Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 648: Cheng (1)

Lou Qianyu felt a sense of loss after hearing the news, but fortunately, it was within the range of what she had anticipated; after all, winter was the season when weeds did not grow.

Ever since the people in the palace learned that ’Zhaoxia Palace’ was where Empress Jinghe resided, the few remaining timid consorts no longer dared to send people to visit. They all tucked in their tails and behaved themselves, and these days, life had been relatively peaceful.

The morning sunlight was incredibly bright. It’s often said that the early bird catches the worm, so Feng Xuxu didn’t rise too early. She strolled around the courtyard to stretch her legs and take a breath of fresh air. When Lan Lengyun came with hot water to the bedroom, she discovered the bedroom door open. She stepped inside, set down the basin, walked around the screen, and saw the bed empty with the blanket pulled back. Since the room wasn’t disturbed, her heart eased somewhat.

As she left the bedroom and walked towards the back courtyard, she saw her mistress squatting in horse stance in an open area, her hands simulating movements, now a semi-circular arc, now a complete circle, and her steps peculiar, slow and deliberate.

"Mistress, you are here. Are you practicing some... uh, martial arts?"

Feng Xuxu stopped her exercise, slowly regulated her breath, and stood up straight. She took the handkerchief that Lan Lengyun handed her and gently wiped the fine sweat off her face. Turning her gaze to her servant, she said, "It’s called Tai Chi Fist."

Lan Lengyun touched her head in puzzlement, thinking about the strange moves and then recalling the formidable martial arts she knew of. There didn’t seem to be such a fist technique among them. Not quite understanding, she shook her head and took the handkerchief from her mistress, following her back to the bedroom.

Right after breakfast, Feng Xuxu felt somewhat uneasy, as if she had neglected something. It only struck her that there was still a matter from the Sunset Kingdom she had not dealt with.

"Lenglei, call Feng Qing to come over later."

"Understood, Mistress."

Lan Lengyun took the teapot for brewing tea from Sister Mei’s hands and tilted her chin up, a gesture that needed no explanation—it was her turn to go find Feng Qing while she stayed to brew the tea.

The warmly intense gaze filtered through the window and into the room. On a soft divan, a woman in a light purple, pleated long dress lay stretched out, the skirt spilling onto the floor. She lazily reclined against a cushion, quietly engrossed in the book in her hands.

Feng Qing was momentarily taken aback by the beauty of her mistress, but when he met her cold gaze, he snapped back to reality and knelt on the floor: "Mistress."

Feng Xuxu lazily shifted her gaze away from him, turned a page of the book, and without looking at the person on the floor, focused intensely on her reading. Her lips parted slightly, "There’s a packet of medicine on the table. I believe Concubine Pear would appreciate it quite a lot."

Feng Xuxu glanced briefly at the table and responded while looking down, "Yes, Mistress."

She rose, picked up the small packet of medicinal powder from the table, and with a light tap of her feet, vanished from the room. Meanwhile, the reading Feng Xuxu’s lips curved into a slight smile.

In the afternoon, noticing the pleasant weather outside, Feng Xuxu ordered her servants to move the soft divan outside to a sunny spot where she lay down and soon fell asleep.

Yingsu saw the mistress asleep outside and entered the house to fetch a blanket. She gently covered her mistress with it, then brought a small stool to sit by the divan, keeping watch while staying prepared in case her mistress needed anything on a moment’s notice.

Feng Xuxu, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly furrowed her brows tightly, opened her clear eyes, and turned to look at Yingsu, who had also dozed off. A trace of a crack appeared in her eyes. Half-sitting up on the divan, she stretched out her delicate, chive-green fingers and played with her ink-black hair at her chest. Her voice was coquettish, like someone not fully awake and languid. Half-squinting, she called out to a certain spot in the courtyard, "If you’ve already come, stop being a shrinking turtle!"