Chapter 10 Man, can you talk to us?
Walking along the path flanked by bushes, a shimmering lake came into view.
Some withered willows still sway in the breeze, and a few ducklings quack leisurely on the lake.
Across the lake lies a bamboo grove.
The bamboo forest has turned yellow, but its reflection on the water has a unique charm. The golden yellow and emerald green intertwine, and the bamboo leaves with curled edges rustle gently.
"Wow."
She sighed softly.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful place.
Yan Hu sat beside Sheng Sheng, and the two of them quietly admired the scene for a while, as a gentle breeze ruffled the stray hairs on Sheng Sheng's forehead.
The oriole finally caught up and quickly draped a cloak over Sheng Sheng's shoulders.
Sheng Sheng excitedly pointed to the bamboo grove opposite: "Sister Huang Ying, is that the bamboo grove you were talking about? It's so beautiful!"
"Yes, Princess."
Sheng Sheng tilted her little face up, her eyes wide and round: "Sister Oriole, let's go take a look over at the bamboo forest."
"Ah..." Huang Ying hesitated, "Princess, why don't we just stay here and look around?"
"Why not go to the bamboo forest?"
"Um……"
Huang Ying frowned, unsure of what to say: "People live next to the bamboo grove, and we'll disturb them."
"Oh, I see. Then you can't keep making those noises. You shouldn't disturb others. If you disturb others, you're not a good child."
Sheng Sheng was a little disappointed, but she knew she shouldn't bother others, so she obediently nodded, "Then can we take a walk along the lake?"
Even though the little dumpling said it was okay, disappointment still showed in her eyes.
Huang Ying hesitated again, looking at the little dumpling's obedient appearance, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
This is the time for morning lessons at the Wenhua Hall. The one by the bamboo grove, who always studied with the princes and nobles, should be attending his morning lessons by now.
After thinking for a while, Huang Ying said, "Princess, shall we go for a stroll in the bamboo forest? The young master who lives next to the bamboo forest should not be here now. We can just wander around in the bamboo forest without disturbing anyone."
"Really?" Sheng Sheng's first reaction was happiness, but the observant Sheng Sheng still noticed Huang Ying's hesitation and said considerately, "Sister Huang Ying, do the people who live in the bamboo forest not like people getting close? It's okay, you don't have to go."
“This servant doesn’t know if that person likes people getting close, but in any case, no one should like to be near that place.” Huang Ying thought for a moment. “It’s alright, Princess. There’s no one around now. Let’s just go for a short walk and then come back. No one will be able to tell that we were there.”
"Then, then let's go and come back quickly?"
Sheng Sheng blinked and tilted her head as she spoke.
"Um!"
Huang Ying smiled and nodded.
"Yay!"
Sheng Sheng kept Huang Ying's words in mind and remained quiet on the way to the bamboo forest, her upturned lips revealing her happiness.
As the frosty wind suddenly rises, the unique chill of late autumn accompanies us as we step into this bamboo forest.
The bamboo leaves have lost their bright green color, turning into varying shades of yellowish-brown. When the wind blows, the bamboo leaves rustle and fall.
The morning sunlight was not yet very strong, struggling to penetrate the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground covered with fallen leaves, like broken gold foil.
The forest is filled with the crisp scent of grass and trees, mixed with the rustic aroma of earth, which wafts gently into the nose.
Occasionally, a few clear bird calls could be heard, but they quickly disappeared into the boundless silence.
The bamboo poles stand straight and upright, swaying slightly in the autumn wind, tenaciously supporting a piece of autumn's world, filled with a tranquil and profound atmosphere.
"Wow."
This time, the sounds were silent gasps of amazement.
Huang Ying was also visiting this place for the first time. She had been focused on the affairs of Yuqing Palace and had never paid attention to this place before. Now she was a little curious and peeked around to look at her surroundings.
Everything seemed peaceful, but Yan Hu's ears twitched as if he heard a faint sound.
"Someone's there!"
Yan Hu listened carefully, then took off running into the bamboo forest.
"Yan Hu!"
Sheng Sheng called out, but before she could ask Yan Hu a question, he had already run far away. Sheng Sheng quickly took off chasing after him with her short legs.
"Oh, Princess!" Huang Ying exclaimed in alarm and hurriedly chased after her again.
Sheng Sheng followed Yan Hu deeper into the forest, startling many birds along the way, but she didn't have time to greet them and kept up with Yan Hu.
After running for a while, Sheng Sheng saw a house appear inside the bamboo forest.
The house wasn't large, but it was very elegant. The doors to the east and west wing rooms were open, surrounded by a wooden fence, and there was a plaque above the door.
Yan Hu stopped in front of the house, put his nose close to the ground, and walked around the door, carefully smelling the aroma.
Taking advantage of this moment, Sheng Sheng also saw clearly the words written on the plaque above the door.
"Oh dear, Sheng Sheng doesn't know how to read!" Sheng Sheng scratched her head in frustration, standing on tiptoe to try and make out the characters. "I know that one, it's the character for 'moon'! What's 'moon'?"
Before Sheng Sheng could figure out what characters were before and after the character "月," Yan Hu ran off in another direction, shouting, "This way!"
Sheng Sheng quickly followed, circled around to the back of the house, and ran into the bamboo forest behind the house for a while. Suddenly, a deep pit appeared in front of Sheng Sheng.
The pit was quite large; Sheng Sheng gestured to indicate that it was about the width of two of her arms.
"Woof woof!"
Yan Hu shouted into the pit, "Sheng Sheng, there's someone in there!"
"Oh, did you accidentally fall in?"
Sheng Sheng approached, wanting to see what was going on inside.
But upon closer inspection, it was discovered that several snakes of various sizes were coiled up beside the large pit.
Upon seeing Sheng Sheng, the snakes hissed and flicked their tongues.
Yan Hu immediately stood in front of Sheng Sheng, assuming a fighting stance.
He stopped it, saying, "Yan Hu, don't be impatient, they mean no harm."
Yan Hu knew she could understand animal speech, so he lowered his guard and started wagging his tail again, but still kept a tight barrier in front of her so she could talk to the snakes.
"Hello, what are you doing here? What happened to the people in this pit?"
After he finished speaking, a soft panting came from the pit, as if he was in great pain, along with a few sounds of something scraping against the soil.
The smallest bamboo viper glided up to her, flicked its tongue at her for a moment, and said, "Human, can you talk to us?"
Another, larger, red-banded snake slithered over: "Great, finally someone's here. There's someone who fell into the pit, and we were trying to save him. We tried to pull him out with our tails, but as soon as we lowered our tails, he dodged away and brandished a small knife, trying to cut off our tails!"
"Yes, yes, my tail is all scratched and bleeding!"
The largest jade snake pitifully held its bleeding tail close to Sheng Sheng's eyes. Although it only had a pair of eyes and a mouth, Sheng Sheng could imagine its pitiful expression with its pouting lips.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com