Chapter 132: Competing with the Princess for the Talented Scholar

  He didn't turn around until he heard our footsteps. When he saw it was me, he looked even more surprised and hurriedly jumped down from the railing to greet us. He asked in confusion, "I don't know if Madam Song..." I felt uncomfortable with this unfamiliar form of address, but I smiled politely and said, "May we come in and sit for a while?"

  He nodded, realizing his rudeness, and hastily made a polite gesture towards me, leading the way in front.

  I found many human figures carved from bamboo in a small cabinet at the entrance of his house, vaguely blocked by the window screen, seemingly a woman's head portrait?

  I suddenly thought of Li Xunhuan in "The Little Li Flying Dagger", who is also a man with both literary and martial skills, and loves carving statues of women.

  "This is my mother." Chihiro handed me a photo from the cabinet, saying quietly as I was lost in thought.

  I took it and looked at it, and indeed it didn't look like a young woman's handwriting either. My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed, and I couldn't help but ask: "Is your mother well?"

  "She... has failed!" Chihiro opened the door and said lightly, as if unintentionally, but that light sentence had already caused countless sadness.

  "Don't mention it!" I looked at his haggard face and knew in my heart that he must have had a sleepless night.

  He just smiled and didn't take it seriously.

  His house is simple and elegant, with nothing extra, tidy and spotless, without any luxury items, but every item is extremely delicate and beautiful, at a glance you can tell that it's valuable, in my heart there's a thought, if I were the mistress of this house, how great would that be?

  I ordered the servant girls to put down the gifts outside and wait, opening the door wide, blowing in the mountain wind with a different flavor.

  Yi Qian Xun didn't say a word, only fiddling with brewing tea for me. He didn't speak and I didn't either, until he finished making the tea and handed it to me saying: "This isn't any good tea, but it's naturally grown in this mountain, refreshing and sweet, try some."

  I sniffed and smelled, the flavor is indeed very refreshing. So I smiled and asked: "Did you make it yourself?"

  He nodded and pointed at the house saying: "The chairs, tables, even this house, I made them all myself!"