When will he rest? He tossed the foxtail grass in his hand to the side...
Last night, Qin Weixi rested at the Lotus Viewing Courtyard on Xiaguang Peak. He couldn't sleep all night and woke up at noon.
The room was quiet, and no one came to disturb her. Looking through the bronze mirror, she saw a plate of lychees transported from Lingnan on the table.
She quietly got out of bed, but still disturbed Pu Niang who was guarding outside. She washed up again, and Pu Niang redrew her eyebrows and makeup. Suddenly, footsteps came from outside the small window. She and Pu Niang saw Feng Hua picking a handful of peach blossoms and tiptoeing back to the courtyard, afraid of waking her.
Qin Weixi couldn't help but smile, and then opened the window wide and stepped out.
Seeing that she was awake, Feng Hua hurriedly ran over with the flowers in her hands and said, "Miss, look how beautiful these peach blossoms are. It would be wonderful if we could take them back to make peach blossom wine."
Qin Weixi gently tapped her forehead with her index finger: "Our little Fenghua only knows how to eat. There's a plate of lychees on the table, but I'm not fit to eat them, so you can have them. Remember, don't leave a single one!"
Feng Hua's eyes lit up, then her face flushed crimson. She pursed her lips and chuckled, stuffing the peach branch into Qin Weixi's hand. Her legs, as if against her will, slowly shuffled towards the house.
Pu Niang smiled kindly and said with emotion, "The most important thing for a young lady is to be happy every day. If you think positively about everything, good fortune will naturally come."
Qin Weixi understood Pu Niang's implied meaning and sniffed the peach blossom branch in his hand.
Pu Niang asked with a smile, "Are you cold? Come inside quickly." She seemed to have something to say but hesitated.
Qin Weixi said, "Pu Niang, please speak."
Pu Niang sighed, "I was looking at that young Marquis Jingning. What a fine child he was, how could he have..."
Qin Weixi suddenly turned and looked out of the courtyard, asking, "Puniang, why is the outer courtyard so quiet today? Where has everyone gone?" Her heart sank: "Could it be that Grandmother Zhao is not doing well?"
Pu Niang quickly patted her hand: "It's not the Empress Dowager. It's Princess Zhenhui. She caught a cold last night and developed a high fever. This morning, Miss Baozhu came by and saw that Miss was still asleep, so she dismissed the maids sweeping the outer courtyard and told Miss to rest well."
"Ah Fu has a fever?" Qin Weixi's heart skipped a beat, and she paused, her hand holding the peach branch still. She said, "I'll go check on her." Then she took a step and headed towards the waterside pavilion.
Pu Niang then said, "Miss hasn't had breakfast yet."
Qin Weixi waved his hand: "It doesn't matter if I miss one meal."
Inside the waterside pavilion, Zi Shu was carrying a washbasin and was about to leave when she saw her enter and quickly bowed.
Jiang Yuanfu's eyes were light-colored. She had just taken her medicine and was leaning against a soft pillow. When she saw the person who came, her pale face couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Eighth Sister." Jiang Yuanfu coughed a few times, her brows furrowed slightly beneath her sickly appearance, making her look pitiful to anyone who saw her.
Qin Weixi quickened her pace, stepped forward, and gently patted her back: "Why did you suddenly get sick?" Then she went to the table, poured a glass of warm water, and handed it to her.
Jiang Yuanfu coughed lightly again, then wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. She shook her head and suddenly chuckled, "Everyone says I am a favored daughter of heaven. But I have also thought that I might as well be reborn as a noblewoman in a grand mansion, or a young girl from an ordinary family. Perhaps I can still do many things I want to do in this life."
She looked up, her eyes suddenly filled with tears: "Little Star, I dreamt of Seventh Sister. It's been so long since I've dreamt of her." At this point, she gave a self-deprecating smile: "No, not just a few days, it's been many years since she last appeared in my dreams."
"Little Star! When will we rest? If only we could go back to the past." Her voice carried a soft sigh.
Qin Weixi sat down beside her, taking her warm hand in his, but remained silent. Jiang Yuanfu continued, "There are some things I don't know how much you really know. Brother has been working tirelessly for the Qin family all these years. I understand that the matter of the Star Gazing Tower is more or less related to you." Then Jiang Yuanfu grasped her hands in return, forcing a smile, "Since Seventh Sister passed away, I haven't had a single confidant by my side."
Just as Qin Weixi was about to speak, a soft sob came from outside.
Jiang Yuanfu smiled and said, "Where did this little kitten come from crying?" Then she said, "Zishu! Go! Find me a simple dress. I'm going to Mingyue Pavilion with my eighth sister."
Mingyue Pavilion. A waterside pavilion surrounded by a clear lake, accessible only by climbing a bridge. When I was young, I visited Grandmother Zhao, and she and Afu had briefly stayed there together.
Zi Shu walked in from the outer hall, having stopped crying: "The princess is still not well. Her high fever only subsided this morning. How can she go to such a far place at this time?"
But Jiang Yuanfu insisted on going, and stubbornly said, "There are traces of Seventh Sister there. Apart from Mingyue Pavilion, there is no trace of her existence." She looked at Zishu: "You should not inform the Empress Dowager and Brother either."
Qin Weixi felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. Then she heard Jiang Yuanfu ask again, "Eighth Sister, will you come with me?"
Zi Shu had no choice but to lower her head and silently search for her clothes.
Qin Weixi said, "Sixth Sister, I know your temperament. When we get there, we'll only take a quick look and be back in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. If Fifth Brother finds out about this, Eighth Sister will be in deep trouble."
Jiang Yuanfu suddenly burst into laughter through her tears: "Only you know how to make me happy."
Qin Weixi got up and went with Zi Shu to the wardrobe to find a large, thick hooded cloak. They also took a copper wire hand warmer and covered Jiang Yuanfu completely before heading to Mingyue Pavilion together.
Nothing inside the pavilion has changed; it remains exactly as it was when she left.
In the wardrobe were the short, brightly colored, and delicate little jackets and skirts they wore when they were seven or eight years old. In the dressing case were colorful ribbons for tying up their hair and butterfly hairpins. On the display cabinet were white porcelain cups with colorful flowers and butterflies.
She is a purple butterfly. Afu is a brown butterfly.
Jiang Yuanfu pulled her along, leading her into the inner room. She said, "Seventh Sister often mentioned you to me back then. If only Xiaoxing were here! If Xiaoxing were here, we could have Eunuch Ding build me a swing set, just like in the palace, Yunyun..."
"But how did those good days slip away in the blink of an eye?"
Qin Weixi smiled faintly, "We'll get even better. Childhood has its advantages, and growing up has its own." She took out a short silk skirt from the wardrobe and held it up to herself. She said, "Why don't you look? Would you still wear such a childish dress now?"
Jiang Yuanfu chuckled. Zi Shu also smiled, her lips pursed.
"I'll go and make a pot of tea for the princess and the young lady."
Jiang Yuanfu perked up instantly, her whole body radiating energy: "I'll also take a look at how many things we left here back then."
She walked quickly. Perhaps because she had been holding her breath, the sudden recollection of the past, coupled with Qin Weixi's relaxed words, naturally made her relax. After walking a few steps, she suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, then her vision went black, and she bumped into the wardrobe.
The small wooden wardrobe was shaken by a strong force, and then a scroll about an arm's length and a tall, slender vase filled with flowers suddenly fell from the top.
Without a second thought, Qin Weixi instinctively stepped forward and shielded Jiang Yuanfu with his arms. The plum vase, propelled by the force of Qin Weixi's forehead, suddenly fell with a thud and shattered on the ground.
Zi Shu heard the commotion from the outer room and ran over.
Jiang Yuanfu was about to step back and look up again to see how the girl in front of her was doing. She had clearly heard that dull thud.
"Don't move!"
"There are shards of a vase behind your feet." Then, he added, "Be careful not to cut yourself."
Jiang Yuanfu was taken aback, then nodded absentmindedly.
It felt like going back many years, to when they studied and learned to read together, to playfully fighting and sleeping together in the Qin family home and on Xiaguang Peak. And then to picking the bright red persimmons from the tall persimmon tree.
As a young girl, she looked at a tree laden with bright orange persimmons and exclaimed, "What a huge persimmon! I've never eaten one before, growing up in the palace. Is it really that delicious?"
Then, a girl with a gentle smile will say to her, "Don't move, I'll pick it for you." Then you'll see the girl gather her skirt into a knot, rub her hands together, and climb up the tree in a few quick movements.
She slowly closed her eyes, her eyes filled with inexplicable tears.
Her mother once said to her, "You're not young anymore. At twenty-nine, in the prime of your youth, why haven't you found a husband?" At palace banquets, her mother would often watch the ladies of noble families discussing their children's marriages, most of the girls already engaged before their coming-of-age ceremony. Her mother, her face full of sorrow, would lament, "These past years, I've truly delayed your lives. And Qingyun, is he really going to wait until he's thirty to get married?"
Seeing the girl before her calmly picking up the broken porcelain shards, Zi Shu quickly said, "Miss, be careful not to prick your hand. Let me pick them up. Your forehead is red from being hit by that plum vase; you should go back quickly to reduce the swelling."
Qin Weixi said without looking up, "We're all born of flesh and blood. You can pick one up, but I can't? Go and take good care of your princess! Go and see how she is."
Her words were calm and composed, but there was an underlying sense of unquestionable authority about them.
Zi Shu looked up and saw that the princess was looking down, one hand on the small table next to the wardrobe, her thoughts seemingly drifting to the far reaches of the sky.
Jiang Yuanfu suddenly came to her senses, pondered for a while, and bent down to pick up the scroll that had fallen to the ground and was half open.
The view begins with a distant, rolling mountain range, where a woman in armor stands alone amidst the landscape, her gaze piercing, wielding a long sword as she dances gracefully. She exudes the decisive and ruthless air of a chivalrous swordswoman.
"......This is?"
Sensing her astonishment, Qin Weixi stood up, her gaze briefly falling on the paper, but she couldn't look away.
This is her grandmother, Ye Jiuyi. In her youth, she was the ninth child in the Ye family, and everyone she met would call her Ye Jiuniang, a woman who was just as capable as any man.
But she had never met her. She had only heard of this legendary woman in her grandfather's fragmented and chaotic grief when he was about to pass away.
But she knew that her grandmother was a wonderful girl.
Suddenly, a series of intermittent footsteps came from outside the waterside pavilion.
The three people inside looked out the window and saw Jiang Yuanjun and Luo Ling hurriedly walk onto the stone arch bridge.
Jiang Yuanfu behind her suddenly said, "I know. This is Qin's grandmother." Then she felt her consciousness sink, and everything went black before her eyes, and she was plunged into darkness.
Jiang Yuanjun walked ahead and entered the house first. She was taken aback when she saw the red swelling on Qin Weixi's forehead. Then she used both hands to lift Jiang Yuanfu up in her arms and said to Luo Ling behind her, "How could those palace servants have searched the entire garden and found out she was here?"
Both of them saw the scroll slip from Jiang Yuanfu's hand.
Luo Ling calmly picked it up and placed it in her bosom, then looked at Qin Weixi and asked, "Where did you bump yourself? Are you alright?"
She shook her head silently.
Luo Ling gently patted her head, then turned to Jiang Yuanjun and said, "I'll go report to the ancestor first."
Jiang Yuanjun nodded and led the unconscious Jiang Yuanfu out of the waterside pavilion.
Luo Ling turned back to her and said, "Let's go. After we inform the Ancestor, your brother will come to find you."
The group descended the stone arch bridge outside the waterside pavilion, with Jiang Yuanjun and Luo Ling splitting into two groups. Willows swayed gently, and willow catkins drifted in the air.
"Achoo—" Qin Weixi suddenly felt a large willow catkin fly past his nose, causing an unusual itch.
"Achoo—" Then came a soft, itchy sensation, and I couldn't help but sneeze.
A soft laugh suddenly came from above.
She looked up and saw a young man in purple robes sitting casually on a tree trunk that was as thick as two people could hug. He had one arm casually draped over his arched right knee, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, and a carefree expression on his face. He looked quite relaxed.
Then Chu Yening nimbly and lightly leaped down from the tree.
He approached her with a large bunch of foxtail grass in his hands, which he had picked from who-knows-where, but when he saw the slightly raised bump on her forehead, a barely perceptible hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.
He tossed the foxtail grass in his hand aside and said coldly, "Who hurt you?"
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