"She jumped off a cliff."

"What?" Zhu Shun was suddenly furious and shouted, "Are you an idiot for me?" Do you mean that the girl of the Jing family jumped off the cliff and fell to her death in order to frame you? ”

"I ......"

"Nonsense!" Zhu Shun said angrily, "It's been four or five years since you entered the mansion, and I have always treated you well." You and Jin Candle are competing for favor, that is also the internal matter of your Qingshan Temple, why bother to splash dirty water on my head? What else do you want to do now? Do you want to deduct basins on my head in front of the masters and young masters of each family? ”

"Steward Zhu, you have to believe me."

"Someone! Hit me hard! ”

A piercing scream rang out.

Chu Qiao grabbed the rope he had prepared in advance and swung it hard, and got into a small cave. This octagonal mountain is made of ink rock, and every spring, a kind of purple moss will grow on the ink rock, which is extremely rare, and has a unique aroma after being burned and roasted, and is elegant and calm. The people of the Zhuge family would collect moss on the cliff wall every spring, and after a long time, they dug a hole more than one person high. Chu Qiao lived in the backyard of the handyman all day long, knowing that this hole had been a long time, she picked up a few dead grasses, carefully landed on the ground, slowly withdrew the rope with the hook lock, and quietly waited for the crowd above to disperse.

At this moment, a warm breath suddenly sprayed in his ears, and a male voice with a hint of amusement whispered: "You little girl, why is your heart so vicious?" ”

Chu Qiao was startled, turned his head suddenly, and hurriedly grabbed the hook on the rope and thrust it into the other party's neck.

"It's hard to imagine that you're not even ten years old." The other party was agile, and he grabbed Chu Qiao's little hand tightly, his voice was not shocked, and he said lightly.

Chu Qiaoren was small and frail, and was pressed to the ground with one hand, but he stubbornly raised his head, and was suddenly startled, his brows furrowed, and he said in a deep voice: "It's you?" ”

The man also seemed to be stunned, looked at the child carefully, and then smiled with an epiphany: "Who is my Tao, it turned out to be you, is the wound medicine still good?" ”

I saw that the sword eyebrows of the person who came were like flying, the bridge of the nose was high, the eyes were as black as ink, but it was difficult to hide a few sharp edges under the gentleness, and it was the guest of honor at today's banquet - Yan Xun, the son of Yan Shizi in Beijing, who was in the land of Yanbei.

Chu Qiao stubbornly raised his head and said coldly, "Why are you here?" What do you want to do? ”

Yan Xun chuckled, "I should have asked you this, right?" ”

Chu Qiao's mind turned sharply, and he repeatedly thought about how sure he could be of a fatal move to push this man off the cliff here, and while thinking, he touched the dagger on his waist.

Yan Xun raised his finger and said softly: "If you don't want to be discovered, just settle down and don't have bad ideas in your head." Little child, why is he so vicious? ”

Chu Qiao raised his eyebrows, "Speaking of viciousness, compared to you, I am far behind." You are hiding here, presumably not doing anything good, you and I are half a catty, don't look like you are doing me a big favor, hypocrisy. ”

When Yan Xun heard this, he stood up suddenly, pushed aside the artemisia grass, and shouted at the top: "Who is the person above?" ”

Chu Qiao was shocked, and if he wanted to stop it, it was too late. Thinking that if she was exposed, Xiaoba would not be spared, so she immediately pulled out her dagger and stabbed it towards Yan Xun's vest.

Yan Xun hooked his hand in a dashing manner, covered Chu Qiao's small mouth, and hugged her tightly in his arms. At this time, there was a voice of inquiry from above, Yan Xun poked his head out of the cave, and said in a loud voice: "This son of the world is here to enjoy the plums, what are you calling the ghosts above?" Hurry up and disperse. ”

Zhu Shun was carried to the edge of the cliff, and when he saw Yan Xun, he immediately lost his majesty, nodded and bowed for a long time, and then led people to leave quickly.

Yan Xun let go of his arm with a smile, turned his head, and said to Chu Qiao with a smile: "I can be regarded as a great help to you now, right?" ”

Chu Qiao was small, standing in front of Yan Xun less than his shoulder, listening sideways for a while, seeing that there was really no movement above. He threw the hook lock in his hand, and after hooking it firmly, he turned over and climbed up.

Yan Xun squinted at her, and saw that although she was relatively agile, she didn't look like she knew martial arts, she could only be regarded as bold and careful, and her movements were neat. The cave here is only more than a meter away from the top, Yan Xun climbed the rock wall with both hands, and jumped on it with a little force.

Chu Qiao hid the hook and lock, looked around, and after making sure it was safe, he turned around and was about to leave. But he turned around again, and said in a calm voice: "I don't want to owe you a favor, and when I go back later, pay attention to your horse." ”

Yan Xun was slightly stunned, and by the time he reacted, the child's figure had already walked away. From a distance, it looked like a puppy climbing up and down the rugged path, and disappeared after a while.

The young Yan Shizi's eyes narrowed, smiled lightly, and said, "Interesting." ”

After going down the Octagonal Mountain, I turned around a small rockery and entered Merlin.

Today, the losers of the major families in Zhenhuang City gathered in Zhuge Mansion, and the Meilin area was strictly guarded and very quiet. Chu Qiao was small, walking in the plum forest, tiptoeing from time to time to pick two plum blossoms, very leisurely.

"Hey! Come here! An unceremonious voice suddenly sounded, the voice was childish and domineering.

Chu Qiao raised his head and looked over, only to see that it was a young man in a brocade robe who was more than ten years old, wearing an emerald green robe, and a snow-white mink tail was finely sewn on the placket with golden embroidery thread, the mink tail was fluffy, surrounding his smooth and jade-like face, his firm little nose was slightly wrinkled, a pair of eyes stared at her darkly, and shouted loudly: "It's you, I call you!" ”

Chu Qiao frowned slightly, thinking that it was better not to cause trouble, so he bowed politely and said in a deep voice: "The slave still has something to do, please forgive me for not staying for a long time." Then he turned around and was about to leave.

The little boy was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect this person to leave like this, his little nose wrinkled, and he suddenly waved the horsewhip in his hand and shouted: "Dog minion!" What a guts! ”

Chu Qiao heard the sound and looked back suddenly, stretched out a pair of tender white hands and grabbed the end of the horsewhip in his hand, and looked at it coldly with a sharp gaze.

Where did the little boy think that the little maid of the Zhuge family was so fierce, and he dragged it back but didn't move, pouted, and said angrily: "Are you looking for death?" I had someone cut you! ”

Chu Qiao smiled coldly, and with a dexterous turn of the hand holding the whip, the handle of the horse whip suddenly slipped out of the little boy's hand and landed on Chu Qiao's hand. The girl was not yet eight years old, petite, and had a small face that was pink and tender, but there was no childishness in her eyes. She stepped forward step by step with a calm face, and said in a flat voice: "The whip is for driving horses, not for beating people. With that, he handed the whip upside down to the little boy's hand, turned around and was about to leave.

The little boy saw that this little girl was smaller than himself, but she was full of momentum and her skills were also very flexible, so he actually gave birth to a trace of closeness. Seeing that she was leaving, she was a little anxious, but she couldn't pull her face down and say good things, so she ran forward angrily and stopped in front of her, shouting loudly: "Which courtyard of the Zhuge family are you?" What is your name? Do you know who I am? Believe it or not, I really got someone to pull you out and cut you down? ”

Chu Qiao raised his head, glanced at the little boy lightly, pushed his arm away, and raised his eyebrows contemptuously, "If you can't beat others, you keep looking for someone, what kind of ability is it?" What is the identity of a person like you, I have no interest in wanting to know at all. ”

The plum tree shook gently, and the little boy in the brocade robe stood in the middle of the merlin, watching Chu Qiao's small body gradually disappear at the end of the merlin, and he was a little stunned.

Back at Qingshan Courtyard, Chu Qiao said hello to the people walking around, and went straight into the Xuan Pavilion. Zhuge Yue half leaned on the soft couch, looking lazy, and didn't raise his head when he saw Chu Qiao coming in, but only glanced lightly at the end of his eyes.

Chu Qiao walked to a green jade vase, took out yesterday's flowers, and then inserted the freshly picked plum branches into it one by one. After finishing it, he walked to Zhuge Yue's side, squatted in front of the small incense burner, mixed the snow water swept off the plum blossoms with the orchid incense, and then carefully poured it into the incense burner, and gently fanned it with a small fan. The smell in the room suddenly became fresh, Zhuge Yue took a long breath, and gradually closed his eyes.

Most of the hour passed, and Zhuge Yue seemed to have fallen asleep, when there was a sudden noise outside, and the young man opened his eyes impatiently.

"Fourth young master, Steward Zhu of the Outer Mansion just sent someone to catch Miss Jin Xi at the foot of the Octagonal Mountain, Miss Jin Xi carried a pot of rattan horns, and carried a large number of poisonous snakes, and she was stolen and seized, and now she is being tried in the court."

Zhuge Yue's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said slowly: "Although Jin Xi is domineering, she is very timid, she dares to carry a poisonous snake with her?" Did you hear what she said? ”

She said......" The subordinate's voice suddenly lowered, and he glanced at Chu Qiao, who was sitting quietly in the corner, with slanted eyes, and whispered, "She said that she followed Xing'er, and said that Xing'er designed to frame her and Jin Zhu in order to avenge the children who died in the Jing family a while ago." ”

"Xing'er," Zhuge Yue leaned on the couch, picked up the teacup, and said lightly, "Explain yourself." ”

Chu Qiao knelt on the ground and replied in a calm voice: "Back to the Fourth Young Master's words, Xing'er didn't do it." ”

"And where did you just go?"

"Xing'er went to the plum garden."

"Did anyone else see it?"

The child tilted his head, meditated for a moment, and said: "Xing'er met a little young master in the garden, not the young master in our house, more than ten years old, wearing an emerald green robe, with a snow-white mink tail on the placket, Xing'er doesn't know his name. ”

"Hmm." Zhuge Yue nodded and said to the person who passed the message, "You go down." ”

The subordinate was slightly stunned, and cautiously said in confusion: "That Jinsi girl......"

Zhuge Yue half-raised his head, leaned on the couch with his eyes closed, and said slowly: "If you do something wrong, you will be punished, let the head of the court watch it." ”

The man said yes and withdrew, and the room was silent, only the faint smell of incense wafted away, like a cloud.

"Xing'er, do you hate the relatives who killed you in your heart?"

Chu Qiao lowered his head and replied obediently: "Young Master, Xing'er has been a slave in the mansion since he was sensible, and it is because of the young master that Xing'er can sleep on a warm bed, eat hot dishes and meals, and wear warm clothes. Xing'er is still young, and she can't hold so many things in her heart, she just wants to serve the young master well and live well. ”

"Well," Zhuge Yue nodded, "It's best if you think like this, although you are young, you are still doing things safely, and you will be in charge of things in the Xuan Pavilion in the future." ”