0082 Spring Outing (Part Two)
Li Miao's villa was overseen by a woman named Lin Shuangyu who served her.
Lin Shuangyu was originally a distant relative of the Princess An's maternal family. She had been wealthy in her early years. Later, her parents died unexpectedly, and her uncle wanted to marry her off to a notorious playboy in the area. Lin Shuangyu refused and secretly used her household registration to obtain a travel permit from the government and ran away overnight.
To be fair, she did have some courage. She knew that she couldn't run away with any of her other relatives, and only her distant aunt, who was the Princess Consort of An in Chang'an, could protect her.
Sure enough, after learning that she had settled in the Prince An's residence, her uncle dared not make any more moves on her.
Seeing this, Li Miao originally intended to give his cousin, whom he had never met before, some more money so that she could stay in Chang'an and make a living. Unexpectedly, Lin Shuangyu learned that Li Miao wanted to build a villa in Fanchuan and volunteered to take on the task.
Li Miao had never seen a woman knowledgeable in garden design before. When he saw Lin Shuangyu's firm and bright eyes that day, he was overjoyed. After asking her a few questions, he saw that she answered fluently and was not just boasting. He immediately gave up the idea of finding another garden design expert and entrusted her with the construction of the villa.
Lin Shuangyu did not disappoint Li Miao. From drawing up the design to selecting stones and materials, she did everything herself. By the time the villa was completed, even Shu Fu, who had been accustomed to the ingenious scenery of the Shu family mansion since childhood, had to admit that Lin Shuangyu was talented and ingenious.
Shu Fu was extremely good at praising people. Walking on the covered bridge, listening to the gurgling water under her feet, and seeing a clump of bamboo swaying in front of the bridge and a few fish swimming in the pond, all of which were clear and lovely, she was delighted and said, "Sister Ayu is really amazing. It's like changing scenery with every step. This place is wonderful. I'm so jealous."
Li Miao felt a pang of jealousy and pinched her arm: "Where did this frivolous little lady come from! Calling everyone 'sister'!"
Lin Shuangyu smiled, her eyes crinkling: "The scenery at the entrance of the garden is small and exquisite. After crossing the moon gate in front, it becomes more spacious inside. It just fits the saying, 'At first it was extremely narrow, barely enough for one person to pass through. After walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up and became bright and clear.'"
"The Peach Blossom Spring by Mr. Wu Liu?"
“Yes,” Lin Shuangyu nodded and continued, “That place is large, so the princess plans to set up a self-service banquet there. The young men and women attending the banquet at Helou can go there to eat and drink without being confined to one room, and can be completely at ease.”
Shu Fu nodded, then looked at Li Miao: "Didn't you say you wanted me to help you? Everything's been arranged perfectly?"
Li Miao glanced at her and said, "Do you think I don't know your temperament? Asking you to handle these trivial matters is not as satisfying as asking you to copy a book ten times. So the reason I asked you to come here is not to help with this, but for another matter."
The group walked to a small pavilion. Li Miao stepped inside, and Shu Fu followed closely behind: "What is it?"
"It's Qin Mi, the one I told you about at Kuai Zai Pavilion last time. She arrived in Chang'an yesterday and is currently staying at the inn. I've invited her to a banquet at He Lou. There's also a field behind my villa that I had converted into a polo field. When she comes, she'll definitely be clamoring to play polo."
"The women she brought with her are all daughters of her mother's subordinates, all from Liangzhou, and each one is skilled in horsemanship. When the competition comes, I don't want to be humiliated and run around in disgrace... Afu, you have to help me."
As Li Miao finished speaking, he stared straight at her.
Although it wasn't outwardly apparent, Shu Fu was indeed the best horsewoman of her generation in Chang'an. When playing polo, the team with her on the roster rarely lost and won more often.
However, after she came of age, Luo stopped her from learning to ride with others, arguing that she had grown up and could no longer play childish games and should stay at home to prepare for marriage.
At that time, she deeply loved her mother. Although she was extremely unwilling in her heart, she obeyed her mother's words.
Upon hearing this, Shu Fu hesitated: "Me? But I haven't ridden a horse in almost a year..."
At this moment, the maid who fed Li Miao's cats stepped in carrying Li Miao's beloved pet—a pure white lion cat.
Li Miao took the cat from the maid, picked up its fluffy front paw, and patted it on Shu Fu: "Consider this my plea to Miss Shu."
Tangyuan meowed and arrogantly licked its front paws. It then sniffed in Shufu's arms before breaking free from Li Miao's embrace and nestling obediently on Shufu's lap.
Li Miao was furious. She poked the glutinous rice ball with her finger and cursed "heartless" several times.
Tangyuan cried out again and jumped straight to the ground.
Shu Fu also loved cats, but Luo Shi suffered from a chronic cough, and she knew that the fluffy cat hair would not help her cough, so she never mentioned wanting to keep one.
But upon seeing Tangyuan today, her eyes immediately lit up, and when it pounced on her, her heart melted. She immediately said to Li Miao, "Alright, give me a horse these next few days. I need to practice first, otherwise I'll only embarrass you."
“Of course.” Li Miao agreed, picked out two feathers from the box, and handed one to her.
Shu Fu pinched the feather and imitated Li Miao's previous cat-teasing movements, flicking the slender tip of its tail into the air. Tang Yuan saw this and immediately tried to pounce, meowing. However, being short and chubby, it couldn't reach Shu Fu right away and could only look at her with its big, watery cat eyes.
Shu Fu, being soft-hearted, was about to lower her feathers to let it scratch her when Li Miao grabbed her wrist and stopped her: "Shu Fu, the point of raising a cat is to have this fun. You're too soft-hearted and easily swayed."
Shu Fu looked at her and saw Li Miao shake her feathers and lead Tang Yuan over. Just like before, Tang Yuan scratched and pounced for a while without success, and then turned away in a huff.
Shu Fu poked Li Miao: "Look, you drove it away."
Li Miao smiled knowingly: "Just you wait and see, it will come back on its own soon."
Shu Fu didn't believe it. She picked up her teacup and had only taken a couple of sips when the snow-white ball of fluff began to move toward her at an extremely slow speed.
Tangyuan rubbed its soft body against Li Miao's calf, but Li Miao remained unmoved. After a moment, as if making up its mind, Tangyuan stretched out its long tail and wrapped it around Li Miao's ankle. Only then did Li Miao hug it and rub its head vigorously.
Shu Fu put down her teacup in surprise, and this gesture inexplicably reminded her of a... person.
But that person would never come looking for her; even the last time before he left was something she had to beg for.
She was lost in thought for a moment, until Li Miao had finished playing with Tangyuan, before turning to Shu Fu: "By the way, besides letting you meet Qin Mi this time, I also plan to introduce you to someone else."
Shu Fu was taken aback: "Who is it?"
"Hmm... I won't tell you now, you'll find out later."
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