The weather in summer always changes unexpectedly, just like the unpredictable circumstances in life. You may be dressed in gorgeous clothes and think you are at the top one moment, but you may fall into the abyss the next moment.

The dark blue sky was covered with dark clouds, which obscured the bright sunshine that was raging a few days ago. The prison of Shuntian Prefecture remained forever in the bottomless darkness. The damp and dark stone walls constantly exuded the smell of decay and mold. At this time, a pair of blue silk boots stepped into the aisle. The owner of the shoes had a noble temperament, which was incompatible with the oppressive and decadent atmosphere around him. He slowly walked to the outside of a cell and stuffed a package of things into the prison guard who led the way. The prison guard opened it and took a look, then immediately smiled and thanked him and left.

He bent his knees and half-crouched inside the iron fence, staring through the dim light at the woman who was leaning against the hard and cold wall with a dull look. Her delicate makeup was gone, and all the spirit seemed to have been drained from her face, leaving only a soulless body, and her hair turned gray overnight, making her look old and dry. Xiao Du watched the scene in front of him quietly, with sadness in his heart, and gently called out: "Auntie Wang."

Aunt Wang slowly shifted her gaze over, and when she saw the person clearly, a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of her lips, and she said, "I never thought that the Marquis would condescend to come to this death row. I am really flattered."

Xiao Du sighed, took out something from his pocket and passed it in through the gap in the iron bars, saying, "I remember that Aunt Wang cared most about her appearance. Although it is difficult to maintain in this prison, it would be better to have a comb." Aunt Wang's eyes paused, and finally she reached out to take the comb. The sandalwood teeth slowly slid through her graying messy hair, and were casually tied into a simple bun. As she was combing her hair, she suddenly felt sad and covered her face and sobbed. Today, this was the last dignity she could retain.

She cried for a while before she gathered herself and said coldly, "What is this? Are you pretending to be kind and righteous to reduce the guilt in your hearts?"

Xiao Du did not answer her, and continued: "I still remember that when I was eight years old, I fell into the lotus pond because of playing. You were the first one to arrive at that time." He paused and said, "But you did not save me immediately. Later I realized that you were hesitating at that time, because if I died, my second brother would be the only male in the Marquis's mansion. But later you still reached out and pulled me up. Although this happened a long time ago, since then, I no longer believe that you are a vicious and cruel person."

"That's enough!" Aunt Wang suddenly became excited and trembled, "I've fallen to this point, all thanks to you, so why does the Marquis have to pretend to be so kind?" She tucked her hair to calm herself down and said, "I think the Marquis came here today not just to give me a comb and reminisce about the past."

Seeing her like this, Xiao Du stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "I want to know what the secret about my mother was that you wanted to tell me yesterday?"

Aunt Wang was startled for a moment, and suddenly she seemed to have heard the funniest thing in the world, and she burst into laughter again. When she had laughed enough, she leaned towards the railing and said in a playful tone, "How could you not know?"

Xiao Du frowned and asked, "Should I know?"

She came closer, a mysterious smile on her face, and whispered, "Believe me, you'd better never know this secret."

Then she ignored Xiao Du and returned to the place where she had just leaned, picked up the comb on her hair, and combed her hair again. Xiao Du looked at her for a long time, knowing that she would not say anything more, so he stood up and was about to leave, but suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a while, and finally turned back and said: "Take good care of yourself here, maybe things are not hopeless."

Aunt Wang was shocked, and after hearing the deep meaning behind these words, her eyes were filled with desire. However, Xiao Du said nothing more, but walked slowly away along the dark corridor, and finally disappeared into the darkness.

The sky outside the door was getting darker and darker, with inky black clouds hanging low over it. It looked like a rainstorm was about to come. However, Xiao Du felt that it was a hundred times fresher here than in the death cell. He couldn't help but let out a long breath, but the gloom in his heart did not dissipate at all. The servant who had been waiting for a long time came up to him and helped him into the carriage to the marquis's mansion.

In a room of the Marquis's mansion, the room was full of beauty. On the Yunluojin bed, two naked bodies were tightly intertwined, constantly making panting and groaning sounds, and the bed was shaking... But at this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and the cold wind outside the room blew away the beauty in the room. Xiao Qing stood up and was about to get angry, but he was stunned after seeing who was coming. The maid under him covered her face and screamed, and shrank into the quilt. Xiao Yunjing looked at this embarrassing scene with a sullen face, turned around and shouted: "Get out of here!"

The maid quickly put on her clothes and rushed out of the room. Xiao Yunjing then looked at Xiao Qing, who was still topless and had an indifferent expression, and scolded him harshly: "Asshole! Your mother just got into trouble, and you're doing these things again. Do you still have me as your father in your eyes?" Xiao Qing looked up at him, but his eyes were filled with deep hatred, and said: "My mother has been in such a state, isn't it because of you, father? Why? You can't tolerate me so quickly and want to come and call me to task."

Xiao Yunjing was so angry that his hands were shaking. After a while, he finally suppressed his anger and said in a soft voice: "Forget it. It's your father who has treated you badly these years that has made you become like this. I asked someone to find you a vacant position in the Ministry of Personnel. If you agree, go and take the position tomorrow. It will also be an explanation to your mother."

Xiao Qing smiled at him, but there was no smile in his eyes, only a lot of sarcasm. He stood up and tied his robe belt, saying: "What is this, compensation? It's a pity that I didn't care about it before, and I don't care about it now. If you think I'm embarrassing, you can just kick me out and let me fend for myself."

"You!" Xiao Yunjing was so angry that he couldn't help but stretched out his hand to hit him, but stopped in mid-air. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Forget it, forget it. I can't control you. Do whatever you want." Then he turned around and walked out dejectedly.

Xiao Qing looked at his obviously old back and suddenly raised her voice and said, "Dad, if you really care about me, you should think about why I have been married for many years but have no children!" Xiao Yunjing turned around abruptly and looked at his deeply mocking smile. His body swayed a little and he held on to the door frame to avoid falling. Xiao Qing went back to bed and lay down, as if he had nothing to do with him anymore.

Xiao Yunjing walked out of the room with unsteady steps, looked up at the dark clouds gathering above his head, and felt very uncomfortable. A servant came up to him and asked, "Master, are you going back to your room?" He shook his head and said, "No, you go first, I want to take a walk by myself."

He was walking in the courtyard, feeling dizzy and not knowing where he was going. Suddenly, there was a thunder in the sky, and then a heavy rain began to fall. The rain came quickly and violently, but Xiao Yunjing seemed to be unaware of it. He continued to walk forward foolishly, letting the rain soak his clothes. At this time, a green umbrella covered his head. He turned around and saw a face that was always gentle. He asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Aunt Cai laughed and said, "Master, you are confused. This is my yard." Xiao Yunjing looked up and found that he had unknowingly walked to the yard where Aunt Cai lived. Aunt Cai moved the umbrella towards him and said softly, "I saw you in the room getting wet in the rain. I didn't know what happened, so I quickly took out the umbrella to cover you. Master, please go in quickly and change your wet clothes to avoid getting cold."

Xiao Yunjing nodded and followed her into the house. Aunt Cai asked someone to fetch the old man's dry clothes, and personally took off Xiao Yunjing's outer robe, wrung it dry and hung it on the rack. Xiao Yunjing looked at it quietly for a long time and said softly, "Let the servants do these things."

Aunt Cai was stunned for a moment, then revealed a dejected look, lowered her head and said: "I am originally a servant."

Xiao Yunjing suddenly thought of another person, and his heart suddenly ached. He sighed and said, "I have made too many mistakes in these years. After what happened to Shuyao yesterday, I finally understood the resentment in your hearts. I took Xuan'er away from you back then, and you have been hating me all this time."

When Aunt Cai heard her daughter's name, tears immediately welled up in her eyes. She quickly lifted her sleeves to wipe them away and said, "How dare I blame you for speaking like that? You are willing to give me the status of an aunt, and to let Xuan'er become a proper lady of a noble family. This is the greatest gift to us. I have nothing to complain about."

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yunjing felt even more guilty. Xuan'er was born smart and well-behaved, and was his favorite child. He really despised her background and was unwilling to raise his daughter with her. He sighed and said, "I am really sorry for separating you and your daughter for so many years. How about this? You move to Songbaiyuan in the future, so that you can take care of Xuan'er at any time."

Aunt Cai couldn't believe what she heard. She raised her head and said excitedly, "Really? Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!" She cried with joy and almost knelt down to thank him. Xiao Yunjing quickly supported her, held her hand and said softly, "Don't do this again in the future. Remember, you are no longer just a servant."

At this time, the rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, hitting the window sill, startling the two people in the house and also stopping Yuan Xi who was about to return home from the farm.

She hugged herself and hid under an eave, watching the rain dripping from the eaves and forming a puddle at her feet, feeling very upset. After yesterday, she always felt that something was wrong with Aunt Wang, so she brought An He and Li Ma to the farm to find some clues. However, since the incident with Manager Liu, everyone in the farm was very secretive about this matter, and no matter how she asked, she could not get any information. She had to give up her thoughts and prepare to go home. However, as soon as she reached the river, she ran into such a heavy rain. The boatman who was supposed to be guarding the river was nowhere to be found. An He and Li Ma had to let her find a roof to shelter from the rain, and they went to call the boatman over.

She looked around aimlessly, and suddenly saw a figure in a green shirt in the misty rain. She couldn't help but blink and called out in surprise, "Young Master? Why are you here?"

Luo Yuan was walking in the rain holding an umbrella. He turned around and looked at her in surprise and said, "Mrs. Xiao, why are you here?"

Yuan Xi then told her what had just happened. Luo Yuan then put away his umbrella, walked over to her and said, "I don't know where they can find the boatman. Why don't I stay here with you for a while?"

In such bad weather, two people are always warmer than one person. Yuan Xi thought about it and nodded gratefully. The raindrops falling from the eaves were like fine bead curtains, separating a small world from the gray rain mist. The two stood side by side, quietly listening to the ding-dong sound of rain hitting the eaves and watching the water splashing gently in front of them.

Finally, Luo Yuan spoke up: "I still remember the day you came of age, it was also a rainy day like this."

Yuan Xi turned around in surprise and asked, "How come you remember it rained on my coming-of-age day?" She remembered that the Marquis's Mansion didn't hold any ceremony for her that day. She only ate a bowl of shou noodles with the Seventh Aunt, and the Seventh Aunt also gave her a hair flower she made herself. But at that time, hadn't the young master already passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy? Why did he remember such a trivial thing?

Luo Yuan frowned, revealing a very strange look. He pondered for a long time, and finally asked with difficulty: "Didn't you read the Peach Blossom Fan that I sent you the day before you came of age?"

Yuan Xi was even more surprised and said, "I have never read this book before." She thought about it carefully and said anxiously, "I have read every book you sent me several times, but I have never read a book like this."

Luo Yuan looked at him in shock, then revealed a look of sudden enlightenment, but finally turned into deep bitterness and helplessness. Xi stared at him blankly, and suddenly felt that perhaps she had missed something very important.