"I haven't heard you, Zhihua, talk like that in ages, you're so eloquent."
Zhiyin and the three Huo sisters were perched on the wall, enjoying the gossip.
Seeing the two return hand in hand, Zhihua glared at the three of them with a single look.
"How old are you, still taking your little sister to climb the wall?"
"Hehe, sis, it looks great," Zhiyin said with a grin.
"You're really a good friend, aren't you? Watch your sister make a fool of herself!"
Zhihua poked her younger sister's head, then pulled the radiant Zhou Ning'an back to their room.
"Sister, what do you think he came to see you for?" Zhiyin asked.
"Didn't our Long'er confiscate the property of several aristocratic families? Then the Shi family got scared, so they sent someone over to sound them out."
The name "Prince of Zhenbei" is now a sword hanging over the heads of powerful families; they fear it even if the emperor doesn't order the confiscation of their property.
Zhou Ning'an was still enjoying herself, lost in her own world.
Huo Xiaolong asked:
"Sis, didn't he help you when your family was going through a tough time?"
"Help my ass! He just vanished like a ghost, doesn't even reply to messages. To put it bluntly, he just doesn't want to care." Zhiyin slammed her hand on the table, making it shake.
Zhou Ning'an then came to his senses and listened to his wife recount what happened back then.
"Alright, my dear, it's no wonder. He's just a fiancé, we're not even married yet. Even if we were married, there would be plenty of people who wouldn't help, they're just afraid of getting into trouble."
"So we can't get involved with men like that!" Zhou Ning'an revealed his ultimate goal.
"No, no, what would I touch? I'll only touch you, ouch!" Huo Xiaolong teased from the side.
This made the elderly couple, who had just learned about the painting, blush a little.
"I'm going back to the old house with my sister tomorrow," Zhihua said to the group.
Zhiyin nodded and answered.
"good."
The three sisters from the red-light district were still idly chatting about what to eat for dinner, so Zhihua repeated herself.
"Tomorrow, shall we go back to the old house with my sister, Long'er?"
The woman tapped on the table, signaling Huo Xiaolong to come back to his senses.
"Oh? Sis, I'm going too! I thought you only told Sister Zhiyin."
"Yes, you have to go too, all three of you."
"OK!"
Since the Hua family's property was confiscated, the mansion has been abandoned, and no one has come to inquire about the courtyard, considering it unlucky.
So after Zhihua returned, she bought the old house, and no one came for a long time.
Wild grass grew rampant in the courtyard, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves that rustled underfoot.
The remaining blue tiles and the ingenious details on the eaves reveal that this courtyard was once glorious.
Huo Xiaolong looked around and said to Zhihua
"Sis, your family used to be pretty impressive."
"Of course! My sister and I were once the most beautiful women in the capital, you know? 'Intricate painting and intricate sound,' isn't it beautiful?"
Long'er, the little girl, and Da Ni'er, like a silly older sister, were grinning and saying...
"It sounds so good."
It really sounds nice; the name sounds like the heroine in a comic book.
I really feel it now.
Zhihua led the group to the backyard. In the corner of the backyard was a small house. The woman went up and knocked on the wooden door.
—Knock knock knock
"Uncle Hua, Zhiyin and I are back."
The woman behind him stared wide-eyed, asking incredulously.
"Sister, is Uncle Hua still alive?"
The woman smiled and nodded.
"He's alive, only he's alive."
"It's been hidden here for so many years, and it's fortunate that no one comes to this house."
There was no response from inside, so Zhihua knocked on the door again.
"Uncle Hua, Zhiyin and I are back."
The door was flung open with a "whoosh," revealing an old man who looked even older than Eunuch Wang.
His back was bent so low he couldn't straighten up, he was leaning on a thick tree branch, and his hair was a mess. The way he looked up at Zhihua and Zhiyin seemed to have used all his strength.
"The eldest young lady? The second young lady?"
Seeing that the old man was already sobbing uncontrollably, while Zhihua was still able to control herself, she slowly said...
"Uncle Hua, we're back."
The old man raised his hand, then shakily lowered it again.
He wanted to pat the two children's heads like he did when they were children, but...
Judging from her clothes and appearance, she seems to be living a much better life than when the Hua family was still in power.
"The first thing I did upon returning to the capital was to inquire about our house, but since Long'er had to go on a campaign, I didn't come to find you."
If they didn't return from the battlefield, the uncle who raised them from childhood might not be able to rest in peace even in death.
Well, this is almost the only major thing left undone, so Zhihua brought her younger sister along.
"Uncle Hua, come home with us, sob sob sob, we...we'll take care of you in your old age."
"Why don't you leave? You...you'd be so much better off being a housekeeper at someone else's house, why do you have to...why do you have to stay here and guard this house?"
Zhiyin spoke while crying, her border town accent slightly disrupting the somber atmosphere.
The old man waved his hand, coughed twice, and said...
"Ladies, I'm getting old. I'd be content to die here. Seeing you two return will give me peace of mind when I reach the underworld and can give my husband and wife an explanation."
"As for why I'm guarding this house..."
The old man slowly sat up on the bed, his thoughts drifting back to the past, and said blankly, "..."
"Where can you go? You two haven't come home yet..."
“The eldest young lady is calm and composed, but she is most afraid of being alone. The second young lady is a bit mischievous, but she also depends on others. If the two young ladies come home and see that there is not a single familiar face in this house, how sad they will be.”
Butler Hua never thought that Zhihua and Zhiyin would survive. He thought that if people died outside, their souls would eventually return home.
When I get home, the house is empty.
Even being a ghost would be a humiliation.
"Uncle Hua, let's pack up and leave today. Zhiyin and I will take care of you in your old age, so don't worry."
Old Man Hua hasn't left the house for decades. If he can survive by hiding in the mansion, how could he possibly go out for a stroll every day?
He could also be considered a remnant of the Hua family.
"Young Miss is joking. If anyone is to take care of their parents in their old age, it's their parents. I'm just a servant, and besides..."
"Judging from your current attire, you two must be doing quite well, so I won't go over and upset you."
Old Man Hua spoke respectfully to Zhihua and Zhiyin, but in his heart he still regarded them as his juniors. When the door wasn't opened, he thought he had misheard.
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