Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 497 - 495

Chapter 497: Chapter 495

The rain moistening one’s clothes is like the rain of apricot blossoms, the wind across one’s face is not cold like the willow breeze.

The continuous spring rain has dissipated, the sky today turns green like early spring, gently accompanied by the east wind. It’s the perfect seasonal timing for people to step outdoors.

Today is also the kite festival of the Minze Dynasty. Xiao’er and Fu Ranhui have discussed and planned to fly kites in the suburb.

Xi’er hugs Xiao’er’s thigh and not letting go, insisting on joining the outing.

The chubby Seventh Prince shows up at this time, rescuing Xiao’er from the "sloth" clinging to her.

"Xi’er, I will take you to fly a kite!"

"Good, Seventh Prince is the best! The elder sister said I’m too young to fly a kite! They didn’t want to take me. We will fly our kites to the highest together later."

"Great, my kite is a golden dragon with a long tail. It will definitely fly to the highest."

"My kite is an eagle. My father said the eagle is the bird that flies the highest in the sky! Your golden dragon can’t fly higher than my eagle!"

The Seventh Prince thought to himself: clearly the dragon is known to be the creature that flies the highest, even reaching the cloud; what’s Marquis Shengping teaching Xi’er on? However, he still says:

"Xi’er’s kite will definitely fly the highest."

Shangguan Xuanyi appeared following behind the Seventh Prince.

"Are you going to fly kites?" Shangguan Xuanyi looked at Xiao’er with a tender gaze, asking knowingly.

He showed up knowing Fu Ranhui invited her to fly kites.

Also invited by Fu Ranhui were Shangguan Xuanhao, Shangguan Xuanjun, Di Shaowei, Lai Zhewei, among others.

"Is Brother Shangguan also going?"

"I will accompany you."

In the suburbs of the imperial capital, by the riverside, the grass is lush and green.

The kites in the sky are colorful and eye-catching.

Many young ladies and gentlemen are running and laughing on the grass.

"Wow, there are definitely more kites this year than last." Upon seeing so many people flying kites, Fu Ranhui happily commented.

"This day last year, there was a drizzle and not many people came out. My mother was worried I would catch a cold from the rain and didn’t let me go out at all." Gu Qiqi stated.

"It rained on both of the previous two kite festivals, and I’ve not flown a kite for two years now." Ruan Weizhen chimed in as well.

"Me too, I want to make up for it today, fly to my heart’s content!" Gu Qiqi concurred.

"Quick, show me your kites, what drawings have you got on them?" Di Junya took out his butterfly-shaped kite in excitement.

This butterfly kite was drawn by himself, then he gave it to the most famous kite and lantern craftsman in the imperial capital to make it.

"Your butterfly drawing is really good, it’s so vibrant, it will definitely look stunning in the sky." Ruan Weizhen admired sincerely after checking it out.

Then, she took out her dragonfly-drawn kite, which was also bright and colorful.

Fu Ranhui’s kite had a spreading peacock feather pattern, which was vividly drawn.

Yun’er’s kite had a triangular-shaped tropical fish on it.

"Yun’er, what sort of fish is this? It’s so unique and beautiful!"

"This is a type of fish in the sea, named longfin batfish."

Xiao’er’s kite was an image of a penguin. The penguin drawing commanded everyone’s attention once it was shown.

"Xiao’er, your kite is the cutest kite I’ve ever seen."

"This is a penguin, isn’t it cute?"

"It’s really adorable, many people’s kites have gone up, let’s hurry up and launch ours." Fu Ranhui was eager.

Di Shaowei was supporting Ming Jingya, Lai Zhewei and Liu Jingshu were watching the fun with a few children.

"Brother Shangguan, I’ll hold the kite, you run with the string spool!"

"Okay!"

Xiao’er held the kite, Shangguan Xuanyi ran with the string spool, and when there was enough string, Xiao’er let go, and the penguin flew into the sky.

Shangguan Xuanyi released the string from the spool with one hand and tugged at the string attached to the kite with the other, all while running non-stop.

The kite soared against the wind, steadily flying higher and higher in the blue sky.

Xi’er jumped for joy.

"Brother Yao, let’s fly a kite too! I’ll hold the kite, you run like the Sixth Prince!"

"Okay!" The Sixth Prince was amazing, he helped the Mistress of Rui’an County to launch the kite so high in an instant, he also wanted to help Xi’er get their kite into the sky.

Shangguan Xuanhao and Shangguan Xuanjun went to help their future spouses launch kites.

Zhao Youwei helped Zhao Minhua, Zhao Youhe helped Di Junya, Shangguan Ruixi helped Fu Ranhui, Jingrui helped Yun’er, and Jinghao helped Xi’er.

Yeah, when men and women work together, the job is less tiring.

Suddenly, everyone’s kites were flying in the sky, and then a few of the men decided to have a horse race.

The chubby Seventh Prince was busy running while releasing the string, either he was only focused on running and forgot about the string, or he was too busy releasing it and forgot to run.

After Xi’er let go of the hand holding the kite, the Seventh Prince started running even harder.

"Release the string! Quickly, release it while running!" Seeing him only running and not releasing the string, Xi’er quickly reminded him.

After hearing her words, the Seventh Prince started to unwind the spool in his hands, and while mimicking his royal brother’s backward steps, he stumbled around releasing the string.

"Pull, you need to pull that string!" Xi’er ran over to the Seventh Prince and said while they were running.

The Seventh Prince hurriedly pulled the kite’s string.

Unlike the others, his kite had not flown up in the sky. After running and gasping for breath, his kite still lay on the grass.

Xi’er looked disappointed, she glanced at the Seventh Prince’s chubby figure and thought maybe he was too fat and slow to run, so the kite couldn’t fly.

"Brother Yao, let’s swap roles. You launch the kite while I run and see if it can fly."

"Let’s stick to the original plan, this time it will definitely fly." The men launched the kites for the other ladies, it was her turn and she wanted to be the one to launch it herself, otherwise, he would lose face.

"But I want to try. I’ve never flown a kite before, nor have I ever run so fast. Aunt Rong kept telling me to maintain my stride while walking, each step should be the same distance..." As she spoke, Xi’er was on the verge of tears.

The Seventh Prince felt bad for Xi’er, so he quickly said, "Xi’er, don’t cry, I’ll launch the kite for you. You can enjoy running and kite flying, and after you launch it, I’ll have my turn."

"I knew that Brother Yao treats me the best! I’ll do it then! Don’t worry, I can definitely fly the kite the highest, mine is an eagle!" Xi’er grabbed the string spool from the seventh prince’s hand with a beaming smile.

"Okay."

So Xi’er ran back and forth, each time the kite let her down and fell to the ground.

"Get ready, hold the kite up a bit! I’m about to run, remember to let go!"

Upon hearing her words, the Seventh Prince got onto his toes, trying to hold the kite up as high as possible.

Xi’er ran while letting go of the string, then when she felt the string was long enough, a gust of wind came, and she shouted, "Let go!"

The Seventh Prince obediently released the kite from his hands, and Xi’er quickly sped up her pace.

She hurriedly released the string, then tugged on the kite’s string, and started to backpedal.

Just like him, she clumsily coordinated the three actions. The kite didn’t last long and fell to the ground.