nucmednet Chapter 338 Mountaineering
Chapter 338 Mountaineering
"Great! This mountain road has been so bumpy my back is aching. I've been wanting to get off and walk around for ages." Princess Ruoyang took Long Chuqing's arm. "Sister Long, let's go!"
Looking at the two beautiful figures walking ahead, Prince Qi, Prince Xuan, and Xiao Han exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.
What's going on? What happened in the past hour or so? Are the two of them really that close?
If I remember correctly, they only met for the first time this morning! Do girls really get along this quickly?
However, seeing that the two got along so well, they were relieved.
Xiao Han and his group walked forward along the side of the road.
“Your Highnesses, Miss Long, I…” Bronze’s outstretched hand was silently withdrawn. He sighed softly, his tone tinged with grievance, and murmured, “Alas, you’ve just left me all alone like this.”
Qingying turned around and gave him a smug look. "Hurry up and park the carriage. We'll be waiting for you on the mountain."
Bronze pursed his lips, raised his clenched fist, and gave Qingying's departing figure a mock tap on the head.
Seeing that the procession had not moved for a long time, the people on the carriage could no longer contain themselves and got off to walk.
A small number of people were unwilling to get out and walk; they chose to remain seated in the carriage and wait for the passage to begin.
Those who could afford to ride in carriages were all wealthy people, and the clothes they wore were made of the finest materials. Some young ladies and ladies would dress up carefully before going out, naturally not wanting to walk on the dusty road, for fear of getting their shoes and clothes dirty.
Long Chuqing and Xiao Han's group walked up the stone steps of the mountain, their destination being Guanghua Temple halfway up the mountain.
Guanghua Temple is located on Jiutai Mountain and is a semi-open royal temple.
Why is it described as semi-open? Because Guanghua Temple is also open to the general public.
Temples only receive members of the royal family on special days to perform rituals and prayers for the royal family.
For example, the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, Qingming Festival, Double Ninth Festival, etc. These are important days, and the rest of the days are open to the public.
Jiutai Mountain is not far from the capital. It is close to the capital to the north, close to Shixi County to the west, and close to Tingzhou County to the south.
Guanghua Temple covers a large area, with magnificent halls and buildings, and is a popular place of worship.
Because it is backed by the royal family, its fame goes without saying. People from all around come to visit, and its excellent geographical location means that there is always a lot of foot traffic, even on weekdays.
Today is the third day of the Lunar New Year, and people are still flocking to Guanghua Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings. There are quite a few people going up the mountain and coming down.
During the Spring Festival, many people visit Jiutai Mountain. They can not only burn incense and pray for blessings at Guanghua Temple, but also visit the market at the foot of the mountain.
Every year during the Lunar New Year, a temple fair is held here, lasting from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the fifteenth. The temple fair not only features business transactions, but also many folk performances during the Lunar New Year period.
The performances included dragon and lion dances, facial makeup performances, high-difficulty acrobatics, sugar blowing, and many more... It was quite a lively event with a wide variety of performances!
"Chu Qing, Zhi'er, you've walked such a long way through the mountains, aren't you tired? Do you want to stop and rest for a while?" Xiao Han asked the two people beside him.
Princess Ruoyang shook her head: "I'm not tired, I can walk a little further!"
Although climbing mountains is indeed a little tiring, she won't complain. If she slows down her brothers and makes them dislike her, they won't take her out to play next time.
We can't let everyone think of her as a burden.
Long Chuqing is a martial artist, so this distance was nothing to her.
But she knew the little girl beside her was a bit tired. For a pampered princess to climb such a high mountain in one go was already quite impressive, yet she didn't utter a sound.
She doesn't have the princess syndrome that's rumored; she actually has a good personality, but she's a bit stubborn. Is it because she doesn't want to hold everyone back?
"Why don't we rest here for a while before we go?" Long Chuqing stopped in her tracks.
"Yes, let's rest for a while before we go!"
Behind him, Prince Xuan stood with his hands on his hips, raising his chin to look at Xiao Han, Long Chuqing, and Princess Ruoyang standing on the steps.
“Zhi’er rarely exercises. If she suddenly walks up so many stairs, her legs will be sore tonight. It’s better to proceed gradually.”
"Then let's rest for a while before we go!" Xiao Han said.
King Xuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and found a clean stone to sit on.
Seeing that Prince Xuan was panting heavily, Prince Qi bluntly exposed him: "I think it's because you can't walk anymore! And you're using Ruoyang as an excuse."
Princess Ruoyang chuckled at the sight of Prince Xuan: "Sixth Brother, move over a bit."
King Xuan moved aside to make room for him.
Princess Ruoyang sat down next to him.
"Quickly rub your calves. Your legs might really get sore at night. I'm not kidding you," Prince Xuan carefully reminded him.
"Hmm." Princess Ruoyang gently pounded her legs with her small fists.
As she massaged her legs, she thought to herself: If only her maid were here, she wouldn't have to massage her legs herself.
This trip was mainly to travel light, with no maids or servants besides the guards. This was something that had been discussed with the princess beforehand, and she agreed before we started the trip.
King Xuan said, "If I had known, I would have spent some money to take a sedan chair and catch up with you when we were at the foot of the mountain."
At the foot of the mountain, there are people who specialize in carrying sedan chairs. Most wealthy people don't want to walk up the mountain; they choose to pay money to ride in a sedan chair to the temple.
This not only made things convenient for themselves, but also provided an income for the sedan chair carriers.
Prince Qi said helplessly, "Sixth brother, this won't do. You're clearly lacking in exercise. Sure enough, you've started to lose your self-discipline when we're not around to supervise you."
“I didn’t say I wanted to sit there myself. I was just worried about Zhi’er and thought we should hire one for her.”
Princess Ruoyang turned to look at Prince Xuan: "I'm fine, Sixth Brother. Just like you said, I don't get enough exercise in the palace. This mountain climb is a good opportunity for me to get some exercise!"
King Xuan rubbed her head: "Silly girl, you always try to be strong."
Princess Ruoyang pouted: "Don't rub your head, your hair is all messed up!"
"If we see anyone carrying a sedan chair coming down later, let's hire one for the princess!" Long Chuqing said to Xiao Han.
Xiao Han nodded: "Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking too. What about you? Would you like to sit down? If we see any extras, how about we hire one for you too?"
Long Chuqing shook his head: "I don't need it. I am a martial artist. This little mountain path is no challenge for me. The princess is different. She is a golden branch and jade leaf and needs to be pampered."
Xiao Han disagreed: "But you are also a girl, and you also need to be pampered and cared for."
"Ahem..." Long Chuqing quickly looked at Prince Qi, Prince Xuan and the princess beside her. Fortunately, they were all chatting and did not hear Xiao Han's words, otherwise she would have been embarrassed.
Long Chuqing whispered to Xiao Han, "Don't say things like that next time, it's not good if someone hears you."
Xiao Han laughed, "What's there to be embarrassed about? Shouldn't we be like this?"
In short, Long Chuqing felt that these words sounded a bit strange when used to describe her.
After resting for a while, they encountered a group of sedan chair carriers coming down from the mountain, so the princess hired them.
The group continued their journey up the mountain to Guanghua Temple.