Chapter 1
She coughed several times in agitation, her eyes seemingly misted with tears. The maid dressed in green standing nearby hurried forward, only to be restrained by two guards.
As Rong Li’s head tilted to the side, the vermilion ribbon tied in her hair swayed with the movement, fluttering in the cold wind. Her jet-black hair spilled across her deathly pale face like ink, revealing the faint outline of a delicate, pointed chin.
She remained stunned for a long while, saying nothing. She showed neither anger nor grievance, as though the slap had knocked her very soul out of her body.
Her misty eyes were filled with bewilderment, and her eyelashes fluttered slowly like butterflies that had lost their way.
The maid held by the guards struggled relentlessly, shouting, “The Master is returning today! Has Third Madam grown tired of living a comfortable life?”
The woman addressed as Third Madam was holding a hand warmer. Her features were quite striking, but her face was filled with a mean-spirited expression.
Rong Li slowly slipped a hand out of her sleeve. Her slender fingers were even whiter than the fox fur sewn around her cuffs. She raised her hand and tucked the hair hanging beside her face behind her ear, revealing half of her reddened face.
Her complexion was pale, like that of someone on the verge of death. Even the goose-yellow padded jacket she wore failed to lend her the slightest hint of warmth.
She had a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes, with a small mole beneath one of them. The bewilderment in her eyes had yet to fade, and there was even a trace of confusion. Only after a long moment did she turn to look at Third Madam, Madam Meng.
“You…” Meng Yuan felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet when Rong Li glanced at her. She had never expected this girl to refrain from crying and making a fuss today.
Rong Li leisurely brushed her hair aside, the vermilion ribbon sliding across the back of her hand. Those hands were clearly those of someone who had been raised in comfort.
There was still a red handprint on her cheek, yet she remained so composed that it almost seemed as though she were the one who had committed the offense.
Meng Yuan hugged the holly-green glazed hand warmer closer and steadied herself before saying, “Even if the Master returns, a mere maid like you has no right to speak here.”
“Third Madam has been throwing her weight around! If the Master learns of this, he certainly won’t let you off lightly!” The restrained maid’s face had turned pale with fright.
Rong Li merely touched her cheek with the back of her hand and struggled to steady herself. Her slender eyebrows furrowed slightly as her dark eyes swept over her surroundings, as though she had only just arrived there.
Her gaze gradually settled into a stillness as deep as stagnant water. In her eyes was a composure Meng Yuan had never seen before.
She was far too calm, so calm that Meng Yuan could not fathom what she was thinking. The young maid beside Meng Yuan said arrogantly, “Eldest Young Miss is so frail. This bitter winter must be difficult for her. If the cold wind were to blow her into the pond, would you blame our Madam for that too?”
Her words were dripping with sarcasm, making her rather similar to her mistress.
Xiao Fu, the maid restrained by the guards, trembled as she said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell the Master about this?”
“Who do you think the Master will believe, a little maid like you or my Madam?” Meng Yuan’s maid replied unhurriedly.
“Third Madam had better think carefully! If you don’t accumulate some virtue now, the bastard you give birth to in the future will surely be missing an arm or a leg!” Xiao Fu gritted her teeth.
Meng Yuan lowered a hand to cover her abdomen and gave the maid beside her a meaningful glance.
Understanding her mistress’s intention, the maid stepped forward and slapped Xiao Fu across the face. A crisp smack rang out.
Xiao Fu was stunned by the slap, her gaze remaining vacant for a long moment before she began to sob. “Eldest Young Miss has never done anything to offend you, Third Madam.”
Meng Yuan snorted coldly. “Just looking at her irritates me.”
Rong Li was far too calm. Unnaturally so.
She lowered the hand that had been touching her face and reached for a nearby plum blossom branch. Her fingers slowly traced along the branch, inch by inch, before her slender, pale fingertips pinched a flower petal tightly.
The bitter winter wind was indeed difficult to endure. Her body swayed, and she nearly lost her footing again. When she coughed, all her internal organs seemed to ache. Her two fingers tightened involuntarily, inadvertently crushing the pink plum blossom petal to a pulp.
She spread her fingers, and the mangled petals were swept away by the wind, vanishing instantly.
There was hardly any expression on Rong Li’s face. Even a blank canvas would have looked much the same. She calmly turned her palm over and examined the lines running across it.
Meng Yuan was genuinely dumbfounded. When had she ever seen Rong Li behave so strangely? Frowning, she said, “You’d better not think of playing any tricks. Behave yourself for the time being. If I’m in a good mood, I might even put in a few good words for you with the Master and arrange a marriage for you with a respectable family.”
Rong Li turned to look at her. Her skin was fair, and the handprint on her face had yet to fade. Her almond-shaped eyes suddenly curved into crescents as she smiled. The next moment, she raised her sleeve to cover her lips and coughed softly twice. “Speaking of which, Father is about to return. If he sees this handprint on my face, I suppose I’ll have to say I fell and hurt myself. But I’ll need to think carefully about exactly how I fell.”
“You—” Meng Yuan’s pupils trembled. She had truly never seen Rong Li so sharp-tongued before. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the frail girl before her had become an entirely different person.
Rong Li covered half her face, leaving only her clear, watery eyes visible. Lowering her gaze, she glanced at Meng Yuan’s abdomen. “This bitter winter is indeed difficult to endure. If I were to breathe my last right in front of Third Mother, that would be… rather inauspicious. I hope Third Mother wouldn’t find it too unpleasant.”
She crushed another plum blossom between her fingers. “Now, how exactly did I offend Third Mother earlier? Third Mother gave me such a fright, and my body is already weak. This cold has muddled my head as well, so I simply can’t remember.”
Xiao Fu was still sniffling and sobbing, but she vaguely sensed that her young lady had changed. For a moment, she even forgot to cry.
Holding her hand warmer, Meng Yuan said darkly, “Escort Eldest Young Miss back to Bamboo Courtyard. The weather isn’t very good today. If it starts raining and she gets drenched, the Master will surely be worried.”
“Thank you, Third Mother.” Rong Li took half a step back, lowered her hands, and tucked all her fingers into her sleeves. As her eyes curved in a smile, the small mole beneath one of them seemed to move slightly. “I wonder when Father will return. There are a few things I’d like to discuss with him.”
“What things?” Meng Yuan asked.
“Bamboo Courtyard is rather small, and the mountain blocks the sunlight. It hardly gets any sun throughout the day. Li’er would like to move back to Orchid Courtyard and bring that coffin along. When the weather improves, I can take it outside to air it out.”
Meng Yuan’s eyes widened. She turned the hand warmer in her hands and said with an unpleasant expression, “The Master from Shangliang Temple said that bamboo symbolizes peace and safety, that it neither withers nor decays, and that it embodies the Dharma body and possesses considerable power to ward off evil. It would be inappropriate to move away from Bamboo Courtyard.”
“If we asked a different Master, I’m afraid we’d hear an entirely different explanation. How can Third Mother not even understand something so simple?” Rong Li replied weakly. Then she beckoned and added, “I think I hear hoofbeats. Xiao Fu, help me back. Father has sharp eyes, so I’ll have to cover my face a little. I mustn’t let him notice that even my cheek has turned red from the cold.”
Meng Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned to look toward the residence’s main gate. Uneasy, she raised her chin and ordered, “Let her go.”
Hearing this, the two guards restraining Xiao Fu released her and timidly shrank their necks.
Xiao Fu hurried over to support Rong Li, keeping her head lowered and not daring to utter a word.
Rong Li turned slightly, let out a soft laugh, and began walking toward Bamboo Courtyard.
The young maid beside Meng Yuan exclaimed in surprise, “Madam, it seems the Master has returned.”
“He’s back?” Meng Yuan hurriedly turned around and shot Rong Li a vicious glare. Not daring to linger, she covered her slightly rounded belly and walked briskly toward the main gate.
Bamboo Courtyard stood beside the mountain and remained bitterly cold throughout the year. There wasn’t even a servant sweeping the grounds, and the entire place was silent. Vast stretches of tall, slender bamboo rose toward the clouds, making the courtyard resemble a remote forest deep in the mountains rather than somewhere people lived.
The entrance was desolate and neglected. Even the stone path was covered in withered yellow bamboo leaves, making it difficult to discern where the path lay.
Only when they were nearly at the door did Xiao Fu finally speak in frustration. “That Third Madam is truly vicious. But now that the Master has returned, Young Miss’s miserable days should finally be over.”
Rong Li shook her head. She stopped outside the door and looked around. As she raised her head, a glimpse of her slender, pale neck emerged above the fox fur lining her collar. Her eyes seemed to shimmer with rippling light, and a nearly imperceptible trace of nostalgia appeared in her gaze as she looked at the little courtyard.
Xiao Fu pushed open the door. Turning back, she saw Rong Li standing motionless, her gaze so deep that it was impossible to discern what she was thinking. Startled, she asked, “Young Miss, why aren’t you coming inside?”
Only then did Rong Li step into the room. Her body was frail, and after sitting down on a drum-shaped stool, she had to catch her breath for quite some time before recovering. Just as she finally calmed herself, her eyes shifted, and she suddenly caught sight of a face…
A face streaked with bloody tears.
The tears flowing from its eyes were a vivid crimson, while its complexion was as white as mourning cloth. The contrast between red and white was stark.
“The Master has been away for more than three months. He probably won’t be leaving again after this trip. I heard the escort agency in Pengzhou has already been handed over to Fourth Young Master,” Xiao Fu said as she lit the fire and brought over a foot warmer.
The warmer landed beside Rong Li’s feet with a thud, jolting her back to her senses. It took her a long moment to blink.
“Young Miss, why weren’t you listening to me?” Xiao Fu stamped her foot and said indignantly, “Third Madam really frightened you badly.”
Rong Li parted her lips slightly. Despite the freezing weather, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her back.
It wasn’t from the heat. She had broken out in a cold sweat from fright.
The woman before her was sobbing softly. She wore burial clothes, and her body seemed almost translucent. Although a person of her size was sitting there, she did not obscure any of the objects behind her.
This…
This wasn’t a person at all. It was clearly a ghost.
Rong Li’s eyes shifted as she glanced sideways at Xiao Fu.
Xiao Fu’s hand passed straight through the ghostly woman as she picked up the purple clay teapot on the table. She continued, “If only Second Madam were still alive. Apart from the Master, she was the one who treated Young Miss the best in this residence.”
The ghostly woman seemed to hear Xiao Fu’s words and actually pulled her lips into an ugly smile.
Rong Li pressed her lips together and slowly swallowed. She closed her eyes, then opened them again, but the ghost was still there.
As it happened, the ghostly woman looked exactly like Second Madam.
Rong Li slowly averted her gaze and said, feeling as though she were sitting on pins and needles, “I’m thirsty.”
“Ah, I’ll go fetch some water right away.” Xiao Fu turned back with a smile, picked up the purple clay teapot, and hurried out.
Rong Li’s breath caught. She hastily stood up, panting heavily. “I’ll go too.”
“You’re going too?” The ghostly woman’s pitch-black pupils shifted as she fixed Rong Li with an eerie stare.
Rong Li froze.
Without looking back, Xiao Fu said, “Young Miss, stay inside and rest properly. Don’t go out again!”
The door creaked shut, leaving only Rong Li and the ghostly woman in the room.
The ghostly woman’s bloodstained eyes remained fixed on her, and she let out a soft, mournful laugh.
How could Rong Li possibly dare to close her eyes now? Although Second Madam had treated her well when she was alive, the one sitting before her now… was no longer a living person.
A pair of thin, bony hands rested on the edge of the table, the sleeves hanging loosely around them. The ghostly woman suddenly leaned forward, and a drop of blood slid from the tip of her chin, landing on the back of Rong Li’s hand.
“Li’er, can you see Second Mother now?”
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