return
Taking the wooden stairs carved out of the mountain, the waterfall below immediately came into view. Everywhere you looked, you could see green mountains and clear waters, and even the land of spring, summer, autumn and winter in the distance.
Pale pink trees overlapped with golden and emerald green. The attic that Tao Yu had taken her to before was right in front of the wooden stairs. There was a canyon in the middle, and the river was flowing in the canyon.
Following the trace of the river, Jiang Nian turned his head and looked to the right. That was the place they had just arrived by ferry.
"Miss Jiang...is this your first time here?"
Ah He stood in front of them and pressed a button on the wooden ladder. The wooden ladder, which looked like a sightseeing elevator, continued to rise vertically, as if it was going to the top of the mountain.
Jiang Nian looked in the direction of the voice and met Ah He's calm smiling eyes. She paused for a moment and said quietly, "...This isn't the first time. When I went to Cang County before, I also stayed here for a while."
Since Xiao Yingzhu had no intention of stopping her, it meant that there was no need to hide these words.
Slightly turning away from the gaze of the person next to him, Jiang Nian met Ah He again and curled his lower lip: "Sorry, it's my first visit... I'm sorry for the poor manners. I really troubled you."
"Ah." Ah He smiled and raised his hands to cover his face, shaking his head gently. "No, we should welcome distinguished guests."
"Some buildings are being renovated here recently, so there aren't many places to move around. If you come next time, Miss Jiang, I'll definitely take you to other places."
The voices stopped as the wooden ladder reached the top of the mountain. Ah He saluted Jiang Nian slightly and walked ahead.
Jiang Nian smiled and nodded, then raised his eyes to look at Xiao Yingzhu beside him.
【Is there anything wrong with what I just said?】
Xiao Yingzhu seemed to know that Jiang Nian would look at him after talking to Ah He. The moment Ah He turned around, even with his eyes lowered, his gaze met Jiang Nian's.
【There is no mistake.】
【That's good. 】
After exchanging glances, Jiang Nian felt much more at ease, and then he began to look at the surrounding scenery.
In addition to the wooden carts and mechanical men that travel along the designated routes to maintain the buildings built on the mountainside, there are also some mechanical birds flying in the sky with envelopes hanging on them.
Jiang Nian immediately remembered the mechanical bird that Qin Lan had mentioned at that time.
Could that be it?
Ah He, who was walking in front, kept an eye on their movements. Jiang Niangang raised his hand and gestured to Xiao Yingzhu with a questioning look. Ah He in front immediately started to explain:
"Because the sect has been closed to the outside world for a long time, if some distinguished guests want to come here, we will use the mechanical bird to contact them."
"Usually, when the sect allows outsiders, we will set the mechanical bird to the destination, even if it flies out from the mountain gate, and deliver the invitation letter to the designated location."
Jiang Nian nodded and said, "I see. I was wondering how the sect maintains contact with the outside world."
It turned out to be a one-sided proactive communication.
Ah He smiled and replied, "Miss Jiang, if you have any questions about the house, you can ask me... or ask Xiao Zhu."
"But, Xiaozhu should be here for the second time?"
The topic fell to Xiao Yingzhu, who had been listening to their conversation quietly, and immediately replied, "Yes, I came here with Qin Lan once before and met my grandmother."
Ah He nodded and followed his words: "Yes, Xiao Zhu took the initiative to talk to us this time, saying that he wanted to stay in the sect for a day. I was surprised."
At this point, she seemed to have thought of something, and turned to Jiang Nian with a meaningful smile: "I was originally curious about what kind of wind could make Xiao Zhu take the initiative to visit the sect, it turns out..."
She hadn't finished her words yet, and her tone was clearly teasing. Jiang Nian felt his face getting hot when he heard it.
She could not stand such jokes from her elders, not to mention that her relationship with Xiao Yingzhu was unclear. If it were laid out on the table, she didn't know whether Xiao Yingzhu would be embarrassed or not, but she would definitely be embarrassed.
Seeing Ah He's tone slightly prolonged, as if he was about to speak again, Jiang Nian quickly shook his head and waved his hands: "Nothing, it's just... I came all the way here and wanted to rest for a while. If I don't disturb you, it would be the best."
When Qin Lan teased her about the relationship between her and Xiao Yingzhu, Jiang Nian could still answer calmly, but when it came to things like Ah He, Jiang Nian felt really embarrassed and didn't know how to deal with it.
However, thinking about her embarrassment at the moment, she immediately recalled that when she asked Xiao Yingzhu who would pick her up from the sect on the ferry, he also blushed at that time.
How could she be the only one in the dire straits at this moment? Jiang Nian didn't want to feel uncomfortable alone. Thinking of this, she immediately pulled Xiao Yingzhu, who was walking beside her, into the water.
Jiang Nian immediately faced Ah He's inquiring and curious gaze, turned to Xiao Yingzhu and said with a smile:
"Aren't you right, Xiao Yingzhu?"
Receiving Jiang Nian's ill-intentioned signal, Xiao Yingzhu remained particularly calm. He simply turned his eyes slightly and met her gaze: "Yeah."
?
So I feel embarrassed because you are thick-skinned, right?
The faint smile on Jiang Nian's face instantly turned into a full smile. Where Ah He couldn't see, he tugged hard at Xiao Yingzhu's sleeve that was hanging by her side.
Xiao Yingzhu did not make any other movements. He just glanced at her lightly and continued to walk forward with a smile on his face. His face, as clear and calm as the moon, made people think that he really thought so.
Ah He didn't notice the little movements of the two people in front of him. He just covered his mouth and laughed. After a while, he sent them to a building.
"This is where your grandmother lives. She said that you should talk to her for a while before you rest."
As for Jiang Nian...
Ah He just glanced at her with a smile, and the meaningful look gave Jiang Nian goose bumps all over her body. Before Jiang Nian could speak, she smiled and said, "Miss Jiang, you might as well go in and take a look. After all, you are Xiao Zhu's partner."
She emphasized the word "partner" a little, which gave me a different meaning.
Jiang Nian couldn't say what he wanted to explain or refute, so he could only nod with a smile.
"Okay, I understand."
“…”
Ah He took in the subtle expressions of the two people, then nodded slightly, turned around and left with a smile.
The maids guarding the door had been keeping their heads bowed since Xiao Yingzhu arrived. It was not until Xiao Yingzhu was about to go in that one of the maids stood up, gently knocked on the carved door, and opened the door after hearing the response from inside.
Thinking that it was Xiao Yingzhu's grandmother inside, Jiang Nian held his breath, stood behind Xiao Yingzhu, and quickly glanced at his own clothes.
Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the outfit, she stood up.
—
The door opened and the maids stood on both sides with smiles on their faces. They tilted their heads slightly to bow to them and then dispersed.
The maid who helped them open the door stood on both sides of the door. After they entered the hall and walked a few steps forward, she gently held the door and closed it.
Apart from some elegant collections, the view was filled with flower and bird paintings. A screen stood in the middle, blocking the light from the other end of the hall and dividing the hall into two parts.
Jiang Nian's eyes fell on the screen. The pattern on the screen was simple. The dark sandalwood framed a piece of plain white. A few wisps of auspicious clouds were like light ink stains, and the shadows of cranes seemed to be about to take flight.
The strong light coming through the screen clearly showed the figure of the old woman at the other end of the hall.
“…”
Thinking that the person in front of him was Xiao Yingzhu's grandmother, Jiang Nian hesitated a little. He stood still and turned to look at Xiao Yingzhu.
Xiao Yingzhu looked thoughtful. After pausing for a moment at the screen, she lowered her eyes to look at Jiang Nian. "Wait here for a moment. I'll go talk to her and come back later."
There was no intention of letting her go to see her grandmother, so Jiang Nian instantly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Xiao Yingzhu.
"Then I'll wait for you here."
Xiao Yingzhu nodded slightly and walked towards the screen.
Jiang Nian's subconsciously tense nerves relaxed, and she raised her hand to rub her shoulders. The maids who had lowered their heads behind her came over and applied the etiquette prepared for distinguished guests to her. After a while, they brought her tea and desserts, gently put their hands on her shoulders and hands, and motioned her to sit at the table not far away.
The hall was quiet with only slight sounds. Jiang Nian didn't want to cause trouble or do anything impolite, so he just followed their lead and walked to the side to sit down.
There was a pleasant and ancient fragrance in his nostrils. Jiang Nian had never smelled such a Zen-like and lingering cold fragrance in modern times.
Because the maids beside her were refilling her tea and serving her snacks, and some were holding small wooden hammers and gently tapping her shoulders that she had just massaged because of discomfort, Jiang Nian had no time to observe the movements around her.
She could only quietly take the teacup from the maid with a smile on her face and take a small sip.
—
Xiao Yingzhu walked around the screen, raised her eyes slightly, and looked at the back of her grandmother who was admiring the scenery by the window.
He was rescued from the battlefield by Qin Lan that year. After recovering from all his injuries and returning home, he could only draw one conclusion from the few words on the table.
My grandmother, who was indifferent by nature, didn't want to stay in the Duke's Mansion any longer after learning that my father had died in the war. She wanted to find a quiet place to escape from the world.
So she simply left a letter to tell him that she would go to the sect to find a place to live, and that he could find her again if he needed her.
Xiao Yingzhu had never been close to his grandmother since he was a child. He was cold and arrogant. His grandmother looked serious and often kept silent to people other than his father. Compared to the mother of the family, she was more like a person who had lost all emotions. Most of the things in the family were handled by his mother.
After reading the contents of the letter, Xiao Yingzhu naturally would not go to her grandmother about the Duke's Mansion being taken away by Emperor Changde.
Because he felt that even if he found his grandmother, she would not help him. She would just say a few words and then leave him alone.
However, the sect was an unfamiliar place to him at that time. The situation was urgent and Xiao Yingzhu could not spend a lot of time looking for the sect, so he cut off this route and relied on his own abilities to seize the Duke's Mansion into his own hands.
Over the years, Xiao Yingzhu had long forgotten his grandmother who was related to him by blood. However, when he went to Tao Yu's place to stay temporarily in the sect, he unexpectedly met Ah He and even sat with his grandmother for a while.
Now, this is his second time to see his grandmother, and also the first time he has taken the initiative to look for her.
When he thought of this, his wandering thoughts were restrained. Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes and walked forward.
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