"She jumped off a cliff."
"What?" Zhu Shun was furious and shouted sharply, "Do you think I'm an idiot? You mean that girl from the Jing family jumped off the cliff and died by herself in order to frame you?"
"I… "
"Nonsense!" Zhu Shun said angrily, "You have been in the mansion for four or five years, and I have always treated you well. You are competing with Jinzhu for favor, and that is also an internal matter of your Qingshanyuan. Why bother to pour dirty water on my house?" On the head? What do you want to do now? Do you want to put a pot of shit on my head in front of the masters and young masters?"
"Butler Zhu, you have to trust me."
"Come here! Hit me hard!"
The ear-piercing screams sounded immediately.
Chu Qiao grabbed the rope prepared in advance and swayed hard, and got into a small cave. The octagonal mountain is built of black rocks. Every spring, a purple moss grows on the black rocks. This kind of moss is extremely rare. After being dried and roasted, it has a unique aroma, which is elegant and peaceful. The servants of Zhuge's family would collect moss on the cliff every spring. After a long time, they even dug a hole as tall as a person. Chu Qiao lived in the backyard of the handyman all day long, knowing that the hole had been there for a long time, she picked up a few dead grass, carefully dropped it on the ground, slowly retracted the rope with the hook and lock, and quietly waited for the crowd above to disperse.
At this moment, a warm breath suddenly came to my ears, and a male voice with a few traces of amused whispered: "You little girl, why is your heart so vicious?"
Chu Qiao was startled, she turned her head abruptly, grabbed the hook on the rope hastily, and thrust it hard into the opponent's neck.
"It's hard to imagine that you're still a child under ten years old." The other party was agile and grabbed Chu Qiao's little hand tightly, and said calmly in a calm voice.
Chu Qiao was small and frail, and was pressed to the ground with one hand, but she stubbornly raised her head. She was startled, her brows frowned, and she said in a deep voice, "It's you?"
The man also seemed to be taken aback, looked at the child carefully, and then suddenly realized and smiled: "Who am I, it turned out to be you, is the wound medicine still working?"
The person who came had sword-like eyebrows, a straight nose, and eyes that were as black as ink. He was gentle but could not conceal the sharpness of a blade. He was the guest at today's banquet—Yan Shiziyan, who was held in Beijing by the land of Yanbei. Xun.
Chu Qiao stubbornly raised her head, and said coldly, "Why are you here? What do you want?"
Yan Xun chuckled, "I should be the one asking you this question, right?"
Chu Qiao's thoughts turned sharply, and she thought over and over again how likely she was to be fatal if she pushed this man down the cliff here. While thinking, she touched the dagger at her waist.
Yan Xun raised his finger and said softly: "If you don't want to be found out, you should be quiet and don't make bad ideas in your head. Little child, why are you so vicious?"
Chu Qiao raised her brows, "Speaking of viciousness, I am far behind you. You must be hiding here for some good business. You and I are two of a kind, so don't act like you are helping me a lot. .”
Hearing this, Yan Xun stood up abruptly, pushed aside the wormwood, and shouted loudly to the one above: "Who is above?"
Chu Qiao was shocked, and it was too late to stop her. Thinking that if she was exposed, Xiao Ba would not be spared, she immediately pulled out the dagger and stabbed at Yan Xun's back.
Yan Xun hooked his hands chicly, covered Chu Qiao's small mouth, and hugged her tightly in his arms. At this time, there was a questioning voice from above, Yan Xun poked his head out of the cave, and raised his voice, "My son is here to admire the plum blossoms, what are you screaming up there? Hurry up and leave."
Zhu Shun was carried to the edge of the cliff, and when he saw Yan Xun, he immediately lost his prestige, nodded and bowed for a while, and then led them away quickly.
Yan Xun let go of his arms with a smile, turned his head, and said to Chu Qiao with a smile: "I'm doing you a big favor now, right?"
Chu Qiao was small, she stood in front of Yan Xun not reaching his shoulders, she listened for a while, and saw that there was really no movement from above. He threw the hook lock in his hand up, and after hooking it firmly, turned over and climbed up.
Yan Xun squinted his eyes and looked at her, and saw that although her movements were relatively agile, she didn't look like she knew martial arts, she could only be regarded as bold and cautious, and her movements were neat. The cave here is only more than one meter away from the top, Yan Xun grabbed the rock wall with both hands, and jumped up with a little force.
Chu Qiao hid the hook and lock, looked around, and after confirming that it was safe, she turned around and was about to leave. But he turned around again, and said calmly, "I don't want to owe you any favors. When you go back later, pay attention to your horse."
Yan Xun was slightly taken aback, and when he realized it, the child's figure had gone away. From a distance, it looked like a puppy climbing up and down the rugged path, and disappeared after a while.
The young Yan Shizi narrowed his eyes, smiled lightly, and said, "Interesting."
After descending Bajiao Mountain, we turned around a small rockery and entered Meilin.
Today, all the prodigal sons of the major families in Zhenhuang City gathered in Zhuge Mansion, and the area around Meilin was strictly guarded, and it was very quiet. Chu Qiao is small in stature, walking in the plum grove, standing on tiptoe to pick two plum blossoms from time to time, very leisurely.
"Hey! Come here!" An unceremonious voice suddenly sounded, with a childish voice and a domineering tone.
Chu Qiao raised her head and looked around, only to see that he was a young man in brocade robes in his teens, wearing an emerald green robe, with a snow-white sable tail sewn on the skirt with golden embroidered thread. His tail was fluffy, surrounding his clean and clean face, his small nose was slightly wrinkled, his dark eyes stared at her, and he shouted loudly: "It's you, I call you!"
Chu Qiao frowned slightly, thinking it was better not to cause trouble, she bowed politely, and said in a deep voice: "Your maidservant has something else to do, please forgive me for not staying for long." After finishing speaking, she turned around and was about to leave.
The young master was taken aback, he didn't expect that the servant would leave just like that, wrinkled his little nose, immediately waved the whip in his hand, and shouted: "Slave dog! How courageous!"
Chu Qiao recognized the position by hearing the voice, turned her head abruptly, stretched out a pair of tender white hands and grasped the end of the horsewhip in one hand, and looked over coldly with sharp eyes.
How did the young master think that the little maid of Zhuge's family was so fierce, she pulled back vigorously but she didn't move, pouted her little mouth, and said angrily: "Are you looking for death? I'll have you chopped off!"
Chu Qiao smiled coldly, and deftly turned the hand holding the whip, the handle of the whip slipped out of the young master's hand and landed in Chu Qiao's hand. The girl is less than eight years old, with a petite figure and a pink and tender face, but there is absolutely no childish look in her eyes. She walked forward step by step with a calm face, and said in a flat voice: "The horsewhip is used to drive the horse, not to beat people." After finishing speaking, she handed the horsewhip upside down to the young master's hand, turned around and walked away. to leave.
The young master saw that the little girl was smaller than him, but full of vigor and agility, so he felt a little closer to her. Seeing that she was about to leave, she was a little anxious, but she couldn't hold back her face and said something nice, so she ran up to stop her angrily, and shouted: "Which courtyard are you from Zhuge's house? What's your name? Do you know?" Who am I? Believe it or not, I really asked someone to drag you out and chop you up?"
Chu Qiao raised her head, glanced at the young master indifferently, pushed his arm away, and raised her eyebrows contemptuously, "If you can't beat others, you keep asking for someone, what kind of skill is it? What is the identity of a person like you? I have no interest in knowing."
The plum tree swayed slightly, and the young man in brocade robe stood in the middle of the plum grove, watching Chu Qiao's small body gradually disappearing at the end of the grove, he was a little dazed.
Back at Qingshan Courtyard, Chu Qiao greeted the servants walking around, and went straight into the pavilion. Zhuge Yue half leaned on the soft couch with a lazy look, he didn't lift his head when he saw Chu Qiao coming in, he just glanced lightly with the end of his eyes.
Chu Qiao walked to a sapphire vase, took out yesterday's flowers, and inserted the freshly picked plum branches into it one by one. After finishing, he walked to Zhuge Yue's side, squatted in front of the small incense burner, mixed the snow water swept from the plum blossoms with orchid incense, then poured it carefully into the incense burner, and fanned it gently with the small fan. The smell in the room immediately became fresh. Zhuge Yue took a long breath and gradually closed his eyes.
More than half an hour passed, and Zhuge Yue seemed to have fallen asleep. At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside, and the young man opened his eyes impatiently.
"Fourth young master, the steward Zhu of the outer mansion just sent someone to say that Miss Jinsi was caught at the foot of Bajiao Mountain. Miss Jinsi was carrying a pot of vine horns and a large number of poisonous snakes with her. She took the stolen goods and is now in charge. It's under trial."
Zhuge Yue narrowed his eyes slightly, and said slowly: "Although Jinsi is domineering, she is extremely timid. She dares to carry a poisonous snake with her? Did you hear what she said?"
"She said..." The servant's voice dropped immediately, he squinted at Chu Qiao who was quietly sitting in a corner, and said in a low voice, "She said that she followed Xing'er, and that Xing'er planned to frame her. The purpose of her and Jin Zhu is to avenge the children of the Jing family who died a while ago."
"Xing'er," Zhuge Yue leaned on the couch, picked up the teacup, and said calmly, "Explain yourself."
Chu Qiao knelt on the ground and replied calmly, "Xing'er didn't do what the Fourth Young Master said."
"Then where have you been?"
"Xing'er went to the Plum Garden."
"Did anyone else see it?"
The child tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said: "Xing'er met a young master in the garden, not the young master of our mansion, he was more than ten years old, wearing an emerald green robe with a snow-white sable tail on the skirt, Xing'er I don't know his name."
"Yeah." Zhuge Yue nodded, and said to the servant who sent the message, "Go down."
The servant was taken aback for a moment, and cautiously said in doubt: "That girl Jinsi..."
Zhuge Yue raised his head halfway, leaned against the couch with his eyes closed, and said slowly: "If you do something wrong, you will be punished. Let the directorate decide what to do."
The man backed away with a promise, and the room was quiet, only the fragrance of the incense wafting faintly, like a cloud of mist.
"Xing'er, do you hate the family for killing your relatives?"
Chu Qiao lowered her head and replied obediently: "Young master, Xing'er has been a slave in the mansion since she was sensible. It is because of the young master that Xing'er can sleep on a warm bed, eat hot dishes and hot meals, and wear warm clothes. Xing'er My son is still young, and I can't hold so many things in my heart, I just want to serve the young master well and live well."
"Well," Zhuge Yue nodded, "It's best for you to think this way. Although you are young, you can do things safely. From now on, you will be in charge of the hall."