Mid-April, Caiqing Festival.
The mountain flowers are in full bloom, fallen petals dance in abundance, and the Peach Blossom Forest is filled with peach blossoms covering the mountains, pink hues shrouding the entire Peach Blossom Forest like an Immortal Realm.
It’s uncertain if the Peach Blossom Fairy has manifested in recent years, but the scope of the Peach Blossom Forest has noticeably expanded a few rounds; peach trees are gradually spreading along the edges of the Peach Blossom Forest toward the deep mountains to the south and east.
Even the peach trees and blossoms within the Peach Blossom Forest appear increasingly imbued with immortal aura, and even the mountain people who eat the ordinary peach fruits in the Peach Blossom Forest feel their bodies becoming healthier.
The more it is like this, the more people co to Taohua Temple to offer incense and prayers, regardless of whether it’s effective or not; as long as their intentions are sincere, after all, the incense at Taohua Temple isn’t expensive. It’s not too late to co back and fulfill a vow once the prayers are realized.
In the northeast corner of the Peach Grove, enveloped by an Illusionary Array and Blinding Technique, a place that only conceals the eyes of ordinary mortals...
Wild grasses sway gently, lush and dense, peach trees stand in various postures, and peach blossoms sway with the wind.
In the distance, there are rolling mountain shadows, and nearby, water flows gently.
Within the Peach Grove, by the stream, there is a pavilion with round tables and round stools, stone tables and stone stools arranged under the peach trees, and scattered relieves and cushions on the grass.
The overall range is not large, but the arrangent is lively and natural.
On the tables or relieves, wooden trays and porcelain bottles are placed.
The wooden trays hold various fruits, all fresh apples, sweet oranges, bananas, cherries, strawberries, as well as waterlon and grapes.
In the porcelain bottles are Flower Carving wine, Cyan Plum Wine, grape wine, and other low-alcohol yellow wines or fruit wines, enough to get slightly tipsy but hard to get completely drunk.
Apart from fruits and wines, several sets of mahjong and chess are also placed nearby for guest entertainnt; not far away are instrunts like Yaoqin, Dongxiao, and pipa, along with Xuan Paper, long tables, brushes, ink, and colors.
"Brother Lu, you’ve prepared so thoroughly, it’s just what I wanted!"
"The environnt is also comfortable; this gathering feels more interesting than my father’s assembly of the Aquatic Race, for drinking, listening to music, and watching dances together!"
The first to arrive were Zhu Yushan and Li Hanyu. They ca to Taohua Village, led by a Peach Blossom Celestial Maiden to the venue, where they saw Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan playing a ga, Lu Zheng sitting on one side of the stone table, sotis handing tea to Shen Ying, sotis offering fruit to Liu Qingyan, looking quite leisurely.
Additionally, Liu Qingquan was accompanied by Xiaocui, playing the new Leapfrog ga Lu Zheng had brought out. The two were absorbed in their ga, having a joyful ti.
"Hello, Brother Zhu! Hello, Sister-in-law!"
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan paused their moves, and Lu Zheng joined the two ladies in getting up to greet the guests, leading them to a stone table beneath the trees.
"Very good! Jade Mountain has started retreating to study again recently, and we haven’t gone out for a long ti. This ti, Brother Lu invited us, so I brought him along to relax and have fun," Li Hanyu said.
Lu Zheng blinked, nodded, and said to Zhu Yushan, "Brother Zhu, studying should be balanced with rest; retreating for intense reading is not good for the body..."
Zhu Yushan nodded, "I know, but exams are coming again soon, so I’m trying to revise once more to avoid any mistakes during the exam."
"Ah, right, right!" Lu Zheng nodded earnestly and then took an orange from the wooden tray, handing it to Zhu Yushan, "Try a sweet orange, Brother Zhu, it tastes good."
"Thank you." Zhu Yushan accepted the orange, casually peeled it, and while eating it, pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Zheng, "This is my latest essay argunt, Brother Lu, could you have a look and help correct it?"
Lu Zheng, "..."
Heaven knows whether you can make it for the exam this year; what aning does this essay argunt hold? But those words can’t be said aloud; Lu Zheng has been in the Great Jing Dynasty for over three years, and although not qualified to take the exams, he can discuss Confucian studies with others.
Thus, Lu Zheng accepted the essay, skimd through it, and then started what might be a fruitless discussion with Zhu Yushan.
Once the discussion ended, the five ladies of Five Beauties Manor, Hua Yixing and her companions, arrived.
"Young Master Lu! Young Master Zhu!"
"Greetings, Sister Li! Hello, Miss Shen! Qingyan, we’re late!"
Upon arrival, the ladies promptly apologized, then Yu Mingxin lightly lifted her sleeves, releasing dozens of colorful birds that flew out from her sleeves, circling in the air, or resting on branches, chirping softly, enhancing the vibrancy of the Peach Grove.
One of the sparrows even perched on Liu Qingquan’s shoulder, tilting its head to look at the chessboard, though it seed uncertain what it was observing.
No wonder the Yellow Oriole beca enlightened; not only is their song unique, but they also have the skill to control birds.
Lin Jing’Er and Hu Cai Niang took off the bamboo baskets from their backs, opened them, swinging their hands casually, releasing hundreds of brightly colored wildflowers flying out, landing in various places, rooting in the soil, adorning the venue even more splendidly.
"You’ve all brought thoughtful gifts!"
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan laughed heartily and invited the five ladies to sit together.
They greeted Zhu Yushan and his wife, and once everyone was present, they imdiately started a table of mahjong.
Li Hanyu, Hua Yixing, Lin Jing’Er, and Hu Cai Niang, off they go!
As the won played cards, the n walked away, while Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan, being hosts, still had to greet the guests.
Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting’Er, whose intelligence didn’t suffice to support them at the card table, soon noticed Liu Qingquan and Xiaocui engaging in a Leapfrog ga.
"What’s this?" Bai Ting’Er asked curiously.
"This is Leapfrog!" Liu Qingquan, deep in thought, replied to Bai Ting’Er’s inquiry, then said with a playful tone, "Co, let’s all play together; this Leapfrog ga can be played by four people together."
"Really?" Yu Mingxin chid in and glanced at the board, "Maybe it can be played by six at most?"
"Exactly, exactly; two-player gas have too few variations; let’s play with four of us!"
After Liu Qingquan spoke, she pulled Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting’Er to sit down, reset the board, and re-arranged the ga.
Xiaocui said with a hint of dissatisfaction, "You little trickster, I was about to win!"
"Not at all!" Liu Qingquan argued, "The situation isn’t clear yet, and the pieces are still jumbled; how can anyone tell the outco?"
Xiaocui pouted helplessly, but arguing with a child wasn’t pleasant; more importantly, the person in front was her husband-to-be’s sister!
Thus, she sat down with Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting’Er, picked up blue and yellow Wooden Beads from the chess box, arranged them in the corresponding spots, and began explaining the rules of Leapfrog to the two won.
The rules of Leapfrog are not too difficult, perhaps slightly more challenging than Tic-Tac-Toe; thus, Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting’Er quickly learned and excitedly joined Liu Qingquan and Xiaocui in a four-player chaos.
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