Chapter 39: Yuan Zhen's Letter Arrives

  Yuan Zhi and Xue Ying put aside the things that neither of them wanted to mention again, and from then on, they strolled out of the backyard, walked up the mountain behind, and enjoyed the plum blossoms along the way, feeling quite carefree.

  Lvying Ridge is named after plum blossoms, and the most planted on the ridge are naturally plum blossoms. It's already the coldest winter month, just in time for the plum blossoms to bloom. Yuan Dai is also a connoisseur of plum blossoms, and along the way, he casually points out the names and characteristics of the plum blossoms, and even recites related poems and songs from memory, making Xiao Chengyu exclaim in surprise again and again.

  Because they were alone, without even a maid by their side, the two of them didn't go far and only strolled around the surrounding area of the Xiao family's secondary estate. As noon approached, they returned to the secondary estate on their own.

  After sitting down in the backyard flower hall, Xiao Chengyan served the meal on one hand and sent the maid to invite Ling Yuexuan on the other. The maid went for a while and returned, but reported that Ling Yuexuan had not yet returned to the mansion. Upon hearing this, the two could only look at each other and smile bitterly.

  It wasn't until almost noon that Ling Yuexuan hurried over. Seeing the distant Dai and others leisurely playing chess in the flower hall, the black and white dragons on the chessboard had already taken shape, and the battle was intense and difficult to decide, it seemed like they had been waiting for themselves for a while.

  A sudden flush appeared on her face, and Ling Yu Xuan called out in a slightly awkward tone: "Xiao Jie, Jiu Jie!"

  Xiao Chengyan casually tossed the black stone in her hand, but it fell precisely into a nearby chess box. "Ah! Tenth sister is finally back! You're just in time to have lunch with us!"

  Yan Dai turned her head and smiled at her, then ordered the maid beside her to take away the chessboard.

  The two of them pretended to be nonchalant, and Ling Yuexian was happy to play dumb. Although her face still looked a bit feverish, it was better than being teased by the two of them. Sitting down at the table, Ling Yuexian smiled and said: "I haven't thanked Ninth Sister for sending over those cherries yet!" Since Xiao Xian'er and the others hadn't sent a maid to look for her, she had first returned to her own room. Only after finding out that the two of them were there did she hurry back over.

  Yan Dai heard the sound and couldn't help but laugh: "It's just some cherries, you like them that's all!"

  The three of them exchanged a few words, and then the meal was already served. After they finished eating, Xiao Chengyan brought up the topic of returning to the capital with Ling Yuexuan. When Ling Yuexuan suddenly heard about returning to the capital, she was taken aback and involuntarily exclaimed: "We're going back so soon?"

  Yuandai and Xiao Chengyan naturally understood the meaning behind her words, and after exchanging a glance, Xiao Chengyan sighed: "I actually share the same feelings as my sister. However, regarding this trip back to the capital, I'm afraid both families have already discussed and decided on it, so we can't just disobey!"

  Ling Yuexuan lightly pursed her lips and after a long while, she muttered: "So there's no other way?"

  She sat quietly, not uttering a word. In fact, in her opinion, it was also time to go back now. After all, what she wanted to do and could do had already been done. And in the Ling Mansion, there was someone she couldn't put down - her biological mother, Zhou Yiniang.

  She didn't say a word when she saw her, Xiao Chengxin could only sigh and answer Ling Yuansen's words: "I'm afraid not!"

  After sitting in silence for a moment, Ling Yuexuan finally asked: "When... are we going back?" But her expression was gloomy.

  After a moment's thought, Xiao Chengyan said: "Let's set off the day after tomorrow! My mother sent a letter early this morning. The letter says we should hurry back as soon as possible. But I think that even if it's fast, we still need to give ourselves time to pack our luggage!"

  Although Ling Yuexuan still felt that leaving the next day was a bit rushed, seeing Yuan Dai's silence, she couldn't show too much urgency either. She could only nod slightly and say, "The day after tomorrow is the day after tomorrow! I'll go back to my room first!"

  Seeing Wenping had returned from Du Ruo's place, she couldn't help but ask: "Is Du Ruo doing any better?"

  "Wenping replied, 'After she took the medicine Miss gave her, she exchanged a few words with me and then fell asleep again. For the time being, there's no noticeable change. I was just thinking of going to take another look at her after a while!'"

  Yuan Dai wasn't surprised by this, she was selling medicine, not magic pills, and the effect wouldn't be immediate. She nodded slightly to indicate that she knew, then brought up the matter of returning to the capital with Wen Ping. Seeing that Wen Ping's face showed some difficulty, she again instructed: "Now that Du Ruo is ill, Cui Yi also needs to take care of her. You alone can't handle it all. Just pack the important things, and for the rest, you can ask Qiao Lan to lend two people to help out!"

  Wenping nodded at this.

  The two were speaking when a faint commotion was heard outside. Furrowing her brow, Yuandai signaled to Wenshu with her eyes. Wenshu understood and hastily walked over to the window, pushing it open for a look. But after taking a glance, she couldn't help but pause, turning back to ask in a low voice: "Miss, someone has arrived outside. From what I can see, I'm afraid it's Ning Furen, whom you mentioned before."

  Yan Dai heard this and was taken aback, hastily getting up to take a look. Outside the house, in the courtyard, several women were walking slowly towards them. The woman at the front wore a light blue palace dress, her attire not overly elaborate, but on her body, it had a natural elegant and peaceful beauty.

  "It's really Mrs. Ning!" Yan Dai furrowed her brow and instructed, "Wenping, come out with me to pay our respects for now!"

  The two of them hastily exited the house, and on the other side, Xiao Chengyan also quickly walked out from inside. Madame Ning saw the two of them rushing to greet her, but she stopped in her tracks and smiled: "This unexpected guest of mine, has she disturbed you both?"

  The two of them couldn't help but laugh at the words, and exclaimed that it wouldn't work. Then, one on each side, they supported Ning Furen as she walked over to Xiao Zhengyan's place. After entering the house and sitting down, Xiao Zhengyan immediately instructed Qiaolan to go invite Ling Yuexuan over. Qiaolan responded with a "yes" and was just about to head out when Ning Furen stopped her with a smile: "Just now when I came, I happened to see Miss Shi in the Shuiyinlin, she probably hasn't returned yet, so it's not necessary to go invite her!"

  Yuandai and the other person heard these words, and couldn't help but look at each other in dismay, smiling bitterly.

  Madam Ning smiled and said, "The young master who was with her must be her fiancé! He's really a talented and handsome man, and they make a perfect couple." As she spoke, a hint of warmth appeared in Madam Ning's eyes, as if she had recalled something from long ago.

  Yan Dai saw her like this, the tight strings in her heart relaxed involuntarily. She didn't want to say more about these things either, and just smiled: "Madam has come, but why didn't you make anyone tell us a word! Today we are really rude!"

  Madam Ning waved her hand and said, "I was originally out to enjoy the flowers, but when I suddenly walked to the gate of another courtyard, I thought I'd come take a look at you all. As for being impolite, since I didn't make an appointment and came uninvited, I don't feel like I've been impolite, so naturally you all won't have any reason to feel that way either!"

  The maid had already brought in the fragrant tea, and Mrs. Ning took a sip after receiving it, saying: "Although I came here on impulse today, it's not entirely without reason." As she spoke, she swept her eyes over the two of them and said: "I'm leaving for Beijing tomorrow, but today I've come to bid you farewell!"

  Unexpectedly, she said this, and the two of them stared at each other in surprise for a long time. Only then did Xiao Chengyan laugh: "To be honest with you, madam, we will also be returning to the capital soon. This morning, we were still discussing going to Pusai Mountain Villa tomorrow to bid farewell to you."

  This statement is half true and half false, it's true that he will return to Beijing soon, but the matter of bidding farewell to Mrs. Ning is actually non-existent, however since Mrs. Ning has come to bid farewell, Xiao Xian can only go along with it.

  Madam Ning said with a hint of surprise: "You're also heading back to the capital? Has a time been set?"

  Xiao Chengyan only said: "The time has not been set yet, but we plan to leave the day after tomorrow!"

  After a moment of contemplation, Madame Ning suddenly spoke up: "The day after tomorrow? I was just thinking that leaving the day after tomorrow would be a bit rushed. Since you're setting off the day after tomorrow, I might as well join you!"

  She had just said this, and Xiao Cheng and Yan Er's hearts were unwilling, but they couldn't refuse either, so they nodded in agreement.

  After seeing off Mrs. Ning, the sky was already dark again, but Ling Yuexuan had not returned yet. After returning to the house with Xiao Chengyan, Yuandai suddenly asked: "I forgot to ask my sister, does Mrs. Ning have a mansion in Pingjing?"

  Xiao Chengyan nodded and said, "Of course! Madame Ning was originally a palace maid by the side of Empress Yide. It is said that Empress Yide had a very close relationship with her, so she arranged for her to marry Deng Zhi, a first-class imperial guard, early on. Unfortunately, Deng Zhi died young, and Madame Ning was only married to him for three years before he fell ill and passed away. Empress Yide pitied her for losing her husband, so she summoned her back into the palace to serve Ruiqin Wang."

  Yuan Dai listened to her and didn't mention Ning Furen's residence, so she knew that Xiao Xian was also afraid of not knowing where the residence was located. She didn't ask again. The two were talking when Xiao Xian suddenly sent someone with a letter for Yuan Dai.

  Yan Dai heard that the letter was for herself, but couldn't help feeling surprised. When she opened it and her eyes fell on the envelope, she involuntarily raised an eyebrow. Xiao Chengxin looked at her expression beside her and asked, "Who wrote this letter?"

  She smiled as if nothing had happened and said, "It's indeed Ah Zhen!" As she spoke, she tore open the letter in front of Xiao Chengyan, scanned it briefly, and then turned to him saying, "This letter is actually about that careless guy who bumped into my sister that day. It says he has moved into Cui Zhu Garden. Two other scholars have also moved in with him, one of whom is indeed ill."

  If she hadn't mentioned it, Xiao Chengyan had actually forgotten about that day until now. Hearing Yuan Dai mention it, she suddenly remembered the man who was a bit silly on that day. With a smile, Xiao Chengyan casually said: "I hope all three of them can get into high school!"

  She smiled faintly, but instead of handing the letter to Xiao Chengyan, she casually put it into her sleeve.

  She didn't take the initiative to hand over the letter, and Xiao Xian also didn't dare ask to see her private letter, so she had no choice but to give up. The two of them chatted for a while longer, until Ling Yuanshu finally returned from the other side. After the three of them finished eating together, Yuan Dai excused herself as being tired and went back to her room first.

  Wenjing saw her return and couldn't help but mention Du Ruo. It turned out that after taking medicine in the morning, Du Ruo's fever had subsided by the afternoon, and she had eaten some bird's nest congee. By now, she was already able to sit up. Yuandai listened and nodded slightly.

  Wen Ping saw that she seemed to be deep in thought and didn't mention Du Ru again, quietly retreating instead.

  Yan Dai took out the letter that Zhen had sent through someone from her sleeve, and gently stroked it with a faint frown, but didn't say anything for a long time.