"But, the next day, I saw white flags rising everywhere on the Western Mountain..."

My hand subconsciously grasped Aunt Hong's hand.

"White flags all over the mountain were fluttering in the wind, turning the mountains white. At that time, I couldn't believe my eyes. I just thought I was seeing snow, but how could the snow be so white?"

"..."

"Then I heard a spiritual song."

"Evocation song...?"

According to Xichuan folk custom, after a person dies, their relatives will hold up the clothes worn by the deceased, climb up to the roof, shout the name of the deceased, and sing in the wind to express their farewells and soothe their sorrow. The songs are so sad that they are called soul-calling.

I hope the deceased can understand the difficulty of leaving the living and look back.

"Later, when everyone came, I found out that my wife had passed away."

When she said this, her voice was choked with sobs. After a while, she said in a hoarse voice: "I know that based on Miss's temperament and methods, Miss will not pay attention to those people on the road at all. But,

After the eldest lady passes away, that woman has no worries anymore. If the eldest lady comes back, it will be even more difficult, so——" She glanced at me and didn't say any more.

So, she sent me a letter.

She knew that I would no longer be obedient after receiving this news, but if I returned to Xichuan, I would have to face everything by myself. The difficulty of the situation can be imagined, so she repeatedly warned me in the letter,

Don't come back.

In fact, at that time, when I left Xichuan, I had no intention of looking back. After receiving the news, I became even more determined.

Therefore, I did not go back to Xichuan.

I entered the palace and spent those years with lowered eyebrows and narrowed eyes, thinking that I could leave the palace smoothly, have a new identity, and have a new life.

But everything is just my delusion.

How can it not be as satisfying as everyone wants...

"Miss," Aunt Hong's hand gently covered the back of my hand, as gentle as every time she helped me toddle: "Don't be sad."

I raised my head to look at her and shook my head gently.

Although my face was pale and my body was shaking, I didn't cry, not a single tear. It seemed that she was more sad than me.

I'm not sad.

After being silent for a while, I spoke again, my voice a little hoarse: "So, where is my dad?"

Aunt Hong looked at me in astonishment and was silent for a moment before saying, "Miss, do you know everything?"

I remained silent and nodded slightly.

"When people from Xishan saw me, they called him 'Master', but now they call him 'Master'. Of course I know what happened."

"Yes..." Aunt Hong said softly: "The old master has also passed away."

"How-"

"Depression becomes a disease."

"Depression... becomes a disease..."

"Yes. In fact, after the eldest lady left, the old master's health has not been very good. He kept taking medicine, but there was no improvement. The winter seven years ago was too cold, and the old master could not survive it."

That winter seven years ago?

That is, the winter I spent in Jixiang Village when I was the wife of the Liu family?

That winter was indeed very cold. What I remember most is when I saw Qinghan in the dungeon. The biting cold penetrated every inch of my skin, making it difficult to even breathe. And when he left me, that day,

The icy rain was pouring and the bitter cold was biting, almost freezing my blood into ice.

It turns out that that year, my father also...

"Where is he buried?"

"Western Mountain."

"Back mountain?"

"Yes. The spirit tablet is enshrined in the ancestral temple."

"Where is my mother? She is also enshrined in the back mountain?"

"...No."

I raised my head and looked at Aunt Hong: "No?"

Aunt Hong stopped crying, but her eyes were full of tears of mourning, and she said softly: "The old master and that woman did not enshrine the Madam's spiritual tablet..."

Mother’s spiritual tablet is not enshrined?

"We can't find where the lady is buried."

"..."

My whole body froze.

"Miss..."

Aunt Hong called me, and she couldn't control herself and started crying again. Her cry was not only filled with sorrow, but also probably the helplessness she had experienced over the years and the grievance she felt when she saw me. I looked at this girl who had been holding her since childhood.

When I grew up, a woman who gave me all the tenderness of a mother slowly stood up from the water. Regardless of the cold air that made my wet body shiver, she stretched out her slightly trembling arms and held out her hands.

Aunt Hong hugged her into her arms.

In my arms, she cried like a child.

But I can’t cry

My pale face was pressed against Aunt Hong’s slightly impulsive shoulder, and my eyes were so dark that there was no light at all.

My mother was not enshrined.

As the eldest daughter of the Yan family, I certainly know very well that the Yan family members will be buried in the back mountain after their death. But there are only two cases where the spirit tablets will not be enshrined.

One, it means that this person does not belong to the Yan family at all and has been expelled from the Yan family.

Second, this person died an unexpected death and was destined to be unlucky, so he could not enter the ancestral temple.

Which kind is my mother?

|

Aunt Hong and I stayed in the bathroom for a long time, until the bath water finally got cold. Aunt Hong wrapped me up in a soft blanket and gently wiped the water off me, just like she did when she was a child. Then several maids came in to serve me.

I put on my clothes.

After getting dressed neatly, I made my hair almost dry and put it on the back of my head with a little moisture, and then the maids left.

Aunt Hong took me out. On the way out, she suddenly remembered something and whispered to me: "Miss, those old guys all want to meet the eldest lady."

I thought about it and said: "There is no rush now."

Aunt Hong's eyes lit up: "Miss, do you plan to stay for a long time?"

"Let's not talk about this for now."

If I don't get Li'er back, everything means nothing to me.

I just hope that Yan Qingchen won’t really piss me off.

Aunt Hong looked at me, said nothing, and led me out. Just after passing a screen, I saw Pei Yuanxiu standing in front of the window over there, looking at the scenery outside.

He seemed to have finished bathing. He was wearing a white robe, with loose skirts hanging down and tied by a belt, forming a slightly leisurely arc. His hair was also spread behind his head, like a piece of pure black soft satin.

It adds a bit of elegance to him.

It's not the first time I've seen him wearing white clothes, but it's the first time I've seen him wearing Nishikawa's clothes.

It feels a little strange.

At this time, he had already heard our footsteps, turned his head and saw me, and seemed to be stunned. After a while, he slowly walked over, held my hand, and looked me up and down.

, the eyes are crooked and filled with a smile of appreciation.

I said: "What's wrong?"

"You are so beautiful."

I was wearing a white long skirt like him. The loose skirt exposed my slender neck and rugged collarbones. There was no belt in the dress, but the soft hanging lines made my body look like running water.

Slender.

Xichuan is what the Central Plains people call "uncivilized" and still retains some ancient clothes and old things. Only people in Xichuan can wear such simple Ajian clothes. He has never seen me wearing such clothes. It's just that

A thumbs up makes me a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, after Aunt Hong sent me out, she consciously stepped away as soon as she saw him.

I said softly: "Don't talk nonsense."

He just smiled and said nothing. He held my hand tightly with the temperature of the bathtub. A maid had already come over and led us to the table. Exquisite wine and food were also prepared there. After using some, he took us to the table.

An exquisite room.

I found that this tower is quite large, and it is well planned inside. Bathrooms, living rooms, and even bedrooms are all available. However, except for the bathroom, the partitions in many rooms are not walls, but elegant screens and translucent screens.

There are ink landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, and people walking among them are like swimming in the middle of the painting. However, it is really easy to get lost without anyone with you.

"Miss, this is the room prepared by the master of the house for you. Please have a good rest. Tomorrow morning, a carriage will come to take the eldest daughter back to the house."

After saying that, the maid withdrew.

It seems that Yan Qingchen will not be seen today.

I was a little weak. I just sighed and felt my body light up. I was picked up by Pei Yuanxiu. Before I could say anything, he had already carried me to the bed and fell asleep. He also lay down and hugged me tightly.

In my arms.

"Yuanxiu!"

I let out a low cry and felt his hands wrap around my waist. He buried his head in my neck and took a deep breath.

Suddenly my neck felt cold and hot.

Not only was my scent absorbed by him, he seemed to have infected my body with his breath. Through the thin layer of silk, I could immediately feel the temperature of his body. I hurriedly looked back at him and pressed it with one hand.

Lifting his hand: "Yuan Xiu, I-I'm not in the mood..."

He raised his head and looked at me, was silent for a moment, and then smiled faintly: "I know."

"..."

"Don't worry, I'm just holding you to sleep."

"..."

"Go to sleep."

After saying that, he kissed the back of my neck with his hot lips and said nothing more.

The sound of his breathing is in my ears, even and long. In such a quiet environment, under the flickering candlelight, it is the most hypnotic. But I can't fall asleep. I open my eyes wide and look at this exquisite

room, listening to the gentle jingling sound coming from the copper bells hanging on the towers on each floor above.

In the eyes of the old man, the copper bells hanging under the roof beams are things that gather evil spirits, but many pagodas hang them like this. I don’t know what it means. Is it to gather those evil ghosts and then destroy them?
p>

It’s the same as what Hongyan Tower did back then.

I kept listening, and the more I listened, the less able I was to fall asleep. I stopped sleeping at all. I gently removed Pei Yuanxiu's hands from his waist. I sat up and looked back at him. He was very tired from the long journey these days.

There was a light cyan color under his eye circles, and he was sleeping very deeply. I didn't wake him up, so I got up and walked out.

When I returned to the pagoda, oil lamps were lit everywhere.

There were many lights, but they were not bright. The flickering lights illuminated the surrounding screens and the translucent paintings on them, making it difficult for me to distinguish which side was the painting and which side was real. I could only slowly caress towards it.

Walk forward, turn around a tall screen, and see a staircase in front of the wall.

It is the staircase leading to the second floor of the tower.

Speaking of which, I haven't gone up to see what else is on top of this tower besides the first floor.

So, I walked up slowly while holding on to the wooden railing, and found that it was quiet and no one was there, but there were still many candles burning, illuminating the spacious two-story tower.
Chapter completed!