Chapter 13 My brother who lives in the bamboo is indeed very much like bamboo!
No one has visited Jingyue Pavilion for eight hundred years, so why is this "princess" of unknown identity here?
Pei Ji was hesitant to trust others easily, but the little dumpling was just holding the rope and looking at him, its thoughts written all over its eyes.
The little dumpling frowned, her face full of confusion, as if to say, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Her round eyes were wide open; she was tiny and incredibly innocent.
Pei Ji looked away and sighed silently.
Never mind, what bad intentions could a tiny little dumpling have? He's overthinking it.
Pei Ji got up and helped her tie the rope around his neck.
Sigh, I don't know when Afu will be back. This is all we can do to get up there now.
Seeing that he cooperated obediently, Sheng Sheng was happy and started talking more.
"Brother, you didn't faint from fright, so how did you fall in? I thought you encountered a snake in the bamboo forest and that's why you fell in."
Sheng Sheng looped the rope around his neck three or four times, squatted down in front of him and tied the knots. Along with her murmured words, the faint scent of lotus wafted over to Pei Ji.
"And also, big brother, are you sick? You're burning up."
Pei Ji preferred quiet, but for the first time he found it somewhat endearing when someone talked incessantly.
Perhaps it's because this person is still just a little kid.
"It fell in by accident."
Pei Ji replied.
"Oh dear, big brother, you're so careless! This pit is so deep. Sheng Sheng saved you this time, but next time Sheng Sheng might not be able to find you."
Pei Ji smiled and was about to reply when he heard Afu's familiar voice: "Young Master, Young Master!"
Afu rushed over and recognized Huang Ying as Xie Yunchuan's maid. She was shocked: "You, you..."
Huang Ying opened her mouth, unsure how to answer him, and awkwardly pointed to the pit: "Stop with the 'you, you, you'! Your young master is still in there!"
Ah Fu then remembered the important matter and looked into the pit. Not only was his young master in the pit, but there was also a pretty young girl next to him.
Afu was a little puzzled. Where did this little girl come from, and how did she end up with the young master?
"Young master, are you alright? How did you fall into the pit?"
Sheng Sheng asked Pei Ji, "Big brother, is this person here to see you?"
"Yes, this is my servant." Pei Ji breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his forehead. "Afu, quickly pull me up."
"ah?"
Afu was even more puzzled, but when he saw the rope tied to Pei Ji, he realized, "So Miss Huang Ying wanted to use the rope to pull my young master up. Thank you so much, young master, I'll get down right away..."
“Afu,” Pei Ji interrupted him, “pull me up with the rope.”
"ah?"
Pei Ji glanced at him.
Afu blankly replied, "Oh, oh."
I could have just gone down and rescued the young master directly, why did I go through the trouble of using a rope?
Ah Fu muttered to himself as he took the rope from Huang Ying's hand.
"Young master, hold on tight!"
Pei Ji stood up, supporting himself against the pit wall, and reached out his hand to the little dumpling beside him: "Come here."
Sheng Sheng placed her hand in Pei Ji's palm, and with a sudden pull, Pei Ji lifted her up.
Sheng Sheng's little mouth opened into an "o" shape again, and she wrapped her arms around Pei Ji's waist, saying, "Wow, Sheng Sheng has been lifted up high again."
Pei Ji glanced at the small hand wrapped around his waist, which was tightly gripping the clothes around his waist, but said nothing.
A faint bamboo fragrance wafted to my nose, refreshing and delightful. I leaned closer and took a sniff.
"Brother, you smell like bamboo."
"Um."
"As expected of my brother who lives in bamboo, he's just like bamboo!"
"Um?"
What does it mean to live in bamboo? What does it mean to be very bamboo-like...?
Afu pulled the two of them up. Pei Ji was so dizzy that he couldn't stand steadily as soon as he landed.
Afu quickly went to help him up. Pei Ji put the little dumpling down and said, "Thank you for today."
"No, no, you're welcome. Even if no one comes, someone will come to rescue you."
"I am not feeling well today. I will repay the princess when I have the opportunity next time." Pei Ji did not say anything more, gave a slight bow and left.
As she brushed past Sheng Sheng, she glanced at the snakes coiled behind her.
Sheng Sheng watched as Afu helped the boy in white into the courtyard. The little dumpling sniffed the lingering bamboo scent in the air and said to the snakes, "Thank you for today."
"You're welcome, you're welcome. We're leaving now."
Several small snakes swished their tails and slowly returned to the bamboo forest.
"Princess, shall we return to the palace?"
"good."
The group retraced their steps and exited the bamboo forest. The pale yellow figure disappeared into the bamboo forest, and the area around Jingyue Pavilion returned to its usual desolation.
Only after the group had disappeared did Afu close the door and quickly report to the table, "Young master, they have left."
Pei Ji nodded, rubbed the cold towel on his forehead, and took a sip of water.
Afu wet another towel for Pei Ji and replaced the one on his forehead: "Young master, why didn't you let me go down to save you directly, but instead had to pull you up with a rope?"
Pei Ji closed his eyes to rest: "That princess's origins are unknown, and that palace maid is someone close to the Second Prince. There's no need to go to the trouble of letting them know that you know martial arts."
"Oh, I see. I didn't think of that." Afu fanned the medicine stove with a fan, and a faint medicinal smell spread in the room. "But young master, I remember that the eldest princess was two years older than you, and she was also unruly and willful. How could she be so well-behaved and cute?"
Pei Ji didn't open his eyes and said softly, "No, there's another princess."
"ah?"
*
Inside Yuqing Palace, Shengsheng was curiously asking Huangying about what was happening in the bamboo forest.
"Sister Oriole, is that big brother the one from inside the bamboo? Who is he?"
Huang Ying gave her a quick wash and said with a smile, "Princess, you are not a person from the bamboo, but a person who lives in the bamboo forest."
Sheng Sheng blinked, looking completely bewildered, as if to say: Is there any difference?
Huang Ying was amused: "That young master... is a hostage from the State of Song."
"Proton? What's a proton?"
"Young Master Pei is the seventh prince of the Song Kingdom. Three years ago, the Song Kingdom fought a great war with the Yu Kingdom, and the Song Kingdom suffered a great defeat. As a result, the Song Kingdom sent its then seven-year-old seventh prince, Pei Ji, to our Yu Kingdom as a hostage. Well... calling him a hostage is really just a euphemism. When a defeated country seeks peace with a victorious country, it usually sends its prince to the victorious country as a hostage to show its sincerity. As long as the hostage is with us, the Song Kingdom will not take any further action."
"Oh." Sheng Sheng seemed to understand something. "So, big brother's name is Pei Ji. Brother Pei Ji left home and came here, right?"
"Yes, Princess."
"So, how far is the State of Song from here?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com