Chapter 47 - 47: Practicing Swordplay
The sun was shining brightly in the small courtyard.
Bai Ling was wearing a pink dress and standing in the small courtyard. She held a small black whip in her hand and looked at Luo Qingzhou solemnly.
Under the eaves not far away, beside the exquisitely carved window frame, Xia Chan held her sword and looked at him coldly.
Luo Qingzhou stopped at the door and looked at them.
“Are you aware of your mistake?” Bai Ling snorted and suddenly spoke.
She waved the small whip in her hand.
Luo Qingzhou stood still. “No.”
Bai Ling raised her eyebrows and said, “You don’t know? Sir, you know that that person humiliated the Qin family and Miss by breaking off the engagement. He’s so despicable! Why did you bring him here and make Miss angry?”
Luo Qingzhou replied calmly, “Firstly, I can’t reject him. Butler Zhou and you also didn’t reject him, otherwise, he wouldn’t be here. Secondly, I know that Miss Xia Chan won’t let him in, and I also know that the First Young Miss won’t see him. Thirdly…”
Bai Ling’s eyes flickered. “What’s the third reason?”
“Thirdly, I want to take revenge on him.”
Luo Qingzhou said calmly.
Bai Ling was stunned. “Revenge?”
Then, her expression changed as if she understood something. She said, “Then do you feel better now?”
Luo Qingzhou lowered his head and cupped his hands at the cold girl under the roof. “A little. Thank you, Miss Xia Chan, for letting me see him suffer a setback for the first time and letting me know that there’s something that he fears.” The girl under the roof snorted coldly and turned her face away.
Bai Ling’s solemn face broke into a smile. “Then will you feel afraid? Who are you afraid of? Chanchan, Miss, or me?”
Luo Qingzhou did not answer. He cupped his hands and said, “Miss Bai Ling, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to study.”
Bai Ling smiled. “Sir, you have not properly thanked Chanchan yet. Chanchan helped you vent your anger, the words ‘thank you’ just aren’t enough.”
Luo Qingzhou raised his head and glanced at her before looking at the cold girl under the eaves and windows.
However, at some point in time, the cold girl was no longer there.
As expected, she came without a sound and left without a sound.
Bai Ling rolled up the small whip in her hand and said, “Miss is reading in the garden at the back. Go and pay your respects to Miss. You still have to accompany Madam tonight, so you don’t have to come tonight.”
When Luo Qingzhou heard this, his heart skipped a beat. Reading?
From the first time they met until now, he had never seen the First Young Miss Qin read a book. Every time he saw her, she would be in a daze.
Bai Ling led him through the corridor, bypassed the house, and came to the back garden through a side passage.
“Sir is here, Miss,” Bai Ling announced.
Luo Qingzhou followed behind. When he entered through the round door covered in green vines, he suddenly heard the sound of someone practicing swordplay.
He looked toward the sound.
In the pavilion in front of him, a girl in a white dress was sitting there quietly, reading a book in her hand.
The bright sunlight shone through gaps in the foliage onto her hair cascading down her back like a night waterfall. The sunrays dotted her hair and bounced from time to time when the breeze shook the leaves, like naughty little fairies.
Her side profile, which was bathed in sunlight, was perfect.
In the open space outside the pavilion, a beautiful girl in a green dress was holding a sword and dancing fiercely under the sunlight.
The breeze fluttered through her dress and made her hair dance. She had a very graceful figure.
The plum blossoms that had long bloomed on both sides fell and swirled around her slender body as if they were playing and dancing with her.
Her dark eyes were cold.
“Sir… ”
While Luo Qingzhou was watching silently, Bai Ling suddenly approached him and said in a low voice, “Chanchan will practice swordplay whenever she’s angry or happy. Guess why she did it this time?”
Luo Qingzhou looked at Xia Chan for a while longer and ignored Bai Ling. He walked out of the pavilion and cupped his hands at the young girl in the pavilion through the vermillion railing. He called out softly, “First Young Miss.”
Qin Jianjia froze for a moment before raising her head slightly and looking at him calmly.
After looking at him for a while, she nodded slightly and lowered her head to continue reading.
She still did not speak.
But this time, she had finally given some response.
Luo Qingzhou prepared to leave.
Bai Ling quickly reminded him in a low voice, “Chanchan is practicing her swordplay, you should watch it before you leave. Otherwise, Chanchan will feel that you’re disrespecting her and she’ll be angry.”
Luo Qingzhou glanced at the slender and cold figure in the courtyard again. He ignored Bai Ling and walked straight to the round door.
He no longer believed Miss Bai Ling’s words.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Just as he was walking toward the round door, the sword’s momentum suddenly changed!
The sword wind rustled, and sword light filled the garden. It sounded like a storm in his ears.
At the same time, a chill swept over him.
In an instant, Luo Qingzhou felt a chill run down his spine and his neck itched.
He stopped in his tracks and stood rooted to the ground.
However, that chill still locked onto him, causing involuntary goosebumps to erupt all over his body.
He froze on the spot for a few seconds before slowly turning his head to look at the beautiful figure practicing swordplay in the courtyard.
Petals fell like rain around her, but her pretty face was as cold as ice.
The sword in the girl’s hand suddenly slowed down, and the sword light that illuminated the garden gradually disappeared.
Luo Qingzhou suddenly felt the chill that enveloped his entire body disappear.
Everything returned to normal.
It was as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.
He was stunned, but he still stood where he was, staring at the beautiful and cold figure.
Bai Ling walked over and looked at him with a faint smile. “Sir, why aren’t you leaving?
Luo Qingzhou looked at the figure dancing with the sword and ignored her.
Bai Ling also looked over and said in a low voice, “Sir, is she good-looking? If you think she’s good-looking, go look for Miss and ask for her permission to take her in as your concubine, okay?”
Luo Qingzhou still ignored her.
After a while, the cold figure dancing with the flower petals finally stopped.
Clang!
The sword returned to its sheath.
The girl looked at him coldly.
Luo Qingzhou retracted his gaze and turned to leave.
Bai Ling quickly shouted behind him, “Sir, you said that Chanchan looked very pretty when she was practicing swordplay. Is that true? Is she as pretty as me?” Luo Qingzhou did not want to reply to her.
He quickly walked out of the courtyard and disappeared.
“Chanchan, don’t look at me like that. Sir really said it just now, he whispered it into my ear and almost bit my ear.”
Bai Ling smiled.
Xia Chan held her sword and stood under the plum blossom tree, looking at her coldly.
“By the way, Chanchan, Sir said that your chest is smaller than mine. You only have yourself to blame. Why are you so shy and deliberately bind your chest so tightly? Yours is bigger than mine. The next time you see Sir, you have to take the initiative to explain yourself, lest he misunderstands.”
Bai Ling continued to tease.
Xia Chan hugged her sword and turned around, looking elsewhere with a cold expression.
The girl sitting in the pavilion reading seemed to ignore the commotion outside the pavilion. Her head was still lowered as she read quietly.
The morning breeze was especially mischievous.
It brushed past the girl’s ears and blew her hair. The breeze spun in the garden, and the fragrance of flowers filled the air with a sweet perfume.
Luo Qingzhou returned to the small courtyard and closed the door.
Then, he entered the house and took out the Lunisolar Mirror from under the bed. He flipped up the side that had the sun engraved on it and placed it on the desk in front of the window, facing the sunlight.
Today, Luo Yu’s arrival strengthened his determination to cultivate.
In this era, the difference in status came from one’s background. It was very difficult to change.
Even Yuan Shikai, who used to be a powerful figure in the nation in his previous life, did not have the authority to bury his mother in the family’s ancestral tomb because he was a concubine’s son.
However, one’s strength could be changed.
The weak followed the rules.
As for the strong, they could set the rules.
Therefore, he had to become stronger!