Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1419 - 455: The Sisters Cai Shiqin and Xia Hong in the Book Collection Tower

In the year 297 of the Caiqiu Calendar, on the eighth day of October, during the daytime

Lin Chu County City, west side of the Governor Mansion, guest residence wing.

The biting ice wind made the trees in the courtyard sway back and forth;

The piercing cold light mercilessly shone down, with frost on the roof and exterior walls continuously solidifying into ice sheets;

A row of icicles hanging from the eaves, although not as exaggerated as the ice plains outside the city, reaching ten meters, were still over one meter long; the irregularly flying and rotating snowflakes in mid-air seemed to tell a story of unrest and unease.

Fortunately, each room in the guest wing had a coal stove, the misty high-temperature air currents melted most of the snowflakes before they could touch the ground, plus the continuous tending and sweeping by the servants, no snow accumulation was formed.

"Ding ding ding... ding..."

At the back of the courtyard, among the purple bamboo grove, suddenly came the crisp and enchanting melody of an ancient zither.

The sound of the zither, sometimes vast like distant mountains; sometimes as cold as heavenly sounds; sometimes long as human speech, not only captivating but extremely melodious, seemed to hold an enchanting charm, gradually calming down the rampant snowflakes above the courtyard, no longer flying and rotating freely, slowly settling to the ground.

A dozen servants wearing lin cloth tunics, cleaning the courtyard, had long stopped their actions, closed their eyes and focused on listening to the music, their faces full of enchantment and enjoyment, even a row of maids carrying food boxes walked into the courtyard heading toward the bamboo grove without any of them noticing.

"Hehe, these foolish boys are captivated by the music again."

"This piece, is it Chen Cang’s ’Chu Wind’?"

"That’s right, the Commandery Princess rarely plays this piece, it must be Miss Su playing."

"Miss Su has been learning for about a month, right? Most people take at least half a year to learn a piece, and she learned it so quickly!"

"Nonsense, more than three months ago when Miss Su entered the mansion, she amazed everyone with a self-composed ’Master’s Grace’, even the Eldest Prince praised her, saying she was a natural musical genius, her speed in learning music would surely be faster than ordinary people."

"Right, right, I remember now, she can even compose her own zither music, learning the music must be easy for her."

.........

As a row of maids whispered among themselves, they followed the stone path along with the music, twisting and turning quickly until they reached the depths of the bamboo grove, where a delicate five-sided pavilion covered with warm-hued gauze curtains suddenly appeared in sight.

On the pavilion, two young girls of about eight sat facing each other in blue and white dresses.

The cold wind slightly lifted the curtains, revealing two stunningly beautiful faces, instantly making both the pavilion and the tranquil bamboo grove lose their brilliance.

The girl on the left wore a sky-blue brocade dress adorned with golden threads; her dark hair was coiled at the back with two intricately crafted phoenix silver hairpins; the Chi Pattern Silver Ornament worn on her forehead, upon closer inspection, was made of hundreds of small bright scale-like pieces, shimmering and dazzling under the cold light.

Around her neck hung a milky Jade Ring, and at her waist dangled two emerald green Jade, though she exuded an aura of nobility, her brows showed not a hint of arrogance, her beautiful eyes tranquil like autumn waters, a gentle smile at her lips as she quietly watched the white-skirted girl playing the zither before her;

The girl on the right was dressed in a white skirt also of brocade, the hem lightly fluttered like flowing clouds in the wind; the sleeves embroidered with very faint silver thread lotus patterns, only under the shifting daylight did it reveal a touch of glow, akin to flowing moonlight; her dark hair was only loosely coiled with a white jade hairpin, revealing her fair and graceful face.

A warm yellow Jade Ring hung from her neck, and two moon-white Jade dangled from her waist, her demeanor was not as full of nobility as the former, but radiated a unique sense of simplicity and elegance.

Before her was a five-stringed ancient zither about two meters long, its five strings emitted spiritual lights in gold, blue, red, and yellow, as her slender fingers continued to gently stroke them, the colored lights spread slowly around with the melodious music, quite mystical.

"Ding..."

With the final trailing note, the girl’s ten fingers lightly pressed on the strings, looking up only after the music ended at the girl in blue, her eyes revealing a hint of expectation.

"It’s so beautiful, Xing’er, your learning speed is incredible, this ’Chu Wind’ sounds just as good as mine!"

Upon hearing the praise from the girl in blue, Su Xing’er’s beautiful eyes immediately curved like a crescent, beaming with pride, "It’s all thanks to Sister Shiqin, the skilled mentor, otherwise how could Xing’er learn so quickly!"

Cai Shiqin shook her head upon hearing this, her face full of gentle smiles; seeing a group of maids waiting outside with food boxes, she laughed and said, "You must be hungry after playing for so long, today I ordered the chef to make some good dishes, come try them with me, Xing’er, and see how they taste."

The two seemed very close, as Cai Shiqin spoke, she didn’t wait for Su Xing’er to respond, stood up and pulled her directly toward the main hall, gesturing to the maids to come and prepare the feast.

Su Xing’er, knowing Cai Shiqin’s temperament, wouldn’t refuse further; she waved her hand to store the Five-Colored Demon Zither in her body, then followed her toward the main hall, turning her head to see the continuously falling snowflakes above the bamboo grove, a subtle sense of reminiscence rose in her eyes.

Unconsciously, she had already lived at the Governor Mansion for nearly four months.

On April 20th, she and her three siblings followed their mentor Xia Hong, departing from Qinghua City; after traveling and stopping along the way for more than a month, they finally reached the largest city in western Caiqiu, Lin Chu County City, on the seventh day of June.

Previously, when incidentally discussing Hu Tiejiang with her three brothers, she had mentioned that Xia Hong intended to cultivate them against Caiqiu. If at that time it carried a bit of speculation, then from Qinghua City to Lin Chu County City over a month of traveling, Su Xing’er was almost certain that Xia Hong indeed had that intention.