Chapter 1: Returning from the Wind and Snow
In the seventeenth year of Chengqian, winter's footsteps seemed to be more hurried than usual as it descended silently with an ineffable omen. While the afterglow of the Chongyang Festival was still lingering, the northern states and counties had already been baptized by the first snow.
It was a sudden snowfall, which spread out quietly in the afternoon sky, like a gray and orange intertwined scroll, quickly covering every corner of the land. Overnight, the scenery north of Yanzhou was transformed into a new, silvered landscape, as if it was a fairy tale kingdom of ice and snow.
Inside a warm compartment, Ren Yaoqi was lying on a hot kang, her eyes tightly closed, the heavy quilt on her body causing fine beads of sweat to ooze out from her forehead and neck, and her cheeks were tinted scarlet by the heat of the kang. Her breath carried the freshness of mint, as if it could dispel the stifling heat of this chamber.
Outside the heavy cotton curtain, the murmur of two maids pierced through the barrier, their conversation revealing a hint of curiosity and a hint of playfulness.
“This pattern is really chic, it doesn't look like you could have traced it yourself, where did you get it?” A voice asked.
“This is something I begged from Sister Kumquat from Auntie Fang's place, I heard that this is the latest popular pattern in Kyoto, even Yunyang City hasn't had time to keep up with it yet.” The other voice carried a hint of smugness.
“Sister Kumquat? You actually managed to get something from her?”
“Hee hee, I said it was for Fifth Miss to embroider shoe uppers, how could she not give it?”
“You sly girl, be careful if the fifth miss finds out and asks aunt Fang to marry you off to the boy!”
“Good ah you bad girl ...... see I do not tear your mouth.”
In the midst of the playful sounds, the tea set on the table was knocked with a clatter, and then everything suddenly quieted down again. Immediately afterward, a stern voice broke this tranquility, “What are you doing!”
The playfulness outside came to an abrupt end.
“Sister Zhu atone, slave girl ......” The two little maids hurriedly defended.
Sister Zhu, however, impatiently interrupted, “Is Miss awake yet?”
There was anxiety in her voice, but her footsteps did not stop, coming straight to the inner room.
“Just drank the medicine and rested, she should still be in a deep sleep.” A maid hurriedly replied and followed suit, seemingly wanting to help Sister Zhu lift the curtain of the inner room.
“You guys go out and stand guard, don't let anyone in.” Sister Zhu stopped the maid's movements.
“Yes.” The two maids quickly retreated.
Ren Yaoqi was lying there, seemingly unaware of all this.
The cotton curtain in the inner room was lifted, and a cooler airflow poured in, stirring the stuffy heat in the room.
“Miss? Miss wake up, Miss ......” Sister Zhu called out eagerly, seeing Ren Yaoyi didn't respond, she reached out and gently pushed her arm.
Ren Yaoyi finally opened her eyes, with a hint of disorientation in her eyes.
“Sister Zhu?” Her voice was dry, the prolonged high fever made her need to rehydrate from time to time.
“Eh, it's the slave girl, does Miss want some water?” Sister Zhu's face squeezed out a smile, but her eyes were filled with anxiety.
Ren Yaoyi nodded her head, so Sister Zhu walked to the side of the short table and poured a cup of water back. She helped Ren Yaoyi sit up, supported her back with one hand, and brought the glass of water to her lips with the other. However, her movements were too hasty, and the water spilled onto Ren Yaoyi's quilt, immediately wetting a piece of the pine flower green satin.
“Cough cough ......”
Sister Zhu was busy putting down the water cup and patting her back, “Miss, are you alright?”
Ren Yaoqi completely sobered up, pushed away Sister Zhu's hand and gave her a sidelong glance, “The water is cold ......”
Sister Zhu was busy compensating with a smile, “It must be that those two maids were lazy and forgot to change the hot tea, the old slave will go teach them a lesson later.”
Saying that, Sister Zhu took another jacket and draped it over Ren Yaoqi's shoulders, while saying, “Miss, just now Auntie received the news that the Third Mistress and the Third Miss are on their way back to the house. Although the road is blocked by snow, but with the Yan Bei Wang Fu's riding guards to open the road, the carriage will be able to enter the city before this evening at the latest.”
Ren Yaoqi's body gave a start, “Mother and Third Sister have returned?”
She lowered her eyes, making it impossible to see the emotions in her eyes, but her fingers trembled slightly at her lapel.
Anxiety finally appeared in Sister Zhu's tone, “Yes, I heard that the carriage of the old wangfei of Yan Bei Wangfu escorted them back. The mansion only received the news early this morning. Miss, what can we do now?”
Ren Yaoyi quickly blinked to hide the watery light in her eyes, she took down the jacket draped over her body and wanted to put it on, Sister Zhu immediately came up to help, while still whispering in Ren Yaoyi's ear, “I don't know what means the third young miss has used to talk the Yan Bei King's Old Princess into it. Fifth Miss, when Third Miss comes back, where will there be a place for you in this Ziwei Courtyard?”
Ren Yaoqi lightly glanced at Sister Zhu who was lowering her head and hurriedly buttoning her lapel, but in her heart, she couldn't help but coldly laugh, the Ren family of more than ten years ago really did have quite a lot of bulls and snakes. These two days she has been watching with cold eyes, wanting to seriously see clearly the nastiness behind this colorful skin.
Sister Zhu didn't notice Ren Yaoqi's difference, helped her to fasten the lapel button and lifted her head to continue: “The old lady has always liked the third miss more than you, the third wife and everything depends on her, no matter how big or small the things in our courtyard are all up to her, and she looks at you as not being good at all, making it difficult for you, so that the third wife will follow you as a daughter not to put in her heart, and only believe in her compulsion! ......”
Said here, Sister Zhu took her eyes and quietly looked at Ren Yaoyi, to her surprise Ren Yaoyi just leaned on the kang head that big red background Fangsheng pattern backrest quietly looked at her, clear eyes like good glaze, quiet and transparent.
Ren Yaohua remembers that her third sister, Ren Yaohua, was punished by the old lady to go to the manor to think about her life in the fall of the 16th year of Chengqian because she pushed her sixth brother, Ren Yihong, into the lotus pond. Their mother, the third wife of the Ren family went to find the old lady to plead for leniency was rejected outside the courtyard, and finally accompanied the third sister to the manor, nine years old, she was left in the Ren family.
Her mother, Li, was a timid and cowardly woman. Li's cowardice did not only come from her experience of being displaced as a child. She married into the Ren family in the forty-seventh year of the Qinglong era, and had nothing to show for the first two years; in the third year, she gave birth to a daughter who died within a hundred days, and in the fifth year, she gave birth to another daughter. By this time, the old lady of the Ren family was already very dissatisfied with Li, but fortunately, Li was pregnant again in the second year after giving birth to her next daughter. Unfortunately, Li's life is childless, the third child is still a daughter, which is the Ren family fifth miss Ren Yaoqi.
The old lady of the Ren family was therefore completely cold to Li, and three days after the birth of Ren Yaoqi, she decided to take a concubine of her own sister's family as a concubine for the third master of the Ren family. The concubine, Ms. Fang, became pregnant half a year after she entered the family, and gave birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix babies in 10 months of pregnancy, which established her position in the Ren family. The birth of Ren Yaoyi not only put her own mother's position in the Ren family in jeopardy, but also made her grandmother loathe her existence.
From the time Li was first pregnant with Ren Yaoyi, Old Mrs. Ren was full of hope for this child of hers. She had asked a Taoist monk to tell her fortune, an experienced midwife to feel the baby, and even a shaman to divine her fortune, and all of them said that the baby was a boy, so Mrs. Ren was convinced that her daughter-in-law's third child would be a son. So when Ren Yaoyi was born, Mrs. Ren decided that her new granddaughter was a demon, and squeezed her grandson out of his place, so she didn't like her.
On the contrary, the third young miss Ren Yaohua, who was also born by the Li Clan, was treated differently by the old madam because she looked similar to the young Ren old madam, and was also eloquent and intelligent.
“Fifth Miss?” Seeing Ren Yaoyi staring at herself without saying anything, Sister Zhu thought that she was sleepy, so she tried to gently push Ren Yaoyi, thinking about whether to pour another cup of cold water down.
Ren Yaoyi swept a glance at Sister Zhu's hand on her arm.
Sister Zhu's body stiffened, disguisedly raised her hand to stroke her temples, and smiled: “Miss, Auntie Fang said that Miss's illness has improved greatly, and if she still uses the original prescription, she is worried that the medicine is too potent, and said that she will ask the doctor to come into the house later to re-check your pulse and prescribe a new prescription for you.”
Ren Yaoshi gave a “hmmm” and did not object.
Sister Zhu was secretly muttering in her heart, why did Miss Five look a little different these two days? She is just a child of ten years old, but the color that occasionally comes out from her calm eyes makes people feel scared.
Most of the maids around Ren Yaoqi no longer have any impression of her. Because they didn't serve her for a long time, they would be sent out soon afterward. She did remember this Sister Zhu, in her impression back then, Sister Zhu seemed to be a very kind and caring woman.
