"Oh, I have loved plum blossoms since I was a child. I am taking a break today. I heard that the plum trees in Jiuzhou are the most beautiful in the capital, so I wanted to come and have a look. I would like to ask my young father-in-law to make it convenient for me."
"Please, please." The little eunuch made way for him and walked a few steps inside with He Qizhou. As he walked, he said, "Master He, it's really an unlucky time for you to come. At this time in previous years, Meilin was already full of flowers.
They bloomed together. It has been extremely cold these past few days. There are only buds on the trees and not a single spring plum has bloomed!"
"Ah?" He Qizhou felt cold in his heart, and then heard the little eunuch nagging: "But the wintersweet is in full bloom this year, and the garden is filled with the refreshing fragrance of flowers. Many dignitaries came with their families, but this is also the fifth day of the year.
It happened six days ago, and now it has almost withered away."
Little brother, are you trying to amuse me? He Qizhou cursed in his heart. The heart that had just been warmed by the previous sentence was immediately cooled by the next sentence. Alas! I can only treat it as exploring the royal garden of Jiuzhou Pond.
, and said: "Thank you, little father-in-law. It would be good for me to take a look at the tree."
The little eunuch finally said: "Okay, He Zhuangyuan, you can do it yourself. Remember not to set foot on the lake. Except for the plum forest, other parts of the garden are not open to officials. If the leader of the garden sees it, he may read your copy."
"
"Okay, thank you for the advice." He Qizhou thanked him with a cup of his hands. After passing through a small forest behind the arch, his eyes suddenly opened up! On the left were continuous low hills, covered with plum trees without a single leaf. There were everywhere under the plum trees.
It is a pile of scattered snow; and on the right is a large frozen lake, with strong winds blowing, rolling up waves of snow and fog.
Near the shore of the ice is a lotus pond that has long since withered. The gray-black stems, leaves and lotus pods of lotus flowers stand alone in the ice. He Qizhou felt a tragic feeling, like a group of warriors who would not surrender until death, in the ice lake.
As far as the eye can see, four or five small islands can be seen, which should be one of the nine islands in the Kyushu Lake. Although he has the urge to skate to the island, He Qizhou does not want to cause trouble and is ready to take a walk in the plum forest.
Never mind.
The plum forest is surprisingly large. There are many flower buds on the trees, but most of them have not yet bloomed. It is estimated that they will not bloom for ten days and a half. There are indeed many wintersweets. On a hill, all the flower buds are planted, and the petals have long been gone.
It looks fresh and alive, hanging wilfully on the branches. If you fan your nose hard, you can only smell a faint trace of fragrance. However, the fallen flowers covering the snow will dye the entire hillside into only yellow and white.
Erse, felt a bit shocked. Just as he was about to leave the garden, he suddenly heard the sound of two people arguing from where he came from, which made his heart beat for no reason. After listening carefully, it was Xiaoxue and her girl who were in another room.
A quarrel on a mountaintop.
"The flowers haven't bloomed yet. It's such a cold day. Why don't you come and drink the northwest wind?" Xiao Ping said.
"Don't we all come here at this time of year? The door will be closed in a few days. It's good to go for a walk now." Hearing Xiaoxue's voice, He Qizhou's heart beat wildly.
"That's because the flowers have bloomed. Besides, if you want to come and see it, won't the palace stop you? It's rare for you to take a break, but you still run around. Miss, it's so cold, let's go back?" Xiao Ping said
.
"I didn't ask you to follow me out. You came here on your own, so you should go back first." Xiaoxue was a little unhappy.
"Isn't it too lonely for me to be alone?" Xiao Ping said a little aggrievedly.
"Then you go and talk to the two young eunuchs. It's sheltered from the wind. I'll look around and come back to you."
"Then hurry up!"
"I know." Xiaoxue dismissed Xiao Ping and continued to climb the hills.
He Qizhou also came down from that hill, and then there were two hills on the left and right. On the left were spring plums in bud, and on the right was the wintersweet forest where he was standing. He Qizhou's heartbeat accelerated again. What if Xiaoxue went to the left? He would meet him if he went up.
Wouldn't it be too abrupt? What should I do if I scare her? He Qizhou was cruel, gritted his teeth, and went forward. He would rather blush! Don't miss it!
Although the plum grove had no leaves, the branches were thick and the hills on the opposite side could not be seen. Fortunately, He Qizhou's ears were amazing and he could vaguely hear the sound of snow stepping on the snow as he went downhill on the opposite side, so he walked slowly in the direction of the footsteps.
Then I was pleasantly surprised to find that the other person was walking in my direction after going downhill. Obviously, the sparse wintersweet was more beautiful than the flower buds. One person went uphill and the other went downhill. When they were less than ten feet apart, Xiaoxue also obviously felt that someone was greeting him.
Come over and look up.
He Qizhou had actually seen Xiaoxue's figure walking among the branches. As the two got closer and closer, the light blue figure became clearer and clearer. It was still the light blue cotton-padded jacket he wore last time, but with more layers on it.
He wore a green hooded cloak with a low brim, and a white scarf wrapped around his neck, covering his mouth and nose, leaving only a pair of willow eyebrows and a pair of big eyes exposed.
"Is that you?" Xiaoxue took a few steps closer and spoke first.
"What a coincidence? Are you here to appreciate the plum blossoms too?" He Qizhou asked pretending to be natural.
"Well, I visit Merlin here every year. Why are you here alone?" Xiaoxue lowered her pink head and asked softly.
"I, there is also a plum forest in my hometown. I heard that people can only come here during the first month, so I took advantage of Xiu Mu to come and have a look. A few friends happened to have something to do, so I came alone." He Qizhou had an idea and thought of a way to convince him.
My own reason is that there is indeed a plum forest at the foot of Bailian Mountain, and there are also many plum trees planted beside the houses of the Yang family and the Liu family.
"It's a pity that the winter plum blossoms have faded, but the spring plum blossoms have not bloomed. Are you going back?" Xu Mu was still walking forward, but He Qizhou had stopped long ago.
"No, no, I just came here, and I wanted to go to the southern hillside to have a look. In fact, in terms of color, the spring plum blossoms are more beautiful." Of course, He Qizhou didn't want to say goodbye.
"You don't have to go downhill. You have to climb over a wintersweet forest. There is a large plum forest behind. There are many more varieties than here. If you are lucky, you might be able to see one or two plum blossoms that have just bloomed."
"Variety? Aren't red plums, pink plums and white plums the same species? The plums they bear all seem to have the same taste?" He Qizhou knew that the plum trees mainly cared about the sweet and sour plums.
"I just want to eat!" Xiaoxue narrowed her big and smart eyes, raised her slender eyebrows slightly, and the delicate skin at the root of her nose between her eyes was tightly wrinkled, obviously she was smiling.
He Qizhou buzzed, his mind went blank, and his heartstrings were strongly plucked by the other party's words and eyes, imagining what a moving smile it would be if the scarf was removed.
Seeing that He Qizhou was dumbfounded, Xiaoxue continued: "There are more than ten varieties of palace powder, cinnabar, jade butterfly, and green calyx in this forest. Come on, I will show you the plum blossoms in the Kyushu Pond!"
He Qizhou was overjoyed and hurriedly followed Xiaoxue, who had already passed by him: "Thank you, girl!"
"In previous years, when the winter plum blossoms were in full bloom, there were always huge crowds of people. It was not easy to find a quiet place. On the contrary, it was no fun." Xiaoxue said quietly.
"Well, the subtle fragrance floats, and the solitary fragrance is appreciated by oneself. There are too many ordinary people who really can't feel the character of plum blossoms!" He Qizhou agreed.
"Well said, just like some people look at plum blossoms and want to eat plums, which will ruin the scenery." Xiaoxue, who was walking in front, couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing.
"Food is the most important thing for the people, but these vulgar things are so cute!" He Qizhou was thick-skinned anyway, so when he saw Xiaoxue, he didn't show up, so he mustered up the courage to say: "I saw Zhang Mufeng come to pick you up that day, he and I are also from the same school.
Well, I don’t know…”
"He is my younger brother. He went out to hire a carriage that day. We went to my grandpa's house for a banquet." Xu Mu said in a low voice: "Listen to him, you are his uncle who suddenly appeared. Do I want to do it too?"
Shall I call you uncle?"
He Qizhou felt ecstatic in his heart, made some calculations, and said hurriedly: "I am only one or two years older than him, and I am not a Quanzhen sect. Let him be called brothers from now on. If we really want to be called that, everyone will be called Lao
Already."
"That's not possible. I heard from Mu Feng that his head teacher has taken care of him in public. Who dares to disobey his old man's wishes?"
"Don't pay attention to that old fried dough stick..." He Qizhou, knowing that he had broken his promise, quickly changed his words politely: "What I mean is that my master is actually quite reasonable and won't get entangled in such trivial matters."
"Mufeng is too honest, I need to trouble you to take more care of him in the future!" Xiaoxue said.
"To be honest, if he hadn't been merciful, I really wouldn't have been able to pass the imperial examination, and I would be too embarrassed to thank him in person. It's really rare for an official's son like him to be handsome, highly skilled in martial arts, and kind-hearted!" He Qizhou said sincerely.
Praise.
"Young Master He is also such a person, right?" Xiaoxue blushed a little for her brother.
"This... this... I wonder if you have heard Mu Feng say that I am the adopted son of Yang Zheng, and I am not from an official background." He Qizhou said.
Xiaoxue cursed in her heart, do you mean that everyone else is the same as her brother? But she didn't want to hurt He Qizhou's heart, so she nodded slightly.
Seeing that the conversation was still harmonious, He Qizhou struck while the iron was hot and asked in a low voice: "You haven't asked me your name yet?"
"My name is Mu Xue." Xiaoxue replied in a low voice, with a hint of shyness in her voice. How could a young girl in her boudoir easily tell a strange man her name?
"Zhang Muxue", He Qizhou secretly recited it twice and scolded himself for being so stupid. He knew clearly that the other person's name was Xiaoxue and his younger brother was Zhang Mufeng, yet he still had the shamelessness to ask someone's name.
The two walked out of the wintersweet forest. In front of them was a larger hillside with taller and more primitive plum trees. On the top of the slope was a glazed pointed roof higher than the treetops. It should be an exquisite pavilion. The two were about to go to the pavilion when suddenly
I heard Xiao Ping calling from a distance: "Miss——, Miss——, where are you?" "Miss - let's go back?"
Xiaoxue frowned and said angrily: "This little girl is taking care of the master again! Ignore her!"
"Miss—" the voice came closer and closer, and it came from the wintersweet bushes. It seemed that it was already going downhill.
Xiaoxue glanced at He Qizhou and said, "Ignore her and let her worry for a while!" After saying that, she held the hem of the cotton robe with both hands and ran up the slope quickly.