章 15: Chapter 15
編集者: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As time slowly passed, the attendants outside curiously entered the room multiple times. Finally, Zhuge Yue pushed the go game board aside and stood up. The servant at his side immediately came forward and help him put on his deer leather boots. He wore a pale blue and dark flowered robe with a bright red overcoat made of fox fur. A child, who was not even thirteen years old, gave off an unexplainable maturity.
"Let's go," Zhuge Yue mumbled as he brought his entourage of servants out.
At the front of his compound, a herd of fine horses was waiting. Because of Zhuge Yue's delay, the other masters of Zhuge residence had already left. One servant kneeled on the floor, and Zhuge Yue calmly walked forward and stepped on his back to climb onto the horse.
As he completed his preparation to move out, Zhuge Yue suddenly turned his head towards the servant standing at the front door and asked, "Xing Er, have you seen the lights during the lantern festival?"
Chu Qiao was taken aback and hurriedly shook her head.
Zhuge Yue nodded his head and said, "Come up here, I will bring you to see them."
Chu Qiao was stunned for a while before she realized what Zhuge Yue was implying and hurriedly replied, "Young Master, I am not allowed to do that."
Zhuge Yue frowned and was about to speak, but Chu Qiao instantly stood forward and said, "Xing Er can ride her own horse."
Zhuge Yue was not convinced as he eyed Chu Qiao's small stature. His suspicion was very obvious.
"Master, give a horse to Xing Er. Xing Er can ride the horse."
Zhuge Yue gently smiled and nodded to his escort Zhu Cheng. In a while, a small claret horse was led out. Even though it was small, it was still much larger than Chu Qiao. Everyone's gaze was on Chu Qiao. When they saw that she wasn't taller than the horse's leg, they chuckled.
The child circled the horse for two rounds and raised her hands straight up but could only touch the horse's back. Zhuge Yue thought it was funny and was about to call someone to help her up, but the child just grabbed onto the horse and with a surge of strength, climbed onto it. Her action was very swift and precise.
The people standing around let out a gasp in surprise. Zhuge Yue turned and saw the child covered in snow, looking like a snowball, but still sitting straight and proudly on the horse. He couldn't help but smile to himself before tapping the horse to leave.
Of course, Chu Qiao knew how to ride a horse. Even though this body was a little inconvenient, the good thing was that this horse was very tame. Once it saw the other horses leaving, it followed suit.
There was no curfew in the city, and as that day was the lantern festival, the streets were still crowded and lively. It was almost evening already as the skies had darkened. The streets were illuminated and the skies were filled with fireworks. A cool wind blew. Passing by the river bend, the beautiful lanterns illuminated the streets. The sides of the walkway were filled with dragon-shaped red lights and many tenements were converted to stages for performances. Dances, variety shows, dramas and music were everywhere. The lights and fireworks brightened up the night sky as hawkers lined the street soliciting customers, selling alcohol, tobacco, food, clothes, vegetables, fruits, furniture, flowers, and fireworks. Whatever the people wanted was available. The night sky seemed to be like a vibrant brocade with the world's magnificence scrambled all over as everyone gathered together.
Chu Qiao sat on her horse as she looked around, soaking in the rare sight of the night scene in olden times.
Zhuge family was renowned and respected. Wherever they went, people would give way. They passed by an elegant building decorated with many unique and vibrant lanterns, such as adorable animals, celestial plants and flowers. The stall owner saw Zhuge Yue stopping, and immediately brought a big golden dragon lantern forward and started singing his praises.
Zhuge Yue seemed to ignore what he was saying and merely pointed at another hanging lantern. "Bring that one here."
The stall owner turned back and saw the fourth master pointing at a snow-white rabbit lantern. He was stunned momentarily at this young master's choice.
As Zhuge Yue held on to the lantern, his face revealed a rare smile. He handed the lantern over to Chu Qiao and said, "For you."
Chu Qiao was shocked and subconsciously extended her hand to take it, even forgot to express her gratitude.
Zhuge Yue was expressionless and turned around before tapping the horse to continue moving on like nothing had happened. The people around carefully eyed Chu Qiao as they moved around her, pondering about what had happened.
Chu Qiao felt a bit ironic. She was really treated as a child.
The rabbit lantern was very exquisite. It was spotlessly white with its pair of red eyes, and as Chu Qiao extended her finger to gently tap on the mouth, a strip of pink ribbon for a tongue stuck out, surprising her.
At that instant, a gentle chuckle could be heard. Chu Qiao turned around, a bright and colorful parade passed by and blocked her view. There were all kinds of varieties of carts such as golden dragon, colorful phoenix, jade butterflies, snow foxes, fairy and goddess and all kinds of flowers. There were so many that she felt giddy looking at all of them at once. Streams of people and carriages travelling up and down the streets, and they brightened the night.
Finally, the parade had moved on. The other end of the long street could be seen. Snow piled on the frozen lake and the willow branch hung low with snow and icicles on it. The black steed leisurely stood there as a green robed young man stood with his arms crossed. He was apathetically leaning on the tree while he gazed forward with his bright black eyes and gently smiled.
All of sudden, a loud bang could be heard and everyone immediately looked up. They saw an extravagant fireworks display which resembled fairies dancing in the sky. A mischievous kid threw a firecracker under Chu Qiao's horse, and since it was the first time the horse had been out, it was frightened and raised its hooves to sprint to escape.
The young man at the tree witnessed this and immediately climbed onto his mount, whipped it and headed towards Chu Qiao's horse.
Zhuge residence's personnel were shocked but they were separated by the crowd and were unable to react in time.
Zhuge Yue raised his eyebrow, whipped his horse and wanted to go over but was held back by his escort. He was angered and whipped the escort's face. He raised his head and was about to chase her but the street was already a mess. With the crowd and the bright lights, Chu Qiao was already gone.
The horse raced forward as the cold wind howled. The chatter and noises gradually faded away in the distance and only the footsteps of the horse could be heard. The little red horse might have been small, but it was of a superior breed and was fast. Chu Qiao's small hands grabbed tightly onto the horse and she crouched on the horse's back as she calmly observed her surroundings. Her mind raced. Jing Yue Er's small frame wouldn't be able to survive the fall from the horse's back at such a high speed so she would need to find an escape.
At this moment, the quickened sound of hooves could be heard from the back. A horse was catching up to Chu Qiao and had equalled the horse Chu Qiao was on.
"You plead with me and I will save you!" The teenage boy's voice was scattered by the cold wind blowing, but Chu Qiao could still hear bits and pieces of it. She turned her head and glared sternly at the young men who was laughing at her misfortune. Her gaze was fixated and reflected no sign of panic.
"Or you tell me what that gesture means and I will save you!"
The cold wind was brittle as the little horse raced along in knee-deep snow. It's speed gradually reduced, but there was no sign of stopping.
There was no time to lose. Chu Qiao suddenly released both her hands and with one hand pushing against the horse's back, she leapt in the direction of the young boy.
With a thud, Chu Qiao's body was thrown onto the teenage. He let out a gasp and tried to stop the horse but was a little late. Both of them were thrown off the horse and landed on the soft snow before rolling to the ground. The black horse was unaware and was still chasing after the little red horse. They gradually faded into the night sky and couldn't be seen anymore.
"Flurry!" The teenage called out as he raised both his eyebrows. He staggered two steps before he shrugged off the snow on his body, but it was a wasted effort.
"This horse should be dragged back and slaughtered. If it doesn't even know its owner fell off it, what's the point of keeping it?" Chu Qiao crawled up and patted off the snow on her body, glad that she wasn't injured.
Yan Xun turned and glared at Chu Qiao as he raged, "Flurry is a precious horse that my father brought back for me when he was hunting in Yan Bei. It hasn't been with me for more than half a month and we are not familiar with each other. What's weird about that? You are the one who was daring enough to let go of my horse. Who do you think deserves punishment?"
Chu Qiao said with disdain, "I didn't even ask you to follow me. You can't watch over your own horse, it has nothing to do with me."
"You are so daring, how dare you speak like that to me?"
Chu Qiao furrowed her brow as she looked with disdain at the young but high-status Royal Highness Yan. She coldly scoffed and turned around to head back to the city.
Yan Xun was taken aback as he didn't know that she would just leave like that. He hurriedly chased her and asked, "Where are you going?"
Chu Qiao glanced at him. "Of course I am going home. You expect me to spend the night here?"
The snow has piled up considerably. The shallow portions were below Chu Qiao's knee, but the deep portions buried her thighs. Yan Xun was walking beside Chu Qiao, and seeing that her footsteps were heavy, the moodiness as a result of losing his horse disappeared. He grinned as he trotted along. After a few steps, his joy turned to sorrow as his leg gave way and he plopped on the floor.
Upon hearing a crack, Chu Qiao realized things weren't well. She initially held onto his arm but Yan Xun's weight was too much for Jing Yue Er's body to bear. With a bang, the two of them fell into a big snow cave.
"Hey…how are you feeling?" Yan Xun emerged from the snow as he desperately pulled himself up. He saw a little hand and went to pull her out. He started shaking her head. "You're not dead, right?"
"Let go." The child gloomily frowned. She shook her leg. It was painful, and her frown deepened.
Yan Xun was a little anxious. "Are you injured?"
"I won't die." Chu Qiao raised her head and looked. The snow cave wasn't deep down. She asked Yan Xun, "Can you climb up?"
Yan Xun tried to gauge the distance and shook his head. "The snow here is soft. If we were on flat ground I could jump up. But here, we will just sink deeper."
"We will freeze to death in one night." Chu Qiao mumbled and stood up, "You stand on my shoulders and climb up, and go look for people to come rescue me."
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