The next morning, Song Anhao set out first with Yao Ying and two guards. An hour later, Gu Baozhu and Song Shixue departed together for the Stone Forest Flower Sea.
This time, Gu Baozhu did not allow Gu Jinghong to accompany them. She brought only two maids and four guards.
It took the carriage half an hour to reach their destination. Along the way, one of the guards stopped at Ruyi House to buy some pastries.
When Song Shixue lifted the carriage curtain, she saw a row of carriages at the foot of a small hill, along with a few scattered vendors setting up their stalls.
The vendors caught sight of Gu Baozhu and Song Shixue getting down from the carriage. Their eyes immediately lit up, and they began hawking their wares with renewed vigor.
“Crispy honey cakes, fresh from the oven!”
“Freshly made glutinous rice dumplings, still steaming! We have red-bean paste, sesame and nut, and osmanthus honey fillings!”
The cries drew Song Shixue’s attention. She had just started to slow down for a closer look when Gu Baozhu took her arm and led her away.
“I’ve tried all of these before. They’re only so-so—not even a tenth as good as the ones from Ruyi House.”
Hearing this, Song Shixue secretly chuckled.
As the two women proceeded up the hill surrounded by maids and guards, the vendors who had been shouting moments ago could not help showing their disappointment.
The owner of the wonton stall on the right collected the bowls and chopsticks left by his customers and placed them in a basin. As he washed them, he said to the vendor beside him, “They’re carrying food boxes. They definitely won’t buy anything from us.”
The vendor selling crispy honey cakes lowered his head and grumbled, “That young lady in yellow was just about to come over, but the one in green stopped her.”
The vendor on the left, who sold glutinous rice dumplings, immediately put on a solemn expression and scolded him, “Keep your voice down. That’s the daughter of Lord Gu, the provincial administration commissioner.”
The crispy-honey-cake vendor’s face changed, and his gaze shot toward the figures disappearing behind the hill.
When he saw no reaction from them, his rapidly pounding heart finally began to settle.
Thankfully, they hadn’t heard him. Otherwise, he would have been finished.
After descending the slope, they could see from a distance the cloud-mist stones of various sizes and bizarre shapes. Their surfaces were a blue-gray, with natural white markings like snow-covered mountains spiraling upward along their layered formations.
The white areas were as clear as fresh snow, while the dark portions gleamed with a moist luster. Layer upon layer, they resembled a naturally formed ink-wash painting.
The largest cloud-mist stone bore the inscription:
“Strange peaks and wondrous rocks—could clouds have fallen from the sky?
Or did an immortal cast down a jade hairpin?”
Gu Baozhu’s eyes curved with a smile, and the corners of her lips rose uncontrollably.
“My father wrote that when he took office as the provincial administration commissioner of the southwest fifteen years ago. After all these years, the carved marks have faded considerably.”
Song Shixue stared at the lines, polished until they gleamed. Judging by the inscriptions on the cloud-mist stone behind them to the right, these two verses must have been touched by countless hands.
“His brushwork could startle the wind and rain. Your father must have carried great ambitions in his heart back then.”
The smile in Gu Baozhu’s eyes faded, and a trace of melancholy appeared on her face.
“It’s a pity that things did not turn out as he wished. After all these years, there are hopes that one is destined never to attain in a lifetime.”
Remembering what her elder sister and brother had discussed at home, Song Shixue pressed her lips together and said nothing.
About fifteen minutes later, a vast sea of begonias came into view. An endless sweep of pink and white linked the green grass with the deep blue sky. As the spring breeze stirred the blossoms, the air carried a quiet, distant fragrance, as though it had drifted across a stream.
Voices floated over from the distance. Looking ahead, Song Shixue saw a riot of color. The brightly dressed visitors made the begonia grove itself seem almost like a mere backdrop.
Covering her mouth, Gu Baozhu whispered, “It’s like this every year. The moment there are too many people, it becomes noisy. Quite a few even treat this place as a romantic destination, like the peach-blossom groves where couples pledge themselves to one another. Every time the begonias wither, there’s always a sudden increase in weddings throughout Songzhou.”
Song Shixue’s lips twitched.
When they drew closer, they saw quite a few scholars in round-collared scholar’s robes gathered in the pavilion to the west.
Although the two groups were separated by a wide stretch of open ground, people from either side kept stealing glances at one another, their eyes shy yet filled with smiles.
Gu Baozhu led Song Shixue around the edge, following a narrow path.
