The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

Mrs. Ma knew that her daughter had invited several young ladies to a small gathering at home today. She was worried that her daughter was not taking good care of Lu Ling, so she came to Hanshan Pavilion to see her. She lovingly took Lu Ling's hand and asked how Mrs. Zhang was before leaving and returning to Qinghui Garden.

Mrs. Ma sat down on the chaise longue, slowly drank a sip of tea, and then looked at the old nanny Song who had been with her for many years and said, "Pass the message on."

"This old servant has already told Qiuju, who is beside the Crown Prince's wife." Nanny Song said respectfully.

Ma nodded and suddenly sat up straight. "Where is Yu Ge'er?"

Nanny Song called the maid over and then said, "The maids said that the young master just left the house with Wenzhu."

Ma lay down again, thinking for a moment, and then raised a meaningful smile. "Later, you should clean up the Taoyuan Pavilion in our garden near the peach garden and put some paints and brushes for painting. Then go tell Qingbo and tell him that it is my idea. Today is a beautiful spring day, why not invite all the young ladies to take a walk in the garden and paint a few strokes." After that, she looked up at Nanny Song and said, "You should go to the prince's wife again."

At Hanshan Pavilion, Zhao Qingbo saw that they had almost finished eating and said with a smile, "The sun is shining brightly today. I have a peach garden with beautiful flowers. From afar, they look like clouds in the sky. Why don't we go to the pavilion over there and sit down to help digest our food?"

After hearing this, Xu Shiyun smiled and said, "Thousand-petal peach blossoms are better than a hundred flowers. Take me there quickly."

The group chatted and laughed as they headed towards the garden. Sure enough, from afar, they could see a grove of peach blossoms, all ablaze with pink. A gentle spring breeze swirled the petals, which tumbled to the ground. A good number of them had already gathered in the cracks of the stones beneath the steps.

"It's so beautiful," Lin Zhaoye exclaimed. Lu Ling also stared at it intently. The garden of the Marquis of Ping'an was much inferior to that of the Marquis of Dingyuan.

Zhao Qingbo smiled and led everyone up to a pavilion built on the hillside in the middle of the peach forest, from which they could have a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery.

"Oh, they even prepared paints for painting." Xu Shiyun walked to the table, picked up a brush, weighed it, turned around and looked at everyone and said with a smile, "Today's scene is worth painting a few strokes." After saying that, he paced in the pavilion while holding the brush, concentrating on his thoughts.

Lin Zhaoye had already dragged Zhao Qinglu into the peach forest, and their laughter could be heard from time to time.

Zhao Qingbo pushed Lu Ling down to sit beside the pavilion and tightened her clothes for her. "Although the wind is warm today, you'd better be careful."

Lu Ling was touched and looked at the peach blossoms in the distance. "Thank you for your advice, sister."

Zhao Qingbo remembered someone's advice and chuckled, "Someone is also concerned about your health." Lu Ling thought Sister Zhao was talking about the elders in the family, so she nodded.

Zhao Qingbo smiled faintly and said nothing. At this time, Xu Shiyun had already started sketching on the paper. "Shiyun has already started. Since that's the case, let's go for a walk so as not to disturb her."

Xu Shiyun said without even looking up, "The one who knows me best is the owner of Hanshan Pavilion."

Lu Ling smiled when she heard that, and followed Sister Qingbo out of the pavilion. The two of them came to a secluded place, where they saw a gurgling stream, and the banks of the river turned from red to silver-white. A buzzing sound came from the branches of white pear blossoms.

"We can't go any further." Zhao Qingbo smiled and pointed to the wall a few steps away from them. "There's no way forward. This place is secluded. I used to come here to study when I was a kid."

"The garden at my sister's house is so beautiful. If we had such a garden at home, I would send invitations to my sisters one day and invite you to come to my house for a visit and a feast." Lu Ling said with a smile.

Zhao Qingbo was very fond of her because she was young and had a very organized way of speaking and doing things. As her eyes flickered, she seemed to recall something interesting. She suddenly smiled and said, "Sister, there is actually another reason why I like sitting here and reading."

Seeing Lu Ling looking over curiously, Zhao Qingbo led her to a pear tree at the base of the wall. "I had a younger brother who was very naughty when he was little. His mother made him study, but he didn't like it, so he often sneaked out of the house with the servants. When his mother found out, she ordered the housekeeper not to let him out. So he used this pear tree to climb over the wall and escape."

At first, when Lu Ling heard the Zhao family sister talking about her brother, she stared at the big pear tree in front of her embarrassedly. After hearing the rest, she couldn't help but ask, "Is my sister sitting here to catch him?"

"Exactly." Zhao Qingbo winked at her mischievously. "Besides, I can also use this to blackmail him into bringing me some gadgets."

The corners of Lu Ling's mouth curved slightly, and her eyes were filled with smiles.

Suddenly, they heard the rustling of cloth among the branches of the pear tree above their heads, and the trunk began to shake, dropping large white petals.

Zhao Qingbo hurriedly pulled Lu Ling back a few steps. Lu Ling nervously looked up and saw a young man in a royal blue robe sitting among the pear blossoms, white and elegant, falling like snow. His hair was as black as ink, and he wore a jade crown tied high. His eyes were bright and his knuckles firmly grasped the tree trunk. The only flaw was that the young man's handsome face was slightly red, and he looked very embarrassed, as if he had not expected to be caught while climbing over the wall.

But at this moment, an urging voice sounded, "Master, why aren't you moving? Madam will be looking for you again later."

Zhao Qingbo couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing. She leaned against Lu Ling, holding her stomach which was a little sore from laughing so hard. She pointed at the boy and said breathlessly, "This is my brother."

Seeing that the young man was in an awkward situation, Lu Ling suppressed her shame and looked up at him. "I will keep my mouth shut about what happened today. It's dangerous up there. You'd better come down quickly, young master." After saying that, she immediately lowered her head and stopped looking at him.

A "plop" sound came from her ears, and large petals fell from her head again. Lu Ling finally looked up. The young man's face had returned to normal by now. He clasped his fists and saluted Lu Ling, his voice as gentle as jade. "I am sorry for being so rude. Please forgive me, young lady."

Lu Ling shook her head slightly, knelt down and returned the greeting, "I'm glad you're alright, sir."

Zhao Qingbo looked at the two of them with a smile on his face. Seeing them acting like this, he couldn't help but teasing, "Why are you so unfamiliar? Lingjie, this is my younger brother Zhao Qingyu, and this is the eldest sister of the Lu family." After saying that, he stared at his brother and laughed.

Zhao Qingyu's earlobes felt hot, and he suppressed his panic as he bowed and said, "Meetings, Miss Lu."

Lu Ling didn't want to be rude and bowed, saying, "Hello, Brother Zhao." After saying that, she turned around and walked back quickly, ignoring the two people behind her.

After walking a distance, she gradually slowed down her pace and saw that she could already see a corner of the pavilion. Lu Ling sat down on a stone, thinking back to the scene just now, she covered her cheeks with her hands. It was so embarrassing.

Zhao Qingbo walked up to her, smiled and pulled her up, "Don't worry, sister, I won't tell anyone about this." After that, he took her back to the pavilion.

There was only a completed line drawing in the pavilion, and Xu Shiyun was not there. Zhao Qingbo thought it was normal, "She must have gone out to look for her so-called opportunity."