Caught off guard by Li Shiyue's mention, Xu Lingzi seemed to have no recollection of who that concubine was. Looking at Li Shiyue, she recalled Xiangzhi, the concubine who hadn't been very well-behaved and had come in with Xu Yunyao that day at Qingji Hall.

"I vaguely remember that day after Qingji Hall, Fourth Aunt felt that the concubine was not well-mannered, so she made her learn manners every day. Later, it seems that she fell ill and did not stay in Guanqing Xiaoyuan for long. It seems that she was sent away on your birthday. I heard that she could not be saved and passed away."

As Xu Lingzi spoke, she looked at Li Shiyue with a puzzled expression: "Why did you bring her up? She's just a concubine. Do you pity her?"

Li Shiyue didn't speak. She pursed her lips, and there seemed to be a struggle in her eyes. Xu Lingzi felt increasingly uneasy and raised her voice: "You don't really pity her, do you? A maid who climbed into the master's bed while he was drunk. If it weren't for Fourth Brother taking pity on her and making an exception to take her in, she would have been sold off."

Li Shiyue turned to look at Xu Lingzi and told her what she knew about the birthday: "That day, Your Majesty went to Qingji Hall to see my maternal grandmother. I was worried that you were too busy at Liufang Pavilion, so I thought I would go with you. I sent Chunling to the kitchen to personally deliver the tea and snacks to my maternal grandmother and my eldest cousin."

However, when Chunling arrived there, the tea and snacks she had prepared for Qingjitang were stolen. Fortunately, there were extras, and the old women quickly arranged the dishes so that they could be delivered safely.

It was Xiangzhi's maid who took advantage of the old woman's inattention and stole the tea and snacks, which was already a breach of etiquette. But since she was someone close to her fourth cousin, Chunling could only tell the people around her fourth aunt. As for how her fourth aunt would deal with it, that was beyond our control.

Coincidentally, the visitor found my fourth aunt, and I was there too. My fourth aunt didn't go to Liufang Pavilion with me; instead, she returned to her courtyard.

Li Shiyue hesitated in her eyes, and told Xu Lingzi everything that Chunling and the others had heard from those old women. The struggle in her eyes became more and more obvious, and Xu Lingzi could see the difficulty on her face.

For a long time, Xu Lingzi remained silent. Perhaps she was equally shocked that the old woman's words had come from Xu Lingqing's mouth. This Xu Lingqing was unlike anyone the two of them knew.

“I didn’t dare tell my maternal grandmother that I was a concubine who came from a maid’s background, for fear that she would overthink it and it would be difficult for her to take care of her health. I was going to forget about it, but when I met Jiu Niang today, I remembered what happened that day.”

According to Chunling's description that day, the edges of the thick cotton quilt, which should have been pure white, were stained with bright red blood, which was terrifying just to hear about.

Xu Lingzi's expression was somewhat complicated. She didn't know what to say. To be honest, she had less contact with Xu Lingqing than with Li Shiyue after she entered the mansion.

Even before they separated their families, Xu Lingqing didn't like going out much. She could only get closer to the whole family occasionally. As for being closer, she was closer to Xu Lingwan.

“No wonder. That concubine left so suddenly. She must have made room for someone else. After all, if the groom already has a concubine with a title before the bride marries in, there will naturally be complaints.” Xu Lingzi’s eyes were complicated, but she understood after thinking about it.

Xu Lingzi didn't stay long. Li Shiyue, as if she had relaxed after pouring out her heart, leaned back against the soft cushion behind her.

But what does Xie Yizhi mean by this? He must have seen her get off the carriage and knew that Xu Yunci was in another carriage, so why did he ask Xu Lingzi that question?

She clearly stated last time that even if she knew Xu Yunci's feelings, there was nothing going on right now. Saying this would only damage the reputations of both her and Xu Yunci. What good would that do him?

Moreover, he went out today. Perhaps Chunling wasn't mistaken, but Xie Yizhi probably didn't go to see Xu Yunci.

If Xu Yunxu and Xu Yunyao knew that Xu Yunci was there, they would have gone to see him, unless Xie Yizhi was not seeing anyone from the Xu family at all.

Li Shiyue leaned against the soft cushion, her thoughts gradually drifting away, unaware that Chunling, who was carrying hot water, had walked in.

She put down the copper basin filled with warm water, walked to the wardrobe, took out a clean and comfortable set of clothes, and then came over: "Miss?"

Li Shiyue came to her senses and looked at her in confusion. Then she saw the clean clothes in her hands, got up and went inside to wash and change. She re-tied her hair and put on a light and comfortable ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) before sitting back on the wide wooden couch.

As evening approached, the weather changed as if by a child. Dark clouds gradually rolled in from the horizon. Before the clouds had even fully covered the ground, something fell from the sky and made a "crashing" sound as it hit the windowpanes and the ground.

It was hail. The hailstones, about the size of a thumb, were vaguely visible falling under the eaves. They fell rapidly and did not last long. Snowflakes then fell from the dense dark clouds and gradually covered the ground.

As night fell, the temperature began to drop, and even the tiles at the door became slippery underfoot due to the falling snowflakes.

Chunling walked in, rubbing her hands together and carrying a food box. "This awful weather! It was sunny during the day, and they've gone to all this trouble."

Although her hands were red from the cold, she kept moving, opening the food box and taking out the fragrant food.

The cold wind rattled against the windowpanes, sometimes softly, sometimes loudly. Li Shiyue wasn't in a hurry to get up, and she wasn't very hungry at the moment, so she simply had Chunling set out the food on the table on the wooden couch.

She wasn't wearing embroidered shoes; instead, she leaned against the cushions, covering her crossed legs with her skirt: "Go and call Lian Dong and the others in. I'm not very hungry yet, so you can share these."

Li Shiyue sipped her soup, seemingly uninterested in the food. Chunling wasn't surprised; after all, it was so cold outside, and calling Lian Dong over was a kind gesture from the young lady.

She rubbed her hands together and went out. After a long while, she came in with Lian Dong and the other two. Li Shiyue had already eaten half a bowl of soup, and she gave the rest to the four of them to share.

After dinner, we cleaned up the table and decided to let the four of them stay and sit around the footstool to warm themselves by the fire.

Lian Dong was doing relatively well, but Qiu Fan and Cui Xia, the two younger ones, had numb hands from the cold.

"Everyone bring an extra blanket tonight. The snow and wind aren't going to stop, so bring an extra blanket for the night watch."

Li Shiyue was wearing a plain white jacket. She didn't want to go out in the wind and snow, so she simply dressed comfortably. Looking at the charcoal fire, she asked someone to fetch some chestnuts, and the mistress and servant ate roasted chestnuts together.

Fearing that their hands would get frostbite from the cold and heat, Li Shiyue asked Chunling to find some ointment. She watched them apply it before she softly sat back down.

Li Shiyue's thoughts drifted back to Xu Lingzi's words, and if Chunling hadn't misread it, then what was Xie Yizhi up to?

Unsurprisingly, her thoughts wandered once again.