Vase Arrangement with Locust Branches

One was a young lady of the marquis residence, with slightly elongated eyes that carried an innate authority even when she was not angry.

The other was Yunhe Commandery Princess, personally ennobled by the current Sovereign. Her father, the Eastern King, was said to be among the mightiest warriors in the Great Li Dynasty.

The Commandery Princess had been raised in the palace since childhood and personally cultivated by the Empress Dowager. Though her title was merely that of a Commandery Princess, her retinue and treatment were no different from a princess's. Even here in Yuan River Prefecture, she had her own palace residence.

At that moment, the two sat in the octagonal pavilion, admiring the snow and flowers. The snow atop the pavilion roof had piled so thickly that it sagged downward, while several icicles hung from the eaves, crystal-clear and gleaming with a cold blue light in the dimness.

Two copper braziers burned in the courtyard as well, their charcoal blazing fiercely and making the pavilion pleasantly warm.

At the entrance to the garden not far from them, numerous household servants hunched their necks against the swirling snow, bending over as they vigorously swept the stone paths outside the covered walkways.

Several thinly clad servants worked together to push a wheelbarrow, hauling away the swept snow and dumping it into the drainage ditch beyond the garden.

The two in the octagonal pavilion sat with their backs to them, unable to see these people. Not even the hems of their clothes had been touched by the wind or snow.

Not far outside the pavilion, those hunched-backed, shivering figures looked all the smaller and dimmer amid the boundless whiteness of the snow.

Whenever they occasionally looked up and secretly glanced at the two beautifully dressed ladies in the distant pavilion, they would quickly lower their heads again and sweep even harder—as though, if they swept fast enough and clean enough, they could sweep all the cold and misery brought by the blizzard into that unseen ditch.

Just then, several servants suddenly spotted a figure.

The figure stepped out from beside the covered walkway, holding a vase arrangement as he braved the wind and snow and strode forward.

"Who is that?" The steward in charge of sprinkling water and sweeping could not help frowning as he asked. Someone beside him immediately answered in a low voice, "He's a government slave from the rear rooms. The snow is heavy today, so he was temporarily assigned here at your request, Steward!"

"A government slave?" The steward, already over fifty, narrowed his eyes. "The Commandery Princess and the young lady are of noble status. If this government slave offends them..."

Cold sweat broke out across him. Without even having time to order the servants beside him, he bent forward and hurried after the government slave.

"He's heading for the pavilion. Is this man tired of living? And where did that flower arrangement come from?"

The other servants continued sweeping, but their eyes could not help drifting toward that thin, solitary back.

The marquis residence's household rules were extremely strict. For servants to approach the masters without orders was a grave offense!

Especially when Chen Lingxi was a government slave, the lowliest of all servants.

"Perhaps he was given an order?"

"He came here to sweep with us. What order could he possibly have received?"

They whispered among themselves.

Meanwhile, the steward hurried forward in a bent posture, only to discover that he could not catch up to Chen Lingxi at all. His anxiety grew even more intense.

Fortunately, the guard stationed not far from the octagonal pavilion saw the two approaching quickly.

The guard was named Wu Zheng. He was in his thirties, dark-faced, with a saber at his waist. The moment his gaze swept over Chen Lingxi and the steward, a trace of vigilance flashed through his eyes.

In an instant, a silver-white glow like moonlight faintly rose around his body, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

He took several strides and somehow crossed more than thirty meters, arriving before Chen Lingxi.

"Who goes there!"

Guard Wu Zheng spoke!

After plotting for two days, Chen Lingxi had finally found his chance. Yet as he hurried forward, his body suddenly stiffened.

It was as though an icy chill that pierced to the bone rose from the depths of his marrow!

Cold to the utmost extreme.

It felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over his head, soaking through his flesh and pouring straight into his heart and lungs.

He was immediately nailed in place, unable to move!

The steward behind him also seemed to have been struck by lightning. He stopped where he was, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"The noble ladies are admiring the flowers. Why are you disturbing them?"

Since this was the Baosu Marquis Residence, Wu Zheng did not make a move. He merely demanded in a deep voice.

As soon as he spoke, the chill enveloping Chen Lingxi and the steward abruptly vanished.

Chen Lingxi found the guard's methods extraordinarily profound and was about to respond when the steward behind him hurriedly said, "Sir, this slave lost his way. I'll take him back at once."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and reached for Chen Lingxi's arm.

But Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, drawing air into his chest as though he intended to cry out loudly.

"Humph!"

Wu Zheng, however, seemed to see through Chen Lingxi's intentions and merely gave a soft snort!

The sound entered Chen Lingxi's ears again, and every bone in his body seemed to freeze once more, as if someone had stuffed all the snow in the courtyard into him.

Another breath of icy air seemed lodged in his chest. He could neither exhale nor inhale, left hanging like that.

"Take him away."

Wu Zheng glanced at the steward before turning away.

The steward hurriedly raised a hand to summon two servants clearing snow nearby. They had already thrown aside their wheelbarrow and were rushing over.

"Just one cold snort, and it felt as though I'd fallen into an ice cave. My entire body seemed frozen solid—I couldn't even make a sound."

Chen Lingxi was stunned, but he forced himself to calm down.

"If I fail and these people take me away, I'll be punished... A government slave approaching the masters without cause and disobeying the steward's orders—if I don't die, I'll still be flayed alive. If I'm handed back to the authorities, death will be certain.

It will only become harder to get close to them afterward."

"So how do I break free of this restraint?"

His thoughts raced wildly. "This guard must be a martial artist of profound cultivation. Martial arts..."

Martial arts!

A flash of inspiration struck Chen Lingxi. He instinctively began breathing in and out according to the breathing method Lin Suri had taught him!

In moments, wisps of clear qi flowed through his limbs and bones, then converged and rose!

The breath that had been lodged in his chest loosened when the clear qi struck it.

It was not completely broken apart, but it allowed Chen Lingxi to speak...

"Chen Lingxi requests... an audience with the young lady... to present this vase arrangement."

His voice was hoarse and incredibly faint, yet it seemed to exhaust all his strength. His face strained red!

Wu Zheng, who had already turned and begun walking away, halted. A clear look of surprise flashed across his face as he turned back.

Chen Lingxi's voice was so soft that even the steward nearby could not hear it clearly.

Yet the two young ladies in the distant octagonal pavilion, who had originally been facing away from everyone, seemed to hear every word. They actually... turned around together!

Yunhe Commandery Princess wore a somewhat surprised expression.

When Lin Longyue turned around, however, she frowned slightly, her gaze cold and composed.

"He really is... courting death!" The steward nearly went mad with anxiety. He hurriedly bowed and saluted the two noble ladies.

"Letting someone like the Commandery Princess see this disgrace in the marquis residence, this man will surely die. And I'll be dragged down with him..."

Before the thought could finish forming, he suddenly heard Lin Longyue speak.

The marquis residence's young lady said, "Hold your arrangement properly and come forward!"

Lin Longyue's voice was very soft, yet everyone heard it clearly...

Wu Zheng stopped, and the pressure on Chen Lingxi abruptly disappeared as well.

A fine sweat covered him. Wu Zheng's blood qi had nearly crushed him to exhaustion.

Still, he drew a deep breath, straightened his clothes one-handed, and hugged the arrangement with his other arm as he did his utmost to walk forward.

As he passed Wu Zheng, Wu Zheng gave Chen Lingxi a look of faint approval.

Chen Lingxi did not shift his gaze as he headed straight for the octagonal pavilion.

Before he had even drawn near, Yunhe Commandery Princess unexpectedly rose to her feet, her bright eyes falling upon the vase arrangement in Chen Lingxi's hands.

Seeing the Commandery Princess stand, Lin Longyue stood as well, her gaze fixed on the arrangement.

"Bring it over."

As Chen Lingxi approached, Lin Longyue spoke. The maid beside her immediately stepped out of the octagonal pavilion, accepted the arrangement from Chen Lingxi, and reverently placed it upon the table.

Once the arrangement was brought close, it captured the attention of both noble young ladies.

"This vase is actually an unfired clay form."

Yunhe Commandery Princess looked at the vessel holding the flowers. It was reddish-brown, moisture seeping through its walls, its entire body covered in a faint, muted sheen.

But when her gaze traveled upward, she was instantly dazzled!

A locust branch had been inserted diagonally into the wet clay. Its bark had split at a bend, revealing pale bluish-white wood. Snow had gathered in the crack, blurred by the dampness of the clay form, neither fully melting nor remaining frozen.

Beside the locust branch slanted a sprig of wintersweet.

It bloomed sparsely, with only three or five flowers. Each was thin as if molded from yellow wax, its translucent petals faintly luminous in the cold light. One flower blossomed directly from a knotted scar on the locust branch. Its fragrance was exceptionally faint, as though washed by snowmelt.

At the lowest point, pressed close to the clay, grew a branch of white calyx. Its slender stem rose from the wet clay, carrying two buds on the verge of blooming, white with a bluish tinge, like the white of unglazed porcelain.

Locust branch, snow, wintersweet, white calyx...

The four elements seemed to have grown together from the clay form.

The aged black of the locust branch, the waxen yellow of the wintersweet, and the porcelain blue of the white calyx were three colors that should not have belonged together, yet the reddish-brown wet clay united them in one place.

That touch of yellow from the wintersweet rested precisely beside the split in the locust branch's knot, like a petal of light blooming from the clay form. The white calyx lay close against the clay's surface, its buds tilting faintly toward the locust branch, as though they had grown from the branch's shadow cast upon the mud.

And the snow that settled among the three became the fourth color—an impartial white.

"It truly is beautiful."

Yunhe Commandery Princess murmured.

Lin Longyue could not help nodding as well. "They do not encroach upon one another within the same space, yet complement each other so perfectly..."

Yunhe Commandery Princess commented, "And none of these are precious flowers. Elegance found amid the commonplace—that is the rarest thing."

At last, delight suddenly rose in her heart. "This vase arrangement is not only beautiful, its meaning is good as well, and it is quite unique.

Perhaps it could be sent into the palace and win a smile from Noble Consort Chun?"

Lin Longyue concealed the astonishment in her eyes and smiled. "If the Commandery Princess likes it, then simply take this vase arrangement back with you."

Yunhe Commandery Princess did not stand on ceremony, but her eyes drifted before finally settling on Chen Lingxi.

"I never expected the Baosu Marquis Residence to have such a young man skilled in refined arts. It would be even better to see more vase arrangements made by him, would it not? That would save me from having to summon someone from the capital."

Lin Longyue smiled and nodded.

Chen Lingxi said nothing, merely standing outside the octagonal pavilion.

Fine snow fell softly. It was not a heavy blizzard, but within half an hour, it had blanketed Chen Lingxi from head to toe.

From afar, he looked like a snowman.

Yet the two noble young ladies paid him no attention. It was not until the end of the Hour of the Monkey that Yunhe Commandery Princess finally rose and departed.

When she left, she took the locust branch arrangement with her, yet did not glance at Chen Lingxi even once.

Wu Zheng, following behind the Commandery Princess, looked at Chen Lingxi several times.

Lin Longyue rose to see her off. Chen Lingxi remained standing silently before the octagonal pavilion, already shivering faintly from the cold...

Another quarter of an hour passed before Lin Longyue arrived, cloaked in a cape, her hands behind her back.

The crimson cape seemed to possess a special effect. Whenever snow fell upon it, it melted and evaporated in an instant.

She entered the octagonal pavilion again and took her seat, drinking a mouthful of hot tea before her gaze finally fell upon Chen Lingxi.

But...

This young lady of the marquis residence had a piercing chill in her eyes.

"A government slave?"

"Did you think Yunhe Commandery Princess wanting to see your vase arrangement would erase your offense of disturbing the masters?"