Chu Qiao was stunned for a moment, turned around and asked, "How did you do it?"
Li Ce smiled, took her hand, squatted down and put his hand into the lake. Chu Qiao cried out softly, very surprised.
Li Ce smiled proudly and said, "I am smart, right? I sent people to bury lotus roots underneath early in the morning, and brought in water from the hot spring. Overnight, all the flowers bloomed."
Chu Qiao covered her mouth and laughed, "Great! Money can make the devil work; power can make the devil work. You have both money and power, so even the flower god has to listen to you."
"Money makes the world go round? That's a new saying." Li Ce said with a smile, "Come on, follow me."
The two walked along the stone path all the way to the lake. Li Ce was obviously very familiar with this place. He took Chu Qiao all the way to a small boat in the faint moonlight. Then he stood at the bow and gently paddled. The boat slowly left the shore and slowly slid into the clear blue lake.
The breeze came slowly, bringing with it the subtle fragrance of the first blossoming green lotus. The mist and water stretched for ten miles, vast and mighty. Thousands of lotus flowers were hidden in the water vapor. The moonlight was as bright as a mirror, swaying quietly, like broken ice.
The boat shuttled between the green lotus leaves, and the large lotus flowers pushed left and right. Chu Qiao stretched out her hand and brushed across a few white lotus flowers, her eyelashes curved as she smiled quietly.
Li Ce let go of the oars, sat at the bow, and didn't say anything, just looked at her silently. The palace lanterns in the distance were reflected in the pool water, and large patches of red and yellow floated on the clear water, as beautiful as a rainbow after the rain.
Chu Qiao turned around, smiled at Li Ce, and said, "Li Ce, thank you very much."
"Thank me? Thank me for what?" The man's eyes were curved and slightly raised, with a unique sense of depth and cunning. Those half-closed eyes seemed to hide and cover up many things.
"Thank you for taking care of me these days. If it weren't for you, I might have died."
Li Ce smiled slightly, "Then you should really thank me. Saving my life is a great favor. Otherwise, you should not leave and stay in Bian Tang to pledge your love to me."
The sound of flowing water was heard softly, and along with their sporadic words, it disappeared in the ten-mile wind and lotus. Chu Qiao raised her head and said with bright eyes: "The beauty of the lotus is that it grows out of the mud without being stained, and washes in the water without being coquettish. I feel that after being with you for so long, I can still think and speak like a normal person. This is the spirit of the lotus."
Li Ce held his heart and sighed: "Qiao Qiao's poetic talent really makes me more fascinated."
Chu Qiao looked up at the bright moonlight and said, "You are obsessed with too many things. Being too greedy is not a good thing."
Li Ce stood up, his light robe and large sleeves fluttering in the wind, and said in a light and casual tone: "Some things can't be obtained by force, so I can only try to look at them a few more times."
Chu Qiao was slightly startled, but said calmly, "The lotus flowers can bloom again after they wither. It's a rare thing that you forced them to bloom in another pond."
Li Ce nodded and sighed, "Yes, it will open again next year."
The boat swayed, and the duckweed separated and gathered together, as light as a feather, drifting slowly with the waves.
"Yanbei is very cold, right?" Li Ce suddenly sighed softly, "It is said that it snows there all year round and it is difficult to see flowers."
Chu Qiao looked up at his slender back and said in a brisk tone, "Spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums each have their own merits. The snowy plains and icebergs of Yanbei are also a rare sight. If one day you get tired of the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River, you might as well let your horse go to the border and walk on the snow. The beauties on the Yanbei plateau will surely surprise you and impress you."
Li Ce was slightly stunned, and was absent-minded for a moment, then he laughed out loud and said, "You know me best, and you always think about me."
At this moment, there was a bang and the boat lightly touched the shore. The pond was not big to begin with and it reached the end in such a short while.
The two got off the boat and slowly walked towards Mi Heju. The moonlight shining on them was so white, desolate and bleak. The shadows of the two people fell on the ground, vague and constantly overlapping, then separating, overlapping, and separating again, eventually getting farther and farther away. After all, they were two shadows, and they had never been involved with each other.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the door of Mi Heju. The two stood there, feeling awkward and dazed for a moment. Li Ce leaned lazily against a pomegranate tree, and the bright red pomegranate petals fell all over him like rouge.
Li Ce yawned lazily and said, "It's too late. I probably won't be able to get up tomorrow morning."
Chu Qiao nodded, "You are just lazy. This morning I heard Qiu Sui say that you hadn't put on your boots after the morning court session, and the Emperor Tang was furious about it."
"Why are you saying that?" Li Ce waved his hand and said, "If you really don't want to get up early, can't the morning court be moved to the afternoon? It's a bother. How about this, I'll send someone to escort you out of the palace early tomorrow morning, and then you can go out and fend for yourself. I won't go to see you off."
Chu Qiao nodded, "I won't bother you anymore."
Li Ce smiled and said, "Okay, this journey is long, take care of yourself, if..." At this point, there was a sudden hint of obscurity. Li Ce smiled self-deprecatingly, then turned around, with faint lines on the corners of his mouth, "If one day you find the cold in Yanbei unbearable, you can also consider returning to Jiangnan for recuperation. Although this place is not as majestic as the desert, nor as open as the grassland, it is warm and suitable for living."
Chu Qiao smiled bitterly, "People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, the moon waxes and wanes, everything in the world depends on chance."
Li Ce shook his head and said softly, "I also hope that day will never come to you. You, take care of yourself."
There was suddenly an inexplicable sadness in her heart. Li Ce's figure gradually walked away, and Chu Qiao slowly turned around. The moonlight shone between the two of them, and the empty white light gradually spread, finally covering the entire lonely palace. At the beginning of autumn, the nights turned cold and Li Ce's figure gradually disappeared among the fiery red pomegranate trees. Only the faint fragrance of Duruo remained on the slender bluestone path, lingering in the air like the light of a cold moon. In front of Mi Heju, the lotus flowers in the pond have all fallen, leaving only a black mixture. As the autumn wind blows, the courtyard looks even more desolate.
Chu Qiao, dressed in light silk, walked slowly towards the bedroom. The wind blew her long hair, and she looked like a fluttering butterfly, flapping her wings and dancing messily in the air.
Mi Heju covers a very large area, with more than 30 buildings in a row, up and down, lined up one after another, with excellent scenery. One can imagine what it was like in its heyday. Chu Qiao walked quietly on the quiet path. From time to time, the branches of blooming trees drooped down and gently touched her brow. The embroidered shoes were extremely thin, and they felt a little cold when stepping on the bluestone slabs. A breeze blew, and a faint smell of alcohol gently blew into my nostrils. When Chu Qiao looked up, she saw a man in blue standing indifferently under the sycamore tree under the second-floor waterside pavilion, with his head slightly tilted up, his eyes fixed on her boudoir.
"Who's there?" The woman's clear voice broke the silence of the cold night, startling a line of egrets over the clear pond. The man turned around in surprise. Chu Qiao looked at him, stunned for a moment, and was speechless.
This person looked so similar to Li Ce that at first glance in such a dark night, they looked like the same person.
But the next second, Chu Qiao dismissed this ridiculous idea, simply because their temperaments were so different.
The man held onto the phoenix tree, standing quietly in the moonlight and fragrance of flowers in the autumn night. A faint moonlight shrouded his beautiful face, which was so cold and refreshing, with a faint melancholy, like the snow and frost on the eaves in late autumn. The man looked at her quietly, then slowly frowned.
"Who are you?" The light and shadows were dim, and the clear pool in the distance was emitting a faint luster. The man's voice was extremely cold, like water breaking through ice, flowing quietly without any emotion.
With just one look, Chu Qiao knew that this person was of extraordinary status. She stepped forward politely and said softly, "I live here. May I ask who you are?"
The man seemed stunned, his eyes blank for a moment, he sighed, and then said as if talking to himself: "Oh, it turns out that someone already lives here."
The moonlight shone on the man's clothes, exuding a clear and white luster. Chu Qiao knew that at this moment, she should have said something and then turned away to avoid causing trouble, but some words were stuck in her throat, and she couldn't bear to speak out to interrupt the man's thoughts.
The man walked slowly towards the parasol tree, stepping on the stone steps one by one. A gentle breeze blew on the stage, blowing up the parasol tree leaves on the ground. A light dust floated up, forcing Chu Qiao to half-squint her eyes and stretch out her white hand to cover her forehead.
"This place is backed by Taiqing Pond, so the wind is always very strong. Remember to wear a hood when you go out."
Chu Qiao was slightly stunned, and instantly looked at the person who came, but she only saw silence like the deep sea in the man's eyes.
"Thank you. I've been out for a long time. I'm afraid the maid has been looking for me. I'll take my leave now. It's a cold night and the wind is strong. Sir, you should go back early."
Chu Qiao knew that there was no need to ask about the other party's identity. Even if she asked, he might not tell her. So she politely said goodbye and wanted to leave.
But the man seemed not to have heard it. He remained standing there, looking at her quietly. His voice was like misty fog, "The prince dotes on you, right?"
Chu Qiao knew that he must have mistaken her for Li Ce's favorite concubine like everyone else, so she did not refute him at the moment, but bowed quietly and said, "Goodbye."
"But you haven't answered my question yet."
Chu Qiao frowned slightly and turned around, but saw that he did not have any frivolous intentions, but was waiting for her reply very persistently.
"Do you know that if I were really the Crown Prince's favorite concubine, what you are doing now would be extremely inappropriate."
The man was slightly stunned, then said: "I haven't been back to the palace for a long time, I didn't know someone was living here, sorry."
Chu Qiao said, "It's okay to be ignorant, but now that you know, shouldn't you avoid it?"
The man laughed and nodded, "Indeed, there are some similarities."
Chu Qiao frowned and said, "Sir, you came here late at night, your words were vague, and you didn't want to reveal your identity. If I hadn't seen that you were noble and dignified, I would have tied you up as a pervert. You are still hanging around here. Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble?"
The man was stunned for a while, then said: "I'm sorry, I was thinking about my old friend and got too carried away."
"It's okay to get carried away for a while, just remember to restrain yourself in time. This is the imperial palace after all, and Bian Tang attaches great importance to etiquette. It never hurts to be careful."
The man smiled faintly and nodded, then bowed slightly and walked out of Mi Heju. After taking two steps, she suddenly turned back and pointed at the high eaves and said, "There is a string of wind chimes over there, covered by dust. If you have time, you might as well ask the palace maids to clean it up. The autumn wind is cool and the sound of the chimes is crisp and pleasant to the ears."
"Thank you for the reminder, sir."
The man smiled faintly, his eyes were very gentle, nodded, and said: "I am King Luo."