Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 153 Below, a recluse's daytime dream is long.

After giving her a domineering kiss, Sheng Yuanyao felt a little regretful.

I was so nervous, and my first kiss was gone just like that. I didn't even feel anything, what a rip-off...

No, it shouldn't be regret! It should be regret for being so reckless. His lover is Shen Tang, and what am I doing? Offering myself up as a concubine?
Pooh!
It's one thing to let him off easy this once, but to treat him like a dog... like a dog being chewed up.

Seeing that Lu Xingzhou was still a little dazed, Sheng Yuanyao snorted and turned to leave.

After walking a couple of steps, I felt annoyed by my loose hair and wanted to tie it up, but I hadn't brought any hair ties.

She stopped after taking only two steps, turned around and grabbed the hair tie from Lu Xingzhou's hand: "Give me back my hair tie."

Lu Xingzhou raised his hand, but Sheng Yuanyao grabbed his arm. She missed the first grab and then jumped up to grab it again.

Lu Xingzhou pulled back, and Sheng Yuanyao ended up lying on top of him.

"Lu Xingzhou!" Sheng Yuanyao pressed her face against his chest, gritting her teeth: "You think your leg is healed just so you can bully girls? If I'd known this would happen, you should have been in a wheelchair."

“The hair tie is a gift, I can’t just take it back.” Lu Xingzhou put the hair tie into the ring, put his arm around her shoulder and turned her around, walking towards the edge of the cliff with his arm around her shoulder: “Your hair looks good with it down, classic long flowing hair, it looks especially nice when the mountain wind blows.”

You seem pretty natural about it. What's the meaning of putting your arm around my shoulder like that?
Sheng Yuanyao was both annoyed and amused, so she simply copied back and patted him on the shoulder: "Little Lu, if you're short of women, go find your Pei Green Tea. I'll just flirt with her here, okay? Be good."

The two reached the edge of the mountaintop in a few steps, where two ancient pine trees stood, vigorous and verdant, like two dragons gazing at a lake. Between the two pines, a natural shady spot was formed, with red flower buds winding their way up and down, filling the air with fragrance. Turning around, they saw that the buds had even climbed onto the eaves of the guesthouse behind. The green pines and red buds complemented each other beautifully, making it truly a wonderful place to escape the summer heat.

"What kind of flower is this?" Sheng Yuanyao had no knowledge of these things.

Lu Xingzhou, who studied medicinal herbs, knew better than her master: "The trumpet creeper flower is sour and slightly cold in nature, enters the liver meridian, and has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, resolving blood stasis and dissipating nodules, dispelling wind and relieving itching. It is mainly used to treat amenorrhea due to blood stasis and dysmenorrhea..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Sheng Yuanyao scolded, "You're really ruining the scenery by cooking a crane and burning a zither."

"Ha..." Lu Xingzhou put away his professional habit and laughed, "This flower likes to climb, so it's very suitable for planting in courtyards. It's very common to plant it in guesthouses. The flowering season is in summer, and it hasn't bloomed yet... but these buds are already quite early."

“It was almost here anyway, it’s already March.” Sheng Yuanyao said with great anticipation, “It will be very beautiful when it blooms.”

As they talked, the two naturally sat side by side among the pines, looking down at the lake below.

The shadows of the trees swayed, and the fragrance of flowers filled the air. The kiss from just now seemed to have been blown away by the mountain breeze, leaving no trace.

As the mountain breeze brushed against her slightly moist lips, Sheng Yuanyao couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness in her heart.

I don't feel anything. I'm so sorry, I lost my first kiss and I have to pretend I don't care.

Long hair is inconvenient at all. It blows wildly in the wind, and the strands of hair itch my face and block my vision, making it hard to see into the distance.

Sheng Yuanyao didn't realize that her eyesight was unfocused and she was already blurry when looking into the distance.

The guy surnamed Lu didn't say anything for a long time. Was he rubbing himself in after he'd done it?

Sheng Yuanyao secretly glanced over to see what Lu Xingzhou was doing.

But then they saw Lu Xingzhou playfully pulling up the grass on the side, and then the grass clumped together one by one.

Sheng Yuanyao couldn't help but laugh: "Hey, how old are you?"

Lu Xingzhou said leisurely, "Miss Sheng has given me such a good thing, I will repay her kindness with my own efforts."

"Is this how you use the phrase 'tying grass and carrying a ring'? You're quite cultured."

“That’s right.” Lu Xingzhou was still struggling to twist the rope. “How old are you… I do remember that I really liked playing like this when I was a kid, but I haven’t had that kind of simple joy for many years.”

Sheng Yuanyao put her arms on her knees, rested her chin on her forearms, and turned to watch him play.

She also felt that the simple joy of just the two of them sitting in the mountains playing in the grass and feeling the breeze was something she hadn't experienced in many years.

His profile is so handsome...

If he weren't so good-looking, I would have locked him up the day we first met. That damn liar never tells the truth.

Now even my first kiss has been stolen, and they even took my hair tie. They're inhuman.

Sheng Yuanyao turned her head back and continued to look at the lake.

The mountain wind blew her messy hair into her eyes again. Sheng Yuanyao rested her chin on her arm, feeling a little too lazy to move. Just as she was feeling annoyed, a hand reached out from the side and gently brushed her messy hair behind her ear.

Sheng Yuanyao turned to look at him, and Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "You're going the wrong way, turn that way."

Sheng Yuanyao snorted and turned away angrily, refusing to look at him.

But then I found him combing his long, loose hair and gathering it into a bundle.

Sheng Yuanyao paused for a moment, then felt as if something had tied her hair up and put it back into a ponytail.

Sheng Yuanyao sat there quietly as he tied her hair up, her heart pounding again.

Even though he knew he was flirting, it was like a martial arts master of vastly different levels. His long sword came straight at him from the sky, impossible to dodge, and pierced his heart solidly.

"Look, the hair tie is gone, but there's always a replacement, right?" Lu Xingzhou stopped with satisfaction and looked around.

Sheng Yuanyao turned around and around, but couldn't see it, so she reached out to touch it. She immediately recognized it as the grass he had just grown.

Sheng Yuanyao was both annoyed and amused: "You give me this kind of thing? It'll break in no time."

"This is just a temporary one. You seem so uncomfortable without your hair tied up, so I'll just tie it up for now." Lu Xingzhou looked you over and was quite satisfied with his work: "As expected, good-looking people look good in anything."

Sheng Yuanyao didn't know what had gotten into her. Even though the other party had only given her a worthless trinket, she was actually quite happy inside, despite her complaints... if she knew the word "romance."

A smile unconsciously crept onto his lips: "At least you have some conscience."

Pei Chuyun was quietly complaining to A Nuo: "Look at how worthless that is."

Ah Nuo glanced at her sideways. "That sentence sounds so familiar. It seems like it was what Sister Yao used to describe you."

Pei Chuyun stroked her chin and examined the item: "I have to say, this cheap item actually suits her quite well, especially the color."

Ah Nuo: "...You weren't wearing anything, and the colors were the same as hers. Is this what you call a higher level of skill?"

Pei Chuyun: "?"

She suddenly realized that she had been so engrossed in gossiping about Sheng Yuanyao that she had forgotten she was being cheated on!
Just as he was about to rush over and cause trouble, he heard Sheng Yuanyao say, "You have some conscience, but not much. You said you could get a famous poem for this place, hurry up and bring it out."

Pei Chuyun immediately shrank back, her eyes sparkling.

Ah Nuo: "...Where are you catching them in the act?"

"What's wrong with letting those two have some fun a little longer for the sake of poetry?"

Ah Nuo stopped talking. Actually, she really wanted to say something, but she was afraid that after hearing the poem, you would want to let him play with her.

Unfortunately, it's inappropriate for a child to say that, so let's leave it at that.

Lu Xingzhou was saying, "There are many poems about boating on the lake. I wasn't quite sure which one to use, but the flowers here are quite interesting... This time there really is a poem."

Sheng Yuanyao nudged him and said, "Tell me quickly, don't keep me in suspense."

Lu Xingzhou softly recited: "Two dragons rise up, white armor and gray beard in the misty rain. Sparse shadows and faint fragrance, below a recluse sleeps long in the daytime."

Sheng Yuanyao was taken aback, her heart pounding again.

This isn't a poem about scenery, it's a poem about her.

He knew that the unspoken dreams in her heart were...

“You…” Sheng Yuanyao began to stammer, “This…this poem has nothing to do with this garden…This garden has mountains and lakes, it doesn’t rely on any recluses…”

“Of course there is a lake,” Lu Xingzhou continued. “The lake breeze is gentle, and two magpies fly in, chattering at dusk. Green and red flutter lightly, and a hundred-foot-tall flower descends from the sky.”

Sheng Yuanyao's appreciation skills were average, and she couldn't really appreciate how good it was. Anyway, there were trees, flowers, and a lake, so it should be pretty good... Her heart was still mainly occupied by the image of a secluded woman in a dream, and her heart was still pounding.

Pei Chuyun, who was eavesdropping in the distance, stood there stunned, unable to move for a long time.

She was much clearer-headed than the uncultured Sheng Yuanyao. The so-called recluse did not necessarily refer to a woman. It clearly described a secluded mountain scene, where a hermit was leisurely reclining in the mountains, exuding an ethereal and otherworldly atmosphere.

It seemed that only at this moment did Pei Chuyun suddenly realize that everyone was cultivating immortality.

However, having been trapped in the mortal world for so long, they have long forgotten what it means to be an immortal.

In fact, even Lu Xingzhou himself was thinking about this question. The lyrics were copied, but whether it was Li Bai who copied them before or Su Dongpo who copied them now, they could always bring people a feeling of otherworldly music. At least they were more like immortals than most people in this mundane world.

Is this the reason why cultivation in this world cannot keep up with the ancient times?

The ability to ride the wind and mist and soar through the clouds has become a high-end pursuit that most people cannot even dream of. What about something even higher? Wouldn't they not even have the right to hear about it?

Sheng Yuanyao's eyes gleamed: "I'll find someone to carve a monument here among the pines, and inscribe your words on it. Won't this garden become famous?"

Lu Xingzhou did not answer, and Pei Chuyun silently recited in her heart, "Yes."

The few poems she wrote herself were far inferior to these, and even less so than the ones Lu Xingzhou had given her before. Yet, the reputation of the Pei family's talented daughter had spread throughout the capital within half a month, and everyone admired her.

It would be strange if Lu Xingzhou's poems couldn't impress the audience or earn him a good reputation.

Sheng Yuanyao was saying, "I'll have someone give instructions later. It's still early, would you like to come inside and rest for a while?"

"You vixen, inviting people into your house in broad daylight, have you no shame!" Pei Chuyun almost wanted to slip over and cause trouble.

Ah Nuo held her tightly: "Sister, don't humiliate yourself. You and Master have been doing this so many times in the house. Going there will only get you scolded."

With just this one obstacle, Lu Xingzhou and Sheng Yuanyao had already gone inside and disappeared.

Pei Chuyun said angrily, "You're clearly favoring Sheng Yuanyao! You're close to her and want her to be your stepmother, right? She's lying to you. If she really became your stepmother, she'd beat you every day!"

Ah Nuo sighed softly, "But sister, what's the point of you ruining it? You're the one who's afraid to commit."

Pei Chuyun fell completely silent.

(End of this chapter)