Chapter 29 This was an arduous task

  The next morning, Qilin was still half asleep and fishing with Xiaobai when she heard a voice calling her name nonstop in her ear. She desperately rubbed against Xiaobai's belly, but...

  "Miss!!!!!"

  "Ah ah!" Jill suddenly sat up, covering her ears, struggling to open her eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "Earthquake, volcano, or home invasion?"

  Green bamboo looked at Qi Lin with a misty gaze, thinking that Qi Lin was talking nonsense, so she raised her voice and said "Miss, you are now a Jade Girl, according to the rules, you must complete the Jade Girl's task every day."

  Qilin tilted her head to look at the green bamboo, yawned and wiped away the sleep tears from the corner of her eyes, lazily opening her mouth to say "What time is it now?"

  "Miss Qi, it's exactly 4 am, the hour for Jade Maiden's morning lesson."

  At 3 o'clock, Qilin yawned again, calculating the time. When she found out it was only around 5 or 6 in the morning, she fell back down and covered her head with the quilt. She had never gotten up this early before work.

  But the next second, the quilt was snatched away by someone, and the cold air immediately pierced her skin, freezing her into a ball. She lazily opened her mouth and said, "Give me back my quilt."

  "But miss, isn't it like this?"

  "I'm telling you to give me the quilt." Opening his eyes, he glared at Green Bamboo coldly and said "I won't say it a third time."

  Lu Zhū was startled by Qí Lín, her hand loosened and the quilt fell to the ground. She was so frightened that she knelt down with a thud and kept kowtowing, saying "This servant did not intentionally disturb Miss, it's just that at this time, the Jade Girls must bathe and change clothes, then learn etiquette, please forgive me, Miss."

  Close your eyes, and what comes to your ears is the sound of green bamboo hitting the ground with a rhythmic beat.

  "I get it." Unable to bear the sound any longer, Qilin suddenly sat up, casually put on her shoes, and just as she was about to grab her clothes, Huan Sha and Lu Zhu had already brought over a set of clothes. Qilin understood what they were trying to do, hesitated for a moment with her hand in mid-air before weakly letting it drop, waiting for someone else to attend to her. "I'm saying, how much longer are you going to kneel? Isn't it time for bathing and changing? Everything is ready."

  Lu Zhuyin hastily got up, took the clothes from Luzhu's hands and said respectfully: "The slave has already prepared hot water, please miss move to the back of the screen, the slave will serve you in bathing."

  Zi Lin didn't bother to waste her breath either; after all, it's not like people's thoughts in ancient times could be changed with just a few words.

  As the green bamboo came to the back of the screen, after helping herself take off her clothes, she began to step into the large wooden bucket. The hot air from the hot water suddenly entered her pores, stimulating every cell in her body, and finally woke up.

  Take a deep breath, and the right shoulder feels itchy and sore. Qilin turns her head to see that the place where Buxiao bit her last night is red and swollen, itchy and painful. She can't help but sigh, not only did she vent last night, but also strangely, the empty space beside her made her unable to sleep, even at three o'clock in the morning, she still felt like something was missing. Of course, she naturally understood what was missing. It wasn't until the sky turned white and fish-belly-like that she finally wrapped herself in a long blanket and fell asleep, but just as she started dreaming, she was woken up by Lüzhú.

  "There's a wooden box on my dresser, it should have some gold balm in it, can you get me one bottle?" No command, no request, just a casual conversation.

  Soon, Green Bamboo found a medicine bottle and gently poured the powder onto Qilin's shoulder. She thought about last night's scene, when she was really scared, but later saw Qilin's angry and relieved expression, and realized that she might have misunderstood something. When Qilin gave her a pastry and somewhat clumsily told her not to misunderstand, she finally knew that Qilin and Bu Yao had actually fought last night.

  After knowing the truth, she really sweated for Zilin, if it got out, what would happen?

  After Green Bamboo helped herself apply the medicine, Qilin took over the bottle and poured some into her palm, saying "Come here."

  Although she didn't know what Qilin was thinking, Lüzhú still obediently went over, Qilin looked at the blood beads on Lüzhú's forehead and carefully applied the medicinal powder, feeling Lüzhú slightly move.

  "Don't move, it won't hurt, and you'll feel a cool sensation." As expected, it's very much in line with Elm's style, the medicine is all mild and gentle. Carefully helping Green Bamboo wipe off the medicine, only then did she hand over the medicine bottle to Green Bamboo "Trouble you to put it away for me."

  Green bamboo couldn't believe it and took over the bottle, looking at Qilin with a gentle gaze, feeling inexplicably warm in her heart.

  After washing and dressing, Qilin simply had breakfast and sat down at the case table prepared by Green Bamboo in the courtyard. On the case table were thick books, which according to Green Bamboo's introduction, were poems that had been passed down through the ages in Fenghuang Country, as well as various rules and regulations, including etiquette books for the imperial palace, and introductions to various flowers of Fenghuang Country.

  For Zilin, these were all very boring, but under the method of Green Bamboo's repeated pleas, she had to pick up the book and read it line by line. She only roughly understood that Feng Huang Guo was a major spice-exporting country, no wonder the whole nation was planting various flowers everywhere. Moreover, Feng Huang Guo was also a militarily powerful nation with strong combat capabilities, relying on its rich natural resources and complete medicinal materials, neighboring countries often purchased from them, in short, it was the America of the 21st century.

  What's more important is that Fenghuang Country has a very good geographical location, located in the center of all countries. Merchants from various countries must pass through here, and the taxes collected are also considerable. However, what worries Qilin is the four regions within Fenghuang Country. One is the Phoenix Palace located in the south, which according to legend was built on a mountain with nine levels. The back of the mountain faces a deep chasm that is thousands of feet deep, making it impossible for even planes to fly over. To the north lies the treacherous Xuanwu Lake, a swampy area with complex terrain and countless poisonous snakes and ferocious fish. The east side has the legendary Qinglong Mountain, which is relatively normal compared to the others. It's said that the plants in the mountain are exceptionally lush, with all sorts of herbs growing there. However, the terrain is complex, and there are miasma and ferocious beasts. Without a guide, it's usually impossible to enter and exit safely. The last one is the White Tiger Mountain to the west, which is the most familiar to Qilin. Not only are there ferocious wolf packs, but the weather is also extremely changeable, with all sorts of poisonous insects and rodents present.

  In the end, Qilin only looked at these things, and everything else was just pretending to take a look, finding an excuse to muddle through.

  "I heard that the plum blossoms in Mei Garden are blooming beautifully, let's get ready and go to admire them." This sentence was serious, rubbing her sour eyes, Qilin didn't wait for Lüzhú's obstruction, and stepped out of the courtyard first.

  After finishing reading the book, there was nothing else to do, so Green Bamboo took out a cloak and put it on Qi Lin, following her to Mei Garden.

  It seems that Zilin is not the only one who has come to Mei Garden. When she arrived, all the other jade women were here chatting and laughing, but it was just a relationship between nobles. For Peony, who was being ignored on the side, it was like hell on earth, her existence seemed out of place.

  But this is also an expected thing.

  After glancing at the others with disdain, Qilin bowed and walked to Peony's side. Although the weather was fine today, the wind blowing over was still very biting, while Peony was wearing only a thin pale pink dress, staring blankly at a red plum blossom.

  "Why don't you wear a bit more?" He took off his own cloak and gently put it on Peony, patting the leaves on her head and smiling warmly. "What if you catch a cold? Don't you worry about yourself?"

  Upon hearing this, Mudan was taken aback, looking at Qilin's gentle smile, her heart warmed up, and she lowered her head in embarrassment "I thought you would blame me for not disciplining Pearl well that day, and didn't even look for me."

  "That's because Master Elm wouldn't let me come out, I've been wanting to see you for a long time." Qilin suppressed the chill in her heart, pulled over Peony's icy hand, and slightly furrowed her brow "How can your hands be so cold? You didn't even hold a warm stove. How are your injuries?"

  The peony was taken aback, looking at Qi Lin's completely nonchalant gaze, which even showed a hint of concern, the knot in his heart suddenly loosened, and he said in a low voice, "It still hurts from time to time."

  It's going to hurt, Qilin nodded and squatted down without regard for her image, stretching out her hand from under Mudan's skirt to feel around until she reached the knee area, then looked up at Mudan who was getting a bit flustered "Is it here?"

  After being touched like that, Peony's whole body tensed up. She looked around and fortunately nobody else was paying attention to her. Her face felt hot as she nodded slightly.

  "Don't worry, I have some excellent medicine for relieving muscle and blood stagnation at my place, Green Bamboo." Looking at Peony's slightly flushed cheeks, Qilin subtly raised the corner of her mouth and carefully put the cloak's hood on Peony, continuing to say "Go, bring some over for Miss Peony."

  Upon hearing this, Lü Zhū was taken aback and looked up at Qī Lín with a smiling gaze. He nodded his head and said "Yes."

  Qiao'er was taken aback by Zilin's attitude, she thought Zilin would distance herself from Mudan or hate Mudan, at least she should investigate Mudan, but Zilin's attitude was surprisingly gentle and courteous, what did she want to do.

  Qilin grasped the icy hand of Qiao'er, who was deep in thought, and said, "We must also thank Miss Mudan for her special care of Qiao'er. Hongxue will be eternally grateful."

  When Pei Dan heard Qiao Er, she was taken aback, her face suddenly turned pale, worried that Qiao Er would say something next, quickly walked over and pulled Qiao Er's hand, awkwardly twitching the corner of his mouth, saying "Of course... it's necessary to take good care of him, otherwise... how can I be worthy of my sister? How... I also... I have a responsibility too."

  Qilin knew she was talking about pearls, and smiled slightly. Of course, she knew they were well taken care of, that's why she said she would be eternally grateful.

  Will definitely come back with a hundredfold gratitude.

  "Miss Peony is truly beautiful and elegant, warm and considerate." He bowed his body slightly, ignoring Cui'er's surprised gaze, and continued "If I could stay by Miss Peony's side, it would be the good fortune of my past life."

  Peony was just about to say something when Green Bamboo walked over, slightly furrowing her brow. She had never seen this maid before, who looked delicate and lovely, but lacked the maturity that Cunning had.

  Taking over the thing in Lüzhú's hand and putting it into Mùdān's hand, he said: "Apply it to the painful place once a day, no more than three days, and the pain will be gone."

  Although she really wanted to say help Mu Dan apply medicine, Qi Lin couldn't say that kind of thing, so she changed her words.

  "Thank you for your concern, little sister." Taking the medicine bottle from Qilin's hand and holding it in her palm, she grasped Qilin's hand. "Little sister must come visit big sister."

  A chill ran down her spine as she was grasped, but Qilin suppressed the disgust in her heart and revealed a dazzling smile, saying "It's definitely going to happen."

  "Oh, you two are quite elegant. Neither of you is called Shang Buxiang, but it seems like an outsider's perspective."

  Upon hearing Bu Yao's voice, the two of them turned their heads around at the same time. Today, Bu Yao wasn't wearing a veil, and was still dressed in magnificent attire, although she had on light makeup, it was very becoming of her. However, Qi Lin didn't pay attention to this, and instead looked at that magnificent attire, thinking that Long Ye must have sent over many gifts.

  "Sister, where are you going?" Peony quietly put the bottle away and bowed to Xie Yao, continuing "Sister is not feeling well, I'll go ahead first, please continue to have fun, both of you."

  "Slow down, sister." Bu Yao slightly lowered her head as a form of courtesy and watched Peony walk away with a calm tone, "I didn't expect your skills in seducing women to be quite good."

  Nauseating.

  Qilin wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Compared to you seducing men, it's still far off. After all, we're both women, and women understand women better."

  "You're really being unreasonable."

  "Each has their own." Not conceding to Shang Yuxi's gaze, Qi Lin raised her chin and said "What about your side?"

  "Who do you think I am?" With a confident lift of her chin, she tried to look down at Qilin, only to find that they were the same height.

  She pouted and turned around, "I'm going back."