Chapter 347 The Grassland Gathering
Daiyu picked up a transparent candy that looked like glass. Although it smelled faintly sweet, she wondered what it tasted like.
What fruits are transparent?
Could it be lychee?
"Mint!" As soon as the candy touched the tip of her tongue, Daiyu's features almost scrunched up.
Yuan Hongqu burst into laughter. Daiyu, seeing this, knew that the old woman was deliberately teasing her, and also smiled as she stuffed a green candy into Yuan Hongqu's mouth.
She knew that her nanny was somewhat wary of all green candies, but she would still make some every time to make the color look nice.
The old woman played a trick on me with transparent mints, so I'll make her try the green candy that she hates the most.
The two laughed and joked for a while, neither of them mentioning the troublesome matter of the Liu family.
The Summer Palace in Chengde, not far away, had already opened its gates to welcome these students from the capital.
Behind the villa is a snow-capped mountain, whose peaks are covered in snow that never melts.
Even though the students, due to their upbringing, were expected to present a dignified appearance in public, they couldn't help but be amazed at this moment.
This is clearly the legendary fairyland!
At the foot of the mountain, lush greenery abounds, fragrant grasses bloom, and butterflies flit among the flowers; on the mountainside, various vines encircle the area like necklaces hanging from the mountain; and looking further up, one sees snow-capped mountains covered in white snow year-round, a kind of sacred beauty.
The boundaries change gradually in different places, but they are still easily distinguishable from a distance.
Upon entering the villa, you are greeted by a huge training ground. The ground is flat and clean, perhaps because the army has recently trained there, as there is not a single blade of grass on it.
The weapons on the weapon racks next to us had been taken down last night, leaving only empty racks. To avoid looking bare and unsightly, they probably went up into the mountains early this morning to gather some vines and plants to wrap around them. This was the only greenery on the training ground, and it did indeed look somewhat wild.
Yuan Hongqu looked over and thought to herself that she would do something to repay this favor when she got back.
Although she was perfectly aware of why the General of the North had ordered so many things done, she willingly fell into this "trap."
Daiyu was also very surprised.
"Granny, there's such a big place in the snow mountains. If we had known there was such a place earlier, we wouldn't have planned our trip to the grasslands in the first place. We could have come here directly!" she exclaimed as she walked.
"I only found out about this villa last night, so you can rest assured now!"
Yuan Hongqu knew that Daiyu was still somewhat undecided before setting off today, wondering whether to stay another day in the snow mountain.
"From now on, it doesn't matter if you only stay in the snow mountain for two days, or even stay for a few more days."
Daiyu smiled and went to join the first group.
After Liu Qianrou left the study tour group, Daiyu would fill in for her if there were group activities, but in other aspects, she would still stay with Yuan Hongqu.
"Granny, we're having a polo match this afternoon. This place is so big, it'll be really exciting to play polo here!" Daiyu and the others discussed. Seeing that Yuan Hongqu didn't object, several other groups nearby also came over, all saying they wanted to join the match...
Yuan Hongqu arrived in a hurry last night and only had a general impression of the villa. She did not expect it to be so big.
Last night, Zhang Ju told me that this martial arts arena is a hundred feet in circumference and can accommodate tens of thousands of people.
She didn't realize it at the time, but seeing the whole picture today, she realized that the training ground alone was larger than the entire academy.
What did Zhang Ju say last night? These were several mansions connected together. Most of the soldiers in his army were rough men who couldn't appreciate flowers and plants, so they simply razed them all, demolished the walls, and connected them to make a training ground.
However, Yuan Hongqu felt that this training ground was quite suitable for the troops stationed on the grassland.
The students rested temporarily in the carriage. The teachers who led the group had arrived earlier to assign rooms to the students and arrange accommodation, meals, and other trivial matters.
Fortunately, everything was available here, so they didn't have to worry about it too much.
The students had barely stopped at the training ground when the teachers in charge of each group found their respective groups and led the students and their maids and servants to their group's courtyard.
After a short rest, a few people stayed behind to tidy up the house and settle their luggage, while the rest of the people began to move around in the vicinity according to the arrangements.
Daiyu had originally planned to extend the trip to the snow mountain by one day, fearing that it would be boring and there would be nothing interesting to do.
At this moment, it actually looks much more interesting than the grassland.
Many interesting activities can be held right here in this martial arts arena...
The two-day, one-night trip to the snow-capped mountains went smoothly thanks to the support and assistance from various parties, and the students still felt that it was not enough time.
However, the trip is nearing its end.
In the past two days, the Second Prince has come three times. On the third visit, he earnestly invited Yuan Hongqu to lead the study tour group to participate in the "Aobao Sacrifice" festival on the grassland.
Yuan Hongqu learned that this event was the predecessor of the later "Naadam Festival," and it was indeed a very interesting event.
But is the Naadam festival held at this time?
Zhang Ju has lived on the grasslands for many years and can be considered a grassland expert.
Yuan Hongqu felt something was amiss, but Zhang Ju told her that this grand event was not held once a year, nor was it organized uniformly across the grasslands.
What the Second Prince mentioned should be the small-scale sacrificial ceremony held by their tribe. It is usually held once every six months or once a year, with no fixed time. The small-scale ones usually last only three to five days.
Perhaps the Second Prince deliberately held the event ahead of schedule in order to give the study tour group a good impression.
This cannot be described as not following the rules.
After Yuan Hongqu understood, she felt relieved.
Since that's the case, why not take the students to experience this grand grassland event?
When Yuan Hongqu and her group returned to the grassland tribe, they found that colorful ribbons and flags were fluttering everywhere in the wind, creating a lively atmosphere.
"Granny, why is the grassland decorated like some kind of celebration? Is it the Second Prince's birthday?" Daiyu asked curiously, looking at the colorful ribbons fluttering in the air.
"What kind of big birthday is he celebrating? Even if it is, he shouldn't hang these things on our door!" The wind was a bit strong today, and Lan Su saw that the ribbons had been crumpled into a ball by the wind, so she casually took them off, crumpled them up, and threw them aside.
"Susu," Yuan Hongqu's expression changed slightly, her voice becoming somewhat stern.
"Didn't I tell you before we came that we should respect the customs and traditions of the grassland people?"
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