Chapter 6 Ancestral Hall Night Chill

Xing Jingyun wanted to ask but didn't dare to say anything, so he just sat at the table obediently, listening to the rushing rain outside, his head was stuck little by little until the door was knocked twice.

A guard in a black robe came in and saluted, "Sir, the horse is ready."

Yao Xuanci let out a casual hum, and withdrew his gaze from the window.

The rain outside has lightened.

There was a thin drizzle of rain in the sky, Wen Qiong walked out of the shop slowly holding an oil-paper umbrella, standing on the bluestone street washed by the rain, the tip of her nose was fresh after the heavy rain, with a hint of coolness.

She frowned and suppressed the itchy cough rising in her throat, sighing that the air was moist, her old problem was about to start again.

There was a rush of horseshoes on the empty street, she dodged to the side, and the oil-paper umbrella was raised up, and she saw a strong Mo Jun galloping towards her.

The man sitting on the horse was dressed in a gentle white brocade robe, with handsome eyebrows and sharp eyes. After noticing her surprised gaze, those deep phoenix eyes looked over.

The steed was so close that it passed her by, and she heard the man whisper, "Don't close the door again, wait until I return home."

A Yao, who was chasing after Wen Qiong, screamed, "Hey, girl, it's the prince."

She looked at the direction in which the steed was leaving, and asked suspiciously, "Is the son leaving the city?"

Wen Qiong unconsciously curled her thin white knuckles, and clenched the handle of the umbrella tightly.

His words were obviously very soft, but they clearly seemed to be whispering behind her ear.

Holding her umbrella, she couldn't help but follow the moon-white figure that was fading away.

Ah Shen caught up with brocade boxes, big and small, and guessed, "It's already past noon, if the place to go is far away, I'm afraid my uncle won't be able to come back to the Hou's mansion tonight?"

The bloodshot crescent nail scar on the palm of her left hand was still aching, Wen Qiong put away her complicated and messy thoughts, and said in a low voice, "Don't worry about him, just go home."

A Yao secretly cheered, there is no need to keep my uncle out of the room tonight.

No, the girl has to copy the family rules in the ancestral hall.

She lowered her head in depression, Mrs. Hou's discipline on the girl was really strict, and her uncle was not around, so she couldn't escape this punishment.

The sky was gloomy, the night came earlier than before, and the bright lights in the spacious ancestral hall brought some warmth.

Under the spiritual cards of the ancestors of the Yao family, Wen Qiong knelt on a straw futon in a regular manner, bent her head on the narrow low table in front of her, and concentrated on copying a thick book of family rules.

The air was damp and cool, which caused her to cough from time to time, and her knees began to ache after kneeling for a long time. Wen Qiong didn't even frown, her handwriting was beautiful and orderly, obviously she was very patient.

The second watch drum sounded, and the midnight cold poured in through the open hall door, and it started to rain again outside.

Wen Qiong had already finished copying it the first time, but the words on the family rules were dense and small, which seemed extremely laborious, her eyes were dim, and her legs were numb.

Covering her lips and yawning sleepily, she rubbed her sore eyes and prepared to continue copying for the second time, when she suddenly heard movement outside.

A little maid walked into the ancestral hall with an oiled paper umbrella, and extinguished the candles one by one in front of Wen Qiong.

The whole ancestral hall was plunged into darkness in an instant, except for the faint yellow fireflies in front of her, Wen Qiong blinked several times in a row to get used to the sudden dim light.

She pursed her lips tightly, if she copied the house rules twice with this gleam of light, her eyes would be useless.

The maid didn't leave, but came towards her and said respectfully, "Madam, please raise your arms."

Wen Qiong didn't understand, so she raised her hand, only to see the maid closed the house rules, and even took away the ones she had just copied, she was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean?"

The maid repeated sternly, "The order of the mistress said that you would not change after repeated admonitions. In the future, it would be difficult to shoulder the responsibility of the mistress of the Hou Mansion and walk side by side with the son, so I ordered my wife to write down the family rules silently and memorize them by heart as a warning."

After finishing speaking, he silently retreated to the pillar of the room with the scroll, lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes to hide in the darkness.

Wen Qiong's eyes were slightly cold, Mrs. Hou was insinuating that she would not be able to take on the big responsibility and would definitely become a burden to Yao Xuanci.

From the very beginning, everyone had been saying that she was not worthy of the honorable son of the Hou family, and that the marriage bestowed by the emperor was the great fortune that Wen Qiong had earned in exchange for her virtues in her previous life.

The ridiculous thing is that she in the past also agreed with this statement.

Everyone lowered her into the dust, and crushed her into the soil one foot after another contemptuously. After suffering so much, she was able to hold back her grievances in front of that person, and let out a slight smile.

Poorly stupid.

The cool wind wrapped in water vapor swept into the hall, and the itchiness in her throat could not be suppressed, she frowned her willow leaf eyebrows, and couldn't restrain herself from coughing.

The maid was so young that she couldn't help raising her eyes.

Under the lamp, the beauty twisted a silk handkerchief and coughed lightly, her snow-skinned cheeks were tinged with pink, her reddish eyes were filled with drops of water, and her fragility seemed to be as fragile as a falling moon falling on a flower.

She couldn't bear it, the eldest son didn't return, and Mrs. Hou didn't allow the maids and maids of the eldest son to approach the ancestral hall.

Today, the rainy night is cold and cold, and even a thin shawl cannot be delivered.

In the silence of the night, the sound of rain that is hard to ignore is amplified infinitely. After listening for a long time, it makes people feel sentimental in the bottom of their hearts.

And the woman wiped away the tears at the end of her eyes with a light handkerchief, calmed her disordered breathing, picked up the brush again, and wrote down the ink calmly with the help of the faint candlelight.

It is not difficult to write house rules silently.

In the past four years, she has been punished quite a few times, and over time she was able to recite the Hou's family rules by heart.

After writing two lines, she suddenly stopped. She beat and kneaded her numb and unconscious legs with her white hands, and endured the extremely uncomfortable numbness on her legs to fade away, leaning on the low table to get up slowly.

She wanted to protect herself in the Hou's mansion, but she hadn't fallen to the point of forbearance.

Under the maidservant's suspicious gaze, Wen Qiong took the oil candle in front of her desk and ignited the white candles on the lamp stand beside her one by one.

The servant girl was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop her, "Ma'am, you are disobeying the order of the mistress!"

"Why, I'm not allowed to light the eternal lamp for the ancestors?"

Wen Qiong glanced at her, saw the panic and fear in the maidservant's eyes, she paused, and said softly, "You can't stop me."

She brushed away the maidservant's hand that was in front of her, "But you can tell Mrs. Hou that the ancestral hall is dark at night, and Mrs. Shizi specially lit a lamp so that the ancestors can see the imperial city of the Hou's mansion clearly."

"You are worried that you will disrespect your ancestors, so you dare not stop them."

In front of dozens of spirit tablets, one after another the ever-burning lamps were lit up one after another, and the light gradually returned to the ancestral hall, and the corners of the maid's lips pursed.

Mrs. Shizi obviously thought of a compromise for her, which can save the mistress from punishing her.

She lowered her eyebrows and curtseyed, "Thank you Ma'am."

The maid picked up the oil-paper umbrella under the eaves of the ancestral hall and left. Wen Qiong returned to sit cross-legged in front of the futon, and wrote much faster.

It was a little cold at night, she was wearing thin clothes, and she could easily catch the wind and cold, so she had to go back early.

It's just that for some reason, Madam Hou didn't send anyone after the maid went back.

The rain stopped in the early morning, and the chill was chilling to the bone, and there was a round moon hanging in the star-studded night sky.

Under the gentle moonlight, Wen Qiong slowly returned to Qingyu Courtyard, hesitated a few times before going to bed, and asked A Yao to leave the room with the door half closed.

Just accept the love of the medicine for nourishing the fetus.

If he wanted this child, she could have told his mother about the happy event earlier.

Once the door was left open, he stayed there for two or three nights.

Wen Qiong was wearing a thin coat and sitting on the couch by the window, sewing with a needle and thread in her hand. She raised her head in the midst of her busy schedule, and glanced at the thick night outside.

The person who ordered her not to close the door again has not returned today.

"Knock knock..."

The door of the wing room was tapped three times, and Ayao softly called for the girl to step into the room.

When she came in with the jade bowl containing the decoction, Wen Qiong had already put the needle, thread and fabric back into the embroidery basket, and pushed them to the small table on the couch.

A Yao put down the jade bowl, turned around and looked at the frost-blue gauze curtain hanging over it, and said, "Just now the wind blows a bit cool in autumn, it's time to change the curtain to match the autumn day."

Wen Qiong tested the temperature of the soup, and said casually, "You discuss it with the mother."

After she finished drinking the medicine, A Yao quickly delivered a pack of sour plums, and Wen Qiong swallowed a dried plum to suppress the bitterness on the tip of her tongue, "Where is the nanny?"

A Yao hid her smile, "A few days ago, I told you that a mysterious guest came from the East Courtyard. Nanny Pang seems to know the inside story, and Nanny is catching her to ask."

Wen Qiong raised her eyes in doubt, "Mother Pang knows?"

"She usually likes to chatter, but just now she slipped her mouth, and only said that she is indeed a woman, but she kept a tight lid on her age and status."

Being able to be arranged by Madam Hou to live near the main courtyard must be a close and distinguished guest of the Hou Mansion, and the backyard is a place where there are many female relatives. Nanny Song and the others have always guessed that it is most likely a woman.

It was this distinguished guest who came to the door in the rainy night, so Madam Hou didn't care about Wen Qiong who was being punished in the ancestral hall, and even spared the morning greetings of all the daughters-in-law.

However, the courtyard was kept mysterious by the servants, and no one was allowed to approach, and Nanny Song did not find anything after several efforts.

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