Chapter: 119 out of 171
After the snow fell, the entire capital was covered in a layer of white as if it had changed clothes. The capital went from bottomless red dust to a world of bright, ceramic glass. As far as the eye can see, the rooftops were covered in a vast expanse of white from the accumulated layers of snow. Wrapped in the silver and white snow, everything was sparkling and translucent.
Wei Luo led Bai Lan to the back to sweep the snowflakes that were on the plum flowers in the garden. This snow had a taste that was sweeter and fresher than spring water and could be used to make tea. Wei Luo held a dou cai tuan hua wen (a type of round, porcelain bowl with a colorful flower pattern) as she walked between the plum trees. As she carefully collected the snowflakes on the plum flowers, she listened to Bai Lan talk endlessly without getting to the point, "First Madam found the doctor called Fu Xing Yun. She's extremely happy. Early in the morning, she had Doctor Fu come to the residence to see First Young Master's leg...."
(T/N: Below is a picture of dou cai tuan hua wen.)
Ch 119 - dou cai tuan hua wen .png
Wei Luo's stopped moving. She thought of the words that Jiang Miao Lan had said in the inn that was next to Xiu Chun. She had said she was married to a person called Fu Xing Yun. This was probably the person that First Aunt had asked to come here. But, she didn't know if First Aunt had found Fu Xing Yun herself or if Jiang Miao Lan had asked him to come here on behalf of her past relationship with House Wei. Regardless of the reason, it would be good if Fu Xing Yun could treat oldest cousin's leg. Wei Luo looked at Bai Lan, "What did Doctor Fu say? Is oldest cousin's leg treatable?"
She still remembered the words that Qian Temple's abbot had said. Fu Xing Yin was the only person in the world that could treat Wei Chang Yin's leg.
In high spirits, Bai Lan said, "I heard that after Doctor Fu went to Banyan Tree Courtyard, saw First Young Master's leg, and said one word, First Madam almost cried.”
Wei Luo curiously asked, "Oh, what was the word that he said?"
Until Wei Luo pinched her cheek, Bai Lan deliberately withheld the climax of the story. Then, Bai Lan smilingly said, “Treatable."
Wei Luo let out a sigh in relief. This was wonderful. Since it was treatable, then it meant that oldest cousin and Liang Yu Rong's predestinated fate could be saved. At the very least, Wei Chang Yin's leg wouldn't be the reason why this fated couple would be forcibly separated in this lifetime.
Bai Lan pulled away the branches that were in front of Wei Luo and drew out the words she heard, "Doctor Fu also said that since First Young Master's leg had been injured for so long, it won't be easy from him to treat it. He'll need several types of medicine and he'll also have to go to Tian Chan Mountain's hot spring villa as part of the medical treatment. This is the only way that he can fully recuperate."
However, Tian Chan Mountain was hundred of miles away from the capital and it's paths were rugged and steep. To get to the hot spring villa, it wouldn't be easy. But, other hot springs' medicinal properties weren't as good as the ones in Tian Chan Mountain's. For Wei Chang Yin's injury, First Madam would try this method no matter what.
Wei Luo used the flower-pattern bowl to catch the snow that fell from the plum flowers. "When are First Aunt and oldest cousin planning on leaving?”
Bai Lan didn't know the answer for this. "They'll probably leave in a few days. First Madam seems very anxious... Miss, you weren't there to see it. That Doctor Fu only used a few needles to prick First Young Master's leg and First Young Master was able to feel his leg again. Isn't that amazing?"
Wei Luo let out a burst of laugher. No matter how good Fu Xing Yun's medical abilities were, she didn't believe it would be that exaggerated. "You say it like you personally saw it."
Bai Lan pouted, "I heard this from Xing Gu. She's one of Banyan Tree Courtyard's servant girls.
Either way, Wei Luo's mood was pretty good. She looked at the flower-pattern bowl to see that she had collected enough snow from the plum blossoms. She smiled at Bai Lan and said, "Let's go. I'll treat you guys to tea made by me.”
Wei Luo's tea skills were pretty good. She had been learning this from Han-shi since she was a child. The tea brewed by Wei Luo had a light, delicate flower-like fragrance. However, a person wouldn't be able to say what specific flower it was. Anyways, it's sweet, simple, and elegant fragrance would remain in a person's mouth and was very suitable for girls to drink.
Bai Lan immediately became happier. She attentively held the flower-pattern bowl for Wei Luo. Over the past several years, she had become livelier and livelier and also said more words. "Miss, I heard that that hot springs in Tian Chan Mountain can also nourish the skin and increase attractiveness by making your skin brighter and smoother. It'll also benefit your body. Do you want to go there?"
Wei Luo thought for a moment, "It would naturally be good to go there, but would daddy agree? In addition, we don't know if First Aunt will be able to get in touch with the people from that villa." After all, there wasn't a girl that could resist the temptation of hot springs. Moreover, it was winter right now. There was nothing more satisfying than looking at the snow while soaking in hot springs.
--------
By the first day of the lunar year, First Master Wei Min was able to get in touch with the people from the hot springs villa. The other party was willing to vacate the villa for three months so that Wei Chang Yin could go there to treat his leg. That villa was one of Prince Jing Zhao Jie's properties. Because of this matter, Wei Min had gone over to Zhao Jie's place to request this favor. Originally, he thought Zhao Jie would make things difficult for him for a time. Unexpectedly, Zhao Jie actually easily agreed.
As a result, Wei Min greatly changed his perspective of Zhao Jie. It seemed that he wasn’t as unreasonable as other people have said.
Wei Luo didn't know about this matter. She only knew that it would be possible for her to go pass the winter at Tian Chan Mountain. She immediately led Bai Lan with her as she went to ask Wei Kun. Wei Kun nodded and agreed that she could go. Wei Luo also had Jin Lu go to Marquis Ping Yuan's residence to invited Liang Yu Rong along the trip. Anyways, the villa was big enough. It wouldn't be a problem for another person to stay there.
In addition to Wei Luo, the people from second and fourth branch, including Wei Bao Shan, would also be going. Bustling with noise and excitement, the family proceeded to go to Tian Chan Mountain.
On the way to Tian Chan Mountain, there was snow on the roads, so the carriages didn’t travel quickly and it took several days to get to there.
After the carriages arrived at the bottom of Tian Chan Mountain, it took them half a day to reach the hot spring villa at the top of the mountain. The sky was already dark by the time they arrived and First Madam assigned everyone his or her rooms. Everyone was exhausted from riding in the carriages for the past several days, so the group of people prepared to sleep after dinner.
Wei Luo and Liang Yu Rong's rooms were next to each other. The two rooms shared a cleansing room. The cleansing room was built around a hot spring.
(T/N: Below are pictures of cleansing rooms. It’s a private bathhouse room with a sunken pool for bathing and soaking.)
Screen Shot 2018-04-14 at 11.17.41 PM.png
Steam was currently rising from the hot spring. It was very tempting. The bath was surrounded by white marble. In the center of bathhouse pool, there was even a lotus flower sculpture. Because of warm air, there were droplets of water on its petals. It looked like a real flower.
At this time, the thing that Wei Luo wanted to do the most wasn't to sleep. It was to have a long soak in the hot spring pool. It would get rid of her body's weariness and make her sleep even sweeter.
Liang Yu Rong had already hurriedly washed her face, rinsed her mouth, and went to sleep. Wei Luo had Jin Lu prepare a set of sleeping clothes and hanged it on the divider that had a traditional painting of beautiful women. Then, she said, "If you two are tired, you can go rest. I'll go to sleep after my bath. You've been working hard these past days. You can take the rest of the night off."
Jin Lu and Bai Lan refused to go rest at first, but seeing that Wei Luo wasn't joking, they gratefully thanked her, "Thank you Miss for your understanding."
She knew that the two of them were truly exhausted. If even the masters were tired, then the servant girls would be even more fatigued.
Wei Luo took off her clothes and casually placed them on a nearby couch. In the moment that she stepped into the hot spring, she was so comfortable that she let out a sigh.
The warm water covered her entire body. Moreover, this was a living, flowing spring instead of stagnant water. The hot spring's water flowed around her body. The slow flow of water was like a gentle pair of hands pressing against her body and stroking it from top to bottom. Wei Luo immediately felt that the hardship of riding in the carriage for the past several days was worth it.
Wei Luo leaned against the pool's white marble side and took out the hairpins in her hair. Her silky black hair fell down like a waterfall into the water and became aquatic grass. Her hair was black and shining. A single glance would show that her hair was painstakingly maintained unlike other girls. Other girls put on makeup and dressed themselves magnificently, but had withered and yellowing hair that adversely affected their beauty. Wei Luo paid great attention to every aspect of her body and maintained every area beautifully. In addition, Wei Luo learned about essential creams and lotions for conditioning hair and skin from Han-shi when she was a child. This was how she developed into a beauty with snow-like skin and a body as delicate as flowers.
Wei Luo picked up a small porcelain bottle with a magnolia flower pattern that was next to the pool, poured out a few drops of transparent essential oil onto her palm, warmed it between her hands, and massaged it into her neck and arms. This essential oil could make her skin whiter and softer. In addition to having a beautiful face, a beauty couldn't overlook the requirement of a snow-white neck and lotus-like arms.
After comfortably soaking in the pool, Wei Luo's face turned red from warm steam. She lazily leaned her upper body against the white marble tiles and let out a pleasurable moan. She thought she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She thought it was Bai Lan or Jin Lu, so she asked, "Didn't I tell you to rest? Why did you come here again?"
No one replied.
Wei Luo blinked. Realizing that something was wrong, she hurriedly retreated into the water, then she turned around to look.
(T/N: To lighten up the angst from the previous chapters, here's a line from a future chapter that was machine translated from a Google.
“Zhao Lan pulled her to the front and took her little face and asked, "Do you think this is the king's intention to marry him?"
The actual meaning of the line was "Zhao Jie pulled her to his front, cupped her small face in his hands, and asked, "Do you think this prince deliberately slandered him?")