The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 700: Lure the snake out of its hole (Part 1)

Early the next morning, Jia Huan took Daiyu, Baochai, and their maids out of the city to admire the snow lotus. Daiyu and Baochai each rode in a carriage, while Jia Huan and his personal guards rode alongside on horseback. For this trip, Jia Huan only brought twenty personal guards, including Dong Dao and Fan Jian, making it a simple and unpretentious trip.

The group left the city through the north gate and headed towards the snow-covered mountains in the distance, with Ayina and Shanba leading the way on horseback.

As Shanba urged his horse forward, he muttered a complaint, "Ayina, it would be fine if the two of us went to see the snow lotus together, why did we have to invite others?"

Ayina turned to look at Shanba and asked curiously, "Sister Xue and Sister Lin have never seen the Tianshan Snow Lotus before. What's wrong with me taking them to see it? Shanba, you weren't so stingy before."

Shaanba hurriedly defended himself, saying, "I'm not being petty, I just don't like these outsiders. The snow lotus on Tianshan Mountain is sacred and cannot be defiled by outsiders."

“Nonsense! Sister Lin and Sister Xue are like celestial maidens from the heavens, how could they possibly taint the snow lotus?” Ayina retorted.

Shanba glanced back at the two carriages behind him, and asked with a hint of doubt, "Are those two Han Chinese women really that beautiful?"

Ayina nodded and said, "Of course, she's much prettier than me."

The young girl was quite modest.

Sha Ba shook his head and said, "I don't believe it. Besides, these Han women are too delicate. They have to take a horse-drawn carriage to go out. At this rate, they probably won't even reach the mountain meadows before dark."

Ayina frowned slightly. This was indeed a problem; the carriage was too slow, and a day was probably not enough for a round trip.

Meanwhile, the women in the carriage behind were overjoyed. This was their first time traveling outside Hami since arriving. Although the morning air was a bit chilly, their spirits were as bright as the rising sun.

Xiangling lifted the curtain of the carriage and peeked out, shading her eyes with her hand as she looked at the distant mountains. She saw that the mountain peaks were covered in white snow, seemingly within reach, and said, "It seems that place is not far away, we will be there soon."

Jia Huan, who was riding a horse alongside the carriage, laughed upon hearing this, "It's still a long way off. We'll be lucky if we can get there before noon."

Xiangling stared wide-eyed in disbelief and said, "Third Master, don't try to fool me. That mountain looks so close. Even if I walked there, it would only take two incense sticks to get there at most."

"Hahaha!" Jia Huan's personal guards couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Xiangling's fair and pretty face instantly flushed red. She pulled her head back into the carriage, lowered the curtain, and said awkwardly in a low voice, "Miss, what are they laughing at?"

Ying'er said with a grin, "Of course I'm laughing at your silly, toad-like yawning!"

Xue Baochai gave Ying'er a reproachful look, then took Xiangling's hand and explained, "There's a saying that goes, 'Looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death.' The mountain may look close, but it's actually very, very far away. If you really walk there, you might not even get there by dark. No wonder they laugh at you."

"Oh! Is that so? I've really made a huge fool of myself!" Xiangling covered her burning cheeks with both hands.

Xue Baochai laughed and said, "We girls don't go out much, so it's okay if we don't know anything about this. Let them laugh if they want."

As Baochai and her two servants were talking, the carriage suddenly stopped. Daiyu and her servants got out of the carriage, changed horses, and continued on their way. Baochai and her two servants also got out of the carriage and changed horses.

It turned out that Jia Huan had made preparations in advance, and specially brought six extra horses for the women to ride. When the road conditions were good, they would ride in the carriage, and when the road conditions were bad, they would switch to horses. When they got tired of riding, they could go back to the carriage to rest. In this way, the women did not have to suffer so much during the journey.

Seeing that Chai Dai and the others had disembarked and changed horses, Ayina finally understood Jia Huan's arrangement and couldn't help but think to herself, "This guy is quite thoughtful and considerate." At this moment, Shan Ba ​​was completely petrified, because Chai Dai had not worn any veils or masks today, generously revealing their true faces. Their stunning beauty immediately amazed the young man.

At this moment, Shanba finally believed that Ayina had not exaggerated. These two Han women were indeed like celestial maidens descended from heaven, and the four maids beside them were also rare beauties, each with their own unique charm.

In fact, if we only consider appearance, Ayina is not much inferior, but the unique temperament of Daiyu and Baochai is something she cannot compare to. The first of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling is no ordinary person.

"What are you standing there for?" Hearing Ayina's urging, Shanba finally came to his senses and quickly spurred his horse to continue forward.

The group traveled northwards towards the snow-capped mountains, sometimes by carriage and sometimes by horse. Around noon, they finally arrived at the foot of the mountains.

Looking up at this moment, one is even more struck by the majestic grandeur of the mountain. The mountainside and above are covered with thick ice and snow, while below the halfway point are bare rock layers, barren and almost devoid of vegetation. However, there are many trees near the foot of the mountain, with clumps of maple trees here and there, their leaves dyed red by the autumn frost, creating a breathtaking scene against the backdrop of blue sky and white snow.

This was the first time that Daiyu and the maids had ever seen such a magnificent view, and they were all delighted.

Seeing the mountain stream flowing gently, with the pebbles at the bottom clearly visible and its water so clear and lovely, Lin Daiyu happily squatted down and stretched out her jade-like hands, as white as frost and snow, to try to scoop up a handful of water.

Ayina quickly reminded her, "Sister Lin, be careful, this is melted snow from the high mountains, be careful not to chill yourself."

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu withdrew her hand, only lightly touching it with her fingertips, and found it to be indeed bone-chillingly cold, which made her secretly gasp in astonishment.

Jia Huan surveyed the surrounding terrain and asked, "Princess Ayina, is this the mountain meadow you spoke of? Why are there no snow lotus flowers?"

Shaanba coldly replied, "How could the noble and sacred Tianshan snow lotus possibly grow at the foot of the mountain?"

Fan Jian said unhappily, "No matter how noble it is, it's still a flower. As long as it's a flower, it can be enjoyed by people. Since it's for people to enjoy, what's with the noble and holy nonsense? You kid, stop talking nonsense and just tell the governor where the snow lotus is. Stop pretending to be a big shot!"

Jia Huan nearly collapsed, never expecting Fan Jian to utter such insightful words, though the language was rough, the reasoning was sound.

Shaanba was so choked that his face turned white, but Ayina glared at Jia Huan, who was speechless. "It wasn't me who said that," he coughed lightly and "scolded," "Xiao Fan, don't be rude, get out of here!"

"Yes!" Fan Jian did as instructed and took a few steps back.

Ayina pointed to the mountainside and said, "Climb over to the spruce grove, and there's a meadow behind the foothills where snow lotus grows."

Jia Huan gave Dong Dao a wink, and the latter immediately said, "Your Excellency, there might be wild beasts roaming around here. I'll take a few brothers to scout ahead." After saying that, he led nine personal guards up the mountain first to quickly occupy a favorable high ground.

Ayina glanced thoughtfully at the backs of Dong Dao and the other guards, then took Daiyu and Baochai's hands and said, "Sisters, let's go up the mountain. The path is a bit difficult, so please stay close to me."

Both Daiyu and Baochai glanced at Jia Huan, then smiled and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness."

Next, the group began to climb up the snow-capped spruce trees halfway up the mountain. Fortunately, although the mountain path was difficult, it was not to the point where they needed to use their hands and feet. The women were also feeling excited and chatted and laughed along the way, so they did not feel very tired.

At that moment, a wisp of mist drifted silently from the mountains towards this side, like a curtain...

(End of this chapter)