As a result, everyone became more respectful towards Chu Qiao.
In the afternoon, Chu Qiao was wearing a newly dyed white crabapple cotton skirt, white camel-hair boots, and two emerald green jade flowers in her hair. She was skipping along the lake in the back garden, looking cute and adorable. She had just gone to the outer palace to pick up the newly delivered agarwood. When she passed by a bamboo forest, a figure suddenly jumped in front of her. The figure laughed and said, "Haha, I don't believe I can't find you!"
The young master was wearing a royal blue robe with colorful birds embroidered on it. He proudly swung the whip in his hand, looked Chu Qiao up and down with a smile, and said, "Where are you going? The weather is so good today, let's go bird hunting."
Chu Qiao frowned, looked at the young master's excited look, shook her head and said: "I'm not as idle as you, I still have things to do, so I won't accompany you for long." After that, she turned around and wanted to leave.
"Hey, don't go, don't go." The young master hurriedly trotted in front of her, opened his arms to block her way, and said hurriedly, "I finally found you, and I have been in this garden for a whole morning. How about this, you tell me your name and which courtyard you are from, and I will go to Zhuge Huai to bring you over, and you come back with me, how about it?"
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows, turned around, looked up and said, "Do you really want to take me away?"
The young master nodded solemnly, "Well, of all the maids and servants, you are the one I like the most. How about I make you my gatekeeper general?"
Chu Qiao smiled, nodded and said, "Okay then, I'll tell you my name, but whether you can get me from the young master depends on your ability."
"Don't worry!" The young master patted his chest and said loudly, "Don't even mention a little maid, even if there are ten or eight of them, Zhuge Huai will have to obey me."
"Well, listen carefully. My name is Zixu. I live in Wuyou Courtyard. I am a servant girl under Madam Dou. My daily job is to make clay figurines for the young masters and young ladies to play with. You must remember this."
The young master's eyes lit up, "You can also make clay figures?"
"Yes." Chu Qiao was trying not to laugh. Seeing how adorable this child was, she couldn't help but stand on tiptoe and gently pinch his cheek. She smiled and said, "I have many more abilities. I will show you all of them in the future. I have something else to do. I have to leave first. Remember to go find the young master."
"Well, don't worry," the young master nodded and smiled innocently, "You should go back and pack your things first, I will come to pick you up in a while."
Chu Qiao walked a long way and turned back to see the young master standing on a big rock, waving at her. Chu Qiao held back her laughter, turned around the bamboo forest, and walked towards Qingshan Courtyard holding Chen Shuixiang.
"You are just a false name. You are a little maidservant who plays with clay figures under Madam Dou. How could you think of that?"
A clear male voice suddenly sounded from above. Chu Qiao was startled and looked up, only to see Yan Xun in a fluttering green robe, with bright eyes and brows, sitting on a tall pine branch, looking at her with a soft smile.
Chu Qiao had exposed her true nature in front of him more than once or twice, so she stopped pretending and gave him a cold look, saying angrily, "You've climbed so high, aren't you afraid of falling and dying?"
"Then don't worry about it. You are such a cruel kid. You should worry about yourself. I see dark clouds gathering in the sky. Who knows, there might be thunder in winter, which could kill people who have done something wrong."
Chu Qiao was small, standing under the tree with her head raised, she said in a cold voice: "No matter how many bad things I have done, I can't compare to you prodigals who kill people without blinking an eye. You are like beasts, none of you are good people."
"You are so brave." Yan Xun said sternly but with a smile on his face. He sat on the tree and said to the children below, "I deliberately shot the arrow off the target that day to spare your life. In order to save you, I even gave up the prize of eight Western dancers offered by your eldest master. Not only did you not show gratitude, but you also spoke harshly to me. What's the logic behind this?"
"Reasoning is for people. Why should I reason with a beast like you? I warn you not to pester me anymore, and don't even think of threatening me by reporting me. If you dare to do that, you will regret it."
After Chu Qiao finished speaking, she turned around and quickened her pace. Unexpectedly, after taking two steps, she suddenly felt a pain on the back of her head. She lowered her head and saw a pine cone still covered with snow. She was immediately furious, turned around and looked at Yan Xun angrily, "Are you provoking me?"
"Wrong." Yan Xun smiled smugly and said, "I'm not provoking you, I'm just bullying you."
Chu Qiao stood under the tree with her head tilted, and suddenly turned and left without saying a word. Yan Xun pretended to be deep and half-closed his eyes. He wanted to wait for the child to argue with him, but when he saw her leave like this, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a fist-sized stone suddenly broke through the air and flew straight towards Yan Xun's face. Fortunately, Yan Xun had learned some martial arts and had quick reactions, so he turned his head to avoid the attack in time. He was secretly feeling proud of himself when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. He cried out inwardly that something was wrong, and then he heard a loud rustling sound. The snow on the entire tree was shaken and fell all over him.
The young prince in brocade robes jumped off the tree, his body covered in snow and in a mess. Looking up, he saw a petite girl standing on the white snow. She clapped her hands, and when she saw him looking at her, she raised her right hand, raised her middle finger, gestured as if in protest, smiled triumphantly, and then turned and left.
Yan Xun frowned slightly and raised his middle finger. The thirteen-year-old Prince Yanbei was puzzled. What was this gesture?
The eleven-year-old servant Feng Mian ran up from the woods, baring his teeth and shouting, "My Lord, I will go and catch her, and let Young Master Huai punish this disrespectful girl."
"You? Catch her?" Yan Xun sneered, turned around with his middle finger raised, "Feng Mian, what does this gesture mean?"
"This?" Feng Mian was slightly stunned, but then he said firmly, "It should be an apology. She knows that what she did is very rebellious, but the child is ignorant and embarrassed to say it in person, so she used this gesture instead."
"Apologize?" Yan Xun frowned, "I don't think so."
"It must be, Prince, that's right."
"Yeah?"
…
In the hall of Zhuge family's Hongshan Courtyard, Zhuge Huai, Zhao Che and others burst into laughter after hearing the young master's words.
Wei Jing smiled and said, "Zhuge, you have such a clever maid in your family. I want to see her."
Zhuge Huai shook his head and said, "I am ignorant and I am sorry to make you all laugh."
"What's the matter? What are you laughing at?" The young master's face turned red. He seemed to know that he might have made a fool of himself, but he didn't know what he did wrong, so he said anxiously.
Zhao Che laughed and said, "It's a fictitious name. Wuyouyuan. The little maidservant who plays with clay figures under Madam Dou's hand is just a fictitious one. Isn't she teasing you? Thirteenth brother, people are laughing at you."
Zhao Song's face turned red, he stomped his feet in anger, turned around and ran out. Boom! A burst of joyful firecrackers suddenly rang out, and large flakes of white snow exploded on the ground. In the streets and alleys, countless children were laughing and playing, covering their ears and having a lot of fun setting off the "one-thunder firecrackers" which were very loud but produced no sparks and were cheap.
The 25th Lantern Festival after Emperor Baizong of Great Xia ascended the throne finally arrived with the rumbling sound of cannons, and a deliberate festive atmosphere was everywhere in the streets and alleys. Because the firecrackers provided free of charge by the government to the people of Zhenhuang City successfully added to the festive atmosphere. The owner of Shengjin Palace admired the action of the prefect of Kyoto very much, and issued a good news overnight to commend the prefect of the imperial capital who came from the Wei family.
Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, the Zhuge Mansion was also stepping up preparations for this important festival. On this day, there was heavy snow in Zhenhuang City, and the snowflakes were falling from the sky like goose feathers. The old people in the city said that this year's heavy snow was a bit strange, because frost had just fallen at this time of year in previous years.
Chu Qiao was wearing a newly made light pink cheongsam and a fox fur cloak. Her small face, as white as jade, was tucked in the snow-white fox fur, with rosy cheeks and big round eyes. The fluttering snowflakes fell on the tip of Chu Qiao's nose, and her little nose wrinkled slightly, making her look particularly cute.
"Xing'er, the master is calling you."
The new maid Huan'er came running over, panting, with her hands on her hips, gasping for breath and shouting.
Chu Qiao nodded and said, "Let's go." She walked towards the pavilion first, taking small and steady steps, not in a hurry at all.
Huan'er frowned and looked for a while, then shook his head and hurriedly followed.
Compared to Chu Qiao, Zhuge Yue was a slow-tempered person. When he pushed open the door of the pavilion, he saw the fourth young master of the Zhuge family sitting on a warm couch, carefully looking at a chess game, frowning slightly, looking very attentive.
Chu Qiao counted the things she would need to take with her one by one, and handed them to the other attendants. After finishing everything, she poured a cup of tea and placed it next to Zhuge Yue's desk. She sat directly in front of the incense burner, holding her chin and waiting quietly.
There was a book on the table, casually spread out, with yellowed pages, obviously quite old. Chu Qiao took a closer look and found that it was actually a Buddhist scripture. She couldn't help but feel curious.
Zhuge Yue’s methods were not particularly cruel, nor was his character particularly cunning. At least in these two aspects, he was far inferior to the various nobles of the Celestial Empire at the hunting grounds that day. But this person has a cold heart and is extremely self-confident. He looks down on everyone except himself, not to mention any faith. How could he change his mind and start reading Buddhist scriptures?
“It’s not all nonsense.” Zhuge Yue suddenly said calmly, as if he knew what Chu Qiao was thinking. He picked up a black chess piece and suddenly hit it, flipping the book and turning over several pages.
"Read it."
"Life in the world is like being in the midst of thorns. If the heart does not move, the person will not move rashly. If the heart does not move, the person will not be hurt. If the heart moves, the person will move rashly, hurting the body, hurting the bones, and suffering all kinds of pain in the world..."
Zhuge Yue slowly raised his head, his dark eyes like a whirlpool in the deep sea, staring at her in an unfathomable way. Finally, he smiled and said, "Not bad, you know so many words at such a young age. Who taught you?"
Chu Qiao had already sensed something was wrong when she read the first sentence, so she didn't seem panicked at the moment. She smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Master. I have loved reading since I was a child, and I learned it from my brothers and sisters."
"Really? Do you understand what I just read?"
"I understand a little bit." Chu Qiao replied, "Would you like me to explain it to Xing'er?"
Zhuge Yue raised the corners of his mouth, pulling out a very faint smile, and said nothing, only lowering his head to continue studying the chess game.