Chapter 4: That day when she cried loudly, Ji Yunchan...
That day, Ji Yunchan cried bitterly, her heart broken.
Then after waking up the next day, he never mentioned it again, just thinking it was a dream.
The sandstorms at the border have taught the young ladies, who have never been exposed to domestic activities, everything.
She is still the daughter who never causes worry to her mother and the eldest sister to her younger siblings.
But the cloak was like a pearl brought out from this dream, placed on the edge of the cabinet beside the bed. The fine material was out of place in this dilapidated house with bare walls, reminding her all the time.
When entering and leaving, Ji Yunchan lowered her eyes and didn't look.
She lowered her eyes and turned sideways, holding a few gray old clothes that were hung out to dry in her arms. They were thin but clean, and the style was uniformly made for the servants in the prefectural government.
At such a short distance, Ji Yunchan turned her head to the side, avoiding the cloak, lowered her eyes to put it in the bedside cabinet, and asked Madam Ji, "Has mother taken her medicine?"
The action was indescribably revealing.
Seeing her daughter like this, Mrs. Ji's eyes were filled with heartache. She waved to Ji Yunchan and said, "Yuanyuan, come here."
When I withdrew my hand, I accidentally touched the dense fur of the cloak, and my heart felt like it had rolled in the sand, very bitter.
She withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened, all her thoughts on escaping. She turned around and said, "I'll go get Mother's morning medicine first. If it gets cold, it won't be effective."
Then he stood up and walked out the door.
"Just ask Yun'e to go."
Mrs. Ji gave Ji Yun'e a look and spoke softly.
Ji Yun'e didn't understand what was going on, but she vaguely sensed that something was wrong. She said "Oh" and left.
Ji Yunchan paused for a moment before coming back to her senses and sitting down in front of her mother: "Mom."
She lowered her eyes and frowned, her expression unrecognizable.
Madam Ji touched Ji Yunchan's hair, sighed softly, and then spoke: "No matter what, you have to return it and thank you again."
Ji Yunchan hadn't even looked at the clothes this morning.
But the more she tried not to look, the more her thoughts would drift there, to the point that as long as she closed her eyes, she could see Yan Heng's face, let alone hugging him like she did yesterday and walking up to him again?
The man who used to be brave enough to sneer and scold others is now so cowardly that even he is shocked.
She forced a smile, her heart full of turmoil, but her face remained calm and composed. "Men and women shouldn't touch each other. Ask Qin Nian to go."
She felt that she couldn't lose control anymore.
"Yuanyuan."
Madam Ji's eyes were like water, and she took Ji Yunchan's hand and said, "How can they be the same?"
Ji Yunchan didn't even feel sorry for herself for a moment. Instead, she felt that it wasn't the first time that she had been so cruel to him. Yan Heng should always remember this in his heart, and it was natural that he would be the same.
But you should just think about these things yourself; saying them out loud will only make your mother more sad.
So she kept silent.
Mrs. Ji waited for a long time, and seeing that she was restrained and didn't say anything, she stopped forcing her.
She turned around and struggled to fumble out a small porcelain box from the bedside.
"Well, let's not talk about this anymore."
She paused and opened the porcelain box.
There was only some translucent light yellow paste inside, with a faint fragrance and a hint of medicinal taste.
Madam Ji dug a finger, took Ji Yunchan's hand and said softly, "Mom will apply some frostbite cream on you."
She gently applied it to her daughter's knuckles and backs of hands where they had chilblains, and rubbed it in slowly.
The swollen area was smeared with hot ointment, which made it very itchy. Ji Yunchan frowned slightly but did not hide.
Seeing the bulging red and purple dyed with shiny yellow, which looked even more unbearable, she smiled bitterly.
Mrs. Ji finished painting carefully, then put the lid back on and pretended not to notice. "This was also sent by the child from the Yan family yesterday."
Ji Yunchan paused for a moment.
Her eyelashes fluttered, but her posture remained unchanged. "Maybe frostbite is common in Shuozhou. I just happened to have a doctor, so I might as well bring it along."
"Yuanyuan."
Mrs. Ji called her helplessly.
Blame her for not listening no matter how hard you try.
Isn’t it.
Ji Yunchan smiled bitterly in her heart.
Yan Heng is meticulous in everything he does.
Why else?
Could it be that he saw the chilblains on her hands last night, took notice, and specially asked someone to send it over?
Yan Heng has never been a soft-hearted person.
My thoughts drifted to pouring wine for him last night——
As he held the wine jug with his chilblained, no longer healthy, and even ugly hands, he fell into deep self-loathing.
I only regret that the sleeves are too short and the lights are too bright.
How could Yan Heng show sympathy to such a dark-skinned girl?
Ji Yunchan felt that the chilblains on her hands were getting more itchy, and she began to scratch them unconsciously.
Fingers touched the shiny ointment.
Mrs. Ji grabbed her wrist and pulled it away a little, questioning her.
My thoughts were interrupted.
Ji Yunchan curled her fingers and turned to look at the cloak that was neatly placed on the wardrobe.
Knowing that she would have to touch the cloak when collecting the clothes, why didn't she ask her sister to do it, or ask her mother to do it?
Ji Yunchan was distracted for a moment.
She looked at her mother again, her eyes lowered as she spoke: "I will make a pair of kneepads and send them with the clothes as a token of my gratitude for his kindness."
"Why."
Seeing her daughter change her tune, Madam Ji stroked her hair with satisfaction, "This is the truth."
Ji Yunchan followed her mother's hand, looked at her face, and wanted to explain.
The words came to his lips, but he stopped.
If you can't figure out something yourself, explanation is just a pale excuse.
Like a turtle that had retracted its head, it poked its head out slightly when provoked, then quickly retracted it. Ji Yunchan continued to gloss over the situation.
But those knee pads were actually made.
—
The sun was shining brightly, and the melted snow flowed down the eaves, dripping into lines that hit the bluestone, looking a bit like rain.
Ji Yunchan leaned against the windowsill, listening to the chirping of sparrows foraging for food, while sewing knee pads stitch by stitch.
The prefect was afraid of Yan Heng, so he didn't make things difficult for her. He even gave her a few days off because of her mother's illness, even though there was more of a test in this.
Ji Yunchan knew clearly that this was not a long-term solution.
Yan Heng did not redeem him, and the amount of money he gave was not small, but if he only spent without earning, the day would come when it would all be spent.
Her family's livelihood is still closely tied to the prefectural government.
The sunlight came in through the window frame, and even the fine hairs on Ji Yunchan's fair cheeks were clearly visible.
Ji Yunchan was completely unaware.
The talented woman who was once famous in the capital now cares about the gains and losses of money as if she were considering the rhymes in a poem.
In the eyes of its former fans, it is like a pearl turned into a fish eye.
Surviving in the mud covered with melted snow.
But even so——
Even though her clothes were covered in mud and her face was pressed into the snow, Ji Yunchan was still Ji Yunchan, as clear-headed as ever.
Just as she will not turn a blind eye to her fans, she will not bow down to poverty.
But the solution cannot be found in a short time.
Ji Yunchan cut off the thin thread at the end and wanted to embroider a goose underneath.
I drew the pattern and changed the thread, but when I put the needle down, I felt awkward.
Only then did she remember that she had never embroidered flowers since her exile.
I used to dislike women's work, but for the sake of a reputation as a virtuous person, I forced myself to learn. Now that I don't have to worry about so much, I am willing to do it...
Willingly.
Previously, this willing partner had advised her not to work so hard, and that it would be the same if he gave her a crooked idea and asked her to buy it secretly outside. He also assured her that he was happy even if she fooled him like this, because it was her who gave it after all.
But now what she gave was no different from what was bought outside.
Ji Yunchan was slightly distracted.
At this moment, the door of the yard outside creaked open.
Someone pushed open a crack, but no other movement was heard.
Ji Yunchan put down her needlework, stood up, lifted the gray cloth curtain and looked outside. She saw her younger brother Ji Qinnian standing at the door, talking to someone outside, with a bundle of firewood on his back.
It was even colder outside than when it snowed. Ji Yunchan shivered in the cold, her thoughts gone. She called out from a distance, "Qin Nian, it's cold outside, come in quickly."
Ji Qinnian was standing at the door, and when he saw his elder sister lift the curtain and call him, his heart tightened.
It was because he went out not only to chop firewood, but also to inquire about Brother Yan.
It's not difficult to find out where the famous general's mansion is, and his daily whereabouts also have a pattern. I just want to tell my sister this.
Asking her to face the person she is ashamed to meet again.
Ji Qinnian turned around and responded, then went to the shed in the corner to unload the firewood on his back, and then slowly walked in.
The thirteen-year-old child was still thin in stature. After finishing his servant's work every day, he had to chop wood for the family's fire.
He walked into the house with beads of sweat on his head and two pieces of clothes in his arms.
Ji Yunchan held a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her brother's head.
Ji Qinnian stood obediently, allowing his elder sister to do what she wanted, and explained, "Just now it was Aunt Zheng who asked about Mother's condition, and I thanked her."
That night was a chaotic night. Ji Yun'e was detained, her mother vomited blood, and the backbone Ji Yunchan went to the prefectural government. Only Ji Qinnian was left alone. It was Zheng Xiucai who stepped forward to help a lot. Even Zheng's mother, who had poor eyesight, stayed with him for a while until Ji Yun'e came back.
"I should thank you properly."
Ji Yunchan had almost finished wiping and put away the handkerchief.
She pondered for a moment, then caught sight of Luo sewing. She then thought of the leather left over from the kneepads and could be used to make a collar. So, she said, "We don't have much to offer right now, so why not make a collar for Aunt Zheng?"
Ji Qinnian knew that her eldest sister never liked to do needlework, and when she thought of the things that her eldest sister had to clean up, she couldn't help but feel pity for her.
But she couldn't think of a solution at the moment, so she just handed the two clothes in her hands to Ji Yunchan, "Aunt Zheng asked you sisters to mend these clothes for her, saying that the thread is torn and the family has an important event that needs to be worn."
After saying that, he turned his head to the side gloomily and poured himself some water to drink.
Ji Yunchan thought he was just doing it because she didn't like needlework, and she found his face funny.
She sat back down and resumed her unfinished embroidery of the wild goose. She lowered her eyes and said casually, "I don't like needlework, so I asked your second sister to finish it. She can sew just as well as I do, so consider this as a way to atone for my sin."
Ji Qinnian froze for a moment, feeling unsure of how to start the conversation. He just nodded incoherently and said "Oh" with a wooden face.
This made Ji Yunchan laugh again.
He stopped moving his hands and looked at Ji Qinnian's expression.
Ji Qinnian had something on his mind, half complaining and half begging for mercy: "Elder sister!"
I don't know how much I was blaming her for not noticing anything.
"Okay, okay, I won't laugh at you anymore."
Ji Yunchan stopped laughing and resumed her embroidery. Without looking at him again, she said, "Yun'e left some food for you in the pot. Chopping wood is hard work, so go and eat some."
"Why."
Ji Qinnian responded, looking at the wild goose that had not yet taken shape, and with mixed feelings in his heart, he was preparing to speak.
Seeing that he didn't move, Ji Yunchan looked up in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Ji Qinnian pursed his lips and looked at his sister for a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists before finally speaking in a stammering voice, "...Eldest sister, I've found out everything about Brother Yan."
Ji Yunchan had already withdrawn her gaze and it fell on the lining of the knee pads.
When she heard this, the hand that was about to insert the needle shook, and the sharp needle tip pierced straight into the fingertip, and a bright red blood bead emerged from the fair skin.
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