Chapter 45 The Green Bamboo Snake

With a soft sound, the sword almost wiped her hat, and nailed into a pillar of the pavilion behind her!

This change was so abrupt that Wei Changying and her servants in the pavilion were stunned for a long time before they came to their consciousness, and their faces were somber! Someone dared to ambush the beloved daughter of the Wei Family! Even if Wei Changying was not injured, it was a provocation to the Wei family! Not only the guards in the pavilion but also the guards hidden in the forest came out with swords!

Wei Changying was so angry and frightened that she was unable to take care of showing her face, and lifted her veil neatly over her hat. As she was about to point at the man in the light blue dress and scold, she suddenly felt something hit her hat. She turned her head unconsciously….

At this glance, her cheeks, which had been flushed with anger, suddenly turned pale. A dagger had been stuck into the bamboo pillar that was cut from the hill two days ago and became greener after the rain, and two-thirds of it was inserted into the bamboo. The strength was so great that it even made a crack in the bamboo pillar.

Wei Changying couldn’t be scared by this. What gave her a gasp of astonishment was that one-third of this dagger was exposed outside the bamboo because there was a snake which was as green as the bamboo!

This snake was not thick and similar to a fishing rod. But the neck was thin, the eyes were red, and the head was triangular. It was pierced through its neck by a dagger and nailed to the bamboo, but it was still struggling fiercely. The thing that made Wei Changying think something hit her curtained hat was the snake’s floundering tail. The people in the bamboo pavilion were frightened by the red tail of the snake!

The green bamboo snake.

Although it was extremely common, it was highly toxic.

The position of the dagger, which was nailed into the bamboo, was just an inch taller than Wei Changying’s curtained hat when she sat down!

Although Wei Changying wore a curtained hat, the color of this snake was so similar to bamboo. It would be hard to detect if there was a snake on Wei Changying’s clothes. At that time…

Mrs. Feng, Lvfang and other people looked pale and all felt afraid. They all said in trembling voices, “How… how could there be a snake?”

It was not the autumn and winter now. It was not surprising that there was a green bamboo snake in the bamboo forest when the snakes and insects were not hidden in early autumn. Therefore, the Wei Family had sprinkled a circle of realgar near the hut. Snakes and insects were supposed to stay away from this place!

After all, Wei Changying was courageous. Although she was also shocked when she saw the poisonous snake with clear scales floundering in front of her, she calmed down after being scared. She said silently, “It rained all night last night.”

The overnight rain completely washed away realgar and penetrated into the soil. So the effect of expelling snakes and insects was lost completely. Wei Changying got up so early this morning… She was out of luck. It was only one night that a green bamboo snake came to the pavilion and climbed the bamboo pillar behind her!

Thanks to the sharp-eyed man in the light blue dress, this snake was also seen a few meters apart, today…Wei Changying felt afraid. Lifting the veil, she calmed down and said, “Mrs. Feng, tell Wei Qing. Let me thank that man for his life-saving grace.”

The man in the light blue dress loudly reminded Wei Changying when he took action, and his companion and Wei Qing who were walking in front of him were also surprised. The bamboo pavilion was green, and the green bamboo snake was green, too. They were far away, so their eyesight was not as good as that man. In addition, after that man took action, the people in the bamboo pavilion were frightened and moved. Their sight was blocked for a while and they didn’t know what happened. But there was a lady, the beloved daughter of the Wei Family, in the pavilion.

Wei Qing naturally refused to continue to lead them down the mountain, but stopped both of them in place, waiting for the people in the pavilion to say something before he could let them go.

Wei Qing was shocked after Mrs. Feng explained the reason. After all, he led the people up the hill today, and blocked Wei Changying who had to sit in the bamboo pavilion behind the house from returning to the house. If Wei Changying had been bitten by the green bamboo snake, even if she had not died, Wei Qing would have been more or less responsible for what she had suffered. With the love of Old Madam Song and Madam Song for Wei Changying, even if Wei Qing was the talent recognized by Wei Huan, these two noble ladies could not spare him!

He feared after the event. He saluted to that man in the light blue dress respectfully and said, “Mr. Deng, your eyesight is better than ours! It was up to you to save Miss in her distress. We hope you can stay and we can express our thanks to you. And the Miss wants to thank you in person!”

The man in the light blue dress returned a salute, “Mr. Wei Qing, you are welcome. In fact, I have a sister who has been trying to build a bamboo pavilion in the garden, but has not found the desired style, so I just paid more attention to the pavilion. Miss Wei is lucky. The tail of the green bamboo snake was exposed and obviously set off by the green bamboo. I was lucky enough to find it. It was just that Miss Wei and servants never looked up. How dare I take the credit? Moreover, thanks to the generous help of your family last night, we can have a place to stay on the rainy night. So we don’t have to spend the night under the rain and delay the trip!” He said this to explain why he could find the green bamboo snake with his back to the bamboo pavilion. Actually, Wei Qing and Gu Yiran didn’t believe it very much… It could be said that he was looking at the pavilion. Deng Zongqi looked at Wei Changying repeatedly on the mountain road.

But he just looked at her a little more than Gu Yiran. Although it was slightly frivolous, it was unnecessary to point out. Now that he saved Wei Changying, Wei Qing would not pull the rug from under his feet. He said earnestly, “This is the meaning of the Miss. I hope you won’t refuse.”

“Mr. Wei Qing, you know that I have something to do and have to leave as soon as possible….” Originally, Wei Qing thought that Deng Zongqi would be happy to accept that Wei Changying came to thank him in person, for he cared about Wei Changying so much. But he looked uncomfortable and refused hastily after hearing that. He even took two steps down the trail to prove his point.

At this time, Wei Changying also approached and happened to hear this. She saluted to Deng Zongqi and said in earnest, “Thank you for saving me from danger! I’ll never forget your kindness.”

Since Wei Changying arrived, Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi could not continue to leave. They had to stand still and returned a salute. Deng Zongqi was humble again. The accident that occurred after this house was seen by the guards who rushed into the hut to report to Wei Changfeng. Wei Changfeng was scared after hearing that her sister was almost bitten by the green bamboo snake. He didn’t have time to change his getas, and ran out wearing them. He exclaimed all the way, “Sister, are you okay?”

After seeing Wei Changying standing there well and thanking Deng Zongqi, Wei Changfeng suddenly became serious and restored the proper behavior of the gentlefolks. He walked past slowly and nodded reservedly, “As I’m young, forgive me for my gaffe.”

Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi laughed in their heart. After all, Wei Changfeng was fifteen. He was proud of his identity as the lineal son of the eldest branch in the Wei Family, when he received them in the hut before. Although his speech and manners were elegant and there was no rudeness and obviously looked down on them, his sense of superiority which his identity was higher than the Gu Family in the capital and the Deng Family in Rong City was shown in the details.

Even when they left, Wei Changfeng only offered to send them off in a token way. When Gu Yiran declined, he let Wei Qing take the responsibility.

According to the background of the six gentlefolks in the country, it was common that the children of the gentlefolks underestimated those of the aristocratic family. And Gu Yiran and his men also offended the Wei family last night. But both Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi were older than Wei Changfeng. They felt a little bit unpleasant being ignored by him. Now seeing that he was worried about his sister and exposed reckless and incompetent at the age of fifteen, they all did not know whether to laugh or cry, and they had got rid of the bad impression they had towards him. They thought that no matter how the Wei Family taught Wei Changfeng and how smart he was, he was only fifteen years old… Wei Changfeng didn’t seem to be too bad, for he cared so much about his sister’s safety and was not like those children of gentlefolks who paid attention to whether they behaved wrongly all the time.

Of course, these ideas couldn’t let Wei Changying and Wei Changfeng know. They said gently that it didn’t matter and praised that their good relationship showed the good family traditions of the Wei Family.

After being polite, Wei Changfeng would no longer look down on them as the aristocratic family since Deng Zongqi rescued Wei Changying. His attitude became extremely enthusiastic, and he even invited them to Ruiyu Hall to officially thank them. However, Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi refused to do so. They all said that they had something to do and had to leave at once after being dragged down by the rain last night. Wei Changfeng tried his best to keep them but failed. He had to order someone to take back the dagger from the bamboo pavilion and returned it to after wiping it. This Little Bamboo Hill was a temporary residence. And there was really nothing suitable for the honorarium. He could only invite them to go to Ruiyu Hall when they were free, and insisted on sending them downhill by himself.

Wang Changying also thanked again and again with her brother. Even if she was grateful, she couldn’t send strange men off because she was a lady. So all she had to do was to say a few words of blessing and see him off. But Wei Changfeng and Deng Zongqi had only taken two steps modestly when they heard Lvchi’s scream suddenly, “Miss, there is a snake!”

Everyone was frightened, looking at the place where Lvchi pointed out… A green bamboo snake which was similar to the one that was killed by Deng Zongqi in the sparse grass a dozen steps away moved to the bamboo pavilion slowly. I wondered if they were a pair.

This green bamboo snake did not threaten Wei Changying. Deng Zongqi would not rush into action at this moment since her guards were present. Wei Changfeng frowned when he saw this. Because Lvchi was the chief maid of Wei Changying, and there were outsiders, he could not scold Lvchi for making a fuss and just nodded to a bodyguard not far away.

The bodyguard understood and held the sword around his waist. Before pulling it out, he saw Wei Changying turn to look at the green bamboo snake. She hummed and suddenly raised her hand flicking through Lvchi’s hair. Seeing a gleam of green light passing by, the sloping grass tips were forced away. The green bamboo snake was nailed into the mud with a dull thud!

Seeing the green snake struggling on the ground and the red snake tail twitching painfully, Wei Changying, the initiator, was calm with drifting red sleeves. She looked that she was in a good mood that she had a chance to get some revenge…. There was a bit of silence….

Wei Changfeng was stunned for a moment and smiled reluctantly, “When my sister was young, she had learned…some of…this with the older bodyguards at home.”

“Sister, I know you are good at martial arts. At least there is no problem to beat me. But now there are outsiders. Even if they are not from the Shen Family, they are the children of gentlefolks! Could you be more restrained and be a well-behaved daughter of an eminent family?”

Wei Changfeng roared in his heart, but had to try his best to explain and dissemble Wei Changying’s nimble movement of killing the snake by a hairpin. However, Gu Yiran and Deng Zongqi were obviously scared out of their mind by Wei Changying’s beautiful movement. They responded in a daze, “The Wei Family in Fengzhou is well-deserved. The Miss… is really… adept with both the pen and the sword!”

“I’m flattered.” Wei Changfeng had a forced smile. At this time, he didn’t want to keep guests anymore. He just wanted to send the people away as soon as possible, “Rainy slippery, watch your step.”

Watching Wei Changfeng send the guests away, Wei Changying said resentfully, “Dead snake! Dare to run over my head! You bring about your own destruction!” She flicked the edge of the curtained hat in disgust, “Back to the house. Throw this hat away quickly!” Of course, Wei Changying would not keep the curtained hat touched by the green bamboo snake.

The maidservants around Wei Changying all knew that she studied martial arts hard. Mrs. Feng had also heard of Wei Changying’s preferences and was not surprising that she was able to kill snakes by a hairpin. They surprised and admired Wei Changying’s ability. Touching the temple, Lvchi whispered in regret, “The hairpin was given by the First Miss during the Chinese New Year last year. It is my best…. Why didn’t you use the gilding one?”

“You’re stingy.” Lvfang was braver than her. Now that she hadn’t seen anything wrong around, she teased her, “The bodyguard will come to clean up later. Isn’t it the same as pulling it out and washing it clean?”

“How dare I wear the hairpin that was inserted into the snake on my head?” Lvchi stuck her tongue out, looking forward to Wei Changying. According to the generosity of Wei Changying to the people around her, since she had used the hairpin, she would make up a better one. However, Wei Changying gave her a black look and glared at her fiercely. She scolded, “The green bamboo snake was far from us and didn’t come here at all. Now that you have seen it, you can remind us quietly and pay attention to its movement. When the outsiders leave, you can call the bodyguard to get rid of it. Why did you yell? You make others think that the maidservants of the Wei Family are as timid as you!”

She continued, “This time, you can’t take that hairpin even after it’s been washed. I‘ll punish you if you let us ashamed next time.”

Lvchi felt ashamed. She realized that her screaming in front of the outsiders made Wei Changfeng and Wei Changying lose face under the non-dangerous situation…. She lowered her head and said softly, “I know that I am wrong. And I will never do it again.”

Now all she asked for was an exemption from punishment, and she didn’t dare to think that Wei Changying would reward her with a good hairpin.