Brother Luo Ling from my hometown always wrote "Hometown Rain" at the end of his letters...
As Luo Zhaoxing leaned against the chaise lounge, she watched the two arguing fiercely, and her heart warmed. It was just like when they were young, sitting around a small, burning stove in the winter, drinking a cup of warm lychee wine, the wine smooth and mellow, with a strong aftertaste.
Ten years ago, the Qin clan became an unspeakable taboo within the royal family, and also an insurmountable chasm in their hearts.
In the winter of the third year of Kang Le, it was as if someone had woven a dense net, luring people into the trap. Every one of them was caught in the net, and none could escape.
After a short while, Jiang Yuanfu put down the luminous pearl in her hand, took her hands, and said with concern, "There are some things I won't tell you for now, but you will know from your brother. Did you see the two people who fell from the building yesterday? They were Zhao You, the son of the Earl of Qingping, and Lu Zhan, the son of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. You were there yesterday, so if the Empress Dowager asks about these things in the future, just tell her the truth."
Tao Qingyun was leisurely sipping tea in the rosewood chair by the window when she heard what she said, and frowned: "Why are you telling her these things?"
Jiang Yuanfu glared at him: "Isn't this to prepare Xiaoxing mentally?" He turned to look at Luo Zhaoxing, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat dejected: "There was supposed to be a spring banquet in a few days. Knowing you were returning to the capital, I had already informed a few girls I was on good terms with in my youth. I don't know if it will still be able to be held. Yesterday, the palace was locked up, and Father Emperor kept Fourth Brother at the palace overnight. I even mentioned this to him. Xiaoxing, let's invite Fourth Brother to get together another day. When we were young, we loved to drink tea and admire flowers together, and swing on the swings in the Imperial Garden. You must come if you recover from your illness."
Luo Zhaoxing raised his eyes and smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying.
Raindrops gently tapped on the upturned eaves, and she saw Tao Qingyun take a few dried peaches from the porcelain jar on the small table and put them into the tea.
The window was half-open, and it was quiet both inside and outside.
Luo Zhaoxing asked, "Third Brother, what happened to your lip?"
She noticed that Tao Qingyun had two inconspicuous mouth ulcers on the corner of her mouth, which were unusual compared to yesterday.
Tao Qingyun replied nonchalantly, "Oh, it's nothing. I've just been having a lot of worries lately."
"You must be thirsty, right? I'll go get you a cup of tea." Jiang Yuanfu looked around and, seeing that there were no cups or saucers beside her, quickly got up and went to the window to pour her a cup of tea.
But as he turned around, he stumbled and almost fell.
Fortunately, Feng Hua, who was carrying a plate of snacks into the house, caught them, but the items in their hands also fell and slipped.
Luo Zhaoxing immediately got up from the bed and hurriedly asked, "Are you burned?"
Jiang Yuanfu smiled and shook her head seemingly unconcerned, but Luo Zhaoxing caught a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
She knew that the capital had experienced continuous rain during the spring and summer seasons, and Jiang Yuanfu's leg ailment had flared up again.
Back then, while living in Jiangnan, she learned that Jiang Yuanfu had knelt for a long time on a snowy night, which caused her to develop a leg ailment. She couldn't sleep well on rainy nights, so she diligently searched for excellent external ointments in Jiangnan until a renowned itinerant doctor came to Jiangnan to offer free medical treatment. At that time, Tao Qingyun was traveling and stopped by Jiangnan to visit the Luo family, so she entrusted Tao Qingyun to bring the ointment back to the capital.
That year marked the beginning of Luo Zhaoxing and Tao Qingyun's "three-year agreement".
During the summer rains of the third year of the Kang Le era, the frail and sickly Luo Zhaoxing narrowly escaped death. In his hazy dreams, he saw high mountains and lakes. After recovering from his serious illness, during a leisurely gathering, Luo Zhaoxing asked Tao Qingyun what the area outside the capital city looked like.
Tao Qingyun replied: There is a vast view where the sky and water blend into one, as well as the prosperity of a water town where a hundred flowers bloom.
When he was young, Tao Qingyun said that when he turned eighteen, after seeing all the sun, moon and stars and traveling all over the mountains, rivers and lakes, he would definitely paint them for her. He would also make sure to come back before her birthday that year and personally give her the beautiful painting as a birthday gift.
The fine drizzle seemed to transport me back to my childhood, to the time when I and my friends would play and frolic in the veranda of the Luo family mansion. It also seemed to transport me back to those ten rainy years in Jiangnan.
But she was born in the capital, and many nights she would miss her distant hometown, that vast world, and the courtyard filled with flowering trees that her grandfather had planted.
In winter, her brother would bring her a bag of steaming hot roasted chestnuts. In summer, they would sit under the shade of a big tree, with a servant fanning them with a palm-leaf fan. Her brother would peel a pomegranate for her while he read a book. In late spring and early autumn, her parents would take the whole family to their country estate in the countryside for a short stay.
In spring, admire the apricot and crabapple blossoms; in autumn, appreciate the red leaves and golden osmanthus.
During the ten years he spent in Jiangnan, letters were sent from the capital to Jiangnan, and his elder brother Luo Ling always wrote at the end of each letter: "Home is where my heart is at peace."
Suddenly, a dog started barking incessantly beneath the Listening to Rain Pavilion. Luo Zhaoxing looked out the window and saw Pu Niang, the loyal servant of the Luo family who had accompanied her back to Jiangnan, leading a large, pure black wolfhound through the covered walkway toward them.
She pulled Jiang Yuanfu over to the couch and then covered her knees with a thin brocade quilt.
Hearing the commotion downstairs, Tao Qingyun hurried down and took Zhoufeng from Pu Niang. Zhoufeng, with its tongue lolling out, made a "whoosh whoosh" sound, leaping around very fast. Tao Qingyun couldn't keep up with it and stumbled as if she was about to fall.
Luo Zhaoxing smiled and said, "Third Brother, why did you bring it here? How did it end up with you?"
Feng Hua hurriedly fetched a basin of water, and Tao Qingyun watched as Zhou Feng gulped down several mouthfuls before saying, "We came out early and haven't eaten yet. We happened to run into Pu Niang, so we asked her to take it out for a walk. We were worried you'd be bored, so we brought it here for you to see. What do you think? Pets really do take after their owners. Isn't it more majestic than it was a few years ago?"
Luo Zhaoxing lowered his head again and met a pair of big, watery eyes.
The sudden gust of wind was squatting on the ground, its tongue lolling out. It met her gaze and tilted its head. Suddenly, it got up and started circling around her. In no time, it pounced on her lap, its tail wagging higher and higher, wagging very happily.
She was thrown to the side by the force of the impact, and almost lost her balance.
Tao Qingyun looked at her bright smile and her lips also curled up.
Luo Zhaoxing then squatted down and pulled it into her arms, while Zhoufeng licked her hair with its big tongue, leaving it covered in saliva.
Her eyes curved into two thin crescent moons as she giggled unrestrainedly. The sudden gust of wind seemed to loosen its grip as well, the corners of its mouth turning slightly upward.
Jiang Yuanfu sat on the couch, chuckled, and said, "Ungrateful wretch!"
Feng Hua watched the scene with a smile: "Zhou Feng must have recognized Miss."
Luo Zhaoxing stroked its head repeatedly, and it squinted its eyes as if it were completely content.
Tao Qingyun patted Zhoufeng's head and said, "Letting it go to that desolate place in the Northwest, how many days of travel would it have survived? That guy handed it over to me back then, and I told him not to blame me when you came back, because it doesn't recognize you."
Upon hearing this, Luo Zhaoxing paused.
Tao Qingyun sighed deeply: "Back then, my uncle allowed us to contact him. But over the years, there have been only a few letters, just a few words, not as many as what I have to say to you today." He began to talk on and on: "But your brother, he has been impatiently writing letter after letter."
"What, Ye Ning? How have you been lately? Ye Ning, it's getting colder with the arrival of autumn, please wear more clothes and don't fall ill. You're acting like a young lady."
Luo Zhaoxing's eyelashes trembled slightly, but her expression remained unchanged.
Isn't the elder brother also maintaining their childhood friendship? One is in the desolate northwest frontier, and the other is in the dazzling capital. Aren't they also the link between these two great currents?
Tao Qingyun sat back in the rose chair, picked up the teacup on the small table, took a sip, and then put the cup down with a heavy touch.
"He went to such a far place alone at such a young age. Why do I feel a little uneasy whenever I think about him?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuanfu, who was sitting opposite, stood up and played with the sudden wind with Luo Zhaoxing. She said, "Over the years, I have asked people to send me many fur coats and warm clothes. I heard that the winters there are very cold. This year is the Empress Dowager's birthday, and in recent years she has always been talking about Fourth Brother on Xiaguang Peak. Even if he made a mistake back then, it is time for him to come back."
Back then, in the Golden Palace, Chu Yening, who had gone to war with his father but returned alone, wounded Cai Yuan, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, with his sword. Hundreds of officials rushed to the Golden Palace, creating chaos. These few young men who remained in the capital knelt in the heavy snow, pleading for his life.
Of the last eight, one left his hometown, one rests in peace, one's soul returned to the river, and one went to the Northwest.
We went our separate ways, and things have changed.
Luo Zhaoxing stroked the hair on Zhou Feng's head, seemingly listening casually.
It felt as if a huge gash had been torn open in her heart, or as if a sharp weapon had resolutely pierced it.
After a moment, she asked, "Has Her Majesty been staying at Xiaguang Peak all these years?" She felt as if a huge rock was pressing on her throat: "How is she?"
Tao Qingyun stood up, put her hands behind her back, looked out the window at the drizzling rain, and said in a tone that was neither too loud nor too soft, "She's become a bit senile these past few years, and her eyesight isn't very good anymore. My uncle is afraid she'll be reminded of the past, so he doesn't allow us to visit her often."
Since the late emperor's death thirteen years ago, Empress Dowager Zhao has no longer been involved in the affairs of the inner palace, entrusting all power to the current Empress Dowager, Tao. Because the late emperor died at Penglai Xiaoding, she was reminded of him by the sight of the scenery and chose to leave the palace and live in Xiaguangding, a place known for its spectacular scenery where "ten thousand apricot trees cover the mountain like clouds and snow when the rosy clouds shine on them."
In the autumn of the third year of the Kang Le era, Empress Dowager Zhao's sudden cold cast a somber mood over Xia Guang Peak, prompting the mobilization of all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital. By the time she had recovered and the first snow fell, the Duke of Dingguo had committed suicide, and his heir had massacred Xiao Penglai. The people were outraged, and the court and the public were in uproar. By the time the news reached Xia Guang Peak, it was too late; the deed was done.
Empress Dowager Zhao was so angry that she vomited blood and nearly fainted. Then, a letter written in blood and a piece of black hair cut off three inches short were sent by Ding Wei, the chief eunuch of Cining Palace, to the inner court by Baozhu, the head of Cining Palace, and personally handed to Emperor Kang Le, who had fainted on his desk due to the deaths of two friends.
Empress Dowager Zhao protected all the women of the Qin family and also did her best to preserve the Qin family mansion, which had been almost completely confiscated.
However, the Qin family were all men of principle. Of the dozens of Qin family women imprisoned in the mansion, except for the Duchess of the State who died under the Dengwen Drum, the Crown Prince's wife Zhu Ruo who was about to give birth, and the young Qin Heng who was far away in Jiangnan and whose fate was unknown, they all drank poisoned wine in one night. Even the three- or four-year-old children all died with their husbands, fathers, and children.
During these ten years, amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, people would often remark on the "unyielding spirit" of the Qin family women and children during their leisure time.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
