I think that today, there are very few people in Xichuan who can directly call him by this name, but I just called him by his name as soon as I met him.

However, Aunt Hong has always known my temper and is not surprised. Even Li Guo was not too surprised. He only said to me respectfully: "The master of the house knows that the eldest lady is coming to the city today, so let us come here to greet the eldest lady first."

"He didn't come?"

"No."

"Where is he?"

"This, the villain doesn't know."

My brow suddenly turned into a knot: "What about my daughter?!"

Li Guo bent down and lowered his head, and said respectfully: "I came here to greet the eldest lady on the order of the master of the family. I don't know anything else."

I looked back at Aunt Hong, and she shook her head at me blankly.

I frowned.

I have already entered the city of Chengdu, and Yan Qingchen is still using this method to deal with me. Isn’t it a bit out of his depth?

As soon as they saw me frowning, the people around me breathed hard, as if they were on guard against me getting angry. However, Pei Yuanxiu from behind reached out and gently touched my shoulder. The gentle strength and warm body temperature made me feel angry.

The irritability in my heart calmed down a bit, and when I looked back at him, he shook his head at me gently.

We’re already here, so there’s really no need.

After all, he was calmer than me. I nodded gently and my expression relaxed, and everyone around me seemed to be relieved.

I asked: "When can I see Yan Qingchen?"

"When we return to the eldest lady, the head of the family will arrange for the eldest lady to rest here first. When we return to the house tomorrow, the head of the family has also arranged for some people to take care of the eldest lady."

……

Have some people arranged?

Of course I know that when I return to Xichuan this time, I will definitely attract a lot of attention, and many people want to see me. But, has Yan Qingchen figured out how to deal with himself?

Seeing that I didn't refuse, Li Guo took a step back and raised his hand towards Sister Guita: "Miss, please."

I didn't say anything more and entered the Sister Gui Pagoda together with Pei Yuanxiu.

|

Although it is a tower, it is actually a pavilion inside. Especially when I stepped into the threshold, everything around me was still very familiar, as if the original Hongyan Tower was embedded in this tower.

The carved jade railings should still be there.

It’s just that Zhu Yan changed.

I raised my head and looked at the exquisite carved beams and gorgeous furnishings. I felt a little dazed for a moment, as if I had walked into the beauty building that looked like a heavenly palace for the first time...

It was a morning filled with light mist. My eyes were swollen from crying and I couldn't see anything clearly. I could only vaguely see the exquisite pavilions and pavilions, like a heavenly palace, surrounded by girls wearing red and green clothes.

Like the Penglai fairies, each of them has an appearance that would captivate a country.

I can't quite remember their faces anymore.

I only remember that their expressions were cold, and the eyes they looked at me were also cold.

At this time, Pei Yuanxiu held my hand tightly.

The warmth from his palm made me wake up suddenly, with cold sweat all over my back, but the strength from his hand finally prevented me from falling into the nightmare-like memories.

He whispered in my ear: "What's wrong with you? You look ugly."

"No, it's okay."

Just then, Li Guo and Aunt Hong walked in, followed by a group of petite and pretty maids. I don't know where so many people suddenly appeared. Even the footsteps could be heard when they walked.

If he didn't listen, he came forward and served me and Pei Yuanxiu separately to clean them.

I was taken to a small room by several maids. Inside was a small bathtub, just big enough for one person to bathe in. In the warm steam, I took off my clothes and walked slowly over, stepping on the snow-white marble with my bare feet.

On the board, the slight coolness and the heat in the steam made me sweat all over. I walked down and soaked my body in the white bathing water, only to find that it was milk mixed with Chinese medicine, and the temperature was not too hot.

But it makes people feel the most comfortable.

At this time, Aunt Hong also walked in, glanced at the maids around her holding clothes, shoes and socks, and gold plates with flower petals, and waved her hand: "Go down, Miss, I will serve you here."

"Yes."

The maids agreed and left.

Aunt Hong walked up behind me, carefully knelt down next to me, and stretched out a pair of gentle but strong hands to gently help me knead my somewhat stiff shoulders.

My spirit was always tense, and it remains the same even now. I haven't relaxed, but am just in a daze.

All of this is like a memory from another life, and it appears so clearly in the dream of this life, making people both familiar and strange.

I murmured: "Aunt Hong, this is how you took me to bathe when I was a child, right?"

Aunt Hong seemed to laugh, but the laughter sounded like she was crying. After a pause, she heard her crying voice: "At that time, the eldest lady was not so big or so thin."

"Really..."

"At that time, the eldest lady was chubby, like a jade doll."

I chuckled softly: "When people grow up, they always lose weight, so naturally they have to lose weight."

"But the eldest lady has suffered a lot to be like this."

"People are meant to endure hardship."

"Young lady shouldn't do this!"

Hearing her stubborn words that were almost paranoid reminded me of what Uncle Ai said, "A son with a lot of money cannot sit down in court." It seems that in their eyes, no matter how time changes or how the surrounding environment changes, I seem to

They should all be the ones who enjoy all the glory in the world and receive the most favor.

But, how can it be as satisfactory as expected?

Thinking of this, I turned sideways, stroked the back of Hongyi's hand with my wet hands, and said softly: "Aunt Hong, please don't be like this, I'm not sad."

Hearing what I said, Aunt Hong was so angry that her hands trembled. She struggled for a long time before she gritted her teeth and said, "You, why do you have the same temperament as the eldest lady!"

"She is my mother."

At this point, my voice was choked with sobs, and a drop of hot water fell on my shoulder.

When I looked back, Aunt Hong started crying again.

This time, I didn't open my mouth to comfort her. I just looked at her calmly in the steaming room and fell silent.

When I talk about my mother, I just feel that there are too many things to say, almost a thousand words to say, and too many questions to ask, but it seems that I am timid about being close to home, and I don’t know how to ask or where to ask.
p>

After being silent for a while, I said, "How did my mother die?"

As soon as the words came out, even though I was still soaking in the warm bath water, even though the room was filled with warm steam, a chill rose from the bottom of my heart. Not only me, but also Aunt Hong who was holding my shoulders.

Shivered.

I slowly turned around in the bathtub, and the white and delicate bath water brushed against my skin. It was obviously a very comfortable ironing post, but at this moment, I felt like I was being cut by a knife. I looked at Aunt Hong, who turned pale for a moment.

His face and eyes became serious.

"At that time, I got the news from you when I was on my way back."

"Yes. It was me who sent the news to the eldest lady that my wife passed away."

"But you didn't explain clearly how my mother died or when she died. You just asked me not to return to Xichuan."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't know either."

Aunt Hong looked at me with a hint of dejection in her expression: "Since the eldest lady left the family and moved to Xishan, we people have become a thorn in the side of the second lady. However, fortunately, the eldest lady made careful arrangements before she left. That

Women have been unable to touch us all these years. But we have been completely squeezed out of the center of the main house. In the years after the eldest lady took you away, I could hardly see the head of the family."

I fell silent.

Before my mother took me away from the Yan family...

I was still young at that time and didn't even remember much. I only vaguely remembered that many people came to see her every day. And now I also understand very well that the Yan family is unique in Xichuan, and its influence has penetrated into everyone from all aspects of scholarship, agriculture, industry and commerce.

, it is intricate and complex, and the constraints between people are more complex than any network of relationships.

Among them, there are a large number of people who were promoted by mother. Before mother lost power, she had made thorough arrangements for these people. This arrangement was even so thorough that after so many years, they can still stay in their positions. Aunt Hong's

His status is comparable to that of a great steward like Li Guo.

However, because of this, they were completely on opposite sides of that woman.

"I only remember that it was winter when the lady left."

"Yes."

Because the selection of girls takes place in spring, Xichuan is far away from the capital and must be on the road several months in advance.

"It snowed that year in Xishan, which is rare."

"Yes."

The heavy snowfall in the Western Mountains that year was rare in Sichuan for a hundred years. The heavy snow falling all over the sky made the whole world white and flawless. Looking around, the mountains and fields were covered with crystal white. Such a pink and jade-like scenery made people almost forget it.

The filth in the world seems to have been covered by the white snow and disappeared.

"We are all strictly ordered by the eldest lady not to go near the Western Mountain, so we cannot see you. We can only stand on the mountain far away to see the eldest lady off."

"Thank you for your hard work."

"Not bitter."

Aunt Hong shook her head. The heat around her could not restore the blush on her pale face, but instead made it even paler: "Because I watched the eldest lady grow up, I was particularly reluctant to bear it, so after they all left, I still

I stayed on the mountain for another day, looking at the place where the madam and the young lady lived from a distance, and the road where the young lady left, even if it was just one more look, it would be good."

"..."
Chapter completed!