Han Chunying looked at Han Yu'an, who remained silent; this was what she feared most.
Han Yu'an kept everything bottled up inside, which made her prone to physical and mental problems.
"Third brother, say something, even just cry or curse, don't keep it all bottled up inside, okay?"
Han Chunying felt anxious seeing him remain silent.
"I want to go to school. Yulu said she wanted to be the wife of a top scholar. I can become the top scholar this year. She will come back when I become the top scholar. That's for sure."
Han Yu'an muttered to himself while clutching the object in his arms, completely ignoring the people around him. He went straight back to his room, closed the door tightly, and refused to open it for anyone who knocked.
After hearing all this, Liu Meie also felt heartbroken and started to shed tears.
"We've been searching for half a month and haven't found anyone. How big can the bottom of that cliff be? How come we can't find two people?"
"There is an underground river at the bottom of the cliff. The current is quite rapid, and it hasn't frozen even in this cold weather. They may have been swept downstream."
Tuoba Xuan took a sip of tea and said bitterly.
"Didn't you send anyone downstream to search? We need to find them alive or dead. We can't just leave them like this without any explanation."
“Of course we searched, and we searched every village upstream and downstream, but we just couldn’t find them. Now that we’ve been waiting for too long, we thought we’d come and let you know first, so you won’t keep worrying.”
Tuoba Xuan spoke in a simple and honest manner, his face revealing no emotion. He only knew that after reporting the situation, he still had to go find Cui Yulu, and he had to keep his promise to Abu.
"I've already explained things to the girl on her behalf, so I won't bother you any longer. I need to go find Yulu; I promised to protect her, and I have to keep my promise."
After Tuoba Xuan finished speaking, he got up to take his leave, leaving the Han family members looking at each other in bewilderment.
For a moment, they didn't know how to comfort each other.
"We still have to celebrate the New Year. Yu'an still has exams after the New Year, so we need to cheer up and not let ourselves go like this. If Yulu comes back and sees us looking so down, she definitely won't be happy. Don't you think so?"
Liu Meie tried her best to comfort everyone, while also keeping herself busy. Only by being busy could she forget those worries. Once this period had passed and everyone was in a better mood, she would go to Kyoto to see if there were any traces of Yulu.
A perfectly healthy person can't just disappear like that; they must be hiding somewhere recovering from their injuries.
"What are you all standing there for? Today is the Little New Year, it's time to worship the Kitchen God. Hurry up and set everything up, let's pray to the Kitchen God to bless us with peace and safety. Maybe after the New Year, we'll be a big family again, right?"
Previously, Grandma Han was the backbone of the family, always encouraging everyone no matter what happened. Now, Liu Meie has taken over this important role and become the backbone of the family. She is always the one encouraging everyone. Perhaps this is what inheritance is all about, passing it down from generation to generation to ensure that the family's fine traditions are not interrupted.
Han Yu'an was not involved in any of this. He stayed in his room reading without interruption, and he never left the room even when eating. No matter how much people tried to comfort him, he would just nod and never say a word.
Everyone felt sorry for him, but there was nothing they could do. They knew he was blaming himself for easily believing Cui Yulu's words, letting her go through all that danger, while he himself hid at home like a coward, unable to do anything for her.
Every night, Han Yu'an would recall the scene when Cui Yulu first married into the Han family. She was a little girl, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a fever. Her face was a little pale, but her cheeks were red and cute because of the high fever. At that time, her grandmother was still alive and would always scold him for poking Cui Yulu's face too hard and hurting her. But he knew to hold back and would never hurt her.
I couldn't bear to hurt such a beautiful person.
Later, Cui Yulu was falsely accused of being a witch and placed on the altar. He was once again powerless and watched helplessly as his grandmother died in front of him. Because of this incident, a rift developed between him and Yulu. He admitted that he was extremely jealous at this time. Fu Xiaoyu was much more capable than him. He could easily save Cui Yulu, while he could not. It was from that moment on that he yearned for power. He thought that with power he could protect Cui Yulu.
So, thinking it was for her own good, he threw Cui Yulu to Fu Xiaoyu, believing that this would make Cui Yulu happy.
But after Cui Yulu left his side, he realized that his love for Cui Yulu had already penetrated to the bone.
It's not that Cui Yulu can't live without him, but that he can't live without her.
It was after this incident that he finally understood his own heart. There was always such a woman in his heart who smiled innocently but pretended to be profound, who clearly loved sweets but pretended not to, and who clearly disliked reading but pretended to love it for his own sake.
But he kept doubting and pushing her away. At this moment, Han Yu'an realized that his love was so narrow. Compared with Cui Yulu, he never knew how to give.
So this time he remembered Cui Yulu's words: he must pass the imperial examination with top honors, and when he does, Cui Yulu will return to be his wife.
This is the belief that currently sustains him, and he will not let this sole belief collapse under any circumstances.
Time flew by and it was the 27th of the twelfth lunar month. An unexpected visitor once again disrupted everyone's peaceful life.
"Chunying, get up quickly. Today is the 27th, it's time to kill the New Year's chicken. We're going to stew meat today. Killing the chicken is a lot of work. Can't you be a little more diligent and help your sister-in-law? She's pregnant and can't move around easily. Get up quickly."
Han Chunying was still asleep when Liu Meie called out to her as if she were being summoned back to life.
"Mother, I haven't had a moment's rest these past few days. Can't you let me sleep a little longer? This isn't how you treat the landlord's mules and horses."
Han Chunying complained, but still got out of bed, put on a festive red floral jacket, and saw Cui Tianqi just as she was about to knock on the door when she opened it.
She recognized this person; he was her third brother Han Yu'an's uncle. Although the attempt to reunite them hadn't succeeded, she had gotten used to calling him that.
He blurted out, "Uncle, what brings you here? Did you come to see my third brother?"
Cui Tianqi handed the items in his hand to Han Chunying and said with a smile, "This is a gift to mark our meeting. Please accept it. I came here to pick up Yu'an and take him to Kyoto. Where is he now?"
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a pang of sadness; their once happy family was about to lose another member.
How should we spend this year?
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