The lake of the central pagoda was really beautiful, like a pond in heaven. There was a bridge attaching the pagoda to the water. The walkway was filled by green grass, like the rug, from the bridge until the loch. Along the bank of the lake, small yellow wildflowers were growing within the greenery. In the pool, the water was crystal clear like glass, allowing the viewers to see colorful fishes swimming. When the wind blew, it created small waves on the surface of the stream. Hundreds of mandarin ducks could be seen over the blue liquid. The birdies played in the water happily; some were couples, some were groups.
The like-painting view made the Wu and the Yang smile bigger across their faces. Girl Lifen was the happiest; next was Caihong—it was her first time seeing such a beautiful natural view.
"Sisters, look, that mandarin duck is white," Lifen said.
Everyone threw eyes at a white-shaded bird that was swimming solo.
"Is it alone?" Lifen said. Her face seemed to be upset.
"Soon, its partner will come," Liqing said.
Later on, another white mandarin duck swam from a distance. It went closer and closer until it reached the same-colored birdie; after, the two went along together.
Youngest of Yang smiled her cheeks up as she witnessed the birds were loving each other.
"Look, it has a partner," she said.
The fellow and colleen enjoyed along the pond contently.
During the trip, Ehaung stayed close to Longwei without stepping away even once. She protected the man from any of her sisters getting near, and if someone came nearby or made friendly contact with Wu's son, she expressed a cross face immediately. Because of this, the girls lingered far from Longwei and did not dare to communicate much; except Lifen, this youngest behaved guilt-free.
Lantain saw everything, but she did not pay attention—because her peepers were following the second young lady of Yang who was watching the scene with a smile on her face. Seeing Yang happy, she was happy too.
Next to the pool, there were various kinds of snacks. Lantian did not forget to inspect the eyes and face of Caihong; if she was interested in any food, she told her brother that she wanted it, and Longwei did not hesitate to pay for the small meal. All the times, he bought for everyone, and all the times, Lantian did not touch it and provided it to her maid.
"Miss, I'm full," Xiaolan said.
"I tell you to eat, you eat," Lantian claimed.
With a sour face, the young maid received the snack. She also tried to force it into her stomach, which was like a balloon.
Lunchtime had almost arrived. Yang's ladies thought they would have a meal by the lake, but Longwei told them they would go to enjoy the food at another place.
"It is a little bit far. We have to go by cart," Longwei stated.
The male maid brought three horse-drawn carts to stop before his master and the mistresses.
"I prepare two carts for all of you," Longwei said to the young ladies. "You are six, so three of you can have one cart."
"Third sister, I and fifth sister can sit together," Li Ai said.
Hearing that she had to sit with Caihong, Ehuang presented her cross face immediately. She threw eyes to meet with her maid, and Xiaojie understood her mistress's meaning, so she hurriedly claimed instead of her lady, "Yesterday, Miss studied dancing hard and caused her right leg to be hurt. The doctor said though it is not serious, she cannot stay in a narrow space, especially when she sits."
Hearing it, Caihong made her face lower; she perceived the definition that the female messenger of her sister had given.
"Then four of us can sit together," Liqing said.
"The cart is small. It will be hard for four of you to sit," Longwei said.
"Let's do this," Lantian commented. "First Young Lady and her maid take one cart. Third, fourth and fifth young ladies take one cart. And second young lady comes to sit with us."
Ehuang opened her eyes because if Caihong stayed in the cart with Wu, it meant she stayed in the cart with Longwei. She quickly searched for a reason to block.
"If so, where does your maid sit?"
"Shan is the driver of the cart. I can sit next to him," Xiaolan described.
Hearing that, Yang's first daughter did not have any words to disagree with anymore, and with anger and worry, she climbed the ladders and then moved into the cart.
"Let's go," Longwei said to Lantian, and then both of them got into the carriage.
When everyone was in wagons already, Shan pulled strings to command the animal to lead the walk.
**
**
*
In the cart of Wu, on the right, Longwei sat next to his sister, while Caihong sat on the opposite seat and confronted Lantian.
Staying in the same space with Wu's kids, the girl felt uncomfortable. She could not act properly, especially when her optics met with the minister's daughter's, who was glancing at her without looking away. She tried to escape from the hawk-peepers of the elder female by looking at the view along the road through the window and pretended that she was interested in the scene. However, Lantian could see that the girl was avoiding her. Along the road, it had no pretty image to visit, only empty land and some bushes, but she stayed silently and allowed the younger sis to act whatever she wanted to.
In the sky, the sun was moving higher bit by bit. Some parts of the road were not even by having crushed stones along the way, and in some spaces, it had holes. Though the pitches were not deep, their wide and long appearance caused waving towards the cart, and the humans inside were not able to stay stable. Actually, drivers worked hard to command the four-legged animals to gallop at a slow pace in order to maintain the balance of the carts, but it was not easy. In the carriage, Caihong tried to manage her balance by grabbing the sill that she was sitting by. However, her small fingers could not save her body. When a wheel ran through several large holes like a bowl of soup and then reached a giant shape next, her hands could not catch up and were released from the sill, making her lose support and throw her body out of the seat.
"Be careful!" Longwei yelled, and he wanted to save the younger woman, but Lantian was faster, capturing the figure of the lady without allowing her to touch the ground.
Strange! In the embrace of the female senior, the second daughter of Yang turned to feel the warmth she never had. The girl raised her eyes and looked at the elder lady, who was looking at her too. The heart in her chest jumped at a stronger rate than normal. Even her breath was accelerated. The same, Lantian felt peace when she hugged the junior. She looked straight at her round eyes that were brightening like the twinkling stars. Her chest touched the chest of the girl, and she could hear the rhythm of her heart clearly. A few seconds later, Caihong seemed to come back to herself. When she sensed her waist was in the arms of the minister's girl, she felt shy and hurriedly pulled herself out of the elder woman's hug and returned to be on the seat, while her cheeks were colored like a plum blossom.
"Are you alright?" Longwei asked.
"I'm fine," Caihong said.
"The road is not good. I'm so sorry."
The young woman did not speak. She just gave a little smile, then adjusted her body on the seat. The cart was still in waving motion. In order to not fall like the last moment again, Caihong worked best to strengthen her hands. Seeing the attitude of the girl, Lantian smiled broadly. She thought she was lovely.
After a few minutes, the road was good. The cart could slide smoothly, and the passengers could stay in stable balance.
About twenty breaths later, the parade of the rich stopped before a place, and the young master and the mistresses came out from the carriage.
Before them was the big green scene, making the girls from Yang's house unlatch their big peepers.
"What is this place?" Lifen said.
"It is a bamboo grove," Longwei said.
"Is it your family's?"
"Correct," Lantian replied instead of her brother. "This is just a small piece only," she said, her eyes glancing at Caihong.
Lifen opened her eyes. "Is there anything bigger than this?"
"Yes," Lantian nodded, "and there are a lot. Cannot count. And it will be under the control of the heir of Wu."
The phrase 'under the control of the heir of Wu' made four of Yang's young ladies get excited, especially the eldest mistress.
"Young Master Wu," Lifen said to Longwei, "you are the heir of Wu, so it means it's yours."
"No, it's not like that," Longwei claimed. "It's all the effort of my father. And Father has other kids."
"Even though you will get a bigger share because you are a son," Lifen said.
This sentence was not making the man happy. In contrast, in his mind, he did not feel comfortable, though his lips smiled. Because Liqing was a smart girl, she immediately noticed the expression on the face of Longwei, and she could guess there was something not right about her youngest sister's statement, so she quickly poked her. "Stop talking."
The fifth daughter of Yang narrowed her eyebrows and looked at her sister because she did not comprehend why her elder told her to not continue to speak, but she chose to listen to her sister's comment.
Well, Lantian did not have distress because she knew that Lifen was young and innocent. Actually, her aim was to bother the younger girl that stayed behind everyone, as she wanted to know whether she was not really interested in her brother or she just pretended to have no interest in him. But Longwei was not feeling at ease. He peeped at his half-sister that was standing next to him; his glance was full of worry. As for Caihong, she heard all the conversation; however, she did not pay deep attention since she was enjoying the shade of green plants that was before her.
"Young master," Shan came in, "food is prepared already."
"Please, all young ladies, go up," Longwei said.
The stomach was crying inside the belly; though it was low, it provided bother; hence, Yang's young ladies went to the meal room without waiting for a second invitation.