Two months later.

After the snowfall, Yuncheng was covered in a blanket of white. Xin Jiuwei sat in the warm pavilion, holding a newly delivered letter from home. The letter bore the familiar handwriting of her elder sister, Xin Xiyao—sharp yet elegant, just like Xin Xiyao herself.

"Wei'er, it's cold in Yuncheng, remember to wear warm clothes. Father has been busy with official duties lately and hasn't mentioned your return date. But with the year-end approaching, there are many things to do at home. If you have some free time, it would be good for you to return as soon as possible..."

Xin Jiuwei gently traced a smudge of ink on the letter with her fingertips, as if she could see her sister hesitating as she wrote it. Her sister was always like this, clearly concerned but unwilling to speak her mind. In her past life, until the very end, she never heard a single gentle word of advice from her sister.

"My cousin has been staring at this letter for so long? Could it be that my cousin Xi Yao scolded you in the letter?"

Qi Huaihe's voice, carrying the chill of the air outside, suddenly approached, and Xin Jiuwei subconsciously hid the letter in her sleeve. This action made her cousin raise an eyebrow; the snowflakes he had brought in when he took off his cloak fell into the charcoal brazier, making a soft hissing sound.

"My sister just asked me when I'm coming home." Xin Jiuwei lowered her eyes to hide the turmoil in them, and the steam rising from the teacup condensed into tiny water droplets on her eyelashes.

Qi Huaihe took the tea but did not drink it immediately. His slender fingers slowly circled the edge of the celadon cup: "The end of the year is approaching. My grandfather asked me to ask if the Xin family is willing to spend the New Year with the Qi family this year?" As he spoke, his gaze fell on the unfamiliar white jade hairpin in Xin Jiuwei's hair—this was not the jewelry she brought from the Xin family.

The tea suddenly turned bitter and hard to swallow. Xin Jiuwei recalled the New Year's Eve banquet at the Qi family mansion in her previous life, where her sister was forced to perform her painting skills in front of everyone, while she herself slipped out to deliver New Year's Eve dinner to Qi Huaiyu.

When she returned that night, she saw her sister alone in the plum garden tearing up a painting. The scattered red plum petals on the snow looked just like crushed cinnabar.

"This year... I might not be spending the Lunar New Year at home." She heard her own voice coming from a very far place.

With a "click," the lid of Qi Huaihe's teacup accidentally hit the rim. He leaned forward abruptly, his sleeve flipping over the brush holder on the table, and several wolf-hair brushes rolled onto the brocade carpet.

"Where are you going?" His voice was extremely low, yet as clear as a night watchman's drum in the snowy night. "Could it be..." His Adam's apple bobbed, "You're going to the capital to find that monk?"

Xin Jiuwei's fingertips unconsciously tightened around her sister's letter in her sleeve. The word "monk" her cousin had uttered felt like a fine needle, precisely piercing the softest part of her heart. The sensation of Xiao Xun's loose hair brushing against her collarbone that night at Lingyin Temple suddenly became vivid.

"There are some things that need to be dealt with." She turned the teacup around so that the magpie pattern on the glaze would be out of her cousin's sight.

Qi Huaihe suddenly reached out and pressed down on her wrist as she turned the teacup: "Wei'er, look me in the eyes and speak." His palm had thin calluses from years of sword practice, yet its temperature was unexpectedly warm. "Just who exactly is that monk Jueming?"

A spark crackled from the charcoal fire in the warm room. Xin Jiuwei looked at her small reflection in her cousin's eyes and suddenly noticed that her reflection in his pupils was trembling slightly. In her past life, until her death, she never had the chance to know the unspoken feelings between her cousin and her sister.

"Cousin, this handkerchief..." She suddenly pulled her hand away, pointing to a corner of the brocade handkerchief peeking out from Qi Huaihe's sleeve, "Was it embroidered by my sister? I recognize the bamboo-patterned stitches."

Qi Huaihe withdrew his hand as if burned, but the handkerchief embroidered with the character "Yao" was already being held by Xin Jiuwei's fingertips. His ears turned bright red instantly, and in his panic, he knocked over a teacup, the brown tea spreading across the table like a freehand landscape painting.

"Your sister left this behind when you came to Yuncheng." He took out a handkerchief to wipe the tea stains, but mistakenly grabbed the brocade handkerchief instead. By the time he realized it, the corner of the handkerchief was already stained with tea, and he immediately became flustered.

Looking at her usually composed cousin in this state, Xin Jiuwei felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

My sister has rarely come to Yuncheng in recent years, which often makes people forget that when we were little, my sister and cousin were closer. They were about the same age, but my sister, who was always proud and competitive, was very attached to my cousin when she was young and only wanted to ask him about the poems and books she was curious about.

The elders of the Qi family had previously misunderstood their cousin's concern for Xin Jiuwei and wanted to bring the two together, which shows that the elders were happy to see the two families become even closer through marriage. She was very concerned about Xin Xiyao's marriage, but she never thought that there was someone in Yuncheng who cared about her sister.

As for her sister's attitude... Xin Jiuwei noticed her sister's reaction when her cousin was mentioned last time.

In their past lives, the two families drifted apart. Xin Jiuwei was completely focused on Qi Huaiyu and was oblivious to the feelings between her sister and cousin. Even after their deaths, Xin Jiuwei never connected them.

She made so many mistakes, missed so many opportunities, and let so many people down...

Xin Jiuwei felt a pang of sadness, and an inexplicable sorrow welled up in her heart again. She turned to look at Qi Huaihe, the cousin who had gently cared for them when they were young, had grown into a handsome and steady young man, and he and her sister were quite a good match.

"If I don't go back for the New Year, my sister will definitely be angry." She gently pushed the handkerchief back to her cousin. "I hope you'll put in a good word for me then."

Qi Huaihe shook his head with a wry smile, took out another plain handkerchief from his pocket, and pressed it onto the tea stains. Xin Jiuwei noticed with her sharp eyes that the corner of the handkerchief was also embroidered with small green bamboos—these were clearly from the same batch of embroidery.

"I'm afraid I've backfired." His voice was muffled. "The crystal cake I sent the other day was returned to her exactly as it was, with a note saying..." He suddenly fell silent, his ears turning even redder.

Xin Jiuwei suddenly leaned closer: "What did you say?"

"If Young Master Qi has some free time, he might as well read more of 'Admonitions for Women'," Qi Huaihe said, then laughed to himself, "Heaven knows how I offended her. It was just last month when I commented on her 'Snow Plum Blossom Painting,' saying that the composition was slightly lacking..."

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