Chapter 72: Making Up Yesterday’s Chapter
Prince’s Estate Villa.
Gu Yan sat in an armchair by the window, leisurely finishing two letters before looking up at the view outside.
Outside the window, it was still a lush green.
This green, after the unrestrained verdancy of spring, summer, and autumn, was now deep and dim, closing its eyes to slumber, awaiting the arrival of the next spring.
Gu Yan stood up, propped the window higher, and leaned out to look outside.
The garden was a deep green, with a few clusters of roses blooming sparsely in the distance.
Compared to the somber, old green of winter in Jiangnan, he preferred the winters in the Capital City. The sharp, cold wind swept away all greenery, leaving only bare branches between heaven and earth. In spring, everything would be new growth, fresh and verdant.
Thinking of the Capital City’s winter, threads of longing arose in Gu Yan’s heart.
He hadn’t seen the Crown Prince, nor his father and mother, in nearly half a year.
Thinking of his father and mother, Gu Yan felt a touch of daze.
In the past, his father had passed before his mother. Six months after his father’s death, his mother also passed away.
Shi Shi accused him, saying that his father and mother had died from excessive worry and suppressed grief caused by his reckless behavior.
At that time, he was trapped both internally and externally. Shi Shi’s accusations made him self-blame and break down. Before his mother’s coffin, he cried so hard that he vomited blood. From then until now, it was the only time he felt regret, uttering the single word “regret.”
Gu Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
In the past, he had been out of his mind.
In that past time, from the very beginning of embarking on that difficult path, his father had always been his most steadfast and reliable support. His mother had told him more than once about their Prince Rui’s Mansion’s great-grandmother, how she wielded her sword across the world, how fearless she was.
His father and mother worried about him, but they would never be angry at his actions. His father and mother knew what he was doing; they were always proud of him and had always been his strongest support.
At that time, he had been out of his mind. His mother must have been very angry at that cry of pain before her coffin, at that word of regret.
Gu Yan lowered his head, took off the narrow sword hanging inside his long gown, and held it in his hand, examining it carefully.
This was his great-grandmother’s sword, a sacred object of their Prince Rui’s Mansion, carried by successive Princes Rui. His father had given him this sword when he went south to Liangzhe.
His father said this sword, though it had drunk its fill of blood, was a sacred object for warding off evil.
This sword was more than just a sacred object for warding off evil; it was a divine artifact that could stabilize mountains and rivers, or cause them to collapse.
Gu Yan slowly turned it, carefully examining the scabbard that looked almost like human skin, the simple yet perfectly fitting hilt. He reached out, gripped the hilt tightly, closed his eyes slightly, and felt the surging killing intent within the sword.
He had witnessed the earth-shattering moment when this sword was unsheathed. That one unsheathing was enough.
Gu Yan re-tied the narrow sword, put the letters back into their envelopes, picked up his mother’s letter, and called out for Shi Gun, instructing him to take the letter to Second Madam Pan.
The two letters, one from his mother and one from the Crown Prince, were both urging him to return home for the New Year.
It was time to set off back.
Second Madam Pan quickly replied that they would go back with him for the New Year.
………………………………
Wan Jing called Li Xiaonan out from the courtyard gate and handed her the large food box she was holding.
Li Xiaonan didn’t take the food box, instead looking Wan Jing up and down.
The joy radiating from Wan Jing could fill the entire alley!
“Did your monthly allowance increase?” Li Xiaonan asked.
This was the happiest thing she could think of.
“Increase my monthly allowance for what! You’re always thinking about money, money, money!” Wan Jing’s voice soared, “We’re going back to the Capital City! We leave the day after tomorrow!”
“You? Your Young Lord, Shi Gun, are leaving?” A sense of indescribable loss flickered through Li Xiaonan’s heart.
“Yes!” Wan Jing handed the food box to Li Xiaonan again.
“This is from our Young Lord for you, take it quickly! I’m leaving!”
The food box was large and heavy, and Wan Jing couldn’t stuff it into Li Xiaonan’s arms, so she simply placed it inside the threshold.
“Aren’t you leaving the day after tomorrow? What’s the rush!” Li Xiaonan grabbed Wan Jing.
“I’ve arranged with Old Sun, we’ll take a detour back from that side, and I need to buy a lot of things, so I don’t have time to linger with you.”
Wan Jing turned, but Li Xiaonan pulled her back.
“Then you, not you, I’m asking you, when will you come back?”
“Come back? This isn’t our home, coming here is visiting, not returning!”
“Whether your Young Lord comes, I don’t know, but I definitely won’t be coming!” Wan Jing shook her head firmly.
“If your Young Lord comes again, and you don’t? Will you have a choice?” Li Xiaonan still held onto Wan Jing, not letting go.
“Let me tell you,” Wan Jing leaned closer to Li Xiaonan and whispered, “When I was chosen by the Young Lord, my father and mother were already helping me find ways and connections. They sent a letter a few days ago. It wasn’t explicitly stated in the letter, but I understood immediately. The connections have been found, and I definitely won’t be coming back!” Wan Jing said with great pride.
Li Xiaonan glanced at her sideways and said slowly, “I think, as long as your Young Lord comes, you’ll definitely have to follow.”
“Bah, bah, bah!” Wan Jing spat several times. “May good things come true and bad things not! Don’t talk nonsense! I’m leaving now, goodbye!”
Wan Jing broke free from Li Xiaonan, lifted her skirt, jumped down the steps, and skipped towards the cart at the alley entrance.
Li Xiaonan stood with her hands on her hips, watching Wan Jing get into the cart before turning and stepping over the threshold.
“Is that great benefactor leaving? Yes, it’s time to go home for the New Year. What’s inside here? This is much prettier than the restaurant’s food box, it’s so beautiful!” Li Yin Zhu hurried to the food box, bending down to examine it closely. She extended a finger and carefully touched the gilded peony flower on the box.
“I don’t know, let’s take it inside and see.” Li Xiaonan reached out to lift the food box.
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” Li Yin Zhu snatched the food box and carried it into the main hall.
Such a beautiful and luxurious food box shouldn’t be taken into the kitchen!
The food box had three layers. Li Xiaonan lifted the lid, and on the top layer, there was only a letter.
Li Xiaonan lifted the first layer and then looked at the layer below.
The second layer was tightly packed with small square pastries.
There were two types of pastries, separated by oiled paper. One side was peanut cake, and the other was lotus seed pastry.
Li Xiaonan lifted the second layer. The third layer contained a stack of beautiful blank letter paper, a few brushes, two inkstones, a small and exquisite inkstone holder, and a blue and white porcelain brush washer, along with a carved nanmu armrest.
“So beautiful,” Li Yin Zhu murmured, admiring the inkstone, brush washer, and other items.
It was the first time she had seen such exquisite things. They were so beautiful that she dared not touch them with her hands.
Li Xiaonan took a piece of peanut cake and placed it in her third sister’s hand, while she took a piece of lotus seed pastry and put it in her mouth. She then picked up the letter.
The envelope was blank, and the wax seal bore the emblem of the Prince Rui’s Mansion.
Li Xiaonan tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter.
The letter was written casually, with no salutation and no closing, just a few brief sentences.
He was returning home for the New Year and wished her a good year as well.
Li Xiaonan held up the letter to admire it.
The Young Lord’s calligraphy, like the man himself, was extremely beautiful.
