The night gradually faded away with the bright moon, and the morning light penetrated through the clouds and shone into the window of the pleasure boat, painting the brocade quilt on the bed with a faint golden glow.

A fair wrist stretched out from the quilt, picked up the clothes beside the bed and put them on, then walked barefoot to the window. Outside the window, the lake was shimmering, the clouds were gradually dyed, and the morning mist had not yet dissipated, giving the Yuquan Lake, which was still bustling at night, a hint of mystery.

At this time, she heard footsteps behind her, and someone gently put a cloak on her and said, "It's still the first month of the year, and the wind on the lake is strong. Be careful not to get sick."

Yuan Xi held the warm and thick palm, and gently rubbed it on her face. Xiao Du glanced at her bare feet and frowned slightly, saying, "Why don't you even wear shoes?" Yuan Xi stuck out her tongue and was about to get up, but he held her down and signaled her with his eyes not to move. Then he went to get her shoes and socks, and squatted down to put them on for her.

Yuan Xi looked down at the outline of his eyebrows and eyes, and suddenly smiled: "Apart from An He and the others, you are the first person to put on shoes for me."

Xiao Du also laughed and said, "Who told my wife to be so troublesome? I'm afraid I won't wear shoes for another person again."

Yuan Xi felt warm in her heart, and suddenly changed her mind and asked carefully: "What about you? Has the princess ever put on your shoes for you?"

Xiao Du's hand paused, and said, "Mom's health is not good, and she doesn't like to see people. So I didn't see her much since I was a child. Except for birthdays and festivals, I almost always stayed with Yunniang. Sometimes I even thought that maybe Yunniang was my biological mother." He smiled as he spoke, as if he was laughing at his naive self back then.

Yuan Xi's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes were a little dazed. At this time, Xiao Du had already put on her shoes and socks, and gently held her hand and said, "So I always think that if I have children, I will try my best to stay with them, play with them, teach them to read, and never miss any moment of their growing up. Xi'er, don't worry, our children will be different from us."

Yuan Xi's nose felt sour for a while, she held Xiao Du's hand and nodded heavily. They were the same in nature, she naturally understood his desire for family affection, and then, she suddenly began to be afraid, if the princess was really not Xiao Du's biological mother, how would he face it. She pursed her lips tightly, she would rather guess wrong than let the truth hurt him again.

After returning home, Yuan Xi went to Xiao Zhixuan's room on the pretext of learning needlework. As soon as she pushed the door open, Xiao Zhixuan had already jumped to her side, her eyes wandering around her, and she deliberately said in an exaggerated tone: "I didn't expect that my brother, who has been hiding for so many years, is so interesting. My sister-in-law and I didn't come home last night. I guess you must have been very happy..."

Yuan Xi blushed a little, tapped her forehead lightly, and scolded her: "Little girl, stop reading those messy stories."

Xiao Zhixuan pouted and touched her forehead, saying, "I'm going to be a 15-year-old soon, don't think I don't know anything." She was about to make some more teasing remarks, but Yuan Xi turned around and said seriously, "Stop making trouble, I'm here today to discuss something serious with you."

Xiao Zhixuan saw her expression and realized that it must be something related to the princess. She quickly put away her smile and said, "Did sister-in-law find out something?"

Yuan Xi said, "Do you remember that day when Granny Fang said that the princess hated cherry blossoms and wanted to chop them all down? I always thought this was a little strange. Why would the princess hate cherry blossoms for no reason? So I wanted to ask you, is there any place in the Marquis' Mansion with a particularly large number of cherry blossoms?"

Xiao Zhixuan thought for a moment and said, "It seems that we rarely plant cherry blossoms in recent years, but I remember there was a yard in the back that was uninhabited all year round. But when I was a child, I sneaked in to play and saw a large area of ​​cherry blossoms. That was the first time I saw so many cherry blossoms, so I remember it very clearly."

Yuan Xi's eyes flickered, and she said, "Do you remember where it is? Can you take me there?"

Xiao Zhixuan nodded and said, "But we have to go there quietly. It's locked. Dad doesn't usually let people in. When Dad found out that time, he gave me a good scolding."

Yuan Xi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said with a smile: "That's not difficult, we just need to secretly get the key out." Because the two concubines passed away and the princess had always ignored domestic affairs, Yuan Xi now had to learn to take over various affairs of the mansion, which actually brought her a lot of convenience.

The two took the key and found the courtyard according to Xiao Zhixuan's memory. Yuan Xi opened the gate with red paint and peeling off, and suddenly felt a little strange. Although the courtyard was full of dead trees and looked very desolate, the carved arches and beams still showed the former grandeur of this place.

Why would such a nice yard suddenly be abandoned? Yuan Xi walked a few steps with this puzzlement, and suddenly squatted down beside a tree, staring at the roots of the tree for a long time, and then picked up a dead branch and turned the soil under the tree. It was not until Xiao Zhixuan asked curiously that she raised her head and took Xiao Zhixuan to the front door of the main house.

The door was not locked and creaked open with a slight push. There was a thick layer of dust in the house and cobwebs in the corners. It was obvious that no one had lived there for a long time.

The furnishings in the room had been cleared out, but Yuan Xi stood there for a long time, his eyes slowly sliding over the remaining tables, beds, and walls. Then he closed his eyes and began to imagine what the room had looked like in the past.

At this time, Xiao Zhixuan tugged at her sleeve and said, "Sister-in-law, there is nothing here. Let's leave early. I always feel that this place is gloomy and scary."

Yuan Xi suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Xuan'er, a woman once lived here."

Xiao Zhixuan was stunned for a moment, but her curiosity immediately dispelled her fear. She looked around and asked, "How did you know? There's obviously nothing here."

Yuan Xi pointed at the table and said, "Here, the marks here are caused by the bronze mirror. The scratches here are caused by the gold hairpin accidentally." She walked to the wall next to the bed and said, "The color of this wall shows that someone has fumigated clothes here. So, I think not only did a woman live here, but this woman must have a high status."

Xiao Zhixuan's eyes widened in surprise and she said, "But since I was old enough to understand, no one has ever lived here. The gate has always been locked."

Yuan Xi turned to look at her, frowned and said, "Then this matter is even more strange."

Before Xiao Zhixuan could react, she pulled her into the yard and pointed at the soil under the tree and said, "Look at this soil. It's obvious that someone has renovated it in recent years. If you dig up the soil outside, you can still see cherry blossom petals that haven't completely rotted." She looked around the yard and said, "Although this yard is run-down, there are no weeds around this tree. Normally, if a yard has not been taken care of for more than ten years, the weeds should have grown very tall."

Xiao Zhixuan was confused by what she said and murmured, "Sister-in-law, do you mean that this yard has always been taken care of?"

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "But what's strange is that the man only took care of the yard but never entered the house. You once said that you saw the cherry blossoms in the yard blooming beautifully. Cherry blossoms are very fragile plants. If no one deliberately cultivates them, they will wither and die within a year and will no longer bloom."

Xiao Zhixuan said: "That means someone has been secretly planting flowers in the yard all these years. Why is that? Obviously no one lives in this yard."

Yuan Xi shook her head and said, "I don't know either, but I always feel that the people living in this courtyard must have a great relationship with your princess's incident back then."

At this time, there were footsteps and voices not far from the courtyard. Yuan Xi and Xiao Zhixuan were startled and rushed out to lock the gate. Seeing that they could not escape in time, they quietly hid in the bushes beside the courtyard. The footsteps were getting closer and closer. It turned out that two maids were walking towards this side, talking and laughing. The two walked not far from the gate of the courtyard, and suddenly raised their heads and stopped. In fact, a maid whispered in surprise: "It's all your fault for talking without looking at the road. How did you get here?"

Another maid also showed a frightened look on her face and said, "Amitabha, how did you accidentally walk here again? This yard is so dark and spooky. Last time I ran into that crazy woman wandering around here, and she gave me nightmares the whole night."

"Oh, don't talk about it. I heard that the crazy woman was sent out of the house. Do you think she died and her soul came back here..." The two became more and more scared as they talked, and finally they ran away in fear.

At this time, Yuan Xi and Xiao Zhixuan, who were hiding in the bushes, looked at each other and whispered together: "Mad woman... Yunniang!"

After dinner, Yuan Xi begged Xiao Du to let her stay alone in the account room, saying that she needed to look through the accounts carefully before she could be a qualified mistress and manage the family business. Although Xiao Du was not happy that she was so mysterious and left him alone, he had promised her that he would not ask about it, so he had to keep his promise and let her do it.

Yuan Xi buried herself in the densely packed account books all night, and finally found the account book from 25 years ago. She quickly spread out paper and ink, and wrote down all the items sent in by the courtyards she was not familiar with, and then went to Xiao Zhixuan's room with the account book in her arms.

"Feihanyuan... should be this place! I have some impression of the names of other courtyards, all of which have been renovated in recent years, but I have never heard of this name." Xiao Zhixuan looked at the stack of papers carefully for a long time and answered very firmly.

Yuan Xi quickly pulled out the one from Fei Han Yuan and looked at it carefully. There was nothing special about the items sent in. They were just clothes, cloth, food and some supplements. When she saw the supplements line, her eyes widened suddenly, her hands trembled, and the paper slipped from her fingertips to the ground.

Xiao Zhixuan didn't understand what was going on, so she quickly picked up the paper and read from it: "Danshen, Poria, Angelica, Hen... Is there anything wrong with these?"

Yuan Xi's mouth trembled, and he said in a low voice: "The woman who lived in Feihan Courtyard was very likely pregnant back then!"