Time passed slowly, and the servants outside the door had peeked in many times. Finally, Zhuge Yue pushed the chessboard aside and stood up. The maid who was waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and helped him put on his deerskin boots. Zhuge Yue was dressed in a moon-white robe with dark blue patterns, and a fur coat made of fiery red fox fur. Even though he was less than thirteen years old, he exuded an indescribable maturity.
“Let’s go.” Zhuge Yue said in a low voice, and walked out with his subordinates.
In front of the Zhuge family's gate, a row of fine horses were parked. Due to Zhuge Yue's delay, the other young masters of the Zhuge family had already left. A servant knelt on the ground with his head bowed. Zhuge Yue walked forward calmly, stepped on the servant's back, and climbed onto the horse.
After getting dressed, Zhuge Yue suddenly turned around to look at the maid from Qingshan Court who was standing at the door to see him off, and said, “Xing’er, have you seen the Lantern Festival?”
Chu Qiao was stunned and quickly shook her head.
Zhuge Yue nodded, "Come up, I'll take you there."
Chu Qiao was stunned for a long while before she realized what Zhuge Yue meant by "come up" and quickly said, "Master, this is against the rules."
Zhuge Yue frowned and was about to speak when Chu Qiao stepped forward and said, “Xing’er can ride the horse by herself.”
Zhuge Yue looked up and down Chu Qiao's small body in confusion, his suspicion obvious.
"Master, give Xing'er a pony, and Xing'er can ride it."
Zhuge Yue smiled softly upon hearing this, and nodded to his personal attendant Zhu Cheng. After a while, a chestnut pony was led out. It was small in size, but still much taller than Chu Qiao. Everyone looked at Chu Qiao, and seeing that she was not even as tall as Xiao Ma's legs, they all felt a little gloating.
The child circled the pony twice, and even when he raised his hands high he could only touch the pony's back. Zhuge Yue's eyes flashed with a hint of amusement, and he was about to ask someone to help her onto the horse, but he suddenly saw the child reach out and grab the reins, exerting a little force, turning over and climbing up, his movements were surprisingly smooth.
There was a burst of exclamations of admiration from the crowd. Zhuge Yue turned around and saw the child dressed in white, like a small snowball, but riding on the horse with his chest and head held high. He couldn't help but chuckle, then turned around and rode away.
Of course Chu Qiao knew how to ride a horse, although her current body was not very convenient. Fortunately, this pony was very docile. When it saw the other horses leaving, it followed them obediently.
There is no curfew in Zhenhuang City. Today is the Lantern Festival, and the streets are becoming increasingly lively. It was almost evening, the sky was getting dark, the streets were filled with twinkling lights, fireworks, and a fragrant breeze. Looking up, you can see the Jiuwai Road that runs through the city, full of exquisite lights. On both sides of the road are two long rows of bright red lights, and countless buildings have become a stage. Singing and dancing, juggling, drama, loud music, etc. were all gathered in one place. Lanterns and fireworks made the city's darkness as bright as day. Countless small vendors were shouting on the streets to solicit business, selling wine, tobacco, tea, food, clothing, fruits and vegetables, household utensils, spices, flowers, cosmetics and fireworks. All kinds of pleasing little things were available. The night scene of the prosperous times was like a brilliant brocade that suddenly spread out, with all the magnificence that the world could imagine mixed together in chaos, winding and turning, with one advancing while another blocked, spreading overwhelming luxury on the longitude and latitude that stretched from north to south in Zhenhuang City.
Chu Qiao sat on the horse, looking left and right, taking in this rare ancient night scene.
The Zhuge family was a prominent family, and wherever they went, passers-by would give way to them. Walking past a gorgeous pavilion, I saw many brightly colored lanterns on the platform. They were of unique styles, with all kinds of lovable animals, as well as fairy flowers and plants. It was very novel and unique.
When the stall owner saw Zhuge Yue stop, he immediately ran up to him in a flattering manner, holding a large golden dragon lantern and speaking auspicious and flattering words.
Zhuge Yue pretended not to hear anything, pointed at a lantern on the platform, and said, “Bring that over here.”
The stall owner looked back and was stunned to see that the famous fourth son of the Zhuge family was pointing at a snow-white rabbit lantern.
Holding the lantern in his hand, Zhuge Yue's usually indifferent face showed a rare smile, and he immediately handed the lantern to Chu Qiao, saying, "Here you go."
Chu Qiao was stunned and subconsciously reached out to take it, forgetting even to say thank you.
Zhuge Yue's face was calm. He turned around and rode on, as if nothing had happened. The attendants around her glanced at Chu Qiao cautiously with strange eyes, secretly speculating.
Chu Qiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He really treated her like a child.
The rabbit lantern was very delicately made, pure white with a pair of red eyes. Chu Qiao stretched out her finger and gently touched the rabbit's mouth. A small tongue made of pink colored paper suddenly stretched out, scaring her.
Just then, a light laugh suddenly rang out. Chu Qiao turned her head, and coincidentally a team of colorful lanterns just walked in front of her, blocking her view. There were golden dragons, colorful phoenixes, jade butterflies, white foxes, fairies, water gods, fragrant grasses, orchids and osmanthus, so many that her eyes were dazzled. Crowds of people come and go, cars and people are busy on the main street of Jiuwai, and the lights are bright and dazzling.
After an unknown amount of time, the lantern team slowly dispersed, and on the other side of the long street, the frozen Chishui Lake was covered with snow, willow branches were drooping, and snow was hanging on the trees. A black horse stood leisurely by the side, and a young man in a green shirt folded his arms across his chest, leaning lazily against a tree trunk, looking at her with bright eyes, a faint smile, and black eyes like jade.
There was a loud bang and everyone looked up at the sky immediately, only to see fireworks all over the sky, like a fairy dancing with her long sleeves or a beautiful sunset, so bright and dazzling that it was intoxicating to watch.
At this moment, some naughty child suddenly threw a firecracker under Chu Qiao's horse. The little red horse was out for the first time and was suddenly startled. It raised its hooves and ran away without knowing the direction.
When the young man under the tree saw this, he jumped on his horse with a whoosh, whipped his horse and jumped up, chasing in the direction of Chu Qiao.
The servants of Zhuge Mansion cried out in surprise, but unfortunately there was a crowd between them and Chu Qiao, so they couldn't rush through for a while.
Zhuge Yue raised his eyebrows, whipped his horse and tried to come over, but the attendant who was accompanying him pulled the reins tightly. He was furious and lashed the servant in the face with a whip. When he looked up and wanted to chase him, the street was in chaos. Lanterns are flickering, and people are crowded around. Where is Chu Qiao's shadow?
The horse was running fast, the cold wind whistled past my ears, the noisy sound gradually faded away, and gradually only the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground could be heard. Although the little red horse is small, it is of excellent breed and runs very fast. Chu Qiao grasped the horse's mane tightly with her small hands, leaned down on the horse's back, and calmly examined the terrain around her, her little head working rapidly.
Jing Yue'er's immature body was not strong enough to withstand the pain of falling from such a fast-running horse, so she had to find another way to escape.
At this moment, the sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from behind, and a horse quickly caught up with Chu Qiao and ran side by side.
"If you beg me, I will save you!"
The boy's voice was blown into pieces by the cold wind, but it still reached Chu Qiao's ears intermittently. The child turned his white jade face and glared at the gloating boy fiercely. His eyes were firm and there was no panic at all.
"Then tell me what that gesture of yours means and I'll save you!"
The night wind was bleak and the moon was as cold as a knife. The pony was running on the snow that was as deep as an adult's knees. Its speed gradually slowed down, but there was no sign of stopping.
The opportunity was not to be missed, Chu Qiao suddenly loosened her hands, put her palms on the horse's back, and jumped towards the young man beside her.
With a puff, the child's whole body fell on the boy. The boy screamed and hurriedly reined in his horse, but it was too late. The two men suddenly fell off the black horse like rolling gourds, landed on the soft snow, and rolled several times. The black horse was unaware and continued to chase the little red horse desperately, quickly blending into the night and disappearing without a trace.
"Hi Wind!" the young man shouted anxiously, with his eyebrows raised. Without even having time to brush off the snow on his body, he staggered two steps and chased after him, but it was in vain.
"You should take your horse back and chop it down. It's fine if someone tampered with it without your knowledge, but now even the owner doesn't know that he fell off the horse. What's the point of keeping it?" Chu Qiao got up from the ground, patted the snow off her body, looked herself up and down, and found that she was not injured, which was good.
Yan Xun turned around, glared at Chu Qiao, and said angrily, "Ji Feng is a horse that my father just hunted in the land of Yanbei. He has been with me for less than half a month, and we are not familiar with each other. What's so strange about this? But you, you dared to let my horse go, what crime should you be punished for?"
Chu Qiao snorted and said disdainfully: "I didn't ask you to follow me. If you can't take care of your own horse, what does it have to do with me?"
"How dare you talk to me like that?"
Chu Qiao frowned and looked with disdain at the young but very stylish Prince of Yanbei. She snorted coldly and turned to walk towards the direction of Zhenhuang City.
Yan Xun was stunned. He didn't expect her to leave like this. He quickly caught up with her and asked, "Where are you going?"
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows slightly, "Of course I'm going back. Are we going to stay here overnight?"
The snow was very deep. The shallow parts were not even above Chu Qiao's knees, and the deep parts were almost above the child's thighs. Yan Xun walked beside Chu Qiao, and seeing that she was walking with difficulty, the anger he had originally felt from losing his horse suddenly eased a lot, and he followed beside her with a smile on his face. Who knew that after taking a few steps, his joy turned into sorrow. His feet loosened and before he could even scream, his whole body suddenly fell down.
As soon as she heard the cracking sound, Chu Qiao realized that something was wrong. Almost at the same time, she instinctively reached out and grabbed Yan Xun's arm. Unfortunately, how could Jing Yue'er's small body bear Yan Xun's weight? With a loud bang, the two of them fell into a big snow cave together.
“Hmm… Hey, how are you?” Yan Xun popped his head out of the snow and dug hard in the snow. He saw a small white hand and immediately dug Chu Qiao out like pulling a carrot. He shook her head and shouted, “You’re not dead, are you?”
"Let go." The child frowned depressedly. He moved his feet slightly and it hurt. His brows suddenly frowned even tighter.
Yan Xun was a little anxious, "Are you injured?"
“You won’t die.” Chu Qiao looked up and saw that the snow cave was not very high. She turned to Yan Xun and said, “Can you climb up?”
Yan Xun estimated the distance, then shook his head and said, "The snow here is soft. If it were on flat ground, we could jump up, but not here. We will only sink deeper and deeper."
"I'll freeze to death in one night." Chu Qiao whispered, standing up, "You step on my shoulders and climb up first, then find someone to save me."