Ending (Part 2)

In the blink of an eye, it is already spring.

In the ancestral hall, Aunt Fang and Qiao Qingsheng also set up a seat for Mu Wan'er.

Mu An Ning often saw his brother sitting alone with a pale face in front of the seats where his father, mother and Mu Wan'er sat.

Although she wanted to comfort him, she didn't know where to start.

It was only these few days that she received the belated letter from Mu Wan'er.

Mu Wan'er said in the letter that, if nothing unexpected happened, she should be enjoying her life right now.

Although there were words like "novel" and "film and television" that were difficult for her to understand, judging from Mu Wan'er's flying handwriting, she must have been in a very happy mood, which did not seem like something she wrote before her death.

As for the fact that she could hear her own thoughts, Mu Wan'er was so embarrassed that she kept telling her to forget it.

At the very end, Mu Wan'er told them to take good care of themselves and said that she hoped she could find her home soon. If she couldn't find one, she must not just marry someone.

This reminded her of something.

Not long ago, Mu Jingyue entered the palace.

That day, the Chongde Marquis' Mansion held a banquet with great fanfare, entertaining many guests on the pretext of Mu Guiling's promotion.

The Qiao Mansion was naturally not among them.

Although she felt a little sad in her heart, she felt lucky for Mu Wan'er.

The imperial palace is a place that devours people. It is fortunate that Mu Wan'er was able to escape. It seems that the Marquis' Mansion only wants to use their children.

Finally, Mu Wan'er returned home.

However, after Mu Guiling hosted the promotion banquet, he disappeared and no one knew where he went.

While Mu An Ning was lost in thought, Fang Ziweng ran to her side and shook her arm: "Cousin, it's a nice day today, let's go out and fly a kite."

Mu An Ning put down the brush in her hand, looked away from the calligraphy she was writing, and smiled helplessly: "Have you finished your homework?"

It's spring break recently, Fang Ziweng doesn't have to go to school, and she doesn't have to go to Jishidiang either.

Fang Ziweng had just celebrated his birthday. He is already nine years old, but he still has the mentality of a child.

Fang Ziweng nodded vigorously and raised his chin confidently: "I finished it yesterday."

"Then let's go." Mu An Ning smiled, stood up without thinking, and patted his cousin's hairy head.

Now, she finds that she seems to enjoy going out and having fun rather than staying at home.

The girl paused as she passed the peach tree.

When she was in the Marquis's Mansion, she planted a crabapple tree in her yard, but now at home, she planted a gorgeous peach tree.

She was a little surprised at first and specifically asked Qiao Qingsheng how he knew that she liked peach blossoms, but Qiao Qingsheng avoided answering.

She didn't have too many problems, but one day, for some unknown reason, she buried a bottle of peach wine under the peach tree.

She seemed to have heard from somewhere that peach blossom wine tastes very good.

She inexplicably wanted to try it.

When the cousin and his brother said they were going out, Aunt Fang kept reminding them, "Zi Weng, remember to take good care of your cousin and don't let her fall."

A few days ago, Mu An Ning suddenly fainted. Aunt Fang was so frightened that she almost passed out.

As the saying goes, a doctor should not treat himself. Mu An Ning did not realize that there was anything wrong with himself.

If she had to say one thing, it would be that she had dreamed of a handsome man these past few days, kneeling in front of a Buddha without eating or drinking, with blood all over his body.

Fortunately, the doctor only said that she fainted unexpectedly because she was worrying too much, and there was no other serious problem.

"Don't worry, mother," Fang Ziweng nodded hurriedly and patted his chest with his little hands: "I will definitely protect my cousin!"

Mu An Ning laughed, but a wave of warmth surged through her heart: "Aunt, don't worry."

Ever since Mu Wan'er passed away, her aunt seemed to be more and more worried about her safety and was no longer in a hurry to get her married.

When the two arrived at their destination by carriage, there were already many children and young girls and boys playing, and the scene was extremely lively.

Although Mu Anning had flown kites many times before, he was no stranger to this.

After adjusting the spool and frame, the kite took off into the wind in a short while and flew gracefully in the blue sky.

Mu An Ning looked up at the kite flying freely in the sky, and suddenly felt a little emotional.

As far as I can remember, she seldom flew kites, and the only times she did so were with...

Thinking of this, the girl's brows wrinkled slightly, and her temples began to ache again.

Seeing the kite flying higher and higher, Fang Ziweng clapped his hands and cheered for a while, then suddenly looked up at the sky and said in a deep voice, "Cousin, is Sister Wan'er in heaven?"

Mu An Ning's hands faltered, and he was distracted for a moment, causing the kite's string to break.

The girl stared at the kite that was gradually flying away for a while, then she touched her cousin's head and said softly, "She's there."

At that time, she didn't know that when she was looking up at the kite, there was someone in the distance looking at her with deep eyes.

*

June 17th.

On the way to Jishiditang, Mu Anning's carriage accidentally hit an old man who fell to the ground.

After the driver explained the situation to the master and servant in the carriage, Baoqin couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Miss, are you kidding me?"

Mu An Ning frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and got out of the car, leaving Baoqin in the car.

When she walked to the front, she found that the white-haired old man did not fall to the ground, but was sitting steadily on the ground.

When the old man heard the noise, his bright eyes immediately looked at her and he waved to her and Xi.

Mu An Ning was stunned for a moment, but still walked forward, looking concerned: "Old man, are you okay?"

The old man looked energetic and seemed to be more energetic than her.

"Young lady," the old man, still sitting on the ground, stroked his white beard with a smile, "Do you still remember me?"

Mu An Ning was startled, and saw the old man raised his eyebrows and reminded: "Mysterious Heart Method..."

"Mysterious mental method?" Mu An Ning murmured these four words, confusion rising in his heart.

The old man nodded, and after carefully observing the girl's brows, his eyes intentionally or unintentionally swept across the wooden sign on the girl's waist.

Mu An Ning felt something was wrong, glanced at the coachman, and said, "Old man, I'd better let the coachman help you up first."

"No need, no need." The old man looked around and suddenly jumped up: "Miss, have you had any strange dreams recently?"

Mu An Ning was frightened by his standing up and took a step back, but when he heard this question, he was secretly puzzled.

The old man in front of him was dressed in rags and seemed to have a pair of eyes that seemed to see through everything.

How did he know this?

"That's enough, that's enough." Seeing that the girl didn't answer for a long time, the old man smiled and patted his robes: "I am just here to see you on behalf of someone else. It doesn't matter if you don't want to reveal it."

Mu An Ning's eyelashes trembled slightly, but before he could ask any questions, the crowd around him suddenly surged.

It turned out that a group of soldiers were brandishing their weapons, forcing everyone to step aside.

Mu An Ning also retreated to the side with the carriage. When the old man disappeared, her heart suddenly weighed on her shoulders.

She later realized that this old man seemed to be the old Taoist priest she met in Wutong City, who said that she was destined to have bad luck and also noticed that she could hear strange voices.

So who is the person he is talking about at this moment?

While the girl was lost in thought, the officers and soldiers had already posted notices around the street.

The noisy crowd began to whisper to each other——

"Who is the Flower General in this notice?"

"You don't know General Hua?"

"Miss, are you okay?" After the carriage stopped, Baoqin got out of the carriage and looked around: "Where is the old man just now?"

Mu An Ning came back to his senses and said gently, "He's gone."

Baoqin curled her lips and said, "What a weird person."

The crowd's discussions became more and more intense, flooding into my ears like a rolling tide.

The master and servant's attention was soon drawn to that and they also walked over to the notices.

After reading it carefully, Mu An Ning froze in place for a moment, not knowing how to react.

More than ten years later, the emperor cleared the name of the Hua family.

Every word of the imperial edict was as valuable as gold, announcing to the world: Hua Moli did not betray the State of Chu, but was slandered by the previous emperor.

I don’t know who gathered all the evidence and revealed the truth to the world.

*

On the twenty-ninth day of the Ramadan, snow fell silently.

"It snows outside every year on the young lady's birthday," Baoqin glanced out the window and smiled as she combed the young lady's hair into a bun. "We are going to the temple to pray for blessings today, so please have more breakfast later."

Mu An Ning stared at the wooden sign in his hand that was getting hot again, and nodded slightly in response.

She has been wearing this amulet for the past year, but it has been acting strangely lately, often getting hot, but it happens to be just the right size to warm her hands.

She had taken it off before, but she slept uneasily during those days and often heard some strange noises, so she simply never took it off again.

"Today, Madam is going to pick a son for Miss." Baoqin looked at her own Miss's gorgeous face in the mirror, which was as beautiful as a blooming peach blossom, and joked with a smile on her face.

Originally she was also worried about her own daughter, but later she thought that it was still in time for a man to get married after he was 20, but it was too late for a woman.

What's more, her daughter is of top appearance and talent, so she is the only one who can choose her son.

Every time those young masters saw the young lady, their eyes would be wide open.

But in terms of appearance, maybe that guy is the one that matches the lady...

While Baoqin was sighing with emotion, the girl who was being teased had her eyes moving around and the corners of her lips curled up slightly. She felt a little helpless, but also a little interested.

Her eyes wandered among the dazzling array of pearl hairpins, and finally she picked one out and put it on.

It is a light pink peach blossom hairpin.

Although she couldn't remember which store she bought it from, she liked it very much.

After returning to Qiao's house, her aunt would make new clothes and buy new jewelry for her almost every day.

Although she said that it was enough, her aunt still insisted and did not want her to live worse than when she was in the Marquis' Mansion.

My aunt said that when the family was in financial difficulty in the past, Mu Wan'er was also spoiled by her family so that she didn't have to bear any burden.

When talking about Mu Wan'er, several people couldn't help but feel sad again.

In early summer this year, Tan Wenhuai and Luo Zhiyan got engaged.

She happened to meet the two of them on the street a few days ago, but did not go up to disturb them.

She found that Tan Wenhuai no longer stuttered in front of Luo Zhiyan, and the two of them now looked like a pair of happy enemies, very well matched.

Fortunately, her marriage with Tan Wenhuai was terminated in time.

Seeing this, her aunt naturally became anxious about her marriage again.

But unfortunately, after seeing many men this year, she did like a few who were decent in appearance and conduct, but her aunt and brother were always very picky.

*

It is the end of the year, but there is still an endless stream of people praying for blessings.

The carriage traveled for three full hours before finally arriving at Lingyin Temple, the largest temple in Shangjing.

After praying and fulfilling her wish, Aunt Fang couldn't help but sigh: "The Buddha is really effective. I have to ask your brother to come over in a few days."

Mu An Ning helped her aunt up and nodded with a smile.

A lot has indeed happened in the past few months.

The Hua family's years of grievances were cleared, Qiao Qingsheng was promoted, and he steadily became a minister with a bright future.

Fang Ziweng's academic performance improved day by day, and she also cured all the minor ailments her aunt had during the time she worked as a cook.

At first she was a little worried that the story in the book would repeat itself for the fourth time, but as the days passed, everything seemed to be on the right track, and she no longer worried about it.

Aunt Fang stared at her niece's fair face and said gently, "An Ning, I heard that the marriage tree in Lingyin Temple is quite effective."

Mu An Ning blinked, and heard her aunt thoughtfully say: "Since you have nothing to do, go ahead and I'll wait for you here. It would be best if you could bring a husband back."

Baoqin got the hint and immediately walked to Madam Fang's side and cleared her throat: "Miss, you go by yourself. Baoqin will accompany the Madam."

Mu An Ning looked at the two of them helplessly, thinking that maybe the young man she was going to meet today was waiting for her there.

By the time she walked to the marriage tree, the snow outside had stopped, but she still shivered.

It was much busier here than inside the temple, but everywhere she looked, she saw young men and women in pairs, rarely alone like her.

Mu An Ning looked around but didn't see a single young man. He couldn't help but think that he must have misunderstood his aunt's intention.

Mu An Ning looked at the tree full of red plums and raised her hand to touch the plum branches covered with snowflakes.

I vaguely remember that she would come here with the Mu family in the past, but I wonder if she has ever been to this marriage tree.

I think, probably not.

Just like today, she didn't go to the little monk to get the red silk.

Mu An Ning's eyes swept across the red silk strands, and suddenly stopped on a red silk strand that was tied into a knot high up.

No, two.

Just as Mu An Ning was sighing about the existence of lovers in this world, snow began to fall silently from the sky again.

In an instant, her cloak was covered with crystal snowflakes.

A chill came over him, and Mu An Ning's right hand unconsciously touched the hot amulet on his waist.

She looked at the snow for a while and was about to leave, but suddenly she heard a burst of cheers:

"Look, someone is setting off fireworks!"

Last year, in order to commemorate the empress, the new emperor issued a strict ban on anyone setting off fireworks, but this year there is no such taboo.

As for fireworks, no one dislikes watching them.

Mu An Ning smiled and couldn't help but look up.

Suddenly, I bumped into a pair of pitch-black peach eyes.

The man in front of him had a high nose bridge, skin as white as jade, and thin lips that were slightly upturned.

He was wearing a moon-white cloak, and underneath it was a long brocade gown with a scarlet-red edge and gold thread. The boy's thin waist was tied with a black belt, and a scarlet sachet was hung on it.

Mu An Ning's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at the young man's noble face in a daze: "Sir..."

Before he finished speaking, the tall and straight young man strode towards her, untied his cloak and put it on her.

A nostalgic smile appeared in his watery eyes: "Aning, happy birthday."

Mu An Ning was enveloped by the sandalwood on the cloak. While she was dazed, the young man suddenly hugged her tightly.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, splashing in their hair.

At the same time, two red ribbons suddenly loosened from the tree and fell onto the snow, with the words on them emerging one by one.

It was written by two people.

"I wish to find a like-minded person, and we will be together till old age.

Admire An Ning, and look after Huai Zhi.

——End of text——