"They came quite early." Liu Yaoyu put on her cloak and got off the carriage first. Yu Jiao and Su He also got off the carriage soon after. The coachman led the horses to the side to settle them down.
Looking up, you will see a gilded plaque with two ancient Yan-style characters "Meiyuan" inscribed on it. The door eaves are a single-eaved hip-and-gable style, with crystal clear icicles hanging upside down from the eaves. The tops of the walls are covered with white snow, like a long white dragon, extending into the distance with no end in sight.
Liu Yaoyu was the first to enter the garden and led Yu Jiao and Su He to Xixin Spring. She had been to the Plum Garden many times and was very familiar with the roads in the garden.
There are many rockeries and strange rocks in the garden. The mountains are decorated with plum trees and planted against the mountains. The plum trees are beautiful because of the mountains, and the mountains are quiet because of the plum trees. It is unique.
The paths are lined with mostly pure white Jade Butterfly Plums. The white plums on the branches blend in with the snow, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. The air is filled with the light and elegant fragrance of plum blossoms.
After turning a rockery, the view becomes wider. The dotted red plum blossoms make people feel as if they are in a sea of flowers. The gravel path under your feet has become paved with stones. You can gradually hear the gurgling water. Looking up, you can see a light mist on the water.
Only after crossing the stone bridge can you see the full view of Xixin Spring.
The spring pool is divided into three parts by a narrow stone bridge. The surrounding area is planted with rouge-colored cinnabar plums. The bright colors and the snow-white leaves on the branches make the rouge red more eye-catching. There are also some dwarf bamboos and Schefflera arborvitae growing around it.
The water in the pool is a very light blue-green color and the surface of the pool is not frozen.
As Liu Yaoyu walked away, she said, "There is a hot spring under this Xixin Spring. The water is warm in the winter. The surrounding trees benefit from the warm water and are lush and green in the winter."
Yu Jiao saw a stone carving by the pool, with the three characters "Xixinquan" written in vermilion on it, and a line of small characters beside it, which read: "Things become clean when washed, and the mind becomes pure when washed."
The meaning is profound.
The plum garden has an elegant structure and covers a large area. Yu Jiao couldn't help but feel curious about who the owner of this garden is.
They walked along the stone bridge which was only wide enough for one person and people could not walk side by side, passed by Xixin Spring, and Liu Yaoyu led them up the stairs. At the corner, a short corridor connected to a water pavilion.
This water pavilion is also a hip-and-gable style, with pillars built above the water. It has a light structure, a hip-and-gable roof, and is three bays wide with four raised corners. It is light and slender, with low eaves and delicate hangings.
The waterside was particularly spacious, with floor-to-ceiling doors and windows on all sides. Before I even walked in, I could hear Cui Qiong's laughter coming from inside.
Perhaps it was because it was cold in winter, curtains were hung on the doors and windows. When the maid standing outside saw the three people coming, she quickly raised the curtains and said inside, "Miss Liu Er and Miss Liu San are here."
"Why are you so slow? If you don't come soon, we will send someone to pick you up." Cui Qiong said with a smile.
There was a charcoal basin burning in the pavilion, and it was very warm. Liu Yaoyu took off her cloak, handed it to the maid, and said, "My third sister and I went to pick someone up, so we were delayed for a while."
Yu Jiao also took off her cloak and handed it to Jianjia.
Song Jingrong poured hot tea for the three people, looked at Su He, and asked, "Who is this?"
Liu Yaoyu sat down on the soft stool and introduced with a smile, "This is Miss Su He, she plays the pipa very well. Yesterday I listened to her playing Huaiyin Pingchu, it was really amazing, I thought I would let you guys see it together."
"Yaoyu has never been interested in music. To be praised like this, Miss Suhe must be very good at playing the pipa. We must listen to a piece of music later." Song Jingrong introduced herself to Suhe gracefully.
Su He was very calm at first, but after hearing about the family backgrounds of the people in the pavilion, she became unusually awkward. Although she had met many dignitaries in the entertainment industry, this was the first time she had seriously made friends with these young ladies from aristocratic families. It was inevitable that she felt a little timid. She felt a little uneasy holding her pipa, not knowing whether she should stand up and greet them.
Yu Jiao patted the back of her hand calmly, asked Jianjia to present the incense pills she brought, and said, "This is the incense pills I made. I brought a box for each of my sisters. There is the Shouyang Princess Plum Blossom Fragrance; the Baohe Incense Cake made with sandalwood and ambergris; the Xingtan Ai made with rosin and cypress leaves; and the Yuwei Fragrance made with the juice of frankincense."
Everyone had a box, even Su He had one.
The attention of several girls in the pavilion was all attracted by the incense pills. Each of them took out a wooden box. Cui Qiong had been thinking about it for several days and could not wait to open it. She saw four small wooden boxes inside the wooden box. The name of the incense pill was labeled on each wooden box. The four kinds of incense pills were packed separately and carefully isolated to prevent the spices from mixing and mixing the fragrance. It was very delicate.
"You've put so much thought into this." Cui Qiong was delighted. She reached out to her personal maid, who handed her a box. Cui Qiong gave the box to Yu Jiao and said rather embarrassedly, "The gift I prepared this time is really simple. If you want anything next time, just tell me."
Liu Yaoyu took the box from Yu Jiao, opened it and looked inside. She saw a jade bracelet and returned it to Yu Jiao with a lack of interest. She said to Cui Qiong, "It was indeed a bit perfunctory. My third sister didn't sleep well for several nights in order to prepare the incense pills for you. Yu Jiao is also your sister after all. Cui Qiong, you should not be so stingy in the future. If you have any good things, you should think of Yu Jiao."
The Cui family and the Liu family are in-laws. Liu Yaoyu and Cui Qiong are used to joking like this. Cui Qiong rarely did not talk back at her. She smiled and said, "Sister Yu Jiao treats me generously. I will definitely not be stingy in the future."
Yu Jiao smiled, and seeing that Chen Guan was looking at her as if he had something to say, she switched seats with Liu Yaoyu and sat next to Chen Guan.
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