Fourth Master Xiao entered the room, and Xiqiu murmured as she looked at him, "Fourth Master..."
"What’s the matter?" Fourth Master Xiao furrowed his brows and walked over, noticing Xiqiu’s sowhat dazed expression, he couldn’t help but show a worried look: "What happened?"
Xiqiu thought of what Nanny Qiu had just said; Lady... passed away... just this afternoon...
In her heart, she felt strange. Sadness was understandable, and she naturally wouldn’t feel much reluctance, nor was there much joy because she had never really hoped for Lady’s departure. It seed she had gotten used to it, used to thinking of the Tong Mansion and imdiately thinking of Lady because she played such a significant role in her entire adolescence.
It made her unforgettable and even harder to let go.
Every mont spent with Lady, living each day as if walking on thin ice, the days of eting her seventh brother and the concubine without daring to speak... She carefully tried to please, painstakingly concealed her flaws, and so on, all filled her entire youth with countless events, none of which were disconnected from her.
But now this person had just left.
Xiqiu had an indescribable feeling, as if Lady represented a part of her life. Regardless of whether she brought good or bad, it was all her life. Today, with the sudden news of Lady’s death, everything about the Tong Mansion and her past seed so distant... She looked at Fourth Master Xiao, trying to recall the countless difficult days and nights but found it so unreal.
She let out a long sigh, reached out to embrace Fourth Master Xiao’s waist, leaned against his chest, and whispered, "Lady... is gone."
Fourth Master Xiao stiffened but only paused for a mont. He held Xiqiu and gently stroked her back, softly saying, "Then tomorrow I’ll take Min there."
"Hmm." Xiqiu nodded and, after a mont of thought, added, "I’ll have Nanny Cen prepare offerings. I’m afraid you’ll have to make a few extra trips these days." She, being in confinent, couldn’t go back, and Zhi was too young to bring along. But since it was the duty of a legitimate mother, rituals couldn’t be omitted, and she, Zhi, and Min would also wear mourning clothes. As for Fourth Master Xiao, he wouldn’t be able to stay there every day, but he should make a daily appearance for formality’s sake.
Fourth Master Xiao nodded without speaking, still holding Xiqiu in his arms. He could understand her feelings at this mont, much like when Xiao Yancheng died back then. Perhaps displeasure outweighed the joy, but regardless of the hatred or dislike, there’s always an undeniable truth that, over a long period, the other person occupied a significant part of your life. Without this person, it felt as if sothing was missing, suddenly incomplete, like a disconnect between your past and present, with no continuity as if that wasn’t your life. Thinking back now, it felt so out of reach, so unreal...
He even began to doubt, just like when Xiao Yancheng fell in front of him, like the ti he shot at Danlan with a bow and arrow instead of Xiao Yancheng...
"Fourth Master." Xiqiu leaned on Fourth Master Xiao’s shoulder, speaking in a muffled voice: "Fourth Master, don’t worry... actually, I’m not sad." As she said this, she thought of her leg and a mocking smile appeared at the corner of her mouth: "Back then, kneeling in Third Sister’s courtyard, the snow on the ground felt like countless embroidery needles piercing into my knees. I knelt there honestly, but in my heart, I cursed countless people..." She spoke lightly, "I thought, if Lady died one day, I definitely wouldn’t mourn for her. I wanted everyone to know how she treated her illegitimate daughters, the hardship we sisters endured..." She sighed again.
Fourth Master Xiao listened in silence as she spoke. She made it sound light-hearted, but he knew that, because of that incident, she developed a leg ailnt, suffering much in the long period after, and even now hadn’t fully recovered. However, as she spoke now, it sounded as if a child had been caught sneaking candy and lightly punished by her mother, so carefree...
He held her close, kissed the top of her head, and comforted her: "Silly girl, it’s all in the past. The past is over, and in the future, you have , our children... our ho!"
"Hmm." Xiqiu nodded, tears still rolling down her face. She didn’t know why she was crying, perhaps for Lady, or perhaps for herself. She responded to Fourth Master Xiao: "I have you, Zhi, Min... and many, many people. I feel very happy, truly happy."
Fourth Master Xiao released her, cupping her face and gently kissing away her tears, full of tenderness: "Don’t cry... If you’re happy, you shouldn’t cry." Saying this, he also softly added a whispered sentence as he kissed the corner of her mouth: "With you... I’m also very happy."
"Fourth Master!" Xiqiu pushed Fourth Master Xiao back, her face flushed: "I haven’t bathed or washed my hair..." Disheveled, she didn’t even want to look at herself in the mirror.
But Fourth Master Xiao wiped away her tears, raising his eyebrows in what seed like silent defiance, and embraced her again, kissing her: "Even the ugliest I’ve seen," aning, I don’t mind.
Xiqiu frowned at him but sighed, leaning on his shoulder: "I wonder if things are in chaos at ho right now."
Perhaps, the first one who couldn’t handle it would be Madam i.
Tong Xiyu was thirteen this year, and with Lady’s passing, the Tong Mansion must observe three years of mourning. In three years, Tong Xiyu would be sixteen. If fortunate enough to finalize a marriage, it would take at least a year after all the formalities... That’s assuming it goes well; if not, Tong Xiyu, being an illegitimate daughter, wouldn’t have much of a dowry. It would be difficult to find a suitable match. If by seventeen she managed to marry, it would be quite decent, but the fear is that delays would ruin her marriage prospects... How could Madam i not be anxious?
"If you’re worried, I’ll go and take a look." Fourth Master Xiao frowned: "Just as well, I have matters to discuss with Father-in-law and Wenxian."
Xiqiu was stunned as she listened and asked, "What matters?"
"It’s about Ren Jun." Fourth Master Xiao said plainly, "Ren Jun and I have so acquaintance. To go to Pingliang like that, based on what he’s done, there’s no coming back in three years. If Third Young Madam Ren is willing to accompany him, I can help arrange things on the Pingliang side. Life there may not be as affluent as in the Capital, but there would still be people to look after them, so they wouldn’t be too destitute."
Xiqiu understood Fourth Master Xiao’s intention. Ren Jun had lived a life of debauchery for so many years, his health already ravaged by wine and won. That long journey to the bitter place of Pingliang, along with the labor he might have to do, wasn’t sothing Ren Jun could endure. If Tong Xiyang could go, the family could survive those three years together, then return to live on the wealth divided from the Wujin Bo Mansion. They might not live as luxuriously as before, but a frugal life wouldn’t be impossible.
However, she felt that Tong Xiyang wouldn’t go.
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