Upon hearing this, the old woman glanced at the water clock and realized it was almost midnight. She sighed and said, "Bai Kou, pack your things and come with me to accompany our young lady back to the capital."

Bai Kou nodded and said, "Granny, I understand."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Kou said, "Granny, I heard from the sisters that Bai Shu is going to Yuezhou with you, young lady. Is Yuezhou very far?"

Granny Lu said, "Yuezhou is very far away."

Bai Kou asked with great interest, "Granny, have you ever been there?"

It was rare for Granny Lu to be so interested in chatting with Bai Kou about things that had happened many years ago. She said, "I haven't been there, but I have been to Qiantang."

Bai Kou's eyes lit up when she heard about Qiantang. She said, "Granny, I know about Qiantang. When we were at the Marquis's residence in the capital, I heard the ladies there say that if you go south along the Grand Canal from the capital, you can reach Qiantang. I heard that Qiantang is a very prosperous place."

Granny Lu smiled and said, "Little Bai Kou knows these things, not bad, not bad. Qiantang is on the other side of the Grand Canal. You can take a boat directly from the capital. My hometown is in Qiantang, but I left home for the capital when I was very young and have been staying in the palace ever since. I've forgotten all about my hometown."

Bai Kou felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing this and said, "Grandma, me too. I left my hometown when I was very young, and I've forgotten most of what happened when I was a child."

Granny Lu said gently, "You should still remember some things, so that when you get old, you can still know where you came from, what the place you came from looks like."

Bai Kou listened attentively, nodded, and said, "Granny, I will definitely remember where I came from."

Upon hearing Bai Kou's words, Granny Lu's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to decades ago.

Lu Mama came from a well-off family. Besides her, she had a younger brother. Due to a flood, the family had to leave their home and flee the famine. Later, they encountered a peasant uprising, and Lu Mama's parents were killed. Lu Mama, a little girl of six or seven years old, took her three or four-year-old brother and followed the survivors towards the capital. When they reached the outskirts of the capital, the siblings got separated. Fortunately, Lu Mama was rescued by Chen Wufu, who was on an inspection tour of the imperial estates in the suburbs with Emperor Liang Cheng, who was still a prince at the time. Later, Lu Mama entered the palace as a palace maid, starting from the lowest rank and working her way up to the position of head maid in the Empress Dowager's palace.

Granny Lu had tried to find her lost brother, but unfortunately, the world was vast and the princes were vying for the throne, making the search akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Thinking of her younger brother, Granny Lu felt as if a needle had pierced her heart, followed by a numbness.

Granny Lu always appeared serious in front of these young girls, so it was rare to see her looking so vulnerable. Bai Kou was a little worried and brought Granny Lu a cup of hot tea.

Looking at the steaming teacup in front of her, Granny Lu sighed and said, "People have to look forward. When you get to my age, you start thinking about looking back. Life is never easy. While you're young, you should think about the past as much as possible, so that you won't forget it when you want to think about it later."

Bai Kou nodded, and Granny Lu didn't know why she remembered things that had happened so many years ago.

Granny Lu had a very difficult life over the past few decades. The first few years in the palace were not easy. As an orphan with no support, she could only be careful and cautious every day in order to survive in that cannibalistic place. Later, she went to the palace of the late Empress Dowager and was able to live a few years of comfortable life under her protection.

The late Empress Dowager was a kind person, and she felt sorry for people like Granny Lu who had a hard life. She was always lenient with them. Later, before the late Empress Dowager passed away, she made proper arrangements for the people around her. Only then did Granny Lu leave the palace with those who were released from the palace.

At first, Granny Lu wanted to continue searching for her younger brother. No matter what, as long as she found him, she wouldn't be alone in this world. Unfortunately, she never found him.

When the siblings were separated, things were so chaotic. It's one thing that the younger brother was adopted by a kind family, but I'm afraid he might end up like those innocent people who lost their lives in vain.

A few years ago, Granny Lu used the rewards she received in the palace to search for people everywhere. Later, she couldn't find anyone, so she had to return to the capital and work as a tutor for some girls.