Feng Rong tossed and turned in bed as if she was a baked cake but she couldn’t fall asleep.

In her mind, she suddenly remembered what Li Yanting said in the daytime: “often think of my cousin”, and suddenly thought of the sentence “does my cousin often think of me”. When he had said that, she had turned to look at Li Yanting. Then she had felt like she had been stabbed by something and she had hurriedly turned her head away. But now that she thought about it she felt a little regretful, so she raised her wrist and looked at the jade that had been stained with her body heat.

At that time, she was ten years old. It was the age of ignorance. Her father was a fifth-grade doctor in the court. It was originally a happy scene, but because of a fire, the entire Feng Mansion was destroyed. Her father and her pregnant mother died in the fire. Only she and her elderly grandmother escaped because they couldn’t stand the sweltering heat. They escaped the fire and took shelter in the villa. But after this incident, the Feng family completely fell apart.

Her grandmother had lost her son in her old age and her health had become worse and worse. She couldn’t even take care of herself so she took an old nanny and went to Ci-yu Nunnery. But she didn’t forget about Feng Rong, who was only ten years old then. She could not bear for her granddaughter to suffer in the nunnery. So she entrusted Feng Rong to Feng shi.

It was then that Feng Rong entered the ministerial palace. At that time she often clamored for her father and mother. Then, Xizhi was only two years older than her. At such times she could only shed tears next to Feng Rong. Fortunately, Feng shi was able to coax Feng Rong into going through the most difficult times. Feng shi genuinely treated Feng Rong as her family.

Li Yanting was three years older than her. They were in a lively and active age when they first met. When Li Yanting first saw her, he caught a pint-sized mealworm to scare her. Feng Rong also wasn’t a person who retaliated with virtue.  Later, she took the opportunity to mend her ways, and they got to know each other. When Feng Rong became older and the red snow began to move, her heart was naturally tied to Li Yanting.

Feng Rong suddenly felt that her face was wet. She had unknowingly shed tears. She buried her face in the quilt and whined slowly.

The more she grew up the more she understood that her grief always had to be buried. Even if she was close to Feng shi, she often looked at Li Yanjiang acting like a spoiled child in Feng shi’s arms and felt like an outsider. It turned out that many things can only be done in front of her parents, and she had already lost it at the age of ten. Except for her parents, the only thing she could rely on was her future husband. She liked Li Yanting and she just wanted to keep holding him, be a loving person to him.

Feng Rong’s eyes were a little puffy when she got up in the morning because of crying at night. Xi Zhi saw it and was very distressed. “Miss is thinking about those things again?” Xi Zhi asked cautiously while combing her hair. She grew up with Miss. Over the past three years, Feng Rong had gradually ceased to laugh. Even if she smiled, she would not laugh. When she thought of her master and mistress, she would cry late at night and wake up in the morning with swollen eyes.

Feng Rong sat on a round chair and allowed Xizhi to comb her hair with a sullen face.  When she heard Xizhi’s question, she gave a faint hiccup. Seeing Miss like this, Xizhi felt even more distressed, and silently added a layer of powder to Feng Rong’s face.

Feng Rong was going to visit Ci-yu Nunnery. Not long after Sui’s death,  the old nanny who had been following Sui shi sent news that Sui shi’s relics had been sorted out. She had some of Sui shi’s belongings which she couldn’t handle herself and asked Feng Rong to go there when she had time. Feng Rong naturally wanted to go there. She wanted to offer incense to her grandmother and copy the Buddhist scriptures especially to bless her grandmother with early happiness.

Feng shi already knew about this and early in the morning, she had the groom ready the carriage. Originally, she had said she would send a few more men to follow Feng Rong. Now that Li Yanting was back from his trip, the duty to protect his cousin naturally fell on Li Yanting’s shoulders. By the time Feng Rong arrived at the weeping gate, she saw Li Yangting already waiting there.

[T/N: weeping gate-It is usually the second entrance of the house.

Source:https://inf.news/en/culture/ebe8f7ed24ccc4112ed9bb2c10fc9ff0.html]

When Li Yanting saw her, he said with a smile: “Cousin is here, I see that you are not in good spirits, but what are you worried about? If it’s convenient you can tell me. I may be able to help my cousin.”

Li Yanting always smiled when he met people, so when Feng Rong saw Li Yanting, she couldn’t keep her face taut anymore, and a smile appeared on her face: “Thank you, cousin, I’m fine, it’s just that it’s been cold lately, and I didn’t sleep well last night because I felt the cold wind blowing.”

“It’s already October. Tell Xizhi to be alert and close the doors and windows before going to bed. If you really feel stuffy, just open a few slits to breathe. Don’t catch the cold and cause people to worry.”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for your concern.” When Feng Rong listened to Li Yanting’s concern, she felt a little sweet in her heart and overall felt more energetic.

It was just that Ci-yu Nunnery is outside the city, and the journey was long, so they had to hurry up. Otherwise, she was afraid that they wouldn’t be able to catch up with lunch at noon. In Buddhist places such as temples, nunneries, and halls, there was usually a fixed time to get up and have meals.  If they were late, they could be hungry. It was actually alright for her because she was going to stay there just for the night, but men like Li Yanting and the grooms were not suitable to stay in the nunnery for one night. They could only return on the same day.  It was not good to miss meals while traveling. She knew they had to hurry.

Therefore, they stopped talking and set off immediately right after Feng Rong boarded the carriage. The carriage rode on the green slate pavement, mixed with the sound of Li Yanting horse’s hoofs outside, it was particularly harmonious.