Chu Yening, from Chengxin Nunnery, stepped ashore without even looking at him...
"Your Highness." Ah Xiao suddenly appeared under the eaves, breaking the heavy atmosphere and their conversation inside the room.
Jiang Yuanjun asked, "What is it?"
Ah Xiao said, "It was a palace maid on night watch in Penglai who said that Lady Changxing had a dispute with Miss Zhu on the mountain. Lady Changxing overturned the candlestick, and Miss Zhu was burned as a result."
Luo Zhaoxing was holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. Upon learning of this from A Xiao, he slammed down the bowl of porridge.
All three of them turned to look at her at the same time.
Luo Ling gestured to her with her eyes, telling her to calm down.
Lady Zhu, wife of the Marquis of Changxing, was Zhu Ruo's aunt.
Because of the Qin family incident, Zhu Ruo, as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Qin family, was also implicated. Fearing that it would affect her husband's career, Zhu Ruo severed ties with the Zhu family. Zhu Ruo's uncle also fell ill and never recovered because of this incident.
She thought that Zhu must have learned about Gao Jian's imprisonment from Marquis Changxing and used this as an excuse to go up the mountain.
“Brother, I want to go see her,” Luo Zhaoxing said to Luo Ling.
“You’ve just recovered. If you’re worried, I’ll go up the mountain with Old Wood.” Tao Qingyun said, looking at her.
Jiang Yuanjun looked at the two of them with some suspicion.
Tao Qingyun stood up and patted his shoulder, signaling him to follow.
"Let me go and take a look. Just this once."
Tao Qingyun, who had already left Tingyuxuan, heard a sudden sound behind him. He stopped and turned around, laughing with Jiang Yuanjun, "Look, she was so young when she left, but she still remembers those old friendships. As her older brother, shouldn't I let my younger sister do as she pleases?"
He looked at Luo Ling with a helpless expression on his face.
Luo Ling sighed almost imperceptibly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She simply instructed Feng Hua and Pu Niang, who were guarding the outer room, to fetch a cloak and a brazier.
Luo Ling looked at her. From childhood to adulthood, he knew his younger sister's temperament. If she had something on her mind and couldn't do it right away, she would keep thinking about it and remembering it.
"Today is my day off, so I'll go with you, brother. You can't be so reckless next time."
Luo Zhaoxing looked at Luo Ling, a faint smile playing on her lips, and nodded. She knew that her brother had discovered that she had increased the dosage of the medicine a while ago.
As noon approached, three carriages stopped at the foot of Mount Penglai, on the shore of Taiji Lake. Soon, a pair of slender hands lifted the curtain in the lead carriage, revealing Luo Zhaoxing, dressed in a green bamboo skirt and a moon-white cloak, blending seamlessly with the ancient trees surrounding the mountain in springtime. She was helped down from the carriage by Feng Hua.
Penglai Xiaoding is a royal garden built along a lake, offering a secluded and tranquil retreat. The garden boasts thousands of pine and cypress trees, lush vegetation, and peach blossoms in full bloom, their pink petals vibrant and beautiful.
The coachman led the horses away to feed them hay, while Luo Yuan and A Xiao went ahead to Chengxin Nunnery on the back mountain.
Luo Ling stepped forward and asked her softly, "Are you still able to handle it?"
Luo Zhaoxing smiled and said, "It's nothing. Brother, you know me well; I'm quite resilient."
That's for sure, they're really tough.
When she was five or six years old, she had a dispute with Liang Shuwen's youngest daughter because Liang Lang, the youngest son of the Liang family, had gotten into a fight with Ye Ning. The Liang girl called him a little tyrant. She then charged at him headfirst, like a bull that had eaten its fill of grass.
The two of them immediately had swollen foreheads, and feeling dizzy, they started spinning around the pond.
They heard the noise in the outer courtyard and happened to witness this scene.
They flocked there in a rush. Those protecting one guarded that one, while those protecting another went to appease that one.
The Liang family girl sobbed uncontrollably, still relentlessly insisting, "That's right, that's him! A stubborn, unruly scoundrel, the little tyrant Chu Yening!"
"Say that again!" She blushed with anger, clenching her little fists. Just when everyone thought the two girls were about to have a tough fight, she turned around and ran over to grab a lump of warm, freshly made poop.
With a "smack," it landed on the bright red silk skirt of the Liang family girl.
The crying stopped abruptly.
Luo Zhaoxing looked at Luo Ling with her eyes curved into crescents, her gaze full of tenderness, as if she were lost in memories.
She held out her hand and waved it in front of his eyes.
Jiang Yuanjun walked over with a composed expression: "Let's wait in the octagonal pavilion outside the nunnery. If she's willing to see us, a young nun will come to inform us."
Luo Zhaoxing sighed softly to himself.
The temple on the mountain was built ten years later, partly due to the reasons at the time, but also because of Zhu Ruozhi.
My brother said that he has been living with regret and guilt for the past ten years.
If he hadn't sent his brother Ashu to Jiangnan, perhaps he wouldn't have died that snowy night.
If he couldn't protect his brother Ashuo, then from then on he would do everything in his power to protect his wife.
As the group was about to climb the steps to bypass Penglai and head towards Chengxin Nunnery, they suddenly heard intermittent flute music coming from afar.
The flute played a mournful tune.
They turned around and saw that a small boat had appeared on the clear surface of Taiji Lake.
Chu Yening, dressed in black, stood on the deck of the boat and began to play his jade flute.
But the melody was too poignant and melancholic.
Standing beneath Penglai, Luo Zhaoxing felt a tremor in his heartstrings, and in a daze, it was as if a blizzard of swan feathers was falling softly.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Miss, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Feng Hua noticed her unusual behavior and asked in a low voice.
Pu Niang wrapped her cloak even tighter around herself.
Luo Zhaoxing shook his head, turned around and looked up at the small peak of Penglai, without saying another word.
Tao Qingyun glanced back at her, then walked towards the shore of Taiji Lake.
"I've been looking for you for the past two days but haven't seen you anywhere. Where have you been? Have you forgotten our childhood friendship?" He lightly punched Chu Yening in the chest.
The small boat approached the lakeshore, and Chu Yening stepped ashore without even looking at them. He simply asked, "Shall we light a lamp?"
Tao Qingyun stared at him, gritting her teeth inwardly. Then, she lifted her robe and said resentfully, "Look at this, look at this. I, Tao, have lived here for over twenty years. I have knelt before my grandfather, before my parents in their mourning hall, and before the Emperor and Empress through countless gates. For whom have I ever bowed in humility?"
"Chu Jiayou! Do you still remember our promise from our childhood? No matter who harms me, you cannot harm me! No matter who abandons me, you cannot abandon me! No matter who spits on me, you cannot spit on me!"
Chu Yening looked up at him.
At the age of twenty, the emperor wrote to the border about his coming-of-age ceremony. He had also written to his uncle, Luo Yunchuan, in Jiangnan to inquire about his coming-of-age ceremony.
After several years of silence, Luo Songyue sent a letter back to the capital. Inside, written in black ink on white paper, were two characters written in vigorous and powerful strokes: "Jiayou".
In the letter, the emperor mentioned his courtesy name, saying that it was the same for both him and his uncle Yun Chuan. He only regretted not being able to personally officiate at his coming-of-age ceremony.
For ten years, the borderlands were ravaged by sandstorms, and he had never heard anyone mention those two words. Yet, every time he awoke in the dead of night, it seemed as if someone in his distant homeland, the capital, was gently calling his name, "Night Serenity." In his dreams, his parents were alive and well, and his friends were by his side. He strolled through the capital, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.
Tao Qingyun's displeasure vanished in an instant, and she gently patted his shoulder: "Come on, it's rare to be together like this. They happen to be here too, let's go to Penglai for a few drinks. If you don't drink alcohol, how about tea? Let's chat together."
Seeing that Chu Yening was still standing still, he tugged at his arm again.
Looking back, Luo Zhaoxing found it hard to reconcile the unruly young man of the past with the cold and indifferent man he saw today.
A light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky. When the palace servants on night watch saw the Crown Prince arrive, one group hurriedly brought oil-paper umbrellas and rain-proof cloaks to welcome him, while another group prepared fruits and snacks to send to the small garden.
She, Feng Hua, and Pu Niang walked ahead and entered the small garden inside the Penglai Small Top outside Chengxin Nunnery, where they sat in the octagonal pavilion.
The four people walked slowly behind, stopping and starting along the way, talking about something.
"Would you like some tea or fruit, Miss?" Feng Hua asked softly from the side.
Luo Zhaoxing smiled faintly and extended a hand to shake hers: "No need. Go downstairs and have some fun. I want to be alone for a while."
Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Feng Hua took the thin brocade quilt she had brought before leaving the house and placed it under her seat before quietly leaving.
Pu Niang stood beside her, shielding her from the slightly chilly wind.
She leaned against the railing in the pavilion, hidden among the spring flowers, gazing at the high eaves of the temple outside the garden. Gradually, drowsiness overcame her and she began to doze off.
In the distance, a lively and adorable child, holding a cute, pot-bellied clay doll, skipped and hopped towards her through the covered walkway.
Her eyelids felt heavy, as if they were filled with lead and sank involuntarily.
The child didn't even look at her, but leaned against her and babbled, "Auntie, didn't you say you would give me lots and lots of clay figurines? Why didn't I receive any? Auntie, you broke your promise!"
The child seemed to have a pair of big, round eyes and a head of shiny black hair. Just as she was about to take a closer look, a thunderclap suddenly struck from the sky, waking her from her dream. She noticed that a layer of fine sweat had appeared on her forehead.
She jumped up and looked around.
The maid Fenghua, who was holding an oil-paper umbrella in the garden and gazing absentmindedly at the fish swimming in the lotus pond, and Pu Niang beside her were both taken aback.
Pu Niang quickly embraced her.
"Miss!" Feng Hua rushed over, not forgetting to place the umbrella outside the pavilion.
Suddenly, raindrops began to fall from the sky like beans being sifted, pounding against the cobblestone ground of the garden. She looked somewhat dazed, glancing towards the pond where two black swans were swimming amidst the lotus blossoms, braving the rain.
Apart from the sudden downpour, everything was quiet. A lump formed in her throat, she lowered her eyelids, and sat back down.
It was all just a fleeting dream.
Just then, a burst of laughter rang out from the hanging flower gate, approaching from afar. Several palace maids from Penglai, holding oil-paper umbrellas, escorted four people who had arrived late, already dressed in oil-silk cloaks and wearing bamboo hats.
"Xiao Xing, why are you sleeping here? Look at you, still the same as when you were little, always wanting to cool off!" Tao Qingyun turned around and laughed heartily at the three people behind her.
Luo Zhaoxing's smile was somewhat forced as he said softly, "I was a little tired just now and had a nightmare."
Luo Ling frowned slightly and asked gently, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Just as she was about to speak, the faint sound of chanting drifted over the wall from outside the courtyard.
Ah Xiao reported: "Your Highness, the Lady of Changxing Marquis has already left."
"They've left?" Jiang Yuanjun asked.
Ah Xiao added, "I heard from the nuns at Chengxin Nunnery that two young men who knew kung fu scared her away."
Jiang Yuanjun subconsciously looked at Chu Yening beside her.
Chu Yening had already removed his rain-protecting cloak and the bamboo hat from his head. He lightly brushed the thin layer of dust off his black robe and sat calmly inside the octagonal pavilion.
Luo Zhaoxing looked back at the lotus pond and saw the two black swans swimming back in the rain, their necks outstretched.
Very arrogant.
Hot water was bubbling and boiling in the purple clay teapot on the stove. Just as Chu Yening was about to get up to take a look, she seemed to notice a gaze watching her intently out of the corner of her eye.
He looked up.
A note from the author:
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