Chapter 23: Clear Tea and White Snow

  "Whoosh!" A splash of water, Princess Jiayun swiftly flew away on her horse, and fell into the icy lotus pond in the early morning. The accomplices rushed down, busily pulling her out. Her elegant palace attire was covered with a pile of green aquatic plants and dark mud, her hair disheveled, one boot lost, and her small face flushed red, constantly coughing loudly.

  "You! How dare you, woman! My imperial sister..."

  Qing Xia turned his head, looking at a pink-clad palace-dressed girl with annoyance, and his eyebrows involuntarily raised slightly. Who knew that the girl would stop stuttering as soon as Qing Xia turned around, and she took off running with a sharp cry, as if Qing Xia was a man-eating tiger.

  Qing Xia moved her neck slightly and let out a quiet sigh. She had lost count of how many times this had happened already.

  Ever since the last successful lesson to Jiayun Princess, this little princess has been inseparable from Qing Xia, frequently using cunning tricks to secretly calculate and stir up trouble. Fortunately, Qing Xia's skills are not ordinary, and she has experienced many scenes, so it's not something that this little girl can handle.

  Qing Xia initially treated her with courtesy and reserve, as befits a princess. However, as she became increasingly overbearing, Qing Xia's demeanor also changed, no longer showing her any deference. Especially since this little princess was young but had ruthless tactics, others might have already been driven to death by her several times. With anger in her heart, Qing Xia's actions became more and more unyielding, not giving her any face.

  Just like just now, this girl secretly set up a trap, letting people catch a bunch of mice and put them on the road where Qing Xia passed by to scare her, and deliberately dismissed other servants, wanting to take advantage of Qing Xia's fright, trip her over and throw her into the icy pond. Who knew that those black mice not only didn't scare Qing Xia at all but were also used by her to trap the little princess with the same trick, throwing her into the pond without mercy, making her lose face in front of her subordinates.

  This girl is really stupid, previously using poisonous snakes didn't scare herself. Does she think changing to a bunch of rats can make things happen? Qing Xia wore a white hemp robe with black hair braided into a braid. She leaned lazily under a willow tree, gently swaying a yellowish dry branch, smiling at Jia Yun's embarrassed appearance, which was quite amusing.

  Recently, life has been unusually quiet, if it weren't for Jiayun entertaining herself every day, it would be quite boring.

  Chu Li will be banned from entering Lanting Hall from now on, which is also expected.

  From that day on, the Orchid Pavilion suddenly fell from the clouds, and the Imperial Household Department quickly grasped the direction of the wind. They saw that the newly glorious Empress Lan had lost power again, and gradually even her daily allowance was reduced.

  For this kind of human feelings, Qing Xia had already seen through in her previous life, so she wouldn't have any sense of loss at this moment. Compared to the crowd of sighing and complaining servants, Qing Xia's actions were obviously more optimistic, she took the lead in rearranging the bedroom, removing all the unused incense burners and decorations, and putting out sandbags, soft cushions, swords and spears. In the blink of an eye, it became a martial arts training room.

  Zhuang Qingxia, this body is too poor, for her escape plan, some necessary efforts still cannot be reduced. Just like packing luggage, in just a few days, she has secretly searched for all the valuables that can be taken from Lanting Temple, as funds for future travels.

  Everything is ready, only waiting for the east wind. For now, let's just stay here and enjoy ourselves for a while, until Qi'an returns home safely and Zhuangzi returns to court on a peaceful day, that will be the time when she leaves quietly and escapes quickly.

  She couldn't help but laugh at the joke, feeling great, and turned around to head back to the Lan Ting Temple. She had been quiet for a while, thinking deeply, and since no one was around in the south garden, she would often come here in the morning to practice her martial arts without being disturbed. But unexpectedly, Jia Yun found out about it secretly and brought people to cause trouble. However, this also indirectly fulfilled her wish to practice her martial arts freely. Thinking of this, she swung a willow branch while whistling, and quickly left the pond. Jia Yun and his men were all stunned, watching her, but none of them dared to approach her.

  During this time, Qing Xia deliberately hid and never exposed the fact that she knew martial arts. She only used her wisdom and cleverness to deal with Jia Yun, which made the little princess even more unwilling to admit defeat, thinking that she was just a bit more vigilant, lucky, and agile. However, she had never thought that if luck favored someone for too long, things would absolutely not be as simple as they seemed on the surface.

  The air was surprisingly good in the morning, and a thin layer of snow had fallen overnight. The east palace side had already melted, but only the south garden side, due to the rare human presence, had retained a thin layer.

  The road behind is impassable, Jiayun has just suffered a blow, if she really gets angry, no longer playing tricks, and directly lets her guards take action against herself. She doesn't expect this group of guards who are used to being arrogant under the tyrannical princess to show mercy to the crown prince's abandoned concubine. Although it's not that she's really afraid of their open and direct attacks, it's just that if Chu Li verifies that she really has martial arts skills and is skilled, everything will become troublesome. Qing Xia, who was on the side, wasn't in a hurry to return, and started wandering around the palace.

  Turning a corner, she saw a crescent-shaped gate, exquisitely crafted. Qing Xia's heart skipped a beat as she walked through it. Suddenly, a vast expanse of white filled her vision, and the sweet fragrance of blooming flowers wafted into her nostrils. Under the warm sunlight, the entire garden was filled with layers of plum blossoms, quietly unfolding, their petals shining like snow, gentle as orchids. Qing Xia was taken aback for a moment, having spent half a month in the palace without discovering this hidden gem.

  Unconsciously, I had walked deep inside, where the plum blossoms were in full bloom, their delicate fragrance wafting through the air. The snow on the ground set off the plum blossoms in the entire garden, making the whole world seem pure white as snow.

  Qing Xia, in modern times, even though she often traveled the world, was always burdened with heavy responsibilities and had no time to appreciate such scenery. At this moment, seeing the plum blossoms in this garden, she couldn't help but feel a few parts joyful. Just as her spirit was intoxicated, suddenly a soft cry came from afar, and an innate sense of vigilance suddenly swept over her. Qing Xia almost didn't use her brain to think, her body suddenly turned back, then swiftly made a sideways flip like a water snake, one hand grasping a plum tree, barely avoiding the flash of green blade.

  The newcomer didn't stab her, seemingly also surprised, let out a "huh" and immediately moved his waist, his full head of black hair fluttering in the wind, and in the blink of an eye he was chasing after her again.

  "Guqin!" A clear and crisp guqin sound suddenly rang out, causing the woman with the sword to hear the sound, as if she had received some kind of command. She turned her slender body and retreated swiftly.

  Qing Xia stood under the plum tree, looked up and saw a young girl in red clothes standing opposite her. The girl's small face was sharp as a knife cut, white as snow, with black eyes that seemed to be two years younger than Qing Xia's body. However, her expression was icy cold, making her look more like an assassin than Qing Xia herself. At this moment, there were two soft sounds coming from the plum forest, and the girl frowned, finally walked to Qing Xia's side, made a few gestures with her hand, then chattered a few times before turning around and walking into the depths of the plum forest.

  Never thought that such a beautiful girl would be mute, Qing Xia was slightly surprised for a moment, looking at her as if she wanted to lead herself into the plum forest, and followed without hesitation, walking inside.

  With such a big move, there are two reasons: one is to have absolute confidence in one's own skills, and the other is to know who that person inside is, who can make this stubborn mute girl obey with just the sound of his guqin.

  After passing through one cluster after another of plum trees, Qing Xia felt that this plum forest was enormous and out of proportion, seemingly even more expansive than the eastern palace they had passed by earlier.

  They walked for nearly half a day, and just when Qing Xia was getting slightly impatient, a clear and melodious whistle suddenly broke the silence, ringing out loudly, startling the birds in the forest into flight, flapping their wings as they soared into the sky.

  A gust of autumn wind arose, and the withered flowers and white snow swirled up to greet it. The long gown of Qing Xia danced gently in the breeze, her eyes narrowed slightly as she covered them with her hand, blinded by the swirling petals.

  At this time, footsteps suddenly stopped.

  On one side, a small green stone table was placed deep in the plum forest, surrounded by white plums, with petals flying and drifting everywhere. A man sat on a bamboo chair, wearing a light green shirt, his black hair slicked back, gently playing with a crimson southern mud tea pot and two tea cups on the stone table. Hearing Qing Xia's footsteps, he slightly raised his head, a warm and soft smile at the corner of his mouth, his eyebrows deep and profound like stars.

  "There are few people coming here, and you've been walking for a long time. Why don't you sit down and have a cup of clear tea?"