Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 209: Celebrating Longevity (5)
"My thanks to you, Eunuch." She bowed slightly toward the Eunuch, then turned to follow the Palace Maid through the crowd.
As she entered the throng of people, she saw groups of three to five, noblewomen leading their daughters as they weaved through the crowd, or clusters of friends covering their mouths in giggles. Feng Xuxu passed through the garden to the Plum Forest, and looking at the white plum blossoms on the branches, she recited a line from Lun Meipo’s poetry without thinking, "The plum and the snow vie for the beauty of spring, neither willing to submit, as the literati struggle to capture their essence. Yet the plum concedes three parts white to the snow, while the snow admits to the plum’s superior scent."
Clap, clap, clap, a round of applause followed. A man walked out from the Plum Forest, dressed in a purple robe, his dark hair cascading down his back, held by a purple hair tie. He had a tall nose, thin lips, and his eyebrows swept up like swords into the locks of hair that fell at his temples. Handsome was his profile, with features so impeccably sculpted they were beyond criticism.
"What a line, ’The plum must yield to the snow’s three parts white, but the snow loses to the plum in fragrance by a measure,’" Dugu Mo exclaimed, surprised to hear such poetry as he was relaxing in the Plum Forest.
"Young Master is too kind; I merely recited someone else’s work," Xuxu humbly replied, knowing well she lacked the ability to craft such exquisite verse herself.
"Oh? Might you tell me who composed it?" Dugu Mo asked, gazing at the young woman before him, whose skin shimmered with the soft warmth of jasper, her cherry lips naturally crimson, vibrant as if dew-kissed, with a couple of strands of her hair gently caressing her cheeks in the breeze, adding an enticing charm. Her eyes twinkled with clever movement, and her waist was so slender, her beauty was flawless, ethereal as if untouched by the mundane world, stirring a wicked desire within him to hide her away in his residence.
Feeling the gaze of the man fixed intently on her, and seeing the wicked light in his eyes, Xuxu instinctively took two steps back, saying, "He has been deceased for many years."
"Is that so? What a shame, the world has lost yet another talented soul," sighed Dugu Mo. Watching the young woman step back, he approached two steps closer and said, "Miss seems very afraid of me?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"Oh! Could it be that Young Master is a bad man?" She glanced at the man before her and subtly turned away to continue admiring the vast expanse of white plum blossoms.
"Hehehe, what do you think, Miss?" The more Dugu Mo looked at Feng Xuxu, the more intriguing he found her. Had it been anyone else, they would’ve been at a loss by now, unlike the young woman who was still composed enough to converse with him.
"Ah, isn’t that Prince Dugu?" Zhang Furong, the illegitimate daughter of the Magistrate’s family, exclaimed in surprise.
"Where? Let me see," Li Xi said, her eyes darting about in excitement upon hearing it was Prince Dugu.
"In the Plum Forest, wearing the purple clothes!" Zhang Furong pointed toward the figure in purple at a distance.
"That’s the one! Come on, let’s go pay our respects," urged Li Hanhan, the illegitimate daughter from the Scholar’s family, spotting him before her sister Li Xi and started heading his way with her handkerchief fluttering.
"Wait, I’ve heard that today the Empress Dowager intends to select a marriage for Prince Dugu; I wonder who will be so fortunate?" Xu Li, the illegitimate daughter of the Imperial Censor’s family, who had overheard it from her father, whispered to the girls around her.
"Really? We must perform well today," Zhang Furong said, her face alight with excitement, as she contemplated which dance to present to the Empress Dowager.
"If we don’t hurry, Prince Dugu will leave soon," Li Xi said, lifting her skirt and dashing out of the garden toward the Plum Forest.
Seeing this, the group of young misses all hurriedly feigned interest in the plum blossoms while swiftly making their way toward the Plum Forest.
At that moment, a few young girls approached from behind, one of whom was wearing a pink long dress. She let out a chuckle and said to the woman beside her, "Sister Zhang, your stepsister is quite the character."
Zhang Rui looked at her stepsister, her face flushing with anger, yet she was powerless; her father doted on her stepmother, and by extension, favored Zhang Furong. With a sigh, she said, "She’s spoiled rotten by my father."
