investigate before setting off again," Qin Yanheng rubbed his chin, glanced at Luo Qingling, and continued, "This Nine-Curved Bridge is also known as the Nine Springs Bridge. After crossing it, we will arrive at Xiaoyun Mountain, the 'heavenly realm' on earth."
The wheels rolled and the carriage went down the bridge.
"Madam Luo can now be considered as someone who has passed away with me in the afterlife." Qin Yanheng smiled, with a playful look in his eyes.
A palace resembling an imperial palace came into view. Luo Qingling followed Qin Yanheng up the stairs, and the view suddenly widened. Within the villa, there were twelve hot spring pools and thirty palaces, large and small. Facing the Nine-Curve Bridge and backed by Xiaoyun Mountain, this was a fairyland on earth.
The largest palace directly ahead was naturally Qin Yanheng's tonight's accommodation. To the right, across a water bridge and surrounded by blossoming trees, was Luo Qingling's residence. The villa was vast, and even though their palaces were adjacent, they weren't on the same hill. Now that night had fallen, Luo Qingling had Qiulai prepare his clothes before descending to the hot springs, stepping on flower petals.
"Madam, do you need me to help you take a bath?" Qiu Lai walked in through the screen holding pajamas.
“No need.”
It's just a hot spring, why do you need so many people around? Luo Qingling raised her hand to dismiss the maid and walked into the hot spring alone. The water was a little hot, and the heat climbed up from her ankles. After a while, Luo Qingling had adapted to the temperature of the spring water. She sighed and immersed her shoulders in the water, her long hair floating on the surface.
After running around for several months, she can finally relax. No wonder Qin Yanheng is not in a hurry to go into the city. It turns out that the saint has such a comfortable villa in Xiaoyun Mountain. If she didn't need to find out about her father's injustice, she would have insisted that Qin Yanheng stay here for half a month, doing nothing every day but soaking in the hot springs.
It was said that Xiaoyun Mountain was a sacred mountain, and every year on the day of the gods, nearby villagers would come here to kneel and pay tribute to the gods. Later, when the saint built a villa on Xiaoyun Mountain, he specially reserved a piece of land for the villagers to worship the gods.
"I've heard that although Xiaoyun Mountain is a sacred mountain, not everyone can leave safely from here. Some people die here for unknown reasons. The villagers nearby say that those are immortals who came to the human world to transcend tribulations and were taken back to heaven. They also call those who died in the sacred mountain the 'return of the immortals'!"
When she lived in Xiaoyun Mountain during the day, the maid Qiulai made the bed and told her stories about Shenling. Most of them were from storybooks and sounded mysterious.
Luo Qingling was not interested. He was not a god anyway, so how could he return to heaven after dying for no reason?
As she was thinking, she suddenly felt tired, so she closed her eyes and her consciousness gradually became blurred.
"Master Yue, please calculate when Jinshi Yushi will be able to get married?"
"Quickly calculate, quickly calculate——"
Someone was clamoring in his ears, a voice reminiscent of the immortal from his earlier dream. Startled, Luo Qingling sat up straight and looked around. Aside from the flickering candles in the palace and the shadows of trees swaying in the night breeze, there was no one around; not even Qiu Lai was anywhere to be seen.
Why am I hallucinating for no reason?
Luo Qingling shook his head, thinking he was just tired from traveling these past few days. Then he thought, this place is known as the Divine Ridge, so it's understandable that he'd encounter something unusual. After several unsolved cases, Luo Qingling had become accustomed to encountering monsters.
Ever since she "grabbed" the Golden Dragon Sword from Qin Yanheng, strange things have been happening. Monsters have been coming for either her or the Golden Dragon Sword. It's just a short sword, so why is it so sought after? Is it because it was left to Qin Yanheng by a Taoist immortal?
As she was lost in thought, Luo Qingling suddenly felt the water temperature gradually getting colder. She wanted to call Qiulai to add water, but suddenly she remembered that in the carriage that day, Qin Yanheng said that the water in the pool in the villa was all hot springs formed naturally in the mountains, so how could it become cold... Could it be because of the heavy dew at night?
The cold wind was blowing everywhere, as if someone was blowing gently in her ear. Luo Qingling shivered suddenly. She was about to get up and call Qiu, but she saw that the hot spring pool had turned blood red at some point.
Luo Qingling suddenly realized something was wrong. She tried to pick up the Golden Dragon Sword on the edge of the pool, but she couldn't move at all. She could only sit there and watch the bright red light spread towards her.
Why can we still encounter monsters in Shenling?
The red water slowly filled the hot spring pool. Luo Qingling was soaked in the blood-red water. Strands of black hair floated on the water. The red liquid stuck to Luo Qingling's snow-white skin, making her lips look even more red.
She couldn't move and could only stare stiffly at the pool of blood.
The strange thing is that the red liquid in this pool does not have a rusty smell like human blood. Instead, it has a sweet aroma that rises in waves along with the hot spring steam. It is so strong that it makes people dizzy.
What was different this time was that Luo Qingling remained awake, and the Golden Dragon Sword did not convey any message to Qin Yanheng. She sat in a pool full of blood, letting the red blood spread all over her body.
Another place, the royal palace.
Qin Yanheng stood at the table, studying the map by lamplight. The sage had ordered him south, supposedly on a southern tour, but in reality, it was to investigate General Luo's accidental killing of Scout Gao. It was said that Scout Gao's descendants still lived in the Jiangnan area, but their exact whereabouts were unknown.
If we can find this descendant, surely everything will be revealed.
"Your Highness..."
Someone was calling him outside the door. It sounded like Luo Qingling. Qin Yanheng paused holding the candlestick.
It was so late, why was she looking for him?
"Your Highness..." The voice was soft and hazy, with a hint of nighttime haziness.
Never mind, she must have something urgent to talk to him about, or even if it wasn't urgent, it was fine. Thinking this, Qin Yanheng put down the candlestick, walked quickly to the door, and opened it with both hands.
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