After a long while, Shen Yuewei's sobs gradually subsided, leaving only suppressed sobs. She lifted her head from her mother's arms, her swollen eyes still glistening with tears, but now filled with a cold, resolute determination. She struggled to her feet, staggered to the dressing table, and opened an inconspicuous hidden compartment at the very bottom.
Inside was the heavy brocade pouch embroidered with green bamboo—her secret stash of money given to her by her third brother, Shen Wensong. There were also several neatly folded silver notes of considerable denomination, and a small packet of gold melon seeds carefully wrapped in a plain handkerchief. This was all the wealth she had accumulated since her rebirth, by saving her monthly allowance, selling a few pieces of jewelry she rarely wore, and with Wensong's generous help.
She stuffed all these things, along with the only valuable item in her hair—a plain silver and kingfisher feather butterfly hairpin—into her mother's trembling hands.
"Mother... please keep these safe... for your journey... for settling into the house... you'll need them all..." Her voice was still hoarse, but unusually calm.
Looking at the money and valuables in her hands, still warm from her daughter's body but as cold as iron, Madam Shen felt as if they weighed a ton, pressing down on her so much that she could hardly breathe. She trembled, wanting to push them away, but in the end she could only clench them tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms, leaving several bloody marks.
“And…” Shen Yuewei took a deep breath, a deeper pain flashing in her eyes. She raised her hand, groping through her cascading long hair, and ruthlessly plucked out a small strand. The jet-black hair tangled around her pale fingertips, like some kind of ominous prophecy.
“This…you keep it…” She gently placed the broken strand of hair on her mother’s tightly clutched hand, her voice as soft as a falling feather, yet carrying immense weight, “If…if my journey…really…really leads to misfortune…this is…a small keepsake for you, Mother…”
"Wei'er—!" Madam Shen could no longer bear it and let out a shrill cry, as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out! She clutched the broken hair and the cold money tightly, as if she had grasped her daughter's last chance at life, and her whole body swayed violently like a candle in the wind.
The mother and daughter embraced tightly in the messy and cold room, like two lonely birds huddling together for warmth in a storm, using each other's warmth to support their courage to live.
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In the days that followed, Shuyuxuan appeared calm on the surface, but inside it was like a taut bowstring, filled with silent, turbulent waves.
Since leaving that day, Shen Wenbai has never set foot in Shuyu Pavilion again. Perhaps he doesn't know how to face the situation, or perhaps he is preparing how to impeach the Crown Prince.
Shen Yuewei did not take the initiative to see her second brother. She did not know how to face this brother who loved her so much and tell him about the absurd thing that she was pregnant. But she was determined to have the child. She might not love the Crown Prince, but she loved the child.
Minister Shen was busy with official duties and assumed that the matter in the inner quarters was simply because his daughter had been frightened and needed to rest. Although Shen Wensong sensed that the atmosphere at home was strange, he could only suppress his worries because his mother had strictly instructed him not to disturb his sister's "recuperation."
Madam Shen, using the excuse that Shen Yuewei was "sustainably ill and needed to rest quietly," almost completely cut off all outside visits. She quietly began preparations. Through the most secretive channels, she contacted the loyal old estate manager in Jiangnan. She sold two of her most prized pieces of jewelry, exchanging them for easily portable "flying coins" (an ancient form of bank draft) and loose gold and silver. She personally selected a coachman and two burly female servants, bound by a life-or-death contract and whose families were under her control, as "distant relatives" to escort her on the road. She also secretly found a reliable doctor who prescribed several formulas to stabilize the pregnancy and strengthen the body, mixing the herbs into the usual tonics and sending them to Shuyuxuan.
Everything proceeded tensely and discreetly. Shen Yuewei forced herself to eat, diligently nourishing her body to build up her strength for the long journey ahead. She often stroked her still flat abdomen, feeling the faint yet tenacious life within, her heart filled with complex emotions—this was the child she couldn't protect in her previous life, the karmic debt she incurred with her enemy, yet also the only treasure she wanted to hold onto tightly and protect with her life in this new life. Each faint sensation of fetal movement (it was still too early, more of a psychological effect) filled her with both excruciating heartache and boundless courage.
The day of departure from Beijing was drawing ever closer, thanks to Madam Shen's tireless efforts day and night.
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